Notes on Chapter 3 THE WAY OF A PILGRIM For Adult Study

In Preparation for the Discussion of Chapter Three of The Way of a Pilgrim

Chapter 3 of The Way of a Pilgrim consists of a short flashback of the life of the pilgrim before he learned the interior way of the “Jesus Prayer.”  It is told to the “spiritual father” at Irkutsk before the pilgrim carries out his plan to leave for Jerusalem.  The pilgrim relates that he endured a series of losses until he has nothing besides the desire to make a pilgrimage to Kiev to ask the saints to help him in his grief. 

 (Note: the page numbers in parenthesis refer to Helen Bacovcin, trans. The Way of a Pilgrim. New York: Image-Doubleday Books, 1978.)

Topics:

·         Contrast between pious grandfather (and pilgrim) and the impious brother (51)

·         The piety of trust in God, church attendance, prayer, Bible reading, memorial prayers

·         (Implicit) Not hating those who wrong us (52)

·         The imperfection of vocal prayer and prostrations without the understanding of interior prayer (53)

·         Sorrow and the consolation of the saints (53-55)

Synopsis

·         The pilgrim visits his spiritual father to thank him and announce that he was headed for Jerusalem (80)

·         He tells the story of his origins on request of the spiritual father. (50 ff.)

·         He recounts his birth and the death of his parents, leaving him with his older brother at the age of two. (21)

·         He recalls that his grandfather, an owner of an inn, took him to church often and read the Bible to him. (51)

·         He recalls that at the age of seven his brother pushed him off the hearth and he injured his left hand so severely that it withered and was useless. (51)

·         His grandfather taught him to read from the Bible and his clerk taught him to write. (51)

·         At age seventeen, his grandfather arranged for him to marry a “girl” of twenty (52).

·         His grandfather dies giving him, a thousand rubles, his whole inheritance, and last instructions (22)

·         Left out of his inheritance, his brother stole the money and burned down his house. The pilgrim (to be) and his wife are left with only the Bible (52)

·         The pilgrim builds a small house and lived with his wife for two years:  she did weaving, spinning, and sewing and he read the Bible to her (53)

·         His wife dies and he weeps uncontrollably (53)

·         He sells the house for twenty rubles, gave his clothes away and set out for Kiev to pray his respects to the saints and ask for help in grief.  (53-54)

·         He says that “God willing” he will leave his bones in Jerusalem (54)

Questions for Discussion

1.       Count the losses of the pilgrim in this short chapter.

2.      Count the gains of the pilgrim in this chapter

3.      Does this chapter express or imply any theology of suffering?

a.       Compare “Either because of my sinfulness or because I had to learn certain lessons about spiritual life, at the end of the summer there were trials in store for me. And “This was permitted so that you would not fall into spiritual complacency.” (18)

b.      What does it mean to say “God willing I will” (54) 

c.       See the proverb:  “Man proposes by God disposes.”  (55).

                                                              i.      What about human will? Is “God willing...” fatalism?

                                                            ii.      Is the acceptance of God’s will easier for peasants like the pilgrim than the rich and powerful?

4.      Describe the character of the pilgrim.

a.       How did the events of his life shape his character?

b.      Compare this chapter (Chapter 3) to the beginning of the book when the pilgrim hears the scripture about praying constantly. (3). 

                                                              i.      Is Chapter 3 necessary for us to understand the message of the book? 

                                                            ii.      What do we learn in Chapter 3 that helps us understand the book?

Excursus on Chapter 3

1.      This chapter raises the question of suffering and the purpose of God.

a.       The comment “This was permitted…” (18) reflects the Orthodox distinction between the intentional and permissive will of God.  See Father John Breck.

b.      In the ultimate sense, nothing exists or happens outside the will of God. Otherwise, we have dualism—the existence of a sovereign power that is equal to God.

                                                              i.      “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will. (Ephesians 1:11)

c.       Orthodoxy holds that believe that suffering can have a purpose.

2.      The pilgrim’s guide is the Philokalia, a tradition of spirituality that teaches that suffering is necessary for spiritual growth in Christ.

a.       According to the Philokalia tradition, the spiritual life consists of the struggle of virtue against the passions

b.      The goal is perfection of holiness (righteousness) that leads to theosis

                                                              i.      “…since we were originally created by God as ‘very good’ (Genesis 1:31), we owe it to God to be such” (Philokalia: II 14).

