Today we celebrate the life and repose of the Apostle Thaddaeus. He was not one of the twelve apostles. He was one of the seventy, who were sent, two by two, by our Lord to the cities and towns He intended to visit. They were sent to heal the sick, and to proclaim to the people that the kingdom of God has come to them. On their return, they reported, with rejoicing, that even the demons were subject to them by the power of the Name of our Lord. After His resurrection and Ascension, our Lord sent Thaddaeus to the court of King Abgar, to whom the Holy Napkin that bore the icon of our Lord’s face had been sent, to heal him of his leprosy. Only a small spot of leprosy remained on the king’s face; and when the apostle baptized him, even that was cleansed. The king had the apostle preach to the people; and when they saw their king had been healed, and heard of our Lord Jesus Christ, they put away their idols and embraced the Orthodox faith. The holy apostle would also preach the Gospel of our salvation across Syria and Phoenicia before departing to his reward in heaven.
Each of us has a similar opportunity. We can be of service by proclaiming the good news of our salvation in Jesus Christ. With words, and with the very character of our lives, we can make a statement to those around us, preaching with our lives the power of our Lord Jesus Christ to deliver those who turn to Him from the things which hold them in this life, and to bring them to a new life in Him, a life that will not end with death, as does the worldly life we are so inclined to hold on to, even as it slips away.
The reading from the Gospel according to St. Matthew gives us a powerful instruction in how we can make a statement to the world around us, if we are willing to receive it. I say, if we are willing, because it is not an easy one to accept – at least, not in our culture, for it directly opposes a central value of our culture. Our Lord tells His disciples – and that includes us, if we are His faithful followers – it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Obviously, such a thing is impossible – and the Fathers tell us how to understand why this is so.
As long as we are rich – which is to say, we have more than we need – while others do not even have the barest necessities of life, it is not possible for us to enter the kingdom of heaven. Have you ever stopped to consider this? We all have so much – food, clothing, a place to live, the means to travel, comforts and distractions and entertainments… And our culture teaches us to want more, to get more things, to seek more pleasures, and so to work harder, or to use credit to buy what we can’t afford, and to convert what we want into being something we need, so that we can justify our desires.
Our Orthodox faith teaches us that we should view the abundance with which we have been blessed not as the “just reward” for our labors, but rather as a bounty that God, in His mercy, has entrusted to us, so that we may provide not only for our own needs, but for others as well. This is the comfort the disciples receive when they ask our Lord, “Who, then, can be saved?” They did not ask this because they were rich, for they were not wealthy in material things. Our Lord tells them that salvation by our efforts alone is impossible; but that, for God, all things are possible. And so the fathers tell us that the mere act of beginning to turn away from our greed, and to begin to discipline our flesh with regard to denying it what it wants – which we do by turning to God, and adopting the Orthodox way of life – we are responding to God, Who will bless us and help us to reduce what we think we need to be happy, and successful, and fulfilled. By God’s grace, if we seek it, our eyes are opened to the excesses of our own lives, and to the needs of others around us, and to the way in which we can employ what God has entrusted to us as His stewards, as His servants. When we recognize that the wealth belongs to God, and not to us, we can approach it differently, use it differently – and so those whose needs are addressed are helped; and we gain hope for the salvation of our souls because we have not used the wealth for ourselves alone, but have shown mercy, and the love of God, by denying ourselves and reaching out to help others. God can – and does – act through us as we yield ourselves to Him, together with what we have, which He has given to us – and so He acts to save our souls.
Brothers and sisters: When we turn aside from the ways of the world, when we bring a godly understanding to the use of wealth, we make a powerful statement, an apostolic proclamation, of the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, dwelling in our midst. This can give hope to those who are trapped by the things they own, who are weighed down by their desires for more. Let us open our eyes to those in need, and open our hearts to use what we have on their behalf – to the glory of God, and the salvation of souls.
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