of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen. Today, as we come to the middle
of Great Lent, the cross stands before us in
the church, announcing to us that we've reached
the Sunday of the veneration of the precious
and life -giving cross. Today, as we stand before
that cross, the apostle reminds us that we have
a high priest who sympathizes with our weaknesses,
who has become human in every respect as we have,
tempted in every way, although without sin, who
has learned obedience and indeed has become obedient
to the point of death, even death. on the cross
and because of this reality we can draw near
to his throne of glory without any shame we can
receive mercy we can find grace to help in our
time of need today through the cross joy has
come into all the world paradise has been opened
If you listened carefully to the hymnography
last night, it is drenched with joy. Joy, victory,
life, paradise, resurrection. The cross itself
bears the marks of the resurrection, the fruit
of paradise and eternal life. To those who are
perishing, the cross is folly. It is stupidity.
to the structures of this world, to its power,
the ways the world works, the ways the world
thinks and reasons. But today, to those who are
being saved, the cross is the power and wisdom
of God. Today, through the cross, the world is
crucified to us and we become crucified to the
world. Today, through the cross, we put away
enmity. and hostility we have with one another.
Any baggage that we didn't get off our chest
at the Sunday of forgiveness, we put it off,
we release it, we unite it to that cross, even
our enemies. Today, through the cross, we kill
sin. We put to death the deeds of the body so
that we may not be killed and devoured by demons.
Today, through the cross, Christ cancels the
record of debt standing against us with every
legal demand that the devil brings to charge
against us, that the devil whispers in our ear
time and time again, you sinner. Today, Christ
takes those things, he sets them aside, he tears
up the record of sins and nails them to the cross,
purging the filth by life -giving blood. Today,
through the cross, Christ despises its shame.
He endures it for us so that we might have life,
freedom from sin, release, freedom from death,
the tyranny of the devil, our sin, and even ourselves.
Anything that would hold us back from God. Anything
that we think would keep us at arm's length from
God. Christ destroys it. Brothers and sisters,
today, let go of sin. Let go of the sin that
often clings so tightly and so easily, trips
us up again and again. Let us lay aside every
weight. Let us fix our eyes on Christ, who both
authors and completes our faith and obedience.
who looks at the joy that's set before him and
endures all the shame that comes from the cross,
trampling it, squelching it of its power and
dignity. Let what you have in your hearts go
today. Bring it to confession. Walk forward with
confidence in Christ because the cross is our
weapon. It is our boast. our strength, our joy.
It is our victory. Without the cross, we have
no hope. Without the cross, we have no resurrection
or life. Without the cross, there is no reentrance
into paradise. The life of the cross is what
Lent is all about. That's why we bring it out
right here, right smack dab in the middle of
Lent. When we are getting tired, when we are
becoming discouraged perhaps, when we are becoming
apathetic, do I really need to do all these things?
When we are giving up or losing hope, losing
meaning, the church puts the cross in our midst
to remind us that Christ died for sinners, for
people like you. like you and me, who have messed
up, who have missed the mark, who have fallen
short of the glory of God, that Christ gave his
life for the world which he loved. That it's
only through the cross that anything we do, anything
we are, anything we become, anything we give
away, means anything. Only through the cross,
eternal life is possible for us. Christ sympathizes
with us in our weakness because he is our high
priest. He is God in the flesh. That is, God
the Word vested in our flesh as if he puts our
humanity on as his vestments and goes into the
sanctuary to unite us to his self -offering as
Lamb of God. to cleanse, to purge, to sanctify,
to absolve, to remit sin, to grant life everlasting.
By the mercies of God, then, brothers and sisters,
present yourself, what you are in your bodies,
because this is a time when we focus on our bodies
as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to
God. which is our reasonable worship, our worship
in the spirit, our logiki latria, our human offering,
liturgically speaking, as St. Paul says. That
sacrificial offering, what we present in our
bodies, is cultivated by how we let the cross
work on our lives, by emptying ourselves. By
taking the cross as if it's a medical scalpel
and excising that which is dying and decaying
and diseased through fasting, through confession,
through hospitality, through seeing and noticing
others and seeing Christ in them and treating
them accordingly. By giving away our money, by
giving away our food and drink, by giving away
our clothing, our time, our talents, our resources,
welcoming the stranger. All in love. Because
Christ has welcomed us when we were his enemies.
In our worldly strength and wisdom, these things
are impossible. Remember, they are stupidity
and foolishness, as the apostle puts it. But
by the cross, they become life -giving. They
become the fragrance of paradise, bursting and
spilling out from heaven into this world, the
life of the Spirit. Remember Zacchaeus. They
become our salvation. Today, salvation has come
to this house, for he too is a son of Abraham.
