In this morning's Epistle reading (I Timothy 1:15-17), St. Paul expresses to his protégé Timothy an understanding that we all are in the process of understanding and making real in our own lives as Christians. In verse 15, St. Paul writes, "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." One of the basic truths underlying our Faith [and the beliefs of most religious groups] is that we are sinners. As Christians, we readily acknowledge this - we are sinners. I would like us to consider 3 questions to further delve into what St. Paul is saying: 1) what does it really mean to be "a sinner?" 2) am I the chief sinner, as St. Paul said he was? 3) how do we see Christ's salvation (worked out) in the life of St. Paul?

I)
We say that we're sinners, but what does the Scripture and the Tradition of the Church understand this to mean? It doesn't simply mean that we've broken certain rules. That is part of it. But to be a sinner is not equal with being a law-breaker. The word sin - amartia (Greek) - means to miss the mark. The idea being that a goal exists, and anything less than perfectly attaining that goal would qualify for amartia (sin).

God created man with the goal being communion and life with God. We're created to enjoy the blessings that God pours out on us. But to enjoy these blessings presupposes a certain way of life. And so God gave to mankind laws, guidelines, so that we would walk along an appropriate path. The laws of God were never designed to restrict man and to make life miserable - we're created to enjoy life, and to live with God, and the laws of God preserve an environment where we can do that. So being sinners in a Christian understanding is not just the fact that laws are broken or boundaries are crossed. It's a much deeper and move devastating statement - to be a sinner is be one who separates ourselves from the life and the love of God.

When we do things that are not consistent with God, the natural result is that we fall away from God, we place a barrier between the love of God and man. When I sin, the real tragedy is that I've turned my back on God. God isn't a judge looking then to punish the sinner; we often hear the language of medicine used here - that our sins plunge us into illness, we're sick and dying and God is the Great Physician looking to restore us to perfect health and life. As St. Paul writes, Christ came to save sinners, to be the Physician and to apply the salve of God's love and forgiveness to the wounds caused by our sins.

On the Sunday before we celebrate the baptism of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we hear St. Mark's account of the ministry of the Forerunner of the Messiah - St. John the Baptizer. This morning, I would like us to consider the last phrase from the last verse of the Gospel reading, that St. John baptizes with water, but Christ will baptize with the Holy Spirit. This is a significant distinction, especially as we prepare to celebrate the Feast of our Lord's Theophany, and as we remember and give thanks for our own baptism into Christ

St. Mark's Gospel records (1:4) that St. John came baptizing, and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. The Father's say this second mention of baptism is another baptism, not his own...so he came baptized and preaching of another baptism which was to come for the remission of sin. In Judaism there was and is a type of baptism, a rite of total immersion in specially prepared baths for ritual cleanliness [if you did something that would make you ritually unclean, then you had to go through this rite of immersion]. Baptism for cleanliness. Gentiles who wanted to convert to Judaism also had to go through this baptismal service. This baptism is not about removing sin or the effects of sin, but of cleansing a person and restoring them to an original state of purity - close to our understanding, but not the same.

So if we understand in St. Mark's Gospel and from history that the baptism of St. John was not for the remission of sins, then what was it? Venerable Bede, in his commentary on this particular passage, writes - "John's baptism is properly called a ‘baptism of repentance' because there is no other reason for anyone to want to be baptized in the font of life except for repent[ance]...and even though the baptism of John did not unloose the bonds of sins, nevertheless it was not entirely unfruitful for those who received it. Although it was not given for the forgiveness of sins, it was a sign of faith and repentance. All who were inititated by this were to recall that they should keep themselves from sins, devote themselves to almsgiving, believe in Christ, and as soon as he appeared they were to hasten to his baptism, in which they would be cleansed for the forgiveness of sins."

St. Bede makes clear that the function of St. John's baptism was to call the people to repentance. It wasn't just to make them ritually clean, but a call for them to remain clean, especially from sin. St. John called them to an ascetic life (a life very much like he was living in the desert)- to following the commandments given by God. And their baptism served as a sign and a reminder of their commitment to repent. So John's baptism was not exactly the same as the usual baptism of the Jews. Blessed Theophylact writes in his commentary, "All those who came and were baptized by John, by their repentance were loosed from the bond of their sins when they later believed in Christ...[John's baptism] did not bestow the forgiveness of sins, but instead only led mankind to repentance."

