Orthodox Sermons & Articles

Today, dear brothers and sisters, the door starts open, inviting us to enter into the sacred period of time, "Great Lent", which will lead us to Pascha. Today is the first of the four major Sundays, which prepare us for Great Lent. In our Church calendar this first Preparation Sunday is called The Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee. In order to call us to real repentance, the Church places before our eyes the image of two men who go up to the Temple to pray. Theirs prayers were very different.

When the Pharisee prays, his prayer shows that he believes himself to be a righteous man. Yes, his prayer is not all bad and most of what he says is true, he even recognizes that his good actions came from God. But the mistake he made in his prayer was that he compared himself to the Publican with pride, and with certain disrespect. Actually, the Pharisee is not really praying at all, but is instead showing God his "righteousness". He does not see his need for repentance and through his example; Christ shows us that if we do not see our own sins, it is because we ARE acting with sinful pride. This sinful situation tells us that we need to look within ourselves very carefully and change ourselves; in other words, we have to repent and not look for an excuse for our wrongdoings.

Now let us look at the Publican, whose prayer is very simple but at the same time very strong. He asks only for mercy because he sees that his situation is weak and he desperately needs forgiveness. He knew all the sins he had committed couldn’t be corrected by himself; he had a need for comfort and he went to God to look for it. "The publican, standing far off, would not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven, but kept striking his breast, saying ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner!'" His whole human essence wanted to be healed from spiritual illness, from all those things, which were a heavy burden on his soul. His mind was praying and his body was acting according to his prayer -- he was striking his breast. His conscience did not permit him to go and stand in line with the Pharisee, so he stood far off in the back of the Temple, because of his feeling of unworthiness. Unlike the Pharisee, there is no pride in his prayer. We see him as a humble and repentant child of God.

Jesus Christ Himself told this parable. We heard that the Lord told His listeners at the end of the story that the Publican "went back to his home justified, rather than the other." The example of these two men teaches us how to pray in Church and at home. If we think that it is good enough just to come to Church and everything will be all right with our spiritual life, we are mistaken. Look at the Pharisee; he always came into the Temple and he was not justified. Here is strong message to all of us, my dear brothers and sisters. If somebody thinks that just visiting the Church or listening to the prayers is good enough for us and we need to do nothing more, then we are mistaken as well. Look at the Pharisee; he prayed in the Temple, but his prayer was not helpful for him.

If our coming to church isn’t enough for our salvation, then what else do we need to know and what do we have to do so that our life in Church and our prayers would be helpful for our salvation? How should we pray in the Church and in our houses to ensure that we are justified? There is but one answer: We have to go to the Church and pray for our sins, but our prayer has to be humble, honest and sincere coming out of love for God and because we truly recognize our sins. We must throw away our sinful pride and selfishness when we are standing before God because He sees us for who we really are anyway. Only this kind of prayer will be accepted and only then we will be justified. For this reason the Holy Orthodox Church begins to prepare us for Great Lent and teaches us the proper attitude we should bring before God when we come to Church and how we should pray there. During Great Lent God will purify our souls only if our prayers and our repentance is sincere.

So, dear brothers and sisters, although the message of the parable is strong, it also demonstrates God’s love for all of us: God actually forewarns us in this parable so that we would not waste our precious time on things which will bring no value to our souls, but to follow only those things that will lead us to eternal life with Him. Let’s make every effort towards obtaining our salvation. Let’s pray as Jesus Christ teaches us in today’s parable, with deep understanding, sincerity, regret and honest acknowledgment of our sins. Let’s prepare ourselves for Great Lent to the best of our ability. Let us be humble in all our deeds and thoughts so that we will be justified by our Merciful God, because "anyone who humbles himself shall be exalted" in God’s eternal Kingdom. Amen.