I already gave a sermon, but I thought I would
make a few remarks on the epistle tomorrow. We
have two epistles. Let me focus on just one verse.
It's almost as famous as the verse that Father
Nicholas brought to our attention last week,
John 3 .16. You'll all remember what John 3 .16
is. St. Paul wrote, It is no longer I who live.
The I that he talks about, that's the fallen
I, the fallen condition, the soul and the body.
Both on their trajectory to death and non -existence.
God saves us in Christ from this non -existence.
So that both those that have departed this life
have Christ's life and we who are still in the
body. Live for Christ now. If we want to be truly
alive. What does all that mean? Well, let's go
on. Tomorrow, and we've begun tomorrow already.
We're in today, I guess, with Vespers, is the
Sunday after the Feast of the Elevation, the
Exaltation of the Life -Giving Cross. St. Helen,
the mother of St. Constantine, finds the cross
in Jerusalem. There's this magnificent sermon.
The cross is lifted up in four directions. So
in honor and memory of that feast, we still celebrate
it the Sunday afterwards. And we have four scripture
readings tomorrow. You can look them up tonight.
They're all specific about the cross in our life.
But let's just take the one verse from St. Paul's
epistle to the Galatians. This verse. Galatians
chapter 2, verse 20. I have been crucified with
Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ
lives in me. And the life which I now live in
the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me. If it is
no longer I that live, but Christ who lives in
me, then the I has to die. Something about that
fallen eye has to be denied and rejected and
put to death. Our former dean, Father Basil Rhodes,
made some beautiful comments on this passage,
so I'm going to borrow some of his remarks. He
asks, what does St. Paul mean when he says, I
have been crucified with Christ? He wasn't there
on Golgotha. St. Paul wasn't there. And if he
was, he could see from far off. He wasn't nailed
to a cross like one of those two thieves crucified
on either side of the Lord. No. So what does
he mean when he says, I have been crucified with
Christ? Well, we have a clue from St. Paul's
epistle to the Romans. Chapter 6, which you hear
at every baptism, you hear it on Holy Saturday.
he writes this, do you not know that as many
of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were
baptized into his death? What kind of death has
Jesus had? Therefore, we were buried with him
through baptism into death, that just as Christ
was raised from the dead by the glory of the
Father, see, Christ gave up everything and he
left it to his Father, just as we do. even so
we also should walk in newness of life for if
we have been united together in the likeness
of his death Jesus Christ's death certainly we
also shall be in the likeness of his resurrection
knowing this that our old man the old man the
one that rebels and wants everything in this
world was crucified with him that the body of
sin might be rendered inoperative. You might
say that. That we should no longer be slaves
of sin. We don't think of it that way usually.
Slaves of sin. We usually think, well, that's
just what I want to do. But we become a slave
to ourself. St. Paul is teaching us that all
of us who are baptized in Christ have mystically
been crucified with him. We have been crucified
with Christ. That is, we died in the water. We
rose from the condition of that spiritual death
on the trajectory to non -existence. And we rose
to new life, eternal life, Christ life. This
isn't a symbolic thing. This is actualized within
us in the baptismal water. The Savior took each
and every one of us to the cross with him. Each
and every one. No, we were not there. St. Paul
wasn't there, but he took us with him because
he foresaw in his divine providence that we would
exist. He put sin to death there. What is sin?
It's the condition that separates us from God.
Sometimes it's our fault, but sometimes it's
not. Sometimes we're just a victim. What does
St. Paul say next in that epistle that we're
going to hear tomorrow? It is no longer I who
live, but Christ lives in me. And what does that
mean? No longer I who live. It sounds wonderful,
but brothers and sisters, it's a terribly difficult
thing to have Christ live in you, to replace
who you are with the real you, because we're
so besotted with what we think we are and what
we must do and what we must become. It is so
difficult to realize it is no longer I who live,
but Christ lives in me. Because the I wants to
live. It means that because I have believed,
and not just checked off some doctrinal points,
but live the life. We think lots of things, but
it's the living of the life. And having baptized
the old me, the sinful me is put aside. It's
unplugged. if you will. In its place, the new
me changed by Christ. My heart changed by Christ.
My body changed. My thoughts changed. The new
me who was put on Christ, the new me in whom
Christ lives and dwells by means of the Holy
Spirit, that's the reality of the Christian.
St. John, he says this, if you remain dead to
sin, you live to God. But if you let sin live
again, You are the ruin of your new life. That's
St. John Chrysostom. In other words, if I go
and replug my old sinful life, my old sinful
ways, then I abandon the new me and the old me
is revived and the Holy Spirit flees from me.
You remember what King David prayed after his
terrible fall into sin? Cast me not away from
thy presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from
me. What a terrifying thought. We can literally
drive the Holy Spirit away. To continue, St.
Paul next writes, after it is no longer I who
live but Christ who lives in me, he says, and
the life which I now live in the flesh that is
in my body as I am now, I live by faith in the
Son of God, how? Who loved me. who loved me and
gave himself for me. The Christian is a joyful
person because of these words, because they're
true. St. Paul is saying that even though I'm
still living in this earthly body, I live a heavenly
life due to the grace that Christ has given me.
Everything that I have, everything that I am
has been given to me by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Why does he do this for me? Because he loves
me. St. Paul usually isn't so specific about
himself. He doesn't usually speak in the first
person. He usually speaks about the community,
the life, the body of the church. But he's telling
us this is about us personally. With each other,
of course. He loves me so much that he died on
the cross for me. King David, in another psalm,
once asked this question. Then, this is what
we Christians should also ask, what shall I render
to the Lord for all that he hath rendered unto
me? And you hear the answer, I will take the
cup of salvation. And call upon the name of the
Lord. What is the cup? It's the cup that Christ
said he must take on the way to the cross. It's
the cup that he said to the apostles, James and
John, you will certainly drink of this cup also.
Because it's the way we die to sin. But there's
nothing I can do to repay God for his goodness
towards me. But that doesn't mean I do nothing.
In fact, I shall be judged by what I do. That's
according to the scriptures. It's everywhere
in the scriptures. It's not just faith. It's
by what we do. Well, and the final thing I'll
share with you is this. We share with others
what God has done for us, the good things. St.
Isaac the Syrian says, be a herald of God's goodness,
for God rules over you. unworthy though you are,
for although your debt to him is so great, yet
he has not seen exacting any payment from you.
But from the small works you do, he bestows great
rewards upon you. Thank you, Lord, for your kindness.
Father Michael, in a sermon on Glendie Day, this
would be Glendie today, by the way, he said this.
He says, everybody, brothers and sisters, wear
an apron. Don't wear a bib. Jesus, knowing that
all things had been given to him by the Father.
and that he was come from God and went to God,
rose from supper, laid aside his garments, took
a towel, an apron, and girded himself. After
that, he poured water into a basin and began
to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them
with the towel wherewith he was girded. Jesus
said he came to serve, not to be served, and
he commands his servants to do the same. Father
Michael claimed that servants wear an apron.
Those that are wearing bibs want to be served.
Like young children, they have to be served.
Or by extension, those of us immature and weak
in the faith, we want to be served. But we're
here to serve not only each other, but everybody
else that we meet. This is a hard thing. This
is why St. Peter partially said, no, Lord, not
the cross. We're not going that way. That's bad
PR. I see a connection here with the Lord's words.
And the second, about the most important thing,
loving God with all your soul, with all your
mind, your heart. That's the other reading you'll
hear tomorrow. That love is lived out in service
to other people, your neighbor, your brothers
and sisters. So be joyful. The Lord supplies
all that is lacking. Amen.