Run the Experiment in Your Life! (they did – and look at them!)
Zacchaeus Sunday, the Commemoration of St. Peter’s Chains, and the Eve of St. Anthony the Great.
Zacchaeus Sunday, the Commemoration of St. Peter’s Chains, and the Eve of St. Anthony the Great.
- Gospel: St. Luke 19:1-10
- Epistle: Acts 12:1-11
What if we lived as if we believed all this was true? What if we stopped hedging our bets and gave ourselves over to Christ and His teachings. What if, instead of simply “going through the motions” and reciting the words, we allowed to the love of Christ dwelling within us to animate our bodies and guide our actions. What if we were really willing give up everything and follow Him?
How different would our lives look? How different would our world be?
Today I would have us remember three who took this step, who were willing to make their lives living experiments on the value of incarnating love and perfection: Zacchaeus. Peter. Anthony. By an “experiment”, I mean less the part about holding all variables but one constant and measuring how that variable affects the outcome and more that when you run an experiment you have to be all in. You can’t judge the effect of new eyeglasses on our sight unless we actually wear them; you can’t determine the effect of a given health regimen unless you actually follow the plan. We do this all the time with things like diets, why not with love? Why not with the Orthodoxy that we profess every day? These three did just that.
Zachaeus. [Review of the mess he had made of his life.] Then, opening his heart to perfection, he saw the many ways he fell short. He accepted Christ into his heart – even into his home! (would that we would do the same) and made his life part of this experiment. This led to a radically different way of life. From a man who cheated as much as the circumstances (and law) allowed, to one who gave away everything he did not need. Did he benefit from this? How did the experiment work out for him?
Peter. Giving up his own ideas of what perfection and a life of love demanded; recognizing his inability to achieve this on his own – he gave himself over to Christ. He changed his life, dedicating it and everything he had to spreading the Gospel. We cannot imagine the sacrifices he made for the Church and for the Truth. How did the experiment work out for him? Even his chains became a source of healing!
Anthony. In 285, at the age of 34, he decided to follow the words of Jesus, who had said: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven; and come, follow Me.” Taking these words quite literally, Anthony gave away some of the family estate to his neighbors, sold the remaining property, donated the funds thus raised to the poor, placed his sister in the care of a convent, and dedicated his life completely to prayers of unity, love, and perfection. How did the experiment work out for him?
These who have gone before us began no different than we are now. Then they made a decision. A decision they reaffirmed every day: to give their lives over to unity, love, and perfection through Jesus Christ. To the world, it looks like they gave up too much. After all, the constitution tells us that all we need to do is come to church, participate in the sacraments of Confession and Communion, give a bit of our money – and we will be members of God’s club, followers of Jesus Christ. But is that really living the life? Is that really taking part in this great experiment?
Doe the child that goes to school just two hours a week become truly educated?
Does the man who only diets just one or two days a year lose weight?
Does the woman who invests just one percent of her income save enough for retirement?
Would we take such people seriously when they told us that they were interested in learning, in losing weight, or in having a secure for retirement?
When it comes to Orthodoxy and living the life of Christ, the paradox is that those who give up the most, gain the most. As the tropar to so many of our saints proclaims: we obtain the heights by humility and riches by poverty. We gain our lives by giving them up. The experiment has been tested and confirmed by all the saints. We will we join them?
