February 6, 2006 - Rising To The Stature of Zacchaeus
Dear Fathers, Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,
Here are a few more thoughts on Zacchaeus Sunday while it is still fresh in our minds(?)
"Until we all attain ... to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." (EPH. 4:13)
According to the Apostle Paul, our goal in life is to "attain" the "stature" of Christ. It is not about wealth, status or pleasure. Now that is a goal worth living for and, as the confessors and martyrs have witnessed, even worth suffering and dying for! It imparts a meaningful destiny to our very existence. The Apostle is thus telling us about a process of "growth," also implying growth and transformation. (cf. II Cor. 3:18)
However, yesterday we heard of a rich man, a tax-collector named Zacchaeus, who was "small of stature" - "vertically challenged" in today's more sensitive discourse. As a tax-collector he was enmeshed in a web of deceit and cheating, draining the resources of his very neighbors so as to enrich himself. But this only marginalized him from the community, who in fairness saw him to be a "sinner." (LK. 19:6) All of this was transformed in the "twinkling of an eye" when he climbed a sycamore tree in order to "see Jesus;" and then, after Christ called him by name and went to his home, Zacchaeus openly declared: "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold." (LK. 19:8) This new mode of existence drew from the Lord the "good news" that "Today salvation has come too this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost." (LK. 19:9-10)
When we sin, we shrink. Our minds, hearts and souls shrink so that we are truly "small of stature." On this level, the smallness of stature of Zacchaeus represents or "symbolizes" the basic human condition of being reduced in stature as a human being through sin. And all of our ego-dominated attempts to compensate for our smallness of stature - feeding our vanity and pride; being arrogant and aggressive; excessively boasting about our achievments; or projecting an artificially self-inflated but false image to our neighbors - are hopelessly inadequate attempts to make ourselves look "bigger" than we actually are. Our stature depends upon God. Without God everything becomes small and insignificant - "here today, gone tomorrow." Created by God and loved by God, we grow into His likeness, since we have been made in His image, through participation in Him through Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Yet, like Zacchaeus - perhaps a blow to our pride, because we need to emulate small and sinful Zacchaeus! - we need to "climb up into a sycamore tree" (LK. 19:4) in order to "see Jesus" and grow into the full stature of Christ in the process. The climbing of the tree of course represents our desire to overcome any obstacles between ourselves and Christ; and to apply our full energy into wanting to "see Jesus" even if it means thinking and acting "outside of the box" of dull social conformity and lukewarm churchgoing. We may even have to embarrass ourselves as Zacchaeus surely did by scrambling up that tree in full view of his neighbors who may have laughed and rejoiced at his seemingly odd antic. The twist here, is that while he may have been reduced in size according to his neighbors, he was truly scaling his own ladder of ascent toward God and, again, growing in stature.
So, following the Apostle Paul, we can describe our Christian lives as moving from smallness of stature to "the stature of the fulness of Christ." And therein is our vocation.
Fr. Steven
January 30, 2006 - The First Two Days Of The Week
Dear Parish Faithful,
I hope that your Monday morning is starting off well. It is often said that Monday is the first day of the week. This is a mistake. Actually Sunday - the Lord's Day - is the first day of the week. Confusion can arise because Sunday is the last day of our "weekend" - with the minor dread of Monday morning and all that that implies hanging over us! Our weekend mentality thus gives Sunday a very "last day" perception. Yet, from the beginning of the Church, the first and "eighth" day of the week (eighth, because the Lord's Day elevates us into the Kingdom of God beyond the seven days of the week that symbolize the time of "this world") has always been Sunday. Of course, this day is the day after the Sabbath on which the empty tomb of the Lord was discovered and on which He first appeared to His startled and amazed disciples following His resurrection from the dead (JN. 20:19). In many Christian cultures, the name for the first day of the week has remained the "Lord's Day" - as in Domingo, for example. In Russian, Sunday is actually Resurrection Day (Voskresene)!
Today, therefore, is the second day of the week. If you were at the Divine Liturgy yesterday morning, then of course your week has started off well! For the "simple" fact that you heard the Gospel proclaimed and received the Holy Eucharist which unites us to Christ. The true challenge is then taking that experience into the work-week or the school-week. When the Risen Lord appeared to His disciples, He told them "You are witnesses of these things." (LK. 24:48) The apostles witnessed to this through their preaching of the Gospel which eventually reached the "ends of the earth." We witness to this newness of life by our way of life, embracing our words, deeds and thoughts.
