On the Rich Young Man and St Philaret the Almsgiver

We've all had times in our life when people around

us, circumstances around us, were leading us

to try and understand something that we just

weren't getting that well. And finally, the light

goes on and we start to see that people are helping

us. Well, in the church, it doesn't work that

randomly. The church is a personal gift and a

personal message to our heart. Recent Gospels,

to my point about trying to get something over

time, recent Gospels have been obviously to me

directing and guiding and prompting us towards

something. Think back. Today we heard about...

The young rich man who went away sorrowful. And

notice how Christ, it says, when Christ saw that

he was sorrowful, he said. How hard it is for,

he didn't say, when Christ saw how rich he was.

That's important. Just keep that in mind there

for a moment. And we have the rich fool who built

the barns recently. We have the good Samaritan.

This is all within the last month and a half.

We had the rich man and Lazarus. We had the 10

lepers and that relates. Today we have an epistle

in which St. Paul says, God is rich. God is rich

in his love for us and in the riches of what

he will give us. And he goes on and on to speak

about that. And then we have the rich young man.

This is not about money. Not merely. It's not

about being sinful if you're rich because that's

not a sin. This is about the talk about that

this encounter that Jesus has with this man demonstrates

and illustrates to us the condition of the heart

first, the condition of gratitude. Gratitude.

We can express our thanks. To God, in whose hands

is our breath? It says at the funeral service.

I've done so many funerals now. I almost have

the whole thing memorized. In whose hands is

our breath? Every breath is a gift from God.

The breath you are taking right now, the beating

of your heart in this moment is a gift of God's

love. He didn't wind you up and just see what's

going to happen. He is so close. to each one

of us. And that should bring out an expression

from our heart of gratitude because all things

are from God. The rich man was, this young man

was incredibly blessed by God. But he, this is

my second point, trusted not in God who has all

riches, who can give everything to everyone,

but he trusted in the material things in his

life. That's what he pursued, and it made him

sad that he couldn't let go of it. Gratitude

and then trust. Each one of us has something

that we trust more than God, or else we would

all be saints. Now, we're a work in progress,

that's for sure. And we have to give it a little

bit of time to help us let go of whatever that

thing or those things are that keep us from truly

trusting God. Truly trusting our Savior. Because

when we read the New Testament, we see how rich

in love Christ is and that he has all things.

And this young man could have given up everything

and given it to the people. Poor, as Christ says.

Given it to the poor and had treasure. More treasure

than he could have possibly imagined. Come follow

me. My goodness. If our Lord is inviting him,

he's inviting us too. Christ has all things in

his power. The Christmas fast is asking us to

give up a little thing. Some food. We all eat.

So we can do something. If we can't say, as one

priest said recently, I'll have that peanut butter

and jelly sandwich or whatever on Wednesday and

Friday rather than the ham and cheese. There's

no chance that we're going to survive an assault

of temptation. Nothing. Because we trust in ourself,

not in God. So we've had our little Thanksgiving

break. That's nice. That's good. That's godly.

But let's get back now to the fast. Let's be

careful. Let's be zealous. Let's be consistent.

Let's be grateful. And the final thing, the final

thing that Jesus is asking this man to do is

out of his riches to give, to give alms, to share,

to help, to visit. We can do all of those things.

Let me give you. Very brief overview now, just

for five minutes, of the life of the saint for

today. Because he contrasts with this rich young

man so beautifully to illustrate how it is we

might be. There was this man, his name was Filaret.

He was born in Paphlagonia. That's the northern

part of Turkey, right by the Black Sea. And he

was instructed by his Christian parents. We're

talking about the 8th century, so the 700s. This

was a time of iconoclasm. It was a difficult

time in the church. As a youth, he was chaste.

He was virtuous. He was loving. He was pious.

He loved God. When he reached manhood, he married

an honorable, well -born, and very rich woman.

theosavia and she brought with her a considerable

dowry and a great house and everything well philaret

thought i heard this gospel rich man it's harder

for rich man to enter so i'm going to share and

he began to show mercy to the poor to treat them

as a father would his children. He fed the hungry.

