Orthodox Sermons & Articles

This work was not easy, as the Apostle had to "fight" against new self proclaimed authorities and his words had to be precisely accurate in all perspectives. Using the best formula available for such a situation, Paul reminds the Corinthians about the necessity of following apostolic teachings. He cures their egocentricity with the teaching of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Only by realizing that each member of the Church is spiritually tied with the rest of its members, could they achieve the sense of togetherness and reliability upon one another. Showing them that love is the strongest bond of Christianity, St. Paul cures their greed and pride. Sexual immorality that appeared in the Corinthian community was cured by the wise temporary denial of the sinner from the church, for his own good. Later, when the sinner repented and left sexual immorality behind him, he was lovingly accepted back into the Church with the recommendation of Paul himself.

 

Such pastoral work as demonstrated by St. Paul, dear brothers and sisters, was not an easy task but it was successful and the Corinthian Church once again was reaffirmed with the truths of Jesus Christ and returned to Apostolic teaching and tradition. Although Paul had an uneasy experience in Corinth, he finished his letter to them with both love and warning. He uses love when he writes about some of the Corinthians who were devoted to his teaching, and reminds them of the necessity for all Christians to exercise such devotedness when he sends his personal salutations and love to them all. However, he uses much stronger words in referral to those who did not want to change their sinful position for the love of Jesus Christ, "If anyone does not love Jesus Christ, let him be accursed [anathema]. O Lord, come!" This strong expression was not motivated by Paul’s anger towards the ones unwilling to change, but by his hope that after such strong words at least some of them might come yet to their senses and turn their will towards salvation.

 

Dear brothers and sisters, if we listened carefully to the various readings from the first epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians over the past few Sundays, then we received many good lessons. The life of the Christian community in Corinth and they in which their problems where dealt with might be helpful to us in dealing with our own problems because the solutions to many of them were wisely offered by the great authority of proper Church life, the Apostle Paul himself. The Church is holy but we humans are weak and therefore get into sin easily. Reading the New Testament books, we mysteriously find the strength for our spirit to fight against heavy temptations and abnormalities. St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians urges us to remain within the confines of apostolic teaching as it expresses the only way towards salvation, which was offered by the Lord Himself. Therefore, we have to be thankful for the opportunity to exercise our faith freely and must try to add our own efforts to follow this way to salvation. We need to acknowledge that without our hard work we will not be able to achieve the final goal, which is eternal life in the heavenly kingdom. Therefore, let us focus primarily on this and the rest will be added to us by the Lord our God.

 

Just as the vinedressers in the parable from the today’s Gospel reading had to give fruit from the vineyard to their Master, we will be asked for the fruits of our life on the Last Judgment Day by Jesus Christ. In the parable, the vinedressers rejected the will of the master and killed his servants who were sent to bring the fruit, thus completely rejecting his lawful will. Jesus pictured here the religious leaders of the Israeli people who failed to recognize the prophets of God and killed some of them. The message of the parable is: If we fail to recognize the Apostles of Christ and their teaching, we will receive in the same manner as described by the parable, "He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to others who will render to him the fruits in their seasons" (Matt. 21:41). Therefore, while we are still able to make changes in our attitude towards God and to His Apostles, let us use this opportunity for our spiritual rebirth through penitence. Only after recognizing our errors and mistakes will we be able to open our hearts fully and receive Christ. Proper church teaching is apostolic teaching! Therefore, let us learn from the Epistles how to fight our iniquities and stand against sinful temptations. Let us use these letters to find the power and resources for positive change. Let us do it together for the love of Christ Jesus. Amen.