Differing gifts...

Homily on the 6^th Sunday after Pentecost

Epistle: Romans 12: 6-14; Gospel: Matthew 9: 1-8.

As we go through the cold month of winter, let us reflect on the coldness and loneliness some may feel when they think of the faith. In today’s Gospel, we have recounted for us the healing of the paralytic (Matthew 9:1–8). What stands out here is the attitude of the scribes—an attitude of judgment. Many seek the grace and healing that the Church can provide through its Holy

Mysteries. This is our job: to encourage their journey towards Christ.

Some may say, “But Father, we are not clergy—it is not our job to bring people to Christ.” I say to you all: when you were Baptised, you put on Christ. As part of this, you promised to be as Christ to others. This includes encouraging them to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8).

Saint Paul in today’s Epistle says clearly:

“Having then different gifts according to the grace that is given us, let us use them [to build up the Body of Christ]” – Romans 12:6.

What this means is that each and every one of you has a unique gift or gifts which you can offer the Church in its great commission to bring others to Christ. Therefore, use these gifts so that people may come, have a look, and have the opportunity of having Christ brought to them.

Think of the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14–30)—what is the key message? Put simply, the message is that God has given each of us a unique set of talents to be used to build up His Kingdom (which is represented by the money given to each servant in the parable). We are called to show our love for Him and others by using these talents to build up His Kingdom.

If your gift is to sing—sing in Church.If your gift is in helping those who need someone to talk to—be that willing person they can talk to.If your gifts lie in your hands—help that old neighbour fix the hole in their fence, ect...

Everyone has something to offer those around them. To do so is to show the love of Christ to others. Christianity is a faith of action. To do is to show love. Love is the foundation upon which the Gospel is built. And who showed the greatest love of all? The All-Holy Trinity, through the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross—Christ being the Second Person of the All-Holy Trinity.

Saint Gregory the Theologian says this about love:

“Thus, in keeping with the commandment to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15), we must open up our mercy to all the poor and those who suffer for whatever reason; we are to offer people charity, whether they are widowed or orphaned, whether they are driven out of their homeland or oppressed by the rulers, whether they suffer the insolence of their superiors or the inhumanity of tax collectors or the murderous hand of thieves or the greed of robbers or the seizing of estates or shipwrecks. For they all have the same right to our sympathy, and look at our hands just as we look at the hands of God when we ask Him for something.”

This is the great command—to love. And through this love, we can be the hands and feet of our Lord and Saviour to the lost and broken of our society.

Saint John Chrysostom speaks about love when he says:

“Where there is love, there is great security and God’s great blessing. Love is the mother of all blessings, their root and source; it is the end of wars and the extermination of strife. Indeed, just as dissent and strife cause death and demise prematurely, so love and harmony produce peace and unanimity, and where there is peace and unanimity, all in life is safe and secure. Why speak of the present only? Love brings us heaven and unspeakable goods; it is the queen of virtues.”

There you have it—the greatest of virtues is to love. This is why Christ gave us two commandments: to love God and to show God that we love Him through our actions toward others, showing we love our fellow man (Matthew 22:36–40).

This is why, in today’s Gospel, the scribes failed this basic command to love. Instead of rejoicing that the paralytic was healed, they sought to judge our Lord and Saviour and accuse Him of blasphemy – the very opposite of this commandment to love.

In other words, these scribes had no love in their hearts. If they had loved, they would have been like the people at the end of the Gospel, who marvelled at the great miracle that had been performed by our Lord and Saviour.

Going back to the story of the rich young man who asks which of the commandments is the greatest (Matthew 22:36–40), Christ makes it clear that the greatest commandment is to love God and our fellow man. For this commandment is the foundation of the Ten Commandments.

Therefore, if any action is not done out of love and does not stem from love, then it cannot be of God. Unfortunately, today, many have forgotten this commandment to love, for they seek not to create unity but division via their own self-interest. Self-interest, by its very nature—while arguably stemming from a sort of ‘self-love’—cannot fulfill this commandment to love. Unchecked self-interest leads to the object of one’s love being the self. Whilst it is good to have some self-love, if you are the only thing that you care about, then you truly cannot love another. Think of all the narcissists you know—do they truly love?

This is why it is vital, as Christians, that we seek to do that which—through true love—will bring others into a loving unity. This is what the Body of Christ is: a unity with Christ, brought about through the Holy Mysteries of His Holy Orthodox Church. This is why Love humbled Himself to die on the wood of the Cross. Through this great sacrifice, Christ has enabled us to have the possibility to be united to the Father through Him.

Gone are the days of our spiritual exile in the desert of old (Exodus). Gone are the days of our spiritual orphanage. We have the possibility, through the worthy reception of the Holy Mysteries of the Church, to be united to our loving God. What a joyful thought—to realise that we have the possibility of a deep connection to the All-Holy Trinity, should we desire it. The choice is ours.

The invitation has been sent, and our seat at the table is there, should we want to put on the wedding garment which we received at our Baptism.

This idea of a wedding garment, mentioned by Christ in the parable of the wedding feast, is in fact why we symbolically dress the newly baptised in a special white garment. This garment not only signifies putting on Christ—becoming an icon of Him in the world—it also symbolically represents the mystical garment we will wear at the Heavenly marriage feast (Matthew 22:1–22).

Christ talks about Heaven as a marriage feast because, at its heart, those in heaven are united to the All-Holy Trinity. Through their Baptism, they joined the Bride of Christ—His Church. This nuptial language is used to remind us of the unfathomable love that the All-Holy Trinity has for mankind. This is why the Holy Church has rightly seen the Song of Solomon as an allegory of God’s love for His people—a Love who opened His arms on the Holy Cross for our salvation! No greater love has a man to lay down his life for his friends – in this case the God-man our Lord and Saviour (John 15:13).

Finally, to accept this invitation, let us show Him that our answer is “yes” through the love we show to those around us, and through the use of all our talents to bring others to Him. For many are hungry for the truth of the Gospel and thirst for the Living Water which only the Church can offer through the Holy Mysteries (Sacraments) of Christ’s Church.

Pray this week for God’s guidance that you may use all He has given you to bring others to Him.