In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
In these days we are hearing texts about the Second Coming and the need to be prepared for it. Of course it is true that it is necessary to be prepared. It is important that we remember what this preparation is like for us who are Christians. It is especially important that we pay attention to this now, because in these days (and in fact, as long as I have lived), there have been people on the radio who talk about the End Days. They talk about it with great fear and trepidation, and they give people a feeling of guilt all the time. They entice us with something that we want, but at the same time, something that we are deadly afraid of, somehow.
The End of all things is not a small event at all. It is beyond my comprehension. The End of all things is inexplicable. It is serious, yes, and awesome, yes ; but for us who are Orthodox Christians, it is much more than an awesome event and a spectacle. It is the return of the Bridegroom. It is the return of Him whom we love. It is the culmination of all the work of His self-emptying love since the beginning of all. We, who are believers, ought to be anticipating this with a certain amount of uncertainty about ourselves and our preparedness. Nevertheless, with longing we await the Lord who is to come, so that we may be able to live in His love, without any more sickness, sorrow, suffering, dying.
The expectation of the Orthodox Christian is a mix. Yes, there is repentance, and we have to be prepared. Repentance is part of our daily life : it is a fundamental element of our way of life. Our hope is that, in this attempt to repent, to turn about from selfishness to the way of Christ, to the way of selflessness, in our turning about, the Lord will accept our love, our offering of love, our turning about. We love the Lord, and He loves us and we long to be eternally with the One whom we love. We hope that He will admit us along with the wise virgins into His banquet hall in His Kingdom.
The way of repentance is an element of our life which people seem to be forgetting in ordinary parish life. It does not matter where we go, somehow many people everywhere have the very mistaken idea that when we come to church, we should somehow be standing amongst the community of the perfect. When we encounter people’s weaknesses, their shortcomings and their sins, voluntary and involuntary, people tend to become disappointed or disillusioned. The Church has never been anything but a hospital for sinners. We must come to recognise that we ourselves, because of the love of Jesus Christ, because of knowing Who He is and what sort of love He has for us, and having confidence in Him as well, need to be like those four men today who carried the paralytic.
These four men knew what sort of love Jesus Christ had for them and for their friend, whom they carried on his stretcher. Their confidence in Christ was great enough that when they found that the house was packed full (and even the outside as well), and that there was no way at all for them to get their friend in to the Saviour, as we heard in the Gospel reading today, then they went up on the roof, and they opened it. This is something that could be done in the Middle East by moving tiles around, although we could not do it here very well. There obviously would be massive destruction to open this roof, and to let down someone on ropes in order to put such a person before the Saviour. Nevertheless, they did open the roof, and they lowered the man before the Saviour. The Lord saw their faith. He understood their love, and He taught a great lesson to everyone (to them and to us) when He said to the paralytic : “‘Son, your sins are forgiven you’”. In the end, it was through this “Your sins are forgiven you” that the paralytic rose from his bed and walked. Faced with this, people were able to say : “‘We never saw anything like this!’”
It is the responsibility of us all to have confidence in our Saviour when we see the weaknesses of our brothers and sisters, and to be like those four men, and carry that person in our prayer to the Saviour. We must give that person to the Saviour, who, in His love, will touch that person, correct that person, and heal that person. It is not our responsibility to laugh at, or condemn the person for being paralysed, because paralysis in life comes from sin. Sin is all bound up with fear. There is not one of us who is not subject to fears in one form or another. These fears paralyse us from doing the good that we ought to do. Sometimes they stop us from doing anything at all. Fears can be so intense from time to time. It is the Lord who frees us from these fears, from the chains with which the devil binds us. It is the Lord who sets us free from these fears, and enables us to become more and more productive workers together with Him in His Kingdom.
That is why it is important that we intercede for each other all the time, and not only occasionally. We must pray for each other all the time. We should be praying for all the members and friends of this parish on a regular basis. If it is possible, those who have time should pray for all the people on the parish list every day, saying simply “Lord have mercy” for each of them, but at least praying for each of them. By doing this, we are being like those four men with the paralytic, supporting each other, bringing each other before the Saviour, and offering each other before the Saviour so that He might correct, heal, strengthen, nurture, and give whatever we need.
Today, we are here all together before the Lord in His Kingdom, which is the case every week at the Divine Liturgy. Every time we are assembled, standing here together in the Temple of the Lord, in the Temple of His Kingdom, we are standing here all together as He feeds us with His own hand, and with His own life. We are standing here today, as we always will be doing at the Divine Liturgy. We are participating in the whole of God’s saving acts from the beginning to the end, from the time of Creation past the Second Coming. In a mystery, as we are standing here today, we are standing in the Kingdom after the Second Coming, also.
When we are offering the Gifts to the Lord, as we hear in the Divine Liturgy, we are remembering God’s saving acts. After “Thine own of thine own”, if we listen carefully, we can hear that we are offering all God’s saving acts from the beginning, including the Second Coming. For us, in a mystery, the Second Coming is a past event. That is why it is possible for us to have such confidence in the Saviour’s love, in view of the Second Coming. He is already merciful to you and to me in giving us a taste of that banquet, together with the wise virgins, and the others who are wonderful in the Saviour.
As we are participating in these ineffable Mysteries of God’s love, let us ask Him to refresh this love, which is our life, and enable us more and more, day by day, even without ceasing, in our hearts to glorify Him : Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now, and ever, and unto the ages of ages.