By Fr. Stephen Freeman
Source:
https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/
https://oodegr.com/english / ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ
Script of the homily by the reposed Elder Athanasios Mytilineos
(1927 - 2006)
The Church is the Cross through History.
St. Paul wrote that he had determined to restrict
his preaching to the Cross. (1 Cor. 2:2)
This was not an effort to diminish the gospel.
Rather, it was an effort to rightly understand the
gospel. One of the great temptations of Christianity
is to allow itself to become a “religion,” that is,
to serve whatever role that religions of any sort
play within a culture and the life of an individual.
Despite every atheist protestation, religion abides
– and if there is not one that is inherited, then a
culture will invent new ones.
St. Paul’s concentration on the Cross – Jesus Christ
crucified – was a direct affront to religion itself.
To understand this, though, requires that we see the
Cross for what it is. Christianity as religion
reduces the Cross to a moment in time, a historical
moment that is celebrated for its importance. On the
Cross, Christ died for our sins. This simple
statement, however, can itself be reductionist.
“Christ died, I’m forgiven, now I can get on with my
life.” St. Paul has something very different in
mind. He says:
“I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless, I live.
Yet not I, but Christ, lives in me. And the life
that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of
the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for
me.” (Gal. 2:20)
The Cross is more than the single event in the life
of Christ. It is the single event for every
believer, lived moment by moment, at all times and
all places. It is the very center of our being.
In Holy Baptism, we are not merely “joining the
Church,” nor are we merely “washing away our sins.”
Holy Baptism is not a rite of membership. Rather,
Holy Baptism is being plunged into the death of
Christ (Romans 6:3) and raised into the likeness of
Christ’s resurrection. Believers are given a Cross
to wear as part of their Baptism – a token to remind
us that our new life is nothing other than living in
union with the Crucified Christ.
That reality informs the commandments of Christ. We
forgive our enemies because Christ forgave His
enemies on the Cross (“Father, forgive them. They
know not what they do.”) We share what we have with
others (in the Cross we can live as though we own
nothing). It represents the definition of love:
“Husbands love your wives even as Christ loved the
Church and gave Himself for her.” (Eph. 5:25).
It is the abandonment of the Cross (or its
redefinition as “religious” event) that betrays the
Church and its primary identity. It was inevitable,
it seems, that the Church would eventually become
the “religion of the empire.” It is a position that
Christianity, in nearly every form, has endured
since the 4th century. There is, of course, a
critique of Orthodox Christianity that its very
essence was betrayed in the tolerance given by
Constantine and his successors. I do not agree that
the Church’s essence changed – but it would be
dishonest to think that its essence was not tempted
and tested. Some failed the test.
Power is an ever-present temptation in this world.
It offers the notion that we can, by force (of arms
or law), achieve our desired ends. That was true
under emperors and tsars, and remains true within
modern democracies. When Pilate questioned Jesus
regarding the nature of His kingdom, Christ was very
clear that His kingdom “is not of this world.” He
adds that were His kingdom of this world – then His
disciples would arm themselves and fight. That many
Christians through the ages have imagined armed
struggle to be an important element of the Christian
life is a testament to our confidence in the weapons
of this world and our lip-service to the Kingdom of
God.
The Church is the Cross through history. The reality
of the crucified life has never disappeared from
among us. Before Constantine, God brought forth the
movements of monasticism. While Bishops were facing
the temptations of imperial blandishments, the monks
and nuns were refuting every worldly option. At
times, the presence of monastics created a tension
within the Church. The crucified life is seen most
clearly when it stands out against a background of
worldliness.
I think that times of turmoil, such as we endure at
present, have their own form of imperial temptation.
We long for order, for normalcy, for stability. That
longing can make us easy prey for the various
solutions offered by the world. There is an
interesting phrase in the Liturgy of St. Basil. The
priest prays for God to “make the evil be good by
Thy goodness.” The temptation within our hearts
would likely rephrase that prayer – simply saying,
“Make the evil be good.”
God has never offered us any solution other than the
Cross. St. Paul readily admitted that the Cross
appears to be “weakness” and “foolishness.” The
Cross is a clown in a world of scholars. He
nevertheless declares it to be the “wisdom and power
of God.”
As we gather to recall Christ’s death on the Cross
we should rightly recall the Cross within us. We
should recall that the weakness and foolishness of
God is the path we have been commanded to walk. If
we tremble at the thought, even saying, “Let this
Cup pass away from me,” then, it would seem, we will
have gotten it about right.
The Church is the Cross through History. It is the
only gate to Pascha’s paradise.
Orthodox Monastery atop
rugged Meteora clff, Greece.
.JPG)
