20090208 Publican and the Pharisee

20090208  Publican and the Pharisee

1. 1 Timothy 3: 10-15 
   

2. St. Luke 18: 10-14 
   

Scientific Support for Humility:  

in this parable, God describes how humility is blessed and how pride is not.

Before I was a priest, I was a social scientist.  I love comparisons.  Scientists use comparisons to isolate the effects of the variables they are interested in.  For example, if you want to know what the effect of sleep deprivation is on intellectual performance, you have two groups of similar subjects take the very same exam; but you let one group get a good night’s sleep the night before, while forcing the other to stay up most of the night.  Then you compare how well they did on the exam.  Because nothing else was allowed to vary, the difference in performance is ascribed to sleep [FWIW, this kind of study has conclusively shown that sleep improves performance on tests, and that a lack of sleep leads to lower grades.  This despite a college culture that encourages cramming!].  

The kind of work that I did as a social scientist and intelligence analyst was a bit messier because I could not run controlled experiments to isolate the effects of each variable.  For example, if I wanted to understand the effect of theology on the Taliban insurgency, I could not run i he insurgency twice; once with radical Islam and the next without.  Rather, I would have to compare radical Islamist insurgencies with ones that used other religions and ideologies; trying to find the kinds of cases that allowed me to draw out the independent effect of religion.  While this kind of work is important, it is messy and full of nuance.  And frankly, after a while, the ambiguity gave me a bit of a headache.

Which is why I am so thankful that God gave us such a clear comparison in the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee.  He tells us of two men, describes what it is that makes them different, and how those differences lead them to different outcomes.  Scientifically speaking, there is nothing clearer.

•The Pharisee exalted himself and received no grace (i.e. he was not “justified”)

•The Publican humbled himself and received grace (i.e. he was “justified” and “exalted”)

The Lord is teaching us in no uncertain terms that if we want to receive grace  (if we want to be exalted), then we must humble ourselves and repent.  (“God be merciful to me a sinner”).  The publican in this parable  is like Zacchaeus in last week’s Gospel, and like Matthew before him: they lived sinful lives but repented of these sins.  The Pharisee judges and mocks the publican and his encounter with Our Lord, just as the onlookers mocked Zaccheaus and Matthew in their encounters with Christ.  The Pharisee thought that his deeds; his righteous fasting, tithing, and obedience to the Law; would raise Him up to the presence of God.  It did not: it only increased the gulf between them [i.e. him and God].  He thought that the publican’s sin would completely remove the publican from holiness; and he was right.  This is what sin does.  But what he was blind to was how the publican’s repentance and humility allowed God to reach down to and into the publican and raise him up to glory (i.e. “exalt” him).

Do you remember the history of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11: 4-9)?  Men thought that their skills would allow them to reach God.  This is impossible and spiritually harmful (which is another way of saying; “sinful”).  God attempted to teach men humility by confusing their tongues; but the lesson did not stick.  Like these men, and like the Pharisee in the parable, we still act as if we were “good enough” on our own.  That we have plenty to be proud of, that we have no real sins to hold us back, that humility and repentance are for real sins; sins like “extortion”, “adultery”, murder, and the like.  If we continue acting this way after hearing this Gospel, then we do so only out of hard-headedness and pride; because God couldn’t be clearer.  [FWIW, the architecture of our churches reinforce this lesson: we do not build towers in an attempt to reach God; we build domes that describe how God reaches down to us, and make them beautiful to show how this unites us with heaven].

We must develop habits of humility and repentance.  Even though you believe it with all our heart, the logic of the Gospel may not be enough to move you in this direction. All the disciplines of Orthodoxy are designed to make us spiritually less like the Pharisee and more like the Publican, but let me pull out two examples of  Orthodox spiritual disciplines that, if followed, will help us become better, more humble, people:

•Prayer.  Make the Morning and Evening prayers in your Prayer Book part of your life.  The lessons they teach will, over years of repetition, make repentance and humility seem natural. Read or listen to the Prayers before Communion on Sunday morning as you prepare to come to Divine Liturgy.  These, too, are excellent teachers.  Augment these with the regular recitation of the full version of the publican’s prayer; “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner” (Jesus Prayer).  A disciplined Orthodox prayer life will do wonders for your sanity and your spirituality. 

•Love one another.  God exhibited His great love for us by humbling Himself to our level; by focusing His salvific attention on each and every one of us; and by dying on the Cross to atone for the sins of every single one of us.  It is rare that we are given the opportunity to actually suffer and die to save someone; but every day you have the opportunity to what Christ did: love the person standing before you.  This requires real humility. This person may not deserve your attention in any objective sense; in fact, he may be petty, or slow of speech, or offensive, or simply irrelevant and incoherent.  But love him despite his nonsense the way Christ loves you despite yours.  While he is before you, make him the center of your world, the focus of your attention, the object of your love; and his reception of this love the goal of your interaction.  This will not only teach you humility, it will make you a powerful instrument for spreading peace and salvation.  And you can work on this even while you are along: praying for individual persons is wonderful way to reinforce this habit.

Let me conclude with a paradox: humility will make you more confident.  Humility will give you the backbone to be strong.  Humility will remove all fear and anxiety from your life.  Christ Himself was humble, and He was no pushover.  The humble man is able to perform every good deed without hesitation or remorse; to love without fear of pain or reprisal; and to enjoy the constant reassurance of God’s grace.  

As St. Paul taught (Philippians 2: 3-11):

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.  Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be [proud of], but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.  Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Let us imitate Christ in His humility; let us imitate Christ in His love; so that we too, might follow Him to Glory.  In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

20090201 Zacchaeus Sunday

20090201  Zacchaeus Sunday

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1 Timothy 4: 9-15 
St. Luke 19: 1-10 

Zacchaeus was a wee little man...

Today’s Gospel is about how a real sinner found salvation through his encounter with Christ.  Jesus’ healing and teaching ministry attracted a crowd as he traveled.  One person that it attracted was Zaccheaus.  He was attracted by more than simple curiosity.  He was not out for entertainment or a spiritual fix.  Nor was he trying to impress anyone.  He was a sinner looking for salvation, and he found it and a better life in the God-man Jesus Christ.

I want to make sure you understand his condition.  Zacchaeus was a tax collector.  A “publican”. He collected taxes for the imperial pagan army that had enslaved his people (the Jews).  We are all familiar with “taxation without representation”.   We abhor it and everyone who facilitates it.  Zacchaeus was the Jewish equivalent of the American “duty-men” who were universally reviled here in America during Colonial times.  I have never read of the Jews tar-and-feathering anyone in Jericho like our ancestors here did, but the antipathy towards injustice was the same.  In fact, it may have been worse than the colonials felt: Zacchaeus got rich by taking even more in taxes than the Romans demanded and keeping the extra for himself.  You can bet that the other Jews reviled him and his wicked manner of life.  He was a pariah: greedy, traitorous, and sinful.

So perhaps now you can see why people were upset that Our Lord stopped and offered to bless Zacchaeus and his home; and when Jesus actually went into his house as guest.  As the Gospel says; “And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, that he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.”  Do you share their enmity?