He gave drink to the thirsty. He clothed the

naked. He accepted strangers into his home. You

could do that then. He offered them warm hospitality.

At that time, just as everything was wonderful,

God tested him like Job was tested. Not to see

what he would do because God is omniscient. He

knows all things. But he tested him like an athlete

is tested so he will gain strength and confidence

and have victory in a difficult circumstance,

just like an athlete. And what was that test?

Well, invaders came through that countryside.

They destroyed everything. They took the animals.

They took his servants. They left him only with

a pair of oxen, a cow, a horse. a servant and

one maidservant. It says he rejoiced in his poverty

as a man would in great wealth because he understood

that it is easier for one who is poor to enter

the kingdom of heaven than for a rich man. And

he thought, well, I was rich, now God is giving

me this. So the blessed Philaret, having very

little, was still giving away things. He saw

a man whose ox had died and he couldn't plow

his field. And so, so grieved with this man that

Philaret took his ox and he said, brother, take

my ox, plow your field, give thanks to God. Now

we shouldn't forget his wife. As he approached

his house, his wife caught sight of Philaret.

and says to him, my husband, where's the other

ox? I mean, you don't have much. And Fillaret

replied, well, while I was resting from my labors,

I loosened the oxen to allow them to graze. One

of them wandered off and became lost, or perhaps

someone took it. Not a good answer. She says,

Woe is me, woe is me, the wife of a heartless

man. And tearing her hair, she ran to her husband,

shrieking and wailing, you inhuman, hard -hearted

man. Why do you wish to destroy us with hunger?

She's a wife. She's protecting her family. We

have lost all our possessions because of our

sins, and it was only by God's mercy that two

oxen were left to us so that we could feed our

children. Oh, I know, she says, you're accustomed

to wealth and have never labored with your hands.

And now lazy that you are, you intend to remain

lying about the house. So you gave away the oxen

so you don't have to work. What answer will you

give to the Lord when your children and I perish

because of your laziness? The blessed Philaret.

looked at her and meekly, of course, meekly said,

hear what God, who is rich in mercy, as you heard

today, commands us. Behold, the birds of the

air, they sow not, neither do they reap, nor

do they gather into barns, yet your heavenly

father feeds them. Shall he not feed us who are

much better than birds? He says, God has some

riches for us, which I have stored up. And I

will bring them to you at the right time. Of

course, what he meant was he was awaiting God's

help. And he gave away a horse. And he gave away

his food. And he gave away his cloak. And his

wife gave him her cloak because he was standing

there in his underwear. You are not an angel.

You think you are an angel, she said. You are

a man. But you think you have no need of food.

If you required food, you would not be so anxious

to give away all our food to the poor. Well,

to summarize all of this, this man's faith was

so great. And God, it ends up, it's like a fairy

tale. His daughter is married to Constantine

VI, the young. emperor at the time of the seventh

ecumenical council and philaret is given riches

and he established orphanages hospitals churches

and he takes care of all the poor around him

constantly now why am i telling you this story

well for one thing it's in the lives of the saints

and it's important that we know our saints our

heroes of faith I'm telling you also this because

we can know that in times of distress, times

of difficulty, times of poverty, if we are seeking

the one thing needful, it's a radical thing to

do. We can trust our Lord Jesus Christ. He has

called us. I'm not asking you to give everything

away. Of course not. Although... That's what

the Lord said to this young man who was captivated

by his riches. But what I am asking us to do

is consider what keeps you and me from really

following Christ, from really giving to the poor,

giving to the church, and supporting that which

the Lord says, do this. Do this in my name. Let's

think about that, brothers and sisters, in this

time of the Christmas fast, when we were preparing

for the coming of our Lord and the flesh, who

was poor. Yet God, who is rich in mercy, has

seated us in the heavenly places. To him be glory,

honor, now and ever, two ages of ages.