Every time we fast in faith, we empty ourselves.
And we unite ourselves to the cross. Every time
we confess our sin boldly, we unite ourselves
to the cross, knowing that we have an advocate
with Jesus Christ, the righteous one, who takes
away our sin and cleans us all. Every time we
forgive, we let go of bitterness and resentment.
We unite ourselves to the cross, knowing that
our own forgiveness comes only through it. Every
time we welcome the stranger and practice hospitality,
we empty ourselves and unite ourselves to the
cross because we open our lives and time and
energy up to someone else, someone else who needs
life and help and to be known, to feel like they
belong. Every time we receive hospitality and
help, we unite ourselves to the cross. Because
we put away our pride and delusional thoughts
that we don't need help. I heard Metropolitan
Teehan put it this way last year in a sermon
he gave before me, that it is more difficult,
it is more blessed to receive hospitality than
to give it. Think about that. Every time we give
away our money, time, talents, We unite ourselves
to the cross because we sacrifice what we have.
We expose ourselves. We give ourselves over and
our need to God that he alone will provide for
us. Whatever we give away is already his. Today,
our Lord's words in the gospel force us to ask
ourselves, what have we not crucified in our
lives? What parts of ourselves, perhaps hidden
in the depths and recesses of our hearts, have
we not united to the cross? When we fall down,
when we venerate, when we prostrate before it
and kiss it, but hold on to and cling to particular
sins, are we not simply trying to profit ourselves?
and keep something for ourselves in our earthly
wisdom. For what does it profit a man to gain
the whole world? Why would we want to and lose
his soul? This line doesn't just apply to money,
doesn't just apply to great careers, but to how
we view ourselves in the world. All of it, all
of it needs to be taken and subsumed under the
cross of Christ. All of any significance and
any meaning of what we are, what we do, what
we are trying to become, what we are trying to
run from, it needs to be placed under the power
and wisdom and life of the cross. We need to
deny ourselves our wisdom, our sin, our thoughts
that plague us, our distraction that keeps us
at arm's length, our running from our family.
Our running from things that are before us and
things that we actually need to do. Our running
from things we are unable to confront in ourselves.
That it might be obvious and perceptible to everyone
else, but because it's too scary to us, we can't
do it. We need to take up our cross. We need
to crucify these things. We need to empty them
of their power so that we might have life and
forgiveness of sin. Real salvation. Real freedom.
Real healing. To become communicants of eternal
life truly. Even the things we see as our positive
achievements. Our success. Things that we are
particularly proud of. Perhaps it's how we raise
our kids. Perhaps it's that we've now raised
our kids. They're walking with Christ. Perhaps
it's our solid careers. Perhaps it's our nice
houses. That we have a nice pension or retirement.
Perhaps it's our vigilant attendance in church
services. Our keeping of prayers. Even our keeping
of the fast. Maybe it's our recognition of strangers,
that we are the first ones at the door to see
them and notice them, that we welcome others.
Maybe it's what we focus our energy and life
on, upstanding things we do in the community.
And on and on and on. These things we also need
to bring before the cross and crucify them. Because
apart from Christ, they are nothing. We can do
nothing, as Christ himself says. It is Christ
who animates us. It is Christ who gives life.
It is his cross that gives any power, meaning,
significance, and wisdom to our lives. It is
his cross that fills our hearts with love. Otherwise,
we are noisy gongs. And so today, today, today,
we take up the cross. because it destroys sin,
death. The demons cower and are terrified of
its power. Today we have nothing to be proud
of. As we stand before the cross, how can we
be? What can we boast in? What can we bring before
God? What can we be proud of except the cross
of Christ, as St. Paul says? I will make that
alone my boast, my weakness, because when I am
weak, I am strong. and the Lord. Today we have
nothing to be ashamed of. Nothing to hide. Nothing
to run from. Because all of our sin is nailed
to the cross of Christ. All of sin, sins and
death's power is squelched. It's emptied. It's
trampled. The devil has no charge. His works
have been completely undone. Christ has crushed
the enemy. Today there is no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus. Today there is
nothing that can separate us from the love of
God. Today let's look up and fix our eyes on
Christ's cross, which is our hope, our power,
our joy, our weapon of peace, the very means
by which we enter into paradise, the divine life.
To close with the words of St. Paul then, Today
we have been crucified with Christ, and it is
no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in
us. And the life we now live in the flesh, we
live by faith in and allegiance to the Son of
God who loved us and gave himself for us by the
power and might of the precious and life -giving
cross. Amen.