WEBVTT 00:00:02.659 --> 00:00:05.400 I already gave a sermon, but I thought I would 00:00:05.400 --> 00:00:08.580 make a few remarks on the epistle tomorrow. We 00:00:08.580 --> 00:00:14.000 have two epistles. Let me focus on just one verse. 00:00:16.140 --> 00:00:18.379 It's almost as famous as the verse that Father 00:00:18.379 --> 00:00:21.679 Nicholas brought to our attention last week, 00:00:21.739 --> 00:00:24.960 John 3 .16. You'll all remember what John 3 .16 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:29.100 is. St. Paul wrote, It is no longer I who live. 00:00:31.370 --> 00:00:35.490 The I that he talks about, that's the fallen 00:00:35.490 --> 00:00:38.750 I, the fallen condition, the soul and the body. 00:00:39.890 --> 00:00:45.329 Both on their trajectory to death and non -existence. 00:00:46.789 --> 00:00:51.490 God saves us in Christ from this non -existence. 00:00:52.710 --> 00:00:55.450 So that both those that have departed this life 00:00:55.450 --> 00:00:58.329 have Christ's life and we who are still in the 00:00:58.329 --> 00:01:02.719 body. Live for Christ now. If we want to be truly 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:07.099 alive. What does all that mean? Well, let's go 00:01:07.099 --> 00:01:11.700 on. Tomorrow, and we've begun tomorrow already. 00:01:11.780 --> 00:01:15.540 We're in today, I guess, with Vespers, is the 00:01:15.540 --> 00:01:18.579 Sunday after the Feast of the Elevation, the 00:01:18.579 --> 00:01:22.920 Exaltation of the Life -Giving Cross. St. Helen, 00:01:23.159 --> 00:01:26.180 the mother of St. Constantine, finds the cross 00:01:26.180 --> 00:01:28.980 in Jerusalem. There's this magnificent sermon. 00:01:29.659 --> 00:01:33.819 The cross is lifted up in four directions. So 00:01:33.819 --> 00:01:39.480 in honor and memory of that feast, we still celebrate 00:01:39.480 --> 00:01:44.280 it the Sunday afterwards. And we have four scripture 00:01:44.280 --> 00:01:47.280 readings tomorrow. You can look them up tonight. 00:01:48.579 --> 00:01:51.719 They're all specific about the cross in our life. 00:01:52.980 --> 00:01:55.980 But let's just take the one verse from St. Paul's 00:01:55.980 --> 00:01:59.310 epistle to the Galatians. This verse. Galatians 00:01:59.310 --> 00:02:03.810 chapter 2, verse 20. I have been crucified with 00:02:03.810 --> 00:02:08.349 Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ 00:02:08.349 --> 00:02:12.150 lives in me. And the life which I now live in 00:02:12.150 --> 00:02:14.569 the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, 00:02:14.710 --> 00:02:20.490 who loved me and gave himself for me. If it is 00:02:20.490 --> 00:02:23.930 no longer I that live, but Christ who lives in 00:02:23.930 --> 00:02:28.219 me, then the I has to die. Something about that 00:02:28.219 --> 00:02:31.360 fallen eye has to be denied and rejected and 00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:36.219 put to death. Our former dean, Father Basil Rhodes, 00:02:36.539 --> 00:02:39.259 made some beautiful comments on this passage, 00:02:39.419 --> 00:02:43.860 so I'm going to borrow some of his remarks. He 00:02:43.860 --> 00:02:48.120 asks, what does St. Paul mean when he says, I 00:02:48.120 --> 00:02:52.240 have been crucified with Christ? He wasn't there 00:02:52.240 --> 00:02:56.419 on Golgotha. St. Paul wasn't there. And if he 00:02:56.419 --> 00:03:01.979 was, he could see from far off. He wasn't nailed 00:03:01.979 --> 00:03:04.259 to a cross like one of those two thieves crucified 00:03:04.259 --> 00:03:09.120 on either side of the Lord. No. So what does 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:12.219 he mean when he says, I have been crucified with 00:03:12.219 --> 00:03:15.539 Christ? Well, we have a clue from St. Paul's 00:03:15.539 --> 00:03:19.099 epistle to the Romans. Chapter 6, which you hear 00:03:19.099 --> 00:03:22.180 at every baptism, you hear it on Holy Saturday. 