Sunday after Theophany 2020 Gifts of the Spirit - Fr. Lawrence Margitich

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

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

Glory forever. We heard St. Paul's epistle to

the Ephesians about gifts. According to the measure

of Christ, each person is given a gift. And he

lists a limited number of ministers. And we heard

from the Gospel of Matthew these words. The people

that sat in darkness have seen a great light.

To them that sat in the region and shadow of

death, light has sprung up. From that time, Jesus

began to preach and to say, repent. for the kingdom

of heaven is at hand. Why this particular gospel

today? Why this particular epistle from Ephesians?

I'd like to speak mainly about the epistle briefly,

but let me offer an answer to those two questions,

why the gospel, that particular gospel, and why

that particular epistle. Last week we celebrated

the Feast of Theophany, Sunday morning, the pre

-feast. Sunday evening, the matins, beautiful

service. It was just wonderful. And on Monday,

the Feast of Theophany. You see this wonderful

fresco. I was reading a commentary by St. Gregory

of Nyssa and St. John Chrysostom on the feast

day. And they were rejoicing at how many people

were coming. coming to the feast. They said,

vast realms are coming to receive the holy water

and to praise God. Then they lamented. They said,

but you're not coming on Sundays. You're coming

only on feast days. And I thought, well, that's

kind of our opposite problem. We have work and

school starts again. So I'm going to remind you,

next year we will fill the church on the altar.

It's January 6th. Mark your calendar. This reminds

me of that quip, when a husband tells his wife

he's going to do something around the house,

she doesn't need to remind him every six months.

I'll remind you every three. So, I'm sorry for

the digression. Why these two? Because when Jesus

was baptized, it gave us baptism. We celebrate

our baptism too. And when Jesus was baptized,

and we put to death sin in the water, and we

rise again unto life eternal, we are given the

gifts of the Holy Spirit. So the Gospel, the

Epistle, Tell us about our life. It's not theoretical.

It's about how we live. St. Matthew tells us

what happened after the baptism of Christ in

the morning. He went out into the wilderness.

Just like after your baptism, you're confronted

with problems too. But you have the grace of

God. Jesus was tempted by the evil one and he

bested Satan. And then he came to this land of

darkness, pagan area. And a light is sprung up,

and that light is Christ. Those who are spiritualized

could see it. He bumped into lots of people who

didn't see it. And the Gospel tells us that we

have to, by saying, now is the time to repent,

is asking us to re -evaluate our baptismal vows.

Re -evaluate our repentance. to ask ourselves,

what does our daily relationship with Jesus Christ

look like? Is there prayer? And how important

is prayer to us? How important? Are we going

to the scriptures every day? How important is

that which you receive from the Bible? You know,

it's not just information. It is truth. It's

not just facts. What did I hear a couple years

ago about alternate facts? No, this is, this

truth is not informational. It cleanses us. It

gives us strength when we are tempted. It gives

us understanding of God's way and His purpose

for our life. So we re -evaluate. These are all

aspects of repentance. Repentance is our way

of life, you know. It's not a New Year's resolution.

We do it and we say it and then we forget about

it. We hear the words today which are always,

always, always relevant. They are current and

they are applicable. Repent for the kingdom of

heaven is at hand. Why else would we pray unless

we enter into the Kingdom of Heaven? If it's

not that, then what is it? Long -distance communication?

No. The Kingdom of Heaven is within. When I was

on the Holy Mountain, I heard the elder there,

St. Ephraim, he quoted the words of St. Paisios.

Ask for repentance in your prayer, he said. And

nothing else. Neither from divine lights, nor

miracles, nor prophecies, nor spiritual gifts.

Nothing but repentance. Repentance will bring

you humility. Humility will bring you the grace

of God. And God will have in His grace everything

you need for salvation. Or anything you might

need. to help another soul. Isn't that beautiful?

Let us follow, let us take heed for what he said

and ask God for a good repentance. And baptism

and repentance are connected, aren't they? We

can't have one without the other, on either side.

Because the first gives gifts, unites us to Christ,

makes us live this new life of the resurrection,

The second activates those gifts of the Holy

Spirit, enlivens them, implements them. These

gifts of the Holy Spirit, they're the presence

of God in our lives. And they're given to us,

as the elder says, everything you need for salvation

is there, or anything you might need to help

another soul. They're given us as a sign of God's

presence individually. And the second reason,

they're given to us as St. Paul makes so clear

in his epistle today, for the building up of

the body of Christ. I was reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

He's a martyr under the Nazis, the Lutheran Church.

Magnificent person. believer and Christian. He

says this about that grace and about those gifts.

This is the grace that is the treasure hidden

in the field. For the sake of it, a person will

go and sell everything he has. It's the pearl

of great price to buy which the merchant will

sell all of his goods. It's the call of Jesus

Christ in which the disciple leaves his nets

and follows him. That's interesting. That passage

about the disciples leaving their nets is the

next verse in the Bible from what I just read.

He says, costly grace is the gospel which must

be sought again and again, the gift which must

be asked for, repentance daily, struggle to enter

into true prayer. This is costly because it costs

a man his life. And it is grace. Because it gives

a man the only true life. Repentance blesses

this parish. Is what St. Paul is saying. He's

explaining how it is to be used in the community

of the parish. That each one has something from

Christ. Each one of you. To offer to the whole.

The gifts are not for ourselves. He writes to

the Ephesians, to each one of us has grace been

given according to the measure of Christ's gift.

It's a different measure for each person, but

the reward is the same, the kingdom. By virtue

of baptism, our baptism, and that baptism there,

Christ has given each of us an immeasurably infinite,

beautiful gift. What are we to do with the gift?

What is this grace for? Paul goes on, he says,

he gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets,

some to be evangelists, some to be pastors and

teachers, but that's just a short list to get

them started. Every gift is to get us out of

our seat, standing up and doing something. We

can't fail to notice there are no views here.

A visitor comes in weekly or maybe three or four

times a week and looks around and says, did you

take all the pews out? And then I get a chance

to explain why we stand here in worship. Someone

who sits is passive, expecting something. It's

like being at the dentist or the doctor's office

and waiting for your appointment to start. My

prayer for each one of us is that if you moved

away to go to a different parish, I won't say

left the church, may that not be. If you moved

away, that there would be a gap, a hole in the

ministry, the work of this parish, because you

weren't here. there'd be extra work for somebody

else then to have to pick up that slack. Not

all the gifts and ministries we do here are obvious.

Some are done secretly and at home and at work

in ways that you can't know. But there's plenty

to do for the edification of the body. Why? It

says, St. Paul goes on to tell us why he gave

each of us gifts of ministry. It's for the perfecting

and the equipping of the saints. Who are you?

The ones seeking holiness. He says it's for the

work of the ministry. He says it's for the building

up of the body of Christ. And what is the goal

of this ministry? Of equipping and edification.

And I'll end with this. It's for all of us, he

says, to come to the unity of the faith and the

knowledge of the Son of God, for us to come to

the perfect man, the perfect human, each of us,

to the measure of the stature and fullness of

Christ. What a calling! Perfect unity in faith

and to be like Jesus Christ, his humanity, his

divinity. within us. Yes, we are weak. But we

don't have to be limited by our weakness. Christ

himself, the humble Lord, shows us that in so

many ways by his life. We're all on staff here

at the church. No one is just a member. No one

is an ordinary Christian. You all have the gifts

of the Spirit. To him who has given those gifts,

be glory and honor now and ever, for ages and

ages. Amen.