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God’s Love Abides in Us

Posted on by Fr. Peter

Lately, one of the common conversations, I have had with people is to tell them that God loves them.  It seems there are so many people who are lost in anguish and even think that God has abandoned them.  God does love us, and we know this because He sent His only Son so that we all will now eternal life.  God will always love us no matter what we do or do not do.  The love of God is unconditional, and He loves us even when we do not love Him back.  That is the essence of the Gospel.

In the 4th chapter of the First Letter of St. John we see that God abides in us,and His love has been perfected in us.  But there are a few conditions that are placed upon us.  These conditions are not required for God to love us since His love for us in unconditional, but they serve as a guide so that the Love of God will dwell in us and will aide us on our journey towards the interior peace that we are in search of.

St. John shows us the way so we can see the love of God in us.  He provides for us four proofs of his love.

1.  If we love one another 4:12
2.  If we have been given the Spirit 4:13
3.  If we confess that Jesus is Lord 4:15
4.  If we abide in the love of God 4:16

St. John tells us that if we have love for one another and if we confess that Jesus is Lord we will have God’s love in us and that love will give us the boldness that we will need on that Day of Judgment.  In several places in Scripture Jesus commands that we love one another.  We do not only have to love those who love us back or love those we like, but we have to love those who hates us and want to do us harm.  This is what it means to love everyone.

Loving people who love us back is the easiest thing to do.  We do not even have to try and love them, it just happens.  But true love, the love of everyone, takes work.

We were all shocked by the recent riots in Egypt over a movie.  The United States Ambassador and several others were murdered in these riots.  It is an intensely human emotion to want to hate those who carried out these murders.  But hatred does not come from God.  Hatred is a negative passion that we need to work to banish from our lives if we are going to be true followers of Jesus Christ.  To be able simply to love someone takes the love of God working in us and our ability to see that love of God.

This is a difficult part of the transformation of our lives.  If we allow the love of God to work in us and through us, we will be able to love all.

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Spiritual Warfare

Posted on by Fr. Peter

The Reading is from St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians 6:10-17

Brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the strength 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 are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take 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 loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; besides all these, taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Spiritual warfare is a very real thing in our lives.  The closer we move towards our relationship with the Lord the stronger the forces of the evil one will work on us to drive a wedge between us and the Lord.

In the Epistle reading chosen by the church for the Thursday of the 1st week is taken from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.  Paul is writing to his beloved Church as a father giving advice to his children.  He is reminding them that the evil one is real in the world and that we must arm ourselves against him.  We do not fight an enemy that is flesh and blood, that would be easy, but we are fighting against the powers and the one who rules this world.

Those of us who stand for good and are willing to wage battle must do this constantly.  We must be on guard at all times and watch our thoughts as well as our actions.  Until Christ comes is his glory we will need to fight this fight.  We are not alone in this fight.  We fight this battle with the arms of God, not the arms of man.  We fight this fight with our spirituality and the sacramental life of the Church.

At our baptism we put on the armor of God.  In verse 17 of this periscope quoted above St. Paul explains this armor.  We gird our loins with truth, we put on the breastplate of righteousness, and we shod our feet with the Gospel of peace.  How do we do all of this?  With the shield of faith that will quench all the flaming darts of the evil one.  We put on the “helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.”

We cannot fight the fight alone; we need the community around us to give us the strength to get through.  When Jesus sent out His Apostles they were sent in groups of 2 of support and accountability.  We need that other person to “watch our back” as we continue the battle.  We also need a good spiritual guide to assist us in the fight.

St. Gregory Palamas wrote, “You should strive to have a spiritual father throughout your life and to confess to him every sin and every evil thought.”  Our spiritual father will help us and guide us along the right path and we can all use the help.

“Brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”

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The Prayer Rope

Posted on by Fr. Peter

The prayer rope was formed by St. Pachomius in the fourth century. The rope is used with the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Historically it typically had 100 knots, although prayer ropes with 300, 50, or 33 knots or, less commonly, 250 or 12 can also be found in use today.

h/t Let Go and Let God

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Moral Courage

Posted on by Fr. Peter

By Fr. George Morelli

A message from the President of Society of St. John Chrysostom —Western Region(www.lightoftheeast.org)

Members of the Society of St. John Chrysostom, in fact those baptized into any of the Apostolic Churches, have a very important responsibility this Fall 2012 season. American citizens will have the opportunity to vote for the President of the United States as well as for any number of other national, state and local offices. The mix of religion and politics in issues in this electoral season has made the usual politicking even more contentious and challenging than in past years.

In no manner shape or form is this message meant to support any particular candidate or political party. The only purpose of this message is to serve as a reminder for all to carefully discern the Mind of Christ and His Church on the critical moral issues raised in this election and to let Christ and the teachings of His Apostolic Churches be our guide in our witness by our political words, deeds and votes.

Unfortunately, some candidates want to usurp our right speak up for ourselves on issues. A particularly egregious statement I constantly hear from candidates for office from all political parties in the United States is, “What the American people want is. . . .” To have some modicum of honesty, politicians could at the very least somewhat qualify such arrogant rhetoric by saying: “Some American people want . . . .” I, for example, am one of these “American people.” For a candidate to imply that I want something against the teachings of Christ and His Church is to take away the freedom of speech and religion granted to me – and all – by the constitution and, more importantly, granted by God to all to mankind by His making us in His image and giving us free will.

Despite the differences that still prevent full communion of all the Apostolic Churches, our witness should be informed by a Christ-like conscience. Furthermore, our conscience should be nurtured by deep prayer and by cultivating the virtue of discernment. It would be well for us to meditate on the counsel of St. Gregory of Sinai found in the Philokalia, Vol.4 (p.222): “A person is perfect in this life when . . . he receives the grace to assimilate himself to the various stages of Christ’s life . . . . belief is knowledge or contemplation of the Holy Spirit . . . . scrupulous discernment in matters of dogma constitutes full knowledge of the true faith.”i In union with His Church, may the Holy Spirit accompany all of us in this matter.

ENDNOTES

i Palmer, G.E.H., Sherrard, P. & Ware, K. (Eds.). (1995). The Philokalia, Volume 4: The Complete Text; Compiled by St. Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain & St. Makarios of Corinth. London: Faber and Faber.

V. Rev. Fr. George Morelli Ph.D. is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and Marriage and Family Therapist.

He is the Coordinator of the Chaplaincy and Pastoral Counseling Ministry of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese and Religion Coordinator (and Antiochian Archdiocesan Liaison) of the Orthodox Christian Association of Medicine, Psychology and Religion.

Fr. Morelli is also Assistant Pastor of St. George’s Antiochian Orthodox Church, San Diego, California.

Source Orthodoxy Today

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Sermon ~ Take up Your Cross

Posted on by Fr. Peter

The Reading is from Mark 8:34-38; 9:1

The Lord said: “If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.”

I find it amazing that Scripture can challenge us in just a few brief words.  Today, in the Gospel pericope that I just read, Jesus challenges those who were listening to Him.  He challenges them in a way that he has never done before.  He is telling them that if they are going to be true followers of His they must lose their life.  They must give it all up, if they are in fact, going to be authentic followers of His.  He is telling them that being one of His disciples is a full time job.

I often think about the Apostles and how Jesus called them.  You remember.  He simply told them to follow Him or someone, like St. Andrew told others.  They dropped what they were doing and followed Him.  We never hear in Scripture that St. Peter had to take a day off from His Apostles duty so he could go mend his nets, or go fishing.  I get the impression that, for the most part, they followed Jesus wherever He went.

Jesus tells us today that if we are going to follow Him we must take up the Cross.  The cross is a difficult thing to understand.  The cross that Jesus was crucified on was a very large chunk of wood.  We have all seen depictions of this in movies and paintings and Icons.  In fact if we look at the Icon for the Feast of the Elevation of the Cross we can see how large it was.  In order for Jesus to carry that cross he had to use both hands, his shoulder, and all of His strength to do so and at one point, He needed help to carry it because he was physically exhausted.