                                                            ii.      The ultimate goal is theosis (restoration of the “image of God” and realization of the “likeness” to God.

c.       The struggle requires constant watchfulness (nepsis-guarding the heart, vigilance, against the passions) and the practice of “stillness” (hesychia-inner stillness of the heart; a state of openness to God and listening to him

                                                              i.       “He who gives himself to desires and sensual pleasures and lives according to the world’s way will be quickly caught in the nets of sin. And sin, once committed is like fire put to straw…” (Philokalia: II 15)

                                                            ii.      “You must purify your intellect completely through stillness… the more the intellect is stripped of the passions and purified through stillness, the greater the spiritual knowledge” (Philokalia: II 345)

                                                          iii.      …how it is impossible to conform to God without  complete stillness; how stillness gives birth to ascetic effort, ascetic effort to tears, tears to awe, awe to humility, humility to foresight, foresight to love; and how love restores the soul to health and makes it dispassiate, so that one then knows that one is not far from God” Philokalia: II 345

d.      The struggle is waged with prayer.

                                                              i.      “The Fathers define prayer as a spiritual weapon. Unless we are armed with it, we cannot engage in warfare but are carried off as prisoners to the enemy’s country: (Philokalia: II 15).

e.       Prayer that is pure requires the hesychist to “cleave to God with an upright heart” (Philokalia Volume II 15).

3.      Suffering instructs and corrects the hesychist which he regards as deserved “chastening”

a.       The scriptural basis: suffering is “chastening” (“instructive” and “corrective” discipline)

                                                              i.      ^”Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. ⁵And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: ⁶For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. ⁷If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?  ⁸But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. ⁹Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? ¹⁰For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. ¹¹Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. ¹²Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; ¹³And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed” (Hebrews 12:4-13)

b.      The teaching of the Philokalia: suffering is regarded as spiritual discipline 

                                                              i.      “As he advances through this humility toward divine and unfailing love, he accepts sufferings as though he deserved them. Indeed, he thinks he deserves more suffering that he encounters’ and he is glad that he has been granted some portion of the punishments which he has prepared for himself in the world to be” (Philokalia: III 85)

1.      Chastening is “instructive’ and “corrective” discipline.

2.      If instruction is not heeded, then corrective discipline follows.

3.      “Chastening” takes place in the struggle against sin.

                                                            ii.      “Chastening” is regarded as for the good of the hesychist

1.      “Those who love God are saved through the trial and temptations He allows them to undergo;, but despite such trials we are threatened with destruction because of our pride and fail to remain faithful to God, as children who are ‘chastened’ and not killed” (2 Cor. 6:9)” (Philokalia: Volume III 179)

4.      Suffering helps the hesychist to overcome sin and grow in the virtues of holiness.

a.       The scriptural basis: “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to set with me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne” (Revelation 3:19-21

b.      The scriptural basis: “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; ⁴ and perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:3-15)

c.       The teaching of the Philokalia:

                                                              i.      Suffering teaches the soul to detach from material things.

1.      "Suffering cleanses the soul infected with the filth of sensual pleasure and detaches it completely from material things by showing it the penalty incurred as a result of its affection for them. This is why God in His justice allows the devil to afflict men with torments” (Maximus the Confessor)

                                                            ii.      Even involuntary suffering is to be welcomed for the lessons it gives.

1.      “In addition to voluntary suffering, you must accept that which comes against your will-- mean slander, material losses, and sickness, If you do not accept these but rebel against them, you are like someone who wants to eat his bread only with honey, never with salt” (Philokalia Volume 39)

                                                          iii.       Suffering tempers the soul so that it is “hardened” like a sword for the struggle against the passions.

1.      “Suffering deliberately embraced cannot free the soul totally from sin unless the soul is also tried in the fire of suffering that comes unchosen. For the soul is like a sword: if it does not go 'through fire and water' (Psalm 66:12, LXX) -- that is, by suffering deliberately embraced and suffering that comes unchosen -- it cannot but be shattered by the blows of fortune" (Philokalia Volume III- Ilias the Presbyter.).

5.      Suffering is useless without love (and accompanying virtues).

a.       The scriptural basis: love is the highest and all-encompassing virtue.

