Dear Friends, My sermon for the Last Sunday after Pentecost is attached. Gods Blessings, Fr. Campbell Last Sunday after Pentecost, November 24, 2013 Leaving Jerusalem St. Paul tells us in today’s Epistle: “Grow up!” Perhaps he says it more politely, but it is extremely important in these times that we “grow up” in the Faith by gaining a deeper knowledge and understanding of that “pearl of great price” spoken of by Our Savior, Jesus Christ (Mt.13:46). Otherwise we are facing increasing danger of having our faith weakened and stolen away from us by the devil and his false prophets. Our faith is our most precious possession. Our faith makes us heirs of Heaven, along with the Blessed Virgin Mary, the saints and the Holy Angels. But the world is the devil’s playground. With the fallen angels, who are natural liars like himself, the devil has innumerable ways to rob us of our precious faith. It’s no wonder Our Lord calls us “the sheep of His flock,” since we are so easily deceived, and easily led, and the wolves seem to have no problem snatching us away. Our time and attention are devoured by worldly concerns – so busy at the job, so busy texting, playing computer games, mesmerized by the TV or the Internet, often absorbed in things that are absolute poison for our souls. You cannot serve God and the world at the same time, our Lord assures us. But most of us are willing to give it a try. As a result we have become the new zombies, the living dead, alive in body, dead in spirit. We have no time for God. Our thoughts are not raised to Heaven, they are centered on the things of this world only. We must be like the Christians of Jerusalem before it was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. Because they were forewarned by Our Lord’s words they knew they had to leave the city before the Roman armies came to surround it: “When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by an army, then know that her desolation is at hand. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let those who are in her midst go out, and let those who are in the country not enter her. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things that are written may be fulfilled” (Lk.21:20-22). The Jews, heedless of the warning, were trapped in the city, and endured unimaginable sufferings during the siege, which lasted several months. The Jewish historian, Josephus (37 A.D.- c. 100), claimed that over a million Jews died in the siege, many having come into the city from other areas to celebrate the Passover. We, too, have to leave Jerusalem! We have to break the bonds that tie us to the world before it is too late. If the TV or the Internet is causing your downfall, turn it off! If your own perverse human side is your downfall, repent, and confess your sins before the dark shadow of the Chastisement falls over the world! Remember Our Lord’s words: “If thy hand or thy foot is an occasion of sin to thee, cut it off and cast it from thee! It is better for thee to enter life maimed or lame, than, having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire” (Mt.18:8). Many will never leave Jerusalem. Like the people of the time of Noah and the Flood, they will go about their worldly concerns right up until the day calamity strikes. They will not be prepared for eternal life, and they will sink into the netherworld where the fires never cease. But those who are wise will act without delay, and will start preparing to leave Jerusalem (in the spiritual sense). It will be very difficult. Even considering their conditions of slavery in Egypt, it must have been hard for the Israelites to leave their hovels and head out into the unknown. And how difficult it must have been for the Christians to leave Jerusalem to start all over again in some unfamiliar city! As for us, we must leave behind those things which enslave us and bind us to this world – love for wealth and fame, affection for sinful pleasures, and desire for power and influence. If God blesses us with talents and gifts, all well and good! But we can no longer afford to be easy on ourselves, promising ourselves that tomorrow will be soon enough to leave Jerusalem. Tomorrow may never come, and Satan’s armies are already surrounding the city of this world. Our Lord told a parable about a rich man who planned to build bigger barns: “But God said to him, ‘Thou fool, this night do they demand thy soul of thee; and the things that thou hast provided, whose will they be?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich as regards God” (Lk.12:20,21). “Now from the fig tree learn this parable,” says Our Lord in our Gospel today, “When its branch is now tender, and the leaves break forth, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, know that it is near, even at the door” (Mt.24:32,33). This may sound like a pleasant little message in the midst of the stark warnings of the days before His coming, when “all tribes of the earth (will) mourn” (Mt.24:30). However, the image of the fig tree was frequently understood as a symbol for the nation of Israel. Perhaps the Lord is telling us that when the Jews begin to return to Jerusalem from many lands and become a thorn in the side of many nations, then the end “is near, even at the door.” Now we are not saying that we must all leave Houston, or whatever city or town we happen to call our home in this world. We are speaking of being spiritually prepared for whatever may come, in the near future, or on a more distant day. Let us take the words of St. Paul to heart: “May you walk worthily of God and please him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God. May you be completely strengthened through his glorious power unto perfect patience and long-suffering; joyfully rendering thanks to the Father, who has made us worthy to share the lot of the saints in light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have our redemption, the remission of our sins” (Col.1:10-14).
Posted on: Sat, 23 Nov 2013 20:50:57 +0000
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