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Our Greatest Error

Our Greatest Error

By Bethany Kaldas

‘Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning,
For in You do I trust;
Cause me to know the way in which I should walk,
For I lift up my soul to You.’
Psalm 143:8

What do you think the greatest pitfall of Christians today is? That’s probably too broad a question, but try to think about it. Is it that we’re too insulated? Or perhaps we’re becoming too secular? Or that we are compromising our morals and traditions too much—or not enough?

Admit it, modern Christians have their problems. We’re confused by the world we live in, and it can be difficult to see what’s a genuine problem and what is simply a sign of growth. But there is one mistake we make all too frequently that I think has gone neglected in the face of the flashier problems in modern Christianity. It’s a subject we tend to mention a lot—but I don’t think it’s something we live. It’s the foundation of every Sundayschool answer ever, and yet, how many of us actually believe it, if we’re really being honest with ourselves?

It is my humble opinion that our greatest error as Christians is not that we are not yet perfect in virtue, but that we all too often forget that God actually loves us. I speak of myself first, of course.

It’s a surprisingly easy thing to forget when the world seems constantly to tell us otherwise. When people snap at you at work, when nobody seems to appreciate your efforts, when you feel unwelcome in your own home or discover that people you once thought were friends or at least trusted companions did not feel the same way about you. When the world rejects you, it’s easy to start rejecting yourself and believe that you simply don’t meet the standards of love.

‘I kept running around it in large or small circles, always looking for someone or something able to convince me of my Belovedness.
Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the “Beloved”. Being the Beloved expresses the core truth of our existence.’
Henri J.M. Nouwen, Life of the Beloved

It’s important to realise that, now more than ever, our society is basically founded on dissatisfaction—dissatisfaction with what you have, where you are, and—worst of all, perhaps—who you are. The world will tell you you’re not good enough—but not because it knows anything about you. It says this because it wants something from you. In this sense, the world will only ever take from you—it will never give anything back. It will drain you and drain, more and more, until there is very little of you left. The world fills your head with voices that tell you that if you just do one more thing you’ll finally feel loved. But it never delivers. It only gets worse.

‘Those same voices are not unfamiliar to me. They are always there and, always, they reach into those inner places where I question my own goodness and doubt my self-worth. They suggest that I am not going to be loved without my having earned it through determined efforts and hard work. They want me to prove to myself and others that I am worth being loved, and they keep pushing me to do everything possible to gain acceptance. They deny loudly that love is a totally free gift. I leave home every time I lose faith in the voice that calls me the Beloved and follow the voices that offer a great variety of ways to win the love I so much desire.’
Henri J.M. Nouwen, Return of the Prodigal Son

We do too much to try and prove that we are worth something—many sins are founded in our insecurity that we are not beautiful, we are not worthy of affection or time or admiration, that we are not lovable.

But the world does not know you, it does not care about you, it will never love you, no matter what you do. So why do we expect it to give us any assurance, any security?

‘Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.’
1 John 3:1

The reality of God’s love for us is not just something we tell children to comfort them. It is not something we tell ourselves for the sake of comfort, either. The love of God is not there to make you comfortable (in fact, in this world, it might have the opposite effect). God’s love for us is the foundation of Christian life, it is the reason for anything and everything we believe in. And when I say this, I am not referring to some general blanket of love thrown over the world by some impersonal force of divine love. Divine love is never impersonal.

‘He died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less.’
C. S. Lewis

‘You may fear that the Lord has passed you by, but it is not so: he who counts the stars, and calls them by their names, is in no danger of forgetting his own children. He knows your case as thoroughly as if you were the only creature he ever made, or the only saint he ever loved. Approach him and be at peace.’
Charles Spurgeon

But forgetting that God loves you has consequences that go beyond your own well-being.

‘We love Him because He first loved us.’
1 John 4:19

Loving God at all is only possible when you realise that God has loved you first. From before your birth, from the beginning of time, the Creator of the universe—the One who made countless galaxies, dazzling cascades, glistening mountain peaks and vast oceans—still thought that His world was incomplete without you in it. We have no love in and of ourselves—we are too weak for this—our love for God can only ever be a small offshoot of the unfathomable love He has for us, the same love that whispers to you in every breeze, ‘It is My joy that you are here.’

‘This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.’
John 15:12

And if we are unable to love God without acknowledging His love for us, then how could we ever love others? There is an indescribable beauty to that moment—that moment when you realise that God’s love for you—an infinitely powerful and unique love—frees you from all those insecurities and doubts and resentments that hindered your love for your neighbour. Because realising that God loves you—and loves you the most—does not in any way minimise His love for those around you. And those whom God loves, we too can love. We can show them, too, that they are children of the Most High, beautiful, unique and priceless in the eyes of the One who brought them forth from the dust. But to be able to show this wonderful truth to others, we must first believe it about ourselves.

‘When we claim and constantly reclaim the truth of being the chosen ones, we soon discover within ourselves a deep desire to reveal to others their own chosenness. Instead of making us feel that we are better, more precious or valuable than others, our awareness of being chosen opens our eyes to the chosenness of others. That is the great joy of being chosen: the discovery that others are chosen as well. In the house of God there are many mansions. There is a place for everyone – a unique, special place. Once we deeply trust that we ourselves are precious in God’s eyes, we are able to recognize the preciousness of others and their unique places in God’s heart.’
Henri J.M. Nouwen, Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World

God’s love for you—you specifically—is infinite, endless, unique and perfect and always, always there, calling for you, longing for you. He will follow you to all those dark and lonely places you go to hide. He is not playing hard to get. He is not waiting for you to become perfect, or even good. He is longing for you. He is calling you out of the shadows and into His love.

Will you follow His voice?

