Saturday, July 10, 2010

Greater than all

For Christ, Orthodoxy doesn’t exist. There is absolutely nothing that He says or does in the gospels that we can jump on and say we are following Him when we extol the perfections of Orthodoxy as against the defects of other religions, especially other Christianities.
Now I realise what it was that always made me so uncomfortable to be around new converts to Orthodoxy, and why after a couple of years of being one myself, I began to distance myself out from them, and get closer to the cradle believers, who didn’t seem to understand what a great treasure they had in Orthodoxy. I used to think they were that way because they took the faith for granted. It might be that, but I’ve known too many who were merely Christians, willing to help you, console you, witness to you, on the spot and without self-consciousness or fanfare, and then quietly return to what they were doing. Sometimes with their lips they couldn’t belt out a prayer on the spot, but they prayed with their hands and hearts and with the love in their eyes. God answered their unspoken prayer even as they were offering it. “Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:8).

What sparked the thoughts I just expressed?

I had been reading an essay by archimandrite Fr Raphael Karelin, titled Differences in the Religious Thinking Between the East and the West. Very well-written, very eloquently written, the author carefully locates the temporal source of what became a growing and finally irreversible divergence between not only ideas but attitudes in the Christian West and East. In the essay I could not find a single appreciation of anything that the Christian West believed, practiced or accomplished, except for some hollow exaltation of Saint Augustine, only to bring him back down to earth by comparing his spiritual feats to the prowess of the Eastern fathers, who were incomparably superior.

There is so much about other Christians that we are unwilling or unable to face. We have defined so rigidly and infallibly our own positions on just about everything, that it isn’t even a matter of disagreement on doctrines or practices—we already know we’re right—but simply an issue of “they don’t belong to us, because they’re not part of us, and so they can’t possibly be what we are, that is, Christ’s.” We don’t talk ourselves out of it, we forget as easily as if we never knew, that others besides ourselves have the Bible, believe in Jesus Christ according to what they’ve received from the apostles, and even from the first councils. We treat them, if we recognize them at all, as less than ourselves, and even as non-Christians, justifying this by saying, “we don’t know what they believe,” and, “outside the Church, the Bible is a closed book.”

What if it were true, that in the mystery of the Holy Eucharist, we were joined in real communion with the Lord Jesus Christ, and with all those who ever looked to Him with faith, and followed Him, some even to the extent of dying for Him, in other words, with all saints of all times and places… and creeds, or lack of them? Whose anathema could be raised against that mighty host who lived so completely for the Lord that they did not see anything and anyone ahead of them but Him, and who followed Him wherever He went? Do we think that anything we could do, anything we could demand from them to conform to us, could keep them from the communion of the saints? Never fear, they are there, and it is we who, hoarding as our own what belongs to all, might do well to fear being cast out.

Not in contradiction, but plainly beyond the reach of all that human wisdom devises as a safeguard for the deposit of faith, the word of Jesus lays the only foundation that none can replace,

“My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish;
no one can snatch them out of My hand.
My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all;
no one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand.
I and the Father are one.”
John 10:27-30

6 comments:

pilgrim said...

"Whose anathema could be raised against that mighty host who lived so completely for the Lord that they did not see anything and anyone ahead of them but Him, and who followed Him wherever He went?"

Axios! Wow! Amin! Ameyn! Amen! You expressed it brother, in the best way possible. Thank you for this encouraging post. Today was a hard day at church for me, as attempts were made at correcting and arguing with me as I lead the Sunday lesson.

Grace and peace brother...

Teena Blackburn said...

Romanos, You might not want to post this, because I do not want to appear to be argumentative or ugly to you on your own blog. I read your blog a lot, and frequently find it edifying. I have come to the conclusion, however, that you do not agree with the ecclesiology of the Orthodox Church. You seem to espouse the idea that every Christian is a member of "the" Church, and I don't think Orthodoxy allows us to say that. They may be saved while many Orthodox go to hell, they may be better Christians than many Orthodox. However, Orthodoxy insists on itself as THE Church. However non-Orthodox are related to it, and whatever Christ in His mercy may do toward their salvation, I don't think the Church defines itself the way I hear you define it. If I'm reading you incorrectly, I apologize. You seem to hold some sort of invisible or branch theory of the Church, both of which have been condemned by Orthodoxy. Anyway, as I was saying, I don't necessarily want this posted, and I don't mean it uncharitably because I like a lot of things you do here-but your idea of the church does not appear to be Orthodoxy's idea of the church. Am I reading you incorrectly?

Ρωμανός ~ Romanós said...

Thanks, Teena, for your comment, and no, it is not in the least argumentative or uncharitable, but as befitting an Orthodox woman, respectful and gentle. We do well to question, as you do, when we don't think we understand one another.

No, I do not hold to a branch theory of the Church, but I suppose, it would be fair to say that I believe in the Church as the Body of Christ that includes all people who confess Him, at the same time not denying the visible Church and its structure.

If you read my blog, you see two things that I believe about the Church: (1) It can never be divided, and (2) it is the inheritance of everyone who confesses Jesus as Lord and God. Beyond that, I let everyone deal with what that means for themselves, just as I do. Nothing has changed from day one of the Church, despite outward appearances.

My confession of faith is the Symbol of Nicaea, and those who know me personally and not just from reading my blog know where I stand on many issues, not by hearing my opinions, but observing my actions.

One of the costs of discipleship is that we will frequently be misunderstood, even by those with whom we apparently share the same faith. It was no different for Christ. It is no different for us. One of the hallmarks of true Orthodoxy is "to witness and to wait," to always keep an open door, and to hold no man (or woman) to any idea that we may hold in our heads about them.

I appreciate your comments and concerns, sister, and that you've trusted me enough to commit them to writing.

Orthodox Christian Resources said...

What Romanos has made me realise from the time I started reading this blog is, I think, simply (because I am a simple man) that Jesus Christ is Himself the truth, not Orthodoxy, as one must be in a living relationship with Christ (the Church is after all the Body of Christ), which I dare say is open to all. If I am wrong in assuming this brother, please let me know. As I understand it, Orthodoxy is a vehicle of the revealed truth and has preserved this truth in its most authentic form since the Apostles.

That is the message I get out of reading this blog. If I falter, please correct my poor judgment.

Pandelis

Ρωμανός ~ Romanós said...

Pandeli, agapitos mou philos, you have read me perfectly. Thank you for stepping out to throw more light on this blog of mine. Sometimes I cannot express myself as well when trying to explain myself as a brother can. Evcharistó, adelphós mou!

Jim Swindle said...

Thank you for pointing out the obvious truth that it is not our Orthodoxy that saves us (nor our Roman Catholicism nor our Presbyterianism nor our evangelicalism), but it is Jesus himself. It must be our sinful pride that makes it so easy for us to fall into the trap of thinking only people who come to Jesus the way we did can really be his. The root answer is not in how we come to him, but in Him to whom we come. How we work out the details does make a difference, but Jesus himself is the difference between life and death.