Sermon

Sunday, November 16, 2008

State of our parish-stewardship I-the Call of St. Matthew

As you know, following Divine Liturgy this morning, we will be having a Parish Assembly Meeting in the Kourmolis Center. At this meeting, we will be approving the budget for next year as well as nominating people to serve in leadership positions of our church, including the Parish Council, Auditing Committee and Election Committee. We will also hear reports from various ministries of the church. In an effort to shorten the meeting, I will intertwine my priest’s report about the state of our parish with this morning’s sermon.

I want to begin by a few words of thanks. First, to Almighty God, for His many blessings upon us as a parish, and upon me as a priest. In September, I passed the four year mark for service at St. John. And one month from today, St. John’s will become the parish I have served the longest in my ministry. I am thankful to you, the faithful members of the community, who gather each Sunday and on so many other days to worship together. I am thankful for those who support the ministries of the church—The Philoptochos, those who bring their children to Sunday school and GOYA, the Young Adults, the Greek School, the dance groups, the Day School, as well as those who come to Bible study. I am grateful to all those who volunteer in our church, in the choir, serving in the altar, being a youth advisor or a Sunday school teacher, those who clean the church, and those who volunteer in other various capacities throughout the year. I am thankful to everyone who worked at the festival last weekend—preliminary reports indicate that from a financial perspective, this festival was the best one we’ve ever had. A special thank you to Michael Evdemon who chaired the festival and did an outstanding job. Not only was the festival a financial success, I believe it helped to bring us together as a community. It was so nice to see people not only working together but laughing together, enjoying each other’s company.

I must thank the Parish Council for its leadership this year. You may not know all of the members of the Parish Council. You certainly don’t see all the behind the scenes doings that have helped us to have a great year. One very visible thing this Parish Council has accomplished is the remodeling of the bathrooms in the Kourmolis Center. But there are many other things that they will report on at the Parish Assembly, and I neither want to take the credit nor steal the thunder from them. Katherine Sakkis has done a wonderful job as our president. She has definitely gone above and beyond and this position has almost become a second full time job for her. The rest of the board has also labored very diligently this year. Many of them are down at church at least once a week working on something and many have tackled major projects in our church, like the festival, the Junior Olympics, the buildings and grounds, the iconography, and the day school. Mike Xenick, who will be presenting the budget, together with the finance committee has developed internal controls to make sure that our money is spent the most efficient way possible. Finally, I have to thank Nick, our chanter and our parish administrator for all of his hard work. Nick truly is the right hand here, and his capable assistance, his willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty, and the friendly demeanor he brings to all of his work is something from which we all benefit and we all appreciate.

I left the festival last weekend extremely tired, as did most of us who spent the weekend here. But more than tired, I really felt motivated and inspired. There is a saying that success breeds success. And I feel as though if we can have success at our festival, despite the fact that we had a bad economy, and with a leadership team that was almost entirely new, think of what other types of successes we can have.

We offer a very full liturgical life in our church—we will have Liturgy this Friday at 10:00 a.m. for the feast of the Entrance of the Virgin Mary in the Temple. We have a Bible Study on most Monday evenings at 6:30 p.m. GOYA will be meeting tonight at 6:00 p.m. YAL will meet next Sunday. And an adult retreat is being planned for three weeks from now, December 6, and we will be taking sign-ups in the Kourmolis Center after church for this retreat. The Messenger is a quality publication we put out each month, with many of you contributing articles and questions that find their way into it.

By now, you’ve hopefully all received the Messenger for November. Hopefully you’ve read it—it contained some articles on stewardship, as well as on heaven and eternal life. By now, you’ve hopefully all received the stewardship packet for 2009.

Some have filled out their stewardship form and sent it in already. Others have put it on the “to do” file. And probably others have put it in the circular file, never to be seen again. Some will prayerfully offer a sacrificial pledge to the church this year. Others will do what they did last year. Some will increase, while others will decrease. Some will offer a token, some nothing at all. For some, stewardship adds real meaning to their spiritual life and for others none at all.

