Mission Monthly – March 1997
“A Christian does not control his own life, but gives his whole time to God.”
St. Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to Polycarp
There has been a most amazing shift in my life since I left Madison in January of 1991 to take a position as Co-Youth Director at St. George Orthodox Church in Akron, Ohio. As a single young man of thirty it was really the first time I submitted myself to routine and responsibility. Prior to this my life was more or less care-free. I could choose or not choose this or that direction, activity or expense. In the classic definition of American “rugged individualism” I was accountable to very little, my time was my own and I could hardly imagine why anybody couldn’t be where I was.
God certainly was merciful to this immature young man. His mercy graciously brought me through two years of shared living space with my brother in Christ, Rick Michaels, three years of the same with my Mom, five years of steady work throughout those five years and now marriage, ordination, a new mission, a full-time job and a first home (the only thing missing now is children… but don’t worry, Khourii and I are hoping for kids in the not so distant future!). I don’t know if there is a consistent pattern in the lives of all people. For me I am completely aware of what was and is happening to me and it is with great joy that I embrace daily growth resulting from the choices I’ve made. My question is this: Where does it begin, the acceptance of the reality that “my time is no longer my own?” In our society statistics, such as a greater than 50% divorce rate, indicate that most people just don’t get it. There seems to be a great tension stemming from the perception that freedom is lost when choices and commitments are made. Our selfish, “unfulfilled,” inclinations fall to the allure of the entertainment and advertising industry, while virtually nothing in our society supports the notion of sacrifice, obedience, the loss of self.
I bring this up now, as we enter our Church’s season of Great Lent, to emphasize St. Paul’s words from 1 Cor. 6:19b, “You are not your own.” The discipline that lies ahead, both in the life of our community’s liturgical cycle and in our personal efforts in prayer, fasting and alms giving are not to be taken lightly or to be considered as “an option.” The answer to my above question can only be found in our submission to the Authority of Jesus Christ and the Church. For those of us who have made the choice to be called “Orthodox Christian,” now is the time that God calls us to make an account for our Name. This is not the time for reason or self-determination. It is no longer a matter of personal opinion or inconvenience, but that of Revelation and obedience. Life on the fence will never bring the fullness of God’s Presence and Blessings to our lives, as a community or personally, nor will it ever convince anyone of the Truth we possess, revealed to the world through the Holy Spirit in the Church.
There is so much time available for us to accomplish everything that needs to be accomplished, especially when our priority is Christ. There are many blessings ahead when we truly die to ourselves, embrace our circumstances, and learn to love by giving ourselves to the choice we’ve made to live the Lord and the life of His Church. My only hope is to let God show us the fulfillment of His Promise by the keeping of ours.
Forgiveness Sunday
On Sunday Evening, March 9, at 6:30pm we will be celebrating the Great Vespers of Forgiveness and ushering in the beginning of Great Lent. “The triumph of sin, the main sign of its rule over the world is division, opposition, separation, hatred. Therefore the first break through this fortress of sin is forgiveness: the return to unity, solidarity, love. To forgive is to put between me and my ‘enemy’ the radiant forgiveness of God Himself. To forgive is to reject the hopeless ‘dead-ends’ of human relations and to refer them to Christ. Forgiveness is truly a breakthrough of the Kingdom into this sinful and fallen world.” (Fr. Alexander Schmemann, Great Lent, p.28.)
The service itself is the same in structure as any other Great Vespers. It is its placement in the annual cycle that makes it meaningful as the texts of her variable hymns explain, “Let us begin the fast with joy! Let us prepare ourselves for spiritual effort! Let us cleanse our soul and cleanse our flesh! Let us abstain from every passion as we abstain from food! Let us rejoice in virtues of the spirit and fulfill them with love! That we all may see the passion of Christ our God, and rejoice in spirit at the holy Pascha!”
At the conclusion of this service it is the custom for each person in the community to approach every other person of the community and, after bowing before the other, to ask for forgiveness. “Even where there is no enmity, hatred, or animosity,” Fr. Alexander continues, “the Church reveals to us that there are much subtler ways of offending Divine Love. These are indifference, selfishness, lack of interest in other people—in short, that wall which we usually erect around ourselves, thinking that by being ‘polite’ and ‘friendly’ we fulfill God’s commandments. The rite of forgiveness is so important precisely because it makes us realize—be it only for one minute—that our entire relationship with men is wrong, makes us experience that encounter of one child of God with another, of one person created by God with another, makes us feel that mutual ‘recognition’ which is so terribly lacking in our cold and dehumanized world.”
Forgiveness is truly central to all that we believe and a beginning to the Love and Thanksgiving which help us to grow in Love for God and for each other. Our community is a great gift to and from each of us. My hope is that we ALL will be there that important night to nurture, protect and enter together into our preparation to “see the Passion of Christ our God.”