Be Transfigured - Live a New Life in Christ

[Иван Ивковић]

The Cure

 

When we are sick, we follow the advice of our doctor if we desire to be healed from whatever sickness or disease we have. We do this, because we believe the doctor knows the best cure. We trust him to have our best interest at hand. We put our belief in his abilities into action, and follow his instructions to the letter of the law written on the prescription. But when our soul is in need of healing most of us, most of the time, ignore the advice of the Church. The Physician of our Souls, Jesus Christ Himself, has provided a cure for our spiritual sickness, and we ignore it. He has given us a way of life we call the Church, and though we claim to believe in the cure, we refuse to follow the instructions necessary to experience a full recovery. We refuse, all the while rationalizing away our poor choices in the name of comfort and wanting to avoid suffering, the very cure that has been tried and tested for two thousand years. Sometimes the cure is painful, and causes nausea, but healing comes through the struggle of the cure. If we avoid the struggle, we avoid the cure. The time has come for us to embrace the life of the Church, struggle and all, and allow Christ to heal us through His Church.

 

 

[Иван Ивковић]

The Illness

 

Since Adam and Eve, all human beings have suffered from the illness I call “ego.” We tend to see every option in our path using the pronoun, “I.” Whether it is when to attend Church, how to spend our money, what to eat, even how to interpret the Holy Scriptures, we invoke our God-given freedom to swear off any influence from anyone over our decisions. So when Jesus invites us to follow Him with the challenge, “Deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me,” it should make us think twice about the illness we call “ego.” The Church’s way of life of reading and interpreting the Holy Scriptures, prayer, fasting, attending Church services, house blessings, caring for the poor, and Confession, are meant to cure the illness of the “ego” so that we can follow Jesus into heaven.

 

[Иван Ивковић]

A New Season

 

The Church calendar includes different seasons during which we read different Gospel lessons each day. On the second Sunday after the Feast of the Holy Cross, known as the First Sunday of Luke, we witness the calling of the first disciples by Christ. Jesus Christ calls a few humble but faithful fishermen to trust Him enough to leave everything aside and follow Him. This new season of the Church, allows for us to reconsider our role within the ministry of the Church, and whether we desire to leave aside the secular temptations of the world to be part of the team we call, The Church. Jesus Christ didn’t accomplish His ministry in isolation; He involved the Disciples to help Him. Adam couldn’t exist in isolation; God created Eve to assist him. The Church also doesn’t work in isolation; we are called to assist the Church – and therefore Christ – to cast our nets out into the deep and bring in as many as God has determined should join the Church. But all this takes requires a fresh perspective. It requires a fresh vantage point. It requires a new season in our lives. And in this new season, when God is with, nothing is against us.

 

 

[Иван Ивковић]

Simply Because We Want to Love

 

Jesus said, “Just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.” (Luke 6.31) Jesus also said, “But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.” (Luke 6.32) God doesn’t want us to love simply because He said so; He wants us to WANT to love. When we are forced into love, it isn’t love at all, but an obligation. Sinners love those who love them because they want something in return, but we are called to be better than sinners. We are called to love simply because we want to love. It’s better that way.

 

[Иван Ивковић]

Pluck Out the Thorns from Your Heart

 

Using the Parable of the Sower (Luke 8.5-15), Jesus taught that there are four conditions of the heart. Either the heart is hardened and the Word of God cannot penetrate, or the heart is shallow and the roots cannot grow deep, or the heart is filled with thorns which chock the heart, or the heart is rich fertile soil which produces fruit a hundred fold. Most of us spend most of our time surrounded by thorns, so God has given us His Church to assist with plucking the thorns from our heart. Without proper care, our heart will never grow deep roots and produce the fruit of faith, but by using the life of the Church you can pluck out the thorns from your heart and produce fruit a hundred fold for the glory of God.

 

[Иван Ивковић]

Put Your Trust in the Church

 

In a world with more than 43,000 denominations of Christianity, it is ever more crucial that we learn to discern the truth among the many partial truths spoken in the name of Jesus Christ. The Orthodox Christian Church, loyal to the truth as taught by the Holy Apostles, has been the caretaker of the wholeness of the truth for more than 2,000 years. Jesus Christ said, “He who hears you hears Me.” When we hear the voice of the Church, we hear Jesus Christ. If you truly desire to live united to God, then put your trust in the Church.

 

 

[Иван Ивковић]

Don’t Pick the Pigs over the People

 

When Jesus healed the man with legion demons, He used a heard of pigs from the nearby town for the demons to enter. We all remember the story; the pigs went running off the cliff and died. The town folk, not wanting to lose the investment of the pigs, could not bear to see their resources taken away from them, just for some poor demoniac. They were so greedy; they chased Jesus away from their town. Many times, we find ourselves chasing Jesus away by refusing to allow Him to use OUR resources for the ministry of His Church. We would rather see the Church limp along; barely able to keep the doors open than to go without cable television. This story isn’t just about healing a demoniac; it is about stewardship, and whether we pick the pigs over the people.

 

 

[Иван Ивковић]

We Must Love Others First Before We Can Learn to Love Ourselves

 

You’ve heard it said that you must learn to love yourself before you can love others. I disagree. Loving yourself in only self-love, and rarely leads to loving others. In the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazaros, we hear of a man who loved himself so much, he never recognized that the poor man outside his door needed compassion. Even in death the rich man couldn’t pass beyond his love for himself as he called, “Father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazaros that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue.” (Luke 16.24) It is only when we love others that we can finally learn to love ourselves as God desires.