Pious Jews did not eat with sinners lest they also be defiled by their sin.  The home of someone like Zacceaus, whose sin was so awful and so public, would have also been seen as an unclean place.  It would have been like dining with lepers.  They did not understand that Jesus could not be defiled by anyone’s sin, or contaminated by being within a cursed place.  The prayer the priest shares during the blessing of homes (a prayer which many of you have recently heard) describes what happens when Christ enters a sinner’s home: 

O God our Savior, the True Light, Who was baptized in the Jordan by the Prophet John, and Who did deign to enter under the roof-tree of Zacchaeus, bringing salvation unto him and unto his house: do You, the same Lord, keep safe also from harm those who dwell herein; grant to them Your blessing, purification and bodily health, and all their petitions that are unto salvation and Life everlasting; for blessed are You, as also Your Father Who is from everlasting, and Your All; Holy, Good and Life; creating Spirit, both now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. 

Far from being cursed, Jesus changes things by his very presence.  His blessing cuts through the deepest stains.  But the onlooking Jews did not trust in the blessing of the God-man.  Their only reaction was visceral: they hated Zaccheaus and his sin and could not stand the idea that Jesus would spend time with him.  No doubt, it undermined their faith in Christ.  They would need to look elsewhere for a messiah: in their eyes, Jesus had been compromised.  

Jesus’ message of forgiveness was radical; designed to restore community to Himself as God, and through this; restore community among all God-fearing people.  It must have been hard for the Jewish community to even think of admitting Zacchaeus back into their lives.  Not only had he done enormous damage on his own, they themselves had done nothing wrong.  In fact, they must have wondered why Jesus did not dine with them!  Why should Jesus go to so much trouble as to eat with a sinner when he could have joined with others who were like Him in their holiness?

Christ had responded to such criticism earlier while eating with sinners at the home of another tax collector, the apostle Matthew, so we have His response to this question “on the record”:

As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.  Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”  When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Like Zaccheaus, I am a sinner.  Last week I described the temptations that I wrestle with.  God does not bless my sinfulness: he calls me to repentance.  He did not bless Zaccheaus’ sinfulness: he called Him to repent and change.  Christ is so perfect, so holy, that you cannot be in His presence and remain unaffected. There may be some who need only bask in His glow [we will hear of them next week when we speak of the “Publican and the Pharisee”]; but for the rest of us, remaining in His Light requires constant repentance and growth.  For the rest of us, self-satisfaction would require turning our backs on Him, turning our backs on happiness, turning our backs on community, and embracing an eternity of the sin that comes so easy to us.  It is obvious that sinners do not deserve to have the Lord come into our homes (e.g. “beneath the roof of the temple of our souls” (Communion prayer)); that we do not deserve to come and eat the Mystical Food and Drink He so lovingly offers and shares with us; and that we certainly do not deserve the mansion He has prepared for us in glory.  

We deserve none of this, but I hope that no one is offended by that offers it to us.  More so, I hope that no one is offended if we actually accept his mercy.  While we can never earn the love He has freely given, we do “repent sincerely” and “promise that, with the help of God, we will better our lives” (from the prayer after confession).  Like Zaccheaus, we promise that we will make amends.  He gave half of all he had to the poor; and to give those he cheated four-times what he stole.  We offer nothing less than our lives.    

All of us are sinners.  All of us fall short of the glory of God.  But God is merciful and desires our salvation; it is for this reason that He offered up His Son, Jesus Christ; it is for this reason that He gave us His Church.  Acknowledge your sins and repent.  Accept forgiveness for your sins, and allow the Lord to bless and better your life.  Then, having done this, rejoice and bring others to the same.  This may cause you to sit down with sinners, but you will feast with saints.

20090125 Chief of Sinners

20090125  Chief of Sinners

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1 Timothy 1: 15-17 

St. Luke 18: 35-43 

1 Timothy 1: 15 – 17.  This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.  However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.  Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.  

I am a sinner
I am a sinner.  In fact, I am the chief of sinners.  I am not exaggerating.  I am proud; I am vain; I get passionate about things that do not matter; I am lazy about things that do matter; I do not properly guard my thoughts, my eyes, or my tongue.  I judge others; love no one but myself; blame those around me (to include even God) for my problems; claim credit for my successes; and generally order my life in a way that discourages the growth of peace and love in me and those around me.  I sow confusion and fear in the garden of my heart and in the fields around me.  I say that I love others, but only care for them when it suits my own interests.  I turn away beggars and seek praise from the fallen.  My life is a mockery of virtue.  Faith, hope, love, wisdom, justice, patience, and moderation have no home in me.

I am the first of sinners
So believe me when I tell you that I am the first and chief among sinners.  My sins all but consumed me in my younger years.  They were threatening to destroy me and my family, and to turn my very presence into a blight on my community.  I had no hope for true happiness; my only hope was that I might be able find enough diversions, enough hobbies, enough forgetfulness, to allow me to stumble towards death without losing my mind.  

I would still be there were it not for Jesus Christ.  He did more than tell me of God’s plan for my life: He gave me His love.  He showed me that life was something that could be embraced and enjoyed.  He demonstrated that love could be trusted; that faith and hope were rational responses to the reality of a perfect God.  And He enfolded me within a virtuous family and community that allowed Him to continue to bring out the best in me.  In short, He brought me peace.  He brought me love.  He brought me salvation.

God offered me mercy (so obviously he will offer the same to you)
Now I offer my story and my life to you, so that God might work the same transformation in your life.  Many of you suffer so much. This world can be so cruel, and we can be so hurtful to ourselves and to one another.  But we were not made to live in such pain; we were not made to spread confusion.  

Christ is offering you another way.  He came into the world to save people like you and me.  Accept His longsuffering mercy.  Immerse yourself in His prayer, in His Sacraments, in the fellowship of His Church. Allow Him to dispel your dread and bring you His peace now and for all eternity.  

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

20090118 Baptizing the World

20090118  Baptizing the World

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2 Timothy 4: 5-8 

St. Mark 1: 1-8 

Today we have a lot going on.  Before the Liturgy, we celebrated the Baptism into Christ of his servant, Ronn; then he was mysteriously sealed with the Holy Spirit through the Church’s sacrament of Chrismation; thus marking his formal entry into Holy Orthodoxy.  

Now we are in the midst of our Divine Liturgy, when Ronn will partake of his first Communion as an Orthodox Christian, joining us in the sacramental act that stands at the very center of every Orthodox believer’s life.  Communion is when we who have “put on Christ” through Holy Baptism, who have been sealed with the Holy Spirit through Chrismation, who have confessed our faith in the Holy Trinity and in salvation through the death and Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, accept His transforming power not just into our hearts and minds, but into our very bodies through eating of His Body and drinking of His Blood.  For as the God-man Himself said (St. John 55-56); “for my body is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed; he who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.”  All of our prayer life, our relationships with God and with one another, all of our hopes and dreams are strengthened and enabled by this healing and sanctifying mystery.  This act is so important that our bishops encourage us to prepare and receive it at every opportunity; and that the Canons of the Church point out that those who refuse to partake for more than three weeks have excommunicated themselves and should return through the sacrament of repentance.  

But just as the Divine Liturgy and taking Communion has become a part of every event within our lives, so has it become enmeshed within the regular events of the Church.  So it is that the pattern of every Sunday’s Divine Liturgy; the primary purpose of which is to celebrate and participate in the Lord’s Resurrection; is shaped by other events in the Liturgical calendar.  For example, last week the Lord’s Resurrection was celebrated within the Liturgical context of the Nativity.  Today, the Lord’s Resurrection is celebrated within the Liturgical context of Theophany; so whereas last week we combined the themes of Christ’s birth, the visit of the wise men, and the Holy Family’s escape into Egypt with that of Christ’s death and Resurrection; this week we join the events surrounding Christ’s baptism with those of His death and Resurrection.  And you must admit that this is a very powerful combination: through immersion in water, we join Christ in his death; through immersion in water, the sins of the “old man” are washed away; and through being brought up again out of the water, we are symbolically brought out of the death of sin and into a new life in His Resurrection.  Baptism is such a beautiful celebration.

