Dangerous and Illegal Worship?

hey everyone god bless you and a very happy feast of saint morena the great martyr the reflection that I'm bringing to today I've entitled dangerous and illegal worship dangerous and illegal worship this week in California the coronavirus drama has continued on Monday we received news through emergency message on our cell phones that governor Newsom has rolled back the opening process in California and particularly close churches churches are not allowed to worship in their churches period no terminus date was articulated into the indefinite order so here we go you know this whole process which has been so unsettling for Christians across the nation especially in those states where governors appear not to think that the First Amendment has much relevance to these decisions it's stirred up these circumstances have stirred up fundamental questions in our minds what do we think about Holy Communion what do we think about the sacred icons what do we think about our consecrated churches what do we think about our priests hands and blessings what do we think about holy bread lots of these kinds of questions have come to our minds and we've had to make Express convictions about these things in the larger picture I believe that the decisions that are being made this one here in California just this week they raised a fundamental question about the centrality of worship in the lives of believers how important is worship in our lives why exactly do we worship is this something that we do because we like it and when we don't like it we don't do it is this something that we do only in certain cases when it's convenient or when it doesn't conflict with a sports game or with especially difficult workweek is that our disposition I think for many Christians that is the case I worship is something that's enjoyed that may be considered to be important but is it necessary is it fundamental is it a priority or is it even and here it is a commandment of the Living God in fact I believe brothers and sisters that are the circumstances that we're facing right now raise these questions and we need to look at them and reaffirm our faith because it's my conviction that for many decades now we have been progressively moving away from the centrality and priority of worship as a commandment of God our society has been compromising the centrality of the Lord's Day when I was born in the 1960s even here in Southern California no one would dare no business were there to do business on Sunday and require their employees to come to conferences and Xoom meetings on a Sunday morning god forbid never happened no schools would have any school functions on a Sunday no sports teams would have a practice let alone a game or a tournament on Sunday morning to compete directly with Jesus Christ that idea that idea but now these are all commonplace I think this progressive walking away on the part of Christian people from the sanctity of the Lord's Day and from the priority of the commandment to worship the Living God on Sunday this has been prepared by this progressive secularization of the day we have been prepared for these kinds of orders from our civil authorities orders where Christians are told that they must not worship remember that this ordered this week that was given by governor Newsom this followed several weeks before his order that churches can't sing evidently it's super dangerous to sing supposedly all the while our best buy stores are Walmart's our targets are open at 50% capacity people can go into these places and do daily shopping for hours workers remain in these enclosed places for eight and ten hour shifts evidently danger hovers especially over churches and this is must be the idea that somehow to go to church for 90 minutes and worship the Lord God in places that are universally caring for social distancing are asking their people to wear masks evidently this is just especially dangerous this is what we are led to believe or in fact something more insidious is going on something more targeted against churches is going on how should we respond how should we respond I want to suggest to you brothers and sisters that the worship of God before it is something for us is something for God himself that we worship whether we feel like it or not whether it's convenient or not whether it's legal or not and whether it's dangerous or not we worship because God in fact has called us as a commandment to worship his holy name we bring the sacrifice of praise to the name of the Holy Trinity and because he is a man loving God and because his magnanimity overflows he takes our worship he receives our sacrifice particularly of bread and wine he changes them by His Holy Spirit and he nourishes us with his eternal life in the Holy mysteries the reception of the grace of God that the people received that that does not nullify the fact that worship is first and foremost a sacred responsibility of the human race towards God it is simply core to our very being to be human authentically means to worship and worship is a commandment that cannot be tweaked by men remember that worship is the fourth commandment it isn't something that we do that's convenient honoring the Sabbath the day to keep it holy and maintaining the worship of God as God himself has prescribed it remember the first four of the Ten Commandments are all about loving God with our whole heart soul and mind and strength which is the chief commandment having no other gods before him worshiping him according