Spiritual Athletes – February 24, 2019

READINGS: 1 Cor 9:24-10:5, Matthew 20:1-16

Homily – Spiritual Athletes

In our Gospel and Epistle readings this morning, we hear two different stories, with two different messages, yet both of them are related in that they point towards the same end.  Though, I will admit that one story with the message “the last shall be first, and the first shall be last,” when held against another story about racing, seems somewhat counter productive, but I digress.  That aside, they both point towards the same end, the same reward, and that is the crown of everlasting life promised to those who love him, Jesus Christ our Lord.

In both stories we see a labor for the reward received, not that we should believe  that we receive it by what we do, but we shall receive nothing if we do nothing, for a faith without works is dead (James 2:16).  In the Gospel reading all the laborers worked, though not all equally, and all received the same reward. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians is speaking of a race, in which all compete, but will only receive the reward if they finish the race.  In both cases, the plurality of voices found within the patristic witness of the Church agrees that these are active analogies of our faith, that the reward is indeed eternal life in Christ our God. I say they are active analogies because the case is clearly and plainly presented that our faith is an active faith.  We must do something with our faith.  A mental ascent and acquiescence to the teachings of the faith alone is not enough.  Simply saying “we believe” and “we love” is not enough.  Our faith is not a feeling. Simply checking the box and showing up on Sundays is not enough.   Indeed our faith is an active faith, for an idle mind is the seed of many sins, but an idle body is the field from which they grow.  We must remember the words of Christ, who himself exhorted, “if you love me, you will obey my commandments.”

So, in Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians he uses the imagery of a race. It would not have been lost upon those hearing this letter read to them, that in those races Paul uses as an analogy, in order to race within those races, one must first be a Roman citizen in order to participate. So, before one can even participate in this race, our race to which Paul speaks, one must first be a citizen within the kingdom of heaven – a theme alluded to in some of his other writings – which is accomplished through our baptism and Chrismation into the body of Christ.  So, this is a letter not only to the Corinthians, but to all baptized Christians to complete the race as athletes in Christ, so that they may receive the crown of glory as their prize. Yet, one cannot hope to succeed in any race, as I am sure some of our runners here can attest, unless they become proficient and practiced athletes. Yet, we do not run with sore feet, we do not lift heavy weights, we do not exert ourselves to physical feats of fortitude and glory, but our athleticism is a spiritual one; our training is found in the ascesis of the Church; our strength is found in Christ who grows in each of us, as we ourselves willingly and sacrificially decrease.

In the words of Tertullian of Carthage, in his own commentaries on these verses, he speaks to the same sentiment here:

“Your master, Jesus Christ has anointed you with the Spirit and has brought you to this training ground.  He determined long before the day of the contest to take you from a softer way of life to a harsher regimen, that your strength may increase.  Athletes are set apart for more rigid training to apply themselves to the building up of their strength. They are kept from lavish living, from more tempting dishes, from more pleasurable drinks.  They are urged on, they are subjected to tortuous toils, they are worn out. The more strenuously they have exerted themselves, the greater is their hope of victory.”

We who are on the cusp of great Lent, are about to enter into the Marathon of our faith in the coming weeks, where we test our spirits, strengthen our resolve, and temper our very bodies and souls into the image and likeness of Christ.  Yet, when Holy Week comes and goes, and Pascha passes us by, it is yet just another lap completed in the sacramental life we live within the sacramental rhythm of the Church. It is race we keep running till the day we take our last breath, and it is a reward not received until the day of the dread judgement when we can finally hear those sweet and gentle words of our Lord and Savior – well done my good and faithful servant.

So, how do we as mortal men and women become spiritual athletes in the eternal arena of our faith? How do we as Christians accomplish this in the scope and context of our faith?   Using the words of Saint Seraphim of Sarov, we do this through the acquisition of the Holy Spirit.

