2 Corinthians 4: 6-15; St. Matthew 22: 35-46.
We have power, but lack discernment.  Seeing things clearly cannot be achieved through even the most objective scientific analysis.  The problem is found in the etymology of the very word "objective".  When we objectify things, we remove them from their context and connections.  While this allows us to manipulate them according to our pleasure, it cannot help but contribute to the world's groaning.  The context is the Logos and it connects and sustains all things.  Knowing this allows us to experience the world as it is: full of majesty, grace, and glory.  Joyfully loving our enemy comes naturally when we see and live in the world as it really is. Denying this makes hating even our comrades come naturally.  Which world do you want to live in?   Listen as Fr. Anthony offers a meditation on Love. 

On 9/26/2021, I paused at various points during the Divine Liturgy to offer a meditation on that section of it. You can read my notes for this at http://www.orthoanalytika.org/2021/09/26/teaching-divine-liturgy-9-26-2021/

Fr. Gregory Jensen PhD and Fr. Anthony begin by talking about three (no four!) indicators of whether a man is a suitable candidate for seminary, then segue into the importance of a healthy marriage and family life (e.g. 1 Timothy 3).  They use the Ecumenical Patriarchate's "For the Life of the World; Toward a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church" as a springboard for talking about contraception, ascetic abstinence, and the benefit of a healthy monastic witnesses.  Recorded on 8/17/2021.  Enjoy the show!

1 Corinthians 16: 13-24; St. Matthew 21: 33-42.

In today’s Gospel, Christ is trying to help His listeners understand who He was, who sent Him, and why it was that the religious leaders rejected Him. As Christians, we grow up understanding that Christ is “God the Son”, the second person of the Holy Trinity; that God the Father, the first person of the Holy Trinity, sent His Son to return the world to righteousness; and that the Jewish leaders rejected His Son because He did not fit into their plans. We know this to be true, and it is true. But our acceptance of these facts is facilitated by a Christian worldview that makes them seem natural; they simply fit into place. But the Jews did not have such a worldview; rather, they had developed one over time that made rejection of the Christ seem to be good and natural.

Psychologically, it is much easier for us to ignore or reject data that challenges our expectations than it is to adjust our expectations around it [sic]. Even the Jews that loved Jesus and His message were struggling with wrapping their minds around the Truth and the implications of His coming.

So Christ gave them parables like the one we heard today. Because stories are not expected to be real, people disengage their ideological filters a bit when hearing or reading them. So when people hear of the landowner, they naturally sympathize with his attempts to regain control of his property; when they hear of the actions of the vinedressers/husbandmen, they are naturally revolted by their wickedness; and their sympathy and revulsion will naturally peak when they hear about the mission, rejection, and murder of the landowner’s son. This parable [and other] created a space in their minds and gave them concepts that would eventually allow them to more fully understand everything about The Christ. [the prophecies also served this function, but their (mis)use by the religious leaders meant that not everyone would be able to see them correctly]. And once they saw Him in Truth, they had to decide what to do next: kill Him or render to Him his due.

So what does this story do for all of us who already know Christ to be the Messiah, the Son of God? Well, I have given you a rule of thumb for interpreting Scripture that I want you to use today: when the Scriptures criticize the Jews, they are really criticizing us. A bigot might use today’s reading to reinforce his self-righteousness and anti-Semitism; but the Christian uses it to learn greater humility and repentance.

Instead of the Jews, imagine us as the folks running the winepress. This should not be hard to do: we have more control over the patch of dirt that God has leased to us than any people anywhere or anytime. What would we do if the landowner sent emissaries to collect the fruit of His land from us? This may be uncomfortable, but it isn’t hard: what would we do if God asked for what should naturally go to Him as His due? Or to phrase it in a way that is easier for us to understand: what would we do if God were to ask more from us than we wanted to give? What would we do if He made demands of us that did not fit our view of what God should demand?

I can tell you what we would do because we do it every day. We ignore Him. Even when He sends His Son among us to show that He is serious: we ignore Him. Some of us do it on purpose, but most don’t even recognize Him or His authority. We don’t have room in our lives for the real God, so we ignore Him and worship a false imitation of Him that demands nothing from us and is not worthy of true adoration and sacrifice.

“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers [who ignored his prophets and His Son]?…

We cannot ignore Him forever. When we see Him in Truth, we will have to decide. Why wait? The Truth is here. Christ is here. We must make our choice: violence… or repentance, humility, and worship?

The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.”

Fr. Gregory Jensen, PhD and Fr. Anthony Perkins talk about Orthodox sexuality, chastity, celibacy, and abstinence.  Along the way they also discuss the negative effects the culture wars have had on Orthodoxy and pastoral care.  They hope to make this part of a series.  Warning: it's hard to talk about this euphemistically.  Some graphic terms were used. Enjoy the show!

Matthew 19:16-26

The quotes:

If thou hadst ever had an absurd desire to fly and to be borne through the air, how wouldest thou extinguish this unreasonable desire? By fashioning wings, and preparing other instruments, or by convincing the mind that it is desiring things impossible, and that one should attempt none of these things? (St. John Chrysostom, Homily 63 on the Gospel according to St. Matthew)

Every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.  (St. Matthew 19:29)

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (St. Matthew 16:24)

This is The Way of Salvation.  This is The Way of Eternal Life.  And God rewards those who follow it a hundredfold.  Give up everything and follow Christ.

