The Reading from St. Matthew 19:16-26 The Predicament There are many ways of thinking about becoming a Christian. Indeed, there are many ways of thinking about being a member of the Orthodox Church. Ultimately, we are really speaking about becoming a Christian in the Orthodox Tradition. This not just about acquiring knowledge, though that is very important, not just attending Liturgy, though that is essential, not just learning how to cross ourselves. Not just about making friends or learning how to fast and pray. I have the idea that becoming an Orthodox Christian, a true follower of Christ, is also like a treatment plan of recovery. The Orthodox Church is often referred to as a hospital. Who needs a hospital? Sick people. In other words, all of us. I want to contemplate with you the concept of the Church as a treatment center, with a treatment plan. We are sick, we have been sick since we were born into this world. We grew up with sinners for parents and relatives. Our childhood feelings of anxiety, fear, and lack of connection created unhealthy reactions in our hearts, which then became bad habits, (this also happens in the womb) whether or not we were even fully aware of this. As children we don’t know what else to do, we react in order to make sense of things, in order to survive These bad habits that develop over time became deeply entrenched and we began to think “This is the way it is.” “This is who I am.” We operated so often like Adam hiding in the bushes. (Genesis 3:8) We need to realize that now we are adults, now we have a choice. We can choose a new way to respond to the world around us. We are able to evaluate, examine ourselves. Old ways of thinking and reacting can be evaluated and changed. We no longer need fear rebuke or rejection from parents, relatives, or abusive people who haven’t figured out how to deal with their own wounds. We now realize that many, or most of the deeply entrenched habits I developed have created enormous damage. Like ruts in the ground following a wagon train, ruts are hard to get out of. In those ruts we are gradually becoming sub-human, not authentic human beings. See Daniel 4:23 The Choice Jesus Christ came to give us a choice, an ability to chose freedom. He came to defeat all our and His enemies. He came to make a path to The Tree Of Life. (Genesis 2:9) We have a choice. We need not be prisoners. We need not be at war with ourselves and others. We have the opportunity to “put off the old man and put on the new man”. (Eph. 4:22; Col. 3:9) We are not bound to sin, we don’t have to sin, we have a choice. (1 Cor. 10:13) We need a hospital, not a courtroom. We need psychotherapy, not moralism. (psych=soul, therapy=medicine, healing) This is done through the medicine of The Church, The Sacraments, The Life in Christ. Rom 7:23-25 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. As prodigals we have wandered far from the Father’s House. We are lying in a ditch, beaten up by the world, helpless to get to the hotel (the Church). Our Savior, the Good Samaritan, brings us to the hospital and gives us medicine and pays for all the bills. He offers this to all of mankind. Not all will take the medicine. Some never fill the prescription. Some throw the medicine away. Most don’t think they are sick. The Solution What happens when Christ brings us to the hospital? We enter the ER. We need triage. We need evaluation. We awaken from delusion. We need DETOX. We need anti-biotics; IV drips; cancer treatment. We need x-rays, CAT scans, rest; rehab, good nutrition for our souls to recover sanity. It is as if we have been smoking and eating junk food for decades, couch potatoes, distracted, addicted, pornified, our souls become self-indulgent, obese, lifeless. This is why we can’t get ourselves out of the ditch without Christ. (John 15:5) What is the step I must take? Mat 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. By going to the ER, we must also admit that I am powerless, that I need Jesus to help and heal me. Don’t check yourself out of the hospital against medical advice! This is the beginning of denying oneself. It is the beginning of a new way of thinking and doing. This is what repentance actually is, changing the thoughts, my thinking patterns, replacing my fallen, self-destructive, self-hatred, into the thoughts of Christ. Putting on the mind of Christ. (1 Cor. 2:16) This produces a new way of acting, living. This leads to the healing of the soul, the renewal of the mind, the peace of heart we all long for. Entering into the Divine Hospital For Our Souls the question changes from- “Am I a sinner?” to “How do I stop sinning?” How do I treat this illness, this disease, this infection that has plagued me all my life? It doesn’t mean we can ignore sin, it doesn’t mean we don’t need the Cross and forgiveness. It means that forgiveness has been offered, a new life has been promised, soul medicine is available. I will return to my Father’s House and ask to be His servant. And He gives me a robe, a ring, all that He is becomes mine, in Christ. But the analogy eventually breaks down, as all analogies do. We never leave treatment. We will always need the medicine Christ provides-through His own body-The Church; and through His own Body and Blood. The closest we get to graduation is death, we need a halfway house. And death itself has been destroyed by Jesus Christ, the Author and Giver of Life, “Behold, I make all things new!” (Rev. 21:5) Denying oneself is determined by our understanding of being powerless over our passions, those deeply entrenched habits of reaction, which only feed the disease. It is by recognizing that we are sick that we may then approach healing. Christ is the Healer, The Giver and The Given, The Offered and The Offering. His medicine does not have an expiration date, it never goes bad, it never loses potency. Here we must pay attention to the Gospel reading for today: The young man said to Him, “All these I have observed; what do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions. And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:20-26 The young man failed in not seeing his own self-dependence. He thought his good works would be enough. He could not deny himself the pleasures of this life. He keep his riches and potentially lost his healing. He did not have the humility to say, I will obey, no matter the cost. Notice that Jesus gave him options, action steps to bring about his healing. Go, do. By doing what Jesus commanded the young man would have begun to heal by trusting and obeying. He would lose dependence on his wealth, he would be free to find new ways of living. He would have helped many people by his generosity. He would have developed new relationships, he would have a new self image. It is hard for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God, because we don’t like to deny ourselves. We refuse to deny ourselves. When the disciples heard this they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Jesus is saying to us today, you can’t do it, but I can. Deny your own thoughts about how to be healed and let me take over. Let me lead the way. Let me do the internal work that you cannot do. So we come, we are here. We learn to trust. We learn to obey. We change our minds and he changes our hearts and heals our souls, by His grace we become new, free, changed. Enter into the treatment zone of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church where Christ is head of surgery, head of cancer treatment, head of psychotherapy, the Good Shepherd who leads us to still waters and green pastures, where we experience forgiveness of sins and healing of souls.