When you came into the temple today, what were you thinking about? Did the thought that you were entering a holy place cross your mind? Did you give any thought to your sins, and ask whether you were worthy to enter into this holy place?
Today we celebrate the holy hieromartyr Babylas, and the holy prophet of God, Moses. You may remember that Moses, who led the people of God out f slavery in Egypt, across the Red Sea on dry land, to the mountain of God, where he received the tablets of stone on which God had written the Ten Commandments; who led the people through the desert for forty years, to the very boundary of the land God had promised to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and to their children. But God did not allow Moses to enter into that land, because of his sin, because he disobeyed God at Meribah-Kadesh. We are speaking about Moses, the prophet of God. If he was unworthy to enter the promised land, who had been in the very presence of God, do we dare think of ourselves that we are worthy to enter His presence?
The holy hieromartyr Babylas the archbishop of Antioch. The pagan ruler of that land decided that he would enter the church; but Babylas, who was at prayer with the people in the church, met the ruler outside the doors, and would not allow him to enter, because the king was not a Christian. The king left, but ordered that Babylas be arrested and tortured. Three young boys, the hieromartyr’s spiritual children, who had stayed with the saint for love of him, were each beaten, the number of blows they received being determined by their age, and then they were beheaded. After their execution, St. Babylas, bound in chains, was also beheaded. They were all buried together. Later, the relics of St. Babylas were moved to the city of Daphne, and were buried in a small chapel, near a temple to Apollo, with a statue that foretold the future. When the Emperor Julian the Apostate came to consult the oracle of the temple about his planned war against Persia, the statue said it was impossible to prophesy, because of the dead buried nearby. The Emperor ordered the relics of St. Babylas to be exhumed, and returned to Antioch. When the relics were unearthed, fire fell from the heavens, destroying the temple to Apollo. Julian was defeated in his war, and met his death, ending his persecution of the Faith and the faithful. We must realize that, when we sin, and turn our backs on the Orthodox way of life, and turn our hearts to worldly things, we live as pagans, and we become apostates. If a pagan was denied entrance to the temple, and the actions of an apostate caused a pagan temple to be destroyed by the hand of God, do we who are sinners dare to come into this holy place, and into the very presence of God?
We are given instruction in this by the reading today from the Gospel according to St. Matthew. We are among those invited to the wedding feast of the Son of the King; but we must be clothed in the garment He provides for us, and not in the garment we make for ourselves. In this, we must understand that the garment He provides for us is the life of Christ, which we put on at the time of our baptism. It is a garment of purity, and a garment of honor; yet when we sin, we stain its purity, and we soil the honor with the filth of our lives. What is meant for our glory, we turn into filthy rags – and if this state of affairs does not change, we, like Moses, like the pagan king, will be denied entry into the promised land, and the presence of God. We will find ourselves cast into darkness, with weeping, and waling, and the gnashing of teeth.
What, then, are we to do? God, in His mercy, has provided for us a way to restore the garment of the life of Christ to purity and honor. We have the opportunity to repent of our sins, and to confess them to God. In return, He has promised us the forgiveness of our sins, and the removal of the wall that separates us from Him. When we confess and repent, and struggle against our sins, rather than giving ourselves over to them, He is with us, and helps us; and we grow more and more into the likeness of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in Whom is no sin, no shadow, no stain. And when we embrace, and live, the Orthodox way of life we gain victory over sin and death, victory over our weaknesses and wickedness, and are transformed into the image of God, and the likeness of Christ.
Brothers and sisters, while we have life, we are to have hope. While we yet live, we are to fight the good fight. Let us repent of our sins, giving thanks to God for His mercy, for His allowing us to come into His presence, and to receive His blessing. While we yet live, let us repent, and live the Orthodox life: praying and fasting, giving alms and offerings, struggling to overcome our passions, and sharing with each other the love of God – to the glory of God, and the salvation of our souls.
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