Lenten Reflection: Do Not Spare Yourself

Saint Theophan the Recluse writes in The Spiritual Life, Chapter 51:

Of course, you need labor and effort, both mental and from the heart. Do not spare yourself. If you do, you will ruin yourself. Do not spare yourself, and you will have salvation. Abandon a certain wrongful activity that often strikes and afflicts almost everyone: That is, the fact that we spare no labor on any matter except when it comes to that of salvation. We want to think that we have only to contemplate salvation and desire it, and everything is all set. That is not how it happens in reality. The matter of salvation is the most important thing. Consequently it is the most difficult. This is by virtue of its importance and by the labor required. Labor then, for the Lord's sake! Very soon you will see the fruit. If you do not set to work however, you will be left without anything and be unworthy. Deliver us, Lord, from this!

I was raised in the Restoration Movement (to which I owe much indeed), with a pentecostal model of salvation – the pattern established by St. Peter in Acts 2.

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him” (Acts 2:37-39, NRSV).

This model presents salvation – like Pentecost itself – as an event, or a series of events, all one-off occurrences: repentance, baptism, forgiveness, chrismation (the gift of the Spirit) – salvation. And, some of these are singular events. We believe in one baptism, for instance, not to be repeated. But, surely, not all are. Repentance, for instance, is the ongoing life of discipleship. Repentance – metanoia – is not merely a one time changing of the mind – a realization of one’s lost estate and a turning to Christ – but rather a continual transformation (meta) of the heart/mind (nous), until one is conformed to the image of Christ. I need repentance no less this day than on that day some forty-five years ago when I repented and was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. And such repentance is most serious and most difficult business, worthy of the best effort of an entire lifetime. Our salvation – not just the forensic eradication of guilt, but the healing of the soul – depends upon it. As St. Theophan reminds us all:

The matter of salvation is the most important thing. Consequently it is the most difficult. This is by virtue of its importance and by the labor required. Labor then, for the Lord’s sake. Very soon you will see the fruit.

The Jesus Prayer: The Ancient Desert Prayer That Tunes the Heart To God

You cannot choose the thing that will change you. The thing that will change you may well look strange from the outside. My advice is to accept the ancient spiritual disciplines as a complete, integrated healing program, rather than picking and choosing to fit. Some kind of wisdom has been worked out in them over the centuries. This net wisdom may well be smarter than you are, because your experience is limited, and also conditioned by your surrounding culture. Though you think you know yourself and your needs better than anyone, you likely have blind spots; we all do. The advice to continue seeking repentance is so consistent throughout Christian spirituality that I think it's worth taking seriously.

-- from The Jesus Prayer, by Frederica Mathewes-Green

Sermon: 19 Pentecost (11 October 2009)

Sermon: 19 Pentecost (11 October 2009)
(Job 23:1-9, 16-17/Ps 139:1-12/Heb 4:12-16/Mark 10:17-31)
Jesus Pantocrator

Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
And blessed be his kingdom, now and for ever. Amen.

Prologue
Six hundred thousand Hebrew men left Egypt; only two of them – Caleb and Joshua – entered the promised rest in the land of their fathers. The corpses of the rest were scattered over the wilderness during forty years of wandering. Thus spoke the Holy Spirit through the mouth of David two centuries later:

“ Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest’” (Heb 4:7b-11).

This Exodus story of hope and failure, of mercy and judgment forms the backdrop of the letter to the Hebrews; it is never far from the author’s mind and its lesson is the letter’s constant refrain:

12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, 15 while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion” (Heb 4:12-15).

Sermon

When an Orthodox Christian makes confession she does so not only in the presence of a priest but also in the presence of an icon of Jesus Christ. The icon is a visual reminder that confession is made not to the priest but to Christ – the priest is there as fellow sinner and witness – and that forgiveness comes not from the priest but from Christ – the priest is there as spokesman. Just before confession the priest says:

Behold, my child, Christ standeth here invisibly, and receiveth thy confession: wherefore, be not ashamed, neither be afraid, and conceal thou nothing from me: but tell me, doubting not, all things which thou hast done; and so shalt thou have pardon from our Lord Jesus Christ. Lo, his holy image is before us: and I am but a witness, bearing testimony before him of all things which thou dost say to me. But if thou shalt conceal anything from me, thou shalt have the greater sin. Take heed, therefore, lest, having come to the physician, thou depart unhealed.[1]

These words are double-edged: comfort and caution. Do not be afraid; do not ashamed; do not doubt, and so shall you have pardon from our Lord Jesus Christ. Take heed; do not conceal; do not depart unhealed, or so shall you have greater sin before our Lord Jesus Christ. The priest speaks the twofold truth of blessing and warning.

