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This lecture explores the theological misconceptions surrounding Jewish identity and the relationship between Jews and God, emphasizing that Zionism lacks a foundation in Christian theology. The speaker argues that the church, as the new Israel, encompasses all ethnicities united in faith, reflecting the diversity of God's people. Additionally, the lecture addresses Jesus' teachings on greed, highlighting the challenge of materialism in American Christianity and the importance of living a life of complete devotion to God, as exemplified by early Christian practices and the teachings of Saint Paul.
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0:00 There is a lot of
0:01 made up theology
0:03 began in the middle of the nineteenth century.
0:06 It got really going, in the beginning of the twentieth century, particularly in America,
0:10 that has created this very strange
0:16 theology of what
0:19 unbelieving Jewish people are, non Christian Jewish people,
0:23 and their special relationship with God. It's very strange.
0:28 Zionism
0:30 has no history
0:32 in the Christian faith. It's not as though that there are it's just a matter of denominational preference. No. You will see
0:39 or in vain for 18
0:41 to ever hear of such things. It doesn't exist.
0:45 The church is very conscious of being the fulfillment of everything that took place in the old testament.
0:50 The church is the people of God. Paul calls the church directly the new Israel. That's who we are. We are God's people. And we're made up both of Jewish people and Gentile people from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. It's not about ethnicity at all. We don't care. If you came to my parish on a typical Sunday morning, I mean, you would need a big piece of paper just to write the number of
1:12 ethnicities that are there. I always tell I've always told our people, look, our goal should be
1:18 that the ethnic distribution of our county we are in Riverside County, about 3,000,000 people.
1:23 I said the ethnic diversity there should be exactly represented in our parish.
1:29 If the church is for everyone and we want everyone, which means in my county, that's 57%
1:33 Hispanic, 11% African
1:36 American, about 30% Anglo. I said that's what it should be if a church has been there and has been successful in
1:43 preaching the gospel and helping people to love God, that's what it should look like.
1:48 This is normal. This is our way of looking at things. We don't think that
1:54 somehow the Old Testament is continuing
1:57 and never came to fruition.
1:59 And that somehow a temple has to be rebuilt, or the Old Testament sacrifices
2:03 have to begin again, which is impossible. Or the ironic priests have to come back, we're gonna start slaying animals.
2:08 All of that
2:10 was a picture of Jesus himself. He says it himself. He told the Pharisees, you search the scriptures
2:16 because you think that in them you have life.
2:19 It's these
2:21 that bear witness to me.
2:23 Everything in the old testament is a type of Christ. It's all about him.
2:29 If you don't see that, if you think it's a standalone thing, then you're still living in types and shadows
2:34 instead of fulfillment.
2:37 How does the well, I'll just say one of the most challenging
2:42 themes in the gospels for me as an American,
2:46 are Jesus' prescriptions against greed
2:50 because I I think that's that's the one thing American Christians never face. Like
2:54 like,
2:56 money is not inherently bad, but the love of it is bad,
3:00 famously root of all evil. What does the gospel tell us about greed?
3:04 And how does that
3:06 how is that reflected in the preaching you hear,
3:09 from the pulpit?
3:12 Know, one of the most beautiful things that Jesus
3:15 accomplished when he conquered death was that he replanted
3:19 on the earth, the original
3:21 relationship
3:22 of man and woman to God
3:24 that had disappeared at the fall.
3:27 And that that was a a life of complete consecration,
3:30 where the happiness of Adam and Eve was to be called God's friend. That was their greatest honor, the church fathers say, is to be called God's friend. And I just note that Jesus said that to his disciples at the end of his ministry.
3:44 He said, I no longer call you my disciples,
3:47 you're my friends. That was an incredible honor. Abraham, the great patriarch was called the friend of God.
3:54 In
3:56 the New Testament, as soon as Jesus sent the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, remember, he was crucified, he plundered hell, he rose again on the third day. He spent forty days teaching us how to live in the new resurrection life, and how to love people and evangelize the world. And then he ascended to heaven, right, from the Mount Of Olives. I've stood on the spot in
4:16 the holy land.
4:18 And in front of his eyes, the eyes of his disciples, and he sat down at the right hand of God. Then as a coronation gift
4:24 of his enthronement, he sent forth the holy spirit ten days later on the day of Pentecost. And the whole community
4:30 of Christians, a 120 at that time in the upper room,
4:33 were became
4:34 spirit bearers. Something that in the old testament only
4:38 and kings were.
4:40 Now this is the common patrimony
4:43 of all believers is to be able to be indwelt by the third person of the holy trinity, the holy spirit, to have the spirit of God guiding you. Such that we don't as Christians look for God out there, we experience God in here. He takes up his residence in baptism in the deep heart. Saint Paul even says that the holy spirit is in us following baptism,
5:04 and that he helps us to pray to God from the inside with groans that surpass words,
5:11 trying to help us really relate to God,
5:14 as a father.
