In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen. In the third century, in the city of Antioch in Syria, there lived a lay person by the name of Saint Nikiforos. His best friend was a priest named Sapricios. And they were so close, this layman and this priest, that people considered them as brothers.
They had one mind, one heart, one soul. They loved each other so much. But Satan, the enemy of God, the enemy of love, the enemy of the faithful sewed into their hearts an anger and a bitterness that could not come from anyone but him. And he allowed for a disagreement to make them enemies.
Those who were once brothers now became enemies. But after a while, Nikiforos, the layman came to his senses and he realized that this is not what God wants for him. That if he was to be a disciple of Christ, then he would ask for forgiveness. So he decided to send several messages to the priest, Sapricios, asking for his forgiveness for the sake of Christ.
But his messages were rejected each time. The priest, with a cold heart, continued to offer the sacrifice on the holy table without giving his brother forgiveness. Nikiforos then decided to go in person to the priest. He sent messengers and it didn’t work, so he said, “I will go in person and I will beg for forgiveness.” And when he went to Sapricios, the priest, and he saw him, he fell down before him, prostrate, and he said to him, “Forgive me, Father, my sin against you.” The priest would not even look down and he walked away, rejecting his plead for forgiveness.
Soon after that, a persecution of Christians began in that area. And Sapricios was arrested and before the judge and the tribunal, he confessed that he was a priest of the church. And when they told him to sacrifice to idols, he would not sacrifice. They tortured him, he would not relent.
He kept the faith in Christ. So they condemned him to be beheaded. They condemned him to death. When Nikiforos heard, he became troubled in his heart because he did not want the death of Sapricios, the priest, to be in vain, an account of him that the priest was not willing to forgive him.
So as Sapricios was being led to execution on his way to martyrdom, to be beheaded, Nikiforos falls down before him and he says, “Father, before your martyrdom, you are a martyr of Christ. Forgive me, my offense against you. Forgive me.” And just as he did prior to his arrest, he continued in his stubbornness and refused to address Nikiforos and refused to forgive him on his way to his martyrdom. Nikiforos didn’t give up at first.
He continued to beg him, but they began with no success. And when they reached the place of execution, and the execution raised the sword, ready to beheaded. Sapricios, at that time, because of the hardness of his heart, God withdrew his grace from him. Imagine that.
He was ready to die, but at that point, God withdrew his grace. And he looked up at the executioner. He said, “Wait! Stop!
What are you doing? Why are you beheading me? You want me to sacrifice you these idols? I will.
Just don’t behead me.“ God withdrew his grace. And immediately, Nikiforos, who was there, heard what had happened. And with tears, he shouted. He said, “No, my beloved brother, do not give up the crown of martyrdom.
You’ve made it this far.“ And you know what the answer of Sapricios was? There was no answer. He continued in his rejection of the pleas of his friend Nikiforos. Right then, Nikiforos turned to the executioners, and he said to the executioners, “I am a Christian.
Release him and take me instead.“ And upon seeing that confession in front of everyone, they released the priest who lost the crown of martyrdom because of the hardness of his heart. And Nikiforos with joy. Lord, his head upon the block, and his head was cut off. Sapricios at the end lost that crown of martyrdom because he was unwilling to forgive, but Nikiforos stepped up.
And in imitation of Christ, lay down his own life for Christ and for his friend. That was the year 260 and the 9th of February. That’s when we celebrate the Feast of St. Nikiforos, the martyr of Antioch.
Brothers and sisters, this should remind us of what St. Paul said in chapter 13 of his first epistle to the Corinthians. He said, “If I deliver my body to be burned and I have not loved, I have gained nothing.” Love translates into forgiveness. If you cannot forgive, you cannot love.
True love is forgiveness. For God so loved the world that he won. For God to love the world that he died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. That is love.
When we forgive, we participate in the cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When we forgive. And we heard in this morning’s gospel a message to all of us who would call ourselves the disciples of Christ, who would call ourselves Christians. If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you your trespasses.
My beloved family, God withdrew his grace from Saprichios. Right at the moment, he was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice his own life in the same way. God withdraws his grace from those who are unwilling to forgive. And it doesn’t matter who the person is.