Jesus carried a physical cross made of wood and instrument of pain, torture, fear, and ultimately death.  But that cross also brought forgiveness, reconciliation, transformation, love, and life.  The hymns of Vespers on the feast of the Elevation of the Cross speak of how the wood of the cross healed the sin that was caused by the wood of the tree.  The cross of Jesus healed the sin of Adam in the garden and opened paradise once again to all of creation.  What had been closed by the sin of one man had been opened by the love of another.

But what is this cross that Jesus is telling us we must take up?  Do we have to go out and find a tree, cut it down, make a cross and carry it around?  No, Jesus is speaking here of our spiritual life, and what we must do to find that paradise that He has opened for us.

The cross is different for each one of us.  Maybe the cross is a physical ailment, perhaps it is that we are getting older, and stuff does not work the same way any longer.  Maybe we have an illness of some kind.  Perhaps that cross is the person sitting right next to you!  Maybe you married your cross!  Whatever that cross is, and I think it changes as we develop our spiritual life, we have to carry it as best we can.  Maybe like Jesus we need help from time to time to carry that cross.  Maybe we need to put it down, or ask another to share the burden with us so we can recover our strength to carry it again.  Whatever we need to do we do not have a choice if we are going to be followers of Christ.

Part of carrying that cross is also bearing the suffering that will go along with it.  This suffering is not a punishment for anything, but rather it is a way to overcome this fallen world that we live in.  Jesus tells us in the same passage today that we must deny ourselves in order to take up this cross.  He tells one young man to sell all he has and follow him, he tells another who wants to go and bury his father who has just died, to let the dead bury the dead and follow him.  He called each of the Apostles away from their families, and their work to follow him.  He does this because he knows we cannot carry the cross if our hands are full.

Again Jesus asks, what benefit there is if we gain the whole world but lose our soul?  Some of us work to live, and we live to work.  For some of us, our identity comes from what we do, not who we are.  In this day and age when everyone is struggling to make ends meet it is easy to worry about the earthly things of this life, but when we are doing that, when we are building bigger barns to store up stuff, we lose sight of what matters and that is our soul.

The spiritual life is a challenge.  It is a challenge in this world that we live in today to be someone who is a person of faith.  Faith is something that is mocked in the world and scorned.  If you are a person of traditional theological beliefs and thinks that sin still exists and that we are all sinners and need the Grace of God, you are looked upon as old fashioned and out of touch.

Some places of worship are more life entertainment venues than hospitals for the sick and wounded.  The church should be a place where you come and are challenged to be better people, but we have become so afraid of offending anyone that we water down the words of Christ so they mean almost nothing.  We have adopted the I’m okay you’re okay way of thinking, and I am sorry to say that is not what Christians are about.

I was recently asked a question about baking Holy Bread.  The question was asked should I still bring the bread to church if it is not perfect.  My answer was yes, absolutely bring that bread to Church to be used as the offering.  And I explained why I feel this way.  You see, none of us are perfect.  We might like to think we are, but we are not.  We all have slight flaws, sins if you will that make us imperfect and that is okay.  It’s okay because, through the power and Grace of God, we can be made perfect.  It’s through the life long journey of our spiritual life that perfection is made possible, but it cannot be done without the Holy Spirit.  So we bring the bread, with all of its flaws and imperfections.  Maybe the seal did not come out right, maybe it puffed up too much, maybe it split or is not as dark as we would like it.  But regardless of how it looks or tastes during the Liturgy, the Holy Spirit comes upon it and makes that bread perfect.  That bread is transformed into something that we could never make it.  The Holy Spirit takes that imperfect work of imperfect human beings and perfects it, and it becomes the bread of Heaven, it become the unblemished lamb that takes away the sin of the world!  That bread is each one of us, and we can be made perfect through that life giving power of the Holy Spirit.

Our imperfections are the cross that we have to carry.  Our weaknesses, our hopes, our fears all of that is taken on our shoulders just as Jesus did when He carried His cross for all of us.  We bring it here, we put it on the holy altar, and the Holy Spirit makes it perfect.  By the Grace and love of the Holy Trinity we find the strength that we need to carry all of it, and by carrying it all we become perfect.