                                                              i.      “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and thought I g9ve my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.” (1 Cor. 13:3)

                                                            ii.      “And we have known and believed that the love that God has for us. God is love and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him” (1 John 4:16)

b.      The teaching of the Philokalia: unless it leads to love, endurance of hardship has no purpose.

                                                              i.      … this applies not only to prayer, but every labor and hardship undertaken for the sake of virtue, whether this be virginity, fasting, vigil, psalmody, service or any other work. If we do not see in ourselves the fruits of love, peace, joy, simplicity, humility, gentleness, guilelessness, faith, forbearance and kindliness, then we endure hardship to no purpose. We accept the hardship in order to reap the fruits.  If the fruits of love are in not in us, our labar is useless// … Thus the labors and hardships must be regarded as labors and hardships and the fruits as fruits” (Philokalia III 293-94).

c.       Metropolitan Anthony Bloom: suffering is redemptive only if it not only endured but undertaken in love.

The Unity of Christ and Religious Pluralism: Sermon for Pentecost 25

We live in a fragmented world.  Our society is divided into increasingly contentious factions. Often, even our own lives seem split into different pieces and we feel torn between competing responsibilities, relationships, and goals. Moreover, even Christianity appears hopelessly partitioned into separate denominations, each “doing its own thing.”

            In the midst of this divided life, all of us long for wholeness. We seek a way for all the parts and pieces of life to come together and fit together.  Without that sense of integration, the unity of all into a larger whole, we do not feel whole. There always seems to be something missing; something in that does not fit; something that is in conflict.  Thus, peace, harmony, and integrity seem always beyond our grasp.

This is not only a psychological problem. It has spiritual roots. The very essence of sin is separation. Adam and Eve were one with God and one another in the Garden.  But as soon as they disobeyed the Lord’s command, they knew the sense of deep separation that we their descendents know even today.

            The proof of this separation caused by sin was that they hid from God, their loving Creator.  Yet they were not only separated from the God of goodness. They were also separated from one another, and the proof of that division was that they started blaming one another for their sin. Therefore, as a result of their disobedience, the unity of the creation was broken.  Soon, even the parts of the creation itself were divided against each other.

Thus at its foundation, the division is a spiritual problem.  If this is the case, then the

only remedy for the deep sense of division that all human beings feel is salvation. To us who are Orthodox Christians, salvation means more than being pardoned for sins committed. Salvation means healing—the restoration of wholeness of all the parts of ourselves and our lives.

This idea of salvation as reconciliation is in keeping with what we heard in our epistle last Sunday.  We heard then that the Lord Jesus Christ came to earth to bring healing, that is, the wholeness of salvation to the human race. As the Apostle puts it by His death on the cross, the Lord broke down the “dividing wall” between human beings.  The result is that in Christ the divisions of the human race are healed: such divisions as the separation between God and man; Jew and Gentile; slave and free; male and female (Colossians 3:11a). 

 This means that the search for wholeness is over. As the Apostle says, “Christ is all and in all” (Colossians 3:11b).  The Lord Jesus Christ is now the foundation and source of unity in our lives—and ultimately the whole creation.

It is as if life were a jigsaw puzzle. All we have are pieces unless we find the one piece that makes all the others pieces fit together.  Or it is like a Roman Arch. At the top of the arch is a keystone.  This stone brings all the other stones of the arch together so that they bear the load as a unit.  Without the keystone, the whole arch falls apart.

In the same way, Christ is the organizing principle of everything in our lives.  In fact, He is the keystone of all creation. In Him, the separation of sin is reversed.  By His cross, sin is forgiven, separation is overcome, and all things come together in all things come together in the new reality of His reconciliation. Thus, the Apostle says in Colossians, “It pleased the Father…by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or in heaven, having made pace by His blood of His cross” (Colossians 1:19a and 20)

The Church is the manifestation and proof of this unity of all things in Christ. For those who belong to the Church, the Body of Christ, all things fit together.  In the Church, everything comes together into a new and greater whole.  In the Church, the unity in Christ that He accomplished is realized on earth as in heaven.

What we have said brings us to the Epistle from Ephesians for today.   We hear in our Epistle that our calling as members of the Body of Christ is to strive actively and earnestly to maintain that unity that the Lord has established. 

