Dealing with sin

When it comes down to it, we all have certain sins that we struggle with, that we "like", that plague us.  Some are socially acceptable, others are dark and twisted, but the truth is, they are all sins, and God does not wink at or allow for any of them.
When we really understand the nature of all sins, how they all have this common theme, we will be very slow to condemn, judge or criticize. 
This ties in with previous posts I have written about focusing on dealing with our own sins and not looking at others and their sins.  Judging others is easy.  Finding fault in ourselves is not.  We always want to find some justification or excuse for ourselves.  We want to quickly condemn others and tell ourselves how much better we are than them.
It ought to be reversed.  We ought to assume that others are better than we are, that what we are seeing in others is not what it seems, that there is something else going on that justifies their actions.  Hard on ourselves, easy on others.
Of course, we want others to be this way towards us.  But are we willing to be this way toward others?

He really loves his car/wife/kids/chocolate

As the title suggests, our use of the word "love" carries a wide variety of definitions.  We can love our wife, or children, our car, lasagna or The Rolling Stones.  Each use of love is different than the other, or should be (if not, we have serious issues).
With that in mind, how should we understand the text that says, "Do not love the world or the things of the world"?  The first thing to notice is the distinction of two things forbidden here.  One, the world and two, the things of the world.  If this were a mere prohibition of things sinful, then what does the distinction mean?  What is being communicated here can be classified by use of a metaphor.  Like someone training for a marathon, the eating of doughnuts and pizza is not bad in itself, but it is bad because it is contrary to the desired goal, running 26 miles in record time.  So too the Christian life.  Often, in Protestant thinking, Jesus has completed everything and we need to simply ride his coattails into bliss.  But that is not the instruction we receive from Scripture or the church.
We are to "work out our salvation with fear and trembling," and "discipline my body and bring it into subjection".  Simply put, the world (that is, things that are not external) and things of the world (that is, material, temporal things that distract us from eternal life) are not to be loved.  We are to use those things that are necessary for our station in life, but hold on to them very loosely.  We really need to be focused on our sanctification, loving God and loving neighbor.

Pick a frivolty

I was a combination of pensive and surly today.  My motivation? Poverty and the American dream.  We live in houses way too big for our needs.  We drive obscenely expensive cars that get replaced every year for the next model.  We eat like kings, or even better, every day, so much so that we have completely lost the concept of feasting.  We live in opulence and comfort beyond nearly everyone else's dreams, in all of history.  Then we claim that it is our right to do so.
What about love?
All that I have just described is a typical day in America.  All the while, children all over the world starve to death, the masses are abused, displaced and lose everything.  Tyrants and despots take advantage of the authority given them, while their own people suffer, almost beyond comprehension.  All the while, we feast.
The thing that really makes me mad is my feeling of helplessness.  I don't have an abundance of money with which to make a difference.  But then it occurred to me.  God hasn't told us to obey his command of caring for the needy IF we can make a huge difference.  We should obey because God has told us to.  Big deal if we can spare $25 a month, that is nothing to most of us, but would make a huge difference for many elsewhere.  I had the idea: what if we actually sacrificed and gave to the needy the money that we would spend on some frivolity?  So, for example, what if we gave away $100 a month instead of having 500 channels of cable tv?  I know our suffering would be immense, but that amount of money would do amazing things.
We should help because we should love.  If we simply don't care, then we simply do not belong to Christ.

