Thursday, January 10, 2008

Orthodoxy as a commodity

This evening when I opened my Outlook Express inbox, I found the following bulk email message from the proistámenos (head pastor) of my Greek Orthodox community, Aghía Triás in Portland, Oregon…

Dear Roman,

Have you ever wondered about the Orthodox Church’s position on abortion, capital punishment, and torture? Why Orthodox Christians cannot be cremated? Whether an Orthodox Christian can donate organs or receive a donated organ?

Beginning this Saturday, January 12, we will resume our program of Vespers educational discussions. Vespers will begin at 5:30 and end at 6:00 PM, after which a short lecture and discussion section will take place in the church. Topics for this month include “Sanctity of Life” (January 12), “Cremation,” (January 19), and “Organ Donation” (January 26).

Saturday evening Vespers is a wonderful and deeply prayerful opportunity to prepare for the Sunday Liturgy, and explore some fascinating topics of discussion and conversation. I hope to see you there.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Paul Schroeder

This message may seem harmless enough to most of the visitors to my blog, few if any will be my fellow Orthodox Xtians. After all, this is what “church” is all about for many of them. So, what am I getting at?

Well, most people go to churches that have a set of authorized beliefs, teachings or practices. Many churches have “adult education opportunities” to upgrade the knowledge of their members as to these teachings. This is not uncommon in Orthodoxy at all, and certainly not wrong when done within the Orthodox íthos (environment), in the right way, at the right time. And if they do have this “programatic” structure to their church activities, they have to advertise, and publish schedules.
So what? And what better way than to put an ad in the paper, use a lighted marquee or billboard out in front of the church or, better yet, broadcast this stuff in the form of Christian junk mail? How else are we gonna get people in the door? Offer ’em a free mocha or latté? Whoa there! Not in holy Orthodoxy! …yet.

Orthodoxy Lite.
At Holy Trinity on Saturday nite.
Come ‘n’ get it!

No thanks. Not for me.
Neither Jesus Christ nor His bride the Church are a commodity to be traded on the spiritual Dow (Tao?) Jones. I’m not a consumer.

Driving down N.E. Glisan or any other main street in Portland or any other town, it’s hard to distinguish the “churches”, “fellowships” and “Christian centers” from the fast food outlets and the “whatever ‘R’ us” mega-stores. But it’s not just the cheap marketing tricks that cloy one's spiritual sensibility. It’s also what goes on inside these places, the shameless showmanship, the deconstruction of worship, the Nicolaitan contempt for the idiots in the pews or padded seats by the religious professionals on stage.

Back to Aghía Triás mou, in reverse order quoting from the invitation…

Saturday evening Vespers is a wonderful and deeply prayerful opportunity to prepare for the Sunday Liturgy, and explore some fascinating topics of discussion and conversation. I hope to see you there.
No thanks. Not for me.
Saturday evening Vespers should be a wonderful and deeply prayerful opportunity to prepare for the Sunday Liturgy, but it isn’t anymore. The evening service, which used to last for an hour or a bit longer without a homily, opening for us a sacred kairós (acceptable time) in which to pray and worship the Lord in spirit and truth, has been re-engineered with almost ISO standards precision, to fit a half hour time slot, ‘because we’re all so busy’, thus giving us more time for “some fascinating topics of discussion and conversation.” Duh… But what about our preparation for the Sunday Divine Liturgy?

We no more prepare ourselves for worship in spirit and truth by dissipating ourselves with “discussion and conversation” than we prepare for Holy Communion by stuffing our throats with country breakfast! In Orthodoxy, we approach God in fear and awe, not with short, little minds impatient for the next mental titillation.

“Pause a while and know that I am God,
exalted among the nations, exalted over the earth!”

Psalm 46:10 Jerusalem Bible
________________
Have you ever wondered about the Orthodox Church’s position on abortion,
capital punishment, and torture? …


Uh, no. Actually, I haven't. And why not?
Because the “Orthodox Church” has no position, as if it were a worldly religious institution like the Vatican or the United Nations (yes, I said United Nations, a religious institution, and I leave it to the reader to decide who’s the “god” of this “church”).

The Orthodox Church receives the teaching of Christ and the Holy Apostles, and hands these over to those who have faith. Who are they? Those of whom holy apostle Peter wrote,

“You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a people set apart to sing the praises of God who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.”
1 Peter 2:9 Jerusalem Bible

What is Peter talking about? This is not a religious institution or corporation with professionals who alone possess the qualifications necessary to dispense cheap grace and teaching to the consumers. No, my brothers of the spiritual Israel. It’s not what but who that the apostle is writing about. As metropolitan Anthony exhorted us when he visited us once in the ‘catacomb’ church of Saint John the Forerunner, “You can do eighty percent of what we bishops and priests can do! You are a holy nation, a royal priesthood! Don’t force us to do it all!” And as he once proclaimed from the royal doors of the ikonostasis (icon wall) of Aghía Triás, “People of God! Come with us! Come with us, up Mount Tabor! Meet the Lord with us, transfigured!”

What is happening here? I mean, at Aghía Triás?
The treasure hidden in a field, Orthodoxy, which a man will sell all he has (all his intellectual conceits, vain imaginings and hopeless programs) so that he can run to purchase that field, yes, that treasure is beginning to be buried under a “worthless image” of it. Man’s thoughts, man’s programs and plans, “truth” weighed and measured in effigy to be sold as the real goods. Not only have the evangelical victories of the Reformation been undone among their spiritual descendants, but now the apostasy is peacefully settling into the heartland of Christianity. Why is it settling in unopposed?
Have they bought us?

No. Not at all. Quoting holy apostle Peter again,

“Remember, the ransom that was paid to free you from the useless way of life your ancestors handed down was not paid in anything corruptible, neither in silver nor gold, but in the precious Blood of a Lamb without spot or stain, namely Christ.”
1 Peter 1:18-19 Jerusalem Bible

And also holy apostle Paul,

“You must keep to what you have been taught and know to be true; remember who your teachers were, and how, ever since you were a child, you have known the Holy Scriptures—from these you can learn the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.”
2 Timothy 3:14-15 Jerusalem Bible

Brothers, stay awake! for the time is close… (Revelation 1:3)

3 comments:

Kenny said...

This is a challenging post for me, Romanos. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

My dear brother in Christ,

I read your blog regularly & your most recent posting is a BIG one.
All those years I was faithfully ensconced in my pew at Holy Trinity have gone up in smoke! What has happened to our beloved Holy Trinity?

For the record, I'm now officially a parishioner at St. George. Father James always told me that he would NEVER bless me to attend St. George, so now that he's gone along with Father Jerry, I'm a free agent. I've traded to the Antiochians. Besides which, now that Holy Trinity is a cathedral, it's far too fancy for the likes of me.

Back to your blog: I can't do Vespers Lite. This Orthodox Show and Tell that Vespers has become is so dispiriting. Too, the boldly quoted blah blah from Abp Oscar Romero in a recent issue of Dynamis made me wonder how, when & WHY Liberation Theology had come to Holy Trinity.

Thank you for your bold blog. Thank you for loving Holy Trinity -- our beautiful church -- enough to write the truth.

Stay strong.

Nathanael V. said...

I don't like how "Christian" has become an adjective in the vocab of those who are Christ's Followers, rather it should be be thought of as a noun.