Adapted from a sermon by H.E. Archbishop Angelos
Our Lord speaks to His disciples and says, “those who have riches, cannot enter into The Kingdom.” (Matthew 19:23)
And this leaves them confused. What do riches have to do with The Kingdom?
Then our Lord clarifies. He says, Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!” (Mark 10:24).
Trust is something we cannot go through life without experiencing to some degree. Depending on what we trust in, we find varying difficulties that come with trust. It is easy to trust, but there is fear that our trust is misplaced and will lead to our demise.
What do we trust in? How do we trust?
This year, like many, many things, we are evaluating and re-evaluating many things. One of them is trust…
We have trusted in so much in the past. We trusted in our political systems. We have trusted in our economical systems. We have trusted even in our health systems. We have trusted in our education. We have trusted in our welfare. We have trusted in SO much, and THAT became our foundation. We felt living in certain communities, if we had these safeguards, if we had these institutions, if we had these systems, we were safe. What could possibly go wrong? We looked at other countries that didn’t have these things and thought, “you can’t be safe! Because you don’t have our safeguards. You don’t have the things we trust in.” Yet, when everything fell, where was our trust?
It is interesting that during this time we have had places of worship open and close and yet there has been a greater apartness from governments, authorities, leaders and policy makers to keep our churches open, our places of worship open.
Why?
Because, they found that those who have trust in OTHER things, live a stronger life. They live more affirmed, they live more confident and comforted. They found that when people trust in things that go beyond what is visible in this world it gives greater stability and strength and security. So we found that our trust, OUR trust, was more than just in those things. That’s why in the gospels we read, when we are tested through fire and through water, we will be saved. The fire and water we have experienced during this year is beyond anyone’s expectation, beyond anyone’s understanding, beyond anyone’s ability.
Even if we were asked at the beginning to actually withstand it. Yet, we have come through it. We are still moving through it. Why is that? Because our trust is in so much more. Our trust was, and continues to be in a God who is not changed by pandemic. He is not shaped by catastrophes. He is not affected by ‘ifs.’ His interest does not increase and decrease in humanity based on what we are experiencing. His abilities do not increase and decrease based on experiences around him. He is above all, He is all in all. That’s why when our trust is in Him, it is unshakeable. It is immovable. It is indestructible. Because it is a trust based on things beyond this world.
Imagine if someone had his or her trust ONLY on riches. What would be their situation today if they had lost all their riches, or their work. If someone’s trust was only in his or her strength, what would happen if they lost that strength. That’s why our Lord says, “those who trust in riches…”
Yes, we must trust in things around us. We trust people, loved ones around us, family, friends, community, our clergy, our servants. We trust them. Yes, we trust in the systems around us. I trust that when a light is red in front of me, I stop, and when it’s green it is safe to drive. I trust in the fact that when I look at my house, no one should break in because there is a system of law and order. In this country I trust that if I become sick, I will go to hospital and I will be treated. We must trust in those things, but we cannot trust ONLY in those things. They cannot be the foundation in our trust, because with all those things (as much as we did not expect it) those things have actually moved and changed. Those things that we held at the core of our identity have shifted.
And yet, God is immovable.
So the message we have today is from our Lord through this young man in the gospel whom he tells “go sell what you have…give to the poor, give all that up and follow me.” Because if you want to inherit The Kingdom, yes you can have all those things, but if you don’t follow Me then none of that will help you. So as we live today’s life, let us enjoy what we have, let us be thankful for it, be thankful for our health, for our lives, be thankful for our family, our friends, our community, our work, be thankful for all we have because it is all given BY God. It is not wrong, it is not bad, it is not evil. These are all things given to us by God, enjoy them! Enjoy them in the understanding that at the root of all of this, at its foundation is God. If God is separated from any of it, then it becomes a distraction, it becomes an obstacle, it becomes a false hope, it becomes a false security, it becomes a false confidence. Because our confidence is in that which is immovable.
When a huge ship has to come into port and they have to stop, it’s thousands of tonnes, it has to be tied and moored with something that is solid. We need to be tied and moored to that which is solid. Our God is the port of our salvation. He is the anchor of our faith. He is the security we have at all times in all things. In Him, and in Him alone, is the confidence that will never be shaken, the comfort that will never be taken away, the peace that cannot be stolen and the life that he has given us can never be conquered by anything else.
For in Him is life, hope and resurrection.