Pentecost 2022

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

of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ.

Glory to God. I pray God that he grant each of

us a feast day worthy of what we're celebrating.

Let me review here just a word from what you

just heard. Jesus was at the Feast of Tabernacles,

and he lifted up his voice and said, if anyone

would come after me, not pick up your cross,

that was earlier, but anyone that believes in

me, basically, to believe in Jesus is to come

after him. It's not just, as I said last week,

to think about him. It's to follow him. to live

according to his gospel. And he promises that

the one who does that is going to have not just

good times, smooth ride through life, everything

working out. That person will have welling up

within him or her. Could be a child, too. The

Holy Spirit. like a spring of fresh water, a

fresh life. This is why I said, I hope the feast

day for each of you is according to what we're

celebrating. Yes, it was important that the Jews

gathered, and they gathered in huge numbers,

as Orthodox Christians should do on this feast

day, because this is no less than Pascha. In

fact, it's the affirmation. It's the vindication

of Christ. The gospel said that Jesus spoke of

the Holy Spirit, but it wasn't given yet. Why?

Because he had not yet been glorified. What was

his glorification? The cross, the resurrection,

and the ascension. He says, if I go away, I will

send the Holy Spirit from the Father. And he

will teach you. all things, and bring all things

to your understanding. He will be your comforter.

He will be your guide. He will be your friend.

He will be your illumination. Jesus was glorified.

And so we are too celebrating this feast day,

and we should celebrate it with as much enthusiasm

and joy as those first Christians. In Jerusalem,

to read about and you heard about Acts chapter

Acts 2 · chapter mention

2. My message today is very short. It's just

this. Out of the abundance of the heart come

our words. Out of the abundance of our heart

come our words. It's a misquote of what Jesus

said. Can't remember it exactly. When St. Peter

preached on that day of Pentecost, they were

cut to the heart, the thousands of people, it

says here in Acts chapter 2. Men and brethren,

Acts 2 · chapter mention

he says, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch

David. that he is both dead and buried, and his

tomb is with us to this day, therefore being

a prophet, and knowing that God has sworn with

an oath to him that of the fruit of his body,

according to the flesh, he would raise up the

Christ to sit on the throne. He, foreseeing this,

spoke concerning the resurrection of Christ,

that his soul was not left in Hades, in other

words, in the grave, nor did his flesh seek corruption.

This Jesus God has raised up. of which we are

all witnesses. Therefore, being exalted to the

right hand of God, and having received from the

Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he poured

out this which you now see and hear. The people

thought the apostles were drunk. They were speaking

in other languages. Their lives were completely

changed from fear to glory. and joy, and understanding.

And the people said, when they heard this, they

were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the

rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what

shall we do? Peter said to them, repent. Let's

change your life. Let's change your life, change

your direction, and keep changing your direction

every day. The direction is towards the light,

towards Christ. Not towards the darkness. Brothers

and sisters, we consume, I would bet, between

you and me, we consume vast amount of information

that is dark, that is devious, that is foolish,

that is simply worldly or frivolous, and some

of it demonic. And we don't know. We consume

such great amounts of this. And this fills our

heart. Out of the abundance of our heart, we

speak. Our repentance is to turn to Christ, to

always look, meditate upon, rejoice in, and found

our lives on Christ's light. He said, if you

believe in me, waters, that is the Holy Spirit,

will not just come into you, pouring out of you.

This is why the people said, what shall we do?

They were cut to the heart. Repent. Let every

one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ

for the remission of sins and you shall receive

the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is to

you and your children. I'll end with this quote

from Elder Thaddeus. In that wonderful book,

Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives, we can keep

guard over the whole world by keeping guard over

the atmosphere of heaven within us. For if we

lose the kingdom of heaven, we will save neither

ourselves nor others. He who has the kingdom

of God in himself will perceptibly pass it on

to others. like the apostles did, like Peter

did when he preached there. People will be attracted

by the peace and warmth within us, and some will

be opposed. Count on it. You heard the gospel.

They will want to be near us, and in the atmosphere

of heaven, it will gradually pass on to them.

It is not even necessary to speak to people about

this. The atmosphere of heaven will radiate from

us because of the Holy Spirit. even when we keep

silence or talk about ordinary things. Let's

change our, forget the word change, repent, turn

to Christ. Let your mind dwell upon things that

are high and heavenly and holy. I'm not saying

ignore the world around you, not at all, but

you will have nothing to give to this world.

You will have nothing to witness to about Jesus

Christ in your life, the experience of him, if

it's all about this world. We come here to be

changed, to be nourished, to be unified into

one body by the power and the grace of the Holy

Spirit. This is what you're going to hear in

a moment. The love of God, the gift of the Holy

Spirit. And the blessing of the Son be upon all

of you. Amen.