There are many things that we have in common this morning as we gather in church. First, we are at this moment sitting in God’s temple. As an Orthodox Christian Community, we try to create a little heaven on earth in our church—that is why we adorn the walls with icons. We have a dome representing heaven, we see images of Christ, of the Saints, the angels. The hope for all of us is that one day we will reside in heaven, in the presence of Christ, the Angels, the saints, and us. No Orthodox Christian community is perfect. No Orthodox Christian is perfect. We are supposed to make our best effort to replicate heaven in our community. This is a very important statement—we are supposed to make our best effort to replicate heaven in our community and in our lives. And in attempting to do so, we don’t necessarily need to be the biggest and the best, just give our best effort.

The truth is sometimes only known to us. No one can know the depth of someone else’s faith, or someone else’s joy or someone else’s sorrow. Those truths often remain hidden within each of us. No one can know what is a sacrifice for someone and what isn’t, who is giving all they possibly can, and who is holding something in reserve. No one knows that, but God. He knows that. He knows who is giving their best and He knows who can do better. And He will examine each of us and let us know His thoughts about our efforts when we meet Him at the Second Coming. By then, however, it will be too late to change. Because we won’t be meeting God for correction or advice, but for eternal judgment.

Stewardship means giving your best effort in your life and in this church. Stewardship is your best effort to replicate heaven in your life and in the church. That’s why stewardship should be done with joy but also with sacrifice. What is a sacrifice to someone is a mere token for someone else, that’s why it’s not how much you give but how much you sacrifice in the offering of the gift that is important.

We have some other things in common in church this morning—while each of us desires to go to heaven, we cannot get there on our own. Going to heaven is ultimately an act of mercy on the part of God—it is not an accomplishment or an entitlement we can lay claim to. And so, we hope for God’s mercies based on what—our faith and our works. Our faith in God, and our work to remain humble, loving, repenting, giving, moral people.

Which leads to the third thing that we all have in common, and that is that we all fall short of the mark—sin causes us to be arrogant, angry, stubborn, selfish, immoral people. Each of us is a sinner, myself the first among them. Now if the church is supposed to replicate heaven, each of wants to go to heaven, and sin stands in the way of our journeys, what hope can their be for us?

The answer comes from the Gospel reading this morning, a short passage from the Gospel of St. Matthew, which is read today, the feast of St. Matthew the Evangelist and Apostle:

As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me. So he arose and follower Him. Now it happened, as Jesus sat at table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard this, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. (Matthew 9:9-13)

While we are all sinners, the degree to which each of us realizes that is somewhat different. And how each reacts to his or her sinfulness is another point of difference. Some see their sin in comparison to others: “I’m pretty decent compared to other people.” Some judge themselves according to others—“I’m not as bad as so and so.” Others play percentages—“if let’s say 50% of people will make it to heaven, let me make sure that I’m at least in the top 50% of society, maybe come in at number 48 or 49, and I’m still okay.”

The church is not here for us to celebrate our righteousness. It is here to help us cope with our sinfulness, to heal wounds in our hearts and souls so that we can more clearly see the path to salvation. The church, in a sense, is like a hospital. Hospitals are for people who are sick, so that they may receive treatment to become well. Hospitals are not for people who are well. If a person goes to the hospital and says “I’m in perfect health,” then the hospital is going to say, “Then leave from here, you are taking up space for those who are sick and need healing from the hospital.” Likewise, the church is for those who are ailing spiritually. If a person comes to church and says, “I’m saved, I’m in perfect spiritual health,” then the church will respond in the same way—“There is nothing much we can do for you, the church exists for those who are spiritually ill who seek spiritual healing. Jesus, after all, as He tells us in the Gospel lesson of this morning, did not come to heal the righteous, but to call sinners to repentance.