A family member, a relative, a co-worker, a fellow church member. And it doesn’t matter how big or small the issue may be. Nothing drives away God’s grace faster than a stone cold heart unwilling to forgive nothing. Do you want your prayers to rise before the throne of God without any obstruction?
You must forgive all. Do you want God’s grace to reside on your home and to bless you? You must forgive all. Do you want God’s grace to pour upon you and your children and your grandchildren?
You must forgive all. That’s how God’s grace resides in us and in our homes when we imitate his forgiveness on the cross. And people often say to me, “On God’s time, when there’s a dispute, when there’s an issue,” and you ask, “Why is it not resolved yet?” The answer I hear very often, “On God’s time,” as an excuse as to why we forgive, why we refuse to forgive. On God’s time, or if it ought to be, I hear that a la.
It’s a cover up. A cover up for our weakness. We should speak the truth. I am too weak to forgive or I don’t want to forgive or I am too prideful to forgive.
How dare we say on God’s time and blame him for the reason why we refuse to forgive? You want to hear what Christ has to say about God’s time? Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. It is now.
Now is God’s time. Not when you decide it’s God’s time. Now is God’s time. And let me ask you a question.
Do you know when your last day on earth is? I presume that you don’t. So let me ask, “Have you no fear for what can happen to your soul if it’s too late?” Let me share with you a quote. This is from last week’s Ortho service that caught my attention.
Last week was Meet Fair Sunday or Judgment Sunday, and this is from the service of the Ortho’s in the morning. I picture that day and that hour when we shall stand naked and condemn before the just judge, then the trumpet shall blow with great shouting, and the foundations of the earth shall shake, and the dead shall rise from their graves, and all become of one stature, and the secret thoughts of all stand revealed before thee. And they who repented not in their lifetime shall wail in mourn, and shall proceed to the another most fire, but the righteous shall enter the heavenly chamber with joy and rejoicing. God’s time is now.
Forgive those who have trespassed against you so that God can forgive you your trespasses. If you cannot forgive, you cannot be forgiven, and if you cannot be forgiven, you cannot be saved. And I know that it’s easier said than done. Sometimes on our own, it’s difficult to forgive, and we need help, and we need guidance, and we need support.
And that’s where the holy sacrament of confession comes into play, and I’d like to close with the story, something from my own experience of confession when I went to confession. I began going to confession when I was 18 years old when I went to college, and the priest there who was giving me communion on a regular basis after a couple of months said, “Listen, Musa, I give you communion every Sunday, but I’m assuming that you go to the sacrament of confession.” And I said, “Do you assume wrong, Father? I don’t.” And he said to me, “You may not receive holy communion.” I said, “Why?” I was at first offended, but later on I understood the wisdom in that. So I began going to confession to him, and I’ve been confessing to him since 1999, the same priest.
He knows me in and out. When I look at him, he knows how I’m feeling, or what’s on my mind or on my heart. That’s a good doctor, a physician of the soul, but he wouldn’t be able to work with me had I not come to him in the first place. But I want to share one story.
There was an evening before liturgy. It was a Saturday evening. I was with a couple from the local Greek church where I was living during college, so not in the Chicagoland area. And I had a disagreement, and it got a bit heated, and we exchanged words, and I said things that I regretted immediately at the end of the day, at the end of the night when I got home.
And I felt a lot of remorse, and I thought to myself, “I should not have spoken that way,” and I shouldn’t have said what I said. So in the morning, I get to church really early before the start of the service, and I asked Father to hear my confession. He says, “Sure.” So I stood there in confession, and I confessed. I said this and that to this person, because he said, “Stop right there.
I don’t want to hear their sins. Don’t tell me why you responded. You tell me what you did and how you were feeling and why you responded that way.“ I said, “Fine.” So I didn’t mention what they did. He stopped me.
