Sunday of the Paralytic 2023

I'm so happy that we have the sound of babies

in our church. We need, usually when we're trying

to learn something, we need visual aids. They're

helpful. Visual aid in the church, however, is

much different than a visual aid in a classroom.

Visual aid in the church, because of the way

it's painted, not as a photograph, which makes

us just be an onlooker, but because it's painted

in a certain stylized and unique way, like the

icons are, it draws us in, or rather, we become,

yes. we become drawn into that scene, that event.

We can share in the joy, the sorrow, the incredible

event that happened. For the next few weeks,

we get to have visual aid. This week, it's the

man at the pool. You see the five porches. It's

that fresco on the third arch from me. You see

he's picked up his bed, he's carrying it, and

he's going to receive opposition in just a moment.

Why are you carrying your bed on the Sabbath

day? And the week after that, we're going to

have the woman at the well, the Samaritan woman.

And then the week after that, we'll have the

blind man. That's not yet painted, is it? So

that's coming. Day of Pascha, we celebrate the

resurrection. The amazing event. The second week,

we remember Thomas saying, my Lord and my God,

being confronted with Christ, the risen Christ.

And the week after that, it was the women ministering

at the tomb, coming to see Christ, to take care

of his body. They didn't know how. The stone

they didn't know was rolled away. And they become

the apostles. To the apostles. Those first three

Sundays. Pascha. Thomas Sunday. All about the

celebration of the resurrection. Today the church.

Turns our gaze. Away. From that exactly. On to

what does it mean. That this is. This man is

God. This man endured the cross. The tomb. And

he rose from the dead. This man appeared. showing

signs to his disciples. What's it mean for us?

So this is why we have the story of the man at

the pool, the Samaritan woman at the well, the

blind man who's told to wash. Yes, it has to

do with baptism. It has to do with the radical

change that happens to a person's life when that

person meets Christ. And is given the gift of

being a child of God. You saw this incredible

service this morning. Little Maria, now a servant

of the Most High God. So we are going to be given

readings that will help us trust in Christ more.

Trust in the life of the church. It's so important,

brothers and sisters. You do not miss church

during these days. Don't miss it. It's a precious

gift. Don't come late. You want it all. It's

like the train leaves the station at a certain

time. Be on it. Now, in the midst of the joy

of the Paschal season, this story tells me That

there's a warning. There's a warning that if

we do not undertake the struggle, and this man,

you know, Jesus says to him, do you want to be

healed? Now that seems like an obvious question,

but the man doesn't say yes, because he doesn't

know that Jesus can do this, raise him. He says,

I have no one. No one. It's true, brothers and

sisters, we should see in our life those people

that need some attention, that have no one. that

are lonely, that are isolated. That's another

sermon. But he doesn't just say yes. But then

he is healed. He has to pick up his bed. He has

to do something. He has to follow Christ. He

becomes a disciple right away. And the Lord says

to him later, be careful. Lest you fall into

another sin, something worse will happen to you.

So we have a warning that we need to undertake

the struggle of being disciples for Christ when

it is difficult and when it is easy. Because

if we don't labor against sin in our hearts,

we're so keen to labor against sin in somebody

else's heart. If we don't labor against sin in

our own hearts, if we don't labor to acquire

godly love, to embrace discipleship fully, To

receive by prayer the patience we need to live

in this world. Patience from God, his generosity.

If we don't learn to pray deeply, if we only

do these things half -heartedly, our state may

become even worse than it was when we were called

out of the world by Jesus Christ. Forgive me,

brothers and sisters. But I have seen this happen

and it is terrible. I have seen the possibility

of this in my own life pretty much daily and

it frightens me. This is a good fear because

it gets me off my self -indulgent and self -pitying

and foolish duff. And I can say, I don't want

to waste any more decades. I probably wasted

more than 38 years. This man was at the pool

for 38 years begging to eat. I think I've let

way more than 38 years go by. Such wasted time.

One of the hymns, we just sang it, has these

words. As of old, thou didst raise up the paralytic,

O Lord God. by thy godlike care and might. Raise

up my soul, which is paralyzed by diverse sins

and transgressions and by unseemly deeds and

acts, that being saved, I may also cry out, O

compassionate Redeemer, O Christ God, glory to

thy dominion and thy power. The hymn asks us,

like the icons to pull us in, asks us to identify

ourselves with this man at that place. Honestly,

I'm frankly afraid to even begin to do that.

It's hard for me to think of myself in that desperate

place, the sheep's pool, with the sick people,

the paralyzed people, the broken and sinful and

desperate people. Why don't I, I ask myself,

why don't I see myself there? Because the hymn

is saying to do that. Why don't I see the darkness

in myself and wake up, stop wasting time? I was

baptized also. I was charismated also. Like the

paralyzed man, I was also cured of the paralysis

of sin in my heart. That's the first resurrection.

But the struggle against sin in reality begins

in earnest from that moment on. God came in the

form of a slave. And he was raised upon the cross.

And he died the death of a criminal. And he rose

from the dead. And we celebrate this on Pascha

and we hear these words. The Savior's death has

set us free from the fear of death. The Savior

has destroyed death. O death, where is thy sting?

Quoting St. Paul. O Hades, where is thy victory?

Hades took a body and met God face to face. It

took mortality and met immortality. We're baptized

into that reality. We have nothing to fear. Christ

will not take away the suffering and the struggle.

We all have that, but he changes the meaning

of it so that when we take up our bed, that is,

we lay aside all those sins. We struggle to come

to church to pray, to fast, to love one another,

to forgive, to keep our mouths shut when we should

not be speaking, to say something good, nurturing.

compassionate and truthful when we should. This

is our struggle. The Lord will help us by communing

his body and blood to us, by giving his strength

in our needs by the Holy Spirit. So I say, why

don't I see myself in that tremendously desperate

And dark place, not a place of healing one person

a year. It's a multitude of people. It's a tragic

place. Why don't I see, well, St. Sophrony, Father

Sophrony, the newly glorified saint. He says,

when we look in our heart, we see darkness. The

problem is, we have to look in our heart. In

my own case, I'm pursuing my worldly appetites

and concerns, most of which are completely innocent

in and of themselves. They're fine. They're meant

to be blessings by God, whether it be food or

a wonderful wine or time with somebody else or

reading a book or just doing nothing. These things,

but when they get pursued as goals. Aggregately.

These things that are supposed to be blessings

make me blind and paralyzed and I cannot see

the darkness in my soul. My soul is paralyzed

by diverse sins and transgressions. We sing by

unseemly deeds and acts. The knowledge of that

darkness and that sickness and death and spiritual

danger. We're in spiritual danger, you know,

if we don't see this. It's like I'm out on Highway

101, scrolling on my cell phone, doing text messages,

listening to music, cars whizzing by. I don't

see the danger. I'm about to get run over. But

when I do see it, St. Luke the surgeon says,

the doors of mercy are open. Because we are horrified

by what we see. And we bow our heads low. We

beat our breasts. We repent from before the Lord.

And this vision of reality gives birth, gives

birth to the most amazing thing, the most life

-changing event, the power of Christ's resurrection,

baptism in the Holy Spirit in our life. Fervent

prayer, which starts as desperate prayer, which

turns into merciful, joyful prayer to God, our

true love, who loves us. Brothers and sisters,

we've been given these accounts so that we can

trust in Christ and not be afraid. Christ is

risen.