Speaker 1: Welcome to Hill Country Homilies. Weekly homilies from Holy Annunciation
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.
Speaker 2: The Name of the Father and Son the HOI Spirit
Speaker 2: Gord to Jesus Christ, beloved in Christ. I wish you
Speaker 2: all a blessed feast of the meeting of the Lord
Speaker 2: in the Temple. Today we commemorate the fortieth day after
Speaker 2: the birth of Christ, at which time, in accordance with
Speaker 2: the Jewish custom, his parents were make an offering in
Speaker 2: the temple. And on that day it has said that
Speaker 2: Christ was taking up in the arms of Saint Simeon,
Speaker 2: the God Receiver of whom it was prophesied that he
Speaker 2: would not taste of death until he had seen the Messiah.
Speaker 2: In that day he did, and he proclaimed it at
Speaker 2: the prayer of Saint Simeon, which we sing every Vesper's Lord.
Speaker 2: Now let us know thy servant, depart in peace. But
Speaker 2: this Sunday is also the third Sunday of the Triotian
Speaker 2: and we come to the Gospel account of the Last Judgment,
Speaker 2: and having first called us to humility with the publican
Speaker 2: and then to repentance with the prodigal, the Church further
Speaker 2: prepares us for our Linton struggle with the reading from
Speaker 2: Matthew of Christ's account of the Last Judgment. In today's reading,
Speaker 2: the Lord describes the time of the dread Judgment, when
Speaker 2: the Son of God will come in his glory, and
Speaker 2: he will gather the nations before himself, separating them into
Speaker 2: the sheep and the goats. And the criteria he gives
Speaker 2: for making this decision are both simple and terrifying. Those
Speaker 2: found to be sheep are those who served Christ by
Speaker 2: feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, visiting those in prison,
Speaker 2: quenching the thirst of those that are parched, clothing the naked,
Speaker 2: and taking in the stranger.
Speaker 3: In.
Speaker 2: Christ poses each of those actions as if they were
Speaker 2: done personally to him. And when the people, when these
Speaker 2: people who had been judged righteous, humbly ask Christ, almost protesting,
Speaker 2: when did we see you hungry and fed you were thirsty,
Speaker 2: and gave you drink? When did we see you sick
Speaker 2: or in prison and come visit you? And Christ says
Speaker 2: to them, verily, I say unto you, inasmuch as you
Speaker 2: have done it to one of these, the least of
Speaker 2: my brethren, you have done it to me.
Speaker 3: But the goats are judged by the converse.
Speaker 2: They did not feed a hungry Christ, or quench his thirst,
Speaker 2: or rejected him as a stranger. They didn't visit him
Speaker 2: sick or imprison And they make the same protest, Lord,
Speaker 2: when did we see you sick or in prison, or
Speaker 2: hunger and thirsty? And he says, in the same way,
Speaker 2: I say unto you, inasmuch as you did this not
Speaker 2: to the least of these, you did it not to me.
Speaker 2: And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the
Speaker 2: righteous into life eternal.
Speaker 3: Now, before we talk.
Speaker 2: About what this means, I want to say upfront something
Speaker 2: that is very important in understanding this Gospel passage, and
Speaker 2: that is that the Orthodox Church understands this Gospel reading
Speaker 2: to be an account of the Last Judgment, not of
Speaker 2: parable and that's incredibly important for us to know. It's
Speaker 2: also very easy to discern through the language of the
Speaker 2: text and from the Church slectionary. As an example, the
Speaker 2: account of the Last Judgment is found in the twenty
Speaker 2: fifth year after of the Gospel.
Speaker 3: According to the Holy.
Speaker 2: Evangelist Matthew, that chapter begins in a different verse, The
Speaker 2: Kingdom of Heaven is like unto ten virgins who took
Speaker 2: their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
Speaker 3: So he's telling us immediately.
Speaker 2: This is an effort to explain the Kingdom of Heaven
Speaker 2: using example of something that is quite apparently not the
Speaker 2: kingdom of heaven. Ten virgins, kingdom of Heaven, two different things.
Speaker 2: But that's the comparison that he used, and this is
Speaker 2: confirmed when we look at the lectionary, which tells the priest.
Speaker 2: When we read the parable of ten virgins, it starts
Speaker 2: with this introduction, the Lord spake this parable, the kingdom
Speaker 2: of Heaven is like under ten virgins, And a few
Speaker 2: verses later we get a similar introduction, The Kingdom of
Speaker 2: Heaven is as a man traveling into a far country
Speaker 2: who called his own servants and delivered them his goods.