‘Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.’
Psalm 139:7-10

Being different

St Luke’s transcribed sermon by David Nada

Coming into the new year, we approach Christmas and the birth of our Lord. The church in her wisdom- during this time- gives for us the gospel of the birth of Saint John the Baptist.

It was the job of Saint John the Baptist to prepare the way for Christ. I think it’s a really important time in the year that we get to hear and see this gospel. When I read the gospel for today’s liturgy there was a verse that stuck out to me which didn’t usually stick out, and that was verse 61;

“his mother answered and said, ‘no he shall be called John’, but they said to her, ‘there is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.’ So then they made signs to his father that he would what he would have him called.”

The very first thing that stuck out to me there was that even from birth and even from naming, St John’s life was different. He was called to be different. The usual tradition at the time was to call your son after his father or someone in the family. But from the begging of his life, Saint John was called to be different. If you see what his purpose of his life was- which was to carry the light of Christ and to prepare the way for Christ- then this is a calling for all of us. We are all called to be different and I think sometimes being different can be quite scary in our day and age.

And recently someone who came up to me had just finished their HSC and they said to me, ‘I want to study law and business but should I study medicine because that in itself is a Christ-like profession in that you’re constantly helping people and healing people.’ This made me realize that in every action that we do -regardless if it’s the action that we do at work or with the people around us- we have an opportunity to be different. There is obviously an assumption that in jobs in business that it’s like it’s a dog eat dog world and you have to be stepping over people to kind of get your way, but that’s because It is not normal to do things that are Christian and it’s not normal to turn the other cheek.

I really wanted to focus today on this concept of being different as something that we as Christians should really take pride in that we should really take pride in being able to stand out and to be the salt of the earth. We give the world its flavour. We give the world its light. So, then that brings me on to the second verse in this in this gospel, which really caught my attention, which is what is the result of being different? In verse 76 to 79 of today’s Gospel, we read;

“And you child would be called the Prophet of the Highest for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the remission of their sins through the tender mercy of our God with which the day-spring from on high has visited us to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

I think is very clear that there’s a lot of sadness and darkness in the world around us. Never in the history of humanity have we had the same rates of depression, the same rates of suicide, the wars that we see around us, the social injustices. There is a lot of darkness in the world. So, we may take great pride in things which we’ve worked hard for in our life, and rightly so in terms of our work and our families. But really, there is great work to be done and the harvest truly is great, to be different, to be a light unto the world. To show people the love of Christ, which is a radical love that changes lives. We see that more so in Christ’s life than anyone else. It was Christ who when he sat with the tax collectors and the adulterers they said, why are you doing that? That is not normal. It was Christ who walked hours and hours in the middle of the sun to see the Samaritan woman. It was Christ to constantly went out of his way to show the world that to be a light you have to be different. And if we look at this kind of motif of ‘the light’, we see the Old-Testament-equivalent is the ‘minora’ or the ‘lampstand’, that we read of in Exodus. Exodus 25 Christ God gives very clear instructions on how to build this light, and it’s extremely specific. I think what it calls to is that all of us are in different walks of life. All of us are placed in different parts of life and different workplace, in different family environments, in different countries, and in different cities, and in every single place we are called to be this light.

So, there is kind of three parts to this; there is why, how, and what.

1. Why am I called to lead this life?

Father Tadros Yacoub Malaty says that “The light sorry the light given by this ‘manora’ in the dark tent would have been a powerful symbol of God’s light and holiness in our dark and sinful world.” So that is the why, if we are to draw people to Christ if you are to give people the gift that is the peace and love of Christ that we are all able to partake of in communion; the why is to share this light with others to not just keep it to ourselves.

So, it’s very easy to say ‘okay, we need to be different, we need to be a light on the world. I need to be the salt of the world’, but;

2. How do I become light if I feel like I’m dark inside, or if I feel like I’m full of sin to think of who am I to bring people or what am I?

It’s quite a hard question to answer, how do I become a light? I think we’re very blessed in this time as we approach the nativity that the how is very clear, that the how is said in a very simple verse;

“draw near to Me and I will draw a near to you.”

Pope Kyrillos instituted the idea of having a liturgy every single day. I guess the theologians have kind of studied that since have come up with this concept called theosis. The idea is that the more we partake of the body and blood of Christ, the more we have communion the more we become like Christ. So that if every day I wake up and I pray then I go to church and I have communion, then throughout my day I’m thinking of Christ, then at night before I sleep, I read my Bible and I pray, I’m constantly drawing near to Christ.

“draw near to Me and I will draw near to you, partake of Me and I will be in you and you will be of me so that we carry that light.”

So if I want to know how to become a light to people, how do I behave so in order to uphold what we hear that sometimes you are the only gospel one gets the chance to read. In order to know how to truly be that gospel, the answer is in drawing near to Christ, in being Christ’s like so that in every action, in every day, in every word, and in every interaction with everyone around meI am being Christ’s like. And this can only be achieved through drawing near to Christ through consistent and constant prayer.

I really love father Sam and father Dan who on New Year’s Eve here at Saint Luke’s instituted this idea that every month, there’s a certain action and as a church we all practice that action. That action for this specific month of January was to do one act of kindness every single day, for instance, if someone drops something at the shopping center you pick it up for them. These are kind of the Christ-like little lights which may mean nothing to you, but to the person who receives the kindness could mean everything, and has possibly changed their day, and maybe even their life.

So then that brings us onto the what- The why is to show people the light of Christ, the how is to draw near to Christ in prayer, in communion, in Psalms, in singing praises. And then that brings us to the what- the only what that is important to all of us is the what of love. That is the only way really to draw people in, to practice love the way that Christ taught us. To finish off this idea of what I just wanted to read Luke 6:32 to 36, which is really how to be a Christian. How to be different from the world, because these practices of love that are outlined in these verses are not normal. These are not things that the world would normally teach us. These are;

“But if you love those who love you what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? for even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. But love your enemies do good, lend a helping hand hoping for nothing in return and your reward will be great and you will be sons of the highest. For he is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore, be merciful just as your father is merciful.”

