The title just about says it all, but a little extra general information:
My father is a Russian Orthodox priest, and these are the sermons he gives during Sunday Divine Liturgy.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Christ is Risen!
"...be not faithless, but believing"
Nothing grieves the heart of the Lord more than unbelief (Greek, apistia, the antithesis of belief, or faith), which questions his claims, his credentials, his promises, his very integrity--in essence it calls God a liar, unworthy of our confidence. Unbelief is more than the absence of faith. Just as faith is a spiritual force which enables God to act on our behalf, so unbelief is a spiritual force which limits the Holy One of Israel. In Nazareth Jesus could do no mighty works "because of their unbelief". And why was that? They said amongst themselves, is this not the carpenter's son, and don't we know his mother and brothers and sisters? They focused on Jesus' humanity and missed of his glory and divinity. Never mind that he had been healing the sick and raising the dead throughout the land of Palestine and that the fame of him was gone out everywhere---they couldn't get past the fact that he was their neighbor and nothing more. Even his own brethren did not believe in him!
And the disciples themselves were no strangers to unbelief, either. How many times did Jesus rebuke them for their lack of faith, sighing in his spirit and wondering how long he would have to put up with them? At his first appearance to them after his resurrection he upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they did not believe the testimony of the women. Thomas was absent that day, so when they later told him that they had seen the Lord, he refused to believe unless he himself saw him and touched his wounds. But the Lord was gracious and put an end to Doubting Thomas' unbelief once and for all. Thomas was overcome with awe and could only confess, "My Lord and my God." What about each one of us-- do we truly believe that Christ is risen from the dead? Jesus' life and resurrection is well-attested. He fulfilled to the letter the Messianic prophecies written hundreds of years before his time. He performed miracles, signs, and wonders such as no man ever did. Even his enemies did not deny this but merely accused him of practicing sorcery. Likewise, the Jews did not contest the fact that his tomb was empty; instead, they invented the tale that his disciples stole his body. And, during the weeks following his resurrection, he appeared not only to the eleven but to over 500 brethren at once. This is sufficient evidence to convince anyone with a good and honest heart.
1 John 5:10 says, "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son."
If we believe the record that God has given us of his Son in the Scriptures, God will grant us the inward testimony of the Spirit as well. Like with Peter, the Father will reveal the truth that Jesus is the Christ in our own hearts. We may never see Christ in the flesh, but we will see the light the Sun of Righteousness illumining our hearts, and we will feel it warming the coldness thereof. We will hear the still, small voice of the Good Shepherd guiding us, saying, this is the way, walk ye in it. We will smell the sweet savor of him whose name is as ointment poured forth. We will taste the good word of God, sweeter than honey to our mouths. Truly, "blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed"!
But let us, therefore, beware lest there be found in us an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. Like the Israelites we are prone to forget the great things God has done for us That is why the Church constantly stirs up our pure minds by way of remembrance. Like the twelve stones Joshua set up after the children of Israel crossed over Jordan, the Church has given us the twelve Great Feasts to help us keep in memory the events of our so great salvation. And we should also set up stones of remembrance in our own hearts of the mighty things God has done in our own lives. Then, when we are tempted to doubt the goodness and mercy of the Lord, we can remember the good things he has done for us in the past and so, like David, encourage ourselves in the Lord. So check your hearts. Examine yourself whether ye be in "the faith", or whether ye be in "the doubt", and be not faithless but believing! And so, in every circumstance, during this joyous season and throughout the year, let us cry,
Christ is risen!
Truly He is risen!
Glory to Jesus Christ!
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