We live in a pluralist world comprised of multiple overlapping identities.  Your neighbor on one side might look like you, but work in a different industry; your neighbor on the other side might have different color skin, but work in the same industry as you.  The only thing you might have in common with the folks across the street is the fact that your mail comes at roughly the same time every day. This situation provides what sociologists call “overlapping cleavages”, and as long as everyone shares an acceptable level of civic morality, it is a good thing.  [This is because] You may disagree with one neighbor abut how best to serve cabbage, but there are other things you do agree on that will generally keep you from coming to blows over the relative merits of fried kapusty and kimshee.   The opposite of this, for what it is worth, is a situation where all of our divisions with other groups reinforce one another; compromise and community are more difficult to build in such situations.

In general, [you must admit that] living in a pluralist world is a great experience: you get to meet interesting people and benefit from their unique experiences.  It also allows for a more diverse set of dining opportunities than living in a homogenized culture would.  I love the many blessings that diversity brings and I think we should all learn to embrace it.  Pluralism is good for our us and for our community.

But there is, nonetheless, something about a certain aspect of diversity that is unnatural and unsettling; something about pluralism that can slip through our guard unnoticed and do a great deal of harm.  Our national motto, “e pluribus unum”, refers to the fact that diverse people from many nations are united as citizens of this great country.  This is a reflection of an even greater truth: all nations are called to be united in the Body of Christ.  It is through Christ that all love is perfected, and it is through Him that all persons and all nations find their fullest and purest expression.  Let me give you an example: pagan Rus’ was a pale imitation of Christian Rus’; just as the great warrior king Svatislav was a pale imitation of his son, the holy king Volodymyr’.  You yourselves are becoming more human and this community is becoming more perfect as we grow in our commitment to and union with Christ.  

The danger is that our relativism when it comes to food and music begins to affect our faith.  Orthodox Christianity is not just what you happen to be because you were born into it - or because you married into it - or because you liked it better than the other choices.  It [Orthodoxy] is the fullness of the Truth; the perfect path to perfect holiness; The Way to achieve salvation; and The Way to heal the brokenness within ourselves, our loved ones, our communities, and our world.  It is unnatural and perverse to believe that God became man, suffered, died, resurrected, and established this Church and her Mysteries so that we might live… and think that He only did it for us.  Christ suffered and died for every single person who ever draws breath; not just for the Jews that lived two thousand years ago, or for the Christians who live today; but for every Jew, Christian, atheist, Muslim, universalist, druid (and so on).  His Church is not just the best place for Ukrainians, Greeks Russians, Syrians, and Georgians to worship… if it is good for anyone then it is good for everyone.  And just as the Ukrainians, Greeks, Russians, Syrians, and Georgians are at their best when they are committed to Christ, so too would everyone else become their best committed to Christ.

If you do not believe this, then you have allowed the world to rob you of something valuable: the courage of your convictions.   Jesus Christ is not the religious equivalent of pyrohy: an ethnic dish for those with palates similar to our own, no better or worse absolute terms than ravioli or dim sum.  He [Jesus Christ] is the Bread of Life, and all those who partake of Him have eternal life. 

I have to warn you: if you think of Orthodoxy as a religion, then it will fall victim to your mind’s natural attempt to categorize and relativize it.   After all, the logic is simple: you know good people of many religions, and you know bad people even of your own.  [But] Orthodoxy is not a religion, it is the fact of God’s healing love and mercy.  So instead of thinking of being akin to choosing a restaurant or music, think of it [more] in terms of medicine.  If you are sick, you have several choices: you can try to treat yourself, or you can trust to the “expert” advice of friends, or you can buy some of the snake oil hustled on the radio and television, or you can go to the very best certified doctor you can find; one who treats you holistically using all the advanced diagnostics and remedies modern medicine offers.  And once you began to heal from the treatments your doctor offers, not only would you continue to come in for regular check-ups and whenever you got sick: you would recognize that all treatments are not equal and you would want everyone you love to have the same sort of treatment that you yourself receive. 

In his letter to the Galatians, St. Paul teaches us that the Law cannot sanctify us; he reminds us that only God is holy, and therefore only one who lives in Christ can become holy.  He describes how he himself has been crucified with Christ and has been reborn a new man, one who is alive in Christ and with Christ in him.  He proclaims how this is possible because of the Son of God who loved him and who gave Himself up for him.

Christ did not just give Himself up for Paul, He gave Himself up for you.  Like St. Paul, through baptism you have died to your old self and put on Christ.  He lives in you and you live in Him.  When you embrace His love in faith, you are transformed from an ordinary sinner into an immortal son of God; changed from a finite being of flesh and bone into shining beacon of God’s light.  Moreover, you become more than just an individual, separate from all the others; to a member of the Body of Christ; perfectly united to every other person; and traveling with them into an eternity of radiant joy that is our inheritance.

This is the Truth of Orthodoxy.  This is the Truth that heals and unites everyone and every nation.  This is way that “many” are Truly made into one. 

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We’ve a story  to tell to the nations, That shall turn their hearts to the right-  A story of truth and mercy;  A story of peace and light.

For the darkness shall turn to dawning, And the dawning to noon-day bright, And Christ's great kingdom shall come on earth, The kingdom of love and light.

We've a song to be sung to the Nations, That shall lift their hearts to the Lord, A song that shall conquer evil - And shatter the spear and sword.

For the darkness shall turn to dawning, And the dawning to noon-day bright, And Christ's great kingdom shall come on earth, The kingdom of love and light.

We’ve a message to give to the nations, that the Lord who reigneth above hath sent us his Son to save us, and show us that God is love.

For the darkness shall turn to dawning, And the dawning to noon-day bright, And Christ's great kingdom shall come on earth, The kingdom of love and light.

We’ve a Savior to show to the nations, who the path of sorrow hath trod, that all of the world’s great peoples might come to the truth of God.

For the darkness shall turn to dawning, And the dawning to noon-day bright, And Christ's great kingdom shall come on earth, The kingdom of love and light.

[No I didn’t sing it or even quote this wonderful hymn during the service, but I still have it running through my mind!].