This morning, even though we're a few days before the actual Feast of the Nativity, on the Sunday before the Feast we always read the account of the birth of Christ. This is one of the central events in human history, and it's one that's gotten a lot of negative attention in the last 50+ years-reinterpreting, mythologizing, outright attacking, etc. Especially criticized is our belief of the Virgin birth, and Who Christ truly is. We have to understand, as best as we are able, what the Church has always taught about our Lord's Nativity (and why it's been taught), because God becoming man in the person of Jesus Christ is absolutely necessary for our salvation, and for existence of our Faith.

The Virgin Mary was found to be with child "by the Holy Ghost," St. Matthew writes. And this was done to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah, "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which means "God with us." The Christian Church must believe and teach the virgin birth of the Messiah-not because human procreation is bad or evil. And not to make the birth of Christ seem that much more amazing (we don't teach the virgin birth for shock value). The Church must believe and teach the virgin birth of Christ really for two reasons-I) it is the witness of the Scriptures and the Tradition, and II) this belief is essential to preserve a proper understanding of the person of Jesus Christ.

I.
Both the Old and the New Testaments witness to the Virgin Birth of Christ; the Tradition of the Church we would also hold up and see that never has this teaching been challenged in the Orthodox Church. Even from the time of the Prophet Isaiah, the people of God were taught that a virgin would conceive in her womb a son. St. Matthew and St. Luke both specifically write in their Gospels that Christ was conceived in the womb of the Theotokos by the Holy Spirit-she had never known a man.

We'll sing at Matins for the Feast - Why do you marvel, O Mary? Why are you amazed at what has come to pass? "I have given birth in time to a timeless Son; I cannot explain how He was conceived in me. I have known no man; how then shall I bear a child? Who has ever seen a birth without seed? When God so wills, as it is written: ‘The order of nature is overcome.'" Christ is born of the Virgin in Bethlehem of Judah.

We are now about two weeks from the celebration of one of the most significant events in all of human history-the Nativity of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ. With all of the modern commercialization of this time of year, it's hard sometimes to even remember what made Christmas-time such an important time of year to begin with. It had nothing to do with loads of presents and big sales and all the mess that goes with Christmas today. December 25 is important today because some 1600 years ago (in the late 300s AD) the Christians chose that day to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. The feast of the Nativity of Christ became one of the most popular of all the feasts in the Christian Church; in fact, many people today really only celebrate Christmas and Easter as feasts of Christ. If it weren't for the birth of Christ, and the later feast established to commemorate His birth, there would be no Christmas, or Fall Holiday, or whatever the world now wants to remember in late December.

I'd like us to briefly remember why Christmas is so important, and what it really is that we should be remembering as we prepare for this day. It all really goes back to Genesis, and the creation of man. On the sixth day, God creates man and woman: "God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them" (Genesis 1:27). God created humanity in a unique way. Regardless of whether you interpret the Bible literally or figuratively, the creation of human beings is something different, a unique moment in the creation of the world. God doesn't simply tell the land or the sea to bring them forth, as He does with the animals and the fish.

We first read the expression of God purpose - "let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Genesis 1:26). And then God reaches out and takes the clay of the earth and forms man exactly as He wants man to be. And then God breathes the breath of life into this new creature, and with that we have the creation of the human race. The only thing created in the image and likeness of the Creator - animals nor angels share in that dignity. Only man. And then mankind is given dominion over all the earth; he's instructed to care for the plants and the animals. But the greatest gift that God gives the crown of His creation is not rule over the earth, but is to be created in the image and the likeness of God.

We share something in common with God - His image and likeness. Christian theologians have discussed through the centuries exactly what this commonality is - free will, creativity, independence, rational thought, etc. But what we know for certain is that this image and likeness is given only to man. The way the ancient Fathers of the Church understand this is: man is created in the image of God, with the potential to attain, by God's grace, to the likeness of God. We're created in His image, to grow in His likeness, to be like Him [this is central in the Orthodox understanding of salvation - we are able to be with God because we are like God, and being with God (saved) is no less than sharing in the life of God, His sharing of Himself with us].

In the Gospel reading this morning, we have a scene that's not so unusual for Christ in the Gospels. He takes pity on an ill person and he heals them; he has a run in with the religious authorities of His day. These things come together several times in the Gospels, and they happen separately on many occasions. Our Lord uses these confrontations with the leaders of the Temple to try and show them how they've come to worship the things of God's law, and they no longer care for the things of God. This morning He calls them hypocrites, and reminds them that they would help an animal on the Sabbath, so why not heal this woman who has been suffering for 18 years.

