Why Do We Come?

Passages: Is. 63:7-18; 2 Tim. 3:1-12; Jn. 6:22-38
Ընթերցուածքներ՝ Եսայ. ԿԳ 7-18; Բ Տիմ. Գ 1-12; Յով. Զ 22-38

In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen!

Why are we here? Why do we say we believe in God my dear brothers and sisters? So often we have an answer as to why we disagree with what the Church teaches, with why we don’t come to Church, yet, how often do we think about why we do come? Is it emotional comfort, spiritually uplifting, educational? In today’s Gospel as we read, Christ setting up this question to the Israelites and to us. Back when I was a student in Jerusalem, I would often be asked to guide pilgrims to the various Holy Sites of Christendom. Bethlehem where Christ was born, the shores of Capernaum and Galilee where Christ walked on water, fed the 5,000 and performed countless miracles. Ultimately, one of the most powerful places of prayer was the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which housed the several chapels that surrounded Golgotha, where Christ was Crucified and the His Divine Tomb from where Christ our Lord was resurrected.

With all the richness and beauty, it is easy to become overwhelmed and get lost in our emotions. Several times, I would see pilgrims break down into tears as they came to the realization of where they stood and prayed. Yet, why did they come? Because I’ll be honest, for some it was a tourist destination, merely something to see. And there is a sad truth my dears in this that for so many of us, Church and faith is merely something to observe for the wrong reason. For me, even when living in Jerusalem among that holiness, those places eventually became regular and merely a place to go. My mind had become cold to what had taken place in those sites, the miracles and reality of what had happened in that place. My ears became deaf to the prayers that echo of those walls from the countless visitors who had been there throughout history. My eyes had become blind to what really stood before me – it was merely a place to visit. The truth is that for many of us this is the same.

Not only the beautiful cathedrals, and historical places, not only of our home Churches, but God Himself, has become obscure, and mute for us. Clearly, we can see and hear through our senses, but we are missing something greater. In the Gospel we read of how those who came looking for Jesus after He fed them, are being told this exact same thing. In verse 26, “Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves…” It’s not that Christ does want us to go looking for Him when we are hungry, or in need of something. But Christ Jesus is trying to shift our understanding – why are we seeking Him? Why do we believe? “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you.” Again, Jesus isn’t telling us to sit back and only pray, never going to work. In fact, we read in 2 Thessalonians 3:10, “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.’” Rather, why are we coming to Christ when we need bread? Why do we come to Church, pray and say we have faith?

Last week, I spoke about how Christ went away from those who came to make him King because they determined Jesus being a king based on their own ideas and whims. It isn’t because Christ isn’t the King; He is the King of Kings. But not according to our ideas, or the way we would determine what a king should be. We don’t even have a monarchy in the United States, we have an elected president, and we can’t even agree on how he should govern. Likewise, it’s not wrong for us come to Church when we are in need, to pray when we feel lost, or to come to Christ when we are hungry. But is Christ Jesus, is our faith merely like those ancient Churches, nice to look at, impressive as a historical place but nothing more? Is Jesus merely someone who gives us what we want? St. Athanasius of Alexandria teaches us, “He (Jesus) became what we are that He might make us what He is.” This means my dear brothers and sisters, Christ Jesus is not a giver of things. Our faith is meaningless if all it is, is what we can get from God. True faith, why we believe is about knowing God personally – Holy Communion. To recognize His love for each one of us beyond our materialistic needs and our presumptions. This is true Communion. This is what it means to eat and drink of the eternal body and blood. It is to allow our eyes of faith to open and see Christ in each other; it is to humble our egos, our pride, and repent, meaning turn to God, seeking forgiveness and healing.

Look at St. Paul’s warning to us, “For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, fierce, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding the form of religion but denying the power of it. Avoid such people.” My dears do not only avoid them but be cautious that we do not become like them. Where we think we have the answers, we are worthy, we know god because we have created gods in our own liking, yet, we have become blind to our brokenness and by our own eternal hunger and thirst, we have created gods which will always fail us and so we struggle with faith. My dears, the Holy Church is not here to make us feel good; God did not come to us in the flesh to feed our stomachs. The Church is a hospital who gives healing to those in need through God the true physician of body, soul and mind. But just like going to a regular hospital, we need to go through tests, and sometimes consume bitter medication for our benefit, likewise, faith is not always going to be comfortable. We can either recognize our need for God in humility or continue to believe, “we aren’t that bad”.

Yes, many of us have not traveled to Jerusalem or the Vatican or Holy Etchmiadzin and so we have not lost our emotional response to the Holy places; perhaps we believe thatwe really do believe in God. Yet, how often do we find it difficult to read our Bibles; how often do we find a reason not to drive to Church on Sunday morning, or attend Bible Studies, ask the priest questions, or even pray our own private prayers? When we don’t think actively about our faith, why and what we believe, eventually this leads to carelessness and a disconnect; eventually we become blind and deaf to God’s love and grace.

My dears who is Christ Jesus? Who do we think or want Him to be and why do we follow Him vs. who does Scripture, and the Holy Church tell us? Are our historical and even modern Churches merely places to visit, museums to look at and examine, and is Jesus merely a teacher, a nice Jewish man who did good things or is our Church the hospital we come into Communion with God through Christ Jesus? Faith is simple when we are open to learn; Faith is pure and illuminating when we recognize our need to be taught and loved. Faith is in the Person of Christ Jesus, God the Son, who died for us and gives us eternal life through His resurrection.

How do we respond, and do we know why my dear brothers and sisters? Let us actively, take time in our day, ask ourselves and in prayer ask God to illuminate our hearts and mind. Let us come to Church seeking not our understanding, but a desire to learn through the Holy Scriptures, the Sacraments, our conversations with our priest, Holy Confession and the active life of the Church. Through these we will see Christ for who He is. Through this we will see God’s love and presence in one another, and for one another. We will be healed, we will eat of the eternal body and blood of God the Son, Christ Jesus, and be in Holy Communion with our Heavenly Father, strengthened through the Holy Spirit. And we will all be able to answer, why are we here and even more than this, how can we bring others here also. Amen!