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This sermon is read every year at the end of the services that we celebrate for Holy Pascha. Read this beautiful sermon out loud. It is wonderful.
The Easter Sermon of John ChrysostomIf any be pious and a lover of God,
let him rejoice in this fair and radiant festival.
If any be a faithful servant
let him enter into the joy of his Lord.
If any be weary with fasting,
let him now enjoy his payment.
If anyone has labored from the first hour,
let him receive today his just reward.
If anyone has come after the third hour,
let him now be thankful that the feast is at hand,
If anyone has waited until after the sixth hour,
let him not be anxious, no loss shall be his own.
If anyone has tarried until the ninth hour,
let him draw near also, shedding all his doubts.
If anyone has come only at the eleventh hour,
let him not be fearful because of his delay.
For the Master is bountiful
and receives the last even as the first.
He gives repose to him who came at the eleventh hour
just as to one who labored from the first.
The tardy are shown mercy
and the timely are made whole.
To the one he gives,
on the other he bestows.
He honors the deed and praises the intention.
Let all therefore enter into the joy of our Lord,
(let both the first and those who came later receive their wages)
Let rich and poor dance with one another.
You sober and you heedless celebrate the day.
You who have fasted and you who have not
rejoice in this occasion.
The table is full-laden
let all enjoy the feast.
The calf is fatted,
let no one go forth hungry.
Let all partake of the banquet of faith,
let all partake of the riches of goodness.
Let none mourn his poverty,
for the kingdom stands before us.
Let none lament his failings,
forgiveness has risen from the tomb.
Let none fear death,
for the death of the Savior has set us free.
He quenched death when it had tasted his flesh.
He despoiled Hades when he descended thereto
Foreseeing this, Isaiah cried:
'Hell was embittered when it met you face to face.'
It was embittered for it was made void,
It was embittered for it was mocked,
It was embittered for it was slain,
It was embittered for it was despoiled.
It was embittered for it was led off in chains.
It received a body and encountered God,
It received earth and came face to face with heaven.
It received what it saw and fell where it could not see.
Death where is thy sting,
Hades where is thy victory?
Christ is risen and you are cast down,
Christ is risen and the demons are fallen,
Christ is risen and the angels rejoice,
Christ is risen and life is made free.
Christ is risen and there is none dead in the tomb.
For Christ is risen from the dead as the first fruits of those that
fell asleep.
To him be glory and power forever and ever, Amen.
Translated by Frank Dobbs
I pray that Christians everywhere are having a blessed Holy Pascha. God bless all of you.
This sermon is read every year at the end of the services that we celebrate for Holy Pascha. Read this beautiful sermon out loud. It is wonderful.
The Easter Sermon of John ChrysostomIf any be pious and a lover of God,
let him rejoice in this fair and radiant festival.
If any be a faithful servant
let him enter into the joy of his Lord.
If any be weary with fasting,
let him now enjoy his payment.
If anyone has labored from the first hour,
let him receive today his just reward.
If anyone has come after the third hour,
let him now be thankful that the feast is at hand,
If anyone has waited until after the sixth hour,
let him not be anxious, no loss shall be his own.
If anyone has tarried until the ninth hour,
let him draw near also, shedding all his doubts.
If anyone has come only at the eleventh hour,
let him not be fearful because of his delay.
For the Master is bountiful
and receives the last even as the first.
He gives repose to him who came at the eleventh hour
just as to one who labored from the first.
The tardy are shown mercy
and the timely are made whole.
To the one he gives,
on the other he bestows.
He honors the deed and praises the intention.
Let all therefore enter into the joy of our Lord,
(let both the first and those who came later receive their wages)
Let rich and poor dance with one another.
You sober and you heedless celebrate the day.
You who have fasted and you who have not
rejoice in this occasion.
The table is full-laden
let all enjoy the feast.
The calf is fatted,
let no one go forth hungry.
Let all partake of the banquet of faith,
let all partake of the riches of goodness.
Let none mourn his poverty,
for the kingdom stands before us.
Let none lament his failings,
forgiveness has risen from the tomb.
Let none fear death,
for the death of the Savior has set us free.
He quenched death when it had tasted his flesh.
He despoiled Hades when he descended thereto
Foreseeing this, Isaiah cried:
'Hell was embittered when it met you face to face.'
It was embittered for it was made void,
It was embittered for it was mocked,
It was embittered for it was slain,
It was embittered for it was despoiled.
It was embittered for it was led off in chains.
It received a body and encountered God,
It received earth and came face to face with heaven.
It received what it saw and fell where it could not see.
Death where is thy sting,
Hades where is thy victory?
Christ is risen and you are cast down,
Christ is risen and the demons are fallen,
Christ is risen and the angels rejoice,
Christ is risen and life is made free.
Christ is risen and there is none dead in the tomb.
For Christ is risen from the dead as the first fruits of those that
fell asleep.
To him be glory and power forever and ever, Amen.
Translated by Frank Dobbs
God bless all of you.
Christians in the Presbyterian Church (USA) who actually believe in the teaching of the Church have long been frustrated with the refusal of the PCUSA to hold to or teach any basic Christian doctrine. You can listen to a hundred sermons and services and not once hear anything about the trinitarian nature of God or the dual nature of Christ much less the (to them politically unacceptable) teachings about faith and life in the New Testament. I know, I have done it. I used to be in the PCUSA. Paul's Letter to the Romans - Chapter 1? Forget about it.
Many lament the continuing troubles of the Anglican Church. The same is coming to the PCUSA. I do not lament them at all. Orthodox Christians, including small "o" orthodox Christians cannot be in communion with evil. We cannot be in communion with a "church" that holds that abortion, homosexuality, or any other sin is good. We all are sinners, and I have sinned badly only recently. We do not try to make ourselves feel good by denying that we have done wrong, but by confessing our sins and repenting of them. We promise to try not to commit sin again and we beg God to forgive us that we may be able to be with him in eternity.
If you to not acknowledge that you have sinned and confess it, then you cannot ask forgiveness of it. This is spiritually very dangerous.
I sensed the lack in my own experience in the PCUSA without really knowing why, and found my way to the Orthodox Church with the help of my friend "Vinnie the Catholic". Now, many others are also planning to leave.
Dissident Presbyterians Consider Way Out of PC(USA)Dissident Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations were invited to join a new presbytery within the conservative Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC).
At a winter convocation this week, the New Wineskins Association of Churches - a network of over 120 evangelical churches discontent with the PC(USA) but not yet separate - considered the future relationship with its parent denomination and a way out possibly through a merger with the EPC.
...New Wineskins churches are considering leaving the PC(USA) because of the denomination's departure from doctrinal integrity and scriptural authority, especially around the issues of homosexuality and abortion. At the height of the controversy was the denomination's approval of an "authoritative interpretation" of the church's Constitution, which granted more leeway for the ordination of homosexuals, at the 217th General Assembly.
The PC(USA) boasts over 2.3 million members as the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States. Theological differences and debates over the last several decades, however, have brought membership down with the exodus of congregations.
PCUSA's lame response - Stated clerk, GAC chief urges churches not to defect from PC(USA) is at the PCUSA's site. It is all about social mission and not at all about right belief or right worship. They are missing the point.
The PCUSA is failing because they will not adhere to any belief, and have abandoned any sense of morality. When I was there membership was over 4 million. It is now 2.3 million. In the meanwhile, membership of the Orthodox Church has grown significantly.
The PCUSA needs to stop confusing the teaching of social policy with worship. Christians help the poor and suffering because that is who we are as a result of what we believe and live by. Helping those who suffer is not the Faith or worship, it is a result of having the Faith and worshipping.
