The Word of the Day (Sunday, October 1)

 

God’s Holiness and Our Holiness in His Likeness (Sun. Oct. 1)

 

The word of the day is “holy.”  What categories do we use to speak of God?  Life, love, goodness, and truth might come to mind.  Or we might think of righteousness, glory, or grace.  Then too, there are the terms omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence.  All these are ways of thinking of God.  But in today’s reading of 2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1, Paul reminds us of the fundamental character of God when he advises his congregation in Corinth to “perfect holiness in the fear of God” (vs. 7:1).

God’s Holiness, His “Otherness”

In 1 Peter, the apostle underscores Paul’s admonition when he writes, “Be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16 quoting Leviticus 11:44).  Note that our holiness, however, has its foundation and source in the holiness of God.  The Greek word for holy refers to a sense of “otherness” (Strong’s #40).  Thus, holiness is a primary attribute of God, who is altogether distinct from His creation.  Therefore, when the Divine Liturgy speaks of God, the priest declares that God is “ineffable, inconceivable, invisible, incomprehensible” (St-Tikhon’s 1984, 65).  Thus, the Orthodox believe that God is best “defined” by such negatives that speak of his “otherness.”

However, the God who is “other” chose to make human beings in His image.  He intended to relate in love to human persons, the crown of His creation.  Though the fall of Adam and Eve into sin corrupted our resemblance to God, the Almighty promised to restore that image through a Chosen People.  Thus, in our reading, St. Paul quoted the prophet Ezekiel who spoke the Word of God, “I will dwell in them and walk among them.  I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (vs. 6:16 quoting Ezekiel 37:26).

To Be a Holy Temple One Must be Cleansed

In our reading, St. Paul writes that the faithful in Corinth are heirs of these promises in Christ.  Redeemed by the blood of Christ, they are now “the temple of the living God” (vs. 16).  But to be a place where God dwells on earth, they must “cleanse themselves from all the filthiness of the flesh” that stains their souls (vs. 7:1).  You see, for the Holy God to reside in them, they must be “set apart” as places of worship are set apart.  And this means that they must reflect the qualities of God.  If God is good, then they must be good.  If God is love, they must be loving.  If God is righteous, they must be righteous.  Most of all, if God is holy, they must be holy.

Holiness Begins with the Fear of God

If God is truth, goodness, love, and righteousness, then nothing untruthful, nothing unloving, nothing unrighteous can stand and survive in the presence of His otherness.  Therefore, His living temples must be kept holy so that He may dwell in them.  To begin with, believers must “fear” God in the sense of respecting His “otherness.”  As Chrysostom suggests, the fearful realization that nothing unholy can prevail in God’s presence is sufficient motivation for the faithful to cleanse their hearts and minds from all that is unholy.  Then, by God’s grace, they may be worthy temples in which God may dwell (NfPf1: 13).

For Reflection From the Philokalia 

The Orthodox believe that our human vocation is to become “like” God in whose “image” we are made. In the Philokalia, Nikitas Stithtos writes about the “likeness” to God for which we should strive with the help of the Spirit. He teaches, “’The Lord is just and holy’ (cf. Ps. 145:17).  We are also in the likeness of God if we possess uprightness and goodness for ‘good and upright is the Lord’ (Ps. 25:8)); or if we are conscious of wisdom and spiritual knowledge, for these are within Him, and He is called Wisdom and Logos; or if we possess holiness and perfection, since He Himself said, ‘You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect’ (Matt. 5:48), and ‘You must be holy for I am holy (Lev. 11:44; 1 Pet. 1:16), or if we are humble and gentle, for it is written ‘Learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls’” (Matt. 11:29).

Works Cited

St-Tikhon’s. 1984. Service Books of the Orthodox Church. Third ed. South Canaan, PA: St. Tikhon’s Monastery Press.

 

2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1, attributes of God, incomprehensive God, ineffable, Holy God, to become like God by grace,

 

With Regret and Thanksgiving

 Dear Readers

I write with a heavy heart but with thanksgiving to God for the opportunity I have had to share in the study of scripture with you.  Now, however, I must inform you that my Word of the Day blog through Ancient Faith will be closed as of October 1.  

I am overwhelmingly grateful to Ancient Faith for hosting my site for several years.  They have made it possible for me to encourage and support you in the daily study of scripture (without frills) from the lectionary of the Orthodox Church.

But now, Ancient Faith intends to concentrate on the thing it does best in the field of digital technology.  So they will no longer support my blog or others as they have done so faithfully.