When I make my private, daily confession during morning prayer, I, too, do so in the presence of an icon of Jesus Christ. The icon I have chosen – or the icon that has chosen me, for I am sure this is more nearly the case – is the Pantocrator of Sinai. It is the oldest, extant example of this form of iconography, preserved since the 7th or 8th century at Saint Catherine’s monastery in the Sinai. It is, for me, the translation in line and form, in paint and color, of the twofold truth of the priest’s instruction to the penitent and of Paul’s instructions to the Hebrews: caution and comfort, warning and blessing.

Pantocrator means “all-mighty” or “ruler/sustainer of all.” The Pantocrator icons – and there are many styles – image Jesus in frontal view holding an ornate book, the Gospels, in his left hand, and raising his right hand in blessing; this form is common to all Pantocrator icons. What sets the Pantocrator of Sinai apart from so many others is the radical difference between the left and right sides of the image: caution and comfort, warning and blessing.

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Heb 4:12-13)[2].

This is a sobering word of caution to those who come before Jesus Pantocrator, the Lord Almighty, the Ruler/Sustainer of All. We do not want to be known in our sin; we do not even want to know our sin. So, like the emperor with new clothes, we cover our sin with fake finery woven from a few threads of good deeds on a loom of niceness, and with that we hope to fool the world. We learned to hide very early.

Then the eyes of the two were opened, and they knew they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

Then they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden that afternoon, and Adam and his wife hid themselves within the tree in the middle of the garden from the presence of the Lord God (Gen 3:7-8).[3]

Amazingly, this often works – the whole world hiding from one another – until we come before Jesus Pantocrator. He sees through the new clothes; he sees through the fig leaves. And there we stand, naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. His eye is piercing and unrelenting, his mouth set firmly against our sin. We are caught, pinned there by his gaze, as we hear the Word of God, living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, the Word of God who discerns the thoughts and intents of our hearts, speak to us. And we fear his words to us will be those he spoke to the angel of the church at Laodicea:

‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: 15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see’ (Rev 3:14b-18).

If we are honest – and it is hard not to be when we stand before Jesus Pantocrator – we know these should be his words to us. And if they were his final words, they might well be words of despair. But the truth is twofold, and the Pantocrator has another side.

Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb 4:14-16).

This is a blessed word of comfort to those who come before Jesus Pantocrator, the Great High Priest and Son of God, our Redeemer and Advocate. He knows we are but dust and ashes; he knows how feeble is our frame. He knows our heavy burden of sin for he took it all upon himself. He knows man, for he is fully man. Jesus sees us in our nakedness and clothes us in his righteousness. He sees us in our weakness and comes to us with his grace. His eye is gentle and compassionate, his hand raised in blessing.
We come to Jesus as the Roman soldiers who nailed this hand of blessing to the cross and yet we hear him say, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34). We come to Jesus as the thief on the cross expecting just punishment for our sin. We cry out, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom,” and we hear him respond, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise,” (cf Luke 23:39-43).

If we are honest – and it is hard not to be when we stand before Jesus Pantocrator – we know that we do not deserve to hear these words; we do not deserve his mercy. No, these words of comfort and blessing are words of pure grace.

In the church, the word “heresy” is used to describe a departure from orthodox faith and practice. Heresy comes from the Greek hairesis, whose root means “to choose.” It is often more an error of emphasis than an actual departure from the truth – choosing to live a half-truth as if it were the whole truth. You might think of heresy as keeping apart those things which should be, those things which must be, held together. Each side of the Pantocrator is true, but each side is a half-truth, and choosing one to the exclusion of the other – keeping the sides apart – is heresy. Judgment is terrible if not unified with mercy; how frightful it is to be so fully known – known in all our nakedness and sin – if we are not also fully loved. And mercy is pitiable if not unified with judgment; how tragic to be so fully accepted – accepted in all our nakedness and sin – if we are not also fully judged and fully transformed. The two sides of the Pantocrator belong together.

12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb 4:12-16).

The Western church has a prayer – received through the 11th century Sarum Rite – that reminds us of the great twofold truth of judgment and mercy, a prayer which is a verbal icon of Jesus Pantocrator:

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord.

Through Christ our Lord, through Jesus Pantocrator – the Word of God who is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword – before whom me must all give account; through Christ our Lord, through Jesus Pantocrator – our great High Priest – who bids us come boldly before the throne of grace to obtain mercy. Through Christ our Lord, through Jesus Pantocrator: Amen.

(I must acknowledge Kh. Frederica Mathewes-Green for her insite into the Pantocrator of Sinai icon; I first saw the division of the right and left sides on her Beliefnet video at the following url: http://www.beliefnet.com/Video/Preachers-and-Teachers/Christianity/Frederica-Mathewes-Green/Preachers--Teachers-How-Jesus-Sees-Us.aspx .)

