In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

There is a tendency, especially in Canadian society (because that is the way of Canadian society, and western civilisation), to behave towards the Lord as if He were far away, usually angry, and somehow laying down the law to us. This attitude towards the Lord is not native to the Orthodox Church. It’s a distortion. If you live in a native Orthodox country, you can find that people don’t behave that way. They don’t treat the Lord as if He were always really angry, waiting for you to make the smallest slip so that He can beat you up. God isn’t like that. However, sad to say, there are enough people in the world who have somehow been damaged by life, by family, one way or another, or even worse, by philosophy (very much by philosophy in North America) that they tend very much to treat God this way: as if He were an angry old man up in the sky, who doesn’t care too much what happens here (except that when something goes wrong, then He can get out the stick). It is a lie, a lie about God that He should be considered like this, and treated like this. The contrast to this lie is found in today’s readings, and today’s events in which we are participating in this Divine Liturgy.

In the first place, we have the healing of the servant of the centurion. What is the relationship going on here? The centurion, who was not Jewish at all (and don’t forget that this is a Jewish environment that we are talking about), is a Roman, who is a part of the conquering, occupying army, you might say. This soldier comes to Christ, and says to him: “Lord, my servant is lying paralysed at home, in terrible distress”. The Saviour says to him, “I will come, and heal him”. But the soldier in his humility says: “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant will be healed”. A centurion is like a major or something like that, a bigwig in the army. So, to paraphrase, this conquering soldier says to this Man who is just walking around teaching (that’s how it looks): I am not worthy for You to come to my house. I’m a soldier. I know how it goes. I tell people what to do, so obviously, You can do the same, please. And the Lord does. The man is healed – just like that. That’s what the Gospel says. Just like that, at that moment, the soldier’s servant is healed. This soldier obviously already knows Who Jesus Christ is: what kind of a Person He is. He is not just some kind of a nice guy walking around teaching nice things. If the soldier already does not yet believe exactly that the Lord is the Son of God, he understands that He behaves like it. He can tell that God, who is love, is revealing Himself in this manner, and this love is pouring out. He has seen people be healed already by this love.

Here is that important reminder that God is love. The Apostle John tells us that in his Epistle: “God is love" (1 John 4:8). There is also the famous little phrase that I memorised when I was about seven: “We love God because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19). This is what our whole life, all of our existence as human beings, is about. Whether we are Christian or not, it doesn’t make any difference. God is love, and He loves us. He is waiting for our response to love Him in return. That is why He hasn’t wiped us out yet, I’m sure, because He loves us. He is more patient that any one of us could ever be. I like always to say that it’s a good thing that I’m not God, because none of us would be here. I don’t have that patience. But God does have this patience; He does have this love.

His love is shown again in the other event, besides His Resurrection, that we are celebrating today, that is, the Birth of St John the Forerunner, the first cousin of Jesus Christ. He was born six months before the Saviour. He says always in his life that he is preparing the way for the One who is promised, the Saviour who is to come. In his whole life, John is preaching (as the Saviour Himself begins): “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" (Matt. 3:2). What does he mean by “repent”? It means to “turn about”. By the way, we are informed in our environment here in Canada with all kinds of radio, and television programmes that are not Orthodox, that to repent means to break down in tears, and weep and weep and weep, and be sad, and sorrowful, and depressed. That isn’t at all what it means.

“To repent” means simply to turn about, to turn away from darkness, and to turn to the light; to turn away from hatred, and to turn to love; to turn away from death, and to turn to life. It just means to turn about: to turn away from selfishness (me, me, me only), and to turn to selflessness, which means everyone else first (I care about everyone else, and me afterwards). That characterises many mothers I have known. The way of love was preached by the Forerunner. He was asking people to turn about to life: to stop thinking about manipulation, and politics, to think about love, and serving. Before he was born, it had been promised for a very long time (fourteen times fourteen generations and then some, probably) that the Lord would send the Saviour.

The Lord was preparing for the fulfillment of this Promise all along. Human beings are so stubborn, so selfish, so rebellious that it took a very long time to prepare us to receive the Saviour. As the Lord was refining this preparation, He was calling certain people, who began to hear His voice, and say: Yes. One of the big preparers was Abraham, and his wife Sarah. You can’t leave Sarah out, because without Sarah nothing happens. She has to co-operate as much as Abraham has to co-operate. Abraham doesn't completely understand at the time when the Lord is calling him to follow this inexplicable direction to get up, leave the country, and go somewhere else. Why does He ask Abraham to do that? Because I love you, and I want you to multiply, says God (as it were). This relationship of love continues generation after generation from Abraham.

