The Gospel today from the opening chapter of the Gospel of St Matthew, as well as the epistle reading from the book of Hebrews, both tell a story that begins with one person—Abraham. The genealogy of Jesus Christ begins with Abraham, the father of the Jewish people, and ends with the Holy Spirit and Holy Mary, the Mother of Christians. A genealogy gives us a family tree, a diagram of the relationships within a family—a story about how families grow from generation to generation, in the midst of life and death, joys and sorrows. I think that St Matthew began his gospel, the first gospel, with the family tree of Jesus Christ, because he wanted us to understand the human side of where Jesus Christ came from. The divine nature of our Lord Jesus Christ has no beginning but rather is eternally begotten of the Father. The human nature is received from Holy Mary by her own willing consent.  The Ever-Virgin Mary in turn is the stem of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1) growing over thousands of years and includes nearly 50 people in the genealogy given in the reading today from the Gospel of St Matthew.

Let’s focus on two of the most important people in this family tree, Abraham, who begins the family tree and Holy Mary, the Mother of God, who concludes this remarkable extended family that stretches over so many generations. Both Abraham and Holy Mary were called by the Lord, and each responded with faith to that call. Chapter 11, verse 8 of the Letter to the Hebrews states that: “In faith Abraham, being called to go forth to a place he was about to receive as an inheritance, obeyed and went forth, not knowing where he was going.” Chapter 1, verse 38 of the Gospel of St Luke gives the response of Holy Mary to her call to become the Mother of God. She told the Archangel Gabriel: “Behold, I am the handmaid [that is, the servant] of the Lord; let it be to me,” said according to your word.” 

Now, none of us feel that we have the stature—the importance—of Abraham or Holy Mary. Yet, yet, each of us are called at many times throughout our lives “to go forth [in faith] to a place [we are each] about to receive as an inheritance [from the Lord];” and [we go] forth, not knowing where [we are] going [or what will happen in this new, unknown place to which we have been called.]” Why does this happen? Because an inheritance is something you receive on the death of someone; and all of us have received the faith that empowered both Abraham and Holy Mary to begin their participation in the family tree of Christ. In a sense, the family tree of Christ which begins with Abraham concludes not with Holy Mary, the Theotokos, but with each of us. When we sense that the Lord is calling us to some specific work that needs to be done—in the family, in the community, in the wider world—it is right that we should respond with the words of Holy Mary: “Be it done unto me according to your word.”

The great 3rd century monk of the Egyptian desert, St Anthony the Great, said of the call from God that Abraham received, that “the discernment of the good [was] inherent in [him] from [his] first formation” [Letter 1 of St Anthony]. That happens to each of us through the teaching and life of the Orthodox Church, as we each learn from our first formation to “discern the good”—to make out what course of action is right in specific problems and hopes that we all encounter in our lives.

St Augustine wrote of the call of Abraham: “The right thing to do, brothers and sisters, is to believe God before He pays up anything [that is, before He gives us something]. [God] cannot possibly lie . . . for He is God. That’s how Abraham believed Him. [Now] that’s faith for you that really deserves to be admired and made widely known,” continued St Augustine. [Abraham] had received nothing from [God], and he believed his promise. We do not yet believe [fully in] Him, though we have already received so much. Was Abraham ever in a position to say to [the Lord], ‘I will believe you, because you promised me that and paid up? No, “insisted St Augustine, Abraham “believed from the very first command given [to him], without having received anything else at all. ‘Go out from your country,’ [Abraham] was told,’ and from your kindred [that is, your family], and go into a country that I will give you.’ St Augustine concludes: “[Abraham] believed straightaway, [but] God didn’t give him that country [straightaway] but kept it for his seed [that is, his descendants, his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren].”

So, it may be for each of us. The promises of the Lord extend for many generations. The promises of the Lord are given through family trees, as St Matthew began his gospel. What we each hope to do with our lives may become only a beginning that extends over many generations. I know from experience that much of what Khouria Sylvia and I hoped to do in serving others in developing countries happened not with us, but with our children. Yet we set in place the foundations “to discern the good from the first formation” of our children, as St Anthony the Great phrased it. Khouria Sylvia and I tried unsuccessfully to go to Nairobi in Kenya, to Kerala in India and to Santiago in Chile. But that was not what the Lord had for us to do. He wanted us simply to raise a family here in Great Britain; and that is what we have done. May each of us be blessed to achieve what the Lord plans for each of our family trees.