† Archbishop Seraphim: Sermon 5th Sunday of Great Lent (Memory of St Mary of Egypt)

Archbishop † SERAPHIM: Homily

13 April, 2008
Hebrews 9:11 – 14; Mark 10: 32 - 45

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Today we are celebrating the memory of St Mary of Egypt, the most important example for us all in repentance so far as I can see, and so far as I can understand. We heard in her Life, and in the hymns what sort of a life she had lived before the time came for her repentance. She, in fact, was living a very, very twisted, and ruined life, and she took people into ruin with her. Yet, when the Lord gave her a clear sign that she could still be loved, she repented. Because of the way she turned about her life (she became very holy, as we find out at the end), she is really an important sign for us. I have encountered many people in the course of my days who have thought that they were horrible sinners. Their lives were so fallen, broken, twisted, corrupt, and otherwise ruined, that they considered themselves to be beyond God’s ability to forgive. How many times I’ve heard people say: I’ve been so bad God can’t forgive me. However, the fact is that there is no-one so bad that God cannot or will not forgive. The effectiveness of the forgiveness is actually on our side – will we let Him forgive is the question.

St Mary of Egypt was great in repentance, but what about apostolic repentance? In another week, and a bit, we’re going to be walking with the Apostles, and the Saviour on the way to the Saviour’s Passion. How did the Apostles survive that test of walking with the Saviour on the way to His Passion? According to our standards, they failed badly. Why do I say that? Well, they kept falling asleep; then they were afraid; then they ran away; and then the Apostle Peter, himself, denied three times that he even knew WHO IS Jesus Christ. This is not small potatoes when it comes to that because this is betrayal. Betrayal is even bigger than what St Mary of Egypt did, you could say; and yet, those Apostles, with tears, repented. They were sorry that they were so weak, and so overcome with fear, and they returned to the Lord, and begged forgiveness (which they certainly got, or we wouldn’t be standing here today).

The Lord is ready to forgive, as long as the person is ready to let the Lord heal that person’s life. You see, that’s what has to happen. We have to be able to accept the love of the Lord working in us. If we let the love of the Lord work in us, He will overcome all the darkness, the brokenness, the distraction, the betrayal, and whatever else we have been up to in the course of our lives. He will forgive it, and He will heal it over a period of time. For most of us, this healing doesn’t happen in thirty seconds. Occasionally it does, but not so often, because most of us will take such quick forgiveness as too easy, and then we will go around doing whatever we like, and thinking that God will automatically forgive, and we will try to take advantage of that. We are not the most reliable creatures of the Lord. Yet, because He created us in the way that He created us, He is, nevertheless, waiting for us always with His hand and His heart outstretched and open towards us, waiting for us to let Him embrace us, and to embrace Him back, and allow Him to give us eternal life, and healing, so that, in the context of His love, we may become our real selves.

There are so many things I could say about everything that we have heard today, but I think the most important thing for us to remember is the example of the Saviour, Himself, and the example of the life of St Mary, and also the lives of the Apostles. The Saviour says: “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve”. This was in answer to the question about sitting beside Him in the Kingdom in glory. This is the Christian way, and this is the example all of us have to learn. The way of the world is absolutely the opposite. We have to be the example, following the example of Christ. He came into the world, not to be served, but to serve.

So, Christians, historically, everywhere, always, moved by the love of Jesus Christ, living in imitation of Him, try to live in this manner of service. In His love it becomes almost an instinct: how can I help someone else; how can I look after someone else; how can I feed someone else (especially, in the Orthodox context); how can I give hospitality to someone else; how can I support someone else; how can I be a servant, like Christ, for someone else; how can I be the Lord’s hand stretched out, and active? How can I be a hand for Him or a foot for Him? (I’m thinking more or less of the walking part, not the other things that feet can sometimes do.)

The Saviour is the example to us of self-emptying love. It’s really important for us to remember this as we are entering these most solemn days. These are now the last days of Great Lent – it finishes on Friday. Then begins Holy Week. These are the most solemn days of the year. Let’s open our hearts to the Lord in these most solemn days. Let us walk with the Lord, and with those Apostles. Let us take our hearts with those Apostles, and the Saviour through the Passion. With our hearts soft with His love, open with His love, let us ask the Lord to renew this love in us so that we will be able to live our lives faithfully for Him, in Him, with Him, glorifying Him in love in everything, together with His Father, who is from everlasting, and His all-holy, good, and life-creating Spirit, now, and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.