In a few moments, I will carry the bread and the wine out before you.  I will chant prayers for many different people both living and dead.  When I prepare the bread and the wine before liturgy, there are prayers for the sick and the dying as well as for all of you by name.  In a spiritual way, when I turn and carry the chalice and the diskos and put them on the altar all of you are there, I am placing all of you and all of your needs on that altar as well as the bread and wine.  We ask and pray that the Holy Spirit come upon these gifts and to make them holy.  We pray at the end of liturgy in thanksgiving that we have been made worthy, once again, to have the privilege of being present here and to partake of these gifts either physically or spiritually.  It is through that very same Spirit, the Spirit that sanctifies these gifts that sanctifies each one of us and makes us holy.

If anyone is to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me!

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The Life-Giving Cross

Posted on by Fr. Peter

Today, September 14th, is the Feast of the Elevation Life-Giving Cross.  This feast, one of the twelve great feasts of the Church, commemorates the discovery of the Cross of Jesus by Saint Helena mother of the Emperor Constantine in 325 AD.  For more on the feastday, follow this link.

The Cross of Christ, for many, would seem to be the end of the story.  But for Christians we know that it was not the end but only the beginning of the story.  I have written in a previous essay that Christ was sent, by God, to free all of humanity from the bondage of sin.  This bondage began with the disobedience of our first parents in the Garden of Eden.  Since that time, humanity has been enslaved to the human passions.

In the actions of our first parents, it was a tree that led to the destruction of the relationship between humanity and God, and in the actions of Jesus, it was a tree that repaired that relationship between God and humanity.  As the Vespers Hymns for the Feast proclaim:

For he who deceived Adam by a Tree is caught by the lure of Cross; and he who held under his tyranny the creature endowed by God with royal dignity is brought down in a headlong fall.

For it was fitting that the Tree should be healed by a Tree, and that by the Passion of the passionless God what was wrought on the Tree should destroy the passions of man, who was condemned.

Christ, through the Cross, has given us the strength that is needed to overcome the power that the evil one has on us.  We have been given the tools, and the instructions, required to transform our lives from a life that is enslaved to the passions to a life that is totally free in Christ Jesus.

The Vespers Hymns continue:

The serpent’s venom is washed away by the blood of God, and the curse of just condemnation is undone when the Just One is condemned by and unjust judgment.

The way has been paved for us to follow, it is the narrow way and a hard way, but it is right before us, and we need to start the journey down that path.  The journey is long and will be difficult at times, but we will never be alone on that journey.  We will stumble, and we will fall, but Christ will be there to pick us up and put us back on that path if we just call upon Him.

O Lord, save Your people and bless your inheritance!  Grant victories to the Orthodox Christians over their adversaries; and by the virtue of Your Cross, preserve Your habitation.

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Assembly of Bishops Letter to the Faithful

Posted on by Fr. Peter

(AOB) – To our beloved Orthodox Christian faithful throughout North and Central America:

You are the light of the world. (Matt. 5.14)

Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord,

We, the members of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America, gathered in Chicago for our third annual meeting of September 10-12, 2012, greet you with paternal love, as we offer glory and thanks to our Triune God.

Forty-three Hierarchs convened in the unity of our holy Orthodox faith, mindful of our responsibility to each other and to the Church as the Body of Christ. Some of our brother Hierarchs were absent due to personal illness or family loss. We recognize our calling to rightly teach the word of God’s truth as our foremost duty towards the Lord Jesus Christ and His holy Church.

We remember in prayer the recent falling asleep in the Lord of our brother and concelebrant, Metropolitan Constantine of Irinoupolis, First Bishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA. May his memory be eternal!

We acknowledge the challenges that lie before us and understand our accountability to one another so that our common ministry and witness may be blessed by God.