We also read;

“Turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, give someone your cloak, and do not ask for it back.”

These are practices that the world finds radical. These are practices that really distinguish us from everyone else. These are the practices by which we are called to be different.

So if I want to know why- the answer is to spread the light of Christ and to be different. The how – is to draw near to Christ and he will draw near to me. The what is to show love to the world that the world does not expect that nor teach us and to do good in that way.

The result of all this is written in today’s Gospel, which says “to guide our feet into the way of peace”; Luke 1:79. St Cyril the Great says of this verse “The world was knocked about in the very dark mazes and in the shameful ignorance. The cloud of ignorance forbade the multitude of people from seeing the Lord Jesus the redeemer. He is the God of truth and justice. The Lord of all was manifested to the Israelites, a light to them and a son to their souls”.

Glory be to God forever Amen.

WHAT’S YOUR WAITING STYLE?

Originally seen on Fr Anthony’s blog (11 March. 2020)

“The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” (Lamentations 3:25-26)

I HATE WAITING! I’m not alone am I? We all hate waiting don’t we? Raise your hand if you’ve done any of these in the past week…

Honked at the car in front of you the second that the light turns green if they don’t start moving immediately?
Put a plate of food in the microwave for 30 seconds and then stopped it after 27 ½ seconds – unable to wait any longer?
Pushed the elevator button 15 times while waiting for it come – somehow thinking that if you push it more, it’ll come faster (makes perfect sense in our heads doesn’t it?)

WE HATE WAITING! We hate waiting at the grocery store. We hate waiting in traffic. And we hate waiting on God.

It seems like such a waste of time, doesn’t it? Life would be soooooo much better if we didn’t have to wait. If we had WHAT we wanted WHEN we wanted it. Right here…right now… no waiting. Give it to me NOW NOW NOW!!!

If that’s how you feel sometimes, take comfort in knowing that you are not alone. Impatience is the plague of our generation – it’s the fruit of living in a fast food, instant coffee, on demand world. We all struggle with it. And we see its ugly fruit all over our lives – in the form of worry, anxiety, complaining, negativity, fear, and a general lack of peace.

Unfortunately for us, God likes waiting. It’s one of His favorite tools to use in making us better people and more like Him.

“See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient.” (James 5:7)

Like a farmer, God is trying to produce a harvest in our lives. He’s trying to give His children good things and produce in them fruits worthy of a child of the King. And as a farmer, He produces those fruits by planting seeds – not full grown trees. And seeds take time to produce fruit.

In other words, a farmer knows that FRUIT REQUIRES WAITING. No waiting = no fruit. It’s that simple.

Examine your own life. Surely there isn’t a soul out there today who isn’t waiting on God for something? An answer to a prayer…a solution to a problem…a light to shine in the midst of a dark dark situation. We’re all waiting for something.

The question isn’t WHAT you’re waiting for, but HOW you’re waiting for it?

Are you waiting patiently – as a farmer knowing that it will take time to produce fruit?

Or are you waiting impatiently – like the maniac pushing the elevator button 15 times thinking that the more he pushes it, the more the little elevator elves inside will realize that he’s really in a hurry and bring the elevator faster?

The prophet Jeremiah says that our waiting on God should be characterized by hope and quietness:

“The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” (Lamentations 3:25-26)

How are you waiting? Patiently or impatiently? Quietly or complainingly? With hope or with despair? It might just be that HOW you’re waiting will impact HOW LONG you’re waiting as well.

(read that sentence again and let that one sink in – it’s pretty deep)

I just read a nice quote the other day that said that “even when our problems are over our head, they’re still under His feet.” No doubt about that. That’s the spirit that should characterize our waiting.

How would you characterize your “waiting” style? How do you think God feels when He sees His child (YOU) waiting in that way?

(c) Fr Anthony Messeh (2020). What’s Your Waiting Style? by Anonymous. Available at http://www.franthony.com/blog/whats-your-waiting-style.

GOD’S SIGN LANGUAGE

December 1, 2017

Originally seen on Fr Anthony’s blog (1 December. 2017)

This is a guest post from Peri Koussa – a fifth year PharmD student at MCPHS University in Boston. Aside from being a future health care professional, Peri is also – in her own words – “a closet poet and strong believer in the power of words.” You can see more of Peri’s work by checking her out on SoundCloud. And if you too are interested in guest posting on my blog, please visit my Guest Post guidelines for more info.

How often do you ask God for “a sign”? Are you as guilty of it as I am? I say things like: “If God wills it”, or “God, I’m putting this in Your hands”, or just simply “Lord, give me a sign.”

I like to include God in every little decision that I make, hence the constant fishing for reassurance by asking for a sign. But it’s listening to His answer that always drives me nuts. I can never tell if/when He’s responding. My struggle is always — how do I discern if this is a spiritual sign or just a plain old sign that I’m trying to see spiritually?

Most of us are probably caught asking for a sign when choosing a life partner. I think it’s easily the biggest commitment you could make, (second to having a child), so we find divine intervention to be most crucial.

But you know what? It’s not always black and white. Sometimes who you’re meant to spend the rest of your life with might be as clear as night and day, but other times, it simply isn’t.

God’s not cupid. He doesn’t use a bow and arrow to match you with the Adam or Eve of your dreams. God uses the Holy Spirit. I think most people misinterpret, “listen to your heart,” because your heart isn’t your feelings, it’s the Holy Spirit that lives within you.

Thus we need to stop looking with our EYES and start listening with our HEARTS.

And, yes, there are other points in life where we ask God for a sign. Points that make us wish our life paths were more clear. But, as I sit here and commiserate, I’m reminded of Jonah and Abraham, whose stories reassure me that God’s plan will always prevail no matter the sign.