[1] Florence Hapgood. Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church. Copyright ©1996 by the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America.
[2] Unless otherwise noted, all New Testament Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, New King James Version, copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
[3] Unless otherwise noted, all Old Testament Scripture quotations are from the St. Athanasius Academy Septuagint, copyright © 2008 by St. Athanasius Academy of Orthodox Theology.

Sermon: Baptism of Our Lord (11 January 2009)

Sermon: Baptism of Our Lord (11 January 2009)
(Genesis 1:1-5/Psalm 29/Acts 19:1-7/Mark 1:4-11)
It’s Not The Rotary Club

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

A dear friend and brother is a Rotarian – a member of Rotary International, a century old service organization with over 1.2 million members: Service Above Self is the Rotary motto. Among many other service programs, Rotary has dedicated itself to the worldwide eradication of polio; they are almost there and the $100 million matching grant they recently received from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation should enable them to accomplish the goal. My friend’s local Rotary club also boasts many impressive philanthropic, humanitarian, and educational activities, both domestic and international. From everything I can learn, Rotary is an exemplary organization. But, it’s not the church, as Bishop Will Willimon points out.

When one joins the Rotary, or the League of Women Voters, they give you a membership card and lapel pin. When one joins the Body of Christ, we throw you under, half drown you, strip you naked and wash you all over, pull you forth sticky and fresh like a newborn (William Willimon, Christ Means Change).

This is Christian baptism – the Christian rite of initiation – that Willimon is speaking about, of course, and it is strange stuff. If anything, Willimon actually underplays its strangeness.

There’s this really bizarre and totally unbiblical idea running around both outside and inside the church that says the church should be some kind of inclusive, accepting, “big tent” society to which all are welcomed without reservation and without condition. Well, that’s absolute foolishness and baptism puts the lie to it. If you think you can get in the church on your own terms, just as you are, well, as we say in the South, “You’ve got another think comin’.” The church isn’t a come-as-you-are party.

“Young man – yes, you with the three girlfriends that you’re hooking up with – the church has some strange notions about sex. There’s this little thing called chastity that we’re pretty serious about. You’re going to have to change your ways to get in here. And you, too, young lady: put some clothes on and stay out of the bars on Friday night. We think pretty highly of decency. Mr. Businessman, we need to have a serious talk about how you treat your employees, about how you’ve clawed your way to the top and crushed competitors in the process, and about the whole issue of greed. The church has a lot to say about riches – at least our Lord had a lot to say about riches – and you’re not going to like a lot of what you hear. Some things are going to have to change if you want to be part of the family. Mrs. Smith, frankly, Mr. Smith seems to be a pretty lousy excuse for a husband and we know he’s hurt you time and again. But the grudge you’re nursing and the anger you’re holding on to – well, they pretty effectively bar the door of the church to you. They are too big and too wide for you to carry them through the door. You’re going to have to lay them down to come in here.”

Now, lest you think I’m being harsh here, listen to John – the one to whom Jesus, himself, came for baptism:

7 John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our ancestor”; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 9Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.’

10 And the crowds asked him, ‘What then should we do?’ 11In reply he said to them, ‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’ 12Even tax-collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, ‘Teacher, what should we do?’ 13He said to them, ‘Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.’ 14Soldiers also asked him, ‘And we, what should we do?’ He said to them, ‘Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages’ (Luke 3:7-14, NRSV).

It works this way: all are welcomed to the waters of baptism, but there’s a certain path you have to walk to get there – the path of repentance, the path of change. You have to change your mind about who you are, about what’s important to you, about the way you’ve lived your life up to now, and about how you plan to live it from here on out. You have to acknowledge that you’re sick – terminally ill – and addicted to attitudes and behaviors that are destroying you and over which you have no power. And you have to admit that you are complicit in and responsible for this illness and addiction. The church may not use this language; it may instead ask you to confess that you are a sinner and that you have no power to save yourself – same thing, different words. In this, the church looks a lot more like AA than like the Rotary Club. This isn’t something arbitrary that the church insists on – repentance as a prerequisite for being allowed to come to Jesus. No, repentance is itself the way to Jesus, the only way to Jesus.