We reaffirm our commitment to the decisions and expectations of the Primates of the Orthodox Autocephalous Churches and the Pan-Orthodox Preconciliar Conferences in an effort to safeguard and deepen Orthodox unity, to promote common pastoral action, to offer common witness in our region, and to overcome canonical anomalies.

Our unity was manifested in the celebration of the Divine Liturgy and the sharing of the Holy Eucharist on the occasion of the Feast of St. John the Forerunner (Old Style) as well as in joining our fellow Americans as we mourned the loss of thousands of innocent citizens 11 years ago on September 11, 2001, and prayed for the repose of their souls.

Among the items on the agenda was the work of the Assembly’s Secretariat, its 13 committees, and 14 agencies and endorsed organizations. We praise God for the positive spirit of cooperation that prevailed during the sessions of the Assembly and celebrate the considerable progress already achieved on many levels through the expanding activities of its committees.

In particular, discussion focused on the Assembly by-laws and the progress of the work by the Committee for Canonical Regional Planning. The last of these discussions constitutes the primary concern of the Assembly in its effort to enhance Orthodox cooperation, advance a common Orthodox witness and promote canonical normalization in this region. The Hierarchs spent the better part of the second session focusing – through presentations, deliberations and reports – on this paramount issue.

As we assemble in Chicago, we also take this opportunity to encourage all of you, the People of God, in a world exploited and polarized by greed, godlessness, and immorality. We call upon all Orthodox Christians to be faithful to their calling to be the light of the world.

We recognize the tremendous social pressures to conform to secular standards, but we exhort you to stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught (2 Thess. 2.15) so that your light is not hidden under a bushel but placed on a stand (Matt. 5.15) in order for all to see. Let our Orthopraxy attend our Orthodoxy. In this respect:

  • We must safeguard the sacrament of marriage in accordance with God’s will for the sacred union between man and woman and the sanctity of family as the fundamental nucleus of a healthy society. In this regard, we emphasize regular family worship, particularly at Sunday liturgy.
  • We must strive to eliminate the violence proliferated against innocents of every kind, particularly of women and the unborn. We call for responsibility by individuals, institutions and governments to ensure the welfare of every citizen.
  • We must resist the wastefulness and greed that dominate our consumer society, confessing that our spiritual citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3.20) in order that our witness be characterized by the compassion and mercy as well as the generosity and philanthropy that distinguishes our God who loves humankind.

Finally, we pray for our oppressed and suffering brothers and sisters variously facing oppression or persecution in the ancient Patriarchates of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, as well as in the Balkans and throughout the world. We grieve the loss of US Ambassador Christopher Stevens and his staff in Libya. We condemn all forms of violence perpetrated in the name of religion and denounce all expressions of religious intolerance.

Now may the Lord of peace Himself grant you peace at all times in all ways. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. (2 Thess. 3.16,18)

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The Spirit of Peace

Posted on by Fr. Peter

I woke this morning to the news that the United States Ambassador to Libya had been killed in the uprising at the Consulate last night or early this morning.  This is a horrible attack on our Country that seems to be sparked by a movie about Mohamed.  Consulates in other places were also attacked yesterday on the anniversary of 9/11.

I understand the feelings that people have because of this but as Christians we are called to rise above our passions and to find the peace, the peace of Christ in our lives.  The last few days I have been writing about transformation of our lives, and this is part of that.  As hard as this is we have to pray for our enemies, as the Liturgy calls us to pray for those who love us and those who hate us.  Hate is easy it takes no effort at all, but love takes the help of Christ and what we need now is love and peace, peace within ourselves.  This earthly world will pass away but our soul lives on for eternity, hatred darkens the souls we need to turn from that.  All hatred does is harm us, and our soul and that we just cannot do.

I served Liturgy in the monastery chapel this morning and I remembered all those who were killed and those who killed them as well as all of the innocent people who will be caught up in this on both sides.  Lord Have Mercy on all of them.

One of my favorite saints in Saint Seraphim of Sarov.  Hew is often depicted with a bear in his icons and paintings.  This comes from the legend that he was so peaceful in his soul that the wild animals were attracted to him.  There are pictures of monastics who are sitting with other wild animals due to the peace that they have in their souls.  St. Seraphim is credited with a saying about peace, but I am not sure where it comes from in his many wiritings.