Speaker 2: Now again comparing the heaven to something that is clearly
Speaker 2: not heaven, and the electionary for those verses, again the
Speaker 2: priest starts, the Lord spake this parable. But when we
Speaker 2: get to today's reading, there is no The time of
Speaker 2: judgment is like unto anything. It simply starts, when the
Speaker 2: Son of Man shall come in his glory and all
Speaker 2: the angels with him, then shall he sit on the
Speaker 2: throne of his glory. And we look at the electionary.
Speaker 2: This is how the Church says we're to introduce today's reading.
Speaker 2: It's not the Lord's fake is parable. It's just the
Speaker 2: Lord said the Lord say. There is no parable being
Speaker 2: spoken with today's Gospel reading, because rather than describing the
Speaker 2: judgment as something that is clearly not a final judgment,
Speaker 2: which he does in all of the parables, he then
Speaker 2: proceeds to describe the final judgment as exactly that, the
Speaker 2: judging of all nations at the end of days. Now,
Speaker 2: understanding that what we read is an account rather than
Speaker 2: unparable impact, how we understand.
Speaker 3: What is set before us?
Speaker 2: Because these are Christ's own words describing the basis of
Speaker 2: our judgment. This is not a theoretical comparison offered to
Speaker 2: the hearers because the truth was too difficult. Quite the opposite,
Speaker 2: Christ gives the most difficult message to those who are
Speaker 2: there to hear it, the message of eternal life with
Speaker 2: the Father for those who have done good, but for
Speaker 2: those who have failed to do good, everlasting punishment and
Speaker 2: the fire. Consider that things like the difficulty of the
Speaker 2: rich entering to heaven or the possibility of being left
Speaker 2: behind because of the lack of preparation. Those topics he
Speaker 2: used parables, But when it came to the judgment himself,
Speaker 2: there is no parabolic rhetoric involved. It is if Christ
Speaker 2: is saying, this is too important to leave any ambiguity,
Speaker 2: So let me spell it out for you. Now that said,
Speaker 2: let's consider what this account tells us. First, it tells
Speaker 2: us that there will absolutely be a judgment of all nations.
Speaker 2: And then Christ explains who will be counted among the
Speaker 2: sheep and whom among the goats, and he judges both
Speaker 2: by the same criteria, just with inverse findings. I was
Speaker 2: hungered and you gave me meat. I was thirsty and
Speaker 2: you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you
Speaker 2: took me in naked and you clothed me. I was
Speaker 2: sick and you visited me. I was in prison and
Speaker 2: you came to me. So feeding the hungry, giving drink
Speaker 2: to the thirsty, taking strangers, clothing the naked, visiting.
Speaker 3: Sickly in prison.
Speaker 2: Now, in our western brains, being the legalistic little things
Speaker 2: that we are, we hear this, and we immediately start
Speaker 2: trying to give structure to this. Well, is this a
Speaker 2: conjunctive test? Do we have to meet all of those
Speaker 2: whereas one enough?
Speaker 3: If we do it really well, do we bounce it out? Well?
Speaker 2: If I feed lots of hungry do I have to
Speaker 2: go visiting one in prison? This is how Western brains
Speaker 2: work with the legalists. And of course this thinking about
Speaker 2: this is entirely wrong because the first thing that we know,
Speaker 2: the first thing we know is that as fallible humans,
Speaker 2: no deeds, no actions that we could ever do, are
Speaker 2: going to be so great as to merit our salvation,
Speaker 2: as to earn our salvation. Even if we do all
Speaker 2: those things, ultimately we are still relying upon the mercy
Speaker 2: of God as he sits on that judgment seat.
Speaker 3: There's one sinless man to live, which is Christ, and.
Speaker 2: The rest of us, the rest of us, fall short
Speaker 2: of the glory of God even when we truly try
Speaker 2: to live out our faith. And that's really what this
Speaker 2: list is about. It's a real challenge to sort of
Speaker 2: the faith alone or soul of fee to a crowd
Speaker 2: because apart from Paul, who unabashedly says that the Lord
Speaker 2: will render each man according to his deeds. Now we
Speaker 2: have Christ speaking his own words and telling those who
Speaker 2: hear him at the time of judgment, our fate will
Speaker 2: be revealed by our deeds. And this shouldn't shock us. Really,
Speaker 2: I mean, we can unclutch our pearls even if we
Speaker 2: come from that background, because we know that James told
Speaker 2: us clearly, faith without works is dead. Faith without works
Speaker 2: is that you can't talk about faith.
