Speaker 1: Welcome to Hill Country Homilies. Weekly homilies from Holy Anunciation
Speaker 1: Orthodox Church in Liberty Hill, Texas. Holy Annunciation is an
Speaker 1: old calendar Orthodox Church sharing the faith of the Apostles
Speaker 1: and the love of Christ with all who seek His truth. Now,
Speaker 1: let's listen to this week's homily. O.
Speaker 2: Bless the Lord to be upon me through his grace
Speaker 2: and love for mankind always now never known to ages
Speaker 2: wages glory of our God, Glory to Thee, the name
Speaker 2: of the Father and the Son of the Holy Spirit
Speaker 2: of glory in Jesus Christ, My dear brothers and sisters
Speaker 2: in Christ. On the seventh Sunday of Pentecost, I'd like
Speaker 2: to speak, if only briefly, about our epistle reading for
Speaker 2: this Sunday. That is Poll's Epistle to the Romans. And
Speaker 2: it was a fairly short one, so let me read
Speaker 2: it in its entirety. We, then, that are strong ought
Speaker 2: to bear the infirmities of the week, and not to
Speaker 2: please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbor
Speaker 2: for his good to edification, for even Christ please not himself.
Speaker 2: But as it is written, the reproaches of them that
Speaker 2: reproach THEE fell on me. For whatsoever things were written aforetime,
Speaker 2: were written for our learning, that we, through patience and
Speaker 2: comfort of the scriptures, might have hope. Now, the God
Speaker 2: of patience and consolation grant you to be like minded
Speaker 2: one toward another, according to Christ Jesus, that ye may,
Speaker 2: with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the
Speaker 2: Father of our lord, Jesus Christ. Wherefore receive ye one another,
Speaker 2: as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.
Speaker 2: To talk about this epistle because it again speaks to
Speaker 2: a theme that I constantly return to, that we are
Speaker 2: not merely independent agents, each out for our own good,
Speaker 2: each to appease our own needs, and each responsible only
Speaker 2: to ourselves as we struggle in this world. That we
Speaker 2: are not captive to this uniquely American ideal of rugged individualism.
Speaker 2: But rather, we as a people are made for community,
Speaker 2: communion with God, and communion with one another in one body,
Speaker 2: which is the Church of Christ. And in the epistle
Speaker 2: of Saint Paul to the Romans, which we read today,
Speaker 2: we see that communal bond, the communal obligation that we
Speaker 2: have one to another if we purport to be followers
Speaker 2: of Christ. It begins with the very first sentence. We
Speaker 2: then that are strong ought to bear the inference of
Speaker 2: the week. In fact, when Saint John Christism discusses his verse,
Speaker 2: he translates it like this, We who are strong have
Speaker 2: the obligation and comments we have a duty. We are
Speaker 2: not doing a favor. What are we obliged to do? Well?
Speaker 2: What we are to do is to bear the infirmities
Speaker 2: of the week, and not to please ourselves. That is,
Speaker 2: to put the well being of our neighbor above or
Speaker 2: at least equal to our own. We're not to triumph
Speaker 2: in our strength over the weakness of their infirmities. You
Speaker 2: are strong, Paul says, and compromising would not harm you.
Speaker 2: But for other persons the least issue presents a danger
Speaker 2: unless they're supported. What kind of danger? A spiritual danger,
Speaker 2: to be sure, Just as he says in Galatians, Brethren,
Speaker 2: if a man is overtaken and trespass, you, who are spiritual,
Speaker 2: restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. This
Speaker 2: is not a gift to our neighbors. This, this is
Speaker 2: our obligation to God, which we're called to exercise. For
Speaker 2: we who are strong are not strong by our own merits.
Speaker 2: We're not bold by the fruits of our own virtues.
Speaker 2: But if we are strong in this world is only
Speaker 2: by the gift of God to us, and we are
Speaker 2: to repay this. We're to repay this by correcting the
Speaker 2: weakness of the weak, for we were also weak, but
Speaker 2: by grace we were made strong. One way we do
Speaker 2: this is by bearing their weaknesses as they were our own.
Speaker 2: But this is not for our own amusement, because we
Speaker 2: are told not to please ourselves, but rather let every
Speaker 2: one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification.
Speaker 2: That is, through our forbearance, we are building them up.
Speaker 2: We are giving them a little bit of the strength
Speaker 2: that God has given to us, and we're manifesting those
Speaker 2: gifts of God to them. Saint John Christisma also says,
Speaker 2: let them learn and how strong you really are. Please them,
Speaker 2: even though you are rich, even though you are powerful.
Speaker 2: Do not please yourself, but please the poor and needy person.
Speaker 2: In this way you will enjoy true glory, and you
Speaker 2: will be of great help. The glory of the worldly
Speaker 2: person soon dissipates, but the glory of the spiritual person endures.
