We already know that God not only exists, but that He is with us.
We know what He is like.
We know that He loves us - which is why He came to us.
We know what He wants, because He said it in the human language.
We know how we should live, because He lived and showed it to us.
He promised us that we will be with Him.
His will is absolutely unshakable.
No one can touch His will.
However, at the same time, He does not force us to do anything.
Our problem is in the thing which allows us to resemble God - we resemble God with our freedom.
Our problem is our free will itself, when we use our free will to say no to the Lord.
Well, that is what it is.
We say no to God, sometimes with our words, other times by our inner state of being or by our way of life.
Saying no to God with our inner state of being is extremely painful.
It is extremely painful when you see a godless person, when it is your friend or a relative who is an unbeliever.
Certainly, this is painful, but considerably more painful is when in parish life - where you have spent years and where due to your obligation (I’m not trying to emphasize what we have done, this is our obligation) you have spent a great deal of energy - you see that the person doesn’t understand anything.
These kinds of people are standing here among you.
This is the most dreadful thing and the greatest pain, when you see that you speak absolutely in vain, that you exert yourself absolutely futilely.
However, the Lord begins His ministry by calling us to the heavenly joy,
Because, for us, for each and every human being, for the world,
Not only for those shepherds,
Not only for those born at that time,
Not only for those living today,
But for every person living before the incarnation of God - and thereafter - to the last human being which will be born in the world,
Beginning from Adam to the very last human being,
The joy began for all.
The joy is that God came to us and that He desires and imperatively wants us to be with Him.
Archpriest Theodore Gignadze
Segment from a sermon - June 10, 2021
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