Note that it is in not our power to create that unity. The Lord Jesus Christ has already achieved it.  However, it is for us to live our lives and relate to one another in such a way that we maintain the unity of what the Lord has established. That is, it is our calling to promote, preserve, and indeed advance the salvation of the world, the healing of sinful separation, and the reconciliation of divisions wherever they are found.

The implications of this calling go against the popular ideas of how to establish peace among human beings.  From the Tower of Babel onward, human beings have tried to overcome the divisions among peoples and to unify the human race into one harmonious community.  In the past, the great empires tried to do it.  Now another strategy is being tried. 

Today’s wisdom is that we should give up trying to achieve oneness among peoples: we should just affirm the differences between people.  This strategy is called “pluralism.” Pluralism would have it that all lifestyles, all moralities, and all religions are equal.  Whatever the way of life, morality, or spirituality that someone chooses is OK for him.  We have not right to criticize it or try to convince him to change it.  

Now this ideal of pluralism may sound good.  It makes those who have this view seem tolerant.  However, it means that there is really nothing that brings people together, nothing besides the will to overlook the differences and separations between people that are still there. 

            Let me be clear: this idea contracts the Orthodox faith.  We Orthodox firmly believe that the Orthodox is the true Church that exists in unbroken continuity with the Lord Jesus Christ and the apostles. Moreover, the Orthodox Church preserves the Holy Gospel unchanged and undivided.  That Gospel is that salvation is found in none other than Jesus Christ, for “there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

            This means that as members of the Body of Christ, we cannot “maintain” the unity of our salvation by forfeiting our claim that in Christ all things come together as one.  Instead, in keeping with today’s Epistle, we hold, “There is one body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all” (Ephesians 4:6).

Note that this short passage contains seven “one’s.”  These “one’s” constitute the unity of the Church as the Body of Christ. All the members of the Body of share in this seven-fold oneness.  In fact, the Church is nothing more or less than the Holy Communion of those who share in this perfect and complete unity.

Let’s consider what it means to say that all these aspects of the Church are “one.” “One” means that there is no other.  There are not two, or three or four. Rather “one” indicates something that is singular, unique, and without equal.

Therefore, when we confess with the Apostle, “There is one body and one spirit… one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all (Ephesians 4:4-6), we are saying that no other kind of these things exist but them.  

For example, to say that our Christian faith is one of many faiths does not agree with the sense of the idea of “one faith. If there are other so-called “faiths,” then these faiths cannot be the same as the “one faith” that stands alone and by itself as “one.” The other “faiths” cannot compare with the “one faith”-- that is, the “true faith.”

Yet there is another implication of the repetition of the word “one”  in this passage. The word “one” refers to something that is complete in and of itself. Thus, to say that faith, baptism, the spirit, and the Lord,  etc.  are “one” means that each one of them is whole and entirely sufficient in itself.

 For instance, once again, the Apostle is saying that the “one faith” that is ours in Christ is entirely sufficient for us. There is nothing lacking in it, nothing missing.  The same goes for the “one” body, spirit, hope, faith, baptism, and God the Father of us all.

If we accept other “faiths,” hopes, lords,” baptisms, and gods as equal to ours, then we are saying that they can add to what we have. What we have in the Orthodox Church is now somehow incomplete.

 If we accept these other things are equal, then what holds them all together?  If we believe that they are equal, then we should not be here. We should be out in the world somehow looking for the greater source and foundation of unity that would unite all the faiths of the world.

            I have tried to show that the basic popular ideas of religious and ethical pluralism go against the foundations of Orthodoxy.  It does so because Orthodoxy teaches that it exists to preserve the “fullness” of the Christian faith from the Lord Jesus Christ and the apostles.

            The Lord has given us a precious legacy. It is the answer to the fragmentation of our society and the divisions of our world.  What a loss it would be if we traded this heritage of the unity of our salvation in Christ for some cheap substitute.   The world’s pluralism is only a pretend unity; it can never really bring people together in something that they have in common. The wholeness that that we have in Christ that I have described offers a substantial, common ground in which all of every race and background can be united.