5:17 This is this is our life,
5:20 and it was only
5:21 seen, in the old testament in in little glimpses.
5:25 This was so radical for for people that some people gave, and not not a few, by the way. Some people decided
5:31 that their chief ambition was going to be to serve God 100%.
5:37 Not not on on Sundays
5:40 only.
5:40 Right? But completely.
5:42 Saint Paul describes this in his
5:44 epistle to the first to Corinthians, first Corinthians chapter seven. He says that there's two kinds of life. He says, I wish everyone was even as I myself am, unmarried and completely devoted to God.
5:56 He said, Nevertheless, every person has his own calling from God, one in this matter and another in that. And then he goes on to describe marriage and monastic life. These are the two ways of life for Christians since Jesus conquered our enemies and gave us the holy spirit.
6:12 That life of complete consecration for monks and nuns was so popular in the early centuries. But by the time of Saint Athanasius the Great, this is three fifty or so. Right? This is one of the greatest theologians in the history of the church. His life is just absolutely
6:29 you read it and and weep for its beauty.
6:33 He said at that time, he was the spiritual son of the father of the desert, Saint Anthony the Great. And he said that at his time he was also the patriarch of Alexandria.
6:42 He said at his time, half
6:44 of all Christians lived in the deserts.
6:47 And so that they could pray
6:50 eight hours a day, serve people, host people who are coming to see the people would constantly leave the cities and go see the monks and the nuns for spiritual encouragement, for prayer,
7:01 etcetera. That's how powerful
7:03 that life is. And that life, the church fathers say, that life of complete consecration, which of course is just an exact invitation of Jesus' life.
7:11 This is how our Lord Jesus lived. Right? He didn't get married physically. He got married spiritually to the church. He's the bridegroom of the church, and we're all his beloved.
7:21 And we live in that union. Right? And especially guides Christian marriage. Right? The husband tries to love his wife as Christ loves the church. The wife tries to respect her husband as the church respects Christ, etcetera. But you see this
7:32 enthroned at the heart of the church, a certain contempt
7:36 for earthly wealth.
7:39 If the models
7:40 completely
7:42 dispossessed for the sake of the kingdom of God, which is a wealth that can't be taken away,
7:47 Modeled by the Lord Jesus himself, who owned nothing at the time of his crucifixion,
7:52 except his garment.
7:54 That's it.
7:55 The monks and nuns have imitated him to this day. Where I live in Southern California,
8:00 we have a number of monasteries
8:02 around us. And our people go constantly.
8:05 They go in groups. They they visit just for like a what can I say? A little boost.
8:11 A little boost. And there's a beautiful symbiosis between
8:14 the Christian family
8:15 that are represented in the parishes all over the world and churches all over the world, and then our monks and nuns who have given themselves sometimes in the cities. I mean, all the great cities of the Roman Empire for the first thousand years were packed with monasteries. Sometimes people think monasteries and they think, oh, only in the desert. Well, I mean, there are a lot of monasteries in the desert, and I was just quoting synaphnatious about the Egyptian Desert, which was kind of a spiritual guide for the whole Christian world in the fourth century. But there are also lots of monasteries
8:42 in cities
8:44 to this day. If you go to any traditionally Christian city in Europe, you're gonna find maybe they aren't occupied anymore, especially in the West. But in Central Europe and in Eastern Europe still packed with monks and nuns. This tells you our attitude towards money.
8:57 Greed is a tremendous temptation.
9:00 The model for us is dispossession.
9:02 Saint John Chrysostom, one of the great church fathers says, For married people,
9:07 possessions are justified by use.
9:10 He says, if you want to be a good Christian with regards to money and greed,
9:15 then make sure that you're using your money in a beneficial
9:19 way such that it's not he says, if you own a home,
9:24 make it fit your life
9:25 like a good shoe.
9:27 And you don't want your shoe to be too tight, too small, let's it crush your toes,
9:32 or too big so that you're always tripping on it and falling down. Right? Possessions are justified by use.
9:39 Now forgive me, that's not much of a
9:41 popular message
9:43 in America. You know, we have been
9:46 famous
9:49 we have been famous for at least since the middle of the nineteenth century when Alexis de Popeville came here, and he said he had never seen a people in the history of his travels so obsessed with money as Americans.
10:02 There are, of course, some virtues to that if we use our money to advance the cause of beauty and to help people who are in need. But money not justified by usage
10:13 will be a testimony against us on the day of judgment.
10:17 I agree with that. I agree with that completely.