As we were reminded yesterday, many have witnessed to Christ by giving their very lives for Him when they suffered persecution for nothing more than simply being Christians. And that continues to this day. "Martyrdom" actually means "witness." Christ is truly the Someone "worth" dying for. Which means further that He is the One "worth" the first-fruits of our time, talents, energy and resources. Since Christ died for us and for our salvation, then certainly we can "incovenience" ourselves for Him when necessary so as to be worthy of the name "Christian." That would mean fitting our lives into Christ rather than fitting Christ into our lives. The latter approach gets dangerously close to relegating Christ to the periphery of our existence. Or that there would be times at which He would be an unwelcome guest. Since no one would want to acknowledge that theoretically, we then need to struggle so that it doesn't happen practically.
As Christians, "having a good week" may mean more than accomplishing all of our goals - or simply surviving it in "one piece!" Without minimizing either of those two possibilities, we could add that remembering Christ by taking our liturgical/eucharistic experience of Christ into our week will somehow make it "good" regardless of just what may happen. The second day of the week begins as a test about the reality of our experience on the first day of the week.
Fr. Steven
January 23, 2006 - Affirming Life's Sacredness
Dear Parish Faithful,
If you turn to the OCA website you will find a short notice informing us that Metropolitan Herman will once again participate in the Washington D.C. Pro-Life protest against the legalization of abortion in our country. For years now, he has always made a point to be a leading figure and speaker at these marches. I believe that the march itself took place between 11:00 - 11:30 A.M. this morning. January 23 is chosen because it marks date of the infamous Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision allowing for a very liberal and open practice of abortion in our nation. A practice that should qualify all of those cliched "God bless America!" appeals used by all politicians.
It is hard to conceive of a believing and practicing Orthodox Christian not being strongly opposed and troubled by the widespread practice of abortion in our country. It may just be to our shame that we have become so passive and accepting of it. And some may even be tempted by its "social usefulness" as well as some of the more compelling stories that lead to its practice. However, Orthodox Christians have always affirmed life, not the taking of life - especially the most innocent life imaginable. Fr. John Breck writes about this with great insight. Here is a summary paragraph from his wonderful book, The Sacred Gift of Life (available from SVS Press), on the topic of abortion from the chapter "Affirming Life's Sacredness:"
The Orthodox stance on the issue of abortion has never been in doubt. From biblical times to the present, abortion has been regarded as the morally condemnable act of destroying an innocent human life. Euthanasia also involves killing an innocent person. There, however, the motive is to relieve suffering, and the act can be described euphemistically as "mercy killing." In the case of abortion, the killing is done in the sole interest of persons other than the victim. Therefore it is not, like euthanasia, a matter of simple homicide; it is murder. "Pro-choice" advocates decry use of the term "murder" to describe induced abortions, insisting that murder meand the illegal taking of a human life; and since abortion is legal in this country, the expression is inappropriate. "Pro-life" advocates would respond that the Supreme Court decisions authorizing abortions are themselves inappropriate, since they 1) represent specious interpretation of the Constitution, and 2) result from ursupation by the judiciary of what is properly legislative authority....
Orthodox Christianity holds as fundamental the conviction that personal, human life begins at conception, described ... as "syngamy," the creation of a genetically unique individual through the process of fertilization. For this reason, the Orthodox are morally obliged to accept a pro-life philosophy, one which is based on an authentic biblical anthropology rather than on social concerns or political correctness.
The Sacred Gift of Life, pp. 148, 153
What is distressing is that we have had some high-profile cases of prominent Orthodox politicians - including U.S. senators - who have openly embraced pro-abortions positions (to maintain the support of their respective constituencies?) without the slightest challenge or rebuke to their public stances from within the Church. This can only cause confusion among the faithful.
Once a year (at least!) around the time of the Sanctity of Life Sunday, we need to search our own hearts as to where we "stand" concerning life and its affirmation. As part of the "unaborted population" we have that freedom and responsiblity.
Fr. Steven
January 20, 2006 - Life is a Jungle...
Dear Fathers, Parish Faifhful & Friends in Christ,
On my particular path to the church, I see a large billboard that has an imposing image of a rather majestic- looking lion perched on a rock and staring out into the distance. Stretching out over the top of the billboard one can read: Life is a Jungle - Be Prepared. And occupying the other half of the space, next to the lion, one can further read the name of the institution promoting this ad: Cincinnati Preparatory School. (I will assume that this school has more to offer than courses on how to tame wild animals). "Life is a jungle" - or the "law of the jungle" - is a rather familiar variation on the popularized Darwinian description of life as the "survival of the fittest." Another clever variant, also referring to the daily struggles of our urban environment, and set to rock music replete with catchy lyrics, was a song from a progressive rock group of the early 70's entitled "Bungle in the Jungle." This song even takes a stab at theology, by referring to the paradoxical or puzzling nature of God's creation: "He who made kittens put snakes in the grass ..." Sounds like a faint echo of William Blake's more serious juxtaposition of "The Lamb and " The Tyger" and his poetic musings about the Creator who made both.
