Be Ye Seperate Fr Nicholas Carr

The Holy Spirit. Glory to Jesus Christ. Glory

forever. When we are baptized and chrismated

into Christ's Church, it is only the beginning.

For some cradle Orthodox, it begins right after

birth, this event. For others, converts as myself,

it begins later in life. whenever that is. But

in all cases, it is just the beginning of us

being sanctified, of us being made holy, of us

becoming close to God. And for this process to

happen, it requires our participation. It requires

our desire. It requires us to make choices. To

make choices of things not to do and choices

of things to do. And so today, perhaps this is

a moment where you will decide, I am going to

not do that anymore. Or perhaps it's a day where

you will decide, I'm going to begin doing that

now. And I hope that would happen for you, however

God would work it in your heart. Wherever you

are in your Christian walk this day, may your

life no longer be static as it has been. May

you feel the growth. May a year from now there

be change that has brought you closer to God

because of your participation in walking with

Him. Today's epistle reading read so well by

Deacon Aaron says, What agreement has the temple

of God with idols? For you are the temple of

the living God. As God has said, I will dwell

in them and walk among them. I will be their

God. They shall be my people. Therefore, come

out from among them and be separate, says the

Lord. the area that you need to think about maybe

you're still living in the world somewhere perhaps

there's a part of your life that you haven't

given to god that maybe there's even an idol

still in place that you haven't torn down christ

says that we need to come to him come out from

among them and be separate Do not touch what

is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be

a father to you. You shall be my sons and daughters.

What could be greater than that opportunity?

And so now, therefore, having these promises,

let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness

of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness

in the fear of God. God will do this. If we just

turn away from the things of the world and say

goodbye to them and not do the things that the

world does. The world is filled with uncleanness,

with idols, with ungodly teachings that lead

many away from God. These are the things not

to do. And in today's world, too often you will

see churches often especially Protestant churches,

which instead of impacting the world with the

gospel, they have their teachings changed by

worldly thinking. May we not go there. It should

not be this way. The teachings of the church

should be transforming the culture and each one

of us in our own lives. Don't listen to the world

and worldly teachings. Listen to God. and what

is in the Holy Scriptures, and what the Holy

Fathers have told us. An idol is anything that

you make more important than God's will. Perhaps

there's something in your life that you've thought

of, just as I've been talking this morning. It's

time to get rid of it, to tear it down, to cast

it away, to let God heal you. and move you forward

in the process of sanctification. Some of you

may be aware that God recently gave me quite

a gift, a journey to Mount Athos. And on that

journey, one part of my pilgrimage was on a hike

from the town of Careus to Ivoron Monastery.

A beautiful hike in and of itself. But halfway

along that journey is a cell, a dwelling of a

man, a very holy man named Elder Gabriel. And

sometimes he's so ill that pilgrims are not able

to visit him. But we were blessed, our group,

to go into his cell, to sit with him, to have

him pray for us. and have him look at each one

of us. I could not speak the language that he

spoke. There was some translation going on. But

when I went up to him, and I looked in his eyes,

and I kissed his hand, no language was needed.

He knew my struggles, and he was praying for

me. I knew. And he gave words for me to bring

to all of you. He gave it to our whole group.

It was translated into English for me. On the

things that we should do, that we need to do

to be sanctified. And so I bring the words of

this Elder Gabriel from Mount Athos to you. He

says we need to do these seven things. One. regular

confession to a spiritual father. Two, regular

attendance at church. Three, Holy Communion after

the blessing of a spiritual father. Four, fasting

on Wednesday and Friday and other days designated

by the church. Five, charity, helping one of

the poor families or doing good deeds, doing

things in kindness with compassion for those

that God brings into your path. And six, to study,

to read the Holy Scriptures. And he said, even

a little, five to ten minutes. but every day

to read the scriptures. And seven, unceasing

prayer, to remember the Jesus prayer, to bring

it with you everywhere. And when you're tempted

to say, Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me,

or most holy Theotokos, save us, to begin remembering

God throughout your whole day. to start to live

a life with unceasing prayer, to the best of

your ability today. And these seven things are

things that we need to do. Maybe there's one

of these that you have been failing at. Begin

to turn it around this very day. Perhaps you

mean to read the Holy Scriptures, but somehow

you don't. Make a new commitment this day that

you will read the scriptures, even if it is as

little as five to ten minutes, to do it daily.

And take on whatever the Lord has touched your

heart to do. So look at your Christian life today,

where it is, and make sure it's not in the same

place one year from now. Begin to not do the

things of the world. Remove them from your life.

And begin to do the things on Elder Gabriel's

list. And watch as the Lord works in you a work

of sanctification, of making you holy in ways

that will bless you and bless many around you.

The path of sanctification is not an easy journey.

But the blessings gained are eternal. May God

grant us all strength and wisdom to make right

choices that lead us closer to him. Glory to

Jesus Christ.