On the single eye

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

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

Glory to God. I greet you, brothers and sisters,

on this third Sunday after Pentecost, where the

Church appoints for us Gospel, Epistle, Once

again, like last week, to remind us of the basics

of being a Christian. Part two today. If you

were here last week and you know that I spoke

about responding to Christ as the apostles responded.

He said, come and follow me. That their response

was not one based on his teaching. but based

on him, his authority personally. I also spoke

about having the saints of this land as our guides

and inspiration as we try to do that. So part

two today, trusting in Jesus very briefly. We

come to the church, and as we become a catechumen,

we're given the creed. And we get to the part

of the creed after we've said, I believe in one

God, the Father Almighty. And we learn in the

scriptures that God is a loving God, almighty

in his love and fatherhood. And then we speak

about Jesus, the Son of God, the only begotten

begotten of the Father, crucified for us. And

rose from the dead and ascended into heaven.

Then we get to the part of the creed which we

probably don't think about that much. And I believe

in one holy Catholic. It doesn't mean Roman Catholic.

It means whole and complete. One holy Catholic

and apostolic church. When I say I believe, it

doesn't mean I believe it exists. That's self

-evident. Here we are. I believe in it. That

St. Paul said is the pillar and the ground of

truth. The body of Christ. Pure and undefiled.

Filled with us. We're sick. We sin. And we've

come to be healed. So the basis of our trust

is not in some idea about Jesus. It's about the

living person of Jesus. And our integration into

his life by becoming Christians, baptism and

chrismation and holy communion and worship and

prayer. We share in his life that way. So this

week, with that little introduction, the gospel

we're given is not a parable. And it's not a

miracle story. It's not even a teaching. It's

the words of life. And as we read it, maybe these

words jump out at us a little bit. Anxiety, worry,

stressed out about the basics of life. The audience

of Jesus at the time didn't have a closet full

of clothes. They didn't have a supermarket to

go to to get their food. It was subsistence.

It was simple. Why are you anxious, Christ says.

The word care in the King James Gospel means

that heavy anxiety that fills one's heart, tangled

up with our thoughts. emotionally charged, which

causes us to be even more anxious at the prospect

of losing what we want, not attaining what we

desire, becoming frustrated and perhaps angry.

Does this sound familiar? Beholding the sea of

life, searching high with the storm of temptations,

difficulties. And into this, Jesus says, why

are you anxious about these things? Your clothes,

your food. Also jumping out at us is not just

the word anxious or cares, but jumps out at us

is God's care for us. His love focused on each

one of us, brothers and sisters. Each hair of

our head. Now, Jesus is not telling us, please

understand, sit back. I've got you covered. I'll

take care of everything. No problem. Don't worry.

Be happy. He's not telling us that. We are going

to work and labor through our life. And St. Paul

is going to... direct us so that we understand

when we are going through tribulation and difficulty

when we are faced with that anxiety about the

cares of our life he's going to tell us as you

heard today we glory in our tribulations now

this means that we have to have a different perspective

than the world if we're going to glory in our

tribulation because tribulation produces patience

And patience produces spiritual character. And

character, spiritual character, produces hope

in the Holy Spirit who will not disappoint us.

The Savior is telling us today that a healthy

eye, if your eye is single, in other words, he

says, if your eye is single, your whole body

is full of light. What does this mean? If your

vision is not fragmented by the worry, of just

living. But we remember that God loves us and

cares to us. That healthy eye, this isn't ophthalmology.

This is the eye that sees clearly during difficulties,

during the trying times, and we remain full of

light. Those who put their trust in Christ that

is, seek first the kingdom of God, have a singular

perspective on what life is all about. Those

who put their trust in Christ have a singular

perspective on what their life is all about.

And we know that it's not about just getting

by and making our way through this life. St.

Paul says, having been justified by faith. Justified

means we've been set right with God. We have

a relationship with him. He's not foreign to

us. He's not out there somewhere. We encounter

him here together where two or three are gathered.

We encounter him when we receive Holy Communion.

Having been justified by faith, we have peace

with God. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Peace

is not an idea. It's the presence of Christ in

the heart. And we have access by this faith that

we have to the grace of God. And that we stand

in it. And that makes our vision and our singular

perspective clear. And we rejoice in the hope

of the glory of God. This is what Christians...

Put their life, everything in the basket. One

basket, no plan B. We put our hope and rejoice

in the glory of God. Right here, right now, this

day. St. Macarius, one of the Optine elders,

his fresco is painted back there. He says this.

To hold the Orthodox faith does not mean only

to believe in God to be our creator. It also

means that we recognize his unceasing and detailed

care for us. And with that, we're empowered to

care for one another. Brothers and sisters, it's

a radical message of repentance in this gospel

today. Repentance is orientation towards God,

not anything else. This is a radical message

of trust in that orientation, which we will struggle

with and we will often fail. We won't reach it.

We'll find ourselves without a singular vision

and perspective. We will find ourselves confused,

dazed. but God loves us and will pull us back

if we but trust him a little bit like the mustard

seed. To our Lord be glory now and ever to ages

of ages.