July 12th, 2026: On Romans 12: Christian love

Glory to Jesus Christ. Glory to Christ. In the

name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the

Holy Spirit. Amen. Let me remind you about what

I said last week, that since Pentecost, the weeks

after Pentecost, the Church focuses our attention

on what it means just to be a Christian, a disciple

of Christ. How to follow Christ, what to do,

how to act. Why are we doing this, and who is

it that Jesus Christ is? All of these questions,

all of these things are addressed in these weeks.

Christ having power over nature, Christ having

power over demons, Christ having power over sin,

Christ forgiving, as you heard today, Christ

healing. And who is this Christ? Well, we're

celebrating this feast of the fathers of the

first six ecumenical councils. I debated going

through each council in detail this morning,

but I'll save you that and we'll do that at another

time at a class, perhaps. But the question was

always, who is Jesus Christ? And why are we following

him? But today we also have an epistle. that

is very, very clear on the behavior of Christians.

St. Paul says we've all been given grace according

to the measure that God wants us to have it.

We've all been given gift, a gift in that grace,

and that's what I'd like to address this morning.

During church services, during liturgy, today,

we hear the deacon intoning in whatever language

this phrase, commemorating our most holy, most

pure, most blessed and glorious Lady Theotokos

with all the saints, let us commend ourselves

and each other and all our life unto Christ God,

and we answer back, basically, yes, let's do

that. When we say to thee, O Lord, we are. offering

this. That exchange is done four times today

as we unite ourselves to the Theotokos and the

saints and a few more times in another form later

in the liturgy. Something that happens six times

during the service. Obviously the church is telling

us, pay attention, this is important. telling

us how a paralyzed man was brought to Jesus in

the Gospel from Matthew. And he was forgiven

for his sins. We don't know what they are. But

it completely offended the religious authorities,

because only God... Can forgive sins, of course.

And the man was healed of his paralysis. In telling

us about this account, St. Matthew points out

something vitally important for us that relates

to that, what the deacon says. For us as members

of a parish, for us as members of the church

itself, the body of Christ, Jesus healed the

paralyzed man because of the intercessions and

faith and the love and the common goal of the

paralyzed man's friends. Jesus says, as St. Matthew

comments, Jesus seen their faith, and his friends

commended him that is offered, entrusted, gave

their friend to Jesus. And they interceded in

a very practical way out of their love for him.

We are all bound up like that man with our own

kind of paralysis for sure. But we're more bound

up with each other by belonging to the body of

Christ. The church. Which we belong to this communion

of saints which we see all around us. And now

this new fresco here of St. Moses. the black.

In the epistle that we heard about the gifts

that God gives us and the grace that is given

to each of us, you were baptized. You were chrismated.

You've been given the Holy Spirit. We are what

Christ spoke about in the prayer to his Father

which you heard today. As many as you have given

me, I have given you, and they glorify you, O

Lord. They glorify you. That is what we're doing

today. We're trying to glorify God, not just

with words, the fruit of our lips, but with our

entire life. You have the Holy Spirit, not merely

for your own growth. You are here in the church,

not merely to continue your spiritual journey

by yourself, no. This is a body. This is a family.

And not everyone has the same gift. Obviously,

that would not work. And not everybody has the

same gifts in the same proportion. It's up to

the Lord. And let me say that St. Paul is not

mostly talking about parish members having tasks

during church services. Altar boy, deacon, choir.

a candle desk, lamps, etc. No. That happens once,

twice, whatever, a week for a few hours. No,

this is about what happens the rest of the week

in your life. What gift has God given you that

you manifest, that you act upon, that you live

for, for the building up, as St. Paul says in

another place, for the life of the church? And

here's the point I want to emphasize. We, though

many, are one body in Christ and individually

members of one another, like the friends who

took the man to the Lord. The personal, the moral,

the spiritual effort we make are not merely for

myself. In any case, the gospel is about what

God has done for us. There's no such thing as

a private Orthodox Christian with his or her

private faith. It's a shame when Pareto's law,

you know, the 20 % doing 80%, is found to apply

in the church. Because each of us has been given

a task, and I don't even mean cleaning up. I'm

talking about what the friends did for that paralyzed

man. I'm talking about prayer. I'm talking about

worship. I'm talking about sacrificial life for

those who don't have. What St. Paul is urging

in this epistle you heard today is radical. Let

love be genuine, that is, without hypocrisy.

