Sermon for Sunday, October 4, 2026
St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, Fort Lauderdale
2 Corinthians 9:6–11 | Luke 6:31–36
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today’s Gospel contains words almost everyone knows: “As you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.” We call that the Golden Rule. But Jesus doesn’t stop there, He takes us much further: “Love those who do not love you. Do good without expecting something in return.” And finally: “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”
Then Saint Paul tells us: “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”
Put these readings together, and we have three simple lessons for living our Orthodox Christian faith: Sow generously. Love beyond what’s expected. And, become merciful.
Sow Generously
Saint Paul uses an image everyone would have understood: a farmer planting a field. Imagine a farmer saying, “I want a tremendous harvest this year, but I don’t want to waste too much seed.” So, he plants a few seeds here and there and then, months later, complains, “Where is my harvest?” The answer is obvious. You cannot reap what you were unwilling to sow.
Saint Paul says the same thing about life. Every day we are sowing something. We sow words. We sow attitudes. We sow encouragement, or criticism. We sow forgiveness, or resentment. We sow generosity, or selfishness. And eventually, something grows.
Sometimes we wonder why relationships have become distant. The question to ask is, what have we been planting? Are we sowing time, patience, encouragement, prayer and forgiveness?
The same is true with God. We cannot give God five hurried minutes a week and expect a deep spiritual life. We cannot ignore Scripture and wonder why we cannot hear God’s voice. The spiritual life follows the law of the harvest: What we faithfully sow, God can multiply.
Saint Paul adds that “God loves a cheerful giver.” Christian generosity is about gratitude, not guilt. Everything we have (our time, abilities, resources and even our next breath) is ultimately a gift. So instead of asking, “How much can I keep?” perhaps we should ask: “Lord, how much good can I do with what You have given me?”
Love Beyond What’s Expected
Jesus challenges us, “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?”
Most of us are pretty good at loving people who love us. Someone compliments us, we like them. Someone invites us to dinner, we invite them back. Someone sends us a Christmas card, they stay on our Christmas card list!
But Jesus says: “Love your enemies, and do good.” Here, Christianity gets difficult. Christ asks us to love the person who disappointed us, misunderstood us, betrayed us or wounded us. That does not we must pretend evil is acceptable. Forgiveness does not mean saying something wrong never happened. Rather, Christ refuses to allow someone else’s sin to become a prison for our heart.
Think about how much energy resentment consumes. We replay conversations, we reconstruct arguments, we think about what we should have said. Sometimes we’re arguing with someone who isn’t even in the room! They’re probably somewhere having lunch while we’re still arguing with them in our head.
Christ gives us another way: Pray for them, bless them, release them to God. Christian love is not primarily an emotion. Often, it is a decision. Jesus showed us through his own actions: on the Cross He did not say, “Father, destroy them.” He said: “Father, forgive them.” On that Cross, hatred was answered with love.
Become Merciful
Finally, Jesus says, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” Notice that He doesn’t merely say, “Do merciful things.” He says that we should be merciful. Mercy is not simply an action, but something Christians are supposed to become.
Every Sunday we stand before God and repeatedly pray: “Lord, have mercy.” “Κύριε, ἐλέησον.” Why? Because we know that our lives depend upon God’s mercy. But if I stand before God asking for mercy, how can I refuse mercy to the person standing beside me?
This is where all of today’s readings come together. We must sow generously, love generously, and become merciful.
Christianity is ultimately not about what we possess, it is about who we are becoming. Reflect on this today: Who am I becoming? Am I becoming more patient? More generous? More forgiving? More compassionate? More like Christ?
Because eventually, everything else disappears. Our possessions will belong to someone else. Our accomplishments will become yesterday’s news. Our titles will disappear. But the person we have become before God, that remains.
So this week, three challenges:
- Sow something good. Encourage someone. Help someone. Call someone who is lonely. Plant a seed of goodness.
- Love someone who is difficult to love. Perhaps begin simply by praying, “Lord Jesus Christ, bless this person and heal my heart.”
- Show mercy. Before criticizing someone, remember how much mercy God has shown you. Before judging someone’s failure, remember your own. Before refusing forgiveness, look toward the Cross.
Brothers and sisters, imagine what could happen if we actually lived this way. Imagine families where people competed not to be right but to forgive. Imagine a parish where people sowed encouragement instead of criticism. Imagine Christians known not merely for what they believe, but for how deeply they love.
It begins with us. One seed, one act of kindness, one forgiven offense, one prayer, one act of mercy. Never underestimate what God can do with a seed placed faithfully into His hands.
So let us leave this Divine Liturgy determined to be loving in every way, with mercy, generosity and humility, and little by little, day by day, grace by grace, may we become more like Christ.
Amen.