When you finally stand before the church and fess up to the fact that you are a whitewashed tomb filled with all manner of rottenness and dead men’s bones, don’t expect to hear, “Oh, no. You’re OK. You’re not really that bad.” No, the church is likely to say, “Yep, you’re a hopeless mess alright, so hopeless that we’re going to have to put you out of your misery. Yep, we’re going to have to kill you. Our preferred method is drowning.” Then the church strips you naked – fully in the early church, just mostly now – and leads you to the water. There they ask for your last words: a renunciation of Satan and all his pomp and an acceptance of Christ. The church is either a bit hard of hearing or else they’re not sure they believe you, so you’ll have to repeat everything three times. Then, like a convicted murderer mounting the gallows you step into the water. The church, in the person of priest or pastor, lays hands on you and forces you under the water in the name of God the Father. He holds you there awhile and only when you’re mostly dead does he raise you up. Then, before you know what’s happening you’re under again, in the name of God the Son as the life in you ebbs further. Up for a quick breath and you are plunged in one final time in the name of God the Holy Spirit and held there until you are completely dead. Then the priest/pastor hauls your lifeless corpse from its watery grave, maybe smears some oil on it and says some words over it – maybe not – and a most remarkable miracle occurs: the Spirit – the Holy Spirit of God – descends upon you and takes residence within you and you are born again as a son or daughter of God, as a partaker in the divine nature. The church won’t let just anyone in; you must be a son or daughter of God to gain admittance.

So there you stand dripping wet, oily, nearly naked. Like on “What Not To Wear” the church takes your old clothes and gives you new ones – in baptism a white robe symbolizing the purity of the saints; and yes, you are one now – a saint – in case you didn’t know. But you are also a baby, an infant. Baptism is new birth, and life and maturity lies ahead; you’ve a long way to go and much to learn and unlearn. It’s not unlike the natural birth process. We used to think that babies arrived as blank slates upon which the parents wrote their hard earned wisdom. Now we know better. Babies come hard-wired in many ways. From birth – long before any learning takes place – some are happy and some are whiney, some gregarious and some timid, some easy to raise and some a constant challenge. So, too, with newborn saints: some are happy and some are whiney, some gregarious and some timid, some easy to raise and some a constant challenge, some in pretty good shape and some an absolute mess. The newborn saints are not blank slates, particularly not those who come to the baptismal waters as adults. They have been formed by years of thought and action. They have ingrained habits and responses: some positive and life-affirming, some negative and destructive, some that may be refined and retained, and some which must be rejected and destroyed. The church has ways of dealing with all this, of course – time-tested and saint-tested ways: prayer, fasting, immersion in Word and Sacrament, worship, service, sacrifice, confession, and more. You can ignore these things and you will be no less a son or daughter of God, but you will remain an infant, which is, of course, not what God has in mind for you at all. Be assured that God does not leave you on your own in the process of growth. In addition to making you part of a family – the communion of saints, the body of Christ, the church – a family that will support you and hold you accountable, God dwells within you in the person of the Holy Spirit who empowers you and directs you – never forces you, but always enables you – to press on toward the high calling of Christ.

All this, and much more, is what happened to you in and through your baptism. And by the way, did I mention the part about eternal life? When our first parents sinned, we – the entire human race – inherited their death sentence: like father, like son, we were bound over to corruption and death. As we remind ourselves on Ash Wednesday, dust you are and to dust you shall return. But no more – not for those baptized into Christ Jesus.

3Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. 7For whoever has died is freed from sin. 8But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him (Rom 6:3-8, NRSV).

Or there’s this similar promise.

3[For] you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ who is your* life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory (Col 3:3-4, NRSV).

So, let’s take just a minute to step back and summarize the results – just some of the results – of this rather strange rite of baptism.

1. You were forgiven of all past sins and reconciled to God. Paul says it this way: “You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor 6:11, NRSV).

2. You were born again, an example of the new creation that God is even now bringing forth into the world. And this new life in Christ is life everlasting; because Jesus defeated death, he has granted you his same victory. The same power of God that broke the chains of the death on Easter will also raise you up on the last, great day, and thus you shall be forever with the Lord.

3. You were adopted as sons and daughters of God and made partakers of the divine nature through the indwelling Holy Spirit. Do you remember the words of God to Jesus at his baptism in the Jordan?

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved;* with you I am well pleased’ (Mark 1:9-11, NRSV).

Know this: God spoke these same words over you at your own baptism when the heavens were torn apart and the Spirit descended upon you: “You” – and here fill in your own name – “you are my beloved child with whom I am well pleased.”

4. You were empowered by the Spirit to defeat sin – set free from its bondage – to once again bear the image of God given to men and women in creation and marred by them in the fall.

17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit (2 Cor 3:17-18, NRSV).

There is so much more to say, but at some point it seems fitting to fall silent in the presence of this glorious mystery of baptism, to be rendered speechless by the great mercy of God that takes a pool of water and a bit of oil and calls forth from them such a life-giving sacrament of salvation and restoration. But we must say before we fall silent that all this is possible only because of what happened that day when a wild man of a prophet stepped into the water with a carpenter-turned-preacher from Nazareth and, unworthy though he was, plunged the sinless Lamb of God beneath the water. Thanks be to God for the Baptism of our Lord. Thanks be to God for our baptism into our Lord.

Amen.