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2nd Sunday in Matthew, June 13, 2004 "Come,
follow after me and I shall make you fishermen of men." Indeed,
with this very simple invitation to the poor, illiterate fishermen of The Lord had just finished his 40 day fast in the desert in
preparation for His earthly ministry. Descending to the shores of the It can be said, that this was a great sacrifice for them,
because no matter how small their catches were, this was their living and even
at a minimum they provided for their families. Now, they turned their backs on
their fishing boats and followed Jesus, not knowing what tomorrow would bring!
They felt it very deeply that a real magnate was drawing them to follow this
powerful Personality. With that simple invitation commences the history of
Christianity; the Religion, which took hold, not through any conquest of sword,
neither through the application of human intellect, persuasion, or wisdom.
Christianity was based solely on the cornerstone of Agape, charity or love,
which is the foundation of everything that is good, everything that is noble,
and everything that is uplifting for the soul of humans. The Lord could have easily chosen as His co-workers the
intelligensia of His time, or the wealthy, or men of influence in society; men,
who could wield power with a simple nod. But instead, He chose the poor and simple fishermen, whom
He transformed into learned and wise men, so that even through this miracle the
Christian Religion could be edified for all time. This is the miracle which we chant through the Hymn of the
Holy Trinity chanted on the Day of Pentecost, which is as you know the Birthday
of the Church. The hymn states:
"You are
blessed O Christ our God, who rendered the fishermen all-wise, having sent down
upon them the Holy Spirit; and through them, You drew the world into Your net; O
Merciful Lord, glory to You." Indeed, this was the unique
invitation of all time! However, before Christ and after Christ, in today's world,
and without a doubt in future ages, as long as there are people on this earth,
many and varied invitations will always be extended through some people to the
masses for varied motives and purposes. So many of those invitations are sugar coated promises. "Follow
me," they say, "and
I will give you success, wealth and happiness. If you follow me, new horizons
will be opened up for you." In many instances, the invitations
extended to humans are based on ulterior motives; that is, for the benefit of
those, who extend the invitation. They ask people to follow for a higher cause,
but in reality they just don't care what will happen to the followers. So many supposed reformers get people to follow simply
because people may be disillusioned. They follow, believing that better days lie
ahead. This, we have seen in various Nations of the world, which took advantage
of the masses through Dictatorships, so many of which exist, even today. We face invitations
through schemes, plotted by people whose motive is to fleece their followers.
Unfortunately we see it also in supposed revivalists, the televangelists, who,
taking advantage of separation of Church and State in our Country have amassed
fortunes for their physical well-being, at the expense of pious individuals, who
are duped into following. We saw invitations to
cults like the infamous Jonestown in But, the invitation of
our Lord Jesus has a definite target. It is directed to the heart and soul of
all people, with the sole purpose of winning them over, with the guarantee of
their fulfillment on earth, and their place in the The focal point of our
Lord's teaching was based on the value of the soul -- the soul, which so many
people sell so readily and so cheaply. That is why He emphasized: "never
be afraid of those who would harm you physically, but rather fear those, who
would bring harm to your soul." Without any effort, we
can readily witness or imagine the suffering all over the world, compared to
relatively little happiness. People oftentimes suffer as individuals and as groups,
simply because, they choose to respond only to the invitation of the people of
this world, with a total disregard to the invitation of the Lord. The
invitations of the materialists invariably offer so many promises, but they are
usually based on selfish interests, on deceit, on force, on coercion, on
calculation, on falsehoods! "Follow
me" shouts the demagogue, "and I shall grant you a much better opportunity than you have now.
Your situation will improve only if we conquer the opposition." These
demagogues elect to strip others of authority or wealth, so that they can rule.
Thus, evil perpetuates itself when people choose the path of radical action. As
long as opposing forces of conquerors and conquered, of winners and losers exist
in this world, the feeling of revenge and retaliation will never be subjugated
to peace. Only when the individual, the groups,and the nations apply
the Golden Rule, and make it a way of life, only then, will true peace and joy
come to the heart of every individual. This golden rule is so foreign to so
many: "As you would
have others do unto you, do also unto them likewise." What a
perfect world this would be if this rule had general application. We know from the Bible that the All-perfect God created man
in His own image and likeness; that is, He wanted man to be close to Him and to
be likened to Him. Jesus stated it quite plainly when He said: "Become
perfect, as your Father in Heaven is perfect!" This perfection
comes about only when we choose to follow God's commandments. When we truly respond to God's love, happiness reigns and
evil is minimized in the world. Conversely, when man chooses to live apart from
God, he cannot truly sense fulfillment, even though he may possess massive
material wealth. A better and happier
world is our direct personal responsibility. Each of us has an obligation to
contribute somehow, -something for the betterment of this world. Here we are, a loving
Congregation. Did we all not respond to the invitation to establish the presence
of Greek Orthodoxy in the general Let us always be mindful
of the Lord's words: "Man cannot live
by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the Lord." People
will never achieve the desired happiness, unless they choose to walk with God.
In God only, is our every guarantee for complete fulfillment in life. After all,
was it not He who said: Come to me all you
who labor and are heavily laden and I will give you comfort and rest?" Although the Church does
not mix in politics, I am sure that we were impressed with what we heard of the
Reagan presidency. A great part of our Country did respond to his invitation
years ago to reshape,and help build a better He was a President that made you feel proud that you were
an American. The love of the people was made manifest all during this week,
until he was finally placed to rest on Friday. In conclusion then to the sermon this morning, we must
always remember the simple beginnings of the Christian Church by the Lord's
invitation to the poor fishermen of |
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