Giving Thanks Properly

 God, I thank You that I am not like other men.  While it is a fact that David in the Spirit wrote, It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High (Ps 92:1), such a virtuous encouragement to offer heartfelt thanks to the Lord does not provide license to turn the praise into judgment of another.

But this is human nature, isn’t it?  If I set out to assess my spiritual state in life, is my analysis founded on Scripture and the instructions of my Lord, or does my judgment of self get run comparing myself to someone else?

We’ve all at least heard such things, and if truth be told, we’ve most likely all participated in such things.  “Yes, I did thus-and-such wrong, BUT others have done so much worse!”  In short, we ‘justify’ ourselves not on an absolute scale (“Sin is sin!”) but on a relativistic scale (“I’m not as bad as……”)

Consider for a moment the Pharisee’s words.  I thank You that I am not like other men.  What does this mean analytically to the one making the ‘prayer’?  The clear implication is that only I am without sin.  How dangerous a position is that to take with the Just Judge?

And what kinds of other men are  we talking about? 

1) Extortioners:  My memory is not so good, but just last week we heard from a man whom our Lord called by name who said this: If I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.  In these words, Zacchaeus is admitting to extorting money, and he is offering the repentant response of giving back four times what he stole unrighteously.

2) The Unjust:  Recall the account of St. Moses who lived a life of crime, but was saved by his repentance.

3) Adulterers:  We have the example of St. Mary Magdalene, who by repentance saw the Lord expel seven demons from her, and also St. Mary of Egypt who although lived a life of sin in her youth received great spiritual strength in her old age by repentance and fasting.

4) Tax collectors:  Remember, St. Matthew was a tax collector.  Also today’s Publican, who went to his house justified is in this group.  The Greek word for justified here is dikaioo, and it carries the meaning to render as innocent!

And so those being judged by the Pharisee as unworthy of God’s love and attention are among the first to find His favor—when they also find repentance.

The Lord is so very careful to spend so much time, so many words, describing the Pharisee with at least 40 words in his description.  What does our Lord say about the Publican?  Twenty-nine words total, but seven of greatest import—God, be merciful to me, a sinner!

Today, the Church gifts to us the entry point, the gate, if you will, to enter into the season of the Fast.  How does She open this gate to us?  By gently teaching us, as taught by St. Theophan, to focus on that one and only thing I have been given the ability by my Lord to be able to change.

Myself!

David said in Ps 51, Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.  Lord, I beseech You, put that Spirit to right myself into my heart.  And teach me to pray fervently and continuously, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!

Christ is Born!

 My brothers and sisters in Christ:

Christ is Born!  Glorify Him!

 It is with these joyous words that we greet one another in this season.  What more joyous news is there than the birth of a child?  What more joyous news is there than God coming in the flesh to redeem His creation as that newly born child?

 In the world around us, we find troubles, sorrow, pain, suffering.  As human beings we desire with all our hearts to see all suffering come to an end.  But we find ourselves powerless to do much to change the world and put an end to such things.

 But in the coming of Christ, we can look upon all these things in a new light.  He is the Light of the World, and in His Light we shall see light!  Because Christ is born, mankind need no longer fear the suffering in the world, for God shows to us His intention to unite again fallen mankind with Himself, and where God is, there is neither sorrow nor sighing, but only life everlasting!

 Saint Paul taught us about our Lord’s own joy in His work by saying, “Looking to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb 12:2)  Even our Lord endured human sufferings and sorrow.  But within these, God the Son encountered joy in accomplishing His ministry, to redeem us from our sins, from our own suffering, so that we might become filled with the same joy that filled Him.

 We end our Liturgical services with a benediction, a word that translates from the Latin to literally mean “to speak well of”, but meaning to give a blessing.  In that benediction, we say, “May Christ our God, through the prayers of …. Have mercy on us and save us, for He is good, and He loves us!”  Each time I offer that prayer, I’m struck with those final words.  He is good.  This I know.  But, He loves us.  As the words pass my lips, I very often think, “Why?”

 Perhaps this is the greatest mystery of all.  God loves us—you, and me, and the neighbor who taunts us, and the person in traffic who cut us off this morning, and the boss who chewed us out last week.  He loves all of us.  How can we not be filled with joy when we know we are so loved?  How can we be at odds with people whom we know our Lord loves as much as He loves us?  We are benefactors of a love that exceeds all love we can know in this world, for God’s love supersedes the love of this world.  His love is focused on overcoming what binds us to this world, to take us to be with Him, where He is.  This is the reason that He comes to take on our flesh today, so that He might provide the way for us to be with Him for all time.  Because He loves us!

 In this season of renewal, when nature begins to turn from darkness to light, let us take firm hold of this love that can and must bring us joy that overflows our ability to contain it!  Let the joy of this day so fill us that we shout to those around us, “Christ is Born!”, expecting the greeting to fill them with the love and joy that fills us.

 May the joy of this day fill your hearts with His joy, and may His love fill each of us so that we might share both with all whom we greet, on this day, and on every day with the festal shout, “Christ is Born!”

Father Basil

The Road to Humility

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Gen 1:1)  He is God.  He is Creator.  As Creator, there is more Scripture to define Him.  For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. (Col 1:16)  So not only are all things in His creation sourced by His Holy will, but all things belong to Him.  They are His, and in His mercy He provides all things to accomplish His holy will.

In that image of His will being accomplished through His creation, He remains all-powerful.  I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.  I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’” (Isa 46:10)

In His nature, He is beyond the limits of nature.  Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. (1Kings 8:27)

He is Sovereign, our King, the King of kings and Lord of lords. (1Tim 6:15)

What more do we need to say to establish the credentials of our God?  He is the Creator of all things, He is above all things, He is the Ruler of all things.

Having said ALL of this:

Within these next two weeks we, who hope to be found worthy to be called servants of our God, will become witnesses, not of some monumental display of superiority, but of monumental humility.

He Who sits eternally at the right hand of the Father in His glory comes within the womb of a young maiden, to be born as is any human being, and to be laid in a manger, a feeding trough for animals.  He comes offering the fullness of God to be united to us in fullness as Man.  And in His divine offering, He creates a path to salvation for all of humanity—for all who will choose to receive the gift He brings.

What do we see as we gaze into the cave where He is laid as a child?  We see His Virgin Mother, one who loves Him as the Child she has carried these many months, but one who loves Him in a way that must include, even if imperfectly, the vision of His divinity, for she knows His conception is beyond nature.  We find lowly animals, witnesses from His creation to His arrival.  We find an elderly man who will offer himself as a guardian for as long as He determines is Joseph’s lot.  We find hosts of angels offering glory to God.

There is a Stichera on Lord I Call from the Vespers of Nativity that speaks to what the world has to offer in return.

What shall we offer You, O Christ, Who for our sakes has appeared on earth as man?  Every creature made by You offers thanks: Angels offer their hymn, and the heavens a star.  Wise men bring gifts as the shepherds won-der.  The earth offers a cave, and the wilderness offers a manger.  And we, Your people, offer You a virgin mother! O Pre-eternal God, have mercy on us!

He Who will come again in glory comes now in humility.  He Who comes to give His life for His creation comes to assume that life so that He can show us the way to salvation.  And we, like the angels, stand in awe and wonder at His humility for us and his mercy towards us.