Jonah didn’t have to ask for a sign, God clearly said to him: “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you” (Jonah 3:2).

But despite how clear God was, Jonah ignored Him. God had a plan for him, though, and no matter how hard Jonah would’ve tried, God was going to make sure that His plan for him was the one that prevailed. And it did.

God sent Abraham the sign that he was longing for in the last second; “Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!…Do not lay a hand on the boy” (Genesis 22:10-12).

Talk about perfect timing…

Now you might be thinking to yourself, “I wish God’s signs were that clear for me!”

Maybe they are. God’s sign language is the Holy Spirit that resides within you, and there’s nothing louder than that voice in your head. So listen to Him as He guides you over every speed bump.

It’s human nature to become fixated on our paths and obsess over interpreting signs. But if we listen to our hearts and hear what God has to say, it’ll become easier and easier for us to understand what these signs mean.

After all, as Solomon once said: “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps” (Proverbs 16:9)

(c) Fr Anthony Messeh (2018). God’s Sign Language by Peri Moussa. Available at http://www.franthony.com/blog/gods-sign-language.

No Room at the Inn

No Room at the Inn

By Marc Eskander

It was bittersweet attending Christmas in Church watching people be turned away at the gates due to exceeding the limit of people in the church.

Yet one very poignant image kept coming to mind. The young Saint Mary and her betrothed, Joseph, frantically running around Bethlehem in the dark of night. Mary, heavily pregnant, tired, in or very close to labour. Joseph, a man with the world on his shoulders, tasked with ensuring this one moment in history goes according to plan, trying desperately to find something resembling anything close to being worthy of the birth of our Lord. They are turned away at every place they visit.

“No room, sorry”

“Are you crazy? It’s census, of course there’s no room”, “we’re all booked out sorry.”

Sound familiar?

“Yeah I think I might have some space, but to be honest, I don’t think you’ll like it. It’s dirty, there’s animals and their droppings everywhere, it smells. It’s not ready to cater for the birth of a baby, no one has ever slept in it apart from animals. I don’t really give it that much attention because it just gets dirty all the time.”

Exhausted, and with barely the energy to think of an alternative, Joseph musters a response, and hurriedly rushes the Virgin Mary to her birthing suite.

When you are turned away at the gates of our church, count yourself lucky to be in the company of our Lord. Turned away everywhere they went, our Lord chose humility, He chose a stable. Hardly fitting for a king, yet it was God’s wish. And it still is. God wishes to come into our hearts that are undeserving.

Like the stable, they are dirty, smelly and haven’t been cleaned in a long time. We cover them with hay and straw but the filth lays beneath. We hide them to everyone and don’t really think anyone should see them or know about them. We are so concerned that someone will come in and expose everything. We are despaired that the stable is too dirty for our Lord.
Yet, it is precisely here, that the Lord wishes to enter. He wishes to enter it with his Mother Mary. He wishes to bring the hope and joy of the Shepherds, who for hundreds of years had waited with hope for the coming of their Saviour. He wishes to bring the gifts of the Wise Men, royalty, holiness and His glorious suffering. He wishes to place the star of Bethlehem right over you, glorifying Himself through this miserable stable.

So rejoice, the true meaning of Christmas isn’t the Christmas Eve Liturgy, or the gifts or the food or the laughter. It’s that today Christ “became man so that man might become God.” When life doesn’t go according to plan, when you have no where to rest, when you’re worried that your stable is too far gone, too dirty for Christ to make a home in, remember;

Today He has accepted to come into YOUR stable. Today, Christ brings his Holy Family to make a home in you specifically. To sweep up the filth, to clean the manger, to make room for Joy, Peace and Wisdom. Today Christ began the journey to Golgotha to save you. Today, Christ is Born.

Visited by Glory this Christmas

Visited by Glory this Christmas

Transcribed sermon by Andrew Selim

Passage Luke 1:61-80

Throughout the Bible, there are a number of praises (doxologies) to God. Doxology comes from two Greek words; ‘Doxa’ meaning glory, and ‘ology’ meaning saying or word. A doxology is an explanation of praise or glory; a short hymn of praise to the Lord.

Within the church, there are different types of melodies for different types of doxologies. The Trinitarian doxology, for example, is sung every hour of the book of Prayers (the Agpia). There are also seasonal doxologies sung at a particular feast date. Finally, there are doxologies that commemorate specific saints.

There is a theme of doxology throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament, that the church reflects throughout the year. One of the most famous doxologies of the Old Testament is after Moses stretched his hand over the sea, and the sea returns to its original depth. Moses sang a doxology; I will sing to the Lord for He has triumphed gloriously (Exodus 15). Then, Miriam responds with another doxology; Sing to the Lord for He has triumphed gloriously (Exodus 15:20-21).

In the New Testament, we read the doxology of the Virgin Mary herself; my soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour! (Luke 1:46-56).

Finally, on the 4^th Sunday of Kiahk, the final Sunday before the Nativity, the church reads the doxology of St Zacharias. He proclaims this after the birth of his son, John.

Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited and redeemed His people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us.”

He continues on, and you will notice that after the birth of his own son, the doxology is not about John the Baptist, but the coming Messiah.

After nine months of silence, instead of proclaiming the joy of his own son, he proclaims God and the Messiah. John is only mentioned in a few verses toward the end. For centuries, the Jews had languished over the visitation from God.

For Zacharias, he contemplates saying, that God, “has visited and redeemed His people.” In the Greek translation, it is to look into a situation in order to help; to help someone who is suffering and has been forgotten or overlooked. In the Bible, we see visitations from God to people who were suffering and forgotten.

The Lord visits His people in their time of need, when they feel like they have been forgotten by all else. As we approach Christmas, the Lord visits you and I, when He was incarnated in the flesh. David the prophet spoke of this visitation saying, “what is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?” (Psalm 8:4).

