Epistle for the 20^th Sunday After Pentecost

Gal. 1:11-19

The Apostle Paul proclaims in today’s Epistle, “I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

I believe that. I believe that God exists, that He is Who He is… the one Who called Himself ‘I am’. And I believe that He has revealed Himself to us.

Throughout human history, mankind has tried to make sense of this life, of suffering, of joy. Various religions and philosophies have struggled to understand and explain these great questions of life. Some have created elaborate mythologies to tell the stories that seek to make sense of the mysteries of life, others have articulated a rather austere acceptance that these questions remain unknowable. In all cultures and in all lands we see mankind reaching out to try to understand and explain this life and the possibilities of the life beyond.

Mankind reaches out to God and comes closer in some cases than in others to understanding the attributes and nature of God… it is these hints and glimpses of truth that resonate within the human soul who seeks her Creator and God.

And yet, God did not leave us to grope about in vain… no matter how strenuously mankind might reach out, we can never come close to touching God. In order for God to intersect and connect with His creation, He takes the initiative to reach down to us. This is the revelation of God that, as Apostle Paul writes, is ‘not according to man’.

God has revealed Himself to us… He has revealed Himself to us in the most intimate of ways. He willed to become incarnate, taking on human flesh, living among us, teaching and healing us, and submitting in His humility to be arrested and beaten and killed due to our ignorance and greed for worldly power. And yet, as the Source of Life, He could not be contained by the grave, and on the third day He arose in glory. This is the gospel message of Christ, of the victory over death and evil and of the triumph of life and love. This gospel which was preached by the Apostle Paul was not given to him by man, it was revealed by Jesus Christ.

And our Lord did not leave us orphaned… He provided us with His Church and He bestowed upon His Church the grace of the Holy Spirit and upon his disciples the power of heaven. Within the ark of the Church our Lord continues to reach out to man – touching us through His sacraments of baptism, confession, communion, and more.  Within the Church we receive the teachings of the holy fathers – who taught not their own wisdom, but the continual unfolding of the grace of God as It manifests Itself within the lives and struggles of His faithful servants. These things are not given to us by men, but come to us through the revelation of Jesus Christ.

This is what distinguishes the Christian revelation from the religions and philosophies of mankind – and this is an important point… because I am so often confronted by questions about what are the differences between various religions. Many people think that they are all the same… just different cultural expressions of mankind reaching out toward God. Isn’t it arrogant and presumptuous of us to assume that one particular expression of faith is any better or more correct than any one else’s?

If there has been no revelation, if God has not become incarnate and entered into human history - teaching us directly, suffering and dying for us, resurrecting and ascending into heaven, and instructing us and enlivening us with His Holy Church and her precious sacraments – if these things are not really true, then we can say, ‘Yes, all religions are just mankind’s best expression of his understanding of and love for God. Pick whichever one pleases you.’ But if we confess and believe that God DID become incarnate, that God DOES reveal Himself to us, then we must not be afraid to accept this and stand by and be conformed by that truth - no matter how contrary this may be to the philosophical trends of the modern age, no matter how alienated we may appear to others – we must discern and accept and make a distinction between the highest aspirations of man and the divine revelation of God. The truth is not an idea that we can possess and lord over others… the truth is a Person Whom we can love as Lord!

This is the tremendous value and the inheritance of our Orthodox faith. This is why we must hold on to and conform ourselves to our faith – not with pride and a sense of ‘knowing  better’, but with love and humble gratitude. Our Orthodox faith must never be a source of pharisaical pride… because the minute we treat the Truth as if we own it, we lose sight of the proper relationship we should have to the Truth.  

If we take an honest look at ourselves, we should probably be ashamed… for we, who have been given the inheritance of the revelation of God through His Orthodox Church, we are far too often lazy and careless servants. The inheritance of Orthodoxy, the continuous and ongoing revelation of God to mankind through His Church, this should be cause for fear and trembling, for an untiring hunger and thirst for the truth, for gratitude and the softening of our heart in love for God: Love for that which was revealed to us by our Lord… Love for that which continues to facilitate the unfolding grace of God in our lives.

Through the prayers and intercessions of our holy fathers, may this unfolding grace, this revelation from Jesus Christ, transform us and enlighten us; strengthening us for whatever circumstances we may find ourselves in. May we have the courage and the humility to be ‘oddballs’, to be out of step with the world… to speak, and even more importantly, to live the truth in love. May we heighten our awareness of the presence and grace of God – our loving heavenly Father Who reaches down toward mankind, revealing Himself to us through His outstretched arm, that we might reach up in love and humility to complete this connection of love and truth… of this wonderful Gospel message not according to man, but revealed to us by Jesus Christ our Lord.