Returning to this cliche, "Life is a jungle," we encounter a particular point of view, or a "world-view," that reminds us of some harsh realities. As in a real jungle where danger lurks everywhere; "turf battles" are endless; and omnivorous beasts stalk their prey; our own way life is an endless struggle to "stay alive" from one day to the next. If you let down your guard, all can be lost. Even so, life remains "short, brutish and nasty," as one of our philosophers has remarked. Since the world can be pitiless and uncaring, you had better learn and perfect some survival skills that will enable you to defend your own territory and not lose it to smiling, yet rival, competitors. For competition will always qualify, relativize and prevail over cooperation. Outside of the primal social unit of the family, no one really cares about you, so it would be naive to be altruistic. In reality, you are "numero uno." Or at least one must approach life pragmatically, embracing some form of rational egoism. We have managed to cover up the primal truths of this "social Darwinism" with the thin veneer of culture and civilization, but underneath all of this, the "law of the jungle" outlined above prevails. In this view, our human society is simply a sophisticated version of the animal kingdom. So it is according to some.
This may indeed sound like a caricature, but the history of wanton aggression and violence that has characterized human life since its beginnings, will perhaps jolt us into some sort of recognition that at a certain level this is simply how things have been, are, and always will be. The age-long cultivation of philosophical and religious virtues has been humankind's noble endeavor to curb, if not eliminate, this "life is a jungle" approach by presenting a higher and more "spiritual" response to our lower inclinations. And, for the sake of balance, we must remark on the wonderful and amazing achievements of various philosophical and religious traditions in not only curbing our lower nature, but in also manifesting our higher nature. In fact, the record of human history seems to indicate that we are poised somewhere in between apes and angels. Or, as Dmitri Karamazov philosophized, human nature is broad, too broad perhaps ...
My concern is not to enter into the unresolvable debate over which "side" has proven to be more dominant. As just stated, human history presents quite a mixed record. Returning to my almost daily viewing of the billboard that provokes us with the message that "Life is a Jungle - Be prepared;" my over-all concern in commenting on this is to find a wider context, or perhaps a backdrop, in or against which to make "sense" of the Epistle reading from last Sunday's Liturgy. It was there that we heard this passage from St. Paul's Epistle to the Colossians:
The contrast is staggering: compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, patience, love, thanksgiving. Instead of a jungle, a reversion to the Garden of Eden! St. Paul was decidedly not an ethereal dreamer in which he imagined unrealistic and unrealizable scenarios based upon an otherworldly idealism - and neither was Christ. I am convinced that there is nothing in the entire New Testament that can be described as "idealistic," in the sense of unattainable. St. Paul was more than convinced that the way of life described in this passage was realizable and realistic. And he was more than aware of the "life is a jungle" approach to life that characterized the Greco-Roman world held together by the administrative machinery and militarized brutality embodied by Rome. This was a society with no human rights and no recourse to democratic or egalitarian processes. Might was right. Only the strong prevail and survive.
But the Apostle knew that that was not the whole of reality. The one, living God had revealed Himself to the world in the face of Jesus Christ. This revelation was intensely and personally delivered to the Pharisee Saul who then became the Apostle Paul. It was a "fact," not an idea. There is now the "peace of Christ" that can "rule in your hearts." The presence of Christ not only calls us to a new mode of existence, but makes it possible in and through the grace of the Holy Spirit. This takes us far beyond life as a biological struggle for survival - a struggle that leads to lifelong bondage. The Gospel challenges any such form of social Darwinism that cannot look beyond the immanent data of It may appear to be an "ideal" to us, but it can more properly be described as a vision that can be put into practice because it is deeply rooted in ultimate Reality - the victory of Christ who has "overcome the world." This way of life is nourished in the Church. Hearing the Gospel and participating in the Sacraments is our path from the "jungle" to Paradise. To keep away from the Church is to inevitably slip back into the "jungle," regardless of how well we do our own form of "cover-up."
This particular Epistle reading makes a great deal of "sense." Much more sense than a rather senseless world that only covers up the primal facts of birth, struggle and death. If we are already in the Church, then we have hopefully already made the choice as to which is more real - or makes more sense. Our dilemma is navigating, so to speak, between both worlds as the realities of "this world" impinge upon us on a daily basis, and perhaps more often than we are willing to admit, convince us that "Life is a jungle." Perhaps Christ may have been referring to this "dilemma" when He taught us to be as "wise as serpents, and innocent as doves." (MATT. 10:16)
And the Gospel from last Sunday contained the words of Christ: "What is impossible with men is possible with God." (LK. 18:27)
Fr. Steven
