Dear Friends
Modern people—particularly in the “civilised” world—have become blind to the spiritual realm: any strangeness which occurs is ascribed to a natural phenomenon and treated accordingly. Even among Christians, demonic possession in the Scriptures is given natural explanations — “he was suffering from schizophrenia or paranoia,” we want to say, on the other hand the Scriptures describe it as possession.
When he had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way.
And suddenly they cried out, saying, ‘What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?’
— Matthew 8:28–29
In our time, few take part in pagan rituals which could invite demons to possess a person, but a more insidious form of possession has taken its place.
The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully.
And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’
So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.
And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.’
But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’
So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
— Luke 12:16–21
I am the rich man! I store up what I have neither for the glory of God nor that I may serve my neighbour, rather that I may “take my ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” I have not taken part in satanic rituals to invite possession: the Devil has no need to do this in my case because I have allowed myself to be possessed by my possessions; the more I have the more they control me, the greater my hoard the greater I fear its loss, I do not place my hope in the living God but in my possessions which direct my life and determine my future.
And I am reminded of the words of the Lord to the rich young ruler,
If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.
— Matthew 19:21
Some may see this as a clear case of what all Christians should do with their lives, even though it was said to one man they see it as an instruction to all. But as Orthodox Christians we take the whole witness of the Gospels and the tradition of the Church.
For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.
And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.
Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents.
And likewise he who had received two gained two more also.
But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money.
After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
He who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’
His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’
His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’
But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.
So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.
So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.
For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.
And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
— Matthew 25:14–30
This familiar Parable of the Talents (cf. Luke 19:11–27) is not against the direction to the rich young ruler but complementary with it: what is important is that we take what God has given us and faithfully steward it, returning to the Lord from the fruits we have received. We offer to God from the first fruits, the best of the crop—for some that may mean giving away all to the poor, for others that may mean building a profit from what we have been given and then offering all to God from whom we have received everything in the first place.
But we can start to do this now. So that we ensure our possessions do not possess us, try giving some away from time to time. The next time you see a beggar, give him more than you feel comfortable giving, and as we learn generosity we will learn not to be possessed but stewards of the riches the Lord has given so that the Lord will say to us on the Last Day, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.”
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Sermon
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
Our world has never known such wealth as we enjoy today. We have access to a variety of food even kings and nobility from a few hundred years ago could not enjoy. We have lighting which enables us to carry on our day late into the evening, devices which give us access to huge swathes of human knowledge, vehicles which can transport us gigantic distances, hospitals where—without payment—medical science has learned to cure a vast array of illnesses and diseases.
And yet our society still has many who struggle: with poverty, with mental health, with loneliness, with a lack of direction or purpose and ultimately with ageing and death. We have so much to bring happiness to each other—entertainment in so many forms—while many are miserable, frightened and alone.
“The Lord said: ‘If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’”
And the world is scandalised: why would anyone do that? But, perhaps, there are some who have tried chasing happiness all their lives—one dopamine fix until the next—and have realised its futility. Our world has been chasing happiness and made itself miserable, chasing rewards and found them not enough, chasing relationships and been rejected. And having gone through all these experiences Christ is present and offers to all, but especially to you and to me, the Cross. He is saying to us,
“You have chased happiness, chased ecstasy, and they have not satisfied you: if you would be my disciple take up your own cross and follow me.”
…
Read this Sermon, Chasing happiness.
Archive of Past Sermons.
Services this week
Friday 20th September
Discussion on the Gospel of Matthew, 8 pm.
Online only
Saturday 21st September
Great Vespers, 6.30 pm.
At 3rd URC Scout Hall, Chandlers Ford
Sunday 22nd September
Matins and Divine Liturgy, 9 am.
At 3rd URC Scout Hall, Chandlers Ford
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 3rd URC Scout HQ, Kings Rd, Chandlers Ford SO53 2EY. The Scout hall is behind and to the left of the URC Church. Come and See.
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With love in Christ
Fr Alexander
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