The power of signs and symbols

While we may not realize or recognize what is happening, we are constantly being directed by and influenced by, signs and symbols. Especially as of late, in our day of desktop icons and emoticons, symbolism is all around us.  But this is nothing new. Symbolism has been part of communication, especially in the field of religion, for as long as man has dabbled therein.
This thought has prompted me to articulate some of the symbolism within Christian Orthodoxy.  The thing to realize with symbolism and signs, especially within Orthodoxy, is that they are not merely just interesting modes of communication.  They actually contain power. Here are a few:
The cross:  we see this symbol probably daily, but it should remind us of what Jesus accomplished via the cross.  A fulfillment of old covenant law, the destruction of the power of death, the salvation of mankind. The ramifications of these is astounding.  This sign alone should draw us to God in awe and gratitude.
The sign of the cross:  This action needs to be understood historically.  Since the very beginning of the Christian church, the sign of the cross, as a self applied sign upon ourselves, has been taken very seriously.  By signing ourselves this way, we are saying a multitude of things.  We are reminding ourselves of Jesus' work, we are identifying ourselves with the body of Christ, we are striving to crucify within ourselves our passions and fleshly desires, we are seeking a blessing of the power of God in the cross.  This sign actually contains spiritual power.  One other aspect of this is the manner in which the hand is held in crossing oneself.  The index finger, the middle finger and the thumb held together, representing the Trinity, while the ring finger and the pinky touch the palm, representing the two natures of Christ, in one person.
The cruciform: historically and traditionally, Christian churches have been built in this shape, again to embrace and identify ourselves with the sign of the cross.
Bread and wine: these signs, given to us by Jesus himself, while genuinely a reminder of who Jesus is and what he did, they are, more importantly, the body and blood of Jesus, within the Divine Liturgy of the Orthodox church.  Not merely a reminder of Jesus' work but also not a specimen to be scholastically analyzed, these elements contain true spiritual power, that are a blessing for those who partake of them in a faithful manner.
Icons:  These apparent mere images of reposed saints are much more than that.  These are called "Windows to heaven", as they represent, not mere reminders of deceased loved ones, but specific images that communicate Christian truth.  These holy people are not gone, but are still very much a part of the church.  They are there for us, praying for us, now perfected, before the throne of God.  The colors, setting and shapes all communicate profound truths.
Much more could be said in this regard. I encourage you to look further into these and other signs and symbols of our faith.  The richness of which we are surrounded must not be lost or ignored.

Why the church is

The constant flux of ecclesiology in the United States has brought a change in how people view the purpose of church.  This has resulted in a nearly non-thought approach to doing church.  The modern evangelical church has become a seeker-friendly, nearly observation-only performance.  These gatherings seek to make people comfortable and deliver a positive message.  But this is all a far cry from the historical church.
The Greek word for "church" is "ekklesia", meaning "calling out".  In short, the church service is, even in simplest terms, a calling out of the body of Christ into a unified gathering.  This then precludes the idea of structuring the service to make non believing visitors comfortable.  There is no problem with non believers visiting a church service.  But they need to understand what we are doing.  It's not for them. They should be uncomfortable because this gathering is an otherworldly experience, something completely contrary to the worldly norm.
I suppose all of this comes down to what we want to make our foundation.  There are three ways to approach this.  One, we can follow the tradition of the historic church, two, we can make it up as we go, or three, we can work through the Bible on our own and devise a private interpretation.
I would think it would be clear by now which position is actually historically Christian.

One or three

In light of the recent events that have taken place at Wheaton College in regards to Islam and Christianity, I felt the need to point out the obvious.  From the very beginning, Christianity has understood God as three in one.  God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, three persons in one God.  Not three gods but one.  The ecumenical councils state in very strong words, that God is three in one, the Trinity.
The historic and official statement in Islam states, in no uncertain terms, "There is one God, Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet."  For the Muslim, God is one.  He has no son, he has no Holy Spirit.
Any deviation from these tenets, on either side, is heresy, for the Christian and for the Muslim.
So it is very clear, Christians and Muslims do not serve the same God.

At rest

A rather brief but intriguing thought came to my mind today.  I was reading the most recent issue of "The Orthodox Word", regarding the hieromartyr Father Thaddeus Uspensky, who was martyred by the Soviets in 1937.  His life, even after being in Soviet prison, was one of simplicity and humility.  He lived as if he owned nothing and was a guest wherever he went.  As a priest, he depended upon the support his parish could provide.
After reading this I began to wonder how I would live in a similar situation. I began to wonder what my lifestyle would be in a circumstance where I didn't have to be concerned with supplying my basic needs.  How would I spend my time, how would I spend my money? The answer to these questions would reveal, probably uncomfortably so, ones real character.