Has God visited you yet? Are we praying like Jeremiah saying, “Remember me and visit me!” (Jeremiah 15:15). Has God visited not just our bodies, but our hearts and make it His temple and His home? Has He found His way into the innermost parts of your being; your thoughts, your intentions? We don’t want just a transient visitor, but a permanent resident.

The Lord always takes care of the house that He visits and lives in, as He strengthens, glorifies and beautifies it. The Lord visits and, “raises a horn of salvation.”

When we read the scripture in relation to a horn, it is the bony structured that protrudes from an animal’s head but in the Old Testament there were various purposes to a horn. They were uses as vessels to carry oil and as trumpets. David also writes, “But my horn You have exalted like a wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil” (Psalm 92:10). Horns are not just for oil or trumpets, they are also symbols of power. The horn of a king is his saving strength.

In the Old Testament tabernacle there were four horns on the altar of burnt offering which was carried to the Temple. The horns were sprinkled with blood during the ceremonies to make atonement for sin, and to purify the people from their sin.

When Zacharias says, “You have raised a horn of salvation,” he means that God has raised the power of salvation. The horns on the altar of burnt offering was not just for atonement, but also a place of refuge. As it is written, “Now Adonijah was afraid of Solomon; so he arose, and went and took hold of the horns of the altar” (1 Kings 1:50). Adonijah clinged to the horns of the altar where he knew he would be safe. No one in the Old Testament would dare to kill on the altar of offering.

Christ is the horn of salvation that we cling to when we are in trouble and in need of refuge. King David also writes, “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold” (Psalm 18:2). Now, during uncertainty, we have the horn of salvation that we run to and seek refuge in.

Zacharias concludes, “Through the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.” (Luke 1:78-79). The Messiah as the dayspring, or dawn; the rising sun. The sun/light is one of the most important titles of Christ, this is reflected in the Psalm that is linked to the Gospel; “Restore us, O God; Cause Your face to shine” (Psalm 80:3).

The last words of King David when he spoke of Christ the Messiah were, “And he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises, A morning without clouds” (2 Samuel 23:4). This is exactly like what Zacharias said when he proclaimed that Christ would be the light of the morning.

In the twelve healings by prophets of the Old Testament, no one was given sight, only Christ did this. They raised the dead, they healed the lepers, but they did not give sight to the blind, for this was the mission of the Messiah, to give sight to those living in the darkness of sin. As it was prophesied, “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened” (Isaiah 35:5). Of all the healing miracles of Christ, the majority were given sight to the blind, for Christ was the Dayspring, and the giver of light.

Christ is the light to our darkness. When John the Baptist sent his disciples to ask if Christ was the Messiah they were waiting for, Christ responded, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see” (Luke 7:22).

We can forgive a child that is afraid of the dark, the real tragedy is when men are afraid of the light. Light came into the world, but was shunned by men, for they loved the dark. Is there darkness in my life; of fear, of stress, of anxiety, of sin? There is so much darkness, from within and without, the Lord says that He will light the lamps of our darkness.

Let us be enlightened, and become not what we are but what we once were. When Christ is our Dayspring, we no longer need the sun or moon, for He will be the everlasting light and glory.

The Rewards of Humility

The Rewards of Humility

Adapted from a sermon by Fr Elijah Iskander

Passage: Luke 1: 39-56

The theme of the month of Kiahk is humility. The passage of today is another example of this. St Elizabeth, St Mary and St John the Baptist are all great examples of humility.

“Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time” – 1 Peter 5:5-6.

This is the roadmap to humility. If I want to be humble, let me start with the first natural opportunities I have every day. I can submit to my elders. For the children, be humble before your parents. We all must remember that we never stop being children to our parents, even to our 40s, 50s and beyond!

If you are a student, it is natural for you to be humble before your teacher. If you are a staff member, it is natural to be humble before those in authority. If you are a husband, it is natural for you to be humble before your wife. I can never really be humble unless I start with the natural opportunities I am given.

If as a student, I am arrogant when dealing with my teachers, or if as a child, I am arrogant with my parents, then how am I supposed to go beyond that and be humble with someone at the same place as me? More still, how could I be humble before those below me, as the Lord was?

If I want to be humble, do I first make the most of those natural opportunities? Do I shout back at my parents? Do I disregard the opinion of my boss?

Only when I learn to be humble to those above me, can I move on to the next stages of humility. St Peter then writes to be humble to one another. If I can’t be humble to my mum, how am I supposed to be humble to my sister? Make the most of the natural opportunities and then I will be empowered, by God’s grace, to be humble when it’s a bit harder to be humble to my sister who is older than me, and then even harder still to be humble to my brother who is perhaps younger than me.

If I can’t be humble to my parents then it is impossible to be humble to my siblings!

St Peter writes that we ALL be submissive to one another. We see that when St Mary went with HASTE to visit and take care of her cousin Elizabeth. Because St Mary was humble when she received the message from the archangel Gabriel, it was easy for her to be humble and rush to serve her cousin in her time of need.

If I am not humble, then I am less inclined to take opportunities to serve. St Peter then says to be CLOTHED with humility.

The depth of this lies when we consider the One that was clothed with humility? This was Jesus Himself at the Incarnation. The Creator, the Divine, God Himself, is clothed in humility when He comes down to earth to serve those whom He created. He came as an infant, lower than all. That is to be clothed with humility.

If I cannot submit myself before my elders, if I cannot submit myself to my siblings or co-workers, then how am I supposed to cloth myself with humility? How can I make myself of no reputation, as Christ did (Philippians 2)?

God was clothed with humility, He emptied Himself. He could have said, “I am the Creator, it is impossible for me to come as the created.” Yet He went beyond this and came as the created, and accepted mocking, whipping, slapping, all from whom He had created. How could He accept to born in a manger? How could He accept to run from the earthly king, Herod? He was clothed with humility and does not insist on His rights.

