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St. Thomas Sunday Ocala 2006 I'm sure that all of us have had occasion over the years, to speak of the disbelief, which many people have. Their prototype of course is St. Thomas, whom the Orthodox Church world-wide commemorates today. Although Thomas disbelieved, when his fellow-Apostles were trying to convince him, that they had seen and spoken to the risen Lord, -- his disbelief is radically transformed to firm belief, when the Lord appears again in the Upper Room, and asks Thomas to come forth and touch the wounds in His Hands, and also the wound in His side. When Thomas sees the Lord, he falls on his knees and exclaims: "My Lord and my God!" It is then that the Lord said: "Thomas, because you have seen you believed; but, blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed!" True Christians belong in this category, because, they readily accept the testimony of others, as regards to the Lord's life, His mission and His Holy Resurrection. Instead of basing my sermon today on the disbelief of Thomas, I would rather take the opportunity to speak on "renewal," being that all things were made new by the Lord's Resurrection. This past week, which started with Pascha, and ended today, is officially known as the New Week, --- the week of renewal, or Bright Week, simply because, the complete week sharply focuses on the Lord's Glorious Resurrection. In the tradition of the Church the complete week just over, is considered as a single day; --- a Day of total jubilation. That is why the Wednesday and Friday fast is dispensed during Bright Week. We all know that the Paschal period lasts 40 days until the Day of our Lord's Ascension into Heaven. Until the Ascension our everyday greeting is "Christos Anesti!" and to hear: "Alithos Anesti!"St. The tone of this 40 Day Festive period is set, so that we may sense the effects of the new life, or better yet, in the renewed life in the Resurrected Christ. Traditionally, we all choose to put on our best clothes to come to the Resurrection Services. This act, is nothing short of the symbolism of putting on the new self, as St. Paul states in the 3rd Chapter of his Epistle to the Colossians. The Resurrection of our Lord definitely affirms, that we can have a renewed life; and that life's new quality, is to be found in the reconciliation of our relationship to God! It is nothing less, than the renewed power of the Holy Spirit, which we receive through our Sacramental life, which makes us spiritually strong, and decisive in our actions. We mention renewal, and it seems so abstract! But, for the Christian who makes the decision, it is a power, which the Christian puts into action, and which gives substance, and new meaning to his or her decision. There is no question that our spiritual renewal can become a reality; that is, --- if we choose to be renewed! We can choose to live in the power of the Resurrection, here and now. This can be the beginning of the new life, which God promises to us, when we believe wholeheartedly. To be sure, there are 3 implications of this faith, which do have a year-round meaning. The FIRST implication is ethical. - When we make the firm decision to renew our life, we will sense very early the primary characteristic of the "new life," with our ethical sensitivity, which will manifest itself without question. When we truly give ourselves over to God, we automatically become obedient to His will and His purposes. To be sure, the ethical concern of the Gospels, is directed not only against the obvious sins of adultery, dishonesty, deceit, betrayal and the like; but also, the ethical concern includes the sins of disposition, such as unkindness, insincerity, anger, jealousy, gossip, rumor-mongering, envy, slander and the like, which so many Christians unfortunately dismiss so lightly. In His ethical exhortations, Jesus always reminds us, that the heart is the fountain, from which sources the most profound issues of life; and that the commandments of the law concentrate, on our sincere love for one another. So it is, that we must never forget, that the first mark of our new life in Christ, is our ethical sensitivity and concern. The SECOND implication, is closely related to the first, but goes a little deeper. It has to do with our sense of values. If we are risen with Christ, to be sure we must focus our affections, and our desires on things Above, rather than on the ephemeral, earthly things. Yes, this may appear difficult for us to learn, in the midst of this century's materialism. But it is also St. Paul, who draws an interesting parallel with Jesus, when he says, that we are to set our affections on things Above. As we know, Jesus preached, that we should not seek earthly treasures, but rather seek to lay up treasures in Heaven. Just a little thought will convince us, how valid this is, if we stop to think, that we are not permanent residents on this earth, but visitors in a sense, or pilgrims! To be sure, we were not created for limited time only; but we were created for eternity! The purpose of God, goes beyond the things of this world. Therefore, as Christians, we must constantly guard ourselves against being absorbed strictly in the realm of materialism. All things on this earth were given by God to us to help make life enjoyable. But,- we must always be on guard, and to always be in control of our life, --- to be true masters over the material, and not to permit ourselves to become subjected to the material, which has enslaved so many people. Therefore we must seek to live as faithful stewards of our blessings-- always looking forward to the city which is to come as St. Paul repeatedly emphasizes. We must constantly be conscious of the fact that one day we shall be citizens of the City, which is to come! The THIRD implication of the faith in the Resurrection, is simply the fact, that once more, another opportunity has been afforded to us, to acquire the power of Christ, here and now! That we may be drawn by the Comforter, that is, the Holy Spirit, into a deeper relationship with God, and a more satisfying relationship with one another. This is a vital and most serious move, which does guarantee us eternity in God's Kingdom. With a proper relationship with God and with our fellow man, our life would be transformed, and we would really begin to partake in the quality of eternity. The promise of the New Testament is, that we can, and should strive to increase in our knowledge and love of God, here and now. We can proceed, and we can be moving from strength to strength even now. The Lord stressed the fact, that we should constantly seek and labor for perfection; and this is achievable, step by step, - one at a time. He specifically exhorted us: "strive to be perfect, as your Father in Heaven is perfect." Indeed a most supreme and lofty goal. To be it is- and most assuredly, it can be achieved, when we truly decide to make our firm decision to walk in the ways of the Lord. Fr. George Papadeas
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