Children with garbage can lids

I had an interesting conversation with one of my sons, a little while back.  Just recently, in response to that conversation, a reasonable solution came to mind.
Our conversation centered around the stark contrast between the seemingly great maturation of the arts in the west in comparison to the almost disregard of them in the east.  It seems to me that the worldviews and presuppositions of the eastern Orthodox church are contrast to an emphasis on the arts.  If one looks back at the previous centuries of artistic development in the west, one cannot but marvel at the works of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Da Vinci, Rembrandt, etc.  The eastern church contains nothing comparable.
This fact deeply bothered both my son and I.  As we are both musicians and have a deep and wide appreciation for music, this apparent void in the east was unsettling.  But as I said, there is an answer to this that I am starting to wrap my mind around.
As I am an Orthodox Christian, I believe that the church is led by the Holy Spirit, that the eastern orthodox church is "the church".  Because of this, I have to believe that the church has developed like it is supposed to be developing.  The western church, on the other hand, Rome and Protestants, are out of communion with the church and therefore at a disadvantage.  So my conclusion is this:  like children banging together garbage can lids in order to make "music", the west has sought to create and develop the arts far too soon.  Lacking connection with the sanctifying tools of the church and lacking the leadership and wisdom of a unified church, those outside of the church have done too much, too soon.  One needs to crawl before one walks and walk before one runs.  Those outside the church have sought after things requiring maturity when they still have souls besmudged with darkness.  Like making a sandwich before your hands are washed only results in a inedible meal, so too a work of art from a soul stained by sin.
I would love to hear some feedback on this. From an Orthodox perspective, I believe this makes sense.  The state of the creator will be seen in the creation.  The current corruption of the west and the historical lack of communion of the west with the historic Orthodox church must result in some negative fruit.  This may be one of them.

Set theory

In mathematics, set theory explains the relationship between sets of numbers and the formulas for how those sets are derived.
From this, an analogy came to mind.  When we look at and think about the details and structure of the old covenant, under Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses or David, we see the central theme of the physical.  The promises, the blessings, the curses and the signs/symbols all were built upon things physical.  To become part of the people of God, one received physical circumcision.  If obedient, one would receive long life, land, many children and blessed crops or herds.  If one was disobedient, one received the opposite.  The form of worship was centered in a specific location: in the temple, in Jerusalem.  A Jew did not want to die outside of the border of Israel.  The Jews were not looking for an ethereal, out of this world eternity in heaven.  They were looking for blessings in the here and now.
In other words, in the set "old covenant", all of the components were centered around the physical.  But now, we are not in that solution set any longer.  As new covenant Christians, we have our eyes set on eternity and perfect communion with God on a new and perfected heaven/earth.  It is important though to recognize a very important distinction.  The old covenant was about things physical.  The new covenant (that is, right now) is about preparing for things spiritual.  But eternity, that is, after the final judgment, is about all things renewed and perfect.  In eternity, we will perfectly and sinlessly enjoy all things, both physical and spiritual, while and because of, perfect communion with our triune God.
If we are to understand anything rightly, we need to understand the reality in which we live.

Idealistically speaking

I would think that most people, either consciously or unconsciously, have some sort of idealistic vision.  Whether it's an idea of how they think their own life would be perfect, or society or the world in general, there is some sort of vision for how things should be.
The question that should come up, behind all of this, is that of origins.  From where does this vision come?  What are the motivating factors and what is the ultimate end goal, either recognized or not? 
What does your perfect life look like?  What does a perfect society or world look like, in your understanding?  To make this thing ultimately practical and thus worth our attention, what steps can you take today, this month or this year to bring that about?  What are you willing to sacrifice to make this happen?  The answer to that question will reveal just how important the ideal is to you. 
I would suggest that if the ideal life, society or world involves the changing of other people, rather than yourself, then your ideal is perfectly upside down.  The Christian life and the subsequent sanctification intertwined with it are all about the things you do, not others.  Think to yourself, "I am to love God, I am to love neighbor, I am to repent." 
Start from here and two things will happen.  One, your definition of ideal will change and two, your progress toward the ideal will move forward.  You are going to be moving, it's unavoidable, every moment of your life.  You might as well make it a move in the right direction.