Speaker 2: If your purpose is to build up you see, if
Speaker 2: in our worldly pride we only act to please ourselves,
Speaker 2: even if that action may benefit another, it's still a
Speaker 2: selfish action, and it does not make us loving. It
Speaker 2: does not make us good. It doesn't glorify God, even
Speaker 2: if the world pats us on the back and tells
Speaker 2: us how generous we are. In fact, in that way
Speaker 2: it can even be a temptation of pride. But when
Speaker 2: we act to please our neighbor who's struggling, and to
Speaker 2: build them up in faith, we glorify not ourselves but
Speaker 2: God because we're just actually bearing the burdens that our
Speaker 2: struggling neighbor has. We're not just throwing money at a
Speaker 2: problem to make it go away. When we're told to
Speaker 2: bear the infirmities a week, that is precisely what it
Speaker 2: means to take them on to ourselves, to bear all
Speaker 2: the reproaches, all the recriminations, all the pains and the
Speaker 2: struggles of the week, not merely to make a donation
Speaker 2: and think we've done good. And who's our example in
Speaker 2: this none other than the Lord Jesus Christ himself, who
Speaker 2: bore all of our infirmities as a weak and faithless
Speaker 2: people when he voluntarily ascended the cross on Golgatha. Christ
Speaker 2: of course, had the power to avoid the reproaches. He
Speaker 2: had the power to escape the things that he suffered.
Speaker 2: He had the power to come down off of the cross.
Speaker 2: He could have preferred himself and his needs. However, he
Speaker 2: did not want this. He wanted instead to achieve our good.
Speaker 2: To do so, he set aside his own good. And
Speaker 2: for all of this he was reproached and mocked, as
Speaker 2: they called out he saved others, but himself he cannot save.
Speaker 2: So having exhorted us to live out our communal obligations
Speaker 2: to the neighbors, Paul calls us back again to our
Speaker 2: communal life within the church, and he urges us to
Speaker 2: be like minded one to another, according to Christ Jesus,
Speaker 2: that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God,
Speaker 2: even the father of our lord, Jesus Christ. You see,
Speaker 2: he calls us to love one another, not just as
Speaker 2: some throwaway line, but to act towards one another. According
Speaker 2: to Christ Jesus, our example of love must not be
Speaker 2: the frail and weak human love that we know, but
Speaker 2: that greatest love that Christ shared with each of us.
Speaker 2: That's our goal, that's our calling. That is, my dear friends,
Speaker 2: our obligation and fulfilling that we're called again to the
Speaker 2: unity of the faith, that with one mind and one
Speaker 2: mouth we may glorify God. We live, we love, we
Speaker 2: worship within the one commune unity of the Church of Christ,
Speaker 2: a community of one mind in one mouth, a place
Speaker 2: where we were told to receive one another, even as
Speaker 2: Christ received us, to the glory of God. And here
Speaker 2: we're called to put aside all grievance and animosity towards
Speaker 2: one another, to put aside our own will, and not
Speaker 2: as a matter of barter or exchange. We don't trade
Speaker 2: our love for our brother for their good acts, but
Speaker 2: we offer it freely. As Saint John said, we're called
Speaker 2: to a better citizenship, and have been enroylled, enrolled in
Speaker 2: the heavens. We're subject to better laws. The point is
Speaker 2: not to say these things, but whenever some refuse to
Speaker 2: love you, then show them an even greater love in
Speaker 2: order to win them over. And if we are to
Speaker 2: receive one another as Christ received us, then we are
Speaker 2: not to consider the Church our exclusives club. It's not
Speaker 2: a haven for Greeks alone. We have no political litmus tests.
Speaker 2: We have only the one true faith, and all who
Speaker 2: embrace it the Church is open to them. Them Christ
Speaker 2: considered tax collectors and sinners worthy of his table. His
Speaker 2: concern for the Jewish people matched their disdain for him,
Speaker 2: and actually his concern exceeded their disdain. We must also
Speaker 2: strive to do the same success and this is no
Speaker 2: small matter, since, as the fathers tell us, without love,
Speaker 2: not even the martyrs can please God. So, brothers and sisters,
Speaker 2: as we depart today, let us be edified by the
Speaker 2: words of the Apostle Paul, and let us embrace them,
Speaker 2: building up one another our strength, edifying the weak our hearts,
Speaker 2: embracing all who call out to Christ seeking his Holy Church.
Speaker 2: And may the same God who bore all of our
Speaker 2: infirmities on the cross for our salvation, grant us the
Speaker 2: strength to bear those of our neighbor who's next to
Speaker 2: us struggling, and by such forbearance, to show forth to
Speaker 2: them the light of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
Speaker 2: that they too may be deemed worthy of His table
Speaker 2: in this world and in the world to come. In
Speaker 2: the name of the Father and the Son and the
Speaker 2: Holy Spirit. Come in.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to Hill Country homilies. For more information,
Speaker 1: visit Holy Annunciation Orthodox Church at www dot Denunciation, TX
Speaker 1: dot com and please join us again next week.