Come and See
Nativity

At a store meeting where I work, the manager asked what "tradition" people had for giving and the like as Christmas approached.  Now, remember, this is a retail store -- and in retail, the ultimate goal is sales, whatever else may be added in in terms of customer service and the like.  During this brief exchange, one of our associates said that their "gift exchange" is actually "buy whatever you want."  That is to say, there is no real gift exchange at all -- when they get together, they just all share how happy they were to have, well, whatever it was that they wanted.

Now THAT sort of dampened my spirits.  Although I enjoy my job, the whole frenzy at this time encourages greed, I think.  But to not even "give" -- well, now that is a secularization of the season.

That got me to thinking about the Nativity and the Fast the precedes it.  Perhaps these observations will be helpful.  Keep in mind that when you keep the Fast, and then the Feast, in the tradition of the Church, you may well have opportunity to speak to people of Christ and invite them to "Come and See!"

As Christians, as Orthodox Christians, something much different is going on.  Our focus is on the Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus -- when the LOGOS took on our flesh, when the Creator indeed became as one of the created.  Over the centuries the great feast of the Incarnation has been preceded by a Fast.  During the Fast we deny the passions that so often get out of control in order that in silence we may ponder the Mystery of the Incarnation.

That Mystery is so much more than a cute baby in a manger.  And it is much more than  gifts and shopping and spending large amounts of money, perhaps exceeding what we can afford.

So it is that we are faced with a challenge that may often cause us to go "against the grain."  Rather than partying more, we pray more.  Rather than get so caught up in all the "stuff" that has become traditional, we go to the ancient hymnody, the simple chants that turn our eyes and ears to the fact that Christ in born, and we glorify Him.

Rather than watching all the things that are on TV that claim to be "Christmas", we can shut off the TV, and read together the Fathers, the Scriptures, and in the silence of that time together be joined in Christ.

In our times, it is very important to observe this Nativity Fast!  It is all too easy to be caught up in the so-called "holiday cheer" and "Seasons Greetings" and to be swept away from the Nativity instead of coming close and pondering the great and awesome mystery.  It is all too easy in our day to lose salvation in our watered down, Christless, celebrations.

When you quietly observe the Fast, even when attending the occasional party,  you may well have the opportunity to invite someone to come and see Jesus. You may be asked why you didn't take this offering or drink that beverage!

When you as a family, intentionally pray together the prayers of the Church, perhaps the Paraklesis together, the Holy Spirit works to calm the passions and direct you from the  "spirit of this season" to eternity in Christ.

When the music in your home is that of the Church, more than merely the traditions of our times, your visitors may see Jesus!

Send cards and greetings that reflect that Christ is Born!

Joined in Christ and preparing to celebrate again the Incarnation, shut out the noises that distract and wear you out:  then you can see Jesus in those around and truly enjoy His blessings.

Pray daily and constantly as you journey toward Nativity -- so that you are not merely trying to get through another Christmas, or outdo the gifts that weregiven last year!  Look to Jesus, author and perfector of faith.  He will send the Spirit to guide you in such a way that the giving and gathering, will strengthen and give true joy, rather than having you arrive at Christmas, the Feast of the Nativity, worn out and secretly looking forward to it being all over.

And  when the Feast arrives, schedule around the Divine Liturgy and other services and vigils!  When this happens, you say with words and actions, "Come and See!  Christ is Born!  Glorify Him!

The Fast and the Feast find meaning only in Christ God, the Lover of Mankind. Everything else is secondary.  Receive Him! He is your Salvation!

Christ is in our midst!  Christ is born --glorify Him.

Give Glory to God for all Things!

      Ezekiel

Focus

This morning as I prayed Morning Prayers in front of the icons, I was taken by the fact that in the midst of all the varying things going on around me, Christ Pantokrator is always there, the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. The Blessed Theotokos hold Christ our God and directs us to Him, Savior and Lover of Mankind. Sts Constantine and Helen, patron saints of our parish, maintain their guard, interceding for us.

All of this is contrasted with the cacophany of sounds, images, thoughts, opinions and ideas that bombard us, especially through the media every day. Sound bites and half thought out commentary appeal to the passions, seeking to throw us off course and even into worry and despair. It is so easy to take our eyes off Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith as the Evil One seeks to lure us elsewhere. We find ourselves torn apart as the passions we seek to control by the blessing of the Holy Spirit seek to control us.

During this Great and Holy Lent (and throughout our lives) we would do well to fast from other images in our lives. It would do us well to limit the use of TV, Internet, radio, that we might indeed look to Jesus, our Salvation, to Christ our God. It would be better to spend more time in our icon corner, and less time glued to the TV.

