IN LABORS MORE ABUNDANT: A SERMON FOR SEXAGESIMA (FEB. 23RD)
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| The Trail of St. Paul, by Bodarevsky |
"We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be." - CS Lewis, The Problem of Pain
By Bp. Joseph (Ancient Church of the West)
INTRODUCTION
Let us center ourselves as I re-read and review some of the Scriptures from this morning. Let us turn our hearts to the Word of God as we reflect on this Sexagesima Sunday and explore the path of endurance to which we are all called, the pathway that God prepares for us to walk in - leading to holiness and to life.
SCRIPTURES
OLD TESTAMENT READING: Genesis 45:4-8 -
In those days, Joseph said unto his brethren: Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
NEW TESTAMENT READING: Acts 21:10-14 -
In those days, as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus. And when he was come unto us, he took Paul’s girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost: So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done.
EPISTLE: 2 Corinthians 11:19-31 -
Brethren: Ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise. For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face. I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also. Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I. Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not? If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.
GOSPEL: Saint Luke 8:4-15
At that time: When much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, Jesus spake by a parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”
SERMON
LABOR IN WEAKNESS
In the Epistle, St. Paul recounts his many sufferings—beatings, imprisonments, shipwrecks, hunger, and thirst. Yet, he does not boast in his strength but in his infirmities, because in them, Christ’s power is made perfect. St. Maximos Confessor, reflecting on this, teaches:
The person who has chosen to walk according to Christ must expect to suffer the loss of all things - of possessions, of honor, and of life itself - so that he may find in God what he has lost in the world.
Like Joseph, who was cast into a pit, sold into slavery, and falsely accused before Pharaoh’s court, St. Paul finds that his sufferings are the very means by which God raises him to glory. Indeed, Joseph's trials foreshadow Christ’s own Passion - betrayed by his brethren, cast down into the pit of death, yet rising to rule at the right hand of the king.
WATCHFULNESS OVER WORD AND SOIL
The Gospel warns us of three enemies of the Word - the devil, the world, and the flesh. Christ, like a sower, casts the seed of His divine wisdom upon the hearts of men. Some, hardened like the wayside, allow the devil to steal the word before it takes root. Others, like shallow soil, receive it with joy but fall away in tribulation. And others, choked by the thorns of worldly care, become unfruitful.
St. John Damascene, meditating on this passage, exhorts us:
If the soil of your soul is trodden down by vanity, or made shallow by pride, or overgrown by the thorns of carnal desires, do not despair, but break up the fallow ground through repentance, and call upon the Lord, that He may send the rain of His mercy to soften your heart.
Paul’s life illustrates this parable in reverse. Where others fall away, he remains steadfast. He is beaten but not broken, afflicted but not forsaken. He embodies the good soil, in which the Word, through much tribulation, bears abundant fruit.
PUTTING ON THE ARMOR OF GOD
Sexagesima is a reminder that the Christian life is warfare. St. Paul, writing elsewhere, exhorts us:
"Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."
St. Patrick, in his famous Lorica (Breastplate Prayer), calls upon Christ as his strength:
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me...
This prayer, like the words of the Psalmist in today’s Introit—Arise, O Lord, and help us, and deliver us—reminds us that only in Christ do we have the strength to endure tribulation.
THE ROAD TO ROME AND MARTYRDOM
The reading from Acts recounts Paul’s arrest and defense before the Jews, paralleling Christ’s own trial. Like Joseph and our Lord before him, Paul suffers unjustly, yet his sufferings become a testimony. Here, we see the same divine pattern: to suffer is to bear witness.
C.S. Lewis, speaking of this paradox in The Problem of Pain, writes:
"The real problem is not why some pious, humble, believing people suffer, but why some do not. For the cross comes to all who follow Christ."
The Parable of the Sower, then, is not merely about the initial reception of faith—it is about perseverance. It is about becoming, like St. Paul, a martyr (a witness), who suffers in order to bear fruit.
REFLECTION
As we contemplate this mystery of suffering leading to glory, let us turn to the words of Shakespeare, who, in King Lear, captures the truth of endurance through trial:
The weight of this sad time we must obey,
Speak what we feel,
not what we ought to say.
The oldest hath borne most:
we that are young
Shall never see so much,
nor live so long.
Shakespeare, like the Apostle, understands that through suffering, we bear most, know most, and become most truly human. The greatest tragedy is not to suffer, but to be hardened by this suffering, rather than to be transformed by it.
PRACTICAL APPLICATION
Beloved, as we approach Lent, let us prepare our hearts like good soil, that the Word of God may take deep root within us. Let us embrace the discipline of fasting, the watchfulness of prayer, and the endurance of faith, knowing that in suffering, Christ is nearest to us.
Let us, with St. Paul, boast in our infirmities, knowing that when we are weak, then are we strong.
Let us pray…
COLLECT
O Lord God of Hosts, who dost strengthen the weak and sustain the weary: Grant unto us, thy servants, the grace to endure tribulation with patience, that the seed of thy Word, being sown in the good soil of faithful hearts, may bring forth fruit an hundredfold. Stir up in us the spirit of St. Paul, that we may suffer all things for the sake of Christ; the wisdom of St. John, that we may discern the snares of the evil one; and the fortitude of thy saints, that in all things we may give thanks. Through Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
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