As Jesus teaches us the way to the Kingdom of Heaven through the pen of St. Matthew, (Chapters 13, 20,22. 25), we see that it is a journey of inspired discipline winding through the shoals and vicissitudes of life. Its means of progress are the sharpening of our most acute perceptions, the gaining of true manhood in the image of God by ennobling the best in us, and the harnessing of the clamoring forces of our nature to serve God. It's guiding star is love. These are the qualities it calls for in us:With these qualities we can bring the Kingdom of Heaven into the world; we can redeem time, all mature and ourselves, for the Kingdom of God is within. The rewards can be two-fold: a place in heaven for eternity, and joy and peace on earth.
- Faith: we must know the potential of good, of God's image in us. Like a grain of mustard seed, it can grow to tremendous proportions.
- Purity and Trust: we must become a "good seed," able to grow up unaffected by neighboring tares. The evil will be separated out and burned at the end of time.
- Receptivity: We must become a "good soil" to nourish good seed and bring forth abundant fruit. Jesus says, "By their fruits shall you know them."
- Patience and Hope: We must be like the leaven hidden in three measures of meal which will in time leaven the whole.
- Knowledge of the Real and the False: We must be like the man finding a treasure in a field or a pearl of great price, who sells all that he has to buy the find.
- Freedom from envy or pettiness: We must look only to our own commitment, without regard to the circumstances of others, unlike the laborers in the vineyard.
- Preparedness and Steadfastness: Like the wise virgins, we must at all times keep the light of our love for God and determination burning, not part time, and only when things are going well.
- Activeness: We must invest our strengths and talents actively to do God's will. Grace is a gift to be magnified.
- Universality: Jesus said, "Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me."
-Bishop Kallistos Ware, The Bible and the Holy Fathers
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Bishop Kallistos Ware on Lessons from the Parables
I promised this quote to the group Sunday morning. Bishop Kallistos Ware is an Anglican who became Orthodox, and later was ordained a priest, eventually becoming Bishop of Diokleia under the Ecumenical Patriarch.
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Welllll, I think we are trying this at Trinity Church...
Many of us are knee-deep in struggling to forge a community, but either don't have much of a vision for it or don't know what we are doing even if we do have a vision.
If you're like me, most of what I know is what the ekklesia is not supposed to be. My own not list is comprised of negative experiences I've had or some vague sense of, "That's not right."
I have a feeling that we should be looking at some fairly radical behavior changes in our personal lives and relational lives, but most of us are too busy or too afraid. I feel like my own life is very thorny ground, with most of my time, effort and care going toward things that are choking the life out of the seed of the Kingdom of God.
I know that there seems to be a lot of resistance to some things I've suggested (and I've been reistant to much myself), and it's almost impossible for me to undertake simple but necessary steps like praying in a more disciplined manner without some help. I even have a chapel across the street from my house that I can never seem to get to for Evening Prayer. I am the chief of lazy sinners...
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