What about me? Do I question how others treat me? Do I question being kept waiting or the manner in which others speak to me? Or, am I clothed with humility?

Even though God is the Creator, He came, as a Man, and accepted, and was obedient till the point of death. If I want to accept this injustice patiently, as Christ did, I have to start with the natural opportunities to be humble. Then I can move on to be humble to those at the same level as me, from there, only then can I be humble where it seems impossible to humble. I can be humble when I am treated unfairly or when I am disrespected.

Why should we do this when it seems so difficult to achieve? For God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble. When I don’t want to be humble because it is not fair, I remember that God gives grace to the humble, and resists the one that would react in pride.

St Mary also says, “He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly.” – Luke 1:51-52.

The proud are scattered, they are put down. It’s not as a punishment, but a wake-up call, an important lesson to return to the Lord. Some of the church fathers says that they must humble themselves, before God humbles them.

The promise of humility comes next- God will exalt the humble in due time. Nobody that has ever humbled themselves for the sake of the Lord has been left regretting their decision. If it is truly for the sake of the Lord that you humble yourself, that you accept ridicule or criticism, that you stay silent in the face of adversity, the promise remains- God will exalt you in due time.

St Mary continues, “He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty.” – Luke 1:53.

If I come to the Lord hungry, then I know that He will fill me. If I come to the Lord thinking I am rich, I am already full then I leave empty. Not as a punishment, but because God cannot fill what is already full.

That They May Be Saved, Even if I Perish

Adapted from a sermon by Fr Daniel Fanous

Passage: Mark 10:17-31

Perhaps the most famous words in this gospel are the words that Christ teaches. He says, “For with God, nothing will be impossible.” But these words are misplaced, misinterpreted, taken out of context, and then used for everyone to put on the walls. I remember when I was studying for my HSC, my mum put these words all over my desk: with God, all things are possible – as if God’s intent and purpose was for me to get the highest possible mark. People say it when they’re going through tough times: with God, all things are possible. And even though it’s beautiful, the problem is that Christ is speaking those words in a very particular context.

Laying down my life for others – that is impossible. It is possible, perhaps, to lay down your life for friends and family, but for people you don’t know, even enemies, it is impossible. That is the context of Christ saying that with God all things are possible. And it’s really important we understand it like that. This entire gospel is a response to a question – a man who is wealthy comes to our Lord and asks: “what shall I do that I might inherit eternal life?” After Christ tells him the commandments, the man says: “all these things I’ve done since my youth” – I have done everything commanded of me. I’ve obeyed the scriptures. But Christ says there is one thing he lacks – Christ says “take up your cross and follow me”. And it says that he was sad and sorrowful… because he couldn’t lay down his life for others. He couldn’t follow Christ to the cross. All that he was doing was good and righteous. But unless it was tied and directed to that last command, it is fruitless.

Christ says to take up your cross and follow Him. Follow him there to lay down His life for others, for us. And unless I have that feeling in my heart that my life is worthless in comparison to those around me, and I am willing to lay it down for others, everything else I do has no purpose, and no fruit. It’s as St Paul says: even if we give our bodies to be burnt, martyred, and I don’t have love, it is fruitless. It us useless. It is senseless noise, like a clanging cymbal, making noise with no direction. (1 Corinthians 13:1). Christ said to us: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you.” (John 13:34)

There’s nothing new in the commandment to love one another. This was taught in the Old Testament. The difference here is to “love one another; as I have loved you”, by laying down my life for you. Even those who I don’t know, who aren’t family or friends, for those who abuse me – I lay down my life for them.

So when Christ says that with God things all things are possible, He means to love and lay down ones life. There’s a remarkable story of the desert fathers in the fourth century, about St Anthony the Great (who was called this not only because he was one of the first, but because he was considered the greatest one). When monks and other people would see him, they’d all go silent, and say that the great one was among them – someone who was transfigured with the light of Christ. When people would see him, the monks would see him they would all go silent. And they would say the great one is among them, someone that was transfigured with the light of Christ. St Anthony therefore prayed to God and said, “Lord, I love you to such a degree that I cannot imagine that anyone would love you as much as I do.”

God then directed St Anthony to a certain cobbler living in Alexandria. St Anthony left the desert to find this cobbler and asks: are you the one the Lord showed me when I prayed asking if anyone loved the Lord more than I did? I expected a monk, an ascetic, a hermit, but he showed me a cobbler. What is it that you do?” The man then explained that there was nothing he did particularly: he gave a third of his income to the church, a third to the poor, and a third he kept. St Anthony looked at him and laughed. This man had sacrificed some, St Anthony had sacrificed everything to go live in poverty in the desert. Surely there was more to it. So he asked the cobbler again: “what do you do in your heart?”

The man responded with these words: “I do nothing special. Only as I work, I look at those who pass by me and and pray that they may be saved and that only I will perish.” That was it. Not a feeling or emotional reaction or empty words. They were the prayers of his heart each and every day. Let these pagans who don’t know God be saved, and let me perish.

Jesus says: “One thing you lack: take up your cross and follow me.” He says: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you.”

For the cobbler, that lead his heart in one direction, to pray that everyone around him would be saved, even if that would mean that he would perish. It was that which made him greater than St Anthony, the greatest ascetic who gave up everything to live in the middle of the desert, in celibacy, in poverty, in obedience and in daily struggle. Because his heart became like Christ’s heart, aching with the love that Christ’s heart aches with for those around us, that he was ready to lay down his life for those he didn’t even know.

This is not something foreign to us. Moses prays when the Lord was about to destroy his people (Exodus 32). He says: “Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.” (verse 32) He begs the Lord to blot out the sins of the people around him, and if not, to take his name out of the Book of Life.