            The false unity of pluralism arises from the desire not to offend anyone, no matter what they may think or believe.  Yet we have a divine calling as members of the Body of Christ to maintain the unity that is ours in Christ.  We cannot do by surrendering the claims of the Orthodox Church.  If we accepted today’s pluralism, we would ignore the words of our epistle:

“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all (Ephesians 4:4-6).

            The claims that the Orthodox Church is the true Church that proclaims the true Gospel are not intolerant or outdated.  They are an expression of our Orthodox faith in Christ for our salvation, and not only our salvation but the salvation of the entire world. In defending these claims, we confess the true faith that is ours in Christ Jesus. And in striving to maintain that unity in the Church and in our lives, we safeguard and uphold the wholeness that the Lord established by His death and resurrection.

What We Owe One Another in the Body of Christ

Sermon for Pentecost 5

Romans 10:4; Romans 13:8; Galatians 6:2

This month I have prepared a list of sayings of the Desert Fathers that you can reflect on each day through the month. These sayings of wisdom come from the early days of monasticism when believers fled to the desert to work and pray apart from the distractions of ordinary life.

 We might think that these were hermits separated themselves from other Christians to cultivate their personal relationship with Christ.  Indeed we find wisdom in these sayings:

·         About finding God in silence

·         About the practice of unceasing prayer

·         About the struggle with demons

·         About the cultivation of the virtues

·         About the path of repentance

But we have these stories and sayings because these holy dwellers in the desert were

concerned with—and involved with—others. Many of their sayings have to do with their relationships with one another.

Last Sunday, we said emphatically that no one can be a Christian alone. To be a Christian is to share the New Life of Christ together with others. It is to be a member of the Body of Christ and to actively partake in the Holy Communion of the Church.

There is a story from the Desert Fathers that says what our attitudes should be toward others in this Body of Christ. Perhaps you have heard it.

Two monks in the Egyptian desert made their living by making baskets. One day, they went into Alexandria to sell the baskets they had made. At the end of the day, one said to the other, “Let us go back to the desert to take up our prayers again.” The other said, “You go.  I must stay here. For I am not worthy to continue the path of holiness in the desert. You see, this very day, while you were selling baskets, I wandered off and I fell into the sin with a woman.”

The other said to him, “I too, when you had wandered off, also fell into the sin of the flesh.  But let us not despair. Let us go back to the desert and live a life of repentance and pray that the Lord would have mercy on us.”

So they both went back to the desert together. And they both confessed to the gathering of the community of monks that they had grievously fallen into temptation. And they asked everyone to pray for them. And both accepted the penance given to them. And from that time on the two did not cease to live a life of humility and penitence for their sin

After some years, one of these monks died, and then the other. And at the funeral of the last, it was revealed that only one of these monks had actually fallen into the sin he had confessed. The other had confessed the same sin, for the sake of the other.  Not wanting the other to fall into despair and be lost, this righteous monk joined the other in his confession and repentance. So it was that both were saved.

This is an example of the kind of life we share together in the Body of Christ, the Church. It is a life of the deepest kind of love. This is the love called agape love—self-giving love. It is the kind of love that the Lord Jesus Christ was talking about when he said, “A new commandment I give to you. Love one another.  As I have loved you so you must love one another!” (John 13:34).

Today we read in our Epistle that “… Christ is the end of the law that everyone who has faith may be justified” (Romans 10:14). Please understand.  This does not mean that we can do anything we please. The Lord Jesus Christ has fulfilled the Law of the Old Covenant. So we are no longer “under the Law but under grace.” (Romans 6:14).

But, in a sense, we in the Body of Christ are given a “Higher Law.” This is the “Law of the New Covenant.” The scriptures call it the “Law of liberty”; the “Law of the Spirit of Life”; or simply the “Law of Christ.”

Let’s be clear what this Law of Christ is.  Some would suppose that it is the  rules regulations of the Church. They would assert that the Law of Christ consists of the obligations of the members of the Orthodox Church. These are the traditions of the Church set down in its “Canons.”  Or even the duties of parish members set down in its constitution.

According to this idea, those who are willing to follow these regulations are members of “our church.”  Those who do not (or cannot) follow them are not members.

But what does the scripture say? St. Paul says it, ““Owe no one anything except one thing—that you love one another. For those who love fulfill the Law” (Romans 13:8). We are not bound together by the rules and regulations of the “old Law.” But we are bound together by the New Law of Christ.