to his self revelation and not making graven images respecting His Holiness especially his name and worshipping according to his timetable his calendar which is the Sabbath day and the sacred feasts this is how God has required his people to live this is that what he asks human beings to do the following six of the Ten Commandments are all about the second great commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves worship as a commandment is fundamental absolutely fundamental if we looked in the in the scriptures to see how Christians have responded and Jews to the divine revelation that God has given to about the word about his own worship we see very many beautiful examples of people who would add great risk to themselves hold fast to the worship of God they didn't just worship when it was convenient when it was legal when it was perfectly safe no we see in the scriptures and we see consistently throughout church history just the opposite that Christians keep worship as an absolute fundamental priority above everything else in life it is their first and fundamental commitment because it's the way that we show that we love God which is the greatest of all Commandments there is an incredible account of a young woman her name is Saint Victoria we know her in the Church of st. Victoria of Carthage she was in fact arrested with her community during the Divine Liturgy when they were worshiping illegally it was banned by the Emperor Diocletian to worship and this in 304 in Carthage we actually have the legal transcript of her trial and it is very relevant I think to this question about the centrality of worship her interrogator was a man named Anna Linus and here's how it goes Anna Lyon n Elias asks her why did you celebrate the Eucharist contrary to Imperial edict she was breaking along with her priest in her congregation her answer we cannot do without the Eucharist I'll say it again slow we cannot do without the Eucharist it is a foolish question as if anyone could be a Christian without the Eucharist as there can be no Eucharist without Christians so there can be no Christians without the Eucharist it is the hope and salvation of Christians I was at the service and celebrated it with the Brethren for I am a Christian in her mind going against the godless orders of a tyrannical Emperor trying to shut down the worship of the Holy Trinity is simply something that as Christians we do analyze continued give the names of your associates if here we go yet another example of this whole snitch line practice which is uh being foisted upon us in many places of the United States and she answers there names are written in the heavenly book and in the pages of God it is not for mortal eyes to behold what has been inscribed by the immortal and invisible power of God it's not for your eyes an Alaia says who was it that put these ideas into your head where are you getting this thinking she answers Almighty God he says what people were those who prevailed on you to take up this folly and she says Almighty God and His only begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ sacrifice he demanded no Victoria replied would you like time to consider in Victoria says in such a straightforward manner there is no need to think glory to God her feast day is celebrated on the 12th of February what a woman and what an incredible disposition what a model of of authentic Christian faith with regards to worship this is how central worship is it's not something that do we do when it's convenient or when it's permitted by this or that person in the flora to who may or may not respect God's law man's law always must bow to God's law this is the idea of course this it didn't just take place under the Romans Christians have always practiced this when when we were illegal under the Romans we worshiped when we were forbidden to worship the way we wanted under the Muslims we protested when we were forbidden to worship under the godless Marxists who don't seem to go away so many of them in our secular universities today propagating their nonsense Christians have always kept their love for God hot and therefore kept worship as a sacred commandment right at the center of their lives for goodness sake how many other of the Ten Commandments are we as Christians willing to break if the governor asked us to he wants us to break the fourth commandment well what about the fifth what about the sixth Rotem should we kill should we commit adultery should we steal in order plenty of employers these days would like you to do those things no not us not us this is not our disposition worship for us is absolutely a fundamental commandment we also do it because we love God and we also do it because we're happy about it at least most of the time we go to worship in that disposition we want to but even if we didn't want to we would because it is fundamental it is a commandment of God to know more about the holiness of worship and especially the sanctification of the Lord's Day I would recommend homily 7 in our newly published sermons on the spiritual life by Saint filler end of Moscow it's all on concentrating the day of the Lord it's a marvelous sermon and I'll also leave you a beautiful quote from st. Pius II of the new st. paisios the appetite so loved the world over listen to his words about keeping worship central especially the Lord's Day listen to what he says on keeping sunday holy he says in the past people would work all week and rest on sunday a holy day now they rest on Saturday as well