00:03:23.310 --> 00:03:27.050 he writes this, do you not know that as many 00:03:27.050 --> 00:03:31.069 of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were 00:03:31.069 --> 00:03:35.090 baptized into his death? What kind of death has 00:03:35.090 --> 00:03:39.169 Jesus had? Therefore, we were buried with him 00:03:39.169 --> 00:03:42.250 through baptism into death, that just as Christ 00:03:42.250 --> 00:03:44.490 was raised from the dead by the glory of the 00:03:44.490 --> 00:03:49.610 Father, see, Christ gave up everything and he 00:03:49.610 --> 00:03:52.879 left it to his Father, just as we do. even so 00:03:52.879 --> 00:03:56.979 we also should walk in newness of life for if 00:03:56.979 --> 00:04:00.139 we have been united together in the likeness 00:04:00.139 --> 00:04:03.360 of his death Jesus Christ's death certainly we 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:05.939 also shall be in the likeness of his resurrection 00:04:05.939 --> 00:04:10.259 knowing this that our old man the old man the 00:04:10.259 --> 00:04:13.139 one that rebels and wants everything in this 00:04:13.139 --> 00:04:17.180 world was crucified with him that the body of 00:04:17.180 --> 00:04:20.850 sin might be rendered inoperative. You might 00:04:20.850 --> 00:04:23.329 say that. That we should no longer be slaves 00:04:23.329 --> 00:04:27.329 of sin. We don't think of it that way usually. 00:04:27.569 --> 00:04:30.189 Slaves of sin. We usually think, well, that's 00:04:30.189 --> 00:04:32.949 just what I want to do. But we become a slave 00:04:32.949 --> 00:04:36.470 to ourself. St. Paul is teaching us that all 00:04:36.470 --> 00:04:39.649 of us who are baptized in Christ have mystically 00:04:39.649 --> 00:04:43.410 been crucified with him. We have been crucified 00:04:43.410 --> 00:04:47.730 with Christ. That is, we died in the water. We 00:04:47.730 --> 00:04:50.209 rose from the condition of that spiritual death 00:04:50.209 --> 00:04:56.490 on the trajectory to non -existence. And we rose 00:04:56.490 --> 00:04:58.889 to new life, eternal life, Christ life. This 00:04:58.889 --> 00:05:04.889 isn't a symbolic thing. This is actualized within 00:05:04.889 --> 00:05:10.170 us in the baptismal water. The Savior took each 00:05:10.170 --> 00:05:16.339 and every one of us to the cross with him. Each 00:05:16.339 --> 00:05:19.240 and every one. No, we were not there. St. Paul 00:05:19.240 --> 00:05:24.839 wasn't there, but he took us with him because 00:05:24.839 --> 00:05:27.939 he foresaw in his divine providence that we would 00:05:27.939 --> 00:05:33.560 exist. He put sin to death there. What is sin? 00:05:33.620 --> 00:05:35.980 It's the condition that separates us from God. 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:38.879 Sometimes it's our fault, but sometimes it's 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:43.930 not. Sometimes we're just a victim. What does 00:05:43.930 --> 00:05:46.250 St. Paul say next in that epistle that we're 00:05:46.250 --> 00:05:48.290 going to hear tomorrow? It is no longer I who 00:05:48.290 --> 00:05:51.290 live, but Christ lives in me. And what does that 00:05:51.290 --> 00:05:54.069 mean? No longer I who live. It sounds wonderful, 00:05:54.230 --> 00:05:57.329 but brothers and sisters, it's a terribly difficult 00:05:57.329 --> 00:06:01.810 thing to have Christ live in you, to replace 00:06:01.810 --> 00:06:04.430 who you are with the real you, because we're 00:06:04.430 --> 00:06:08.050 so besotted with what we think we are and what 00:06:08.050 --> 00:06:13.899 we must do and what we must become. It is so 00:06:13.899 --> 00:06:17.920 difficult to realize it is no longer I who live, 00:06:17.959 --> 00:06:20.560 but Christ lives in me. Because the I wants to 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:25.060 live. It means that because I have believed, 00:06:25.180 --> 00:06:29.480 and not just checked off some doctrinal points, 00:06:29.740 --> 00:06:35.439 but live the life. We think lots of things, but 00:06:35.439 --> 00:06:38.259 it's the living of the life. And having baptized 00:06:38.259 --> 00:06:41.540 the old me, the sinful me is put aside. It's 00:06:41.540 --> 00:06:47.160 unplugged. if you will. In its place, the new 00:06:47.160 --> 00:06:51.439 me changed by Christ. My heart changed by Christ. 