WHAT DOES THE CHURCH MEAN TO YOU?

WHAT DOES THE CHURCH MEAN TO YOU? Stewardship Sunday 2023 Fr Luke A Veronis   What does the church mean to you? How does the Church and your Orthodox Christian faith bless you? What role does it play in your life? Let’s take a moment to seriously think about this. What does the Church and your Orthodox Faith mean to you? A couple weeks ago I preached about how we are to “make the most of our time” and we do this by incorporating our faith into our daily, weekly and yearly cycle of life. The Liturgical Calendar is one of the greatest treasures of our faith which the Church gives us. It guides and fills our lives! In a world of confusion and darkness, I think about how the church offers a different perspective of life, a view which offers hope and meaning, peace and joy, love and compassion, refuge and protection, direction and guidance. It’s hard to imagine navigating the mystery of life without the faith that the Church has instilled in us. Or maybe I should say I can imagine a life without faith as I look into our secular society and see the confusion and lostness of too many people, as I see the extremism on the far right and the far left that fill our world with fear, hatred and anger, as I see a society that is overwhelmed with anxiety and stress instead of the peace that passes all understanding which faith in Jesus Christ and His Church offer. I was talking with someone recently who emphasized the failings and shortcomings of the church, pointing to individual hypocrites, or various scandals, or church leaders who didn’t live up to the ideal of faith, and this all made her question her faith. And yet, I tried to help her realize that she has a choice when thinking about the Church - she can focus on the human side of the Church with its failings, or she can choose to highlight the Divine nature of the Church, which transforms fallen human beings into transfigured saints! The Church is a Divine/Human entity that changes lives! It is in the Church that we receive the life-giving MYSTERY OF BAPTISM/CHRISMATION, which offers us new life and allows us to become “a new creation in Christ.” We receive the MYSTERY OF HOLY COMMUNION which allows us to receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, to “taste and see how good the Lord is” and thus, be united to Him, having Christ live in us and receive from Him the forgiveness of our sins and a path toward life eternal. This Eucharistic journey allows us to begin tasting the kingdom of heaven here and now at the beginning of each week! We receive the MYSTERY OF HOLY CONFESSION, where we renew our baptism vows and discover healing from our brokenness, our spiritual sickness, and our many sins or ways we turn away from God. We can’t receive these Divine Mysteries of our faith anywhere outside of the Church! Think about it! Where else can we receive such priceless treasures? It is in the Church that we gather together as a community of believers that become the Family of God – a family that includes the saints who have gone on before us and now stand around the heavenly throne of God, as well as our co-sojourners with whom we journey together toward the kingdom of God in this fallen world. The Family of God is not made up of saints alone, but of sinners and weak people like you and me, who are helping one another, encouraging and supporting each other, holding one another accountable to stay faithful and keeping each other from drifting away from the path of salvation. Thank God that we can gather together every Sunday, the Lord’s Day, and throughout the week in this beautiful sanctuary which our forbearers have passed on to us. What a treasure! It is in the Church that we raise our children and plant the seeds of faith in them from their earliest years. We nurture them, educate them and guide them to discover the faith and offer them opportunities to make their parents faith their own. We also receive ongoing education, if you take advantage of it, so that everyone can keep discovering and growing in our incredible faith tradition! And thank God for the spiritual gems found in Holy Scripture and in the spiritual writings of our saints and holy fathers and mothers. It is in the Church where we learn how to read and interpret and then apply Holy Scripture in our lives. It is in the Church that we find opportunities to share God’s love and proclaim His Good News to the world around us. Whether it’s through the Living Bread Luncheon, our Project Mexico trips, our simple outreach through the 80 Thanksgiving Baskets, the 30 boxes of aid to Saint Innocent Orphanage, or the 55 Giving Tree offerings, it is in the Church where we learn that God blesses us in countless ways and then calls us to share these blessings with the world around us! What does the Church mean to you? It is a treasure house with an abundance of blessings to enrich and deepen our lives. Yet, when we think of what the Church means to us, I want us also to reflect on what we offer back to the Church. Today is Stewardship Sunday, the one Sunday a year when we reflect on what type of “stewards” or “caretakers” we are with the blessings God has given us. He’s given us the Church. How do we offer back to God and His Church our time, talents and treasure. What time commitment do we give to the church each week and month? I’m not talking simply about coming to receive something from the church, like in the Divine Liturgy, but what do we offer in our time commitment back to the church? How do we offer our talents, skills, passions, and service back to God and the Church? Do we serve at the Living Bread Luncheon? Do we serve as an usher/greeter on Sundays mornings? Do we serve in the coffee fellowship? Do we serve on the parish council or philoptochos board? How do we use our talents and passions to offer back to God in gratitude for what He has done for us? And with our finances, do we consciously think about what we can financial give in a generous way to support the Church in our ministries and outreach, as an institution, in its administration? Is our support of the church an annual afterthought, or a conscious decision to give generously because I love the church? Do we give to the church the same amount we may spend on Dunkin Donuts, $20 or $30 each week, or do we value the church and her ministries and show how much we value her by what we give each week? What does the Church mean to you? We receive much from the Church, including life-giving salvation. What do we consciously and joyously offer back to God and the Church, giving something that will truly honor Him and reveal how much we believe and love the Church. Think about this as you fill out your Stewardship Commitment Pledge cards and show your love for our church by your commitment to the church!