Sunday of the Exaltation Holy and Precious Life – Giving Cross

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…

In today’s Gospel lesson we hear a call.

“If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

It is a call that we have all heard many times. For us to be true believers, true followers of our Lord and Saviour, we must be willing to deny ourselves and pick up our cross and follow our lord, Jesus Christ. We must be willing to put aside our wants and desires and follow the path, the teachings of our Lord and Saviour. The path is referred to as carrying a cross because of the simple fact that it will not be easy. And Jesus Christ, in his divine love and honesty, never said it would be easy following him.

St. Isaac the Syrian declared that all sins will be forgiven except the sin of indifference towards the risen Christ. This is because Jesus Christ’s resurrection is the very cornerstone of God’s entire creation: of the world and of mankind. The resurrection is the guarantee of divine love, without which no form of life is possible.

When we chose not to lift up that cross and follow the teachings of our Lord and Saviour, we are guilty of the sin of indifference. When we chose to go against the will of God, to chose our own selfish path, we are telling God, so what? I have my health, I have my possessions, I am happy and content.

The tragedy of our society, dear brothers and sisters, is that we have made God a stranger in our lives. My grandfather, when he was a young child, went and lived with his grandparents for a while. When he went to bed, he would hear his grandparents praying. When he woke up in the morning, he would hear his grandparents praying. God was not a stranger. God was meant to be a part of his life. God is not meant to be a stranger in our lives. He is meant to be a constant part, a constant companion. However, we have become indifferent to God. God is a stranger, or at the very least, just an acquaintance that we are familiar with. Somehow, we are almost ashamed or embarrassed to be known as Orthodox Christians. The irony is that we place so much value on being accepted by those around us and worry about their opinion, that we will keep quiet about who we are, what we believe, mumble something if asked if we are a Christian, so that people won’t think us weird, that we forget that it is only God’s opinion that matters and if our loving God, who has every right to be ashamed of us, of how we act towards one another, kill, lie, steal, abuse one another, still loves us enough to give us the gift of His beloved Son for our salvation, we can not be indifferent to God.

Each one of us is blessed with talents and gifts, each one us can make a difference in this world, we can make this world better. Our Holy Orthodox Faith is not just two hours every Sunday. It is not a faith that is restricted to the walls of this church. It is taking that message of love and hope, of forgiveness and salvation to the world around us. If we do not, we are indifferent to God.

In our churches we have crosses. In our homes, we have crosses. When we pray, we cross ourselves. The cross is the visible symbol of who we are as Orthodox Christians. It is the symbol of God’s love for humanity. It tells us that God, never has been, and never will be indifferent to us. When we gaze upon the cross, we see our true value, our true worth.

When we pick up that cross, when we follow that path that our loving lord and saviour Jesus Christ set before us, we tell the world around us that we, as individuals, as a church, as a society, are not indifferent to God and that we are not ashamed to be known as Orthodox Christians. God is not a stranger in our lives. God is not someone who is hiding from us. God is a real and vital part of our lives.

I would like to end with these words by St. Cyril of Jerusalem: “The Cross is the crown of victory. It has brought light to those blinded by ignorance. It has released those enslaved by sin. Indeed, it has redeemed the whole of mankind. Do not, then, be ashamed of the cross of Christ; rather, glory in it. For it was not a mere man who died for us, but the Son of God, God made man.”

Amen.