Dancing on the edge

Sorry, this post is about dancing only in the metaphorical sense.  I read alot and the more I read, of the serious theologians, the more I realize that so many of these men are so close.  They are, metaphorically speaking, dancing on the edge of Orthodoxy, but, for some reason, are not willing to dive in and embrace the historic faith.  I am thinking that much of this apprehension is based on a faulty ecclesiology.  If one begins with a right understanding of who and what the church is, they will end up Orthodox.  Some may balk at this, but think of what is being said here.  The church is the body of Christ. The church is the people of God.  The church is that body that God communes with, in a way even greater than what Adam and Eve enjoyed prior to the fall.
It's all about communion with the Triune God.  There is nothing more important, so we need to start from the right place.

Pattern #1

One of the first things to notice is the manner in which God relates to his people.  When God created Adam, he provided for him all that he needed.  He placed him in an already crafted garden, in order to keep it, not organize or work it out.  He gave him authority over all the creatures (i.e., he was to name them) and he gave him a set of rules.  In this first form of relationship, he only had one rule, don't eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  Because Adam was already perfect and in communion with God, he was already blessed.  God also gave Adam an explanation of what would happen if he disobeyed, death.  Think of this as his response.  Adam only had two choices, he could respond with either disobedience or obedience.
While the name is not used, this was a covenant relationship.  We can determine this by looking ahead in Scripture at the form that the Abrahamic covenant took.  The next step will be to explore the way that this covenant worked out in history.

We all know the story.  At some point after creation and after naming all of the animals, Eve was tempted by the devil, in the form of a serpent, into eating from the tree.  Adam, who was with her at that moment, did not act as leader but was instead led by Eve and ate of the fruit as well.  They immediately lost the grace of God and realizing their nakedness, tried to hide.  God confronted them for their disobedience, provided a covering for them in the form of an animal sacrifice and cast them out of the garden.  

So here is the pattern:  God establishes the covenant between himself and man, sets up the details (rules, blessing, curses), man is confronted with a situation in his maturation time and fails, then the curse of the covenant follows, death.  In the case of Adam, he and Eve lost their covering of grace and were cast out from God's presence.  The final judgment for them was in the form of a global flood.  The world from the time of Adam's initial sin continued in a downward slide into sin.  Scripture describes man at that time as only thinking evil thoughts in his heart all of the time.

My next post will look at the second phase of the Old Covenant, the covenant under Noah.

About prayer

Prayer is something that has befuddled my mind for many years.  As a Protestant, prayer never made any sense to me.  If God is absolutely sovereign, then prayer makes no logical sense.  Why ask for anything if everything is already mapped out.  After a former pastor recommended a book on prayer by John Bunyan, and I found the book seriously lacking, I gave up trying to figure it out.
Becoming Orthodox initially didn't help.  I still approached prayer with a Protestant mindset, and found myself running in circles.  It wasn't until I really began to get a beginning grasp on the Jesus Prayer that things began to fall into place. 
Summarily speaking, we are far too small and sinful to have any idea, at all, about how to pray.  Our sight and understanding is so limited, our minds so corrupted by sin and our hearts so darkened by selfishness, that any prayer that we could fabricate would most likely be ridiculous.  The Jesus Prayer, on the other hand, is perfect.  Handed down for centuries, within the church, we pray, "Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me a sinner."
In this we rightly acknowledge the nature and person of God, we rightly acknowledge our own sinful nature, and we rightly, only, ask for mercy.
It really is that simple.  Because we know our sinfulness screws us up, we cry out to God and ask for mercy. In whatever situation we find ourselves, whatever our need, perceived, imagined or otherwise, we ask God to have mercy on us.  In this we are submitting to God's will.  We are saying, "I don't know what is best, so please just have mercy on me and help me submit to your will."