15th Sunday after Pentecost (15/28Sept)

[Justin Kissel]

"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" - Mark 8:36-37

What does this mean? It is easy to allow ourselves to misinterpret this passage. When we see such lofty statements, we most often think of the passage as dealing with only huge deviations from the true path. And Jesus does indeed speak of great things (ie. gaining the whole world). yet, this does not mean that "the small stuff" is not implied here. Indeed, the point is not to say that we are "ok" unless we make a "small" error. The point of the whole passage is that we should by totally and wholly devoted to God: his life should be ours, and our life should be his. Rarely is a man offered the whole world for his soul. However, sometimes a man is offered something much smaller, and forfeits his soul for it. What profit is it if a man gains an attractive young mistress, but loses his soul? What profit is it if a women gains that new promotion at work, but in the process loses her soul? The devil tempted Jesus with the whole world, but we should not think that we, too, would be tempted with such things.

Why would Satan tempt us with the world, when we are ready to turn our backs on the most important things for next to nothing? Did not Esau sell his birthright for a mere bowl of soup? (Gen. 25:29-34) Did not Ananias and Sapphira lose their lives because of an amount of money that was insignificant compared to the spiritual treasure they must have been experiencing? (Acts 5:1-11) Did not Judas betray Christ our God for thirty pieces of silver, the price of a slave? (Matt. 26:14-16, 47-49) We should not think that we are too much better, when we daily hand our soul over to our Father Satan by our sinful disobedience to God. How hard salvation is to find.

[Justin Kissel]

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." - Matt. 22:37-40

And Jesus Messiah, Christ our God, who loved more than he? Who could fulfill these two commands better than he? Therefore, who fulfilled the law or understand it more than he? Did he disobey the very law that he gave, or did he rather understand it so perfectly that he knew when and when not to relax it's commands? Jesus did not come to abolish or violate the law, but to fulfill it. Right down to the last jot and tittle. How? "God is Love".

And now we may say the same thing of the body of Christ, the Church. God is her leader and guide, and God knows the course that must be taken, and how best to get to our destination. How dare anyone claim that God gave bad commands, or violates his own rules! God follows one rule: he stays true to Himself, which is eternally good, eternally holy, eternally righteous, and eternally loving. I say these things of course realising that human words could never even begin to describe God (and therefore they are imprecise and misleading by their very cataphatic nature).

[Mary Kissel]

I'm not quite sure what is meant in the Epistle reading from Galations....

Gal 2:16-20[/b] "Knowing then that a man is not being justified by the works of the law, except through faith in Jesus Christ, even we believed in Christ Jesus, in order that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; because by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified....

I think that I like this Gospel reading because I like how Christ lists the two 'Great Commandments' that we should live by. Also I like how after He talks about them and asks the question about David's Son how the Pharisees and everyone quiets down and won't ask Him anymore questions that day.

Mt 22:35-46 And one of them, a doctor of the law, questioned Him, putting Him to the test, and saying, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" And Jesus said to him, "'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."...

[Justin Kissel]

Put very shortly, the passage from Galatians is saying that we can't be justified by works. I don't know for sure, but I assume that Paul is here fighting the tendency of some in the early Church to place outward works or Jewish customs above what Church taught. So, you had certain people going around telling newly converted gentiles that they had to get circumcised, keep the Jewish festivals, abide by the Jewish dietary customs, etc. Paul is here saying that salvation does not rest in following rules, since following rules in itself is nothing more than human effort. First you must have faith, and then having faith (and that means holding firm to the faith that Paul gave to them) you can properly see what is right and wrong, and what you should and shouldn't, need and needn't, do. Paul isn't here saying that works are pointless, or that all we need is "faith alone," he is merely saying that if we are trying to justify ourselves and free ourselves from sin through our own efforts, that we will ultimately fail, and that it is only in faith that we enter into that communion and community that is truly able to save and heal.

[Julianna]

Anyone else hear/remember a sermon or homily on the Gospel yesterday, or was I the only one?

Mine's here: http://euphrosynoscafe.com/forum/viewto ... =7754#7754

[Justin Kissel]

Mary,

I might add that the purpose of the law was to show us our own sinfulness. The law was not meant to save in itself, but rather to show the how far short we fall of God, what holiness is required to approach God, and so forth. The law was, in Paul's words, a tutor. But once faith comes, the purpose of the law fades. Not because it is irrelevant, but because the holy spirit begins writing the law of God on your heart. This is not to say that laws are totally unnecessary--otherwise we wouldn't have canons and other such things. The point, though, is that there is a "freedom" in Christ that is not bound by "laws," it is only bound by love, faith, humility, and the other virtues. Paul was not against using the law when it was used properly, he was against using the law as though following a set of rules was in itself what we were to be doing. Paul was combatting legalism, and those who would make outward action the most important thing to focus on regardless of how dirty the inside was.