I was planning to, but I didn’t. And at the end of the confession, I laid my head down so that he can pray the prayer of absolution or the prayer of forgiveness. And when I laid my head down, he said, “Wait.” He said, “No.” I said, “What do you mean?” He said, “I’m not offering you the prayer of absolution, the prayer of forgiveness.” I said, “Why Father?” He said, “You’re going to go and apologize.” I said, “What?” I don’t want to apologize. I just want to confess what I did.
It is said to me, “No, you cannot receive absolution and you cannot receive Holy Communion.” That should remind us what did Christ say if you bring your offering and you remember someone has something against you, go be reconciled, then come back and make your offering. So I said, “Fine.” I went to the side room. I got my robe ready because I served in the altar in college. I took it.
I said, “Father, bless.” He said, “No.” I looked at him and said, “Man, he is tough.” I said, “Why?” He said, “You have not been forgiven. You did not receive absolution. Your heart is not in the right place to serve in the altar or to receive Holy Communion.” He said, “Leave the altar.” I said, “Okay.” I was trying. I’m so upset.
Should I yell at him? Should I fight back? Should I say, “That’s not right. What kind of priest is that?
Where is the mercy?“ I decided to keep my mouth shut and I went and I sat in the pews. By God’s providence, this couple never comes to our church. I went to the Antiochan church. They go to the Greek church.
Guess who walked into church that morning? It’s a true story. They walked into the church. I was sitting on the right side of the church on that side, and I look and I see them come on and sit.
I did one of these. Then I look back up and look at the icon of Christ. I’m like, “I get the message. I’m wrong.” By God’s providence, God allowed them to walk into the church.
They never came to that church. I sat there and I thought, “I’m going to go apologize.” No, I’m not. They should apologize first. No, maybe I should go.
I’m going to be embarrassed. They’re going to think, “I’m a weak.” They’re going to think so many things about me. I was so concerned about the way I would appear before people that I said, “I need communion. I need Christ.
I need him to soften my heart. I need to ask for forgiveness.“ So I got up. I walked around to the other side of the church, and I tapped. It was actually, the words I exchanged was with the wife, not with the husband.
So that made it harder for me. I tapped on her shoulder. She looked at me, and I said to her, “Forgive me for what I said and for what I did and for how I behaved.” She looked at me. She said, “I forgive you.” She said, “Forgive me.” She started to cry and she hugged me.
I went back into the altar. I grabbed my robe. I went up to my father-confessor. I said, “Father, bless.
This is the same day.“ He didn’t know that they came to the church. It was in the morning during Orthros. He looked at me. I said, “Father, I don’t know how it happened, but they’re sitting here in church.” I went and I apologized to them.
And he smiled, and he said, “This is what God wants for you. This is what it means to soften your heart.” So he blessed my robe. I was able to serve, and I was able to receive communion that day. I’ll be honest.
I think at that time in my life, had it been left just to me, I would not have done that. I would not have gone and apologized. We have so many people in our lives, and there are people that we’re not at peace with, and we bring that to confession. And in the sacrament of confession, God works His grace, His miracles, and He softens the heart.
We cannot do it in any other way because we are prideful. We are filled with ourselves. We think we’re better, or they need to come and apologize. We’re going to apologize.
So use this opportunity. We’ve entered now tomorrow, the first day of Lent, to schedule your confession, and to begin this transformation of the heart. And actually, we can begin, and I’ll end with this tonight, at 5 p.m. here in the church.
We have what we call “Vespers for forgiveness Sunday.” It starts at 5 p.m. tonight in the church. And anyone who’s keeping the fast, this is the service that you come to. This is how we in the Orthodox Church begin the Lenten fast by asking forgiveness of God and of one another in that service that we will celebrate tonight at 5 p.m.
So please, just as you are here today this morning, make the time tonight to come so that we can begin the fast, the proper way, having asked forgiveness of each other. And we do the right of forgiveness at the end of the service where we ask each other verbally to forgive. Forgive me a sinner, God forgives, forgive me a sinner, God forgives. That’s a dialogue that takes place between each person, and we’ll do that tonight.
Please bring the whole family. This is an opportunity for us to recommit to one another, and most importantly to recommit to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. On behalf of the clergy, of our community, we ask for your forgiveness, forgive us sinners. In the name of the Father, end of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.