Transformed by the Cross: A Call to True Masculinity and Faith

In this thought-provoking sermon, Sub Dn. Timothy explores the deep spiritual significance of St. Paul's teachings on the cross and its relevance to everyday life. He delves into the challenges of modern masculinity and offers a Christ-centered solution rooted in self-sacrifice and spiritual reflection.

Transcript

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

We are blessed with a number of feasts that are coming up, and we have two forefeasts today: the Nativity of the Theotokos and the Elevation of the Holy Cross. But the readings that we have been given from the Epistle and the Gospel for today come from the forefeasts of the Elevation of the Cross, so we're going to make that our focus today. We have Jesus’ famous words to Nicodemus in John chapter 3, and we also have St. Paul's reflection on the role of the cross in his own life.

We see a twofold process in one line of St. Paul's epistle that I'd like to focus more on today. The line is this: "The world has been crucified to me and I to the world." According to ancient Greek literary structure, what St. Paul has used here is a device called a chiasm or a chiastic structure, where the elements in a sentence are introduced in a certain order, and then that order is reversed in the second part of the sentence. So, "The world has been crucified to me and I to the world," and this creates a memorable line. I think St. Paul is giving us a hint to really focus and pay attention to what he is saying here.

I believe what's embedded in this message is the fact that we are commanded to not only reject the world but be expected to be rejected by it, too. I really want to unpack these words today with a little message to our fathers. Happy Father's Day, if that applies to you this morning.

First, as an aside, however, in the Gospel and the Epistle readings, we see two ways that we as Orthodox interpret scripture that I think are worth mentioning. Firstly, in the Gospel, Jesus applies this story of the Old Testament to himself: just as the serpent was lifted up, this bronze serpent that Moses lifted, in the same way, the Son of Man will be lifted up too. This shows us one way that we as Orthodox interpret the Scriptures through a christological lens. We apply things to the life of Christ.

But St. Paul also takes this crucifixion imagery and applies it to himself, right? As if he was being crucified, which he wasn't and never was. But it shows how he engages with and identifies with Christ and understands the metaphorical and spiritual significance of this event in the life of Christ. This is ultimately how we too read the Bible, right? We apply it to ourselves spiritually and ascetically.

So let's start with the first part then. "The world has been crucified to me." Now, let's start by reminding ourselves what we mean by "the world." I'm going to read some lines from St. Isaac the Syrian that I feel like I've read, I don't know, maybe four or five times in past homilies. You know what? I don't mind. Maybe you're here, and you haven’t heard them before, and even if you have, they're worth mentioning because it's important for us to be clear about what we mean by "the world." St. Isaac says, "The world is the general name for all the passions." When we wish to call the passions by a common name, we call them "the world." But when we wish to distinguish them by their special names, we call them passions. The passions are the following: love of riches, desire for possessions, bodily pleasure from which comes sexual passion; love of honor, which gives rise to envy; lust for power; arrogance, and pride of position; the craving to adorn oneself with luxurious clothes and vain ornaments; the itch for human glory, which is a source of rancor and resentment and physical fear. Where these passions cease to be active, there the world is dead. See for which of these passions you are alive. Then you will know how far you are alive to the world and how far you are dead to it.

So, in saying "the world has been crucified to me," St. Paul means that he has given up on these things having a place in his life. These things have become truly dead inside of him. For us as Christians who are walking this way, it means scrutinizing ourselves constantly to continually try to put these things to death in us. This is a process that will take us the rest of our lives.

Now, if we do this right, the next step of the equation or the chiasm works out, right? Because it's not just how we view the world, but it's how the world views us, right? The people, communities, institutions, governments, ideologies, and systems of this world that are enmeshed in that kind of passionate thinking—how they view us. The reality is that in this world that is under the sway of the devil, what are blessed are, in fact, the passions, right? And all of these things that St. Isaac the Syrian has listed. I mean, think about it. Just watch any TV show or watch an hour of mainstream TV, and what will you see? You will see that what is blessed in the eyes of modern society is to be greedy, to be materialistic, to be a gossiper, to crave status, to have had many sexual partners and experiences, to be antagonistic, to demonize a group of people, to follow your desires, whatever they might be, to care overtly about your external appearance, to have fun at all costs, to spend money on yourself in extravagance, to be self-indulgent, and to not forgive. The list goes on.

