A True Vessel of the Holy Spirit
Funeral Sermon by Father Philosoph on Archpriest John Adams
Fri. Aug. 15/3, 2024
St. Isaac and Company
In the Name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
In our Creed we say: I believe…
And we say: I look for the Resurrection of the dead and the Life in the age to come.
And this is what we look to, and where we hope, as did Christians from all the ages.
In our modern world we distract ourselves with vanity, and dispersion. We numb ourselves out,Β trying to forget death. For in the modern world, death is taboo.
But, for us Christians we are called to look for the Resurrection of the dead and the life of the age to come. We are buried with Christ through baptism. Our life is in His death.
St. Paul says: “O death where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory? … as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
What did Christ say to the mourning Mary and Martha? “I am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.”
Our hope is in things to come.
Death is real and we feel the sting of death. We mourn, we grieve for our loss, and the rupture and violence of death, but alongside this we have hope. We feel the brokenness of the world, the pain of sin and separation, our inheritance from Adam, but in it is also a longing for Paradise.
In the book of Revelations we hear: βHe will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away.”
St Justin Popovich said: “Every prayer and every gospel virtues gradually conquers death in us, while all together they establish victory over death and bring us to eternity.”
As we mourn and pray and ask God to lead Father John into His Kingdom, we remember a man who loved God. Who devoted his life to the church. Who served the church. Who ministered to the people. Who was a vessel of the Holy Spirit and whose life made room for Christ. Father John was transformed by beauty and saw the Truth of our Faith, and devoted himself to the love of Wisdom.
We pray for Father John who made God present here. Who served as a liturgist and priest, and was a vessel of the Holy Spirit.
St. John of San Fransisco said: “Limitless and without consolation would have been our sorrow for close ones who are dying, if the Lord had not given us eternal life. Our life would be pointless if it ended with death. What benefit would there then be from virtue and good deed? Then they would be correct who say: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” But man was created for immortality, and by His resurrection Christ opened the gates of the Heavenly Kingdom, of eternal blessedness for those who have believed in Him and have lived righteously. Our earthly life is a preparation for the future life, and this preparation ends with our death. “It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb 9:27). Then a man leaves all his earthly cares; the body disintegrates, in order to rise anew at the General Resurrection.”
Remember Father John and that he called us to Christ. Remember Father who lived with hope in things to come, and imitate him.
Pray for his good repose, commemorate him in your commemoration books.
Come when we have pannikhidas for him, and pray for the Lordβs promise in him.
Remember him who lived in Christ, and who made Christ present in his life, and who called us to the Love of God.