Hey everybody this is Steve and let's be honest,
sometimes the Church can seem really,
boring.
Which is really interesting when you think of the contrast.
On the one hand, some of us think that the church services are tedious,
that the faith, is irrelevant to our lives.
On the other,
some of us are willing to die for God and the faith.
I have a hard time making sense of this, how
the same thing can inspire two totally different responses.
And then, I think of chemistry.
In high school, I remember how many people hated chemistry.
They complained that it's hard, that it's boring,
that if you didn't want to be a chemist
it was a pointless class, yet I, loved chemistry.
The difference was our teacher who made chemistry, awesome.
For our class chemistry wasn't simply about memorizing formulas
or the periodic table. (Though uh, I did, I memorized the whole thing.)
Chemistry was about mind-blowing experiments,
and learning about everything,
from how our bodies work to, how the life saving medicines are made.
It wasn't simply a class I took sophomore year, it was
an experience, that helped me better understand
and appreciate the complex beauty of the world.
And it made me sad that,
other students didn't get that same experience
that, all they got out of chemistry was
stress, and tests, and a waste of time.
And this always comes to mind when people
complain that the Church is boring.
Your appreciation of chemistry can be totally different
based on, how it's presented to you
and how you come to see it.
So how are we presenting the church?
And how do we see It ourselves?
Are we presenting the church for what it is?
The Salvation of the our world,
our rescue from death, and meaninglessness, and hopelessness,
our participation in Christ's very body.
Or are we distorting it into
just another thing we do?
Maybe the least important thing we do.
Because yeah, church is boring when it's
only about the obligation to go to services Sunday morning.
Church is boring when it's about passively sitting through hymns
and prayers we don't understand,
rather than actively participating in something
life-giving and beautiful.
Church is boring when it's about things that divide us,
like language and ethnicity,
rather than things that unite us like the Gospel,
the good news the God shares with everyone.
Church is boring when we treat holiness and saintliness like things we study from the past,
rather than something we're supposed to live today.
Church is boring when we obsess over irrelevant details
and ignore the injustice and human suffering
that's staring us, right in the face.
Church is boring when it's a place for pride and showing off,
rather than a source of healing, and comfort, and mercy.
Church is boring when it isn't about Christ .
From the beginning the Church shook the world
by daring to preach life to those in the tombs.
It preached healing to the sick,
salvation to those trapped in sin and addiction.
It preached the worth and dignity of all people,
and made caring for those who struggle with sickness and poverty, a priority.
It preached that the Son of God Himself
took on flesh and became human.
That all are called to find true light
eternal life in their union with Christ.
It brought hope to the hopeless,
peace to those in turmoil, health to those in sickness.
This is the Gospel, do we share it?
Do we live it?
Or are we like those terrible chemistry classes?
All memorization, no application.
Do we simply boast about the repentance of Saint Mary of Egypt
or do we can repent?
Do we simply boast about how Saint Basil the Great basically invented
hospitals, and orphanages, and old age homes,
or do we build our own?
Do we simply boast about how Saint John Chrysostom
stood up for justice, or do we stand up for justice?
Do we simply boast about the wisdom and
education of Saint Catherine,
or do we take the time to learn the faith ourselves?
Do we encounter Christ like all the saints?
Do we unite with Christ by receiving his body and blood?
Because let's be honest,
there's nothing boring about that.
So let's be the bee and see the church for what it really is.
Be the bee and live orthodoxy. Remember to like and subscribe.
I'll see you all, next week.