We are reminded of the importance of baptism every time we enter this temple.  Look at the South wall to your left.  That huge iconic mural of Christ’s baptism (the Tehopany) was put there for a reason.  But now look across at the North wall to your right: the matching iconic mural of the baptism of Rus’-Ukraine was not put there for just for the sake of artistic symmetry, or even to remind us of the role baptism played in the development of the Ukrainian Church and culture.  And while I think it is useful to think of yourself as one of those being baptized into Christ there in the Dnepro River, you are not getting the full effect if you stop there, either.  

Notice that we did not put the icons of Baptism at the front of the Church, we put them on each side: they are not the goal of our worship, but milestones along the way to other things.  First, they encourage us as we move towards participation in what the icon that is placed at the front of the Church demonstrates: the icon of the Mystical Supper which stands atop the Royal Doors draws us toward our own participation in the Holy Eucharist.  But if we stop there, I think we are still missing an important point.  Having come forward and partaken of the Body and Blood of Christ and accepted His deifying grace in our lives, as we are on our way out of the Church and back into the world, the baptismal icons are there to remind us of something else: the final words Christ gave to His Disciples as He was ascending into glory; ”Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

This is called the Great Commission, and fulfilling it is at the core of our identity as a Christians, as a parish, and as a Church.  May today’s delicious fruit - the entry into Orthodoxy of God’s servant Ronn, be the first of bountiful and unending harvest here. 

20090111 Following the Star - what will they find?

20090111 Following the Star - what will they find?

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I believe that honest seekers will always end up at Christ. His presence, indeed the reality of the entire Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), are so foundational that they cannot help but infiltrate every system of philosophy, every religion; and pull on every human heart.

Example 1:
Even a religion whose founder designed his scripture to undermine faith in the Trinity, the Incarnation, and salvation through Christ, could not help but have that very same scripture point towards these very same things. Many of the verses Mohammad came up with to support his own position attack Christianity, attack the Trinity, attack Jesus Christ, and attack His role in our salvation. But the Truth is still visible through the clouds of blasphemy: Muslims are taught to place their trust in the pre-eternal Word, the Word that God gifted mankind to bring them to true wisdom and understanding. They are deceived in believing that the pre-eternal Word is incarnate in the classical Arabic Koran rather than in Jesus Christ; but the guidepost is there for those who wish to follow it beyond the bounds of Islam and into the fullness of the truth.

Example 2:
The same was true two thousand years ago for the wise men. They were astrologers. Like Islam, astrology is a flawed religion, something unbefitting and harmful for Godfearing people. It can lead either to a strong sense of fatalism (as when one believes that the relative position of the stars and planets determine events) or occultism (as when people attempt to see things or alter outcomes using such knowledge). But it was God Himself who placed the stars and planets in the heavens, and honest study of them – as of all His handiwork – will point people to Him. Moreover, the Lord – through His angels and our god-like consciouses – is always trying to move us towards Him and a deeper understanding of the Truth. As we learned on Wednesday, St. John Chrysostom taught that the very star that led the wise men was an angel, perhaps even the Archangel Gabriel, who had worked his way into the visions of the wise men in order to lead them to the ultimate source of Truth and salvation: Jesus Christ.

Example 3 (and segue):
On a personal note, it was this same search for Truth that led me here. This time, the Lord did not have to work through the delusion of astronomy. I already knew Him as the Christ. I knew of His love for all of us and His plan for our salvation. But seeking for a fuller and deeper understanding of these things led me here. I am not the first, nor will I be the last to make this same journey. There are so many people who are seeking the Truth. They will eventually follow that star to Orthodoxy. But what will they find?

What will they find?:
The wise men and shepherds saw the Light of Divinity shining from the Incarnate Christ child. The bowed in adoration and offered the best of themselves to Him in result. But what will this generation find when they follow that star here? Will they see the Light of Divinity shining through the Incarnation of Christ in us and in our Church?

One of our Communion prayers (the second of St. John Chrysostom) captures my concern when it says;

Lord my God, I know that I am not sufficiently worthy that You should come under the roof of the house of my soul, for it is entirely desolate and fallen in ruin and You cannot find, in me, a worthy place for Your head. but, as you humbled Yourself from on high for our sake, humble Yourself now to the measure of my lowliness. As You took it upon Yourself in the cave to lie in the manger for dumb animals, so take it upon Yourself now to enter into the manger of my ignorant soul and into my defiled body.
(page 48, UOC-USA Prayer Book)

The wise men saw the divinity of Christ despite his meager surroundings, so it is possible that people will see beyond our obvious shortcomings and see Him in us and in what we do. [By the way, it is to cover my obvious shortcomings that the Church puts me in such fine vestments, as if even pure gold and brightest diamonds could ever manage such a thing!] But seekers who are not as diligent as the wise men may not be so charitable. It is heartbreaking how many honest seekers fall away from Christianity and from Orthodoxy. Why is this? Trust me, it is not the theology; nor is it the worship. It is me. It is us. We have turned them away. We have posted guards at the entrance to the cave with our hard-heartedness and sloth. And as a result they seek Him elsewhere.

Can you imagine a greater tragedy that someone leaving Orthodoxy to find true spirituality, or to find true charity, or to find true love? It is tragic because Orthodoxy is the fountain of true spirituality, of true charity, and of true love! It is tragic because the imitations and shadows of these things found elsewhere will not satisfy as well as does the primal version that springs from Christ.

People should not feel the need to leave Orthodoxy to find spirituality, or charity, love. These things are at the center of Orthodoxy, at the very center of who God calls us to be. They do not need to go any further east to find mystical union: it is here. It is here in our ascetic practices, in our prayers, and in our worship. They should not need to go to a Salvation Army soup kitchen or a government welfare office to find and offer charity: it is here in our prayers and in our missions. They do not need to turn to pornography, hook-ups, or secular societies to find love and fellowship: the greatest love and fellowship is found here, where we are united in one another and with Christ in a single, healthy, and joyous body.

People should not feel the need to look elsewhere for such things, but if we do not share these treasures with them, then they will.

There is a warning in today’s Gospel reading and it is echoed in our own experience. In the Gospel, the Christ could not stay in His home of Israel. He could not continue to bless the meager cave with His presence. So He left and went to Egypt. There was a time in Ukraine when Christ was persecuted, when Christians feared that the faith – and the faithful – would be exterminated in the Communist “slaughter of the innocents”. So the founders of this parish and of our diocese fled their homeland for a new home. Here there is no real persecution, but we can still follow Herod’s example and drive Him out. We can still leave Him with no “worthy place to lay [His] head”. We could still end up with an empty manger. And an empty manger is, at best, a historical artifact, incapable of sustaining adoration and faith.

[An anecdote: I am reminded of a story another priest told me. He wanted to start a Ukrainian Orthodox mission in the South. He thought he had found gold when he found a small Ukrainian Orthodox parish that continued to meet without a priest. He thought that they would welcome him and assist him in his efforts to spread the Good News. But they rejected him, preferring to gather once a week to listen to recordings of the liturgy rather than actively worshiping with a living priest.]

