Sermon for the 4th of February - Second Sunday Before Lent

Are you an onion or a peach? I’m thinking in terms of identity, a significant theme today.

The metaphor of an onion is apt, because it suggests an identity with multiple layers. These layers will be made up of race, language, education, gender, faith, political leaning, sexuality, and so on. In some ways the metaphor of an onion is helpful, because these are all of the things we grow into and make us who we are.

But added to this mix of layers we have the influence of social media. A couple of years ago, the pop star Mitski new album expressed a question in one of her songs: ‘Who will I be tonight?/ Who will be become tonight?’ It expresses such an honest, yet fleeting and fragile sense, of who we are.

Young people’s identity is increasingly influenced and formed through social media – where your value is based on your popularity, of how many likes you get, or don’t get. It’s no surprise that there is a such anxiety and mental health challenges today.

So, whilst the metaphor of an onion can be helpful, is our core identity simply constructed of multiple layers, and subject to the fleeting influence of opinions on Tiktok or Instagram?

And an onion, unlike a peach, has no core at its centre. Without denying the importance the various layers to our identity, what about seeing ourselves as a peach with God at its core.

We are in the terrain of theological anthropology here. What is it to be human? And our reading from Colossians offers some wisdom.

‘He [that is Jesus] is the image [the Greek word is eikon] of the invisible God…’ Jesus is the eikon of the invisible God…’

If you cast your mind back to the Hebrew scriptures and to Genesis, you will remember the creation story. It culminates in God making women and men in the image [the icon] and likeness of God (Genesis 1.27).

We are created in the image and likeness of God. God’s icon or image doesn’t just refer to the soul or spirit or the rationality of humanity. It relates to the whole person – the totality of who we are, including our bodies.

This is so important to emphasis, because the body features so prominently in forming modern identity – from those who experience self-loathing of their nose or bottom or breasts, to photos that manipulate images of models to create some person’s idea of impossible perfection.

The Christian answer to who we are is that every human person is an icon of God, affirmed for who we are, not in spite of who we are, someone who is valued and loved. That is at the core of our identity. Our vocation to discover and become all that we were created to be – and for every person this is entirely unique.

The Genesis story also includes an account of disruption, often referred to as the Fall. It describes humankind taking a wrong turn; of relationship with God being broken. And it describes how the icon, the image of God, is marred. Marred but never completely destroyed. In attempting to become free we became enslaved. And with this comes a loss of freedom since we become entangled in various compulsions or addictions.

In searching for our identity, we look elsewhere, anywhere but to the source of life and love. And, if we become what we worship, our gods, our idols, are things such as power, prestige, pleasure, possessions. And with it, a fragmented and fragile sense of self.

What is the way back to a loving relationship with God? The early church fathers and mothers saw baptism as being the key. Gregory of Nazianzus depicts baptism as the occasion during which the eikon is transformed, washed clean, and restored to her former potential.

Baptism is the beginning of a process that describes this profound change, a restoration of the icon of God. With the icon restored, we begin a lifelong journey of growing more and more into the likeness of Christ. Baptism is a one of event, yes, but it enacts a lifelong process journeying to union with God.

One other thing I’d like to highlight from the early church fathers: they saw the human person as being vulnerable or porous to God. This challenges the body mind dualism of modern thought. The Incarnation affirms, as we’ve heard from John’s Gospel today, that the Word became flesh. The Word didn’t become an algorithm or even a book… the word became flesh. In addition, it includes the idea we are, the whole of us, not just our thinking minds but our bodies too, porous to God.

Returning to baptism, it affects a profoundly real change. It’s a profoundly physical sacrament. As is the Eucharist. Because the eucharist nourishes us in a way that is more than a piece of bread and sip of wine. I don’t understand how, but in some spiritual way, Holy Communion nourishes our souls and our bodies. And it draws us ever closer into the very heart, the very being of God. This is the journey of faith.

In conclusion…. we are icons, and epiphanies of God, including our bodies, in all of their glorious idiosyncrasies.

I’d like to finish with a quote from St Gregory of Nyssa, a father of the fourth century who wrote:

“You alone are an icon of Eternal Beauty, and if you look at him, you will become what he is, imitating him who shines within you, whose glory is reflected in your purity. Nothing in all creation can equal your grandeur. All the heavens can fit in the palm of God’s hand… and though he is so great… you can wholly embrace him. He dwells within you… he pervades your entire being.”

May I encourage you to fully embrace your baptism, to say ‘yes’ to living out the virtues by the power of the Spirit, to grow day by day into the likeness of Christ. As we grapple with questions of identity in our modern world, may we know that our deepest self is known and embraced by the one who loves and cherishes us. Because it is here that we will discover our truest self, in the very heart of God.

Reference:

Dr Philip Kariatlis
Academic Director and Senior Lecturer in Theology,
St Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Theological College