They've lost proper perspective-remember when Christ reminds them that the Sabbath is created for man, and not man for the Sabbath. The law was given for man's healing, but it had become a burden just as bad as the burden of their sins. Christ comes to release us from what St. Paul calls "the curse of the law," and we see that release most perfectly demonstrated in the choice to heal this woman's spirit of infirmity instead of following the man made law about what tasks could be done on the Sabbath. This release from the law was a great gift for the Jews - over time they had composed hundreds of religious laws that God's chosen people were supposed to follow in order to be "good Jews." The law had become a monster.

And the Father's have us read this Gospel (and others that are similar) to remind us that we now live under the law of the grace of Jesus Christ. We don't blindly follow rules in order to be good Orthodox Christians, we follow Christ. Now, this doesn't mean that there aren't laws and rules - the Church has canons, we still follow the 10 Commandments and the Beatitudes and the Gospels, there are still expectations of morality and norms of daily living. But it all has a new meaning in Christ.

We do face a constant temptation to become slaves of the law. The Church offers us a multitude of advice on many aspects of living as a Christian in the modern world. And it's a great temptation to turn the canons of the Church into law. Canon means rule, mean, normal - the Church provides us with guidelines for what should be the norm. We see this perfectly now, in the fast. There's a rule, or a norm, for Orthodox Christians during the Nativity Fast. But in Christ these norms aren't vicious laws that beat us down; they provide us with guidance so that we can discover the joy of being in Christ. If we're mired in sin, we can't see the light of Christ. If we're slaves to our own will, we can't see the light of Christ. So the Church helps us in discovering the joy of living in Christ.

This is a very sobering Gospel reading we have this morning (reading can be found at the end of this entry), especially relevant to this "financial crisis" that our nation finds herself faced with (what's happening to all of our wealth?--is the commentary we hear constantly right now).

The rich man in the parable is already wealthy, he already has land and barns and goods. And this particular year the Lord blesses the ground, and his crops yield plentifully-he has more than he knows what to do with, more than he can possibly use or even store. So he decides to tear down his barns and he builds even larger barns and storehouses. His thought is only for his own ease of living-he'll have so much stored up that he can sit back for many years, take it easy, eat, drink, and be merry. But the Lord's analysis of the rich man's situation is this-"Tonight your soul will be required of you." And the question-"then whose will those things be which you have provided?" In other words, tonight you will die; now what good will all of these riches do you?

Our Lord is really hard on the rich both in His preaching and in His parables. But this particular man isn't censured because of his wealth, but because of his greed. Everything that he possibly can acquire, he keeps for himself. The saying is not money that's the root of all evil, but the love of money, the love of possessions (which really flows from the love of ourselves). Pride-the original sin. It's not that the rich man thinks consciously that he's better than everyone else, but that's how he lives; he's only concerned with his own status, with his own comfort and will. What a huge temptation this is for us. And this is the insidious way that pride gets us. Maybe our temptation isn't thinking we're God's gift to the human race (maybe it is). Our temptation, our struggle, most often, is that we live without regard for others. It's not even that we choose to ignore the needs or hurts or desires of others. We just don't notice them; we're so wrapped up in our own path in life, that we pass by other people without even realizing what we're doing. And in some ways that's even worse than the pride that puffs us up to think that we're better than everyone else.

Apathy, not paying attention and not noticing, is much harder to see in ourselves and much harder to address than a more severe manifestation of really any particular temptation, but especially pride. St. John of the Ladder has some magnificent words to help us see and dig out the pride hiding within ourselves (quotes from The Ladder of Divine Ascent, Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 2001). Firstly, a good reminder, a boundary definition for us all to remember about pride-"A most learned elder spiritually admonished a proud brother, but in his blindness he said: ‘Forgive me, father, I am not proud.' The wise elder said to him: ‘What clearer proof of the passion could you have given us, son, than to say, "I am not proud?"'" (Step 23.14)

I think my favorite service, as a priest, to serve, is the baptism of an infant. It's one of the most magnificent events in all of the life of our Church. To add another member to the Body of Christ; to call on the Holy Spirit to lead and guide this new person through their whole life and eventually into the Kingdom of Heaven. Every time we're present for a baptism, in thinking about the transformation that the baptized has just undergone [so wonderfully spoken of by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans, read at the baptismal service], we're given a chance also to reflect on our own entrance into the life of Christ and the Church.

