What is Time? part 1

What is Time? Part 1

Greetings in Christ Jesus,

What is Time?

Sunday November 27, 2016

The article this morning is specifically geared toward those who claim to be a part of the Body of Christ and yet choose to argue over days and times which cause splits and divisions in the body. This article may ultimately span two or three articles in order to say what I want to say and yet keep each article cut to a decent reading time and still convey the full issue.

So on this day; Sunday November 27, 2016 according to my original tradition it is the 3rd Sunday of Advent. On the western calendar (i.e. Roman) this day is the 28th Sunday of Pentecost.

On the Eastern Orthodox New Calendar today is the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost, but according to the Eastern Orthodox Old Calendar the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost was Sunday November 14, 2016 and this Sunday in November on this same Old Calendar the date is Sunday the 28th. The actual Sunday November 28, 2016 according to the Old Calendar will be the 25th Sunday after Pentecost. On a timeline of days and years, what day is it really?  According to the Hebrew Calendar Sunday, 27 November 2016 is 26th of Cheshvan, 5777.

Time; Centuries, years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds. We think that we have it all figured out don’t we? So why are there contradictions in the church calendar? Why does this day; today November 27, 2016 have so many different times if you will attached to it? These different concepts of time have actually caused splits within the Body of Christ with cries of heresy at one another, others crying out with accusation of certain holy days actually being pagan dates of celebration. Many who say that they are in the body refuse to celebrate the Resurrection or Easter, there are those who celebrate it on different days using different calendars and then there are those who call the celebration a pagan holiday and some even call it a pagan holy day and therefore refuse to celebrate the most holy day in all of Christendom without which there is no such thing as Christian except for a scam being perpetrated on humanity.

This same concept goes for the celebration of the birth of our Lord; Christmas. Some have no celebration at all accusing it of being a pagan holiday or a pagan holy day and some celebrate it on different days using different calendars. So the next Christian holy day will be the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ so I will begin this article with that day; Christmas.

So many people who call themselves Christian claim that the date chosen to celebrate Christmas (December 25 on the western calendar) was originally a pagan celebration. There was the Roman mid-winter Saturnalia festival in late December; and in 274 A.D., the Roman emperor Aurelian established a feast of the birth of Sol Invictus (the Unconquered Sun), on December 25. Christmas, as the argument goes, is nothing more than a pagan solar festival. According to this theory, early Christians deliberately chose these dates to encourage the spread of Christmas and Christianity throughout the Roman world: If Christmas looked like a pagan holiday; more pagans would be open to both the holiday and the God whose birth it celebrated.

As popular as this theory is and believe me I have heard it a lot, this idea of the origin of Christmas has some problems. It cannot be found in any ancient Christian writings. Christian authors of the time do note a connection between the solstice and Jesus’ birth: The church father Ambrose (c. 339–397), for example, described Christ as the true sun, who outshone the fallen gods of the old order. But early Christian writers never hint at any recent calendrical engineering; they clearly don’t think the date was chosen by the church. Rather they see the coincidence as a providential sign, as natural proof that God had selected Jesus over the false pagan gods.

It was not until the 12th century that we find the first suggestion that Jesus’ birth celebration was deliberately set at the time of pagan feasts. At first Christians were not concerned with birth dates but regarding Jesus the Christ His death and resurrection was everything. Then some began to speculate on the date of our Lord’s birth. Without going into a long drawn out detail of all of the dates and times I will simply give you the final analysis from the webpage of Biblical Archaeology; “Around 200 C.E. Tertullian of Carthage reported the calculation that the 14th of Nisan (the day of the crucifixion according to the Gospel of John) in the year Jesus died was equivalent to March 25 in the Roman (solar) calendar. March 25 is, of course, nine months before December 25; it was later recognized as the Feast of the Annunciation—the commemoration of Jesus’ conception. Thus, Jesus was believed to have been conceived and crucified on the same day of the year. Exactly nine months later, Jesus was born, on December 25.”

“In the East, too, the dates of Jesus’ conception and death were linked. But instead of working from the 14th of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, the easterners used the 14th of the first spring month (Artemisios) in their local Greek calendar—April 6 to us. April 6 is, of course, exactly nine months before January 6—the eastern date for Christmas. In the East, too, we have evidence that April was associated with Jesus’ conception and crucifixion. Bishop Epiphanius of Salamis writes that on April 6, “The lamb was shut up in the spotless womb of the holy virgin, he who took away and takes away in perpetual sacrifice the sins of the world.” Even today, the Armenian Church celebrates the Annunciation in early April (on the 7th, not the 6th) and Christmas on January 6.

Thus, we have Christians in two parts of the world calculating Jesus’ birth on the basis that his death and conception took place on the same day (March 25 or April 6) and coming up with two close but different results (December 25 and January 6).”

Time, dates, calendars. We can see in the above that there was actually much thought put into the dating of the birth of our Lord. I have only put a small amount of the information here. But it can be seen that picking a date was not simply using some pagan festival to attract people. This is nothing more than a smear attack on the church. So now we are out of time at the moment.

This article will continue next time.

In Christ.

