Orthodox Sermons & Articles

Therefore, celebrating the Day of All Saints we celebrate the work of the Holy Spirit within the Saints and within us. The only essential thing in this work is our faith in God. If we have strong faith, as the saints had, we will find our way to the Savior. How many ways to salvation do we really have? We know that salvation is possible only through Jesus Christ. This means that we have to believe in Him and follow His footsteps. What did Jesus preach to His listeners and to us all? Jesus Christ preached and showed by example sacrificial love for all. His death on the Cross was the best sermon ever delivered, as He not only preached but also proved that love could change the world. Having strong faith in Him, Who preached and proved to be faithful to His own teaching, we can stand against the hostility of evil. Today’s Epistle reading brings us a few examples of dealing with ungodly powers as faced by the saints. Before I read the verses from the Epistle, I’d like to underline that we need to have faith in God in order to defeat evil, otherwise we will not have enough power to do it on our own. Through faith we receive the help of God and find strength to fight any hostility against our souls. Therefore, in his epistle to the Hebrews, St. Paul the Apostle shows how strong those who had faith were. "Brethren, all of the saints by faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to fight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented – of whom the world was not worthy…" (Heb. 11:33-38).

 

St. Paul took these examples from the Old Testament because the Hebrews knew their history well. However, we can confidently say that after more then two thousand years all these things were repeated countless times, by Christians defending their faith and their beliefs. Great persecution of Christianity had taken the lives of many followers of Jesus, but our faith did not perish, because every death during persecution had born a new inspiration for those who were and are still alive. This inspiration has been a starting point for many other people ever since. Having been inspired by the work of the Holy Spirit in others, new martyrs fearlessly stood up to confront their persecutors and because of their heroic deeds we were able to receive the Holy Spirit as well.

 

St. Paul the Apostle encourages us to fight sin and evil within ourselves in order to receive salvation together with the saints. He writes: "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and finisher of our faith." (Heb. 12:1). In other words, if they could do it, so can we.

 

Dear brothers and sisters, we can talk about this topic for hours, and I think we need to do this in the future, because it is so deep and full of inspiration. But now, I would like to bring up another question: "Do we, modern Christians, face the same difficulties as the Christians during the time of persecution?" The answer is: "Yes, we do." We are not persecuted for our beliefs (not yet), but our faith is under attack every day from both: from within ourselves and from the outside world. We attack our faith every time when we:

 

 

All these things are the daily trials we have to face in order to make the right decisions for our soul. The right decisions always were, are and will be the decisions when God is placed first.

 

Dear brothers and sisters, we have to keep in mind today’s epistle reading every time we have to make a decision. Some rulers of the world and ordinary people do not care about God and His eternal Law, but choose to follow the ungodly power and their own imagination. We can force no one to believe in God or to consider His Law as his or her priority, but we must not to lose it ourselves. This is why it is essentially important to read the Bible, the teachings of the Holy Fathers and the lives of the Saints. Today we recognize all the saints (known and unknown to us), therefore, let us keep our faith pure and undefiled; let us confront every evil thought and deed within ourselves first; let us be the people of God and the true followers of Jesus Christ. Let us seek perfection and become as perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect, because our Lord called us to perfection. Let us exercise sacrificial love to all including our enemies, as Jesus taught us, and therefore change the world for better . Amen.