I can’t tell you how many people have told me how much joy they see and feel here at St. Michael’s. They recognize the life and the vitality. Many of you have noticed and remarked on the “new spirit” here. Let me tell you what it is you see and feel: you see and feel the love and hope of the Christ child. You feel the reality of His love and the possibility of salvation through your relationship with Him. As long as we embrace this; as long as we bow down in adoration before Him; as long as we continue to order our lives around this Truth; [as long as we exhibit true Orthodox spirituality, charity, and love] the star will continue to shine over Woonsocket; people will come to worship the King; and they will find Him here in us.

20090104 Saying the Names

20090104 Saying the Names

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Hebrews 11: 9-10, 17-23, 32-40
St. Matthew 1: 1-25

Keeping Tradition [Saying the Names]

Today is the Sunday before the Nativity in the flesh of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ. On this Sunday, which we call “The Sunday of the Fathers”, we remember the lives of all of our God-pleasing predecessors, from Adam to St. Joseph the Betrothed. In our reading from Saint Paul to the Hebrews, we get a reminder of the faith that united them; of the earthly trials this faith often brought them; and of the common reward that await all who put their faith in God first and foremost in their lives. The reading from the beginning of the Gospel of St. Matthew is the genealogy of Christ; from Abraham to Joseph, the betrothed of the Bohoroditsa and the stepfather and protector of Jesus Christ. Amongst the 39 some-odd “begets”, this reading gives the names of the patriliniage of Christ, according to the Flesh. [I say “according to the flesh” because Christ is God-Incarnate; the patriliniage of His Godhead is quite short. It is proclaimed in our Creed. He is the “Lord Jesus Christ, begotten of the Father before all ages.”]

Names in reading
Let me share some thoughts that some of you may have been having during these readings. You may be wondering; “why bother with all those names?” Couldn’t we shorten the Gospel reading a bit and get right to the ‘good stuff’ about the actual birth of the baby Jesus? After all, no one can remember all those names from year to year?”

Brothers and sisters, the Church included these names, both in the Gospel itself, and in the Lectionary for this Sunday. I reckon it did so for a reason, and for the next few minutes, I want to reflect on why.

We Don’t Forget our Family

We have public Panikhidas for our departed loved ones on the anniversary of their repose. We have public Liturgies committed to their memory and blessed repose on “Soul Saturdays”. The priest is responsible for keeping the records of the departed and commemorating all of them, regardless of whether they have blood relatives remaining in this parish or even on this earth. He commemorates the names of the departed before every liturgy and in his daily prayers. Why do we bother to do this? Why commemorate people who are already gone? Why should the parish – through its priest – bother keeping the memory of long-forgotten people alive? In fact, why do we bother visiting and caring for the graves of loved ones? Why do we ask a dedicated committee to look after our cemetery in Blackstone?

We remember loved ones who have gone on to their reward before us because they are family. They were and remain a part of who we are. The instinct to do this is blessed, formed not just out of blood and genes, but a subconscious recognition of an even greater truth: there is only one Body of Christ. Last week we learned that His Body is not divided into Gentile or Jew; Male or Female. Now we learn that it is not divided by time. Everyone who has “put on Christ” does so for all eternity. His robe of incorruption is not removed by the decay of the grave. It is not just their memories that live on, it is their eternal souls.

Segue: Our Traditions
We take the time to list the ancestors of Christ because they are part of us. Saying their names is part of our tradition, as is going to visit the graves on St. Thomas Sunday, commemorating the dead on their anniversaries with Panikhida’s and koliva or kutia, and praying for (and with) them in our daily prayers. Like all good traditions, they teach and reinforce fundamental truths, not just in our minds, but in our hearts.

America is often chided for being a land devoid of tradition; and Americans for being more interested in the immediate future than caring about the past. At best, this part of our American culture tells us to look to the past in order to learn from its failures and build on its successes. Many will say that this is why we teach our children history. This is true as far as it goes, but for Christians, we preserve our traditions for even greater reasons that go beyond such superficial rationality.

When we took our youth caroling yesterday, it was not just to bring joy to people who cannot join us here in worship; nor was it just to make sure that our youth know more about the “blessed founders and benefactors” of this God-protected parish. These reasons are important, and these goals were met; but the fact is that we these things like caroling because they are part of our tradition. They reaffirm the very best of who we are. And yes, they do this by showing how to share joy with the disadvantaged, and yes they do this by teaching us more about our history. But our traditions should not just be thought of and valued simply as “tried and true methods” to meet specific “learning objectives”; any more than our praise of God should be summarized as a way to meet the goal of salvation. It does this, but it also does so much more. We do these things because they make us more human; and because when we do not do them, we become less so.

The Need for Roots

A rose plucked from its roots will only remain beautiful for a brief time. Or, to use a more timely metaphor, a tree shorn of its roots will soon lose its vigor (followed by its needles). A metaphor like this can be scary for a parish formed by immigrants radically separated from their roots. There may be a fear that assimilation will make this community like the plucked rose or cut Christmas tree. Our decline in numbers over the last couple of generations might further this fear. But this is a mistaken understanding. The deepest roots of this community are not in Ukraine; but in Christ. Ukraine was “good soil”, but there is good soil here, as well. We foster our good traditions and the memory of those gone before us because this keeps us connected with these deepest roots. They strengthen this community and they strengthen us with the faith that preserves through all times.

And by keeping our traditions and naming all these names, we are better prepared and more able to celebrate the thing that they have offered up to us: the Nativity of Christ in the flesh, and the Nativity of Christ in our hearts.

20081228 Are you coming to the Feast?

20081228 Are you coming to the Feast?

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Colossians 3:4-11
St. Luke 14: 16-24

The Forefathers
Today is the second Sunday before the Nativity in the flesh of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ. On this Sunday, which we call “The Sunday of the Forefathers”, our hymns remind us of all those who came before the blessed Incarnation of God. We remember all the great Fathers and Mothers, starting with those who predate the Law, to include: Adam, Enoch, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob; as well as those who came after the law: to include Moses, Aaron, Joshua, [Deborah, Ruth,] Samuel, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, [the three holy youths], and with them the twelve prophets [Hosea, Amos, Micah, Joel, Obidiah, Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, &Malachi], Elijah, Elisha, and all the rest; and concluding with Jesus’ immediate ancestors and contemporaries, Zachariah [ & Elizabeth], [Joachim, & Anna] (the four of whom adorn the back walls of our temple); Christ’s cousin, John the Forerunner & Baptist; and Christ’s Mother, Mary the Bohoroditsa.

Among these, special attention is paid to the Patriarch Abraham, to whom God said, “in thy seed shall all of the nations of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 22:18). While the immediate meaning of these words to Abraham dealt with the establishment of the Jews as the people of God; the greater “blessing” God is describing is the coming incarnation of His Son, Jesus Christ, which will also be effected through Abraham’s seed. The Jews were a “blessing” to the nations by their witness to the true God and their prophesies of the Messiah; but Christ the Messiah is the greatest “blessing” because through Him all nations could not only know of Christ, but also be redeemed through Him.

It is this greater meaning that allows St. Paul to say that those who confess Christ as their Savior and thereby become one in His Body – the Church – are no longer “Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free”. The Jews were set apart from all the other nations. The Jewish scriptures describe how they were contaminated and led astray when other peoples were allowed into their midst. But now the blood of Christ and His Glorious resurrection allow all who so desire to gather together in Him; and from within Him, to “make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them [also] in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” so that everyone (through Him and Him in us) can become partakers of His Divine Nature (2 St. Peter 1: 2-4).