1 Corinthians 9:2-12; Matthew 18:23-35.  Fr. Anthony contrasts the way of the world with the Way of Christ, compares the wicked lender with the Passion-bearer Gleb, and encourages us to nurture the Logos within through Liturgy and prayer.  Enjoy the show!

Fr. Anthony reminds the faithful at Holy Resurrection (Waynesville NC) or who they are, what they have been through, and what they are about.  Unity.  Enjoy the show!

1 Corinthians 3:9-17; Matthew 14:22-34.  

Here's the text of the homily I was going to give.  Instead of it, I preached on what "the day" has declared in our lives over the last couple of years.  It was partially prompted by recent events in Afghanistan (I worked the Afghanistan situation for several years as an intelligence analyst).

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Homily – Building a House of God
The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

1 Corinthians 3: 9-17; St. Matthew 14: 22-34

A building set on a firm foundation, made well and of the best materials is both more durable and more suiting than one thrown together on the weekends with leftover scraps.  Which method describes the temple that is you?

 Three points from today’s Epistle reading, each of them explores what St. Paul means when he says that ; “You are God’s building… his holy temple.”

The First Point: St. Paul is using a metaphor.  He is comparing us to a building in order to teach us something we have not realized about ourselves.  We may think we know more about what it means to be a Christian than we do about being a building, but what if we are wrong?  St. Paul – and all of our other teachers – try to bring us to the truth by stating it plainly; but one of the problems with being human is that we hear such plain speaking in a manner that matches our expectations.  It is rarely transformative in the way we need.  We think we know what it means to be a Christian, so when someone tries to tell us a better way to do it rarely sinks in.  On the other hand, we probably haven’t thought much about how we are like buildings, so the hope is that the metaphor of the building will make it through our defense systems in order to challenge us to live better.  There are many ways in which we are certainly NOT a building, but let’s see how we are, and what that says about living the Christian life.

The Second Point: every building needs a proper foundation.  If this foundation is ourselves (the “contractor’s grade” default option), or even something so noble as our families, our work, our friends, our community, or our, then no matter how well we build that house, it will not last.  The only proper foundation for the house that is each one of us, is Christ Himself.  Our imaginations may have a hard time with this.  Many of us grew up singing a wonderful song; “On Christ the solid rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand” – now what is the child’s imagination to do with such an image?!  But this song is based on Christ’s teaching towards the end of His “sermon on the mount” (St. Matthew 5-7), where, after telling everyone to dedicate themselves completely to love and service in God’s name, He says that this kind of life will make them like the wise man who built his house on the rock, and his house survived every buffet; and those who do not are like the fool who built his house on sand, and his house fell with a great crash (St. Matthew 7: 24-27). 

Our foundation must be on Christ; and not the Christ of our imaginations or as we think He is or want Him to be (this is just sand by another name); but on Christ as He really is.  And there is no better way to learn who Christ really is than through opening ourselves completely to the prayer, worship, teachings, and experience of the Orthodox Church.  St. Paul is speaking as an Apostle of this Church when he says; “According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation.”  We must center our feet squarely on the unmovable source of power, love, and truth; and that source is Our Lord, Jesus Christ.

The Third Point: it matters what sort of materials you use.  St. Paul puts it this way;

“Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.” 

We understand what this means, because we have seen what happens to buildings that were made poorly of cheap materials ; and we can compare them with the buildings that were made well and of the best materials.  The best materials are sometimes harder to get, and it takes more effort to build something to last.  I remember the fort my friends and I built in the woods using left over scraps from our basements and garages.  It was so cool – but it did not last.  I’m sure you’ve had similar experiences.  Think about his: If we knew that we were meant to live somewhere for thousands of years – perhaps even forever, wouldn’t we take the time to build it well?  Or would we throw something up as the mood struck us and hope for the best?  And yet isn’t that the way we act; putting Christian spackle over the walls we threw up willy-nilly based on what are hearts desired in any given moment? 

In the metaphor, the materials are gold, silver, stones, wood, hay, and straw; but in real life, the materials are your actions.  How have we lived?  Have we been chaste?   Self-sacrificing? Charitable?  Patient with others?    Have we followed the counsel of our ego; the wisdom of the age; … or the guidance of Christ and His Church?  

We can pretend that all actions are the same (God loves us!  He can bless the things my heart truly desires!), but St. Paul is pointing out that they are not – there is an objective standard for judging our actions.  A straw house will be blown down by the first hungry wolf that comes to the door; a brick house will stand up to his huffing and puffing.  The spiritual wolves [fire] will destroy the man who has built his life in deceit and selfishness; but cannot harm the one who has built his life in love and repentance.  

So, in conclusion, I ask you: have you built your life on the solid rock that is Christ?  Is it the real Christ, or is it one that simply suits your fancy?  Are you sure? 

Have you intentionally laid the walls of your house brick by brick with humility, love, patience, long-suffering, and charity?  When a bad brick was laid in, have you repented of your misdeed, rooted it out, and repaired the damage?  Have you constantly checked for leaks and performed the maintenance necessary to keep your house secure from the constant abuse of the elements?  

And last of all, have you filled this house with the only thing worthy of such a temple: the Holy Spirit of God Himself?  For as St. Paul ends today’s lesson; “For the temple of God is holy, whose temple you are.”

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In this episode, Fr. Anthony and Fr. Harry address the often misunderstood necessity of withholding sacraments.  Framing it as a normal process (beginning with Baptism) allows us to see it less as a political power play or punishment (as the world would have us see it) and more as a valid and necessary part of our life in Christ.  Enjoy the show!