Homily for the Ecclesiastical New Year in the Orthodox Church

 

1Timothy 2:1-7; Luke 4:16-22

 Think for a moment about how we mark the passage of time in our lives.  We all know how old we are.  Students know what grade they are in.  Workers know how long they have been employed.  Married people count their anniversaries.  Some of us remember America’s bicentennial.  Perhaps we pay attention to such markers to try to make sense of the meaning of our lives as those caught up in the inevitable cycle of birth and death, of one generation passing away as another arises.  As we read in Ecclesiastes, “That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.” (Eccles. 1:9)

 Today we celebrate the ecclesiastical New Year with a gospel reading that is anything but business as usual in a world enslaved to the fear of death.  In Jesus Christ’s first sermon in His hometown of Nazareth, He identified Himself publicly as the Messiah by saying that He fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah as One anointed “to preach good news to the poor and to heal the broken hearted…to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”    Everyone present liked what He had to say, for what could be better than to have a neighbor as the next King David, a righteous political and military ruler who would liberate Israel from Roman control and usher in a time of national blessedness?

 The verses following today’s reading show, however, that the Lord is a radically different kind of Messiah from what the people had expected.  For He went on to remind them that God had blessed Gentiles through the great prophets Elijah and Elisha, while there were Jews who continued to suffer. In doing so, Christ challenged their assumption that God’s blessings were only for people like them to the exclusion of the hated Gentiles.  They were so outraged that they tried to throw Him off a cliff.  Think about that for a moment.  The Lord’s neighbors went from being very happy about His words to trying to kill Him because He made clear that God’s blessings were not only for people of their religious and ethnic heritage, but for the entire world.  Their rejection of the true Messiah revealed how they were enslaved to hatred of those they saw as foreigners and enemies.  They had corrupted their faith to the point that they were so consumed with lust for power and vengeance that they tried to kill the Savior.  

 It is certainly understandable that people living under the occupation of a foreign power would want to be liberated.  That was all the more true for the Jews in light of God’s promises to Abraham to bless his descendants in their own land.   Prophets had foretold their return from exile in Babylon and envisioned them flourishing in a way that would draw all nations and peoples to God.  Unfortunately, many misinterpreted these great promises to the point that they identified God’s Kingdom with an earthly realm for only their own community.  That is why those who heard the Lord’s sermon in Nazareth tried to kill Him when He reminded them that God’s concern extends even to the hated Gentiles.  It was also why the same crowds who cheered His entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday called for His crucifixion a few days later, once it became clear that He was not a conventional worldly ruler about to deliver them from Roman occupation.

 Many still struggle today to accept that Christ’s Kingdom is not merely an extension of life as we know it in this world with a few changes that favor certain groups or agendas over against others.  We so easily forget that, when our Lord conquered Hades and the grave in His glorious resurrection on the third day, He ushered in the eighth day of the everlasting joy of the heavenly reign.  Those who share in His blessed life are no longer enslaved to the fear of death that drives people to take up sides against one another in a futile effort to preserve their individual existence this side of the grave.   Our risen Lord has destroyed the basis of such enmity and division.  He calls us to a radically new way of life not characterized by the old familiar obsession with self-preservation, but in which we conform our character to His to the point that we acquire the spiritual health to “preach good news to the poor and…heal the broken hearted…[and] proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind… set at liberty those who are oppressed…[and] proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” in thought, word, and deed.

 Those who know from the depths of their hearts that even the grave is now an entryway to  eternal life will have the freedom to serve and pray for all who suffer from the debilitating effects of sin as beloved neighbors, regardless of whether they are friends or foes according to the standards of the conventional wisdom. The same Lord Who had mercy on Samaritans, Roman centurions, demon-possessed Gentiles, and Jews who had become notorious sinners has made us members of His own Body, the Church, in which the typical human distinctions are simply irrelevant.  In His Kingdom, there are no grounds to view anyone as essentially a stranger, a foreigner, or an alien instead of as a fellow child of God.   

 Saint Paul, the former Pharisee, became the unlikely apostle to the Gentiles, for he knew that the Lord wants “all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”  For Christ is the “one Mediator…Who gave Himself a ransom for all.” All who bear God’s image and likeness had become subject to death through sin, and all needed a liberation they could not give themselves. As he wrote to the Church in Rome, “There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 3:22-24) Because the Lord has healed the great division of Jew and Gentile, it is clear that earthly distinctions between groups of people have no significance at all in His Kingdom.  Through faith in Him, all may become heirs to the fulfillment of the promises to Abraham.

 We often fail to embrace the full meaning of this radical claim for how we view ourselves and our world.  The nations, leaders, and governments come and go, as do economic systems, political movements, social groups, and cultures. While such passing affiliations shape important dimensions of our lives in this world, we must never allow them to cloud our spiritual vision to the point that we define ourselves or others fundamentally in light of them. If we do, we will fall into the idolatry of seeking first a kingdom of worldly corruption that remains enslaved to the fear of death.  If we do, we will distract ourselves from facing the truth of our own brokenness by building ourselves up over against others from whom we differ in some superficial way.  It is so easy and appealing to invent excuses to justify indulging our passions for hatred, vengeance, and domination against real or imagined enemies.  Of course, that is completely contrary to the way of Christ, Who said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.”  (Matt. 5:43-45) 

 St. Paul suffered imprisonment and death at the hands of the Roman Empire; nonetheless, he instructed St. Timothy to pray for all people, including “for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way.”  His concern was not for some form of earthly power or glory for himself or for the Church.  Instead, He focused on entering into the new day of a Kingdom not of this world, which is why he could pray even for those who would ultimately take his life.  This was a radically different attitude from that shown by those who tried to kill the Savior after His sermon in Nazareth because He refused to bless their fear and hatred of those they saw as foreigners and enemies.

 As we begin a new year in the Church, let us refuse to see ourselves in light of the divisions between people that are driven by the fear of death and serve only to fuel our passions.  Instead, let us live in the eighth day of the joy of the resurrection, which alone makes it possible for us to participate so fully in the life of the Savior that we also “preach good news to the poor and…heal the broken hearted…[and] proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind… set at liberty those who are oppressed…[and] proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Let us stop living according to the familiar standards of corruption as we bear witness in our own lives that Christ has truly brought a radically new Kingdom that is not of this world.  May this year be for all of us a time of entering more fully into the eternal blessedness that He came to share with all for whom He gave Himself as a ransom.