The Banquet.
God worked through the forefathers to prepare the world for the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, so that through Him we all might be saved from an eternity of separation and sin. Thanks to them, He has come and laid the banquet before us: we have but to answer his call. We just have to answer his invitation to join him at his feast. He has sent his apostles out into the “highways and hedges” of this world – even to the Blackstone Valley of New England – so that we, too, may be fed, filled, and redeemed.

But who will come? Will you join Him at the feast?

Given the hunger in this world it is difficult to understand, but there are many who refuse this invitation. In the parable, it seems absurd that people would rather attend to mundane matters than feast with their Lord. But how much crazier is it for people to go about their lives in the normal manner here and now when Christ Himself is offering the only food that truly fills and the only drink that truly quenches? How can we just stand God up when He has prepared everything for us and our salvation? How can we dismiss Him so easily, so rudely?

The Holy Fathers teach us that the services and prayers of the Church are our best teachers. Among these, the Divine Liturgy is paramount; and the Anaphora is its most sacred section (anaphora means “carrying up” or offering; it is when the Holy Spirit comes down and brings about the change of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ). The first priestly Eucharistic prayer of the Anaphora (which is found in the red books in the pew, but not in the white ones, which do not include any of the priest’s prayers) makes clear what our attitude towards this invitation to salvation should be:

• It is right, in truth, to sing to You, to bless You, to praise You, to thank You, and to worship You in all places of Your dominion; for You are God Ineffable, Inconceivable, Invisible, Incomprehensible, existing forever, ever the same – You and Your Only-begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit, You brought us out of nothing into being, and when we fell, You raised us up again and did not cease doing everything until You led us into Heaven and granted us Your Kingdom to come.
• [For all these things we thank You and Your only begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit: for all things that we know and do not know, for blessings manifest and hidden that have been granted to us. We also thank You for this liturgy which you are please to accept from our hands, even though You are surrounded by thousands of Archangels, by tens of thousands of Angels, and by the Cherubim and Seraphim – six-winged, many-eyed – soaring aloft on their wings …]”

At the very moment the great Eucharistic banquet is being prepared, this prayer reminds us that the right way to respond to this feast is with thanksgiving and acknowledgement of God’s saving grace and His unceasing efforts to bring us into His Kingdom. At the end of this prayer, you all continue the praise that the priest began with these words:

• Holy, Holy, Holy Lord of Sabaoth, Heaven and earth are filled with Your glory, Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!

“Hosanna” literally means “please save now”. For the forefathers, it was a plea that the Messiah would come quickly to deliver them. But the Messiah has now come – indeed He is still here – so the word “hosanna” has been transformed into a song of praise and adoration to God for the salvation He offers to us through His Son. The entire Divine Liturgy is devoted to this reality – in fact, the very word “Eucharist” means “Thanksgiving”. And while we have many blessings, it is God’s gift of His Son that is – or at least should be – the thing for which we are most grateful.

The Invitation
Are you grateful for this gift of salvation through Jesus Christ? If so, do not spurn the invitation to the celebratory feast! The Lord is inviting you now to accept His salvific grace; to be freed from your sin, to be granted life in abundance, and to feast with the saints and angels in His loving presence.

He is calling you now. You may indeed be busy, but I seriously doubt that you can honestly and rationally say that you have something better to do. Say “yes” to Christ now; and reaffirm that choice henceforth through your every action and decision; strengthen it through your prayer, love of neighbor, evangelism, and fellowship with His people. Your decision will then become less a point in time, or even a series of points, but points transformed into an integral of sanctification leading you towards an eternity of bliss.

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

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Introduction: Christmas on 12/25 or 1/7?

While the majority of Orthodox Christians in the world use the Julian (aka “Old”) Calendar for liturgical purposes, the majority of Orthodox Christians here in the West join our heterodox and secular neighbors on the “New Calendar”, which is 13 days ahead.* However, a minority of Orthodox dioceses in the West - especially those formed by diaspora from “Old Calendar” countries - remain on the “Old Calendar” here and now. So while it may be somewhat interesting to trivia buffs that groups of nations celebrate Christmas on different days (because “December 25th” falls 13 days apart), the real fun happens when the differences are not between nations, but within them.**

Our parish of St. Michael’s is on the Old Calendar. This is our second Christmas here (and on the Old Calendar), and I thought I might share some observations on what life is like on the Old Calendar. This will not be a deep theological discussion (as if I were capable of such a thing!): my bishops seem to treat the issue pastorally, and I follow their lead in this as is all things. But even pastorally speaking, I do have to wonder: 1) how it effects our witness/credibility to observe the vernal equinox 13 days after the solar event actually occurs; 2) to say how nice it is to celebrate Nativity outside the corrosive influence of commercialism; and 3) how odd it is to celebrate the birth of Christ twice each year. Having said that, let me take just a moment to work out some thoughts on what our mix of calendars reshapes the structure of our Nativity Lent.

The New (Old) Advent.
In the Orthodox Church, we work ourselves up for the big feasts. We call these times of preparation “fasts”. The most well known fast is the “Great Lent” before Pascha/Easter, but Nativity/Christmas has one, too. The Nativity Fast (or Advent) is not as well-developed liturgically as Great Lent, which has week-long commemorations, special Sundays that everyone knows, special services, etc; but it does have some structure. The two Sundays before nativity have special themes (the Forefathers and Fathers, respectively) which are augmented by saints days and feasts throughout the fast. These combine with other, less traditional, things to give those of us on the Old Calendar an interesting “New (Old) Advent” Calendar.

Here is an outline of what I think it looks like for many of our faithful:

The Beginning of the Fast: St. Phillip’s Day (and Thanksgiving).
St. Phillip is commemorated the day before the 40 days of Nativity Lent begin. For this reason, Nativity Lent is often referred to as St. Phillip’s Fast or “Pilipivka”. St. Phillip is celebrated on 11/15, which falls on 11/28 for people using the Old Calendar. While some of our folks may know about St. Phillip’s Day, in practical terms, Thanksgiving (and not St. Phillip’s Day) serves as the last holiday before the start of the Fast.

Thanksgiving, which is rightly embraced and celebrated as a Christian feast, has become the equivalent of Western “Fat Tuesday”, or, better yet (when you factor in the act of purging the fridge of leftovers) Orthodox Meatfare. This is true regardless of the possibility of Thanksgiving falling on 11/28. While 11/28 is technically the beginning of the fasting period, the fact that Thanksgiving is a movable feast (ranging from 22-28 November) defacto makes the beginning of Nativity Fast movable, as well. I don’t think it would would be practical or useful to insist our faithful fast on Thanksgiving when it falls during the Advent fast. There are some who strongly disagree with this position, but I think they have forgotten our evangelistic imperative to bless everything we can as we sanctify our given cultures (after all, we did this when we first selected the end of December to commemorate the Nativity in the first place).

The First Big Milestone: St. Nicholas Day.
St. Nicholas is commemorated on 12/6, which is 12/19 on the Old Calendar. He is one of the few Saint days that gets remembered in any consistent fashion (e.g. we get no more than a handful of people at the services for the Feasts of the Presentation of the Birthgiver of God (12/4) and of the Conception of the Birthgiver of God (12/22)). There are many other saints commemorated during Advent, but I really think St. Nicholas is the only one 99% of our parishioners really pay attention to. In the Old World, St. Nicholas day would be when children received modest gifts (often into their shoes).