People are sometimes listening, and sometimes not. Even the great King, Prophet, and Poet, David, sometimes listened, and sometimes did not listen. But even when he didn’t listen (it’s important to remember Psalm 50), when he didn’t pay attention, forgot, and became selfish (and a king has the hardest time of almost anyone, probably, to remember the right way because the temptations are so great), still David turned about, and said: I am sorry. The Prophet David did do some bad things, but he still said to the Lord: I am sorry. The Lord accepted his apology because even if David made these mistakes (and they were rather horrible, some of them), still his heart loved God above everything, and he wanted to live in God’s love.

The Lord in His patient love waited, and formed people generation by generation until this particular time came which we are remembering, and participating in today, when we first hear the Archangel Gabriel speak to Zacharias. Zacharias doesn’t really believe, and he asks questions. Therefore Gabriel says: Just to be sure you don’t have any doubt, you can’t speak from this announcement until your child is born, and you will name him “John”. Zacharias obviously told Elizabeth somehow that his name had to be “John” because the Archangel had spoken to him. Elizabeth says today, you remember: We have to call him “John” because God wants it. Of course other people do not believe it. What does she know? they say. We’ll have to ask the High Priest Zacharias. He must know. Zacharias confirms it in writing by saying: “His name is John”. Immediately to confirm all that, his mouth is opened, and he praises God.

This is how God’s love works with us always. The way of the Christian is not the way of being paralysed by fear; it is not the way of being afraid of God, and waiting for God to beat us up. It is acknowledging God’s love for us. It is trying to be pleasing to Him because He loves us, and we love Him, too, and we want to love Him more. The thing is that the more we love Him, and the more we behave according to His love, the more He gives us the Grace, and the strength to do even more. You see, in the course of Orthodox history, people who have done amazing things.

People are very fond of St Seraphim of Sarov. There is a famous story of him talking to Motovilov out in the forest in the middle of winter-time. St Seraphim is wearing only summer linen clothes. As he is talking to Motovilov, Motovilov is realising that he doesn’t feel cold at all despite the fact that it’s the middle of winter in north Russia. That’s like here in the old days (not like now), when there were real winters. You could say it was probably sixty below. So, in the middle of the winter, Motovilov is feeling kind of warmish. St Seraphim is standing there in very light clothes, and they are surrounded by light. How does this happen? How can it be? This happened not only to St Seraphim. There are all sorts of other people who have gone into the forests of the far north of Russia, many of them Karelians. Karelians are not really Russians at all. They are a sort of Finnish people in the area of Karelia, where there are about one hundred and eighty saints. These people lived in the forest, and many of them ended up with the same kind of blessing, being kept warm by God’s love. I have met a few people who were sort of Orthodox strays, street people in some cities. These people, somehow, being foolish for Christ, seemed to be able to be not frozen to death at forty below at the corner of an Edmonton street in the winter.

The Lord’s love does do wonderful, and marvelous things with us. It is His love that enables us. We are not going to be doing the things of the Lord so we can show off, living in summer clothes at forty below in the winter-time. There is no showing off in the way of Christ. The way of Christ concerns being hidden. We live out our lives “hiddenly”. If someone finds out that St Seraphim or some other saint is living like this, that’s a person-to-person thing, and it’s an encouraging thing. You cannot try to pretend that you are some Tibetan yogi, and try to do things like these because you know of some secret technique. You will find out that you will not be able to do it. St Seraphim did not have this ability. He had a gift from God. There is no secret technique that can enable you to do the things of Christ. Only love. Only the love of Jesus Christ can show you the way. If He wants you to be something special to someone who needs it, under strange circumstances (and there are many stranger circumstances than forty below weather) so that the other person will be convinced of God’s love, He will give it to you. However, you won’t be able to do it any time you like. You can only do these things when God says (as it were): Go do it. Be like this. For instance, you can’t just go, and be friends with a bear (or a lion, as some saints have been in Africa). The love of God has to be evident, and alive in you. Those animals have to come to trust that your love is sincere. Then maybe it could happen, but human beings are so abusive to animals that they cannot trust us.

The important point of all this is that when we are hearing or reading the Gospel, and the Epistle, we have to look for this one thing: What is the Lord saying to me about His love here, now, in this passage? What response does He want from me here, and now? The Prophet David said, and the Saviour says that He wants us to turn about from darkness to light, and to walk in the life, and the light of His love. He wants us to imitate Him, and be Life-givers to all those around us.

Remembering that, let us ask the Lord to give us the Grace in our hearts to do a little better later today. It’s easier here during the Divine Liturgy to do it, and it’s not so hard downstairs while we are having coffee, but when we step out from the church, the test begins again. Let us ask the Lord to help us when we are leaving here to remember this love a little longer, and be faithful to Him a little longer before we fall (because we all fall sooner or later). When we do fall, let us ask the Lord to give us the Grace, and the memory quickly to turn about, and say: I’m sorry. Let us also allow Him to renew our strength, and our determination to persevere in the right path of His light, and His love, and glorify Him together with His Father, who is from everlasting, and His all-holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, now, and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

† Archdiocese of Canada - Orthodox Church in America