In this life we sure do gather a lot of stuff! When Matushka and I moved 7 years ago we lived in a small rental for a year as we completed the build of our log cabin. We built a log cabin because it is supposed to be more natural and healthier for us. During that time we decided to rent a 10x20 storage unit for some of items that we wanted to save for our new home and couldn’t fit in the rental house. We just couldn’t cram the rest of our treasures in the 10x20 storage rental! And so of course we sorted through all of our items that we weren’t going to need any longer or didn’t have a use for at this stage in our lives and found a new home for them or donated them to Mercy House.
We have been settled into our new log home for some 6 years now and lo and behold, we continue to gather and fill in the empty spots once again. We are also in the process of preparing our moms house for sale, and she too had collected a lot of things over the years. It has to be emptied so that it will be usable for a new family, but some of her things are finding a way into our home as well. Well thankfully we are preparing for our church yard sale and we will move some of our stuff for that sale.
In the Epistle reading this morning we are reminded that Christ “emptied Himself and took the form of a slave, and came to be in the likeness of men.” [Phil. 2:7] The empting he is speaking of is not so much about stuff, but the Apostle Paul is speaking about God becoming a human, and all that comes with that life and death. The ancient Greek word is kenosis (κένωσις,) Saint Kyril of Alexandria tells us: “He let Himself be emptied. It was not through any compulsion by the Father. He complied of His own accord with the Father’s good pleasure.” [Dialogues on the Trinity, I, P.G. 75:405A (col. 693).] “What kind of emptying is this? To assume the flesh, even in the form of a slave, a likeness to ourselves while not being like us in His own nature, but being superior to the whole creation. Thus He humbled Himself, even by His œconomy into mortal limits.” [On the Unity of Christ, P.G. 75:742B (col. 1301).]
Part of my work for the church also includes saying good bye to loved ones for now, and then realizing that my existence in this realm of created time is coming nearer and nearer to a close as well. For us to love the Lord, we try to accomplish just the opposite of what Jesus did. You see, He is God, and then emptied Himself and became man. We men and women need to try empting ourselves and become more like God. That includes less of an attachment to this life and our Earthly treasurers and delicious foods, and so on. It requires love of neighbor, less of ourselves and more of others. After all, everyone is fighting great battle. Do we you even make time to care?
It is a battle for my wounded reclusive self! Father John Moses use to tell me that I was ordained to the Holy Priesthood because it was necessary for my salvation. And having grown up very poor, I may have developed an attachment to things. Some of these things are accomplishments for hard and diligent work but they can also be stumbling blocks in my steps with Christ! After all, I can’t take them with me!
Many of us at times seem to collect more than we give. Maybe we have become a bit stingy or a hoarder of sorts. Just how many storehouses do we need? After all, part of this empting thing is being less attached to this world. Remember St. Luke telling us about this in this parable: “And he said, ‘This will I do: I will take down my storehouses and build greater ones; and there will I gather together all my produce and my good things. “‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, thou hast many good things being laid up for many years; be taking thy rest; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘Fool, this night they demand thy soul from thee; and what thou didst prepare, for whom shall it be?’ “Thus is the one who treasureth up for himself, and is not rich toward God.” [Lk. 12:18-21]
We also tend to store up bad habits and behaviors. Some of these habits lead us farther away from God and possibly into another set of bad choices. These behaviors need to be transformed by releasing hold on that which does not lead us to salvation. If only we could gather all of those bad behaviors, put them all in a box and bring them to the yard sale or better yet, let’s take them to the dump.
Saint Basil has come to our aid once again in trying to help empty ourselves: “Are you not a grasper of everything? Are you not a robber? You who treat as absolutely yours what you receive that you might dispense to others. He who strips another man of his clothing, is he not called a robber? And he who does not clothe the naked when he could, should he not be called the same? That bread you hold in your clutches, that belongs to the starving. That cloak you keep locked in your wardrobe, that belongs to the naked. Those shoes that are going to waste with you, they belong to the barefooted. The silver you buried away, that belongs to the needy. Whomsoever you could have helped and did not, to so many have you been unjust. I have spoken to you as best I could. For you who respond, the blessings are ready that were promised you. For you who do not respond, the sentence is already written; and I pray most earnestly that, reflecting upon this bitter counsel I am giving you, you may escape those penalties; that your riches may become instead the price of your redemption, and that you also may attain to those heavenly good things.” [Ib., III:332, §§ 7, 8.]