00:06:51.500 --> 00:06:54.220 My body changed. My thoughts changed. The new 00:06:54.220 --> 00:06:56.839 me who was put on Christ, the new me in whom 00:06:56.839 --> 00:06:58.899 Christ lives and dwells by means of the Holy 00:06:58.899 --> 00:07:02.060 Spirit, that's the reality of the Christian. 00:07:03.139 --> 00:07:07.019 St. John, he says this, if you remain dead to 00:07:07.019 --> 00:07:11.560 sin, you live to God. But if you let sin live 00:07:11.560 --> 00:07:15.170 again, You are the ruin of your new life. That's 00:07:15.170 --> 00:07:17.949 St. John Chrysostom. In other words, if I go 00:07:17.949 --> 00:07:22.009 and replug my old sinful life, my old sinful 00:07:22.009 --> 00:07:26.329 ways, then I abandon the new me and the old me 00:07:26.329 --> 00:07:30.689 is revived and the Holy Spirit flees from me. 00:07:31.189 --> 00:07:34.189 You remember what King David prayed after his 00:07:34.189 --> 00:07:37.790 terrible fall into sin? Cast me not away from 00:07:37.790 --> 00:07:41.550 thy presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from 00:07:41.550 --> 00:07:45.939 me. What a terrifying thought. We can literally 00:07:45.939 --> 00:07:51.600 drive the Holy Spirit away. To continue, St. 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:55.160 Paul next writes, after it is no longer I who 00:07:55.160 --> 00:07:57.600 live but Christ who lives in me, he says, and 00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:00.339 the life which I now live in the flesh that is 00:08:00.339 --> 00:08:04.560 in my body as I am now, I live by faith in the 00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:10.160 Son of God, how? Who loved me. who loved me and 00:08:10.160 --> 00:08:15.199 gave himself for me. The Christian is a joyful 00:08:15.199 --> 00:08:18.800 person because of these words, because they're 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:22.139 true. St. Paul is saying that even though I'm 00:08:22.139 --> 00:08:24.459 still living in this earthly body, I live a heavenly 00:08:24.459 --> 00:08:28.339 life due to the grace that Christ has given me. 00:08:29.720 --> 00:08:32.480 Everything that I have, everything that I am 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:34.639 has been given to me by the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:08:36.679 --> 00:08:40.059 Why does he do this for me? Because he loves 00:08:40.059 --> 00:08:44.200 me. St. Paul usually isn't so specific about 00:08:44.200 --> 00:08:46.700 himself. He doesn't usually speak in the first 00:08:46.700 --> 00:08:49.019 person. He usually speaks about the community, 00:08:49.159 --> 00:08:51.879 the life, the body of the church. But he's telling 00:08:51.879 --> 00:08:57.039 us this is about us personally. With each other, 00:08:57.100 --> 00:09:01.360 of course. He loves me so much that he died on 00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:05.299 the cross for me. King David, in another psalm, 00:09:05.299 --> 00:09:08.460 once asked this question. Then, this is what 00:09:08.460 --> 00:09:12.620 we Christians should also ask, what shall I render 00:09:12.620 --> 00:09:15.919 to the Lord for all that he hath rendered unto 00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:20.960 me? And you hear the answer, I will take the 00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:24.029 cup of salvation. And call upon the name of the 00:09:24.029 --> 00:09:26.769 Lord. What is the cup? It's the cup that Christ 00:09:26.769 --> 00:09:29.590 said he must take on the way to the cross. It's 00:09:29.590 --> 00:09:32.210 the cup that he said to the apostles, James and 00:09:32.210 --> 00:09:34.950 John, you will certainly drink of this cup also. 00:09:36.029 --> 00:09:40.929 Because it's the way we die to sin. But there's 00:09:40.929 --> 00:09:44.049 nothing I can do to repay God for his goodness 00:09:44.049 --> 00:09:48.409 towards me. But that doesn't mean I do nothing. 