 

 

[Иван Ивковић]

We can Live Through the Pain

 

Many ask, “If God doesn’t give us more than we can handle, the why do people starve to death?” This very popular question is based upon a misunderstanding about God’s love. God doesn’t give us struggle. He allows things to run their natural course. God does promise, and the Gospel bears witness, that when we remain united to God in faith and humility, we will always be able to endure the pain and suffering. We will be able to handle anything even death itself if we remain united to God in prayer, faith, humility and peace.

 

 

[Иван Ивковић]

Addiction

 

The Church is filled with them; people who live sinful lives and then arrive Sunday morning acting like angels. It turns many people off from “religion” and even more from attending Church on Sunday mornings. It is common to hear the excuse, “I have no intention of changing my behavior, so instead of being a hypocrite I just stay home.” What if everyone in Church wasn’t a hypocrite but an addict? What if instead of enjoying their sinful lives, people in Church on Sunday morning awoke every day committing to the Lord they would change, but by NOON had already fallen into their old habits? What if everyone were addicted to sin? And then.....what if YOU understood YOU weren’t better than anyone else, and addicted to sin just like everyone else. You could finally be a love your neighbor as yourself.

 

[Иван Ивковић]

Live as Children of Light

 

Look around at any family gathering and you will no doubt see children acting like their parents. Parents often look at their children with pride as they “see themselves” in their children because children often reflect their parents. In fact each of us reflects what is most important in our hearts. Like the rich man in the Gospel (Luke 18.18-27) our heart can also be cold and greedy and turned away from the love of God. A quick look at news coverage during the Thanksgiving Holiday, and we can see the priorities of many in our society. Shopping malls are filled with angry and sometimes violent shoppers grabbing for that discounted product, while their brothers and sisters are living in the streets with nothing to eat. The world can be a dark and lonely place, and for those lost in the darkness, just a glimpse of light can bring hope for a better tomorrow. As Saint Paul said, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.” (Ephesians 5.8) As Orthodox Christians we have an opportunity to reflect the Light of Christ for those lost in the darkness, and bring hope that there is Way out of the darkness. We have an opportunity to reflect the Light of Christ so others will see the Light and follow the Light to the Church. If we indeed are children of light, then we should reflect our Father’s Light.

 

[Иван Ивковић]

Obey the Church

 

It seems like the holiday season is one of the most difficult times to follow the life of the Church. Around every turn our society is urging us to turn away from following the life of the Church in favor of secular parties and materialism. With the burden of Christmas shopping, laying out decorations, attending holiday parties at work or in the neighborhood, most people are just happy Christmas is over, once it finally arrives. Attending Divine Liturgy is nothing more than an obligatory punctuation mark to an over-scheduled, over-hyped and over-worked season. An all the while the Church expects us to prepare for Christmas with fasting, prayer, reading the Scriptures, helping the poor, going for Holy Confession. We have a choice. We can either obey the Church, with her two thousand year history of experience and grace, or we can obey the society and look at the expectations of the Church with ridicule. The choice is yours.

 

[Иван Ивковић]

It Doesn't Matter if Your Name is on the List if You Make Excuses

 

In the Parable of the Great Banquet found in the Gospel of Luke 14.16-24, Jesus warns us of the result of excuses. When we continue to come up with excuses why we can’t attend Church, or why we can’t live the life of the Church which is meant to prepare us for heaven, then we will find ourselves left out. The life of the Church has only one purpose, to prepare us for heaven. It doesn’t matter if our name is on the membership list in the Church office, if we make excuses and don’t accept God’s invitation to attend the banquet known as the Divine Liturgy. If we live a life filled with excuses about church when we are alive, the chances are much greater that we will continue to make excuses when God reminds us that heaven is ready and waiting for us. It won’t make any difference when we claim our name is on the invitation list, it will be too late.

 

 

 

[Иван Ивковић]

The Story of the Savior

 

When most people read the Old Testament, they read with the belief they are reading about the saved people of God. If the Old Testament is a story about God saving His people from death, the story is a failure since every human being, righteous and sinful with the exception of Elias and Enoch, dies in the Old Testament. But if the Old Testament is the story of the SAVIOR rather than the saved, it is a great success. The Old Testament is a story about how God, just in the nick of time, provides a savior to continue the human race, so He can enter into His Creation at Christmas. The entire Old Testament is the story of the lineage of Jesus Christ and not the lineage of the Saved. This is why on the Sunday before Christmas, the Church reads the genealogy of Jesus Christ as written in the Gospel According to Matthew. When we read the Old Testament in this way, we are better prepared to greet Him at Christmas as our Savior. God has saved us from the materialism of the world and all the fallen passions. Although we will still die like those of the Old Testament, God has something better for us when He returns. Although we still struggle like those of the Old Testament, God has something better for us when He returns.

 

[Иван Ивковић]

Christmas Has to Mean Something

 

More than half of all Americans consider Christmas a “cultural experience” rather than a religious holiday. We all know at least one person, maybe even a family member, that considers Christmas just about decorations, gifts and a big family dinner. But if the God Who created the universe really became a human on this day we call Christmas, then that has to mean something. Calling God our savior is more than just a few words. If He came to save us, we have to want to be saved. If Christmas is just another day for family to gather around the dinner table, then it isn’t Christmas. Something so significant and life changing – life saving – as God becoming a baby has to mean something.