Homily: Of Truth and gifts – November 9th, 2019
Readings: Epistle – Ephesians 4:7-13, Gospel – John 15:17-25
Today we remember and celebrate the Greater feast of Saints Simon and Jude. Two of the twelve apostles, their names mentioned in the synoptic gospels, and Saint Luke’s Acts of the Apostles. Yet, outside of these mentions in scripture, we know very little about them or their works following Pentecost. Even those extra biblical sources we have seem to disagree somewhat on their lives, and how they ended. Western tradition and martyrology dating from the sixth century holds that Saint Simon first preached in Egypt, and later joined Saint Jude to preach the gospel in Persia, where they both suffered martyrdom. On the other hand, The Monology of Saint Basil the Great tells us that Simon died a peaceful death at Edessa. Yet, no matter where they went, no matter the means by which they went to the Lord, we remember them nonetheless, because we are the Church. Disregarding all else about them, we know with certainty that they are counted among those – the Apostles of Christ – who constitutes the foundation of our Church, for indeed the Church was built upon the foundation of her prophets and Apostles. They hold up the Church, which itself exists as the pillar and foundation of truth, as well as being the body of Christ, who is Truth. It is only within this body, the Church, that the Truth is received, and so given to others “ to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,” just as Saint Paul exhorts us in our Epistle reading for today.
It is to this body that is given the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Christ ascended that the Holy Spirit might descend and endow us with those gifts necessary to the building up of the Church in the fullness of Christ. We all possess those gifts of God’s grace common to all, as Saint John Chrysostom highlights in his own homilies on the letter to the Ephesians: “baptism, salvation by faith, having God as Father and partaking of the same Spirit.” We also possess diverse spiritual gifts in varying degrees; though, one must not allow one’s self to descend into arrogance at what they themselves possess, nor must one look at another’s gifts and fall into despondency that they have not been so gifted. It is against this which Saint Paul fought in his letters to both the Ephesians and the Corinthians, and why he used the analogy of the Church as one body consisting of many members elsewhere in scripture. This is why Saint Paul did not say “to each one of us according to the measure of their faith,” lest one should fall into arrogance or pride. But this is also why Saint John Chrysostom also says “If someone has more in grace, feel no resentment, for his task is greater too.” For, if those who have been given do nothing with what they have received, they are just like the man who received the one talent, and buried it in the earth.
The Church is one in her essence; her essence of faith; her essence of spirit and the teaching received therein; but, she is diverse in both gifts and function. Despite what the world may try to force us to believe, unity does not mean uniformity; equality does not mean sameness. The Church is diversity in operation, not a diversity of faith nor truth, but of people. We are all living stones, just as Saint Peter exhorts, altogether comprising the Church. Look at the walls of any Church, the grain of the wood, the variations in stone, and no two are alike. Likewise, we are each unique in person, yet we all strive towards the same fullness of our humanity. It is towards this fullness of Christ that we are “guided by gifted people for the sake of maturity and stability of the body.” We are all living stones, and Christ is the cornerstone of the foundation upon which we stand, and the living mortar that binds us all together.
What Christ has given is a gift of immense price. This is why, Christ being both the Gift and the price paid for it, that our own lives are the only gift that is reciprocal of itself. I say of itself, for our very lives are a gift bestowed to us, saved from eternal death, healed from the wounds of sin that we might live fully. Every aspect of our Christian faith, every detail of our Christian life, is intertwined with that great gift to which we have been given. Christ is the great physician, the healer of our souls, and we follow those prescriptions He has given us through the Church: Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Christ is the great medicine and food for our souls, that which we receive by the cup of salvation at the Holy Mysteries of our faith. Christ is the way, the Truth, and the life by which we find our way through the darkness of this world.
What Christ has given us is without distinction from Christ himself, and such are the gifts of the spirit we have received. Those gifts are given to each of us according to that which we need; it is given according to that which we desire; it is given according to that which we are capable of possessing by a measure distinctive to our love and character. We each possess a distinctiveness of spirit, a distinctiveness of person or character, a distinctiveness of individuality, but a unity of persons in one faith. This distinctiveness, the difference of persons does not place anyone above or below another, for we are all necessary. Just as the wall is weaker with stones removed, and a chain cannot hold with missing link, so is the Church when lacking unity, or missing those who belong. The Church grows stronger as each is added to it, according to their own faith, according to their own gifts, and the building up of one another.
There is a saying within the Orthodox Church that we grow and we rise together, but we fall alone. As such, no Christian should ever regard themselves as an isolated individual, for we are all part of the body of Christ. It is not only by our gifts that we labor to build and encourage the Church towards the fullness of Christ, but also our participation in the sacraments, and the sacramental rhythm of the Church. When we sin, we sin not against ourselves only, but against all those who stand with us. We go to confession that we may be absolved, that our sin does not erode the unity and stability of that body. We participate in the same cup, that we all may receive the eternal remedy; so that no one withers in spirit. We all practice those spiritual exercises – prayer, fasting, and almsgiving – that each of us may grow strong in our own faith, supporting one another as we march together towards the eschaton. We remember our dead, as we remember Saints Simon and Jude. Their souls are separated from their bodies, but we remain in communion with them and all others, for even in death the body of Christ is not divided. We remember one another, praying for one another always and in all things. We all study the same scriptures, adhering to the same teachings of the faith; for the unity of the faith cannot be separated from the knowledge of the Son of God.
The Truth, the knowledge of the Son of God, is the seed planted in each of us, and simultaneously the seed we have been given to plant in others. Those gifts of the spirit are the tools we have been given to work those fields once planted. We must not neglect the tools we have been given, for while iron may sharpen iron, it rusts when left in disuse. We must not neglect the labor at hand, for as Christ himself has said, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. The gift of Christ was purchased for us at an immeasurable price. So, let us live worthily of such a sacrifice, that it be not in vain, and we be considered sons and daughters of the living God. May all truth abide in us and save us.
By the prayers of our holy Fathers and Mothers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us.
Amen.