In my own life, I've taken to a different discipline when driving the 28 miles to work. I may check the radio for traffic, but then I listen to a pray the hours as they are prayed in abbreviated form on Ancient Faith Radio. On the way to work, it is Matins through 9th Hour. On the way home it is Vespers and Compline ... and perhaps some practice of chant with the CD I have burned. My spirit is calmed -- and the constant panic about this or that in the world are moved to the background.

In the midst of all the changes and chances in our lives, Christ God is the same yesterday, today and forever. God the Father continues to love us and bless us with the Holy Spirit!

Just some thoughts from one lately come ...

SOME THOUGHTS ON THEOPHANY BY ONE LATELY COME

During the Great Blessing of the Waters, the rich beauty of the prayers was overwhelming to me! At the Baptism of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ, we not only celebrate this glorious event, but we see the wondrous intervention of God, “the Lover of Mankind” throughout history! That prayer ties together so many things from the Biblical account!

And as I listened, it struck me that we really knew nothing of this at all in my Lutheran background. Only as one lately come to Holy Orthodoxy has this ancient tradition been revealed to me, and with it, another opportunity to celebrate the presence of God in our world today.

Holy Orthodoxy has a way of seeing that God the Father is NOT “out there” somewhere, but that He is here and now involved in His creation, His world. Holy Orthodoxy celebrates the involvement of Christ our God and His union with us here and now in the Divine Liturgy. Neither of these is built on some symbolism of something “out there” or of a hope of something that could come in the future. This is present reality!

After the Priest begins the prayer, “Trinity beyond all being, beyond all goodness, beyond all godhead ….
We glorify you, only begotten Son of God, without father from your Mother, without mother from your Father. For in the preceding feast we saw you as a babe, but in the present one we see you full and perfect man, our God, made manifest as perfect God from perfect God.”

Then a recitation of a present reality:

“Today the moment of the feast is her for us and the choir of saints assembles with us, and Angels keep festival with mortals. Today the grace of the Holy Spirit … . Today the Sun that never sets … . Today the Moon with its radiant beams … . Today the stars formed of light … . Today the clouds rain down from heaven … . “ And the list goes on as we see the presents of God with us in this world at this time. The Great Blessing is a “timeless” feast as all things are come together in the mystery of the Baptism of our Lord and Savior and blessing of all waters of all times.

Throughout the remaining prayers, the verbs are in the present tense!

Frankly, none of this is regularly found in the those of the Reformation. It was, as my protopsalti said, “jettisoned!”

Not only do we give high praise for all these blessings, we pray:

Incline your ear and hear us, Lord, who accepted to be baptized in Jordan and to sanctify the waters, and bless us all who signify our calling as servants by bending of our necks. And count us worthy to be filled with your sanctification through the partaking and sprinkling of the water. And let be for us Lord, for healing of our soul and body.

For you are the sanctification of our souls and bodies and to you we give glory, thanksgiving and worship, with your Father who is without beginning, and our All-hoy, good and life=giving Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

It is so easy to let words that we may have heard time and again to “slip by.” The Evil One is always present to distract us in the little ways from that which our God gives! It is so easy to take these things for granted!

Still, God Father, Son and Holy Spirit continues to come to us in this world, in our day, and would fill all things with His grace, mercy and light! Rejoice! Glory to God for all things!

Whose Truth are you seeking?

Conversations about “church” reveal some interesting things about people and about the age in which we live. Over the last weeks, I’ve observed a few things (they aren’t new, but I “put them together” in my thinking).

I’ve heard of a person who leads an “alternative life style” that is extremely knowledgeable in things historical and theological. This person knows the saints, can trace church history, and seems to know what is what. Further discussion reveals that this person left the Roman Catholic Church and became Episcopalian because the Episcopalians condone and endorse the alternative lifestyle.

In speaking with a visitor to our Church during Greek Fest, the conversation was amiable. She revealed some Roman Catholic background, but in further conversation indicated that she was now part of a “non-denominational Christian church.” Some of the questions raised regard how women should dress in Church, whether or not they should wear head coverings, and the like.

During a dialog during a Church Tour, the question was raised by one gentleman, “Well, how does your church deal with, well, gay rights?”

And, of course, in conversations with friends and neighbors, one will find all kinds of reasons for people being part of this or that church. Sometimes they judge that they were treated wrongly. Other times, you find that someone joined a place because that’s where the wife (or husband) went. Or it was because they had to to get married in that place.

The common thread amongst all of these? The driving force in the decisions in every case was centered on the person/s, They were seeking a “truth” that felt good, or allowed them to continue a specific behavior. In many cases, I’ve found that people look for a place where they won’t have to face up to the reality of sin in their lives.