What is this “New Law” of Christ? The Lord Himself taught that our fundamental obligation to the Holy God is to love Him with our whole heart, and soul, and mind. (Matthew 22:37). And our fundamental obligation to our fellowman is to love our neighbor as ourselves. (Matthew 22:39).  And our primary obligation to our fellow members of the Church is to love one another just as Christ has loved us.  (John 13:34).

You see, the Church is much more than a business that has rules, requirements, and dues.

It is the Living Body of Christ in this world. And in this Body of Christ, we bear one another’s burdens.  For as St. Paul says, it is in bearing one another’s burdens that “…fulfill the Law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2)

That is the very essence of love--that if we share the forgiveness of God and the hope of the resurrection, we also share in each other’s struggles. Bearing one another’s burdens means supporting one another in the “good fight of faith.” And instead of judging or condemning others, we encourage one another.  And if anyone has gone astray, it means seeking to restore that person to the fellowship in humility and gentleness (Galatians 6:1).

We are in this together. And our Holy Tradition is, above all, the way of the cross-- the way of self-giving love. Christ is the end of the “old Law,” the "Old Covenant." The begining of the "New  Covenant" is Christ our Lord .This new Law of Christ is fulfilled when we love one another as Christ has loved us. That is what we owe one another in the Body of Christ.

Sermon on the Dormition

The Importance of Endings

You can probably guess that I did a lot of things that drove my mother crazy—probably still do. One of those ways was what I said after every story she read to me. Just as soon as she turned the page and read the words “The End!” I would say, “And then what?... And they what?... There had to be something more. I enjoyed stories of all kinds and simply did not want them to end.

I wonder whether you are of the same mind. If it is a good story, are you sorry when it is finished or do you want to rush to the end to see how things turned out? I want to make a simple point today as we celebrate the Feast of the Dormition of the Holy Theotokos.

It’s about endings.  That’s what the Dormition is about. It’s about the end of the earthly life of the Theotokos. But that means more than just the last thing that happened in her life. The Dormition is about ending as completion, realization, and fulfillment.

Let me take a few moments to explain as we reflect on the Feast. Beginnings are important. Nothing happens without a beginning. You’ve heard the saying of Confucius:  “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” But we often do not take this step out of fear, insecurity, or even laziness. So we get stuck.

However, once we do start down the road, then it important to have a goal, or we will wander about in circles. A goal is a destination. And that means there is an end to the road. It is a place where one can say, “I have accomplished what I set out to do!”

Endings, therefore, are just as valuable as beginnings. When we think of the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ, we can say that the beginning is important. We, therefore, celebrate the Nativity of the Lord with a great deal of joy. However, I think that it says something about the spiritual life of our society when it puts more emphasis on His birth than on His death and resurrection. Most of us like the beginning. But what about the ending?

I am reminded of the Word of the Lord Jesus Christ from the cross: “It is finished!” He could say those words because He had given Himself completely as the perfect sacrifice  “for the life of the world”   Now, nothing else needed to be done. This was indeed an ending.

His resurrection on the third day confirmed the Father’s approval of what He had done. And His Ascension into heaven meant that His work on earth was complete.  He now is worthy to be called the Lord and Savior of the World.

Without this ending, we would have no beginning. We would still be subject to the powers of sin and death. We would have no hope of reaching a good end to our lives in the resurrection.

But now, for a moment, let’s apply these thoughts to the Feast of the Dormition. “Dormition,” as you know means “Falling Asleep.” This word is not just empty church talk. By using this term, we affirm that the Holy Mother of God died just as all human beings must die.

This is a point that the Orthodox Church firmly upholds.  The Theotokos is one of us. As is often said, “She is not the great exception; She is the great example. We believe that the Theotokos “fell asleep in the Lord” as all believers must do. Look, there is an ending here. There was a death; there was a funeral; there was mourning.

All that was proof that the Theotokos was no longer to be physically present on earth.  The All-Pure and Ever-Virgin Mary who bore the Son of God into the world travelled the same road that we all must travel. And she arrived at the signpost that finally said, “The End!”

At this end, soul and body are separated.  Our souls are taken up to be with the Lord in the heavenly realm. The body returns to the earth from which it was made.

