Dear Friends
“I am Orthodox because it’s the true Church,” I declare arrogantly, “only the Orthodox Church is free from heresy and error.” And I can look down my nose at other Christian traditions, at other religious traditions, safe in the knowledge that I am right, that I am justified and, therefore, that I am saved.
Yet my confidence and my swagger belie the fact that I am far from Christ.
Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in Heaven.
Matthew 7:21–23
Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?’
And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!’
And I remain unknown to Christ and I practise lawlessness precisely because my definition of the Orthodox Church—”the true Church”—is more about massaging my own ego at being right than coming to knowledge of the Father through Christ by the Holy Spirit. The Church, for me, is about demonstrating to the world my own virtue.
Yet not all is lost. God has not given up on me—he is saying to me, “Come, lay aside what ties you to the earth and ascend to the heavens.” He is calling me to repent, to transform my understanding of the Church from the home of the “right” to the place of service towards others, to the place of self-transformation, to the place where humanity can encounter the living God. And if I listen to this call, if I repent of my evil, I can receive life.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, if we come to the Church and remain because we want to be correct our membership is for our condemnation. But if we are willing to offer our whole selves to the Lord, if we serve both God and our neighbours, if we are willing to repent and rise again whenever we fall, then God promises us entry into the Kingdom and eternal Life.
Let us turn again to Christ and place him at the centre of our lives that we may be faithful to him, faithful to his Church, and make our community a place where all may come and experience the glory of God.
Come and see!
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.
The drive to be the best, to be the superior, to be above others, is strong in our society. Whether valued against our neighbour, or people in general, we want to be wealthier than they are, stronger than they are, more beautiful than they are. We desire power and prestige, honour and respect, and for others to know our true value. We look to the billionaires, to the celebrities, to the powerful, to the beautiful, as our role models, heroes and heroines.
In the previous chapter from today’s Gospel reading, we hear,
“[Christ] came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, ‘What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?’
But [the disciples] kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest.” (Mark 9:33–34)
And the Lord dealt with them calmly and with great love.
“And he sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.’
Then he took a little child and set him in the midst of them. And when he had taken him in his arms, he said to them,
‘Whoever receives one of these little children in my name receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.’” (verses 35–37)
Yet hearing this the disciples did not learn—I do not learn!—that ours is not a faith for making us rich, powerful or to look down on others, rather we show our fidelity to the Lord by serving others. And the “Sons of Thunder” (Mark 3:17) come forward and say, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you. … Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” And this is precisely what I want. Like them, I gloss over delivery to the chief priests, condemnation to death, mockery, scourging and execution—I want the “good parts” of the Gospel while I omit what is required of me. Despite Christ repeatedly telling the disciples, “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And after he is killed, he will rise the third day,” (Mark 9:31) they could not depart from the worldly way of thinking, from desiring celebrity and riches.
…
Read last Sunday’s Sermon, Glorious thrones.
Archive of Past Sermons.
Services this week
Friday 26th April
Discussion on the Gospel of Matthew, 8 pm
Online only
There are no in person services this week
Online session is via Google Meet: please get in contact for the details.
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]