St Paul writes to the Romans: “For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh” (Romans 9:3). St Paul’s whole life was for Christ, but even then, he was willing to be cursed and separated from Christ for his brethren to be saved. Their hearts, like the hearts of the cobbler, ached with the love of Christ for everyone, even the haters, the abusers and the spiteful. This is what Christ meant when He said that with God all things are possible.

Metropolitan Anthony Bloom, who was a an incredible Russian Bishop in England, some years ago once told this story: after World War Two, in the Jewish concentration camps, a piece of paper was found. It had a man’s last words, before seeing his friends and family die and dying himself, which said:

Lord, when you come to this earth to judge, do not condemn the people that have done these atrocities to us. Do not hold against them the cruelty of our suffering and the violence in our despair. But look at the fruits which we have borne: patience, humility, fortitude, forgiveness, loyalty, solidarity. May these fruits be accounted in their salvation.

He doesn’t asked the Lord to remember how they harmed and killed and murdered for no reason but their ethnicity. He says, look at our fruits and account that to them. It’s a remarkable attitude. I don’t know who wrote that piece of paper, whether they were a Jew or not, but it was someone regardless in whom Christ dwelt, because this is the heart of Christ – that He lays down his life for all. He says like the cobbler: “that they may be saved, let me perish”. He says like Moses: “if you can’t save them, blot me out from the Book of Life.” He says like Paul: “let me be accursed from Christ if only my countrymen would come to know Him”.

Jesus says: “One thing you lack: take up your cross and follow me.” He says: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you.” This feeling must be mine if I follow Christ. I must lay down my life for those around me, even those who pass me by and my enemies. This is the thing that weighs my heart. If I care only for my family, only for my friends, only for my own, in my heart is not Christ’s heart.

So let us turn to Him in our hearts that we may feel His love for the world. That is the centre of prayers in our religion, the centre of the Eucharist in the Orthodox Church. During the institution in the mass, we say: “He instituted for us this great mystery of godliness – the Eucharist – being determined to give Himself up to death for the life of the world.” May we give ourselves to the life of the world. Glory be to God forever, Amen.

Listen to the sermon here!

Discipleship through words

St Luke’s transcribed sermon by Anthony Sharkawi.

One of the major themes of today’s Gospel is discipleship as the Lord said;

“Whoever of who does not forsake all that he has, cannot be My disciple.”

Discipleship, very simply, just means to be a follower of someone. Over time, discipleship has been done in different ways over time. One example is Pope Kyrillos; Pope Kyrillos was a disciple in a unique way to a man who lives centuries before he did, St Isaac the Syrian. Pope Kyrillos would do this by reading his teachings and absorbing them daily.
Recently, upon talking to a servant at St Mark’s, she was telling me how she was a disciple. The way she did it was through listening to a certain priest’s sermons while in the car. In a way, by absorbing the teachings of this priest, she becomes his disciple.

Another way that people become disciples is by physically following them, and this was the way it was done in Jesus’ time. Jesus was physically followed by the twelve, and that is how they became His disciples. One of the modern ways this is done is with the army. Just like Jesus says, “Whoever of who does not forsake all that he has, cannot be My disciple”, the people in the army actually do that. They leave their family and go follow a commander who essentially tells them what to do.

There is a very interesting account from WW2, where a certain group was told what to do that really could have got them killed but did it anyway. They were known as ‘the ghost army’ and their assignment in the war was to hold a line of battle with inflatable toys. They had inflatable tanks and inflatable soldiers to deceive enemies regarding the number of people they have. This is discipleship in an extreme way because they listened to something that didn’t make any sense, but in the end, it worked out.

The one common thread between all these disciples though, is that they heeded word. Whether it was Pope Kyrillos that heeded St Isaac’s word, the servant at St Mark’s listening to the priest’s word, or a person at the army listening to the commander’s words. So, words are a big way in which we can become disciples.

Take notice of something in all these verses;

“Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”

“The word of God is truth who effectively works in those who believe.”

“For the word of God is living and powerful.”

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.”

So, the word of God is a weapon for when Satan attacks us. So, when I feel down, I use the word of God to bring me back up, remembering that Jesus came to save the world and all sinners of whom I am chief. Then we are told that the word of God effectively works in those who believe, so it does something in us. Then in Hebrews it says that it is living and powerful, so it’s not like a book that we open, and it has no effect on our lives. Then Colossians tells us to use the word of in us, telling us to let it dwell in us.

When we were children, in Sunday school we had to learn a verse from the bible before we leave the lesson that day. We may think that this is childish, but the truth is that we are the kids if we think this is too childish for us. When was the last time that we deliberately took this sword, this effective, living, and powerful thing, and let it dwell in our minds?

Recently, I had a lot of work to do and generally, my wife noticed that I’d fall sometimes asleep while we pray together at night. And so, she told me that whatever I got to do I could do it just make sure you pray first then do it. Generally, we go through the midnight prayer from the Agbeya together. So, I listened, and I really learned this;

I discovered what the secret was to David’s prayers. In the midnight prayer, the longest psalm, 119, is there and it’s broken into 22 parts. I just want you to focus on what David mentions in every single part of this Psalm;

Part 1;

“Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.”

Part 2;

“How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.”

Part 3;

“Deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may live and keep Your word.”

Part 4;

“My soul clings to the dust; Revive me according to Your word.”

Part 5;

“Establish Your word to Your servant, who is devoted to fearing You.”

Part 6;

“Let Your mercies come also to me, O Lord – Your salvation according to Your word.”

Part 7;

“Remember the word to Your servant, Upon which You have caused me to hope.”

Part 8;

“You are my portion, O Lord; I have said that I would keep Your words.”

Part 9;

“You have dealt well with Your servant, O Lord, according to Your word.”