Some Orthodox in the West try to use gift-giving on St. Nicholas day as a way to isolate Christmas/Nativity from the commercialization of Santa Claus and his reindeer. While I like this, I do not think it will be successful. I am afraid that the idea of unwrapping presents has been completely captured by the jolly man in the red robes. Instead, if we are not careful, secular pressures will have the perverse effect of extending the commercial Christma$ $ea$on forward to St. Nicholas Day and, at least for those on the Old Calendar, backwards to Nativity; turning the entire Advent period into a hedonistic buying binge.

St. Nicholas Day is a delightful time in all of our parishes. It is when we begin singing carols (both religious and secular), and really enter into the “spirit of Christmas”.

The Next Major Milestone: “American” (or “Western”) Christmas.
One of the most interesting thing I learned after being assigned to an Old Calendar parish was how many of my parishioners celebrate Christmas on 12/25. I don’t know what to make of it, but this is a real sign of assimilation. I think the primary mechanisms of our this assimilation have been intermarriage with heterodox Christians, the conversion of family members away from Orthodoxy, and (to a far lesser extent) conversion of families into Orthodoxy. The (blessed) desire to celebrate this wonderful feast with families has been seriously bolstered by the commercial pressures that also focus on the 25th of December. Families on the Old Calendar love the fact that they can celebrate this important feast with their heterodox families without compromising their Orthodox Nativity worship and traditions. After all, Christmas has become much more of a family celebration than a church one, even for religious Christians.

My personal opinion is that communities on the “Old Calendar” should treat “Western Christmas” the way Orthodox communities on the “New Calendar” treat Thanksgiving (which always falls during Advent for them): it is a Christian celebration that can easily be blessed for our sanctifying participation. I believe that the cost of breaking up the fast is more than made up for by the benefits of participation.

Ideally, the decline in commercialization after “American Christmas” would allow our folks to begin concentrating on fasting and other preparations once it is over. Unfortunately, this is preempted by a “holiday” that is much harder to embrace, at least in its secular form: New Years.

The Next Major (albeit lamentable) Milestone: New Years Eve/Day
At best, this is a secular feast; a chance to celebrate the hope of a new year with friends and family. I list it here because I am not presenting an “ideal type” of what Advent should look like; I am describing how are actually done, even among our more active and pious parishioners.

FWIW, there is an “Old Calendar” New Year celebration called “Malanka”, but it is as secular as ours here on the secular “new” calendar (but at least it falls outside the fast!). The actual liturgical new year (Indiction) is on September 1st, but the true “spirit” of New Year (i.e. the hope of a new era) is celebrated at Pascha. As for New Year’s Eve parties, good people can bring holiness to almost every occasion, and I know that they can and do witness Christ to their friends and families at New Year’s Eve parties. But I would prefer that we celebrated it within the spirit of the fast rather than stepping outside it for the evening.

Peace at Last: The Eve of Nativity (& Nativity itself).
People might notice small changes to their worship on the two Sundays before Nativity, but the Eve of Nativity is when everything really hits home. After Great Compline, a beautiful and solemn service punctuated by the singing of Nativity carols, many families gather together for a traditional “Holy Supper”. There is no Santa, there are no reindeer, and the anticipation has nothing to with presents showing up under the tree. Everything and everyone focuses their attention on the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. On Christmas morning, everyone goes to Church to celebrate the Nativity Liturgy. Again, the focus is on Christ, not on satisfaction of selfish wants (our own or others).

This is where the Old Calendar celebrations really outshine those on the New.

Continuing the Celebration: The Twelve Days of Christmas... and Theophany
After Nativity, we have a week of fast-free celebrations,followed on January 20th with the celebration of Christ’s Baptism. This is a very popular feast that concludes with the blessing of water. For the next week or two thereafter, many folks will invite the priest to their homes to bless them with the holy water.

Conclusion
I am a pastor, not a theologian (and a young and foolish one, at that). On questions for which Orthodoxy offers more than one correct or useful answer, I will always go with the one that I think will bring my community into a closer relationship with Christ. This means that one size will not fit all; what works in one parish may not be best for another. We have to understand the dynamics of our local culture; then we have to work within it in order to grow it into something that is even more salvific both us and the generations who come after. For the Orthodox in America, the calendar may be analogous to using the Old World language: useful and salvific in some parishes but not others, and less so over time. Then again, keeping the “Old Calendar” may be a way to maintain harmony in “mixed” communities and provide a better tool for evangelizing the heterodox.

Regardless, let me conclude with a brief practical point that verges on theology: if we are to universally adopt the more accurate secular calendar as our own, we should do it for the date of Pascha, too. The current “compromise” system is unwieldy. But that is the subject for another entry.

=========================
* Actually this is imprecise. The “New Calendar” is not quite the same as the Gregorian calendar used in the West. The proper name for the “New” calendar is the “Revised Julian Calendar”. Still, this is mainly a difference without a distinction (at least until 2800 when they, too, will begin to diverge).

** In fact, given how little most people allow their liturgical calendar to influence their lives, Christmas/Nativity is the only time they would even notice they are on different ones than their neighbors. Easter/Pascha often ends up on a different date, too; but the movable date and the fact that even Orthodox on the “New Calendar” use the Old Calendar for computing the Vernal Equinox, only serves to complicate matters.

20081221 St. Nicholas, Ukraine, and the Armor of God

20081221 St. Nicholas, Ukraine, and the Armor of God
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Ephesians 6: 10-17. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,

St. Luke 17: 12-19. Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (One God). Amen.

I would like to begin by welcoming our newest altar server and parish guest: the seminarian Vasyl Dohan. At 19, he is the youngest of our seminarians. He is also the youngest of three brothers. But the most important thing to know about Vasyl is that he (like our other seminarians)is completely committed to serving Christ and the furthering the salvific mission of the Holy Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Today we celebrate the life of Saint Nicholas. The iconography of our beautiful church gives you a sense of how important St. Nicholas is to us: he joins the Apostle Andrew, the Equals to the Apostles King Volodomyr and Queen-regent Ol’ha, and the monastic saints Anthony and Theodosius right here in the front of the nave. And I want to you to pause for a moment and notice just how special that is: by his location, he joins the founders of Orthodoxy in Ukraine. St. Andrew was the disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ who, during his missionary journeys after the Resurrection, came to the banks of the Dnepr river and prophesied that Ukraine would become a Christian nation. We refer to him in some of our prayers as “the founder of Christ’s Church in Ukraine”. Saints Ol’ha and Volodomyr were the rulers who converted to Christianity, with the later bringing his people to Christ, as well (as is depicted in the central icon on our southern wall). Saints Anthony and Theodosius were the founders of monasticism in Ukraine; the Monastery of the Caves which they built continues to serve as a spiritual foundation for us and all Orthodox believers.

And then we have St. Nicholas, standing there amongst them. Why? As far as I know, he never prophesied about the land or people of Rus’-Ukraine. He was the Bishop of Myra in Lycia, a land now controlled by Turkey; there is no record of him ever visiting Rus’-Ukraine. So why did the founders and benefactors of our God-Protected parish place him among Sts. Andrew, Volodomyr, Ol’ha, Anthony, and Theodosius? The answer to this does not jump out of the pages of history, but there are several hints.

One of the first churches built in Kyiv was established by St. Ol’ha on the grave of Prince Askold. The Viking prince Rurik had sent Askold to rule Kyiv. He became acquainted with the Byzantine Empire and Orthodoxy during his raids down the Dnepr, along the coast of the Black Sea, and even against Constantinople itself. One chronicle describes how members of Askold’s peace delegation after a certain successful attack against Constantinople was baptized, and about how he received baptism in Kyiv soon thereafter. This relates to St. Nicholas because Askold himself took the baptismal name of “Nicholas”, and the church that Saint Ol’ha built over his grave was dedicated to St. Nicholas and called by his name.