Our baptisms and chrismations should not be seen by us as simply starting points from some time in the past (perhaps even not remembered by us consciously). Our baptisms also are not the end-our decision for Christ is not finished in baptism. Newly baptized infants will grow up, and they will be faced with the same decisions all Christians face, to live for Christ each day (take up your cross daily, the Lord commands), or to live for something else (ourselves, world, pleasure). Instead of viewing our baptisms as static moments in the past, our baptism should have a living significance for each us at this present moment (and at every moment in our Christian lives).

We said that baptism isn't simply an initiation, and it's also not the end of all things-but St. Gregory of Nyssa writes that the baptismal font is both a womb and a tomb (beginning and an end). In baptism, we die to the old man-to the man of the world, of the flesh, to the man of sin. And in baptism, we're re-born a new man-in Christ, filled with the renewing grace of the Holy Spirit. We're a new creature, by the grace of God, as St. Paul clearly explained in our Epistle reading this morning. There is a baptismal dimension to our whole life-baptism is the beginning and the foundation of ALL Christian life. This baptismal dimension that runs throughout our lives is unfolded for us by Sts. Kallistos and Ignatios in the Philokalia-they write "the aim of the Christian life is to return to the most perfect grace of the most Holy and life giving Spirit originally conferred on us in baptism."

St. Paul begins this morning's Epistle reading, a letter to the Christians of Corinth, with a plea-"We then as workers together with Him (Christ), beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain" (2 Cor. 6:1). The Corinthian Christians are workers together with Paul and the Apostles with Christ; all sent out (which is the meaning of the word ‘apostle') into the world to gather the harvest. The Church is sent into the world to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost, and to gather them into the fold of Christ. This also is our task-it's not only the duty of the priest to share the Gospel, and to make a way for people to come to know Christ, and to become members of His Holy Church. This is duty laid on all of us by Christ; since we are possessors of the Truth, we have an obligation to share that Truth with others.

But for most of us, who are not ordained as members of the clergy to perform this task in the Churches, we sometimes wonder exactly how it is that we carry the Gospel to the world. St. Paul really answered that question in last Sunday's Epistle-we carry always in our flesh the dying of Christ. In other words, by our lives, by our words, and by our actions we carry Christ into the world. In the New Testament there's even mention of people wanting to hear about Christ because they wondered what was so different about these people who were Christians. By their presence, by their lives, the Christians witnessed to the Resurrection and to the defeat of sin and hell and death. St. Paul, this morning, gives us a bit of list that paints for us at least a partial picture of what a life that would call others to Christ might look like. A picture of the life that we're striving to as well. We certainly can't mention all of these things, but we can make a beginning.

The bar is set high; St. Paul writes, "Giving no offense in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed" (2 Cor. 6:3). So the goal is that our lives would never offend (this refers not only to not offending the people around us, but most importantly, that our lives never offend the word of God, that we live consistent with what we preach). And this is our aim, so that the ministry of the Gospel be not blamed. Throughout the ages, Christians have not done such a good job with this-many people today refuse to be Christians because of the actions of Christians in the past, and because of the failings of Christians today. One of the main reasons people don't consider Christ, and the most damning reason for the Church, is because of us, the lives of Christians drive people away from Christ. I know I've used this example before, but it's terribly powerful-Ghandi was very attracted to the Christian faith, but he said he would never consider conversion because no Christian he knew actually lived the commandments of Christ, and many didn't even try. This is exactly what St. Paul's addressing in this verse-our lives are not to cause offense, because that sin will do harm to the preaching of the Gospel. Christ says, "Whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea" (Mark 9:42). Whether we cause a weaker brother to stumble, or we cause someone outside of the Church never to seek salvation in Christ, we've caused a little one to falter-and we hear what Christ says would be better.