Part 10;

“Those who fear You will be glad when they see me Because I have hoped in Your word.”

Part 11;

“My soul faints for Your salvation, But I hope in Your word.”

Every single part of that Psalm that isn’t even written in parts has to refer to the word of God. And something even scarier is that every single sentence has reference to the word of God. This is seen in part 22;

“Let my cry come before You, O Lord;
Give me understanding according to Your word.
Let my supplication come before You;
Deliver me according to Your word.
My lips shall utter praise,
For You teach me Your statutes.
My tongue shall speak of Your word,
For all Your commandments are righteousness.
Let Your hand become my help,
For I have chosen Your precepts.
I long for Your salvation, O Lord,
And Your law is my delight.
Let my soul live, and it shall praise You;
And let Your judgments help me.
I have gone astray like a lost sheep;
Seek Your servant,
For I do not forget Your commandments.”

Imagine writing something and every single word is based on the word of God. The bottom line is that discipleship can really be done by words. In every single sentence, Kind David somehow speaks about precepts, judgments, statutes, law, or word of God. Practically for us, sometimes we ignore the most powerful thing God has given us; His word. A lot of times, circumstances bring us down but how often do we let the word of God bring us back up?

This is King David’s secret, he used to word of God every day.

I remember something that Abouna Anthony from the monastery taught me. When King David says in the Psalms the “all day I meditate on Your word”, this does not just mean that he would just meditate or think on God’s word but rather he would repeat the word through the day. How beautiful if we opened the word of God every morning and took a promise from God every day and repeat it throughout the day.

So, just to finish; discipleship we learn through words. In these words, we find salvation and we find our hope, our peace, our life, and our joy.

Glory be to God forever. Amen.

FOR ME, TO LIVE IS CHRIST

April 20, 2018

Originally seen on Fr Anthony’s blog (20 April. 2020),

This is a guest post from Marco Attia, an Orthodox Christian blogger from Melbourne, Australia whose goal in writing is to “inspire you to live a life of faith, purpose and spiritual growth”. You can read more of Marco’s work on his blog, Spiritually Grounded, or by following him on Twitter or Facebook. If you too are interested in guest posting on my blog, please visit my Guest Post guidelines for more info.

(c) Fr Anthony Messeh (2018). For Me, to Live is Christ. Available at http://www.franthony.com/blog/for-me-to-live-is-christ.

We’ve all heard St Paul’s famous words in Philippians 1:21 in which he boldly declares: “For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Powerful words aren’t they!? But have you ever stopped to think about the implications of such words? After all this isn’t just catchy slogan found on printed mugs and tees for the hipster Christian to wear loud and proud – are they? Certainly not!

These powerful words could have a huge impact on our lives, and have the potential to turn the world upside down if we are to take them more seriously.

LIFE IS CHRIST

What’s interesting is that Paul did not write these words in an attempt to be an eloquent writer, nor was he anticipating his message to make the final cut of the New Testament. Rather he meant every word he penned because his letter to the Philippians was written as he was awaiting his imminent fate… death. More so, Paul wrote to the Philippian community to strengthen them through their own struggles and persecution. So for Paul dying was imminent and likely, and would finally unite him with His beloved Lord, but if he were to go on living, then his Life is grounded in Christ. Either way, Paul’s life is Christ’s.

GROUNDED IN CHRIST

But what does being grounded in Christ look like? The answer to that is apparent when we look at Christ’s earthly ministry. When we examine how Christ lived His life, we quickly come to realize that St Paul is referring to Christ’s love. The Lord taught in love, lived in love, rebuked in love and ultimately died in love. Ultimately, through His incarnation, Christ showed us who God is…And God is LOVE!

Christ did all this, in love, for you and I!

IT’S ALL ABOUT LOVE

The fundamentals of the faith and of all Orthodox theology can be summed up in only three words… God is LOVE. The Gospel is a message of Love. The Holy Trinity is a communion of love between three persons of one divine essence. And because man is created in the image and likeness of God, we are created to share and live in love. It is therefore love that makes us Christ-like, the more I love, the more I imitate the Lord who is Love.

LOVE IN ACTION

Unfortunately, today’s society has greatly skewed our understanding of love. We have been led to believe that love is that warm fuzzy feeling you get when you meet that nice girl on the train, or the sensation you feel upon receiving your brand new iPhone X. But this is far from the truth, this is not love!

Love is an action not an emotion. Paul shows us precisely what love is by personifying it for us in 1 Corinthians 13. If love were a person, they would be characterized by the following traits.

In a nutshell, love gives of itself! Love is sacrificial. So much so that the Lord Himself testifies that ‘Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends’ – John 15:13. And this is precisely what Christ did for us, His love was ultimately manifested by his sacrifice on the Cross.

SACRIFICE IS THE LANGUAGE OF LOVE

So we too in order to manifest our love for God and for others must learn to speak the language of love – sacrifice! And this is no easy feat. Love is challenging because it requires that we put to death something that means so much to us…our ego.

This idea has become so foreign to us due to the influence of the secular society in which we live. We live in a self-absorbed culture, where we are told to ‘look out for number 1’, and phrases such as ‘self-image’, ‘self-esteem’, and ‘self-respect’ show just how ‘self-ish’ we are becoming.

We have become the ‘selfie’ generation, and that makes it hard to look beyond ourselves. Whilst there is nothing inherently wrong with looking out for ourselves, there are countless opportunities to experience love that is out of this world when we lay down our ego for God and for others.

It is precisely the giving of ourselves that leads us to experience the insurmountable joy that St Paul alludes to when he affirms: ‘Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice…’ – Philippians 2:17-18.

Do you want to be glad and rejoice? You can do so through your good works and acts of kindness towards others. And through the sacrifices you make for the sake of God and those around you. You can truly light up the world by living for others, and that’s what it means to live for Christ.