2nd Sunday after Pentecost
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
It is good for us to remember what n had to say last night regarding the way in which the Lord has enabled human beings in the course of history to know Him, if they will to do so. It is a question of whether the heart will listen to the Lord. Will the heart recognise the one God as the Creator of all, and try to listen to Him, and be obedient to Him ? As n was outlining last night, this was apparently the case in early China, because the nature of the prayers of the Emperor demonstrate a recognition of God as a loving God. However, the Chinese nation, as well as anyone else, got lost. We got lost in our own passions, lost in doing our own will instead of God’s will. That is where the problems always have arisen for us : doing our own will, and not God’s will.
The Apostle Paul today is speaking about how the Lord in His creation reveals Himself to us. Are we, ourselves, prepared to accept the revelation ? The fulness of this revelation came in the Incarnation of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. In the context of our self-deforming, it is very difficult for us to accept God’s love as it presents itself. As human beings seem always to do, we, using our own intellect, think of a “better way”, somehow. Usually we do not bother to pay any attention to the Lord and to His will, and we do not actually accept Him as Who He presents Himself to be. Instead, we reinvent Him. That is, for instance, what Arius did, what Nestorius did, and others have done ; and especially in these days, this is what many people are doing. They are remaking Christ so that He will fit their idea of what seems easier to take. However, when we do this, our troubles multiply – they do not get less. It is our responsibility, especially as North Americans trying to witness for Christ here in North America, to put Christ first always, at all times, and everywhere. We must let our hearts be open to Him, to His direction, and try to be ready to follow His will, and not what we think might be a “better idea”.
God having His will with me, sometimes, sends me from place to place, it seems. Two weeks ago, I was in Ukraine, serving in a series of little villages outside of Lviv in western Ukraine. This is an area where the Orthodox Church (especially the canonical Orthodox Church) is under a great deal of pressure. Fifteen years ago, all the canonical Orthodox churches (except one) in the whole diocese were taken away from the parishioners and given to someone else. That is because of the way the government operates. At that time, all churches belonged to the government, and the government could do whatever it liked. It still does. All those buildings were taken away, and then the canonical Orthodox faithful had to start over from nothing.
Within a few years, some arrangements were made with Ukrainian Catholics. In a few of the parishes in these little villages, Orthodox and Greek Catholics alternate, taking turns on Sundays. One Sunday the Orthodox go first, followed by the Greek Catholics ; the next Sunday the Greek Catholics go first, followed by the Orthodox. However, in most of the places, they had to find a piece of land, and that was not easy. Then they had to get permission to build, and, finally, they had to build. A week ago, I was serving in a little church on the edge of a town called Chervonograd close to the Polish border. In Chervonograd, there are already two parishes that have been re-established. The one in which I was serving was right on the edge of the town. They were very creative. The building may look strange to us. It looks as though it were part of a ship, a sailing ship without the masts. It is amazing. When we go inside the Temple, we feel as though we are in the hold of a ship. It is a very literal way of expressing through architecture the metaphor of the Church as being a ship. Usually, we expect the church to look like an upside-down ship, representing the ark of salvation. Sometimes the Temple can be cruciform, but the basic idea is that the Church is a ship. The English word “nave” (the middle part of the church) comes from navis, the Latin word for ship.
Because their parishioners had found sponsors who had money, in some other places much bigger Temples had been built, more in line with what we would expect, with domes and cruciform shape. Nevertheless, the way the architecture was done in Chervonograd was very interesting and pleasing. Each of these Temples is unique, with a combination of the traditional shape of the church with domes, and with exterior decoration which makes it look somehow more modern. A person simply has to go to Ukraine and see this, although I think we do not only have to go to Ukraine. I am quite sure that in other countries where building is going on, similar combinations of traditional architecture and modern taste and ideas go together very well. It is the inspiration by the Grace of the Holy Spirit that makes these things possible, because people in these places obviously love Jesus Christ above all. They were willing to listen to the Lord saying to them (as it were) : “Buy here ; talk with this person ; do this ; do that”, and they did. They were able to rebuild. They were willing to listen to the Lord, and listen to Him say to them : “It must be done ; it can be done ; it will be done ; just do it. Do not be afraid – just do it”.
In this building, it is much better than before, because you do not have to take down and set up every Sunday. It is not yet your permanent home, but nevertheless, you have come a long way. You have a visible presence in a good place, and there is a sign that can be seen from the street. The church can be found now, and people do not have to depend on anyone else. You have made a big step forward. The Lord will show you the next step. However, I say to you as the Lord says to the apostles today : “‘Follow Me’”. Immediately they followed Him. Let your hearts listen to the Lord, also, so that when He speaks to you and says : “This has to be done ; it must be done ; it will be done, because I am with you” – then just do it. Do not be afraid. Whatever the Lord is leading you to do next is always scary, and often does not make sense. However, if you do what the Lord says to do, it happens, because He is blessing and He opens the doors.
Through the prayers of all the saints of North America and all the saints of China, may the Lord give you the strength and the ability to hear Him. May you continue growing and building and increasing the Body of Christ here in n, to the glory of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, together with the unoriginate Father, and the all-holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, now, and ever, and unto the ages of ages.