“Acquire the spirit of peace, and a thousand souls will be converted around you!”

I am trying, in my own life, to turn towards peace, the peace that passes all understanding, and towards love and forgiveness.  I am choosing to follow the positive path and turn from the negative.

All Christians are called to this transformation and this turning away from the passions.  Rather then posting negative things on Facebook or Twitter about events, turn to prayer.  Spend less time at the keyboard and more time on your knees in prayer for the entire world.  This is what Christ did and He is the model for our lives.

Condemn what has been done, yes, make preparations so that it never happens again, yes, bring those responsible to justice, yes, but we must not do these things from hate because only the Evil One wins when we hate.

 

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On This Day

Posted on by Fr. Peter

Each year, as we approach the anniversary of the events of September 11, 2001, I always debate with myself on whether or not to write something about that day.  I believe it is necessary to remember all of those who gave their lives on that day, and those who gave their lives because of that day, but I also think that we can use days like this for healing.

Last night a friend posted a photo on Facebook of the lights that shine up from the place where the Twin Towers used to stand.  Under the photo he wrote, “will never forget… will never forgive…”  I responded that we are commanded by Christ to forgive and if we do not forgive then we are no better than those who did this.  We are no better because we will be filled with hate, the same hatred that drove those men to fly those planes into the buildings, the Pentagon, and the field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.  Hatred is tremendously destructive and has no place in the lives of a Christian.

Over the last few days, I have been writing about transforming our lives to be more Christ-like.  Turning away from hatred is part of that transformation and I suppose it is one of the hardest things that Christ commands us to do.  And, I will add, we not only have to forgive, but we have to pray for those who hates us.  We have to pray for those who are trying to destroy us, because if we don’t, then we have destroyed ourselves.  We destroy ourselves with hatred that turns our heart into stone.

Hatred is easy, and it takes no thought at all, but love, on the other hand, takes an enormous amount of work, and that is the work we are called to.  I can still remember that day.  It is as clear in my mind as this day is.  I remember exactly where I was, and what I felt on that day.  I was mad but at the same time I was scared and terribly sad.  It’s reasonable to be angry and want to exact justice on those who had done this terrible thing.  It is reasonable to want to hate those who took so many innocent lives, but that hatred needs to be turned, and forgiveness needs to start.  It is not instantaneous, but it needs to happen or it will destroy us.

As we do with most things in our lives, we turn to Jesus as our example.  On the last day of his life, He had been beaten and mocked by the Roman soldiers, and He had been abandoned by His closest friends.  As He was hanging on the Cross he looked down at those who had just put Him there, and He asked His Father to forgive them for what they had done.  This is exactly what we have to do, we have to forgive, but we don’t have to forget, and we should never forget.

As we pause, during this day, to remember those whose lives were lost on that day, take time to ask God to help you to heal the hatred that you might have in your heart, not just for this but for every situation.  Pray for those who are trying to take our lives and pray for all of us.

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How do we Change the World?

Posted on by Fr. Peter

This past week I had somewhat of a revelation or an epiphany or something of the sort.  In my preparation for the sermon that I was going to preach this past Sunday, I came to the realization that Jesus, during His earthly ministry, never directly challenged the civil government of the day.  Now I know that sometimes in Scripture it is difficult to tell the difference between the religious government, the Temple officials, and the civil government, the Romans, but Jesus never said anything to the civil government about how they were treating those under their care.

This past Sunday, the Sunday before the Elevation of the Holy Cross, the Gospel pericope came from that of St. John.  This is one of the famous passages of Scripture since it is seen in most end zones at nationally televised football games.  The passage that I am making reference too is John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”  But what of the passage that comes right after that, John 3:17 “For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through him.”  God did not send His only Son so that He would condemn this world but to save all, all of creation.

