Orthodox Christian Sermons

Sermon #18 - 7th Sunday after Pentecost - St. Mary Magdalene

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

In both our Gospel readings today, we read how Jesus went into every village teaching in the synagogues and preaching the glad tidings of the kingdom of God, the Gospel of kingdom of God within you--which means the healing of our sin-diseased souls and the establishment of God's holy reign there "in righteousness, and in peace, and in joy in the Holy Ghost". In righteousness-- which means having no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness--allowing zero tolerance of the devil and his works. And in peace, which flows from righteousness--of knowing assuredly that our sins are forgiven through the good will and mercy of our man-loving God. And in the joy of the Holy Ghost, which springs up within us like Rivers of Living Waters, refreshing our souls.

Jesus was not a showman like the revivalists who pull into town and set up their tents along with foot-stomping 'Gospel" music and appeals to men's emotions. As St Athanasius the Great observed:

"The Lord did not come to make a display. He came to heal and to teach suffering men. For one who wanted to make a display the thing would have been just to appear and dazzle the beholders. But for Him Who came to heal and to teach the way was not merely to dwell here, but to put Himself at the disposal of those who needed Him, and to be manifested according as they could bear it, not vitiating [spoiling, destroying, impairing] the value of the Divine appearing by exceeding their capacity to receive it."

And we see this illustrated in the passage about the healing of the two blind men who cried after him. Note that he healed them in the house--privately--and not for show. Then he "straitly charged them" not to publish what he had done for them. The expression in Greek is one of the utmost severity. As someone explained Jesus "looked severely, contracting His eyebrows, and shaking His head at them, as they are wont to do who wish to make sure that secrets will be kept". But even so they disregarded his command and spread his fame abroad. We don't know why Jesus so severely charged them, but perhaps he foresaw that it would hinder his mission, with crowds pressing upon him out of curiosity to see signs and wonders, thus making it more difficult to minister to those who truly wished to be healed of their sins.

We also read of " certain women who had been healed of evil spirits...", and in particular Mary Magdalen, whom we commemorate today, and Joanna, and Susanna, and others.

Women, by their very nature as receivers and nurturers of seed, are fertile ground for demonic suggestions, and the devil well knows it. As he beguiled Eve, so the crafty Serpent seeks to beguile her daughters in every generation. We don't know what kind of devils Mary Magadalene and these other women were delivered from, but we might hazard a guess that their maladies were linked to Depression, a condition which afflicts twice as many women as men. In some cases, Depression has a physical cause, but in the majority of cases it is the result of entertaining thoughts of sadness, worthlessness, guilt, fear, stress, anxiety, hopelessness, despair, etc., that the devil sowed into their minds. And so their hearts became like a field bringing forth the devil's harvest of thorns and briers--the perfect hiding place for snakes and wild beasts and creeping things of all kinds--that is, the demons.

In contrast, let us consider the example of the Virgin Mary, the New Eve, who hearkened only to the voice of truth and so tread the devil under her feet. Her meditation was only of things that were true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report; virtuous, and praiseworthy. As a result her soul became an earthly Paradise, which enticed the Lord himself to come down from heaven and make his abode in her.

"A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.
Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard,
Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:
A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.
Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits." Canticles 4: 12-16

[Compare with Luke's account of the Holy Spirit coming upon Mary and the power of the Highest overshadowing her]

Mary was the handmaiden of the Lord. She gave herself wholly to him, and stopped her ears to all the negative suggestions of the evil one. Thus she was a "garden enclosed". The devil and his minions were not able to breech the walls she built around herself because she had dedicated herself wholly to God. And these women--Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and others-- hearing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God, were delivered from the bondage of Satan. Through tears of repentance they rooted out all of the noxious plants Satan had planted and gave themselves up wholly to the service of the Lord. They supported him with their substance and followed him everywhere he went, even to Golgotha where they wept along the way. It is noteworthy that Mary Magdalene in particular is mentioned in all four Gospels as standing by the cross. And on the morning of the third day, these women brought spices to anoint the Lord's body, for which deed they are forever honored by the Church as the Holy Myrrhbearers. But even more fragrant had become their souls which exuded the sweet savour of Christ, even as the Theotokos. So let us follow in their footsteps and consecrate ourselves wholly to the Lord and give no place to the devil and his lies, being ever watchful to root out every bad seed he tries to sow into our minds, replacing them with the good seed of the word of God.

But women are not the only ones susceptible to the devil's wiles. Children are a prime target and probably every one of us has wounds and scars because we hearkened to Satan's lies. For many years our dear departed father and friend Archpriest John Moses was harassed by what he called "the voice of the dragon" as a result of abuse he suffered as a child. This voice would constantly shame him with accusations of inadequacy and the fear of failing. It was a voice of extreme self-hatred that led to self-abuse, anger, depression, etc. He finally gained the victory over it when he learned to identify its source as the Father of Lies. He deliberately stopped his ears to this voice and countered it with the truth of Scripture--just like Jesus did in his encounter with Satan in the Wilderness.

So that is what we all need to do. The struggle is real, folks! And it is a matter of life and death--literally. Satan may puff himself up to make himself seem bigger than God to our consciousnesses. But the truth is, he is utterly defeated. He only has as much power as we give him. If we put on the whole armor of God which includes the helmet of salvation--a mind renewed by the truth of God's word-- we cannot be defeated. We will fall, but we will rise with every fall, until Satan is bruised beneath our feet by the power of God. Thanks be unto God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen.

Glory to Jesus Christ!