In today’s Gospel, Christ calls the two sons of Zebedee, Peter and Andrew. Immediately, they leave their nets and follow Christ. You can almost see their willing heart to sacrifice everything to follow Christ, to serve Him, to become the “fishers of men” that Christ has called them to be. Their response is astonishing, childlike in its innocence, manly in its ready and courageous response. They left the security of their father, their homes and families, their livelihood, everything, to follow Christ. Often, they didn’t even know where their next meal would come from or where they would lay their heads. After Christ’s resurrection, all were imprisoned, persecuted, tortured, and, eventually martyred or exiled for sharing the Gospel, the Good News that Christ, the long-awaited Messiah, had come to give mankind new life—eternal life—to all.
In other words, in calling them to be “fishers of men,” evangelists, Christ God wasn’t calling them to a life of ease or even of physical safety, and certainly not to comfort, but rather, of self-denial, of service, of dying to self—even at the cost of their earthly lives, so that they could enable others to attain to eternal life as well. He called them to put Christ and His Church, the life of the Gospel, above all things. He was preparing them to take up the cross to spread the Gospel, the Good News of mankind’s return to Eden, to a transformed life, with Christ God.
We often think of missions, missionaries, and evangelists as something that only a select few are called to—something that’s the job of the bishops and priests. The reality is, though, that by virtue of one’s baptism, ALL are called as missionaries, ministers and witnesses of the Gospel—loving God and caring for the salvation of others, more than we fear their rejection or mocking.
St. Tikhon the Confessor and Enlightener of North America, whose memory, together with the other North American Saints we keep today, has this to say to us on this topic of evangelism: “The spread of Christ’s Faith ought to be near and precious to the heart of every Orthodox Christian.” Christ, in His own words, says, “you are the salt of the earth…you are the light of the world” (Mt. 5:13-14). His commandment to “make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Holy Trinity (Matt. 28:19) and teaching them to observe all things He’s commanded, is the calling of every baptized Orthodox Christian.
This calling means that we need to be willing to give up some of the “creature comforts” our society tells us we need to do more to participate in the worship of Holy Church in a sacrificial way, to support her ministries, and to be ourselves part of her ministering to others. This goes beyond and above our tithing, giving alms, and good deeds. It means that each person is responsible for how he lives out the Gospel in his own daily life, how faithful and fervent his witness is to those around him whom he meets, who don’t yet know Christ and His holy Church.
This is the part most people find so hard—we’re called to witness to the truth of Christ, the new life in Him, in a world (or even in a family) that tells you to keep your faith to yourself, that constantly presents a way of life contrary to the Gospel and Orthodox Faith. Yes, and in last Sunday’s Gospel Christ said, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me… he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.” (Mt. 10: 37-38).
Through their communion with and love for God, the disciples also grew in love for their fellow man. This is the natural fruit born from a growing relationship and communion with God. At great cost to themselves, they brought the world to the knowledge and love of Christ and His salvation through their authentic and true witness of the new life offered to all in Jesus Christ.
We see this same example of selfless and Christ-centered love in the Saints of North America. They risked their physical lives on this continent to bring the life-saving Gospel and Orthodox Faith, the very presence of Christ, to this spiritually barren and hostile land (we remember that St. Juvenaly and Peter the Aleut were both martyred). They all suffered, just as the Apostles did, to preach and witness the timeless truth of Christ for love of a people they didn’t even know.
Later, as the number of Orthodox increased through conversion and immigration, they reassured their scattered, uncertain flock that it is in their grounding, their identity in Christ in His Church, that they (and we) find our true home—beyond any ethnic or national identities, beyond what it means to be an American or, at first, in the case of Alaska, good Russians. Instead, they came to make men and women true Christians, to bring them to the knowledge and love of God. Two of them went from being missionaries in America to being two of the greatest hierarchs of modern Russia. St. John Kochurov became the first clergyman martyred by the Bolsheviks.
We celebrate their legacy of love, courage, and zeal for the Gospel this day as their spiritual progeny in this land. We ask for their prayers in our own efforts to carry on their work—with all its challenges wrought by aggressive humanism and secularism—to grow in courage to share the Gospel and the Orthodox Faith in this spiritually dry and thirsty land in great need of Christ.
The Lord calls on us in today’s Gospel to be “fishers of men” too—in our homes, businesses, at the grocery store, at school, in the midst of the challenge of being an Orthodox Christian 24/7, to serve and evangelize in His name for the love of Christ that compels us. Wherever you and I go, we need to be conscious of striving to bring Christ with us and to be ready to stand up to identify ourselves as Orthodox Christians, worshipers of the One true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Keep the Faith once received and share it because it’s life for us and those who receive it! True love for others covers a multitude of sins, we are assured (I Peter 4:8). We witness to the truth and living faith we share as Orthodox in our daily struggle to pray, to repent of sin, to live humbly and in accordance with the Gospel in our daily lives.
How? Authenticity speaks, our witness speaks, but it costs us something: it costs us our time, coming to worship even when we don’t feel like it or when those errands are pressing, inviting others to join us for worship, loving each other as brothers and sisters in Christ, Giving to the church for her upbuilding, knowing we could spend the money on our own wants, being willing to tell others about Christ and the Orthodox Faith, identifying ourselves as Orthodox Christians, making the sign of the cross before starting to eat in public—fearing God more than we fear men. All of these actions help promote a culture of Christian faith in our secular society.
If we want to see our church grow and our region changed into a God-loving, God-fearing place, more reflective of God’s Kingdom, if we want to see others experience the new life in Christ we have, if we want to see strong families and children growing confidently in their identity, firmly grounded in Christ, if we ourselves want to be obedient, growing in Christ, then we come to see ourselves as “fishers of men,” missionaries, Christ’s evangelists, living this life for God’s glory above all else. May each of us pray for such love to be true fishers of men. Holy Saints of North America pray for us that we too may be missionaries, as you were, glorifying God with our lives through our witness, our words, and our deeds!
Fr. Robert Miclean
Holy Archangels Orthodox Church
Sunday, June 18, 2017
All Saints of North America
Epistle: Hebrews 11:33-12:2 (Saints); Romans 2:10-16
Gospel: Matthew 4:25-5:12 (Saints); 4:18-23
