Dear Friends
I, as an individual, have a direct relationship with Jesus. I have come to believe he is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and that his Resurrection brings the promise of new life. I have found the true Faith, I pray, I read the Scriptures, I attend Church, I receive Communion and the other Mysteries, and my life as a Christian is whole and complete.
And yet I am still missing the Gospel.
My life is still focused on me and on my achievements. I have found, I pray, I read, I attend, I receive: it’s all about me. Yet we are a family, we have a familial relationship, and we are all children of the “one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Ephesians 4:6) Numerous times in Scripture the followers of Christ are called “brethren:” because if God is our Father—not in a metaphorical sense but truly our Father—you and I together are brothers and sisters. And as family, we must show up for each other not only in the feasting but in the times of trial, the times of mourning, the times of affliction.
And so I must change. Church must become, for me, less about my hurts, my wants and my desires, and more about our hurts, our wants and our desires. I must place others before me that I may be a true son of the Father. And if I do this, if I “lay aside all [my] cares of this life,” I would be granted to “receive the King of All.” (Cherubic Hymn)
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us not be strangers to one another but family together with all that entails; let us laugh together and cry together, let us rejoice together and lament together, let us live each other’s joys and bear each other’s burdens that we may learn to carry our crosses alongside each other and alongside Christ, that we may offer ourselves for crucifixion alongside each other and alongside Christ, that we may—as Christ, with Christ and through Christ—rise to new life together.
I am grateful and honoured by those who were able to join us at the EGM last Sunday — our new Constitution was passed unanimously.
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Sermon
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
It would seem evident, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, there are many in our society searching: searching for love, searching for happiness, searching for fulfilment, searching for joy. They are searching for meaning to their lives, something to make sense of these “threescore years and ten” (Psalm 89:10 ʟxx), something bigger than what they are. And they look to hobbies, or to gym membership, or to self-help books, or to so-called gurus, or to alcohol, or to drugs—anything and everything which might make their place in our universe a little more understood. They are seeking honestly, they are seeking earnestly, and leap at the next fad which seems to work for them, at least for a little while.
A young man came earnestly to the Lord seeking fulfilment. He had kept the Law strictly but had come to realise it was not enough—a new rabbi had come from Galilee whose fame had grown among the Jews, Jesus of Nazareth. And here, in the region of Judea beyond the Jordan, (Matthew 19:1) he could make his request. “Good Teacher,” says he, “what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?” A detail recorded in Mark’s Gospel, (10:17–31) but neither here nor in Luke, (18:18–30) tells us Christ looked at him and loved him. (v. 21) The Lord did not treat him with contempt nor derision but engaged with him.
The Lord does not dismiss the question, but turns it towards the one thing needful, turns it towards himself, and starts to reveal—slowly and gently—who he really is. “Why do you call me good?” says the Lord, “No one is good but One, that is, God. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” And the man replies, “All these I have observed; what do I still lack?” And the Lord reveals a hard saying to the young man, since the Gospel is hard and we cannot sugarcoat it, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” And the young man went away sorrowful, not so much that he had many possessions but that his many possessions had him: he himself was the one who was possessed.
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Read last Sunday’s Sermon, Searching for Truth and Beauty.
Archive of Past Sermons.
Services this week
Friday 1st September
Discussion on the Divine Liturgy, 8 pm
Online only
Saturday 2nd September
Great Vespers, 6.30 pm
At St Francis’ Hall, Eastleigh
Sunday 3rd September
Matins & Divine Liturgy, 9 am
At St Francis’ Hall, Eastleigh
Online session is via Google Meet: please get in contact for the details.
Please join us: all are welcome, come and see.
Attending Church
We meet at St Francis’ Hall, Nightingale Avenue, Eastleigh, SO50 9JA. Come and See.
Can I help you?
I am here for you, you need only ask. Is there a way I can support your life of faith? Get in touch.
Can you help the community?
Yes, absolutely. Offer yourselves to the Lord: pray! Make available to him all your talents and ask him how he would like you to use them — listen for his reply.
Your prayers!
With love in Christ
Fr Alexander
[email protected]