St. Paul then goes on to list some positive attributes of a life well-pleasing to God, a life that will further the ministry, and not harm it. [Again, we can't mention everything.] The first thing he mentions is patience. We get in more trouble because of our impatience than perhaps anything else. Of course, impatience often comes from our pride and our judging others. But we have to learn to be patient. Be patient with God-His timeline, His ways, are not ours, and impatience with God is a grave sin, because it's essentially not trusting in God. Be patient with others-we have to learn to let other people be themselves. One of the greatest helps I ever heard here was the idea of having no expectations for other people. If we don't expect someone else to do or say or be what we want, then our temptations to be impatient with them for failing will be greatly reduced. Be patient with ourselves-for our entire lives we'll be works in progress. If we insist on controlling this work, then the results will always be disastrous. If we allow God to control our lives, then as He wills and as we cooperate, we'll get to the places He wants us to be.

This morning we hear our Lord's parable of a wedding. The parable is told as a word about the kingdom of heaven-the parable begins, "the kingdom of heaven is like..." (v2). This image Christ uses in the parable becomes one of the most prominent images for the kingdom of heaven in all of Scripture. The wedding of a Son to His Bride. A beautiful image used extensively in the Church to illustrate the joining of Christ with His Holy Church, the Head with the Body, the Bride with the Bridegroom. "Behold the Bridegroom cometh in the middle of night," we sing in Great Lent. We also have the parable of the wise and the foolish virgins waiting for the Bridegroom. St. Paul uses the image of marriage for our relationship with Christ and the kingdom on several occasions.

This image is so ideal because it helps express to us the potential intimacy of man's relationship with His God. And even this simile of marriage is but a pale image of the reality of Christ's union with His people. In the wedding service, we quote the Scriptures, "and the two become one flesh." This is the image given of the kingdom of heaven; we're to be joined to Christ even more fully than a Bride to her Bridegroom.

So in the parable, the Father has prepared for His Son a wedding, and the Father sends out servants to invite people to attend this great occasion. He sends out servants with invitations not just one time, but three times, and He's even forced to send out the army to punish those who have mistreated some of those servants. To understand this persistency we skip to the last verse of the parable-"for many are called, but few are chosen" (v. 14). The Father has made provision for the Church to be the Bride of Christ. And many are called to the wedding-the Orthodox Study Bible has a footnote that explains that the phrase "for many" is an Aramaic expression meaning "for all." Our Orthodox understanding here is that the Church is established, and all mankind is called to be a part of the Body and Bride of God. God desires that "all men be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4). So the repeated sending out of servants to call guests to the wedding shows the Father's desire to have His people with Him in the Heavenly Kingdom (the whole parable is told to demonstrate this). God loves us, and wants us for His own.

So the King has sent out three waves of servants with invitations, and the responses are varied. The first group of servants are simply ignored, the invited are not willing to come. The second group of servants are mocked, and some of the invited just leave and go back to their business, and others take the servants and abuse them and even kill them.  The final group is sent to a different audience-instead of a select few being invited to the wedding, these servants are sent on the highways to invite anyone they might see. And finally, the wedding hall is filled with guests.

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-giving Cross of our Lord. We enter the Church this morning and we fall on our faces in veneration before the Holy Cross, and in worship before our Saviour who was nailed to the tree and died for our salvation. Everything in the Christian Church points to Christ, and the defining moment in the life of Christ is the Cross. As St. Paul writes, "We preach Christ, and Him crucified" (1 Corinthians 1:23).

This is our message as the Body of Christ to the world. We don't preach health and wealth, we don't preach prosperity, we don't give "feel-good" pep talks, we don't say that everything's all right. We preach the Son of God, incarnate of the Virgin Mary, on the tree of the Cross for our salvation, rising from the dead on the third day, ascending into heaven, and seated even now at the right hand of the Father. This message is our boast.

St. Paul also writes to the Romans, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel" (Romans 1:16). The Cross is just as much a stumbling block or folly for people today as it was 2,000 years ago. The mindset of the world wants us to preach Christ the Philosopher, Christ the Wise Man, Christ the Healer. Anything but Christ the Crucified Son of God. This is a great temptation for the Church today-to modify the message of Christ to be more appealing to modern ears, to present Christ as people want Him to be. But carrying the message of the Cross to the world is the only way to truly give them Christ. The Cross is the message of God for the world.

The Cross shows us that the world is broken; the world is evil; terrible things happen in this fallen world. The fulfillment of man is not to be found in the fleeting pleasures and desires of this life. God came into the world, lived a perfect life, revealed Himself to mankind, and the result is the Cross. Of all of the things that have happened over the course of human history, the Cross points most clearly to the fallen-ness of the world.