Actually, I get a sense of God’s timing in this situation.  I was already thinking that it was time for me to either produce some new material (perhaps on the Gospels from the lectionary) or write for a different medium.  So I am prayerfully (and more urgently) considering what the next chapter as a writer should be.

With my poor technical skills, I am struggling to find a way to support your daily reading discipline.  I have revived an old Google blog “Father Basil’s Sermons, Writings, and Reflections.   You can find it at https://ctsorthodoxchurchil.blogspot.com/  Be sure to use this login—and all of it.

On my bare-bones site, you can scroll down to “No Comments.” After each post, if you click that “No Comment” area, you will see a box where you can make a comment.  I should get a notice of it right away.

It will take me some time to discern what I should do as a writer: a better website, other ways of posting, publications, etc. However, I am interested in what you would like: more of Word of the Day, a daily series on the Gospels from the Lectionary, a book study such as THE WAY OF THE PILGRIM maybe done in serial form, a section a day), or something else.

I will be working on the next phase of writing. Meanwhile, I recommend the BEHOLD A GREAT  LIGHT devotional book for the Nativity Fast (Advent), which starts on November 15. You can order that from Ancient Faith or other bookstores. I hope we can keep in touch.  Please watch for something to come as God wills  If everything else fails, just look for me as Father Basil (Aden), OCA archpriest.  (Oh, I am on Facebook now also).

I sign off with thanks to Ancient Faith for publishing my work and to you for reading it.  My goal is fulfilled if you have developed a discipline of daily reading of scripture and stick with it.  The daily encounter with the Lord in His Word has been such a blessing to me, as I hope it was and will be for you. 

Please pray for me as I pray for you.

God bless, Fr. Basil 

 

 

The Word of the Day (Sat. Sept. 30)

 The Never-ending Process of Becoming Spiritually Mature (Sat. September 30)

The word of the day is “mature.”  In today’s reading of 1 Corinthians 14:20-25, Paul gives instructions about the practice of speaking in tongues.  In the middle of this discussion, he lays out a principle for Christians to guide the manner of thinking of the faithful.  He writes: “Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature” (vs. 20).

Childish Behavior

In effect, Paul says that the Corinthian’s behavior is childish.  Like children, they are boasting that they have the superior spiritual ability to speak in tongues.  In their pride in their spiritual talents, they are thinking like three-year-olds.  St. John Chrysostom says that children are awestruck with trifles but are not impressed with noble things (NfPf1:13, 14).  Thus, the braggarts in Corinth are inflated with pride because they have the gift of tongues which Chrysostom calls “the lowest of all” perfection (NfPf1:13, 14).

Paul admonished them to set aside their conceit and to be “mature” in their thinking.  Speaking more generally, the apostle advises that believers be children concerning “malice” (vs. 20).  That is, they should have no acquaintance with what is by nature evil and hurtful (Strong’s #2549, 126).  But they should be grown up in the thinking of their hearts (Strong’s #5424, 266).

Spiritual Maturity

But what is spiritual maturity?  The Greek word for “maturity” refers to the end of a process (Strong’s #5048, 248).  When this growth reaches that final point, the development is complete.  It is like a full-grown tree.  In 2 Peter, the apostle writes about such a process of growth.  He advises, “…giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, to brotherly kindness, love” (2 Peter 1:5-7).  In this way, we develop excellence (arete) and perfection (teleios).  As we develop toward these goals, the apostle assures us that we will “be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:8).

For Reflection: Becoming Mature Never Ends

Do we ever reach the completion of the process of maturing spiritually?  Paul writes, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me” (Philippians 3:12).  In the same vein, St. Maximos writes, that things in the natural world stop growing when they have reached maturity.  But he teaches, “when what has been brought about by the knowledge of God through the practice of virtues has reached maturity, it starts to grow anew.  For the end of one stage constitutes the starting point of the next” (Maximos-the-Confessor 2010, Loc 10919).

After we dig out the roots of corruption within ourselves by the practice of virtue, the Almighty grants us “other more divine experiences” (Maximos-the-Confessor 2010, Kindle Loc10919). Therefore, our maturation never comes to an end, neither barren nor unfruitful.

Works Cited

Maximos-the-Confessor, St. 2010. “Two Hundred Texts on Theology and the Incarnate Dispensation of the Son of God ” In The Philokalia: the Complete Text, edited by G.E.H. Palmer-et. al.: Kindle Edition; original publisher: Faber and Faber.

 

1 Corinthians 14:20-25, add virtue to faith, maturity is never complete, spiritual maturity, growing in excellence