The Imitation of Christ
TRINITY TWENTY-THREE
"Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon; unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon; Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace."
This Divine command was given through the prophet Jeremiah to God's people dwelling in exile in Babylon. God's people weren't in Jerusalem anymore but told them to settle in the land in which they found themselves. But he didn't say to become complacent! Rather, He told them to build homes, both physical structures and large families, to marry and multiply, to fill the streets of Babylon with the laughter of God's children. They were to work and cultivate the land, planting bountiful gardens with all kinds of plants, fruits, and vegetables. Do you hear echoes of Eden?
In a sense, they were to "Edenify" Babylon, to build Jerusalem right smack dab in the middle of Babylon as a type of Eden: Jerusalem, the pure virgin, the daughter of Zion, with the Temple in the midst of her was also a type of Eden, the place where God walked with his people. He commanded them to manifest His presence and rule into the land of their exile; to realize through their worship and manner of living, the peace and unity of Jerusalem even in Babylon. Though absent from the City of their God, The Lord still desired the shalom of Jerusalem to reside in their hearts and the unity of the Holy City to prevail.
The psalmist describes Jerusalem in psalm one-hundred twenty-two as the city of peace and as "a city that is built at unity in itself." Now, what would a city at unity in itself be like? It would most likely be a place of ascetic and moral beauty, filled with citizens living together in shalom, in peace, where everyone was glad to go into the house of the Lord and worship. A community of concordant hearts with purpose of mind, unified in all that is true, good, and beautiful, enjoying perfect union with God and neighbor. It would be like heaven on earth, would it not? Perfect. Complete.
A city at unity in itself: this beautiful vision of Jerusalem is what we desire to be built within us. This city at unity within itself, Jerusalem, has for centuries given words to what we long for our souls to be. No longer divided in its loves or suffering from the irrationality of sin, but rather, at peace within itself because it enjoys peace with God. This is the happy estate of a unified soul: a soul made whole and at rest.
The unified city is one built by God and enjoyed by those who love and obey Him. To Joshua's generation, God promised to their forefathers a land of promise where He would "give them great and goodly cities, which they did not build, And houses full of all good things, which they did not fill…" All they had to do was follow God's commands and imitate His way in the land.
You see, Israel would only enjoy stability and prosperity in the land of promise through loving obedience to God. Love and obedience are the mortar by which the Holy Spirit repairs and rebuilds the soul. The righteous man is blessed of God and prospers like a tree planted by streams of living water. The wicked perish like chaff on the wind. Such is the soul whose trajectory is away from Christ; it becomes parched, seeking water yet finding none. As the soul drifts further and further away from Christ, it seeks comfort from vain and corruptible things that do not satisfy. Weary from toil, it longs for peace but finds no rest.
"You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you." By these famous words, St. Augustine teaches that the further we are from Christ, the more restless the soul. We were Created to eternally enjoy unimpeded union with God, which is why the soul's natural movement is to return to its Creator. But sin obstructs and delays this life-long journey. Every single part of us- mind, soul, will- were shattered in the fall and suffer from perverse and pervasive disunity in heart and mind.
Yes, through baptism, we are recreated in Christ, and yet we are imperfection being made perfect; this Christian life lived in a perpetual state of 'becoming,' and we struggle to remain in union with Christ. This struggle is the spiritual life. And yet we remain steadfast in hope as we press on to become like Christ, for God is building the city of our soul. With St. Paul, we cry, "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" You see, our much-needed reformation of the soul ultimately depends upon the grace of God in Jesus Christ. Hear St. Augustine once again,
"the soul cannot begin or complete except with the help of Him to whom it yields itself. Hence it is that man's reformation is dependent on the mercy of him to whose goodness and power he owes his formation." God brings us into unity with himself as we humbly 'yield' ourselves to God's will and rule and friends; he will sanctify us completely and keep our souls blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. "The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it."
The sanctified life is lived incarnationally as we work out our grace given salvation within the visible fellowship, prayer, and nurture of Mother church, in parishes just like ours. God entrusts the care and cure of souls to men set apart by the Holy Spirit through the laying on of human hands. He gives these pastor-shepherds to feed His sheep with the good food of Word and Sacrament, and as holy examples to imitate; Mother church gladly suffering the pains of birth until Christ is formed in each and every one of us.
God has generously given all of this for our sanctification until we attain the likeness of Jesus Christ. For the work of spirituality (maturation in prayer, the shaping of the soul through Liturgy, submission to the rule, fidelity in devotion, zealous evangelism, sacrificial service, and observing spiritual disciplines) can be summed up in the words of St. Paul who says in today's Epistle: "be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample." In other words, "Imitate me as I imitate Christ."
