Dear Friends
We have come to believe, which is to say we have become faithful to, the Gospel of Christ—that Christ has defeated idolatry, sin and death and invites us to new life, abundant life, eternal Life if we follow him. No longer do pagan temples and shrines have power wherever we bring the Gospel, no longer are we trapped by the consequences of our sin when we give it up through repentance, and despite our dying no longer is death the end.
We rejoice at the end of demonic power, we rejoice that we are freed from slavery to sin, we rejoice in eternal life: now what?
So we turn to the Gospels themselves and see the answer,
If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Luke 9:23 (see also Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34)
And the Apostle, in one of the most beautiful passages in Scripture, tells us more. St Paul, in every chapter of his writings sees Christ as absolutely essential so mentions him in each, except one.
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
First Corinthians 13:1–13
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
Love suffers long and is kind;
love does not envy;
love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
does not behave rudely, does not seek its own,
is not provoked, thinks no evil;
does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.
But whether there are prophecies, they will fail;
whether there are tongues, they will cease;
whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.
For we know in part and we prophesy in part.
But when that which is perfect has come,
then that which is in part will be done away.
When I was a child, I spoke as a child,
I understood as a child, I thought as a child;
but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
For now we see in a mirror, dimly,
but then face to face.
Now I know in part,
but then I shall know just as I also am known.
And now abide faith, hope, love, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.
Because St Paul does not need to say Christ, he identifies him as “love.” For we could say,
Christ suffers long and is kind;
Christ does not envy;
Christ does not parade himself, is not puffed up;
does not behave rudely, does not seek his own,
is not provoked, thinks no evil;
does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Christ never fails.
And the same could be true for us; should I carry my cross—which is to say, should I be willing to live the Christian life—it may be that “I suffer long and am kind, I do not envy, …”
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, to carry our cross is to identify ourselves with the God who is love (First John 4:8). And, for us, love is not a feeling, it is action towards our neighbour—suffering on their behalf that they may have life, being kind and not envious, not parading and not being puffed up, not rudeness nor seeking our own, not being provoked and not thinking evil, rejoicing in the truth, bearing all things, hoping all things, enduring all things.
In summary, if we are to be Christians—to the best of our ability and repenting when we sin—we never fail, we never cease to do all these things. When the world loves us we do not cease and when the world hates us we love all the more. When the world thinks us mad for loving we will not fail because we are Christ’s.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
John 13:34
Let us, then, dear brothers and sisters, love as we have been loved, give as we have received, serve as we have been given service, that we may be worthy heirs of eternal Life.
Come and see!
We serve a meal following the Liturgy on Sundays. All are welcome.
Do you, or someone you know, want to join our mailing list and receive our weekly email? Then let me know.
Sermon
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
There are those today who think religion is about “gods of the gaps.” They would presume ancient peoples to be primitive, to be superstitious, to be backward while they themselves are at the peak of human understanding, human endeavour: ancient people, they might say, declared there to be a god behind anything they did not understand. And since our scientific understanding has grown, the “gaps” have become smaller and gods, along with religion, have been pushed out. In their minds Scientism, atheism, has won and all other religions are proven wrong.
What is all the more tragic, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, is there are Christians today who themselves seem embarrassed by what they would perceive to be the supernatural aspects of the Gospel, the fantastical, the impossible. And when faced with today’s reading they might say, “he was ill, he was not in his right mind, he had depression, or anxiety, or schizophrenia, or some other kind of mental disorder—the Christians of the first century just didn’t understand, Christ didn’t understand, mental illnesses as we do: this was a healing in the way Christ healed others of their illnesses.” But the Evangelist is clear, this was unlike other healings recorded, the man was possessed by demons.
And I squirm and I am uncomfortable with this; I want to ally myself with Scientism, despite its incompatibility with the Gospel, and I want to deny the existence of anything fantastical. But this position is unsustainable: if there were no demons pulling us down there would be no need for a Saviour to raise us up, if sin were merely a result of human behaviour then there would be no chance of repentance, if demons do not exist then God has created Hell as a place for human misery. (cf. Matthew 25:41) And so, if Christ is risen, if we have been set free from our unjust slavery to sin, if we have been brought to eternal Life, then demons exist too.
…
Read last Sunday’s Sermon, Freedom from demonic powers.
Archive of Past Sermons.
Services this week
Friday 27th October
Discussion on the Divine Liturgy, 8 pm
Online only
Saturday 28th October
Great Vespers, 6.30 pm
At St Francis’ Hall, Eastleigh
Sunday 29th October
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 parish?
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]