To be crucified to the world means to be willing to take on the scorn that will come your way by being different, by not doing these things. This is the witness of the martyrs, right? Because you will be mocked, condemned, and ridiculed if in the eyes of the greedy you are giving, if in the eyes of the lustful you are chaste, if in the eyes of the gossipers you refuse to join in, if in the eyes of the lying you are truthful, if in the eyes of the materialistic you are simple and frugal, if in the eyes of the contentious you are peace-loving, if in the eyes of the divisive you are balanced, if in the eyes of the angry you are meek, if in the eyes of the extravagant you are restrained, if in the eyes of the cynical you are hopeful, if in the eyes of the hateful you are loving, if in the eyes of the liars you tell the truth, if in the eyes of the proud you are humble, if in the eyes of the exploitative you stand up for the oppressed, and if in the eyes of the strong you stand with the weak. Practice any of the above and watch how quickly people will turn on you. Now we understand how people wanted to kill someone as good and merciful as Christ. So being crucified to the world means being willing to endure this suffering for the sake of truth, for the sake of Christ, because we have become like him.

Now, I wanted to weave a final thought into fathers and men more generally on Father's Day. People say we have a crisis of masculinity. That might be the case. We probably also have a crisis of femininity too. But I'll speak as a man on what I know this morning. Analysts see worrying trends of increased loneliness, disconnection, and mental health problems among men. Men are far more likely to drop out of school and university, become homeless, die by suicide, and become incarcerated. According to survey data, 30 years ago, a majority of young men had over six friends. Now, it's half of that. 15% of young men report having no close friends. Meanwhile, messages from the media promote a diverging and confusing range of models as to what it means to be a man. Let's go through some of them: emasculated versions of men on the one hand who do all they can to repress any masculinity inside them, on the other extreme, macho types with misogynist views and cult YouTube followings. Or how about online types who spend their whole lives on games and social media? Or alpha males who use domination and power to win and be on top of the social ladder? Or in more recent times, sigma males, right? You didn't think you'd hear that word in a homily on a Sunday morning, who embody the lone ranger archetype and romanticize going it alone. Or how about the workout types who hit the gym eight days out of seven performing elaborate morning routines at 5:00 a.m. eating nothing but acai bowls and raw eggs? Or how about the successful entrepreneur types who got rich on crypto and now drive silver Lamborghinis with matching Rolex timepieces? I mean, they don't even call them watches; they call them timepieces. You know what? I've just had it enough. I'm totally confused as to what it means to be a man, right? Could I get women here—you really need to acknowledge that we are struggling, right? Could I get all the women here, please? Right now, turn to a man. I don't care if you know him or not in the nave right now, put a compassionate look on your face and say, "You really have it hard." Go.

That's right. On Father's Day today, give a man a hug. Unless, of course, he's a sigma male, in which case he can hug himself.

So, what's the answer for us today? I believe that the overlap of Father's Day with the forefeast of the Elevation of the Cross gives us a clue. St. Paul and Christ give us the answer. This is what St. Paul says. He says, "I bear on my body the marks of Jesus," meaning that he has suffered for Christ. And Jesus says this: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up." What they are showing us is that the essence of masculinity is sacrifice. St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians tells husbands that what Christ is to the Church, husbands are to their wives. So, Christ sacrifices himself for the Church. So, to fathers and men, by extension, you are the Christ figure in your family's life. Whether or not you are a father now, because you will be one one day, and I don't necessarily mean biologically, you will engender something in the lives of people around you, especially young men. You will reproduce after your own kind. Who you are will decidedly influence others that you come into contact with. You may be the best dad in the world, or you may do nothing other than sit in your room all day surfing the Internet. But you will create versions of yourself.

So take this time to reset and make courageous and compassionate Christ-centered self-sacrifice the foundation of your being. You are the priest in your home to model and represent Christ to your family and also to bring your family before God. In a nutshell, the best way you can be a man and a father is to be crucified to the world and for the world to be crucified to you.

As we finish, let's ask ourselves, what do we glory in? Not just men, but all of us: our achievements, our possessions, our status, our looks, our body, our money, our cultural heritage. May we all reach a point where we can say with St. Paul, "Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world." Consider which side of the two lines of the chiasm you need to work on: I have been crucified to the world and the world to me. If you're sitting here thinking, I'm not persecuted or rejected by others for anything, maybe you're not doing the first part right. Maybe the passions are bound in you so much that there is no discernable difference between your life and people who don't follow Christ. You need to prioritize your holiness. Take it seriously. May we all consider St. Isaac the Syrian's words: "See for which of these passions you are alive. Then you will know how far you are alive to the world and how far you are dead to it." May God help us to do so. In the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. Amen.