Not I who live

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

Galatians 2:20

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

Romans 6 · chapter mention

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.