Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

An ox and a donkey went into a field,

            One suited to furrow; one adverse to yield,

The ox endeavored, when the plowman cried, ‘Git!’

            But the ass just stood there, taking a … (sshhhh!)

The plow, it jolted; the farmer did stumble.

            “An ox and an ass, one yoke surely fumble.”

I thought I would begin today’s sermon with some humor, but truly, St. Paul’s message to the Corinthain church—and to us—is no laughing matter:

“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Of what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? … Therefore, ‘Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.’ … [H]aving these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (2 Cor 6:14-16, 17).

Indeed, we hardly need to be reminded, brethren, of the Corinthian church’s struggle with sin. They are notorious amongst the Pauline churches. You will recall the Apostle’s words from his First Epistle:

“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: a man is sleeping with his father’s wife. And you are proud!” (1 Cor 5:1-2a).

Incest, or possibly, incest “by law.” In either case: a grave sexual sin; despicable and outrageous, especially for one who would call himself “Christian.”

            This is, of course, an extreme example of a Christian being in “fellowship… with darkness,” (v. 14) an extreme attempt to “harmon[ize]… Christ with Belial” (v. 15). It is extreme and it is most literal, meaning, there is no more intimate “yoking together” than that of sex. For this reason, this passage has been applied wholesale, in all kinds of Christian dating and marriage media. If you have persevered in sessions of marriage counseling—for most of us here, outside the Orthodox tradition, in mainline and evangelical circles—then certainly we have experienced this application first-hand: “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers” (v. 14).

            And this is a proper application of the text. Only a few verses later, the Apostle paraphrases Isaiah, in his prophecy to the Jewish exiles in Babylon, saying, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you” (2 Cor 6:17; cf. Isa 52:11), a parallel to St. John’s forthcoming Revelation, “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, ‘Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues” (Rev 18:4). Interpreted in a more innocent fashion, we might ignore the apparent sexual connotations. Interpreted properly, these implications cannot be ignored. Isaiah treats Judah’s exile—and her temptations to idolatry while in exile—as an occasion for sin: religious adultery, that is, idolatry. Idolatry is akin to sexual sin, inasmuch as we “unite ourselves” to a false and dangerous and disgusting idea (St. John’s words: “lest you share in her plagues [her diseases]) about God. Idolatry is pleasure without truth; a feel-good gospel, a feel-good religion without commitment to the truth. Idolatry is spiritual adultery, whereas the worship of God in truth is spiritual marriage. “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. … Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord” (vv. 14, 17).

“Come out… of the yoke… of spiritual imbalance.” What does this mean for us, brethren? As I have already mentioned, St. Paul’s imperative may warrant a young person’s serious consideration of a future spouse. True. However, it is for the rest of us an occasion to reassess every aspect of our lives, and to ask: “If Christ is in me, but I am in the world, then what am I—through my life’s actions and decisions—attempting to unite to Christ?” Again, “If Christ is in me, but I am in the world, then what am I—through my life’s actions and decisions—attempting to unite to Christ?” For select Corinthians, they were attempting to unite Christ to sexual immorality, and they got a strict “tongue-lashing” from Paul on account thereof:

“Flee from sexual immorality! … Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit…! … Therefore, honor God with your bodies” (1 Cor 6:18-20).

But, what is it for the rest of us? “What fellowship can light have with darkness?” (v. 14b). Do we think about the media we consume? Movies, music, television shows, social media, literature, the internet? Do we think about the occupations we pursue? Can a Christian be a dentist? Can a Christian be a farmer? Can a Christian be an infantryman? Can a Christian be a Wall Street floor broker? Can a Christian be a drug dealer? Do we think about what we spend our money on? Do we think about how we spend our time, in work and in leisure?

The Christian life is not secular life plus Christ. The Jewish exiles could not live authentically Jewish lives as “Nineveh natives,” bowing down to Marduk, Ishtar, and Shamash on Sunday through Friday, but bowing down to Yahweh on Saturday. The Jewish exiles in Babylon could not participate in rituals of human sacrifice, while worshiping the God who said to Moses,

“Any Israelite or any foreigner residing in Israel who sacrifices any of his children to Molek is to be put to death” (Lev 20:2).

“The Christian life is not secular life plus Christ.” When we attempt to unite light to darkness in ourselves, we make ourselves liable to the condemnation of Christ,

“The scribes and the Pharisees… preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. … Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside [you] are full of greed and self-indulgence. … Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matt 23:2-4, 25-28).

            In our Baptismal Service, brethren, at the conclusion of the exorcisms, we “renounce Satan, and all his works, and all his angels, and all his service, and all his pride” (Baptism, OCA, 2012, p. 5); we spit upon him. Then we are asked by the priest, “Do you unite yourself to Christ?” “I have united myself to Christ!” Later in the service, during the Great Litany, the clergy and the people pray for the initiate:

“That she may prove herself a child of the light, and an heir of eternal goods things… . That she may be a member and partaker of the death and resurrection of Christ our God, let us pray to the Lord” (Baptism, OCA, 2012, p. 10).

“What fellowship can light have with darkness?” the Apostle asks. “None,” says the Church. “What harmony is there between Christ and Belial?” “None,” says the Church.

“Having these promises, beloved [that she may prove herself a child of the light… that she may be a member and partaker of the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus our God], [having these promises, beloved] let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor 17, sic.).

Through the prayers of our holy fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ, our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen. 

Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!