But this bit of history only begins to explain why we are so fond of St. Nicholas. Icons of him have long adorned the iconostasis and walls of our parishes and the icon corners of our homes. Why is this?

Another hint comes from the Cossacks. While the primary patron of the Zaporozhian Host was St. Michael, Saint Nicholas was their patron of the seas. Before going out on the water, they would hold a Moleban to him asking for his prayers and carry his icon as they travelled. One of the most popular iconographic types among the Cossacks is that of the Pokrova, or Protection of the Mother of God. You may find it interesting that one of the Zaporozhian icons of this type shows the Mother of God with her “veil of protection” standing over the Zaporozhian Host, and flanked by both Saint Nicholas and the Archangel Michael.

But even this cannot capture our devotion to Saint Nicholas. Understanding our history is vital for us, because if we lose contact with our roots, we will soon wither and blow from wind to wind like the tumbleweed. Hopefully, after hearing these brief historical anecdotes, you will begin to understand that Saint Nicholas and Ukrainian Orthodoxy are intimately and inseparably wound together. They are linked by more than historical circumstance, but by his and our selfless dedication to Orthodox Christianity, and to living out the implications of this faith. Like us, he has been persecuted for his commitment to the truth. He was put into jail for refusing to worship idols; our forbearers were persecuted for refusing to accept false union with Rome; we ourselves are willing to accept the derision of a secular and anti-clerical world for worshipping in the Orthodox manner; St. Nicholas gave everything he had to build up the church and support those less fortunate than himself; our forbearers gave incredible amounts of time, energy, and money to build this wonderful church building and community; we do the same to maintain and grow it. We also send missionaries and aid to those who languish in orphanages and offer charity to those who cannot make ends meet here in this area. And of course there is St. Nicholas’ great devotion to children, a devotion and love that we share with all the beautiful children here in this community.

But there is still a deeper truth that must be understood: St. Nicholas and this community are intimately connected not only through shared belief and common deeds: we are literally of the same body. We are literally of the same blood. We are one with all the saints who are depicted on these walls: the Saints of Ukraine, the Holy Fathers and Ecumenical Teachers, the Great Martyrs, the Apostles, and the Holy Mother of God herself; as well as those countless others who are not depicted here, but nonetheless make up the “great cloud of witnesses” that surround and join us in worship. We are all one because we are all baptized with one and the same Baptism, chrismated with one and the same Holy Spirit, and nourished with the very same Body and Blood of Christ. It is this that gives us more than a common history, it is this that makes us the same.

Saint Nicholas is an example to us because of his excellent manner of life, but the same processes that sanctified him are working within us, drawing us – to the extent we will allow it – into a deeper union with God.

St. Nicholas lived in perilous times, when the faith was under attack from several directions. He thrived despite the challenges because he had followed St. Paul’s advice. He had put on the breastplate of righteousness, shod his feet with the Gospel, buckled on the shield of faith, and put the helmet of salvation; and held firmly to the sword of truth. This whole armor of God allowed him to persevere against the principalities, powers, and rulers of the darkness.

We, too, live in perilous times. For us, the attacks manifest themselves through radical secularism and financial challenges. They threaten to turn those we love away from the truth and to bring our very roof down around our heads. But the whole armor of God remains as strong for us as it was for him, as it was for the generations of Ukrainian Orthodox who have gone before us.

Through the prayers of St. Nicholas and all the saints, we, too will be able to thrive in battle to “withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”


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Introduction: thinking about the radical atheism of the Soviet Communists

The Soviet Communists were atheist totalitarians. They tried to create a system that would make both faith and the religious institutions that foster it seem silly and superfluous. Given the strength of Orthodoxy in the pre-revolutionary Russian Empire, they had to be very intentional about this. They combined an overt assault against the Church with more insidious long term strategies. These included trumped up charges against intransigent clergy, the creation of more progressive and supportive alternative religious institutions (e.g. the “Living Church”), and a whole series of administrative, educational, and legal measures that discriminated against believers and belief.

Their efforts never completely succeeded; both the public face of the Church and her underground arms outlived the government that persecuted her. But the communists still caused enormous damage that will take many years (and the work of the Holy Spirit) to repair. As a pastor, I wonder how many Soviets failed to develop a salvific relationship with Christ as a result of their government’s persecution of the Church. God will judge them according their own circumstances, but can there be any doubt that the Soviets would have been better off had the communists allowed for the free expression of religion?

Segue: what about the radical secularism popular here?

All this got me to thinking about what attacks against the traditional faith would look like here in the United States. Secularism and capitalism are insidious, and their hegemony is doing a better job than Communism ever did at making Orthodoxy seem like an old-fashioned waste of time. I have written elsewhere how our economic system makes selfish hedonism seem natural. But what about the government? What role is it playing? Marx was wrong about many things, but his observations (the implications of which were most ably worked out by Gramsci) about the role of the state are reasonable accurate: it does use its influence to reinforce the dominate cultural framework (aka “hegemony”). The list of blessings we enjoy here is very long. Near the top is our Constitution, and especially our Bill of Rights. It provides some protection of what I referred to last week as “private domains” (aka “civil society” in this context). But if Marx and Gramsci were correct, even the most entrenched set of protections will be removed, reinterpreted, or simply ignored if they go against the prevailing hegemony.

Some recent news items show that this process is well under way here. The fact that these attacks on religious liberty seem justified to most of our people (and especially our elite) may well be an indicator that the proverbial pot of frogs is already at a boil. Let me share a couple of items that will help make my point:

Item One: taxing of churches that get too political.
The old way of looking at the separation of church and state comes from a literal interpretation of First Amendment to the Constitution. It proclaimed that the state could make no law “respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. Taxation (i.e. legal expropriation of funds) has long been recognized as the most useful tool the government has for affecting behavior, and religious institutions have been rightly protected from it by its tax-exempt status. But in 1954, the government resorted to its favorite tool to keep preachers from endorsing candidates from the pulpit. Thenceforth, those that failed to censor their sermons according to the government’s desire would be subject to taxation.

Given how tight church budgets are, the imposition of taxes could force intransigent parishes to close their doors. Public opinion in support of this kind of unconstitutional tyranny suggests that the policy is having its desired effect. There is nothing in the Constitution suggesting that the non-interference of the state into religion - i.e. the so called “separation of church and state” - is supposed to be mutual; and everything in Christian theology to suggest otherwise. Salvation requires the opening up every aspect of the believer’s life to God’s influence. Now that politics have been effectively removed from formal moral consideration, it is only a matter of time until other things are similarly proscribed (e.g. laws against “hate speech” and a relativistic culture will make the traditional notion of “sin” increasingly problematic).

Item Two: enforcement of aggressive zoning codes.

Zoning Case One. Here in Rhode Island, a tragic fire at a night club led to large-scale changes in zoning requirements and enforcement. While the requirements for religious institutions are not as strict as those for night clubs (for instance, they do not require worship spaces to have sprinkler systems), compliance with the new regulations will be expensive and impose a large burden on many parishes. For example, our parish must install emergency lighting and exit signs in our sanctuary. This will cost us several thousand dollars that we simply do not have. There are many other communities in the same boat. I trust God will provide - but what that means about our continued use of our sanctuary, I cannot guess.

