Fourth Sunday of St. Luke - Sermon by Met. Moses

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Fourth Sunday of St. Luke - Sermon by Met. Moses

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  • A Sermon on The Fourth Sunday of the Gospel of Saint Luke
    By Metropolitan Moses

    In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

    On This Sunday, we celebrate the memory of the Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council and the Gospel reading appointed for this feast is the Parable of the Sower.

    The Lord spake this parable, The sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit a hundredfold. (Luke 8:5-8)

    Why do we hear the same stories, the same parables year after year? Because they reveal spiritual truths that are vital to us in helping us live the Christian life in our day-to-day existence. As our Saviour said to His disciples,

    Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. (Luke 8:10)

    Parables have a twofold purpose. To the stiff-necked the message is kept in a shadowy form, yet for the believer great mysteries are portrayed in a few words. There are many facets to a parable. One word can signify many things. A Sower went forth to sow. The Sower is our Saviour Himself and the seed is the word of salvation. The seed fell in to a variety of types of earth. This earth signifies our hearts and the spiritual condition or state we are in. For this reason, this parable is an occasion for each of us to exercise self-examination and consider the condition of our heart.

    Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. (Luke 8:11-12)

    The wayside is the realm of heresy and it is found outside the boundaries that the Holy Fathers have set. Thus, without the guidance of the Holy Fathers those by the wayside become subject to the errors of the demons who take away the word of salvation through deceit and false notions and their hearts are trodden down and compacted, made hard and the word does not penetrate.

    In our time, there are many who call themselves bishops and priests of the Church of Christ, yet they proclaim the errors of the Pan-Heresy of Ecumenism and Syncretism. By their indifference to truth, they contradict our Savior’s teachings that we are to worship Him in spirit and in truth. These men trample down the word of salvation given unto us by our Savior, that is, by their evil deeds they prevent many from partaking of the singular Baptism and Eucharist that is offered by our One Lord through His One Church. (Eph 4:5)

    They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a time believe, and in time of temptation fall away. (Luke 8:12)

    How can we prepare ourselves in order to avoid falling away? The soil of our heart is conditioned by our will and it remains as rock when we avoid the struggle that is an essential part of the spiritual life. The soil of our heart is broken up and made receptive to grace through patient endurance of the various hardships that are part of the spiritual life. For this reason Saint Paul instructed us with the words:

    …We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us. (Romans5:3-5)

    And as Saint Isaac the Syrian wrote, “It is not possible without temptations for a man to grow wise in spiritual warfare, to know his Provider and perceive his God, and to be secretly confirmed in his faith, save by virtue of the experience he has gained.” (P. 355 The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian)


    We prepare for temptations by the twofold self-constraint that is essential to the Christian life, restraining our passions and forcing ourselves to practice the virtues. One can prepare only by becoming a partaker of the grace of the Holy Spirit through this type of asceticism, that is, by fasting when the Church tells us to fast and forcing ourselves to prayer, spiritual reading and acts of mercy.

    And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. (Luke 8:14)

    The thorns that spring up around us and choke out spiritual fruit are cares, and obsession with acquiring riches at the expense of all else and a life of self-indulgence and distraction.

    Our modern way of life offers a multitude of vanities and false frenzies that are presented to us everywhere we turn by the entertainment culture. If we are not careful, and we choose to immerse ourselves in the many entertainment choices that are available, we can fill our life with entertainments to the point that our spiritual life has been crowded out.

    Many well meaning parents are tempted to fill their family life with a multitude of youth activities for their children with the result that the spiritual life becomes neglected during the formative years of their children. If you enrol your child in activities that keep them from keeping the Day of the Lord sacred, you are training that child to not be a Church-goer later in life.

    The secular government offers tax credits for money spent on youth sport in order encourage parents to involve their children in team sports. This would not be a problem if it were not for the fact that the sporting events and games are scheduled for Sunday, the Day of the Lord. This was unheard of 50 years ago when the Christian culture prevailed here in North America. The Lord’s Day Act was repealed in 1985 when the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that it violated Canadians’ freedom of religion. We need to open our eyes and recognize that many of the changes in society over the last 50 years were part of a deliberate process to dismantle the existing Christian culture. If we are to bring forth spiritual fruit unto salvation we cannot allow the life in Christ to be dismantled within the home and family life.

    We have only so much time in a day. For the sake of the well being of your children I exhort you to look at all of the things that occupy your time and see if you are choking out spiritually profitable endeavours from your life without realizing it by involving your children in too many activities outside of the Church.

    A major part of the work in Christian upbringing is to provide a good ground for our children so that they might grow and bring forth spiritual fruit. This good ground is a Christian environment in the home as well as a Christian sub-culture within the parish that will be a place they can spend their formative years that will enable them to become strong in their faith so that when they are mature, they can encounter the billows of the world and not be shaken.

    But that on the good ground are they, which in a good and upright heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. And when He had said these things, He cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. (Luke 8:15)

    Our Saviour constrains no one. Our Saviour spoke to all of us when He said, “He that has ears to hear, let him hear.” It is our choice to respond, or not. Do we take this seed of the word of God into our hearts and carefully preserve it so as to bring forth spiritual fruit? Do we bring to mind the significance of the message of this word?

    Our Pre-eternal God entered time for our sakes and became the God-Man, the new Adam, in order to make us a new creation. We are called to be sons and daughters of the Most High in a completely extraordinary way. Through our membership in the Body of Christ we are participants in the life of the incomprehensible Trinity. Do we give thanks to God for this and marvel at His gifts? Do we show our thanks giving by fulfilling our Saviour’s commands?

    Once again, I ask you to think about how you spend your time and how your family spends its time.

    I pray that you all receive the word of God and respond and bring forth fruit with patience. May God bless you and your families both in this life and in the age to come, through the mercy and compassion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to Whom be all glory, honour, worship, together with His unoriginate Father and His All-Holy and life creating Spirit. Amen.

Source: Fr. Panagiotes Carras' Yahoo Group

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.

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