20090222 Gravity and Love

20090222  Gravity and Love

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1 Corinthians 8:8 - 9:2

St. Matthre 25: 31-46

Gravity and the Consequences of Poor Decisions

The better we understand the world, the more effectively we function in it.  Part of the duty of parents and teachers and of the broader community that supports them is to help children and youth learn about how things work so that they grow up to become productive and healthy members of the community.  If we neglect this duty, they will learn many more lessons than needed “the hard way” and will suffer as a result.  We do not want to see our children suffer, so we teach them as best we can.  God is our Loving Father, and He desires the same for us: that we grow in understanding so that we can become productive and healthy members of the Community of Love that is in Him.

One of the most fundamental things that must be learned, both by children if they are to grow into good men and women and by all of us if we are to grow into saints, is that ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES.   More specifically, we must learn that good decisions have positive consequences, and that bad decisions have negative consequences.  With children, we set up a series of punishments and rewards to teach them this fundamental truth.  These systems are largely artificial: there is no eternal connection between going to the potty and eating candy; or of finishing homework and playing video games; or of throwing a fit and loosing access to entertainment.  As adults, we set up these artificial systems to prepare children for the “real world” where the consequences of poor decisions are more brutal and damaging; and where the unyielding logic of “action and consequence” are often final.  

Our family rules may be somewhat arbitrary, but there is nothing arbitrary about the way most of the real world works.  And if you do not understand how the world works, you will get hurt and you will end up hurting the people around you, even the people you love.  We have to learn how the world works. 

Take the example of gravity: it is part of the way the world works.  We can say that there are “laws of gravity”, but that is just a figure of speech.  There is no Court of Gravity; no lawyer that will plead your case when you violate it; and no judge that will consider the merit of granting you mercy for extenuating circumstances.  When we say that there are “laws of gravity” it is just another way of saying that gravity works in such and such a way; that things fall when dropped, that the speed of the drop increases with distance, and so on.  Gravity works a certain way.  We have to learn it, we have to respect it, and we have to order our lives accordingly if we want to be healthy.  Actions have consequences.  Making decisions that are in accordance with the “laws of gravity” will have positive consequences; making decisions that ignore the “laws of gravity” will have negative consequences.  That is just how the world is. [Note that I say “ignore” rather than “break” the “laws of gravity” because you cannot actually “break” the laws of gravity… they are not that kind of law.] 

The study of Physics provides many such obvious examples, but the wise man realizes that there is an order to every aspect of life, and that everyone must learn of and live according to this order if they are to thrive.   Actions have consequences; if you don’t submit your plans and decisions to the way the world works, the consequences will be harmful.  Let me give some more examples from other scientific disciplines.

In economics, if you produce more of something than people want, or price it too high you will end up with extra product on your hands.  If you don’t produce enough or if you price your goods too low, you will run out of product too early.  You can call this the “law of supply and demand”, but as with the “law of gravity”, this is just shorthand: there is no economic court.  But just as in physics, if you act as if there was no order to economics, then you will hurt yourself and those around you.  You cannot pay bills from an empty account.  As with gravity, we can pretend economic reality is subjective; but not even the government can sustain such a fantasy for long.  All actions have consequences.

In biology, your body is made to function a certain way.  If you interfere with these functions, you will suffer.  For example, if you consume more calories than you burn, you will gain weight.  If you gain too much weight, then systems within your body will begin to break down.  Your body requires constant care; if you violate this “law”, you will suffer the consequences.

In sociology, there is a fundamental logic to relationships and the way they work.   If you want to sustain a relationship, then you have to understand and act in accordance to this logic.  Again, you can study this and develop “laws of marriage” just like scientists have developed the “law of gravity” and the “law of supply and demand”; but all you are really saying is that actions have consequences; and that just as a dropped ball falls, if you engage in things like pornography, gossip, extramarital flirtation, adultery, leaving the seat up, nagging, refusing to communicate, laziness, pre-marital sex, and so on, then your relationship with your spouse will suffer.  We can pretend that the “laws of marriage” are subjective; we can pretend as if we can change them or opt out of them; but the underlying reality they describe cannot be changed and the dreadful consequences of such insanity are inevitable.  [Of course there are “Marriage Courts”, but while a judge can grant a divorce or recognize a marriage, she cannot undo the years of cumulative damage done by ignorant, mean, or unbalanced people do to themselves and their spouses.]

The Logic of the Spiritual World

The spiritual world is inseparable from the physical world, and it, too, has an underlying logic that cannot be ignored.  In the spiritual world, actions have consequences just like they do in the world we see with our eyes.  Today, God is trying to teach us, His children, a little bit more about this world and how it works.

Today the Apostle Paul uses the example of violating kosher to teach us that we must always consider how our actions affect those weaker than ourselves; and that if we don’t then we will do damage to them and ourselves.   He teaches us that the strong must make allowances for the weak; and that we can often do more good through humble, generous, and loving condescension than we can by an unyielding example or even a gentle word of correction. 

Christ Himself uses the Final Judgment to teach about the underlying logic of charity:  we learn that just as gravity rewards the dropped ball by pulling it to the earth; God rewards charity and love by pulling charitable and loving people closer to Him.  We learn that just as those who deny gravity will be punished with broken bones and the like; those who deny charity will also suffer the very real and inevitable consequences of their willful ignorance.

Love is the most fundamental reality there is.  Even the effects of gravity are relative: they diminish as you distance yourself from the Earth; and there are places in this world (such as in space) where dropped objects do not fall.  But there is no place that Love does not reach, and there is no way to avoid its logic.  You can deny it and pretend it does not exist; you can ignore the beggar; you can refuse to share your life and your goods with others; you can convince yourself that you are good just the way you are.  But all these things are foolish because they ignore the logic of love.  You can describe this situation in many ways.  You can say hatred, selfishness, and apathy violate the “Laws of God”; you can call God the Judge that enforces His Laws; You can say that He punishes those who refuse to love others; you can even step away from theology and use labels like “immoral”, “sinful”, or mean” to describe such hard-heartedness; but all these things are just ways of saying the same thing:

Actions have consequences.  

Brothers and sisters: live your life in love.  Give generously to the poor.  Sacrifice yourself and your pride for the person beside you.  God built the world around Love.  Live according to this Love, and the consequential blessings will be both real and eternal.

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

PS  It is true that we get no lawyers when we break the laws of gravity, economics, biology, & sociology, but we do get one when we break the Law of Love:  Christ-God Himself (e.g. 1 John 2:1)!  

PPS  Approaching the question of judgment in this way shows just how shallow attacks on the morality of it are:  First, would we prefer a world based on something other than charity and love (e.g. “tooth and claw”)?  Second, (and forgive my simplicity) God has given us an automatic “get out of jail free” card in the form of His Son, if we just submit to Him and the power of His sacrificial love.  Third, those who live outside of Love and reject Christ’s offer to represent them get an eternity of exactly what they wanted - a life apart from the Love they did not want.  The last may sound harsh, but what could be more moral?!

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

www.stmichaeluoc.org
www.orthoanalytika.org

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.