   

Member of the Autocephalous Orthodox Catholic Church of the Americas

Web Page;http://www.monkmichael.com

For Monk Michael's videos; http://www.youtube.com/user/HieroMonkMichael

Monk Michael's 'Spiritual Christianity for Today! on Kindle; http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009ZCIF4M

Monk Michael's 'Spiritual Christianity for Today! paperback; http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&field-author=Rev.%20Fr.%20Michael%20Valentine%20Sweet&page=1&rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3ARev.%20Fr.%20Michael%20Valentine%20Sweet

Many Blessings!

Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened

Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened

Greetings in Christ Jesus,

A reflection on today's readings Sunday 11-20-2016

Old Testament Isaiah 35:1-10
Epistle: Romans 8:3-6
Psalm: 2
Gospel: Matthew 24:15-44

In the readings today we read about the land rejoicing, the desert blossoming as a lily. The people shall see the glory of the Lord and the majesty of our God. The eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf shall hear, the lame shall leap like a deer, and the ears of the deaf shall hear.  There will be a pure way and it will be called a holy way. The Lord will gather His own.

The coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ in the flesh was and is the beginning of the fulfillment of these things. In the gospels we read about the blind seeing, the lame walking, and the deaf who hear. As we continue in our readings today we see this pure and holy way, we begin to learn that we are to walk in the spirit, that by walking in the flesh is to walk in sin and to walk in the spirit is to follow Jesus on the pure path.

Being in the flesh is not referring to being in our skin and bones, in our body. Walking in the flesh is to be carnally minded. To be in the flesh is to be living in the ways that are against Almighty God; Carnal living; adultery, lust for riches which control our actions like greed, lying, theft, hoarding what we consider to be ours rather than sharing with those who through no fault of their own are in need.

To walk in the spirit is basically the opposite, it is to seek our Lord everyday; living in a way that reflects Him, showing love for all of creation, sharing what we have with those who no fault of their own do not have. Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, caring for the widow and the orphan, healing the sick, preaching the gospel, this is walking in the spirit. We must always be praying for one another. Finally we are to continue in this way until the coming again of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ.

We are living and have been living in the last days, the days of tribulation, during this whole Christian era. As mankind nears the end of these days it will become worse but we are never the less now living those last days. Love one another and be kind. By this the world will know that we are of Christ and we will know one another. There is no other way.

In Christ.

   

Member of the Autocephalous Orthodox Catholic Church of the Americas

Web Page;http://www.monkmichael.com

For Monk Michael's videos; http://www.youtube.com/user/HieroMonkMichael

Monk Michael's 'Spiritual Christianity for Today! on Kindle; http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009ZCIF4M

Monk Michael's 'Spiritual Christianity for Today! paperback; http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&field-author=Rev.%20Fr.%20Michael%20Valentine%20Sweet&page=1&rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3ARev.%20Fr.%20Michael%20Valentine%20Sweet

Many Blessings!

Fear in order to enter God's rest 2

Fear in order to enter God’s rest 2

Greetings in Christ Jesus,

A reflection on today's readings Sunday 11-13-2016

Old Testament Isaiah 33:2-9
Epistle Hebrews 7:1-6
Psalm 121/122
Gospel Luke 21:20-36

Last Sunday we were looking at the fear of the Lord which raised questions as to why we should fear the Lord if He is so loving and kind. Also what does it mean to fear the Lord? What’s puzzling to me is the fact that those who call themselves Christian do not understand this already. So before we continue with today’s readings let’s take a look on fearing the Lord.

In the Gospel of Matthew chapter 10 verse 28 we read; do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Again in the Gospel of Luke chapter 12 verses 4 & 5 we read Jesus words again; 4I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear the One who, after you have been killed, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him!

I hear the question and also the statement many times; what kind of god would throw people into hell for eternity? This is not love this is a sadistic one who is a power freak, I also hear different versions of these statements. So what’s the deal? Well here’s the deal, Almighty God created all that is seen and unseen, he gave much of His creation the freewill to think for themselves.

Without freewill then love is not true, we would simply be robots, if we love someone freely using our freewill to make this decision then we have a true love, our Creator created out of love and asks for love in return, without true love we have sin; decadence, murder, rape, power control over others for our own personal gain, greed, war, famine. True love is what prevents all of these things and true love can only come through freewill.

It’s a simple matter, if we do not love our Creator, if we do not worship the one who gave us life then we do not love Him, if we do not love Him then we have removed ourselves out of His love. By removing ourselves out of His love we are dooming ourselves for an eternity. The soul never dies and the soul that has removed herself from the love of God will spend eternity suffering because of not knowing the true love of God. This is the fear of the God. At some point our physical life will end and it will end at His discretion.

This time spent here is a battle ground, a time of testing. Who do you love? Your actions will speak for themselves. Jesus said in Matthew 15:8 quoting Isaiah; 8 this people honors me with their lips: but their heart is far from me. 9 And in vain do they worship me, teaching doctrines and commandments of men.

