In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Human beings are almost always the same. We generally have the same failings and weaknesses. We always are extremely slow to learn. However, God is merciful, patient, and waiting for us to open our eyes. Sometimes it does become possible for us to learn something. The main thing that we have to learn in our life is to trust God, to accept that He loves us, and that He is there for us.
At the end of the Gospel reading today, our Saviour says to us that some things might be impossible for men, “‘but with God all things are possible’”. It is important for us to pay attention to these words and remember these words. It is true that many things in life are extremely difficult for us, if not impossible. They certainly seem like that. One of these is, just as our Saviour is saying today, the difficulty that a rich man has to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Why is this ? It is because these things are cares and burdens that become between us and the Lord. Carrying all these burdens and cares (of wealth, riches, and responsibilities) can very easily put a block between the person and God and thus it is difficult for the person to enter the Kingdom.
What does it mean when our Saviour is saying that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven ? This is not such a self-evident expression (although a person might take it literally, and that is all right). In fact, however, there is more to it. There was a gate in Jerusalem in the old days called the “Eye of the Needle”. This gate was meant to regulate the amount of goods going into the city of Jerusalem. A camel laden with goods could not go into the city. It had to get down and have the goods taken off before it could go into the city. In fact, they did not want camels in the city in those days so they made it very difficult by making the door very low. Human beings and donkeys could get in easily enough but not a laden camel.
Regardless of which way one wants to interpret it, as long as we have any sort of burdens or cares that are the first priority in our life (and when God is not the first priority in our life), we will have great difficulty entering the Kingdom of Heaven. The apostles are asking our Lord : “‘Who then can be saved ?’” Our Lord says, as it were : “Well, maybe on your own you could not be saved, but with God you can”. In other words, we human beings have to learn, finally, that we have to ask God for help in everything. We have to ask God for His help, and pray that He be with us. It is necessary that we call to Him for help in doing everything. Then things that are impossible become possible.
For example, one of these things is the existence of this diocese. Talk about impossibilities ! Our diocese is now about ninety years old. There have been Orthodox believers in this country for well over 100 years but we did not begin to be a diocese until 1916. Regardless, in the course of all of these years, there has been nothing but difficulty in establishing a Church here in Canada. There has always been trouble one way or another and some sort of turmoil. The revolution in Russia was not the least of those turmoils, a turmoil whose effects last until this day in this country. Because our Church in its missionary infancy was cut off from “Mama”, we almost starved to death. However, God is merciful, and we continued to exist. Yet in the face of other Orthodox Churches in this country that are very rich and financially well off, we are still more or less living hand to mouth. This is not such a bad position to be in. Our brothers ask how we exist. The reason we exist is because God wills it. We have work to do in this country. In fact, we have the biggest work to do here, in this country, because we are the local Church in this country. We are responsible for everyone in it, whether or not they visibly belong to us. We must feed everyone in this country with the Gospel, whoever they are, and wherever they come from.
Thus I always like to say, as I was told, that according to the laws of aerodynamics in physics, a bumblebee cannot fly. Its body is too big, and its wings are too small. Yet, it does fly, and it does because God wills it. God helps that bumblebee to fly. According to all sorts of human logic and expectations, our diocese should never have survived. In fact, our Orthodox Church in Canada in any form should not have survived all the turmoil that was facing it and gripping it for so long. Yet, the Church has survived, and not only survived. In many ways, it actually flourishes
Here in n, we are in the midst of difficulties. In fact, today we have a blizzard. Those who managed to get here, trusting in God, will be praying to God for those who were unable to make it. This community has already had all sorts of difficulties in its short existence. Yet it has established itself, and here we have this big, new locale with a kitchen and meeting room. This is luxury compared to that tiny basement. The Lord is, in fact, opening doors for this parish. However, nothing grows very fast in Canada, and that is just as well because when it does not grow very fast, it has time to put down stable and strong roots.
As our Saviour says in one of His parables (see Matthew 13:5,6), sometimes a plant will grow very fast, flourish and flower but it does not have a proper root system. When the ground gets dry, the plant dries up very fast, and withers away. In every one of our missionary communities, everything takes time. That fact is a good thing for us. It allows us to put our spiritual roots deeply down, and to deepen our confidence in Christ. When the more difficult times come, when we have dry times and other challenges, our roots are deep enough that we can still get water, the living water of Christ. We should always be confident enough in the Lord to know how to pray when times get difficult, to know how to draw on the Saviour’s strength. Then, we will not only be able to endure, but also flourish and spread, and become really strong for the glory of Jesus Christ. In our country, and in the whole western world, people expect that everything should develop quickly and immediately. They forget to ask God to help them, especially when things get difficult.
The most important thing for us all to remember is always to call on the Lord for help and support. We must always remember to ask Him to help us to love Him and each other, and to persevere in the establishment of this community. In everything, trust in the Lord and do not forget that He can arrange and rearrange things in order to accomplish His will. God is in charge of everything, and He is the Creator of everything. Not only is He able to arrange everything, but He also very often does just that. We love to sing “God is with us” when we serve Compline. Indeed, God is with us, and it is essential to keep Him and His love for us in front of our consciousness at all times. Glory be to God the Father, the Son, and the life-giving Spirit, now, and ever, and unto the ages of ages.