This leads right into a discussion about ethics and how we, as followers of Christ, are to live moral and upright lives.  I will state right from the beginning that I believe that the Orthodox Church preaches the right messages.  I believe that our theology is pure and undefiled and has been handed down to us from the Apostles, and it is continually refined and defined by the Holy Spirit working through the Church.  I also believe that the fathers of the first 7 Ecumenical Councils established our dogma, and that is not subject to redefinition and reinterpretation, because the message is timeless, but the way we express that message constantly needs to be redefined and changed to meet the needs of the present reality.

With that said, Holy Orthodoxy has a traditional moral code.  This system has been defined over the years in the writings of, not only the Scriptures, but by the fathers and mothers of the Church.  It has been defined by the lives of the saints and other holy people and is under constant review by the Church to keep up with the times.  I believe that the moral code of the Church is in flux on some things and set in concrete in others.

I have been writing these last few days about how we need to transfigure our lives to that of Christ and His Holy Church.  This transfiguration is a gradual process as we turn from the world and toward Christ and part of that is the transformation of our moral code.  I am going to make a bold statement now and say that we cannot legislate morality, we cannot legislate that transformation.  I say this because what ethical rules are we going to use?  Christianity is much different today than it was in the time of the Apostles.  Christianity is fractured because of so many different interpretations of the message of Jesus Christ.  The politics of the day have invaded the Christian Church to such an extent that it is difficult even to find Christ in some of the, so called, Christian Churches in America today.

Jesus and His Church have established a certain moral code, but He also gave us the free will to turn toward Him or away from Him.  In all of the teachings of Jesus, He never forces anyone to see things the way He was teaching, His desire is that we bond ourselves to Him, but He never forces us to do so.  Jesus presented His message, and it is up to us to take it into our hearts or to reject it.  I will say this, we need to take His message as it was presented and not modify it to fit the current political reality of the day.

As a priest, and a leader of a community of believers, it is my duty to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not my interpretation of that Gospel, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ as has been interpreted by His Holy Church for more than 2,000 years.  The message of the Gospel is a transformation of your life, and if you take it in and live it you will have no other option but to change, and by your changing you will change the world around you.

One of my favorite spiritual writers is Saint Seraphim of Sarov.  I am not sure where this quote comes from, but in one of his works, the Holy Saint said, “Acquire the spirit of peace, and a thousand souls will be converted around you!” That spirit of peace comes from the Life Giving Gospel of Jesus Christ, and that cannot be legislated.

We change hearts and minds by the way we live, as Christians, and the model that we give to the world.  All we have to do is to follow the example of Jesus Christ in our lives, and that will show the world how to live.  We are all called to be evangelists, and we fulfill that calling in our lives by the way we live.  If we call ourselves Orthodox Christians then we need to live as the Church calls us to live and understand what our Church teaches.  The role of the clergy is to teach the faithful how they are supposed to live and to model that behavior in our own lives.

In my way of looking at things, and I do not know the mind of God, but God does not care about what this or that country does but about what you do and how you live your lives.  God does not judge nations, but in the end, we will be judged, not collectively, but as individual Christians based on how we lived our lives.  If, as a community, we are living the pure and undefiled Christian life, then society will reflect that life.  If, as is the case today, we as a society are not living that pure and undefiled life, then society will reflect that as well.  We cannot legislate that any more than we can legislate where someone goes to Church.  If we seek that deep and abiding peace that only comes from God, then we will be able to share that love with others.

Jesus was not sent to us from God as a political or military leader.  Christ was born the poorest of the poor in a borrowed bed to release you and me from the bondage of our sins, not from the bondage of our earthly life.  The community that Jesus left was no better off, politically, then it was when He came.  What He did leave was a people that had been shown the way to be freed from their spiritual bondage, and that is what we need to show society today.  If we transform our morality to that of Christ and His Church then others will follow, but it has to be voluntary.  Just as we cannot force people to be charitable we cannot force people to be moral.

Jesus taught that we must love God and love our neighbor and we do this by keeping His commandments.  I believe that if we spent more time working on our own spiritual life and not that of others, our world would be in a much different place.

How do we change the world?  By changing ourselves!

 

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