Speaker 4: Without talking about the works that flow from that kind
Speaker 4: of faith. Nowhere in today's gospel reading does Christ suggest
Speaker 4: that we're going to be judged by some sort of
Speaker 4: abstract conception of our faith. But rather it's that our
Speaker 4: deeds on our time on earth will reveal our faith.
Speaker 2: James said, you have faith and I have works. Show
Speaker 2: me your faith without works, and I will show you
Speaker 2: my faith by my works. The two can't be separated.
Speaker 2: And what ought to be most important here, and I
Speaker 2: say this as a man with a family full of
Speaker 2: Protestants and non denominationals, is that the utter rejection of
Speaker 2: good works in Western Christianity is a dangerous spiritual trap
Speaker 2: and it can ensnare the people that we love the most.
Speaker 2: I'm talking to you today as Orthodox Christians or Orthodox
Speaker 2: catech humans. And what I really want to do is
Speaker 2: open the door and shout it to you know, everyone
Speaker 2: on the street who never bothers to drive a few
Speaker 2: driveways over and come to church as well. Open the
Speaker 2: doors and shout them and say, you know, good works
Speaker 2: are necessary. They're not of themselves salvithic, but that doesn't
Speaker 2: mean that they're not needed. When faith in works become inseparable,
Speaker 2: the one who seeks to separate them is usually one
Speaker 2: who's lacking on either one end or the other, either
Speaker 2: a lack of works or a lack of faith. If
Speaker 2: you have the faith in the God of the Bible,
Speaker 2: you can't help but do good works out of the
Speaker 2: love for mankind. We understand of salvation ar theosis to
Speaker 2: be accomplished by the synergy of God and man through
Speaker 2: the mercy of God. Of course, God offers his grace
Speaker 2: and calls on us to cooperate with it through our faith,
Speaker 2: living it out in repentance in faith and yes, in
Speaker 2: good works. Now, while there's no benefit to us pondering
Speaker 2: whether there's some formula for salvation based on these works
Speaker 2: that are listed in the Gospel reading, a very fair
Speaker 2: question to ask is whether these items that mentioned by
Speaker 2: Christ in the reading, whether these factors constitute the exhaustive
Speaker 2: list of the criteria by which we'll be judged. And
Speaker 2: the answer to that is rather apparently no, certainly not.
Speaker 2: The list that Christ gives in the Gospels a prophetic
Speaker 2: foretelling of the judgment, and it's intended to communicate the
Speaker 2: expected life of a faithful Orthodox Christian. It's not a checklist,
Speaker 2: and thinking of it that way.
Speaker 3: Is missing the point. We are to do good to others.
Speaker 2: Why not because there's a checklist, not because Christ gave.
Speaker 3: Us this and today's costumer.
Speaker 2: We're to do good to others because our God is
Speaker 2: good and we must be transformed in love to be
Speaker 2: like him, which is to be good all good. The
Speaker 2: criteria given by Christ in today's Gospel reading simply reflect
Speaker 2: the goodness that we need to be filled with. Should
Speaker 2: we do those things? Yes, whenever the opportunity is given
Speaker 2: to us? What else should we do?
Speaker 3: Well? The list could run two thousands good.
Speaker 2: How many opportunities do we have to love to serve,
Speaker 2: to minister to our neighbor every single day? And how
Speaker 2: many times do we find other things to do instead?
Speaker 2: And why it can't be due to for God doesn't
Speaker 2: demand that we do all. He demands that we do
Speaker 2: what we can right. Christ doesn't say I was sick
Speaker 2: and you didn't heal me. He doesn't say I was
Speaker 2: in prison and you didn't bail me out. He just
Speaker 2: asks us to do what we can do to visit
Speaker 2: to comfort. Saint John Christen says, being gracious requires only
Speaker 2: what is within our power, and even less than that
Speaker 2: at times, so that we have more to exist to
Speaker 2: exert through our generosity in the future and blessed the
Speaker 2: Apholt tells us that notwithstanding the inexhaustible list of the
Speaker 2: ways in which we may become more like God, more good,
Speaker 2: more christ Like, there's still a reason why the criteria
Speaker 2: Christ listed are sending us a message.
Speaker 3: To care for the poor and the needy.
