His Eminence Metropolitan SABA Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of All North America, His Grace Bishop Alexander

Pastor: Fr John Vazquez | (518) 462-0579 | fatherjohnvazquez@gmail.com | stgeorgealbany.org | 1 St George's Pl Albany, NY

Office Hours: Mon/Fri 10am-5pm | Confessions: After weekly services (Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun) or by appointment

 

 

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Fr Paul Fedoroff  serving Orthros and Divine Liturgy on Sunday December 1st

Wednesday December 4th—8am—Divine Liturgy 

Wednesday December 4th—6pm—Vespers

DECEMBER 5TH 6PM—VESPERAL LITURGY AT ST NICHOLAS COHOES FOR THE FEAST OF ST NICHOLAS 

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Sunday December 8th—9am—Orthros and Divine Liturgy 

 

Sermon on the Rich Young Ruler

This is a sermon I gave a couple years ago after Thanksgiving on the gospel passage that we read yesterday

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, One God! Amen. 

Christ is in our midst! 

I hope that you all had a joyous thanksgiving this last week. 

We had a blessed time with our friends at school 

Every year it is difficult to NOT overeat at Thanksgiving. 

The turkey, stuffing, cream spinach, cranberry sauce the wine and then the desert 

At the end of the day I am full There is no room left in me. 

We are now in the season of Advent when we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ and his incarnation 

God became flesh so that flesh could become God 

Heaven came to earth so that earth could be lifted up to heaven 

When our Lord comes though—will he find a place to dwell? 

For our Lord does not desire to dwell simply here in Church, or even in our homes but he desires to dwell in us. 

But is there room for him inside of us? 

Just like I was so full after thanksgiving that I could not receive any more food—today we hear that we can be full in another way

Today we hear of fullness that keeps God from dwelling in each of us... 

We come to Christ today and we say—“what can I do to inherit eternal life?” 

So we ask our Lord an important question 

And our Lord begins by responding to us “you know the commandments” keep them. 

And to this we respond “yes, I know them and I keep them but it seems like I am still missing something” 

Again our Lord responds to us, “yes, you still lack one thing” 

And then we hear that we are to sell everything we have and give to the poor and come follow Him 

And we are taken aback—sell everything? I thought I was following You.
But our Lord says to us today 

“You do not understand my child, the riches that you have—that you think are yours—that you think that you have acquired because of your own hard work 

They are all from me. I have filled you up with these riches because I desire to see how much you love me” 

Our Lord says to us, “Do you love me enough to say, ‘I thank you Lord for these things but it is not these things that I want but you. I therefore offer all that you have given me back to you.’” 

Our riches are not just our money, our riches are all that we have, our families, our talents and abilities, our personalities these are our riches 

And each of us have riches that are a little different 

The problem that we are shown today is that sometimes we become satisfied with our riches 

In other words we become full and content and we think that we don’t need our Lord 

We become satisfied with what our Lord has given us and the temptation is to stop there. 

The temptation is to say—“wow, look at what I have. I am like a ruler—A master of my own domain who has no need” 

And before too long we think that the riches that we have are inherently ours 

And if we fall to this temptation 

The riches that God has given us become like the food that filled us at Thanksgiving 

And because we are full we are not able to receive God into us 

Our souls become like the inn where there was no room for Joseph and Mary because it was so full and we turn Christ away because it seems that we have no need of Him

We turn Christ away who desires to be born in us and dwell in us

Our Lord says to us, “I desire you. I desire to come to you and live in you.” 

He says, “I desire to be incarnate in you but you will not let me in because you will not empty yourself.” 

THIS is why our Lord asks us today to sell all that we have and give to the poor 

In this act of selling our riches and giving to the poor, we imitate God who gives so generously to us 

The selling of our riches and giving to the poor becomes the very means through which we empty ourselves so that we can become like Christ and receive Christ 

And so we see that our Lord asks us to sell all that we have for our own sakes —Yes, it is for the sake of the other too but it is for our own sakes. 

The generous giving does something to us—it empties us so that Christ can dwell in us. 

But we also hear today

We hear, “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven”

Why is it so hard for us who are rich to follow this command that our Lord gives us today? 

Part of the reason is because of the sense of security we have from the riches that God has given us 

As human beings we desire security 

I mean look at all the kinds of insurance there are 

Car, home, auto, life, identity...this list could go on 

This is not a bad thing that we have insurance—it simply points to our innate human desire to be secure 

So we see that when our Lord asks us to sell all, he is asking us 

“Do you love me enough to feel insecure”

“Do you love me enough to step outside of being comfortable”

“Do you love me enough to follow me to the cross and give your life” What is our response to these questions from our Lord?

There could be all kinds of responses to these questions

Some of our saints have literally sold all that they have, given to the poor and gone into the desert or a monastery to pray and draw near to Christ

And to this we may respond with the disciples “who then can be saved? 

And the answer is, “without God, no one.”

The answer is that just as it is impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle so it is impossible for we who are rich to sell all of our riches give to the poor and come follow Christ 

But this is the point 

There are no rules we can keep, there are no books we can read, there is no amount of money we can give 

That can buy or secure eternal life for us

Because Christ is not a possession to be bought, an asset to be secured Or a judge to be bribed.

He is God with whom we have a relationship

Sometimes we treat him as a possession or a means to an end 

But this isn’t the kind of relationship we have with the God who created the universe and everything in it 

The kind of relationship we have with our creator is a relationship of communion and vulnerability 

And in this relationship we have with the Creator of all we express gratitude and thanksgiving 

We give thanks for all the gifts that he has given to us and offer them back to him 

The very act of giving thanks means that we are moved to offer to God the gifts he has given us 

And of course we know that thanksgiving for us is the word Eucharist 

Every time we celebrate the Eucharist we are offering ourselves and all that we have to God 

This is what the prayers of the Liturgy say 

As Christians we are people who give thanks 

This is why Adam and Eve—and why we, fall 

When we cease to give thanks to God 

we take and hold onto what is not ours 

The riches of God 

Our Fathers teach that the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was not something that Adam and Eve could never partake of—No 

It was rather something that they would have been able to partake of at the right time 

But instead of waiting they—and WE—reach out and take the riches of God —the gifts of God for our own 

And when we do this we cease to be creatures who are thankful Who are humble

Who are empty...

But if we give thanks to God 

If we participate in the Eucharistic celebration of the Church 

which is the participation in the death of Christ so that we can be raised with him 

THEN... 

What is impossible with men becomes possible with God 

Beloved...we have in this eucharistic celebration that we are now celebrating the most precious gift that God can offer us—he offers us himself 

In being here today and coming up to receive from the chalice 

Whether you realize it or not 

You are offering the most precious gift that you have to give to God in return 

You are offering him your life as an offering of thanksgiving for all that he has given you 

Doing this you are saying to the Lord whether you realize it or not, “all that I have is yours, my life, all my possessions are yours, do with them what you will. 

And we ask our Lord—Show me Lord what you want me to do, how you want me to be, to whom I should give my money and my time” 

And our Lord—what does he say? 

He responds with his own thanksgiving...Our Lord says to us, “I thank you my Child, for giving me your life as I gave you mine. Now receive the food of eternal life.” 

And as long as we continue to participate in this Eucharist—this thanksgiving —to our end then we will inherit eternal life. 

Glory to our Lord Jesus Christ, who willed to be born in a manger in cave because there was no room for him in the Inn, his unbegotten Father and the all-holy and good and life-giving Spirit. Amen.