There are certain diseases in the world like cancer and heart disease that are very prevalent in our society. And thankfully many people throw lots of resources to cancer and heart research in the hopes of finding cures. Imagine if there was a cure for cancer, but it required us all to spend some money—we’d all gladly do it because we all know someone who has cancer, and none of us wants to have cancer. And can you imagine if there were twice the number of people researching the cure for cancer and other diseases—how much more quickly and likely it would be for a cure to be found.

Now there are certain spiritual illnesses in our world—hopelessness, sadness, temptation, to name a few—that are very prevalent in our society. The cure of these illnesses is in, among other places, the spiritual life of the Orthodox Church. Prayer, worship, and the sacraments provide spiritual healing, direction and motivation to live the moral and Christian life that leads to God’s kingdom. So, we know we have the cure—the cure is found in services, in ministries, and in one-on-one encounters between priest and parishioner. This morning we have two priests at the altar. Can you imagine how much more the church could do if it had two priests at the disposal of the community at all times—there would be twice as many spiritual encounters, twice as many visitations, twice as much opportunity for spiritual healing and growth. Can you imagine if the church had more ministries, more outreach, more gatherings for worship and prayer, can you imagine how much more spiritual healing can occur.

Cures for physical illnesses lie in two things—the intelligence of doctors and researchers to do the work, and the generosity of people to fund it. Cures for spiritual illness lie in two things—the inspiration of priests and people to do ministries, and the generosity of people to fund them. And this is where your stewardship comes in. The more you offer the church, the more potentially the church can offer you. The more you offer towards the cure of spiritual things, the more potential that the cure can be found for you. And so while I am saying thank you for a job well done, at the festival and in so many other ways this year, I am also asking that you give, and give generously to the new stewardship campaign. We still have some things in our church that need fixing—iconography, carpeting, skylights in the Kourmolis Center, and other things. And we still have some things in our community that need fixing—souls that are beset by the difficulties and challenges of life, souls that need more worship, more prayer, more ministries, more pastoral involvement.

I learned a big lesson at the festival last weekend. Skeptics may be right when it comes to many things in this world. But skeptics are wrong when it comes to the things of God. How many people thought that the festival would be doomed by lack of volunteers, or a bad economy? And yet, because we committed to giving 10 percent of our proceeds to a charitable organization, LifePath Hospice, no matter what, God blessed us with the best festival we’ve ever had. At a time when the skeptics say hoard all the money you have for yourself, and yet most people who do that are still feeling poor, our church did just the opposite—we committed to a sizeable donation to charity, and God blessed us richly for it.

And the same thing goes for stewardship—skeptics say don’t be generous to the church—keep all of your money for yourself, after all, it is a bad economy. But just like with the festival—give a good effort, give with sacrifice and with joy when it comes to what you offer to God and you will see, I promise, that not only will you not go hungry, or go without the basics, but God is going to bless your life with so much more.

And this is where faith and trust and humility come. Faith in God’s message of salvation. Humility to admit our shortcomings. And trust in God’s Church as the vessel that helps to carry us to God’s kingdom. Trust that the more we offer to the church, the more the church can offer to us. As we commemorate the feast of St. Matthew today, we know that as a tax collector, Matthew was among the greatest of sinners. And Jesus went to minister to him, because that’s where the greatest need was for mercy. We know the end of the story. St. Matthew is one of our church’s greatest saints—one of 12 Apostles, one of the four Evangelists.

I believe that our church is on a good path. Last weekend’s festival confirmed that. The more we offer to God, the more God blesses us. When we dedicated our festival to God and set aside 10 percent of the profits to help minister to others, we had the best festival ever. When we dedicate our lives to God, and set aside a sacrificial percentage of our profits to help with the work of the church, we will have a greater and stronger church, and will see God’s blessings multiplied even more upon our individual lives.

We are supposed to make our best effort to replicate heaven in our church community and in our lives. This is how one makes a successful journey to salvation. And in attempting to live a Christ-centered life, we don’t necessarily need to be the biggest and the best, just give our best effort. This is what stewardship is all about. Please prayerfully consider your stewardship pledge for 2009 and make your commitment as soon as possible. Thank you.