But having said this, let’s not stop there!  According to the story of the Feast of the Dormition, in three days,  her tomb was found to be empty.  What had happened? To this day, we have relics of the robe and belt of the Holy Theotokos, But we do not have relics of her body—none. Wherever her body was buried, it is no longer there!

Why?  Because the Lord raised her from the dead.! According to Saint Paul, the Lord Himself was the “first fruits of those who had fallen asleep.”  But the second one to follow Him was the Mother of God. This means that the day of the Dormition is not one of sadness and mourning. It is a day of thanksgiving and rejoicing. You see the saints who rest in the Lord must wait at the Last Day. Then their souls will be reunited with the glorious resurrection bodies that God will recreate for them.

This is a deep mystery of our faith.  How it will happen we do not know. But we believe that has already happened to the Mother of God! She has already been raised from the dead to live in the Eternal Kingdom of the Lord. In this, the rest of the story of the Theotokos, is a glorious sign of the resurrection. And it is a sure pledge that we too, like her, will also share in the resurrection and the life of the “Age to Come!

The resurrection is the rest of the story for the Holy Theotokos. In it, the life of the Theotokos is complete. She now shares in the fulfillment of all of God’s promises. She now shares in the accomplishment of God’s plan for the human race. She now shares in the realization of all the hopes of the world.

But her destiny is also our destiny, because she is one of us. All who hold the same faith in the Jesus Christ; follow Him as Lord and Master; “hear the [same] Word of God and keep it” in a life of obedience to God –as she did---they will reach the same end as she had already reached. They will reach the same end as she has already reached.

So then our celebration of the Dormition is essential for our faith. It is a celebration of the end, the goal, the fulfillment, and the completion of the Theotokos’ life on earth. And it is the celebration of our hope that we too will reach the same end, and goal, and fulfillment, and completion of life that she did. And so today, we have even more reason to bless the Theotokos: “Ever-Blessed, Most-Pure, and the Mother of our God.”

The Soil of Thanksfulness: Pentecost 18

Cultivating a Heart of Genorosity

In our epistle, the Apostle Paul urges generosity. That is indeed the very thing that we are promoting in the fall stewardship program that I introduced last Sunday.

Generosity is an attitude of the heart that stems from thanksgiving. Therefore, we have called our program the “Harvest of Thanksgiving.” We can be sure that when we sow the seeds of love, faith, peace, and kindness wherever we go in life. The Lord of Life will make these seeds grow, and they will produce fruit in the lives of others.

Furthermore, as there is a cycle of crops in the field from preparing the soil, to planting, growing, and harvesting, so there is a cycle of our spiritual sowing and harvesting. God gives us his blessings. Then we respond in thanksgiving, and we share a portion of the blessings of the Lord with others. In turn, those who receive these blessings give thanks to God. Moreover, the seeds of God’s goodness sprout, grow, and produce fruit in their lives. And those who have received God’s blessing through us in turn share their blessings with others.

St. Paul believed that this very cycle of sowing and harvesting was what would happen in his day. The Apostle, you see, wrote the words of our Epistle as a promotion of a special project. This project was to collect an offering from all his churches for the relief of the mother church in Jerusalem.

This fall the diocese called for a similar offering. Two churches in our diocese were flooded in New Jersey, and we sent money from this parish to help. In total, our diocesan churches contributed $33,500 to the aid of these churches.

Likewise in St. Paul’s day, the church in Jerusalem was having a difficult time. The Christians in the mother church were suffering from longstanding and desperate poverty.  The Apostle appealed to all the mission churches that he had started to come to their aid. Paul himself would collect the offering of his churches and personally go to Jerusalem to present that give to the church. This would be a  way of sharing the love of Christ with fellow believers. It would also be a way of underscoring the unity of the Church, the oneness of both Gentile Christians in the Empire and the Jewish Christians of the mother church.

So here is the cycle of thanksgiving. Out of thanksgiving for the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Church sent missionaries like Paul to proclaim the Gospel. This was like sowing the seed of the Word of God throughout the world. In places like Antioch, Macedonia, Galatia, and Ephesus, this seed has sprouted and grown.

St. Paul spoke about his work in one of those places, Corinth. He said, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase” (1 Cor. 3:6). Now the seeds of the Gospel were ready to produce a harvest in Corinth. The offering for the poor in Jerusalem was the fruit of the labors of St. Paul and others in the planting the Gospel in the Roman Empire.

