This summer, join us as we journey…
 
                                                             INTO THE DESERT     
 
“To be, to be possessed of the gift of life and to be granted
all that makes its richness means to be loved by God; and
those who know this, free from any delusion that they can
exist or possess apart from this mystery of love have entered
into the Kingdom of God which is the Kingdom of Love.”
 
Anthony of Sourozh, preface to
The Sayings of the Desert Fathers,
translated by Benedicta Ward
The age of the Desert Fathers and Mothers, around the 4th and 5th centuries, marked the beginning of the monastic movement in the early church. Just as the Christian church was being embraced by (and embracing) empire, these faithful men and women turned their backs on the things of this world that might distract them from true communion with God. They traveled into the desert and into a life characterized by simplicity, prayer, community and hospitality. Some lived alone as hermits while others formed small groups of brothers living, working, and praying together or disciples organized around an Abba (father) or Amma (mother), creating new kinds of families that were not tied to status or legacy. They were pioneers of a sort, conducting experiments on the life of faith and the human condition.
 
Those who chose not to commit themselves to such a radical lifestyle, but who admired them for their courage and integrity, made pilgrimages to the desert to seek out their wisdom. Over time, their sage words were written down and eventually collected into books so that others might benefit from them.
 
We will journey into the desert this summer. We will focus on one or two sayings of these desert Abbas and Ammas each Sunday in worship, examining them through the lenses of scripture and our contemporary experience. Perhaps we here in the 21st century, might benefit from their wisdom.

 

Weekly sayings:

June 11, 2017

We begin our journey with a brief and simple saying from Abba Poemen:
​
​“Abba Poemen said of Abba Pior that
every single day he made a fresh beginning.”
 
Lamentations 3:22-23
 
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
June 18, 2017

We examine a story about someone who is known only as an old man:
 
“It was said about an old man that he endured
seventy weeks of fasting, eating only once a week. He asked God about certain words in the Holy Scripture, but God did not answer him. Then he said to himself: Look, I have put in this much effort, but I haven’t made any progress. So now I will go to see my brother, and ask him.
 
And when he had gone out, closed the door and started off, an angel of the Lord was sent to him, and said: Seventy weeks of fasting have not brought you near to God. But now that you are humbled enough to go to your brother, I have been sent to you to reveal the meaning of the words. Then the angel explained the meaning that the old man was seeking, and went away.”
June 25, 2017
​
We continue our journey with a story Abba Evagrius told about brother Serapion:
 
“Abba Evagrius said
that there was a brother, called Serapion,
who didn’t own anything except the Gospel,
and this he sold to feed the poor.
 
And he said these words,
which are worth remembering:
I have even sold the very word
which commanded me:
Sell everything, and give to the poor.”
 
2 Timothy 3:14-17
 
14But as for you, continue in what you have learned
and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it,
15and how from childhood you have known
the sacred writings that are able to instruct you
for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
16All scripture is inspired by God and is useful
for teaching, for reproof, for correction,
and for training in righteousness,
17so that everyone who belongs to God
may be proficient, equipped for every good work.
July 2, 2017
​
Lord, Help Me Be the Person
My Dog Thinks I Am
 
Today we continue our journey with a word from Abba Xanthias:
 
“Abba Xanthias said:
A dog is better than I am
because it also has love
but it does not pass judgment.”
 
 John 12:47
47I do not judge anyone
who hears my words
and does not keep them,
for I came not to judge the world,
but to save the world.
 
July 9, 2017

Welcome to the Desert of the Real

In Scetis,
a brother went to see Abba Moses
and begged him for a word.
 
And the old man said:
Go and sit in your cell,
and your cell will teach you everything.”
 
Deuteronomy 8:2-3
2Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you,
testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments. 3He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which
neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
 
Luke 5:15-16
15But now more than ever the word about Jesus spread abroad; many crowds would gather to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. 16But he would withdraw to deserted places and pray.
 
July 16, 2017

Tender Mercies 

“Some old men
came to see Abba Poemen,
and said to him:
Tell us, when we see brothers
dozing during the sacred office,
should we pinch them
so they will stay awake?
 
The old man said to them:
Actually, if I saw a brother sleeping,
I would put his head on my knees
and let him rest.”
 
Jesus said,
7“Blessed are the merciful,
for they will receive mercy.”
Matthew 5:7
 
78“By the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will break upon us,
79to give light to those who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Luke 1:78-79
 
July 23, 2017
​
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 

“Abba Nisteros the Great
was walking through the desert
with a brother, and
seeing a dragon, they ran away.
 
Then the brother said to him:
Are you afraid too, Father?
 
The old man replied:
I was not afraid my son,
but it was good for me
to run away from the dragon;
otherwise, I would not have escaped
from the spirit of vainglory.”
 
 
12And the Spirit immediately
drove Jesus out into the wilderness.
13He was in the wilderness forty days,
tempted by Satan;
and he was with the wild beasts;
and the angels waited on him.
 
Mark 1:12-13
 
July 30, 2017
​
Hidden Treasurers of the Soul

Guest Preacher:
The Rev. Julie H. Smith

Amma Syncletica said,
“Just as a treasure that is exposed loses its value,
so a virtue which is known vanishes;
just as wax melts when it is near fire,
so the soul is destroyed by praise
and loses all the results of its labor.”
 
She also said, “Just as it is impossible to be at the same moment both a plant and a seed, so it is impossible for us to be surrounded by worldly honor
and the same time bear heavenly fruit.”
 
 
31 Jesus put before them another parable:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed
that someone took and sowed in his field;
32 it is the smallest of all the seeds,
but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs
and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
 
34 Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without a parable he told them nothing.
35 This was to fulfill what had been
spoken through the prophet:
“I will open my mouth to speak in parables;
   I will proclaim what has been hidden
from the foundation of the world.”
 
Matthew 13:31-32, 34-35