00:09:49.259 --> 00:09:52.820 In fact, I shall be judged by what I do. That's 00:09:52.820 --> 00:09:54.820 according to the scriptures. It's everywhere 00:09:54.820 --> 00:09:57.480 in the scriptures. It's not just faith. It's 00:09:57.480 --> 00:10:01.960 by what we do. Well, and the final thing I'll 00:10:01.960 --> 00:10:06.100 share with you is this. We share with others 00:10:06.100 --> 00:10:10.919 what God has done for us, the good things. St. 00:10:10.940 --> 00:10:13.639 Isaac the Syrian says, be a herald of God's goodness, 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:17.980 for God rules over you. unworthy though you are, 00:10:18.059 --> 00:10:21.379 for although your debt to him is so great, yet 00:10:21.379 --> 00:10:24.000 he has not seen exacting any payment from you. 00:10:24.980 --> 00:10:28.279 But from the small works you do, he bestows great 00:10:28.279 --> 00:10:32.500 rewards upon you. Thank you, Lord, for your kindness. 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:40.019 Father Michael, in a sermon on Glendie Day, this 00:10:40.019 --> 00:10:44.580 would be Glendie today, by the way, he said this. 00:10:45.610 --> 00:10:50.210 He says, everybody, brothers and sisters, wear 00:10:50.210 --> 00:10:58.110 an apron. Don't wear a bib. Jesus, knowing that 00:10:58.110 --> 00:11:00.590 all things had been given to him by the Father. 00:11:00.919 --> 00:11:02.840 and that he was come from God and went to God, 00:11:02.860 --> 00:11:05.840 rose from supper, laid aside his garments, took 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:08.879 a towel, an apron, and girded himself. After 00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:11.419 that, he poured water into a basin and began 00:11:11.419 --> 00:11:14.159 to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them 00:11:14.159 --> 00:11:17.440 with the towel wherewith he was girded. Jesus 00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:21.539 said he came to serve, not to be served, and 00:11:21.539 --> 00:11:23.879 he commands his servants to do the same. Father 00:11:23.879 --> 00:11:26.659 Michael claimed that servants wear an apron. 00:11:27.019 --> 00:11:29.899 Those that are wearing bibs want to be served. 00:11:31.149 --> 00:11:33.610 Like young children, they have to be served. 00:11:33.789 --> 00:11:36.990 Or by extension, those of us immature and weak 00:11:36.990 --> 00:11:40.389 in the faith, we want to be served. But we're 00:11:40.389 --> 00:11:45.210 here to serve not only each other, but everybody 00:11:45.210 --> 00:11:48.470 else that we meet. This is a hard thing. This 00:11:48.470 --> 00:11:52.870 is why St. Peter partially said, no, Lord, not 00:11:52.870 --> 00:11:54.970 the cross. We're not going that way. That's bad 00:11:54.970 --> 00:11:59.730 PR. I see a connection here with the Lord's words. 00:12:00.350 --> 00:12:02.870 And the second, about the most important thing, 00:12:03.070 --> 00:12:06.029 loving God with all your soul, with all your 00:12:06.029 --> 00:12:07.870 mind, your heart. That's the other reading you'll 00:12:07.870 --> 00:12:12.169 hear tomorrow. That love is lived out in service 00:12:12.169 --> 00:12:16.950 to other people, your neighbor, your brothers 00:12:16.950 --> 00:12:20.669 and sisters. So be joyful. The Lord supplies 00:12:20.669 --> 00:12:23.149 all that is lacking. Amen.