Here is the understanding in Isaiah 29:13; and the Lord said, because this people come near to me with their mouths, and give honor to me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, and their fear of me is false, a rule given them by the teaching of men;

God has giving us a choice to use our freewill to worship and love Him or to separate ourselves from Him. If we do not worship and worship from the heart out of love then we are fooling only ourselves and we are separating ourselves from our creator and there is no one to blame but ourselves. Lip service to God is sin; it is deceitful and fools no one but the liar who does it.

For the deception we will be cast in to eternal fire of our own freewill. It has been said that if one continually fears hell then one will not fall into it. (St. John Chrysostom). Now let’s move to this Sunday’s lesson.

Today’s Old Testament reading continues with an understanding of fearing the Lord. At the Lord’s presence the nations will flee, all who have gathered against the Lord and the Lord’s chosen shall flee before the Lord, we must wait for the Lord, all things happen in His time not ours.

In our Epistle we learn that the priesthood of the Old Testament is inadequate and that the new Priesthood of Jesus the Christ is eternal, it is from the beginning and will never end. Through the priesthood of Jesus the Christ we have a mediator between us and the Father, Jesus speaks for us if we belong to Him but as we have seen this cannot be merely lip service, Jesus said; if you love me, keep my commandments. Feed and clothe the poor and homeless, care for the widow and the orphan. Love God the Father with all your heart, with all your mind, and all your soul. Love your neighbor as yourself. These are the commandments.

In the psalm we learn that we should be glad to go into the house of the Lord, to give thanks to the name of the Lord because thrones for judgment are there. Peace and prosperity of the heart can be found there.

Today’s gospel is a dire warning to all of those who choose to believe that all is well regardless of what we do or do not do. The temple was destroyed and the Jews, God’s chosen people who decided to not believe were trampled down by the Gentiles. They were scattered throughout the world for almost 2,000 years. Jesus the Christ has ascended and sits on the right hand of God the Father and He will come again to judge the living and the dead. What do you think judging is all about.

Take heed and do not be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. It will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.

The fear of the Lord is the first step towards wisdom.

 
In Christ.

   

Member of the Autocephalous Orthodox Catholic Church of the Americas

Web Page;http://www.monkmichael.com

For Monk Michael's videos; http://www.youtube.com/user/HieroMonkMichael

Monk Michael's 'Spiritual Christianity for Today! on Kindle; http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009ZCIF4M

Monk Michael's 'Spiritual Christianity for Today! paperback; http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&field-author=Rev.%20Fr.%20Michael%20Valentine%20Sweet&page=1&rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3ARev.%20Fr.%20Michael%20Valentine%20Sweet

Many Blessings!

Fear in order to enter God's rest.

Greetings in Christ Jesus,

A reflection on today's readings Sunday 11-06-2016

Hebrews 4: 1-13
Psalm 120/121
Luke 20: 41 to end

      In the reading from the book of Hebrews we start by reading of the promise of living in God's rest. We can note that there will be those who do not enter into His rest and we can begin to understand that His rest is not fully upon us yet. There are a few types of rest in scripture, one is the Sabbath rest given to the Jews, Christians can also enter in to this type of rest when we worship Almighty God through the risen Lord in the power of the Holy Spirit. But this is not the final rest.

      There was a rest for the Jews when they escaped Egypt and entered in to Canaan but this was not a final rest; they still had a lot of work to do. Let us take a quick moment to see also that there was only two people from those Jews who originally fled Egypt and entered the Promised Land; these were Joshua and Caleb.

      We rest in Jesus and yet there is still a lot of work to do and much affliction in this present life. Not all will make it beyond this rest here because some will fall. Were you able to see that in this reading of Hebrews?

      Looking at today's Psalm does it not tell us that the Lord helps us and keeps us?

      In the Gospel of Luke that we read today does it not tell us that the Christ is Lord, He is the Son of David in His humanity and David's Lord in His divinity? We know that Jesus is the Son of David and the Son of God. We know that we have been promised a rest but not all will enter in to this promised rest. How is it that in this short written homily/sermon with these few verses that we can understand who enters this promised rest?

      Start again in the book of the Hebrews; are we not told from the start; therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to come short of it? I don't know about you but I do not hear this word fear very often when the preaching starts. Fear lest you fall away. There is no promise of a guarantee. We must be diligent to enter that rest. God's word is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword.

      Are we not told in the Gospel of Luke to beware of the scribes ? Why? The desire of their heart is not the fear and obedience of God but to walk in pride and to be admired by men, and to rob the widows. The fear of the Lord should guide us to repentance  and obedience. Why have we forgotten to  fear and obey. Did Jesus not tell us; if you love me, keep my commandments? This is how we enter in to the rest that is promised. My friends there is no other way.

In Christ.

   

Member of the Autocephalous Orthodox Catholic Church of the Americas

Web Page;http://www.monkmichael.com

For Monk Michael's videos; http://www.youtube.com/user/HieroMonkMichael

Monk Michael's 'Spiritual Christianity for Today! on Kindle; http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009ZCIF4M

Monk Michael's 'Spiritual Christianity for Today! paperback; http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&field-author=Rev.%20Fr.%20Michael%20Valentine%20Sweet&page=1&rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3ARev.%20Fr.%20Michael%20Valentine%20Sweet

Many Blessings!

In Christ,

+William