“Prayer, fasting, vigils and all the other Christian practices may be, they do not constitute the aim of our Christian life.  Although it is true that they serve as the indispensable means of reaching this end, the true aim of our Christian life consists of the acquisition of the Holy Spirit of God.  As for fasts, and vigils, and prayer, and almsgiving, and every good deed done for Christ’s sake, are the only means of acquiring the Holy Spirit of God.”

Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving; these are the practices of our Christian faith that strengthen the spirit in those qualities virtue and goodness, and make us stronger spiritual athletes, with which we can overcome all obstacles of faith. These are the means by which we obtain the rewards promised to those who love him.

In our struggle to become better spiritual athletes, I will go over the three main spiritual exercises that strengthen us for the race ahead.

Exercise one – Prayer

“Prayer alone will give your soul the strength… In order to acquire spiritual muscles, you have to go to the spiritual gym.” – Elder Sergei of Vanves

Our prayer life is our spiritual gym.  Our prayer is the locus by which all virtue  is obtained, and in the words of Theophan the recluse:

“If you are not successful in your prayer, you will not be successful in anything, for prayer is the root of everything”

By prayer we unite the mind and heart, and also the mind and the heart with God.  We pray so that God’s will would be done in this life; that whatever we have need of would be given; that whatever we do and all that we do, we do with full awareness that we depend God in all that he is, in all that we are.

Without prayer, there is no spiritual life alive within us. For, in the words of Saint Tikhon, “As a bird without wings, as a soldier without arms, so is a Christian without prayer.” So in his words we understand  that without prayer we cannot rise to the heavens without wings, and we cannot engage in battle without arms, and so it is without prayer that we are flightless, defenseless, and without aid from on high.   Yet, Prayer consisting of words alone is not of any assistance to us if the heart does not participate in prayer.

Our faith, our prayer, should become a state of being – it is not enough to say prayers, to simply be a Christian, but we must become our prayer, become a Christian, and incarnate our faith by word AND deed.  Our prayer life should be lived, and our prayers should be interwoven with our life, otherwise they become vestigial words and phrases that we simply offer in our short periods we turn towards God. Our prayers and our actions should become two expressions of the same situation.  Also, We must approach our prayer life as a mutual relationship of friendship. God must be the object of our prayer, our wanting, for the intensity and elation of our prayer is often about the object of our prayer rather than the one to whom our prayer is addressed.

“All of life, each and every act, every gesture, even the smile of the human face, must become a hymn of adoration, an offering, a prayer.  One should offer not what one has, but what one is.”

This is the gift we give, our lives. We do this because it is the only gift we can give which is reciprocal of itself, given in response to the gift which we have received ourselves – which is eternal life.

Exercise two – Fasting

In addition to prayer, we find fasting as a prescription of the Church. We fast, in addition to, and in conjunction with prayer, in order to train the body, to train ourselves in resisting the passions of the flesh.  For, If we cannot resist even the smallest morsel of food, then we have no hope in battling the greater temptations in our own lives. Start with the small act of fasting, and your foundation of iniquity will erode and collapse as though a house built on sand.

In a hymn by Saint Basil the Great, we hear the following words:

“Let us fast an acceptable and very pleasing fast to the Lord. True fast is the estrangement from evil, temperance of tongue, abstinence from anger, separation from desires, slander, falsehood perjury. Privation of these is true fasting.”

We fast from food to strengthen us in fasting from all things harmful and unneeded to our spiritual lives.  Fasting is a means in which to practice self control on our path towards conquering the passions of the flesh.  Fasting is an exercise of both penitence and sacrifice (for there is no love without sacrifice), which assist in conquering of self, and being more attentive to those in need. Indeed, fasting was a practice often commended by the Fathers of the early Church, and was considered a universally applied spiritual discipline, as can be seen in some following quotes:

“Just as the most bitter medicine drives out poisonous creatures, so prayer joined to fasting drives even sinful thoughts away.” – Amma Syncletia – Desert Mother.

“If a man goes about fasting and hungry, the enemies of his soul grow weak.” Abba John the Dwarf – Desert Father.

