Giving a defense of what we believe is not something that most of us are comfortable with. In fact, it’s the one thing that most of us don’t like doing or will not do in terms of our Orthodox Christian faith. Personally, I have to tell you that I am not comfortable with defending my faith when questions arise or when I find myself in a situation where I have to reply to someone else’s idea of faith or religion. But I can also say that I have gotten better at it. I mention this because I want to make the point that this is not something that unique to laypeople, it is also true for clergy.

In order that all of us can understand my homily as best as possible, I wanted to begin by asking a question: do you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord, God, and Savior? Of course! I think all of you would say yes. But let me ask you if you have faith in Jesus Christ. That might be harder to answer, so let’s try to figure out the difference between belief and faith.

Promises! We all make them. Sometimes we keep them; and sometimes we don’t. The reasons why we keep them or don’t are complex. Circumstances dictate when we make promises and to whom they are made. We will go more in detail about that later on. For now, let’s look at the definition of the word “promise.” It can either be a verb or a noun. For example, as a noun, we can say, “I made a promise.” As a verb, we can say, “I promised him I would give him something.” In this message I will speak of the word promise interchangeable, both as a noun and a verb.

The Apostle Paul writes in Galatians 1: 11 that the gospel he preaches is not from men but from God. This is an interesting point that the Apostle is attempting to make because there were those within the early Christian community that did not recognize St. Paul as a legitimate apostle, like Peter or Mathew. There were those who had speculations about St. Paul because he was never with Jesus, as were the others. Additionally, he was originally a persecutor of Christians and more than a few were not willing to accept his conversion story. So, that’s the reason why he said in Galatians 1:11 that he received his teaching from God, not men. That is, his purpose and mission is not attached to anyone but Jesus Christ. In retrospect we know that God was using St. Paul and it was the Holy Spirit that was speaking through him and writing the epistles that we now call the New Testament/Bible. What the Apostle Paul is saying can’t only be related to himself, but it is for the whole Church. Meaning, the Church and its teachings, doctrines, preaching, liturgy and prayers are not according to the teachings of man but by the revelation of God. This is hard for us Orthodox to believe, at least completely. Let me explain.

The Apostle Paul admonishes us today as parents. He writes in Colossians 3:21, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger.” What does he exactly mean? What is St. Paul attempting to tell us? And is it relevant for us today?