After the Cross...

by Father John Dresko

(This is the text of a sermon delivered at Holy Trinity Church in New Britain, Connecticut on Sunday, September 16, 2001.)

Today is the Sunday after the Cross. This day is, without a doubt, the most meaningful and significant Sunday after the Cross in our lifetime. On Monday morning, I woke up with all sorts of problems. Our lawn has some kind of strange weed/grass hybrid taking over and I don't know what to do about it. Our roof is brittle and crumbling and needs replacing. That led to my normal concerns about finances with three children in college. And on and on...
On Tuesday morning, everyone in our country, indeed everyone in the world, woke up with a different set of problems - a set of problems that made our problems of Monday, no matter what they were, seem petty and selfish. For two weeks around the celebration of this Feast, we have heard, seen and venerated not only the Cross, but the fact that the Cross is part of every believer's life.

Normally, we hope and pray that our Cross might be small and light. Perhaps some aches and pains, maybe some financial difficulties, some job concerns, even in a spiritual sense our struggles to live a Christian life in a world increasingly hostile to our faith. But on Tuesday, September 11th, we saw the face of evil incarnate and are witnesses to and victims of darkness and death. We were given a Cross that none of us ever imagined and certainly never desired. And we wonder how we are going to carry it.

The realities of Tuesday's events present certain "human" crosses to us: our sense of security has certainly been shattered. Our confidence in the "American way of life" has been shaken. Our belief that others would see democracy, liberty and freedom as virtues worth emulating has been proven absurd. A little deeper, but certainly not unfathomable, we have been shown that our comforts, wealth, and abundance of material possessions are mere shadows - fleeting wisps of smoke that can vanish as soon as a decent puff of wind rises up.

The amazing thing is that we never imagined the puff of wind arising. We live our lives in such abundance and comfort that we are tempted to believe that the abundance and comfort have power and strength in and of themselves. We are seduced into thinking that we have control of this world and our lives in it, when in reality we have no control whatsoever. All of those human "crosses" were given to us when faceless terrorists attacked our country and killed and injured thousands of innocent people.

But it was not just buildings and people that were attacked. Each and every one of our immortal souls has been attacked. And it is that attack that we need to worry about now. Satan and his disciples want to compound this awful sin and recruit numerous co-conspirators by watching us sink into a bottomless pit of passions. In these moments, we are tempted to be angry, to be bitter, to be hateful, to be prejudiced, to be bloodthirsty, to be judgmental. We feel totally justified in all those emotions, which is the greatest temptation of all. But it is in fighting these temptations that we are called to hear the words of the Lord from today's gospel reading: "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself (St. Luke adds "daily") and take up his cross and follow me." The Lord did not say "deny himself and take up his cross." He added "and follow me." What does "following Christ" mean for us today, when each of us feels as if we have the "taking up his cross" part down pat? Let's hear the word of the Lord.

The Lord said, "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from him who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to every one who begs from you; and of him who takes away your goods do not ask them again. And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.
"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
"Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back." (Lk 6:27-38)

Our faith is so easy to practice when we have small crosses - but even then we are easily led to despair. It is so hard to practice when our crosses are large and heavy. It is obvious that to "follow Christ" means we are called to something much different than mere human response. We are called to emulate Christ. We are called to love, not hate. To bless, not curse. To pray for our enemies. Even to forgive them. A great expectation, to be sure. But it is the way for anyone claiming to follow Christ. Concretely, each and every one of us should be on our knees praying to God for our attackers and asking Him to soften our hearts and remove all bitterness, hatred, anger, and judgement. Otherwise, we are "deader" than those who lost their lives in the attack.

Our cross today is not the cross of watching this suffering and death, not the cross of grief in the loss of innocents, not the cross of an uncertain future. When has there ever been a time when people have not felt suffering and death, grief and uncertainty like this? Perhaps in the joyous days after the birth of Christ - when Herod had all the boys under two years old killed in a vain attempt to protect his kingdom? Perhaps in the early days of the Christian Church reveling in the Resurrection - when believers were routinely rounded up and tortured until death simply for believing in Christ? Maybe during the Black Plague - when one's neighbor was here today and literally gone tomorrow? Perhaps in the glory of the Russian Church - when Stalin's paranoia and atheism led to the deaths of millions of believers? How about in the glorious days after the victory in World War II - just as our troops discovered Auschwitz? Maybe when we had a great victory in the Cuban Missile Crisis - and the world came within a hair's breadth of nuclear war?

We are at a crisis moment in our spiritual lives. But we must understand that "crisis" in the original Greek meant "opportunity." Our opportunity at this very moment is to repent - to "turn around." Each of us can grow deeper and stronger as Christians with this opportunity - not to sink into hatred and despair, but to take refuge in prayer and trust in God. But we can only do this if we take up our cross and follow Him; if we stop living for ourselves and our possessions; if we stop being so completely satisfied in a country where thousands of people go hungry to bed under bridges every day; if we stop equating hatred, prejudice and the hoarding of what is mine with "strength."

Faith is strong, the cross is fulfilled, only when we are tested. St. Paul equated faith with gold passing through a fire - he said our work will "be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done." (1 Cor 3:13) The Apostle also reminds us that "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." (1 Cor 9:13) If God is faithful, who are we to be not faithful - even in tribulation?

But let's not be mistaken - this cross is different but not in opposition to the cross our nation faces collectively right now. That cross is to fulfill the obligation of the nation-state to protect its people to the best of its ability in a wise, humane way while making sure that this type of naked evil and darkness never be allowed to impose suffering and death on such a scale again. Every one of us needs to pray for the president, for those in seats of civil government, and for our armed forces. We need to pray that they have the wisdom and strength to find the means to eliminate this type of threat from our world forever. We need to pray that all actions, even difficult actions, are taken in the pursuit of justice and liberty with the utmost care being taken to protect innocents. But our collective cross does not include doing nothing. Even men of peace and good will must rise up in the face of evil and do what is necessary to overcome that evil. Christ said in today's Gospel that "...whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it." Our individual and collective crosses still end in victory - if we bear the crosses for Christ.

In the Orthodox prayer for soldiers, we hear these words: "Enlighten the peoples who conquer and torture other nations; make them repent and seek peace, leaving other lands and their dwellers free. Open the eyes of our mind to see Your divine law and incline our hearts ever to do Your commandments"

May it be so!