Scripture Readings: Is. 65:22-25; Gal. 6:14-18; Matt. 24:30-36
Ընթերցուածքներ` Եսայ. ԿԵ 22-25; Գաղ. Զ 14-18; Մատթ. ԻԴ 30-36
In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen!
Which are the 7 deadly sins, which we read and confess every week during general confession? Pride, envy, anger, laziness, covetousness (or greediness), gluttony, and lust. Each of the 7 deadly sins have unique characteristics which often start small and fester and grow into something much worse. It is for this reason they are known as deadly sins. For today, I want us to look at the first one pride. The reason I want us to look at pride is because sometimes this word is misunderstood. As a parent, I am proud of my child; as a teacher and priest, I am often proud of my students and the faithful who learn and apply what they have learned to their lives; as an athlete I am filled with pride when I am able to perform, get that perfect golf shot, lift the heavy weight, stick to my diet, etc. Is this what the Church defines as sin? Of course not, my dears, there is nothing sinful about this kind of pride.
Even St. Paul in Galatians says, “But far be it from me to take pride in anything except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…” In order to understand what this pride is, and how it is not sinful but is applicable to our faith, we need to look deeper. Especially when as Christian’s we are taught to be humble, to empty ourselves, to be like a child in faith, to be meek and serve. Perhaps pride as we use in English, is not a good translation, and it is somewhat incomplete. If we look at the original Greek word καυχᾶσθαι (kauchasthai), we see that it appears 2 other times in the Holy Scriptures, all by St. Paul. The first we read in Galatians and we also have it in 2 Corinthians 11:30 “If I must take pride [or boast], I will boast of the things that show my weakness.” and 12:1 – “I must boast [or take pride]; there is nothing to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.”
If we thought pride was a problematic word in English, we see the Greek translation in fact also defines it as boastfulness, or in Armenian we might translate it as hpardutyun [հպարտութիւն]. Yet, the Greek definition is not limited to only “pride” or “boastfulness” as we understanding it in the negative. In fact, the root verb of this word also comes from the Greek euchomai (εὔχομαι), which is rooted in “prayer.” And what is beautiful is that even in Armenian, the word that our saintly translators used is not hpardutyun [հպարտութիւն], which yes, means arrogance, haughtiness, and the sinful pride – what we are taught to avoid. Rather, the word in Armenian that is used is pardzenal [պարծենալ], which describes a lifting up, exulting or placing in highest regard. Therefore, the pride and boastfulness of St. Paul regardless of what language we read the Holy Scriptures in, is not sin, in the same way being proud of our loved ones, of life’s accomplishments is not sinfulness on its own. Pride is sinful when we boast and lift up ourselves at the expense of others; when we look down and disregard, and when give more importance to everything else above our faith. What St. Paul is telling us is that regardless of all the accomplishments, all the good things we enjoy in life, regardless of everything thing else, the only thing we pray, we lift up, we take pride and boast in is the Holy Cross of Christ.
How many of us know the story of St. Joan of Arc? We have certainly heard her name. She is the patron saint of France and during the reign of Charles VII, she became a military leader who gained recognition as a savior of France. Though she led with strength in the military with many successful accomplishments it was St. Joan of Arc’s faith that gave her purpose, meaning and true virtuous strength. Yet, through the sinful pride and arrogance of enemy leaders, when she was captured, she was put on trial as a blasphemer, heretic and witch. However, she refused to denounce her beliefs, because she stayed loyal to both God and the people, thus she was sentenced to burn at the stake. On May 30, 1431 St. Joan of Arc was tied to the pyre, and the flame was lite. Yet, she did not cry out and did not abandon her faith but rather from within the fire, with perhaps what was her final breath before she was martyred, she called out, “Hold the cross higher so I may see it through the flames!”
My dears, this is what St. Paul means when he says, we take pride, we boast or lift up nothing else but the Cross. It means that we as Christian’s live our life in such a way, that the Cross of Christ, through which the “world has been crucified to us and us to the world” is our direction, our symbol of hope in the flames of our life. I hope and pray, that we do not face the harsh persecutions of our saintly martyrs, yet, in the comforts that we live, in the difficulties we have in our own lives, regardless of our age, our profession, our language, gender, political viewpoints, skin color, successes and failures, accomplishments and goals, regardless of it all – do we take pride in the Cross?
Now we might ask well how are we supposed to do so? My dears, this is simple. We don’t need to be a priest, have a cross hang around our necks, or in our cars and homes, we don’t need to have it tattooed on our bodies, or have a bumper sticker for all to see. Christian boastfulness, Christian pride in the Cross my dears, is humble in nature in that it is our articulation and celebration that our identity, our core, who we are is founded in the Cross of Christ. Not because we are better, but because we recognize even in our brokenness God continues to love us. Our pride in the Cross is our response therefore to that love. How do we speak to one another? How do we look at others in the street? How do we talk about those whom we disagree with or don’t like? How do we treat our own minds, and bodies?
My dears, the world is a dark place, with flames encompassing around us, tearing us down, filled with tribulations and fear. Yet, as the Gospel says, that is when the sign of the Son of Man will appear and those who lived faithlessly will mourn. Meaning those who did not respond to the love of God, those who denied their faith, those who boasted and took pride sinfully in their material gains, finding their identity in the worldly, while disregarding the needs of those who do not have. To deny our faith isn’t dictated by how many times we come to Church or how much or little money we donate. To deny our faith is to make excuses of why we choose lives of sin, why we choose the worldly, over what God created for us, commands us and call us to be.
Yet, for those who live by faith, those who love, forgive, repent, are humble and serve, who give from their heart, who are empathetic, who feed the hungry, who don’t flip off or swear at someone who cuts them off in traffic or who doesn’t look down on the beggar or immigrant in the street as they walk past them; those who live with virtue, not poisoning their bodies with the lustful pleasures and passions; Those who do not deny their faith before people, before their friends and family, it is they who exult the Cross, they lift it up, pray and boast in it with their lives, and they will be gathered by the angels of God. The question is my dears, what do we take pride in? What do we boast, and exult? Sin or the Cross – our faith. Do we respond to God’s eternal love founded in the Cross, or the temporary passions of the world, founded on things that will decay and fail over time. The Prophet Joshua writes 24:14-15, “Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if you be unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua presents a clear choice: choose the living God or return to the idols of the past. Take pride in the Cross or take pride in yourself!
Our prayer is my dear brothers and sisters, that we take pride in the Cross, that we will serve the Lord. That we abandon the sins we have chosen to follow, whether they are pride, anger, envy or whatever we have chosen to put above our faith. Our prayer is that we come into Communion with our Lord, come to Church read our Scriptures and learn how to responds to all that God does, so that we will learn how to exult, and boast in the Cross of Christ not just in words or Sunday to Sunday – but with our every choice, our very life which by the grace of God has been gifted to us. Let us examine ourselves and ask, when the flames gather around us, when we face darkness, do we seek our own way, do we look down on others and get lost in the pit of despair or will we call out as St. Joan of Arc did, “hold the cross higher so I may see it through the flames!” Glory to God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, glory be forever, Amen!