Today's Epistle reading contains a statement that marks out Saint Paul as the true radical that he was: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise” (Gal 3:28-29). This passage prompted …
Blessed salt… Blessed light
Jesus told his disciples: "You are the salt of the earth... You are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:13-14). It’s a temptation to hear these words as requirement rather than blessing, as command rather than commissioning. Jesus is blessing us to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world. But let's not make …
Healing needs Forgiveness
Compassion is at the heart of Jesus’ life and teaching because hurt is to be taken seriously. Jesus experienced everything that human hurt is. Not only did he experience hurt, he became hurt! That’s how seriously he took it. Hence his angry reaction to scribes, Pharisees and other religious types who put religion and beliefs about …
Two Societies
The two readings in our Liturgy today present us with two different visions of human society: Matthew 8:28-9:1 An unredeemed society.... - dominated by violence and self-interest. Galatians 5:22-6:2 A redeemed society - imperfect but struggling, guided by the Holy Spirit toward perfection.....
The Undivided Life
Few Gospel texts arouse as much reaction as today's reading (Matthew 6:22-33). It would seem that every “starving sparrow” contradicts Jesus; every famine and every war; the text appears to be extremely simpleminded and naive about economic problems; and it appears to encourage laziness. All these are questionable criticisms, but understandable if you only take this text …
In the name of freedom
Jesus called fishermen as his first disciples and instructed them to become "fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19). Does this mean that people will be forced to be followers of Jesus, caught in nets that they cannot escape? It depends on where you put the emphasis - on the fish or the fishers. Jesus clearly used the …
True Images
The book of Exodus describes the escape of the Jews from slavery in Egypt under the leadership of Moses, the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, and the long journey through the wilderness. The people were quickly frustrated by their escape from Egypt and they turned against Moses and his god, lamenting that perhaps they …
Different Kinds of Blindness
Who is really blind in today’s gospel reading (John 9)? The man, the people around him, his parents, the Pharisees? My quick answer: all of them! The man was blind - but he had become invisible to everyone who saw him day after day. Their blindness was one of ignoring him. They passed him …
Spirit and Truth
It seems I'm not the only one who read carefully the article about millennials and the church in the Washington Post. It obviously created significant buzz in some circles. A friend of mine sent me an article by David French in a certain magazine, without endorsing its content. It was a rather hateful attack on the same Post …
Church Without Gimmicks
Sermon of 3 May, 2015, Audio file: John is called the Theologian in the Orthodox Church, for good reason. There is much theology in today's reading of John 5:1-15; but there is theology in all the miracle stories in the Gospels, as I always try to point out. At the heart of today's miracle story is a …
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