Sermons

“By your patience, you will gain your soul” (Luke 21:19). Death to self: this is why we come to church. We are not here to get a spiritual high or to be comforted. We are here to nail our ego to the cross. Our Lord gave us this parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell on the path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered for lack of moisture. Some fell among thorns, and the thor

“Why do you stand here idle all day?” (Matthew 20:6). Two things matter: God’s love for us and our worship of Him. God is the fountainhead of love. Everything true, good, and beautiful is merely a glimpse into that love. Creation exists for the single purpose of responding to that love. We were born to learn to worship. So it is no wonder that God comes to us and asks: ‘Why are you idle’? “The kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire l

We are saved by faith, but what is faith? Faith is the readiness to die for Christ. Faith is like a mustard seed sown in a field, but only a fool tosses a seed in a field and then lies around waiting for it to grow. Agriculture is work, and so is faith. Elder Cleopa was a young man when he knocked on the gate of the monastery. An elder with a thick brow opened the gate and asked him what he wanted. “I want to become a monk,” the boy said. “You’re just a kid. Go back home.” Th

There was once a foolish old woman who went blind, but refused to believe it. Day and night she called out in her crotchety way, “Open up the windows, you dimwits! It’s too dark in here. Take me somewhere else where people have sense to let in the light!” Seneca the philosopher used to tell this story. He suggested that we all resemble that foolish old woman. We spend our lives blind, daft and cut off from spiritual reality. Our Gospel reading is also about the danger of havi