they're trying to find one Sunday for this chore a holy day for another and that's they bring God's wrath on themselves turn Sunday into a chore day he asks never even if others offer to help us on that day we should never accept it not on a Sunday when we work on a holy day we give the devil rights and then he gets involved in our affairs who wants that and you'll see that God will never abandon you I have never worked on a Sunday and God has never left my side and has always blessed my work I always tell people that if they want to avoid calamities in their life they should stop working on Sundays work schedules can be arranged to keep these days free this is the edifying Council brothers and sisters of st. Pius of our Saints to jealously guard the Lord's Day and especially to jealously guard worship you know there is a marvelous text in the New Testament it presents God as seeking something from man it's the only place in all the Gospels where the Lord Jesus Christ says that his father is actually seeking anything from us of course we seek things from God all the time but only one time is it said that God is seeking something from man in the scriptures do you know what it is it comes from the account of the Samaritan woman in the Gospel of John chapter 4 where Jesus says this that God is seeking those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth what is the one thing that God is seeking from us true worship that's how fundamental our worship is and this is of course why Christians are so zealous to guard and preserve worship and to keep the hands of others off of us now before I end this reflection on worship as a fundamental commandment and their support something done even if illegal and even if dangerous there are exceptions there are exceptions to the fourth commandment for instance Jesus in in explaining and teach about the Lord's they says that on the Sabbath day if you encounter your neighbor's ox fallen into a ditch you get it out if a man is in need of healing on the Sabbath day you heal him of course because man was not made for the Sabbath the Sabbath was made for man for his own salvation this means of course if you're on your way to liturgy and you see someone broken down on the road you stop even if it makes you late for liturgy is if you have to care for someone's life you do that you do that rather than go to the holy liturgy so that is certainly the case there are exceptions we have another example for instance of the holy Maccabees those great freedom fighters who defended the people have gone against the imposition of Greek heathenism in the second century BC there when they initially were fighting and came to conflict with the pagan Greeks they would not even pick up weapons to defend themselves because it was the Sabbath day and they wanted to honor the commandments of God they were slaughtered about a thousand of them I believe the Maccabee in history records and therefore they reconsidered their proper approach to maintaining the the fourth commandment and how to do it they agreed that they could defend himself on the Sabbath and that that would it be a violation of the sanctity of the worship commandment and the rest commandment so there are exceptions brothers and sisters if in fact there was as is implied by these uniquely oppressive orders that are coming from some governors some special danger of going to church if hundreds of people would fall down dead because of a virus if you go into sacred church space wearing a mask and socially distancing and worshiping the Almighty God then it might make sense to to stay away from liturgy but of course such is not happening no evidence of any of that whatsoever and of course we see in our society that many many businesses best by Walmart all these great businesses big businesses are open and people are not dropping down dead in fact the coronavirus is not a serious threat to the lives of 98 or 99 percent of all Americans it's a very very small portion of the population that the coronavirus would be like threatening and therefore these did it's this idea that somehow the worship of God and the sacred commandment to comment to his house with the sacrifice of praise should in no way be touched and Christians must hold on to this sacred commandment whether it's dangerous or illegal at all so god bless you dear ones hold true as our forefathers have under the pagan Romans under the Muslims under the Marxists and under the growing secularism in the West let's keep worship at the very center of our lives so that we like Saint Victoria can remember that there is no Christian without the Eucharist god be with you Saint filler ed of Moscow is the Russian Chrysostom here for the first time in an english-language translation we have a thematic collection of his sermons dedicated to living the Christian life these pages contain a feast of faith and soul guidance that if followed will bring forth abundant spiritual treasure [Music]

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Keywords: COVID19, Patristic Nectar Publications, Fr Josiah Trenham, Trenham, Orthodox Christian, covid-19 news, coronavirus news, gavin newsom, religious liberty, california tyranny, california conservatives, corona virus, church services, covid 19, health orders, governor newsom, closed churches, eucharist, communion, worship, marxism, soviet union, christian vlogger, orthodox church, holy orthodoxy

Id: MKE67Ws0kRs

Length: 18min 52sec (1132 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 17 2020