The Cross and the Call to Forgive

Բոլորդ, սիրելի քույրեր ու եղբայրներ…

Եվ կարծենք, թե չափահաս ըլլալով, մեծցած ըլլալով, մենք սորված ենք, ինչպես ուրիշ մարդկանց ներել։

Եվ որ այսօր կ’օրհնեմ ձեզ՝ թե՛ «Պահպանիչ» ըսելով, թե՛ բժշկության աղոթք ըսելով, պիտի ըսեմ. «Պահեա, պահպանեա, օրհնեա, փրկեա, ազատեա, բժշկեա… սուրբ պատվական խաչիւդ, Քրիստոս»։ [Uncertain transcription.]

I often speak about family life in my sermons. It is a main focus of my life because I have a beautiful family. I am so blessed to be a father, together with my wife, Yeretsgin Ani. They present me with so many beautiful challenges on a daily basis and so many opportunities to learn and to grow.

There are so many moments in our household when I find myself, along with Yeretsgin, begging my kids to apologize to one another or to forgive one another. Often, the stakes are so high for them despite the small things that can happen in a home and in life from day to day.

I know from my own childhood as well—I have a sister whom I love dearly—that the smallest things would cause me to go to my room, look in the mirror, and tell myself, “I will not forgive this girl for the rest of my life for what she has done to me today.” She broke my toy. She took my turn on the Nintendo. She got her way about what we were going to have for dinner. Whatever the thing was, she convinced my parents it was my fault when it was actually her fault. All of those things made me say, “This girl will be my enemy for the rest of my life.”

Then we grow up, and we forget. We grow wiser, and we grow a little more tolerant. As we pray in our morning service, we pray that the rocky heart we have may be crumbled by love, so that it may be softened to the opportunities presented to us to exercise love toward one another.

Then we become adults and say that we have learned how to forgive when it is appropriate. But there are still moments in our lives when we go home, look in the mirror, and say, “I will not forgive that person—ever—for what they have done, because it is unforgivable.” The stakes are much higher now, and the things we feel seem much more complex, tangible, legitimate, and justifiable. If we were to look ourselves in the mirror, we would say, “Nobody could fault me for not being able to forgive this person for what they have done.”

That sounds pretty similar to what I was thinking as an eight-year-old. I wonder how much we have learned in the meantime.

Today we have to challenge ourselves when we look in the mirror and have those thoughts, particularly on this Sunday, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. We are presented with a Savior who was put on the cross by the people whom he came to save. Raised upon that cross, while he was slowly dying, he called upon his Father to forgive us, for we did not know what we were doing.

The extreme nature of that forgiveness and mercy is the means by which Christ gave his life so that we might have the opportunity to walk through the doorway of mercy into eternity. That same extreme act of forgiveness is the reason we are here today. It is what we are experiencing in this Divine Liturgy. It is the grace we enjoy when we approach the table of immortality and receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

All of this, and so much more, is possible because Christ forgave and forgives. He forgave and forgives even when anyone might say, “Jesus, it is okay. We understand. These people do not deserve forgiveness. How could they deserve it after what they have done? Who could blame you?” But no—he is going to forgive anyway.

It is because of that sacrifice that today we hold the cross up high—which is what the Exaltation of the Cross means—and proclaim that this cross is triumphant. It is venerable and honorable. It is the means by which we, as Christians, are victorious in the Kingdom of Heaven. All of that is because Christ was willing to forgive while he was being crucified for us.

Today, while we are in church, that is happening again. He has been crucified. He has sacrificed himself for us. We have been part of that sacrifice, and we have received that sacrifice. We ask him to forgive us, and he forgives us.

It is by that cross that we proclaim we are blessed. We ask him to protect us, keep us, heal us, free us, and do everything for us that we cannot do for ourselves—all because he forgave. And he is asking us to do that too.

It is in the Lord’s Prayer, the prayer that he taught us. It was in the confession that Elia read so beautifully today: If there is anybody whom I should forgive but did not forgive, I am confessing. If there are times when I should have asked for forgiveness but did not ask, I am confessing.

It is essential to everything in the ecosystem of our faith that we participate deeply in the process of forgiving and being forgiven. When we do, we are restored, redeemed, and healed.

This is the path he has shown us, and it is a difficult path to follow. It is a heavy, burdensome path. That is the cross we have to carry: to be able to forgive in extreme circumstances, even when it feels like too much to do.

But we hold that cross up high today, and we ask God to give us the power. We know that if we are able to do that, he will give us his blessings. He will keep and protect us. He will heal us. He will liberate us. He will restore us. He will give us the eternal life he has promised to all those who are willing to take up their own cross and follow him.

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