How do you acquire that? That's the question.

Abhor and hate what is evil. Hold fast to what

is good. Love one another with brotherly affection.

Outdo one another in showing honor, he says.

Do not be slothful in zeal, but be fervent in

spirit. Serve the Lord. Persevere in prayer.

Rejoice in hope. Now, first he says, let love

be genuine, literally, unhypocritical. This is

not a matter of feelings. Well, I don't feel

like I can help, so I'm not going to do it. That's

not love. Love is stepping forward, even though

when you think you cannot and don't want. Love

is fulfilled in action. Love is love? No. That's

an empty slogan. It means nothing. Love is love.

St. Paul is exhorting us to be loving by being

unselfish. Not because we feel unselfish, but

because we can act in a given way. That's what

we can call magnanimous. It's what the Hindus

call Mahatma. In Latin, directly related to that

word, mania anima, great of soul, noble, magnanimous.

It confers respect on the person you are trying

to love. Where does this come from, this love?

How can you acquire this? That's why we're here.

St. Paul says also, to outdo one another in showing

honor, to prefer the other person. It's very

easy for me to say, I love everyone. I love everyone.

And usually what we mean by that, I love everyone,

is I don't have anything right now against anybody

that I'm willing to admit. I'm not holding any

grudges. We very easily mistake just lack of

caring and indifference for I love everyone.

The marker is not that I say I love everyone.

The marker is if you asked everyone I knew, would

they say that I love them? What would they say?

And with what kind of love? That's what the question

is. How to acquire this love. So my dear ones,

we're called today to be more than acquaintances

here in church. We're called to be more than

just co -workers in cleaning up and cooking and

doing all those wonderful things which are essential

and taking care of things in church. All this

is essential. But what I'm encouraging is what

happens when you leave the church? Before you

go to bed, when you wake up on Monday morning,

before you eat, before you go to sleep. What

charitable work are you doing? Who are your friends

that you are interceding for and bringing to

Christ? The church is more than just fellow parishioners,

more than individuals on a spiritual journey.

Not all are called to be apostles. Not all are

called to be prophets or miracle workers or teachers.

Not all are called to work miracles, but we all,

we all are called to be like friends of the paralyzed

man, to let love be genuine. When we say to thee,

O Lord, after the deacon has said, let us commend

ourselves, one another, and all our life, ask

yourself, is there something I cannot commend?

offer to God in my life, that secret that I'm

holding back because of fear or shame or because

it's sinful? Is there something I will not give

to the Lord? Because then we won't acquire genuine,

unhypocritical, magnanimous love. It is only

by being here and truly Hearing those words,

commending ourself and one another, like those

friends did for that man, and saying, to thee,

O Lord, I do that as best as I can, in every

way, in every corner. There's no dark basement

or box hidden in my soul. It is all for you.

The gift of God's grace, the restoration of communion

with him in our hearts, that's what the divine

liturgy is all about. that the fire of the love

of God would build up for him and for those around

us so we can be restored to what our true nature

is as human beings. Because it's God's grace

that we have been given as a gift to restore

us to our true self, each with his own, her own,

unique personal gifts. Liberated from the bondage

of just effort, effort, effort. No, trying harder.

No, from being better or worse than we really

are. That's our own form of hypocrisy. No, God's

gift is given to us. It's his gift. We receive

it. To our Lord be glory, now and ever, to ages

of ages.