Through the imitation of Christ, the soul moves nearer to Divine union and perfection. St. Paul wisely tells us to "be followers together [with him]." The idea of connecting holy imitation with the betterment of the soul isn't Paul's idea; it is God's, Who commanded Israel to "Be holy as I am holy." Likewise, Jesus, being fully God, says to "be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect." Or, in the words of the Apostle Paul, "imitate me as I imitate Christ."
To imitate Christ is to grow in humility. "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up." (James 4:10). The prideful soul will not go up to the house of the Lord, nor attain union with Christ, for it refuses to humble itself under His Lordship and the rule of his church. By default, the proud are opposed by God. Without humility and poverty of spirit, there will be no progress towards Christ-likeness: without the grace of the Holy Spirit is simply unattainable.
Therefore, we must have the mind of Christ, "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."
To imitate Christ's humility is to willingly release our position, status, and all that promotes and puffs up the self. Stripped of titles, positions, influence, power, prestige, wealth, possessions, whatever we are holding onto and willfully become low; putting on the form of humility and gladly obeying God's will by submitting to Jesus, the chief Bishop of our souls, and, to His church. Divine wisdom teaches heavenly submission to children as they submit their wills to parents. "Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth."
Continual resistance and disregard of those whom God has placed over our care is most certainly a cause for concern, especially in matters of the heart. Submitting our wills… even when we don't understand or desire it... just as our Lord Jesus Christ who lovingly obeyed all the Father asked of Him: "Not my will, but Yours be done." This is the imitation of Christ.
Jesus beckons to our souls, "Come unto me all ye that travail and are heavy laden and I will refresh you" and with the same voice, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it..." In Christ, we find the call to comfort and suffering, for it is in suffering that we become more like Jesus and attain the perfecting of the soul. This is the wisdom from Hebrews: "For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings."
The imitation of Christ is to willingly embrace the cruciform life. I'm not implying that the Christian life is nothing but constant suffering. What I am saying is that a Christian life which never experiences suffering simply doesn't exist. In imitating Christ and living after him, we surely will suffer. We often think of Christian suffering as something existential, brought by people and circumstances outside of ourselves, associating suffering and persecution from being the only Christian at the office or a Christian at public university. We hear of Christian brothers and sisters being jailed, tortured, even killed for the faith.
Now, we may be called to suffer persecution at the hands of evil men. We may even be given the gift of martyrdom; the possibility exists. Yet, suffering is always near to and most often comes from the internal battle against sin, lamenting and bewailing our daily transgressions: suffering associated with the cruciform life which takes up the cross and puts sin to death. But let us remember that the cross of suffering is not deprived of God's grace. Surely Jesus shows us this to be true.
Humility and true repentance are always met with a gracious holy kiss, and our consciences are made clean. Monastic wisdom says, "Happy is the man who casts from him all that can stain or burden his conscience." Penitence, humility, and faith are the weapons with which we fight. In the battle to overcome sin, we (in some way) share in the sufferings of the crucified Christ, and the soul moves closer to perfection. Being made perfect in suffering: this is the imitation of Christ.
Elsewhere the Apostle says to "Be imitators o God... and walk in love, just as Christ loved us…" Humility always precedes Divine love, and Divine love looks like Jesus. To imitate Christ is to love the right things AND, in the right way. But the soul, with its disordered passions, proclivity to sin, and rapacious love of self, fails miserably. We long to love and to be loved but find it difficult to love what is supremely good and seek the good of others.
But the imitation of Christ teaches us how to fulfill the great commandment of loving God "with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and, to love thy neighbor as thyself." Learning what to love redirects self-love, which is the greatest hindrance to enjoying union with Christ. We stuff the soul with good things while pushing out the very best thing. We need to pray for grace and wisdom to redirect our hearts away from idolatry, grace to hear as Christ who not only hears but perfectly obeys even when the soul finds itself in the wilderness. Therefore beloved, let us exhort one another unto love and good works through the imitation of Christ and find rest for our souls.
Today we are called to walk against the prevailing current of our time, which places such a high value on authenticity and originality. You will not attain perfection by aiming at yourself: aim at Christ; Imitate Him: love deeply, selflessly, and sacrificially, just as He loves us. Set your heart, soul, mind, and will to do all that the Father asks. In fulfilling the Divine law we are united to Jesus and each other: we become a city built at unity within itself.
Through humble obedience to God's will, we shall attain perfection and are assured that one day we will dwell as citizens of the 'unified city,' which is the heavenly Jerusalem. For remember, "our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." Amen+
