Listen, Let Go, and Let God!  
(Galatians 2:16-20)

Until last Sunday I was feeling on top of it about my little homily because I was weeks ahead. I preach about once a quarter. Typically, Father says, "You haven't preached in awhile". So I start thinking. I look ahead on the liturgical calendar about 3 or 4 week and chose a text. That’s what I did this time. But unbeknownst to me I consulted the wrong liturgical calendar. Last Sunday I looked at the bulletin and saw the passage that I thought I was going to be preaching on today. I said "Father, there’s a mistake." He said, "Sometime the Antiochian liturgical calendar differs slightly from the other ones". I thought to myself, "Oh, boy!" I prepared for the wrong passage. I’ve got one week! Maybe I work better under pressure. I know my boss at the office seems to think so. He keeps telling me that if there are too many things on my plate I need to get a bigger platter. Anyway, I call this little homily: Listen, Let go, and Let God.

Listen

Listen. It’s simple word. There are many times when that’s the best advice and sometimes we need to hear it over and over again. When I was a little boy I can remember my grandmother telling me "OK, watch me. Let go! Set it right there and then just let it go. That’s all there is to it". I know I’m dating myself. Some of you probably remember the electric wringer washing machines from the 1950’s. I remember them. You pick up the cloths out of the tub. The wringer over the tub is going round and round. You set the cloths right there, feed it into the wringer, and let go. You just let go. Now, if you don’t let go, unpleasant things happen. Your arm gets sucked up into the wringer apparatus of the washing machine. I can remember my grandmother in a panic shutting off the wringer and popping the release handle to extract my arm, which, by that time had been wrung out up to the elbow. For a little kid of 6 or 7, it was a horrible experience. You can still find internet articles on wringer washer injuries.

Listen and let go. It is essential in our daily life. The same is even truer in the spiritual life and in the Church. We have to listen, let go, and let God. If we don’t sometimes unpleasant things happen. It’s called disobedience and sin. In opposite is also true. When we listen, let go and let God we experience grace, peace, and spiritual life abundantly. So let’s listen to the words of St. Paul. Turn with me in your Bible to Galatians 2:16 - 20.

Let go

The Law did its job. It instructed man regarding holiness and how to achieve it. The Law also showed that attaining holiness in a fallen condition, apart from God’s grace isn’t possible. The holiness of the Law and my condition leads me to death. But do not despair. That realization is exactly where we need to be. Apart from God we are spiritually dead and in need of life. Let go, and let God. When it comes to eternal life we can’t pull ourselves up by our boot straps.

Let’s take a closer look at letting go in the context of our spiritual life. The church fathers have always seen in the words "I am crucified with Christ" a reference to our Baptism. I want you to notice this is a perfect tense, past time, and a passive verb. This is something that happens to you. You can’t do this yourself. None of us can. You are put to death. The question is who or what gets crucified? That answer is your fallen human nature. Our fallen nature is put to death and buried in the waters of Baptism. We’re given the possibility of truly letting go of ourselves. For instance, we let go of the notion that somehow God is indebted to us because of what we’ve done for Him or for what we’ve accomplished. We let go of the notion that we merit His favor. We let go of the notion that we know what’s best for ourselves or others. The nature corrupted by sin has to die completely so that we can live a spiritual life to God. St. John Chrysostom says in his commentary on Galatians, "For a man cannot live to God, otherwise than by dying to sin."

"Nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me". Through Chrismation, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, and with that gift, the grace, the potentiality to live a life pleasing to God. St. Ignatius describes the effects of Baptism in simple terms. "I no longer wish to live after the manner of men". But after Baptism, the warfare of the spiritual life begins. That’s when we begin going about the work of mortifying, put to death the impulses, and desires that reveal our fallenness. The problem is that the old nature doesn’t want to stay dead. It wants to climb up out of the grave. It wants to dust itself off, hyperventilate a little bit, and start leading us by the nose again. The old nature wants to reassert itself: I, me, mine! The old nature is a tyrant. My brothers and sisters, we have to mortify these impulses. They are death to the spiritual life. When the old man struts his stuff he brings agitation, sorrow, and confusion into our life and into the church. We can’t embrace him. We have to put him back in the ground where he belongs and let go, just let go. Sometimes that means letting go of what is most precious to us. Sometimes it might mean letting go of what we believe is unmistakably the will of God. That was the case in my life.

Let God

I want to tell you a little story about listen, let go, and let God. I though I was listening. I thought I was tuned in. This story unfolded 7 years ago. Everything was in place: the blessing of the bishop, letter of acceptance, on campus housing, kids in the Brookline school district, house on the market. I was headed to seminary at Holy Cross. The only question was practical, how we were going to pull this off. To that end I’d even contacted a group here in St. Louis known as the Karakas Foundation. Even though Mr. Karakas had never met me, and didn’t know me from Adam, the foundation agreed to help support my endeavor. There was just one piece of paperwork left — the physical, but that’s strictly perfunctory, right? I’d had many blood tests. Well, the results came back from what I thought was routine blood work and the doctor said, "I have some bad news. You have a viral infection". I thought, well, that’s not so bad. Then the doctor said, "There is more bad news. It’s potentially life threatening". I became very serious at that point. Then, the doctor said. "Unfortunately, the news gets worse. There isn’t any cure". I went numb. Looking back I’m sure was in a state of shock. It felt like the weight of the world was sitting on my shoulders. That bit of news put a stop to my plans for seminary. The ordeal I was about to undergo was about to change my life. Within a few short months I began a regimen that consisted of massive dosages every day for 11 months of two drugs. I’m intimately familiar with them: Interferon and Ribivirin. I didn’t know it but I was about to enter a different kind of seminary, one in which I would learn a little about how to listen, let go, and let God. It was going to come about through sickness. They said it would be an ordeal. They were right. They said it would probably drain me physically and emotionally. They were right. They said it would be painful. They were right and I had no idea. I kind of had a little talk with God.

 I said, God, this is not my plan. And the Lord replied "I am going to give you ears to hear. I want you to listen". What do you mean, God? I can already hear, can't I? I planed to go to work for you. This is not how things are supposed to go. And the Lord replied "I want you to let go of your plans". I said if I let go of this vision it will die. I already knew the answer to that before the words even left my mouth. Not my will, but let your will be done.

Before I conclude,

Listen, let go, let God. Regardless of you circumstances, this is a message we all need to hear. In Baptism you have died to sin. Let us be about the Christian labor of denying ourselves so that we might live to God. Let us be about the holy work of mortifying our will, our wishes, and our desires. Not my will, but let your will be done. When we do we discover that the words of the apostle are true. "Yet, not I but Christ lives in me". Therefore, listen to the words of the Apostle. Crucify yourself. Let go and let God. May our God grant us the grace to die to self daily that we might live to Him. By the way, the protocol treatment was successful.