Mercy, Martyrdom, and The Meaning Of Love

Homily by Fr. Matthew Brown. October 5th, 2025 St. Mary Magdalen Orthodox Church (OCA)

Just when you thought you were a good person, this gospel reading comes along and reminds you that sometimes we struggle even to be normal human beings. So often in the spiritual life, it can be tempting to want to do great ascetical feats or to see the uncreated light.

This is why fasting can be a temptation for our ego, to do more than we can handle or as much as our ego thinks we can handle. We are reminded that much of the spiritual life is merely trying to live up to a minimum level of decency, of what it means to be a human being.

1. The Temptation of Transactional Love

Jesus in this gospel passage teaches that there is not much credit in loving those who love us or those who can give back to us. The kind of love He calls us to is not based on reciprocity or transactions.

When our relationships are built only on “I did this for you, and you did this for me,” they remain humanly good but limited. Anything less than that devolves into discord, conflict, and eventually violence.

Jesus calls us to something much more radical. Throughout the Gospels, whatever the Old Testament required, Jesus intensifies. The Old Testament commandment to tithe was 10 percent. In the New Testament, it is 100 percent. God wants all of us.

The kind of giving Jesus wants reflects the kind of relationship He desires: one where we do not give only part of ourselves but our whole heart. He calls us beyond transactional love into a love that gives everything.

2. The Mercy and Lovingkindness of God

This love is modeled after God Himself. Scripture tells us that God is merciful, and the word “mercy” is best translated as “lovingkindness.” He is merciful even to the ungrateful and the selfish.

Thank God He is, because if God only loved us in the measure that we deserved or could repay, we would all be in trouble. There are times in our lives when we depend on others to love us beyond what we deserve.

We need this kind of love as infants with our parents, as the elderly with our families, when we are sick, or when we are lost. Even our existence itself is a gift that we can never repay. The very fact that we live is already proof that God has given us something that surpasses all measure.

3. The Call to Sacrificial and Martyrdom Love

Jesus commands us to love others as He has loved us. That means giving all of ourselves. In human relationships, we desire this same total commitment from others, our parents, spouses, and closest friends. When they withhold it, it causes deep pain.

The same is true with God. He desires all of our hearts. This kind of love, called agapic love, seeks to give without possessing or expecting anything in return. It is sacrificial.

If you are not willing to die for the person you love or for what you truly believe in, then you have a price. You can be bought.

True love demands the willingness to die for the beloved. This is why martyrdom stands at the center of Christian faith, it is the completion of the kind of love that Christ demonstrated on the cross. He died for us even when we were His enemies. Who among us would die for a stranger or for someone who hates us?

That is the love of God, and that is the love we are called to imitate. It is why we gather every Sunday, to be strengthened together in this journey, because this kind of love is too hard to pursue alone.

4. Giving as Gratitude, Not Obligation

This gospel also connects deeply to stewardship. Giving, whether of money, time, or attention, is not meant to be transactional.

Almsgiving and stewardship are practices of gratitude. When we give to the Church or the poor, we do so not because the Church needs money but because giving transforms us. It frees us from bondage to possessions and ego.

We aim to give with joy, the way we would spend money on someone we love or the way grandparents delight in giving to their grandchildren. That is how Christ gives to us, freely, joyfully, and completely.

When we give in that spirit, we participate in the same sacrificial love of Christ, breaking out of mere reciprocity into divine generosity.

Final Reflection

To love as Christ loves is the highest calling of the human heart. It is not measured by what we receive but by how freely we give. Every act of mercy, forgiveness, and generosity becomes a reflection of divine love that transcends the limits of human fairness.

In a world where everything is transactional, Jesus calls us to a love that cannot be bought, a love that cannot be bargained for, and a love that never asks for repayment.

Glory to Jesus Christ.

Watch the full homily on YouTube. 👇🏿👇🏽👇