Speaker 2: He writes, By the least brethren, Christ means all the poor,
Speaker 2: for every poor man is Christ's brother, for the very
Speaker 2: reason that Christ to spend his life in poverty. He says,
Speaker 2: see also God's righteousness, how he acclaims the saints, and
Speaker 2: see the good disposition of their mind, how they deny
Speaker 2: even having.
Speaker 3: Ever served Christ.
Speaker 2: But the Lord accepts as for himself the things that
Speaker 2: were done for the poor. So yes, the list gives
Speaker 2: examples as opposed to the universe of good we may do.
Speaker 2: But we should also give that list special attention for
Speaker 2: those that are close to Christ. Finally, I want to
Speaker 2: speak briefly about a bit of very specific and meaningful
Speaker 2: language the evangelist Matthew records in this gospel reading.
Speaker 3: When Christ speaks to those who are.
Speaker 2: On his right side, those who have done good, those
Speaker 2: who are going to be accounted. Among the sheep, he says, come, you,
Speaker 2: blessed of my Father inherit, the kingdom prepared for you
Speaker 2: you from the foundation of the world. But when he
Speaker 2: speaks to the goats, those that are headed to internal punishment,
Speaker 2: he says, depart from me, you cursed into everlasting fire,
Speaker 2: prepared for the devil and his angels. Understand from this
Speaker 2: distinction God's intended relationship with mankind. When Christ welcomes the
Speaker 2: righteous into his celestial realm, he describes as a domain
Speaker 2: that was prepared for them since the world's creation, a
Speaker 2: realm of boundless joy that he intended from the beginning
Speaker 2: of time for mankind, the object of his love, and
Speaker 2: the intended cohabitant of his kingdom. However, when he declares
Speaker 2: the judgment upon the condemned, his words take a markedly
Speaker 2: different tone. He describes as an eternal flame prepared not
Speaker 2: for them, but for the demons and evil spirits, their
Speaker 2: partners in wrongdoings. This is not a place intended for man.
Speaker 2: God never willed for man to be lost in the pit,
Speaker 2: But the condemned, through their own negligence, their own hard hardness,
Speaker 2: their own lack of love, they have willingly thrown themselves
Speaker 2: into it.
Speaker 3: The unfortunate men and women.
Speaker 2: Now realize that it is they themselves that are the
Speaker 2: sole cause of their own torment and anguish brothers and sisters,
Speaker 2: as we draw ever closer to great lent, the Orthodox
Speaker 2: Church gives us its version of fire and brimstone today,
Speaker 2: but it's very different on our end, because we know
Speaker 2: we know that God intends mankind to dwell with him,
Speaker 2: that he has prepared his kingdom for us from before
Speaker 2: the foundation of.
Speaker 3: The world, and we know that all He asks of
Speaker 3: us is.
Speaker 2: To do what is within our power for those that
Speaker 2: we encounter, and so laid before us is another message
Speaker 2: that whispers prepare, be ready at all times for that
Speaker 2: stranger who may be an angel and aware see Christ.
Speaker 3: And the beggar not your reprobate over.
Speaker 2: Older brother, who needs to be visited, who needs clothing,
Speaker 2: who needs shelter, just a near to listen to, a
Speaker 2: shoulder to lean on. Always be ready to answer those
Speaker 2: questions in your day to day life.
Speaker 3: Do you love God? Do you love your neighbor as yourself?
Speaker 2: Because when you boil it down, that's what all those
Speaker 2: criteria that Christ gave us are.
Speaker 3: Love God, love your neighbor as yourself. And on this
Speaker 3: we will be judged.
Speaker 2: And no, Christ doesn't ask the question intellectually or in
Speaker 2: the abstract.
Speaker 3: He is true to his word. It's our words.
Speaker 2: Our deeds are a lack thereof by which we essentially
Speaker 2: will be judging ourselves. So as we depart today, may
Speaker 2: the same God who is prepared before time his kingdom
Speaker 2: for us to share and give us, ever open and
Speaker 2: ever ready hearts to truly serve.
Speaker 3: Those in need.
Speaker 2: May he strengthen us in our faith, and may he
Speaker 2: bring it the full flower and the glorious deeds of
Speaker 2: love done for His name. So we on that dread
Speaker 2: day may here come you bless it, My father and
Speaker 2: find ourselves in number and on one of the sheep,
Speaker 2: and the name of the Father and Son, the Od Spirit.
Speaker 3: Glory to Jesus Christ.
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