“There are three levels of partaking of food: abstinence, adequacy, and satiety.  To abstain means to remain a little hungry after eating; to eat adequately means neither to be hungry nor to be weighed down; to be satiated means to be slightly weighed down.  But eating beyond satiety is the door to belly-madness, through which lust comes in. But you, firm in this knowledge, choose what is best for you, according to you powers, without overstepping the limits.” Saint Gregory of Sinai

Last but certainly not least, Saint Basil the Great:

“Be cheerful since the physician has given you sin-destroying medicine. For just as worms breeding in the intestines of children are utterly eradicated by the most pungent medicines, so too, when a fast truly worthy of this designation is introduced into the soul, it kills the sin that lurks deep within.”

Fasting builds a quality of character in the Christian life through the mortification of the flesh. We conquer ourselves in the defeat of gluttony, for indeed the appetites of the flesh are roots of much evil.  So, we counter sin with virtue, gluttony with fasting, and develop our ability for self control.

Exercise three – Almsgiving

Almsgiving is a practice of virtue that goes hand in hand with fasting, and prayer.  When one practices virtue through prayer and fasting, one must also show our love of Christ, our love of one another through active and sacrificial giving to others. Like our prayers, like our fasting, we must remember to keep them always in secret, for what we do we do not for man, but in the presence of God alone.

We know that love fulfills the whole law, and is the greatest of the commandments, but scripture also tells us that there is no real love if we do not share what we have and/or have in excess with those who do not:

“But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” ~1 John 3:17

“A Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” ~James 1:27

“So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” 
~ James 4:17

There are many other verses in scripture that attest to the necessity of our attention and care to others in need. A spiritual man must give of his own sustenance cheerfully and not reluctantly to those who are poor, and in need.  The giving of alms must also be sacrificial (for again there is no love without sacrifice), so we must take from ourselves when we give to others. We give for the sake of others, for if we first do not see ourselves in the other, then we may never see Christ, for “your neighbor is your true self.  You have no self in yourself.” Also, in the words of Saint Basil, “If every man took only what was sufficient for nis needs, leaving the rest to those in want, there would be no rich and, and there would be no poor.”

All earthly possessions are not our own, but belong to the creator of all things.  As such, men are but stewards and caretakers of all that belongs to the Lord, and as such we should be good stewards with what we have been entrusted with, that we would be rewarded with even greater treasures in heaven.  Saint Basil the Great says that a man who has two coats or two pair of shoes, when his neighbor has none, is a thief. For us to store up earthly possessions, Christ has told us, is foolishness.

For those who strive for the perfection of Christ, to give is to gain.  He who is truly perfect as his Father in heaven is perfect is one who gives, and who has given all things for the sake of others.  Such a man is truly living a spiritual life, for he has no attachment to the things of this world, and it is man’s attachment to the things of this world that causes much suffering, both to ourselves and to others.

In Conclusion:

Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, the three great ascetic practices of our faith,  the exercise and growth of our spiritual lives in the race we run towards the reward of our eternal life.  If we grow in our spiritual lives, grow in strength through the acquisition of the Holy Spirit, we become able athletes in the race of faith that lies before us.  Yet, our spiritual life is far more than just our thoughts and feelings, and in fact it is comprised of the whole human experience, the full depth of our humanity: thought, feeling, heart,  soul, vision, mind, and body.  Not only this, our spiritual lives should be comprised of our everyday experiences – work, school, our social life, family life, home life – and not just be compartmentalized to Church on Sunday mornings.  We should live our life cognizant of the sacramental rhythm in which we exist as Orthodox Christians, and incarnating Christ in our lives not just on Sunday, but in everything that we do. The spiritual life is important for all Christians, because it is the only life that a Christian can live, it is the only life that directs our whole being towards Jesus Christ.  Any other life lived is but a poor imitation, and a life lived beneath our intended human dignity.

We must be cognizant that spiritual growth only happens by patient struggle, struggles with temptation, pride, the passions, and ourselves.  Though, in fighting through our myriad struggles, we must remember to have faith in spite of what happens, and not because of it, for our faith is what brings us hope.

Amen.