That is to say, they are looking for “their truth” rather than The Truth revealed in Christ our God.

How many times have you heard someone say, “MY God wouldn’t do that ….!”

Our Father in heaven would have us know the Truth, the Truth that frees. “You shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free!” This Truth is never dependent on personal opinion or on personal likes and dislikes.

In the Light of Christ all things are revealed for exactly what they are. And in Him, in Him alone is Truth to be found and revealed.

Holy Orthodoxy takes seriously that the Church is the Pillar and Ground of Truth. This Church is the one founded in Christ our God. For those seeking the Truth, she is the place to be. Christ our God, the Way, and the Truth and the Life, formed the Church. She is NOT the product of well-meaning and like thinking people who decide to gather.

Those seeking The Truth in Christ are blessed, for they receive His Grace, His Mercy, the power of the Spirit. As they seek to be joined to Christ in salvation, the Light and Truth that He is and gives does an inward transformation as those who seek Him indeed deny themselves and receive Him.

We need ask ourselves “Whose or What Truth am I seeking?” When hearing the Word, “I don’t agree” or “Iwon’t agree” give way to “Yes Lord, what you will!”

Ground in Christ our God, our discussions with other can be patient as we seek to know the “why” of their questions, and as we pray for their salvation, understanding that the Holy Spirit indeed opens hearts and minds. We also must understand that fancy arguments and debates don’t change the fact that one may say “No” to Christ and His blessing! His love continues, but one can’t have love that one rejects!

“Whose truth are you seeking?”

God grant that His light enlightens each of us, that we may bring Light into the darkness of this world and those who seek light apart from Christ!

Glory to God for all Things!

Ezekiel

Metropolitan JONAH

Sunday, 12 September 2010, we were truly blessed to be part of a banquet celebrating 110 years of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary Orthodox Church in Madison, IL. We wanted to be there for several reasons:
First, our friends of many decades, Steve and Nancy Rydgig are members there;
Second, we know people there and it was good to be with them on such an occasion;
Third, but not least: Metropolitan JONAH was present.

His Beatitude is most certainly a blessing to the Church! As you know, his journey to his present office was a pretty quick one ... and his becoming Metropolitan of the OCA wasn't one of those "planned" things, from what I read. He is a humble man, a true shepherd.

He noted that in this parish of more than five generations, those generations were evident in the people of every age present. From wee infants to the grand parents and great grand parents of those wee ones, all were present. He spoke of family, of our union in Christ, and of our mission to welcome all to that family with open arms.

After the "official" banquet, Katherine and I were able to spend a few moments with His Beatitude. We gave him one of the pens that I turn .. .but while we were doing that he was most interested in the folk dance going on right in front of us! It was a joy to see him with the children: he allowed one young lady to thoroughly examine the large medallion that he wears as symbol of office, and he seemed to enjoy having his picture taken with children and adults alike.

It was a joyous day!

We pray that His Beatitude will have strength for his many duties, and truly give glory to God for all things!

God in a Box

Fr. Stephen at Glory to God for All Things has written a marvelous post entitled Treasure in a Box. He has dealt with history and other issues in a way that causes me to say, "Why couldn't I have come up with that?"

Bottom line: in Holy Orthodoxy, God isn't kept in the box!

His insights describe very well things that I wrestled with for years.

Read it! It is worth it!

On another note, it seems that many of my former Luther colleagues wrestle a lot with Orthodoxy for various reasons. Benjamin Harju, a former Lutheran pastor and friend, offers "good stuff" at his blog, Paredwka: Catching the Ball.

When dealing with other communions, it is important to deal with what they actually teach, and not react to a caricature or what we think they teach!

Christ is in our midst!

Some further comments on Culture

Context is everything, isn't it?

In the previous post, "Culture as Solvent," it must be made clear that the we were speaking of the culture in which we live globally and socially. We are always in a culture of some sort ... and not every culture is destructive.

The culture in an Orthodox community is most often not destructive, although Christ our God is certainly about "dissolving" that which is evil and sinful. This is never to move everything to the lowest common denominator or to get to a point where anything and everything goes.

In the larger society in which we live, however, the idea of solvent is true. That culture, is, for the most part a godless culture, or a culture in which the god of self prevails. One could also say that there is a 'god of the majority vote.

In that culture, everything is at all times in flux.

In Christ our God, in Holy Mother Church, that constant flux is done away with as we see all things in the Light of Christ. In denying self, in following Him, we die to that which causes eternal death and are raised up to life abundant and eternal.

"It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God." (St. Paul) In this life, I don't look to whatever is a current fad, nor do I look for some sort of vague relevancy: I look to the author and perfector of life and faith.