But you, be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!

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

There is a beautiful quote by St. Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia that I like to recall and to ruminate on this time of year. It is a good “New Year” quote:

“At your work, whatever it may be, you can become a saint through meekness, patience, and love. Make a new start every day, with new resolution, with enthusiasm and love, [with] prayer and silence” (italics mine).

This time of year, brethren, especially on New Year’s Day: it is a time when folks resolve themselves—to eat healthier, to exercise, to begin a new discipline, to read a book once/month, to spend more time with family, to be a better friend, to stress less, to spend less, to organize their lives. These can all be wonderful resolutions with meaningful effect. There is nothing wrong with a new resolution. So many of these resolutions, however, will be unique to our own person. If you are overweight, you will resolve to diet and exercise. If you are unorganized, you will resolve yourself to, well, organize your life better. If you are unfocused or distracted, you may resolve to limit technology use or social media activity. But as I said, these resolutions vary from person to person. In our work of making new resolutions, we must remember something important: we already have a task (or tasks) set before us. In the excitement of making new resolutions—with new possibilities, the potential of personal growth or betterment—we must also remember that there is already much work to be done and much work that we ought already to be doing. Ideally, the disciple of Christ is not awaiting the New Year to ‘put the right foot forward’; rather, he or she is living daily the life of Christian discipleship that is expected of the Christian believer: a life of holiness, a life of sacrifice, a life of service, a life of personal restraint, a life of prayer and communion in Christ.

The life of the Christian believer is typified by St. John Climacus as a ‘Ladder of Divine Ascent.’ Tell me, brethren, is a ladder an escalator? Does the ladder go up… and down, at the flip of a switch? Oh, it is true, you can fall off the ladder—and we see this vividly and terrifyingly depicted in the iconography of the Ladder—but you are not meant to fall off the ladder. A ladder is not a piece of playground equipment, something to ‘horse around’ on. A ladder is for climbing (that’s what it means in the Greek: klimax, the ‘thing that inclines,’ the ‘thing that goes up’). So ought to be the life of Christian discipleship. In our daily lives, through prayer, fasting, ascesis, service: we are making small, deliberate steps upward, into the life of the Kingdom, towards Christ our God. Recall again the words of St. Porphyrios: “Make a new start every day, with new resolution, with enthusiasm and love.” We do not need to wait until the New Year to set our lives back on track. We can do this now! We can right ourselves, orient ourselves to do the work of the Kingdom of God each and every day; even more than this, in each and every moment of each and every day.

In today’s Epistle Reading, the Apostle speaks to his beloved ward in the faith, St. Timothy. St. Paul is nearing the end of his ministry. He writes to St. Timothy while imprisoned in Rome, from the perspective of a seasoned disciple, a tool that has been nigh ‘worn out’ by the hand of the Master craftsman. In today’s reading, he reminds Timothy of his calling and admonishes him to be faithful.

“But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Tim 4:5).

Such a generic admonition—“be watchful, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist”—but what else is there to say? Is this not work enough for the young bishop? Indeed, these responsibilities have teeth.

You see, brethren, we struggle with the generic. We struggle with the boring, the un-sensational; we struggle with the daily grind, even of Christian discipleship. That’s why so many folks love to make New Year’s resolutions. “I am going to work out three times/week. I am going to buy a treadmill, a new tracksuit, some sweatbands, a set of dumbbells, a Fitbit (is that even still a thing?), four exercise DVD’s, some resistance bands, a juicer, some protein powder, and… and… .” As I said earlier, brethren, there’s really nothing wrong with doing just this. There’s nothing wrong with New Year’s resolutions. But what if someone told you, “How about you try to do some daily stretches, fifty push-ups, fifty sit-ups, fifty-squats, and run 1-mile/day for the next… year or so? See how you take to that, and then, maybe you’ll want to invest some money in exercise equipment.” “Mmm… that sounds boring,” we think, meaning, “That doesn’t sound sensational enough to draw my attention, to keep me on track.”

Daily life is not glamorous, brethren. As a Christian, daily discipleship is often not glamorous. However, becoming godly, holy—becoming a saint—is so much more about the daily grind than the extraordinary or sensational opportunities. “…[B]e watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Tim 4:5). Now, if St. Paul were speaking to us, what would he say? If he were charging each of us with living the Christian life, what would he say? But you—Fr. David, Dn. John, Matushka Brenda, Matushka Irene, Wes, Naomi, Eric, Derek, Gina, Alex, Olivia [….]—what? “But you, say your morning and evening prayers, study the Scriptures, keep the fasts, attend to the divine services, confess regularly, give to the local temple, be obedient spiritual sons and daughters, endure afflictions, fulfill your ministry(-ies).” He would say, in effect, “Fight the good fight [of faith]!” (2 Tim 4:7). And in fact, he does say this, also in today’s Epistle. That is the verse (v. 7) in theoretical apposition to his first statement (v. 5). “You, do all these things. … As for me, I have done all these things.” St. Paul is leading St. Timothy by example. “Be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry (v. 5). [For you see, I have kept the faith: I have been watchful in all things. I have endured afflictions. I have done the work of an evangelist. I have fulfilled my ministry].

“You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy,” says the Lord to Moses in Leviticus (19:2). Our Lord strengthens the imperative in St. Matthew’s Gospel when he says, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matt 5:48, italics mine). Holiness is not an escalator, brethren; neither is spiritual perfection. At least it is not intended to be. When we resolve ourselves to follow Christ, we resolve ourselves to follow him every month, every week, every day, every hour, every moment. Discipleship is a spiritual marriage. We resolve to follow Christ in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health, in poverty, trial, and affliction. Discipleship is not seasonal. Discipleship is—commonly—not sensational. Discipleship is the daily work of the believer.

In this New Year, brethren, it is my prayer for each of you (as I am sure it is Fr. David’s prayer too) that you would resolve yourselves to the task of daily discipleship. Say your prayers. Study the Scriptures. Attend to the divine services. Be godly fathers, and mothers, and friends. Be obedient spiritual children. Serve the Church. Be patient with one another. Love one another. “Seek first the kingdom of God” [resolve daily to live the life of the kingdom of God] “and all these things”—the more sensational, exciting, fantastic goals and resolutions you may have in mind—[and all these things] “will be added onto you” (Matt 6:33).

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!