The irony is that the fire marshall himself (who, btw, is very professional and working with us as much as possible to minimize the impact of the changes) told me that injuries from church fires are extremely rare. Somehow churches have made it all these many thousands of years without emergency lighting and exit signs. Again, the fact that such regulations seem necessary and “fair” demonstrates the seriousness of the problem. I hope that you are charitable enough to realize that I am neither reckless nor against keeping my parishioners safe. I like having professional inspectors from our insurance company, fire extinguisher company, and fire marshall's office come in regularly to help us identify, reduce, and manage risk. But do not doubt for a second that this kind of regulation will end up forcing churches to close their doors, and it will do so without making anyone noticeably safer.

Zoning Case Two. Churches that want to build new buildings or use existing buildings for worship often have to have their plans ratified by political zoning boards. This is about as arbitrary as it gets. Hostile, or even apathetic boards can make building and renovating church buildings neigh impossible. I got to see this first-hand in Charlottesville, Virginia and Cranston, Rhode Island. In both cases, it took a great deal of time and effort (from volunteers!) to find and negotiate all the regulatory hoops. Given the number of veto points, antagonistic bureaucrats and lobbyists can grind the approval process to a halt. This really takes its toll on faith communities. In both of the cases above, the parishes were able to adjust their plans enough to eventually get approval. While it wasn’t always pretty, nothing matched the hostility of this zoning board member in South Carolina or the aggressive secularism of this inspector in Pennsylvania.

In America everyone supports zoning just like everyone (reluctantly) supports taxes: they are part of the sacrifices we make in order to best maintain our “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness”. But we have to be wary that they are not also used to undermine our freedom of religion.

Conclusion: acquiring an Orthodox phronema
Whether the result of radical atheism in the USSR or aggressive secularism here in the United States; whether intentional or unintentional; we have to recognize the damage that government policies can do to us and the practice of our faith. It is true that persecution can be a blessing for the Church; but we do not embrace it until it is all but inevitable. We must fight to keep our Churches open and our worship free from government regulation. But first we must see the danger as it really is. This requires the development of “true sight”, and the gradual removal of the cataracts a lifetime of secular acculturation has caused. Barring that, we will join the Soviet Christians of the previous century in deciding whether to worship in a compromised “approved” church, to meet secretly in our homes, or to simply get used to the prevailing notion that it’s all a lot of useless nonsense anyway.

20081214 No Reserve Domain in Salvation

20081214 No Reserve Domain in Salvation
www.stmichaeluoc.org
www.orthoanalytika.org

Ephesians 5: 9-19. … (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says:
“ Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.”
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,

St. Luke 18:18-27. And a certain ruler asked Him saying, Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou Me good? None is good, save One, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments: Do not commit adultery, Do not commit murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. And he said, All these I have kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus heard these things, He said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow Me. And when he heard this, he was sorrowful: for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” And those who heard it said, “Who then can be saved?” But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (One God). Amen.

Have you heard of the term “reserve domain”? As a political term, it can be thought of as those things that the government is not allowed to directly touch or affect. In the United States, our constitution – and especially the “Bill of Rights” – is designed to make sure that the government stays out of religion, out of our homes, out of our gun lockers, out of our peaceful assemblies, and so on. This is because the framers opposed tyranny and believed that a system of limited government would be best for our individual satisfaction and for the stability of our democracy.

I remember how upset my grandfather was because he felt the government encroached on the private domain of citizens when it amended the constitution in 1913 to make it easier for it to get into his wallet through a national income tax [16th Amendment]. He thought it had stepped way over the line. Others think the government stepped over the line when it passed the Patriot Act after 9/11; or when it protected the killing of the unborn with Roe vs. Wade; or when it threatened to tax political speech from the pulpit; or even when it generally privileges certain moral codes over others. I don’t want to talk about any of these issues today: my point is simply that all of us are accustomed to the reality and need for “reserve domains”.

In fact, we have a word for those governments that recognize no legitimate reserve domain: we call these governments “totalitarian”. The Soviet Union was totalitarian – it attempted to penetrate every aspect of people’s lives and to destroy every person, organization and institution that it could not twist to its own ends. Not every American agreed with President Reagan’s characterization of the Soviet Union as an “Evil Empire”, but I reckon that most did agree that Soviet subjects would have been better off without its invasive and tyrannical rule.
Glory to God, we do not live in a totalitarian state. While the scope and size of our government has certainly grown since the founding; our culture nonetheless has a strong sense of independence when it comes to government. We want our reserve domains. We may not agree on where they should be drawn, but all of us agree that there should be lines the government should not cross. We love our freedom. It is part of who we are. This is a wonderful thing. The founders were right: this keeps our country strong and our politics democratic. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. For Ukrainian Americans, this tradition is also supported by that of free Cossacks and the Zaporozhnian Sich. We all cherish our freedom.

Unfortunately, this bleeds over into other areas where the concept of the “reserve domain” is more problematic. Where it actually does us harm. Look at marriage: how many husbands and wives hide things from their spouses in a foolish attempt to maintain some kind of freedom? Virtual lives; hidden spending; separate bank accounts; drug use; extra-marital affairs and flirtations; these and other secrets come naturally to many Americans, but such reserve domains undermine the trust required to keep marriages healthy.

Worse, yet, are the things we try to keep from God.

Today’s Gospel lesson describes an encounter between God Incarnate and a rich young ruler. This young man is pious and respectful. He was a model to his peers, and would be recognized as such to us now because of his excellent manner of life. After all, how many of us have even tried to keep all the commandments from the time of our youth? And how many of us who have tried have had the self-discipline to successfully avoid temptation for so long? I only point this out because I want you to understand that this man was devoted to living life according to God’s will; and he seemed to be doing a pretty good job of it. But there was part of his life that he wanted to keep separate; private; reserved. When Jesus called him on it by telling him that he needed to sell everything he had, the young man “became sorrowful”. It seems as though he was willing to submit to God in every aspect of his life, save one. He wanted to protect that one area of his life; keep that one part of his life under his own control; keep that one part of his life separate from God. It is easy to fault the rich young man for this – and he certainly was at fault – but you have to admit that we are at least as guilty as him.

What will you do when God calls your bluff? When He tells you that you need to change the very part of your life you want to protect and keep private? Some of us are like the rich young ruler, afraid to give sacrificially from our budgets; others are reluctant to abandon extra-marital sex in favor of celibacy; others want to protect their careers; others are afraid to open up their hearts to love and hope. The actual domain may vary, but everyone seems to have at least one area they try to wall off from God.

Again, this seems quite natural to Americans. We subconsciously confuse the need for independence from government with independence from God. But we must empty ourselves completely to God; we must submit everything to His authority. Totalitarianism and tyranny are evil because men are imperfect and cannot be trusted with such power. But God is perfect and completely trustworthy. If He tells you to change part of your life, then you can be sure that giving it up is good for you; that it will make you more of who you really are and who you should become.

While it is hardly “selling everything you own”; the call toward tithing or sacrificial giving is likely to bring about the same sort of selfish sorrow that the rich young man had. Giving up meat during fasts, giving up sex outside marriage, and giving up our habitual hard-heartedness also seem easy when compared to the sacrifice asked of the rich young man; but we are as likely to walk away from Christ in sorrow when these things are asked of us as he was back then.

You cannot serve two masters (St. Matthew 6: 24). There is only one master worth having, and that is Jesus Christ. He is better than money, sexual gratification, meanness, and pride. These might bring comfort during this lifetime, but it is Christ that beings eternal life and following His commandments that bring true satisfaction and joy today.

Do what every saint has already done: give up everything you have and follow Him. Because through Him all things are possible.

-fr anthony