02 in Luke            (2nd Cor. 4:5-15) Ocala 10/2/2005       

For God, who said: "Let light shine out of darkness," made His light shine in our hearts, to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Christ! 2Cor.4:6 Our sermon today is based on the Epistle reading we heard this morning. For it was God, who said: "Let light shine out of darkness to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God." In so many places in the New Testament, the Lord speaks about the light, which is always strong enough to dispel any darkness. Remember, when the Lord Himself declared: "I am the Light of the world; whoever follows me shall nor walk in darkness, but will have the light of Life!" (Jn 8:12)

The Lord's words were always filled with enthusiasm. The word enthusiasm is a synthetic Greek word, meaning "In God!" Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: "Nothing great was ever achieved, without enthusiasm." One only need to stop for a moment and think, that all the great works we enjoy, but take so for granted, were and are the product of enthusiasm.

Skill, intelligence, devotion, genius and the like have never been sufficient to build a society, a movement, a work of art, a Church, a Nation. Behind all that has left a lasting mark on the human scene, there has been the impetus of enthusiasm. Take our Mission effort here. Were it not for the enthusiasm of all of us, could we ever have made the strides that we have made?

Just think of the Church. Was it not enthusiasm, in spite of their life being threatened, that carried the convictions of a handful of Apostles to all corners of the pagan Roman Empire? A burning and soaring enthusiasm, that nothing could quench?

Enthusiasm in the New Testament reveals the literal meaning of the word, "the Divine in us!"

Every great and living movement of the human soul, is rooted in such an experience.

We witness enthusiasm, when we see an ordinary personality invaded by a power from beyond, overcoming his or her human limits. There appears to be a transformation; and it is so, because, it means the entrance of the Spirit of the living God into the life of humans. It is the liberating presence of none other, than the living Christ. This is the "God in us," -- the Lord Jesus, Who comes to shape us in His own image, and to transform us into the true sons and daughters of God.

There can be no enthusiasm in the Church, no throb of joy, and no purpose in our lives, unless somehow, we have sensed the invasion of the living Christ in our very lives.

Easter for the early Christians was not simply a conviction that Christ had risen from the dead. It meant that His Spirit had possessed them. Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended on the heads of the Apostles in the upper room was readily fused with Easter, and inspired the Apostles and their followers to sacrifice themselves even unto death, for the Church to be established.

These first Christians, we could say, were possessed by the Holy Spirit so as to have become fountainheads of enthusiasm. This inspiration was truly a gift from God for the propagation of the new Religion. This inspiration has never ceased in the life of the Church. It is open to anyone. St. Paul in his 1st Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 3, verse 16 says: "Do you not know that you are the Temples of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells within you?" If we just give this a serious thought, we surely would be humbled to the greatest degree. Just think, we are the Temples of God, and the Spirit of God dwells within us!

St. Paul was truly possessed by the Spirit of God. He believed wholeheartedly, that God would see him through, in all his efforts and his four missionary journeys, all the way to Rome, to establish the Church in all the centers that he visited, preaching the word of Christ.

In the same reading of today's Epistle we are impressed by the spirit of St. Paul and his followers. Just listen, and try to compare our lives and thoughts with what he writes: "We are hard pressed on every side, --- but not crushed. We are perplexed, --- but not in despair. We are persecuted, --- but not abandoned. We are struck down, --- but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus, may also be revealed in our body." (1 Con 4:$-10)

It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." "With that same spirit of faith," St. Paul says, "we also believe, and therefore we speak, because we know, that the One who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead, will also raise us with Jesus, and present us with you in His presence. All this is for your benefit," St. Paul says to the Corinthians, "so that the grace, that is reaching more and more people, may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God!

(1 Cor. 4:13-15)

I am sure that all of us here today, faithful Members of our Holy Mission, are aware to some degree, that the possession of our souls by the living Christ is the great secret of the Gospel, --- and that without the Lord's transforming presence, the title "Christian" cannot be in its fullest _expression.

That is precisely why our Lord came into this world, that as St. John says in his Gospel, "we may have life, and have it more abundantly." (John 10:10).

Also in the same Gospel (1:12) St. John says: "that as many as have received Jesus, to them, He gave power to become the sons of God." And St. Paul makes a relative and most powerful statement, describing his love for the Lord, when he says: "I live; yet not I, but it is Christ, who lives in me." (Galatians 2:20) The enthusiasm of us Christians, can only be in the exact proportion to our personal realization of this truth.

Oftentimes, we talk about remodeling, in order to give a new and perhaps up to date image of our home. It almost consumes some people. But, I ask, how many of us ever think of remodeling our personal being. To remodel our life more in keeping with God's commandments, and which remodeling will surely remould us into our ancient calling, that is, to be in the image and likeness of God?

But, to achieve this, that beautiful description of enthusiasm, must come into play. I remember reading a saying some years ago, that was as follows: "Nothing which does not burn of its own, can kindle flame to anything else." How true! We firstly have to possess enthusiasm, in order that we may enthuse others. Our Mission here needs enthusiastic Christians, with a flame burning in their heart, in order to transmit this flame to others, not as enthusiastic.

Our risen Lord is with us today, as He was in the days with His Disciples. On one occasion, when He was walking on the waters on a dark and stormy night to meet His Disciples, they compounded their fears, facing the great danger because of the tempest. They thought that they were seeing a ghost, until the Lord, realizing their fear said: "It is I. Do not be afraid!" Suddenly they became calm, as did the waters. As St. Paul said, regarding fear: "If the Lord is with us, who can be against us?"

These are the thoughts, that should be circling in our mind, so that with faith we may brace ourselves in our personal and family living, as well as our living as one, loving family here at our Mission of the Greater Ocala area. Amen.            +Fr.George Papadeas