In various places in scripture, St. Paul recalls the long journeys, the dangers, the shipwrecks, the mobs, the beatings, the jails, the sleepless nights, and the unending work of proclaiming the Gospel. But now his work has paid off, the Church has been established throughout Asia Minor and in Europe across the Aegean Sea.. And the sign of the establishment of the Church in the major cities of the Empire. And the fruit of intense missionary work was to  be a special offering. It would be a substantial offering given in thanksgiving to God for His gift of salvation in Christ.

But what would the result of this offering be?

St. Paul believed that the mother church in Jerusalem would receive this offering with joy, and they would give thanks to God for this gift. So the cycle of planting and harvesting would continue. Those who contributed to this offering would have a double blessing. First, they would be blessed with God’s good gifts. Second, they would have the joy of knowing that others would benefit from these same blessings through them.

The driving force of this cycle of sharing in the grace of God is thanksgiving. The more thanksgiving that we have the more generous we will be. And as St. Paul said, the more generous we are, the abundant is the harvest of thanksgiving.

But now the Gospel for today adds another level of insight. Thanksgiving takes an open heart. This is true whether we are talking about receding or sharing God’s blessings.

First, in order to receive the gifts of God, we must be open to receive them. Recall that in our Gospel, the sower sows the seed on all kinds of soil. This teaches us that the Almighty God sows the seed of His Word of Grace and Life in His Kingdom in the hearts of all sorts of people.

St. John Chrysostom explains that God does not discriminate between one person and anther. Asthe rays of the sun fall over all the earth, so the Almighty God shines the gift of His grace on the world. 

But some people to whom God offers His grace are not open to receive it. The Lord Jesus Christ teaches that to produce the harvest takes a “noble and good heart” (Luke 8:15). It does not depend on the sower or the seed: these come from the God of steadfast love.

Therefore, it all depends on the condition of the heart. It takes an open heart to receive the spiritual blessings of God. Like the path, it can be hardened by bitterness, despondency, or despair. Like the rocky ground, the heart can be shallow and careless. Like the weed patch, the heart can be full of worldly concerns. None of these states of the heart is truly receptive to the Gospel or the grace of God.

Moreover, the test of the fertility of these soils is the capacity for thanksgiving. If anyone should find it hard to be thankful, then he should look to the state of his heart. A heart that is bitter, downhearted, or in despair knows only its bad feelings. It cannot be grateful. A heart that is shallow and careless does not recognize the value of what is given. A heart that is full of the cares and pleasures of this world has no room for the grace of God.

It also takes an open heart to share God’s gifts with thanksgiving. The test of this willingness to share is faith. If anyone finds it hard to share one’s blessings, then he should look again to the state of his heart. A heart that lacks trust in God’s goodness will give, perhaps, but only grudgingly. A heart that doubts whether God will provide what one needs will only give sparingly. A heart that thinks that it can only rely on itself will give but only out of a sense of duty.

Generosity comes from thanksgiving, and thanksgiving is a state of one’s heart. A heart that is open to God in thanksgiving is necessary for both receiving and sharing the blessings of God. If anyone has such an open heart, he will bear the fruit of sharing the blessings of God with others.

But if anyone has a heart that is unable to receive the blessings of God or unwilling to give, then know that hearts can be changed. The hard path can be ploughed up. The rocky ground can be broken up. The weeds can be plucked up. The birds can be driven off. And hearts can become open to receive the Word of the Gospel, the grace of God, and the nurture of the Holy Spirit. Likewise, hearts can become open to share the blessings of Go, and what was once infertile soil can become fertile and produce a rich harvest to the glory of God.

Therefore, today let us pray with the psalmist that the God of Grace would “create a clean heart and renew a right spirit within” us as the psalmist says (Psalm 51:10). With this right spirit will come the restoration of the “joy of salvation” (Psalm 51:12) And with it will come a “willing spirit” (Psalm 51:12) and an overflowing sense of gratitude. Then with this open heart and grateful spirit, we will indeed joyfully produce a “harvest of thanksgiving,” We will bear the fruit of faith, love, joy, and peace in our lives and sow those same seeds of goodness in the lives of others to the Glory of God.