The Church Fathers DON'T Need Your Help

It is no secret that I read blogs of people with whom I disagree, even vehemently. One of those persons with whom I have regularly sparred with (full disclosure: we do not like one another. Harsh words have passed from both his lips and mine towards each other) is Paul McCain, an ordained pastor of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and also director (not sure if that's hist title) of Concordia Publishing House, the publishing arm of the LCMS.

McCain regularly uses his blog (which is his right) to talk about Christian freedom and how uses of incense and icons and bells and vestments, etc. can all be used to distort the Gospel. Roman Catholics and Orthodox and even very confessional Lutherans are his favorite targets. He's especially fond to call out those of us who have departed Wittenberg and "swum the Bosphorus" as traitors and as something less than Christian. It's even worse if you happened to be a pastor in the LCMS who has left and then McCain really lets loose. Still, despite that, I regularly read what he writes or posts simply because there's some good material. It may not be right, but it's still good reading.

Lutherans quote the church fathers for their own purposes. I find it ironic that a church that prides itself so much on the (incorrect) doctrine of sola scriptura cannot argue support for that doctrine from Scripture itself. Instead they rely on the fathers. Actually, they tend to rely on excerpts from the fathers while ignoring greater context. So, whenever Protestants, but particularly Lutherans quote the fathers to defend their doctrine or praxis, you must be very weary.

What I love even more is when Lutherans get upset when the fathers don't say what they want them to say. Lutherans will often say that great saints like John Chrysostom or Augustine or John Damascene would be Lutheran if they were alive today, but then have to go through their respective works and treatises with a scalpel or with a paste function to make their sayings fit the Lutheran mold.

Take for example the following. Yesterday, on his blog, McCain was talking about fasting and then quoted from St. Ephraim the Syrian's Spiritual Psalter. Ephraim is one of our greatest hymn writers and his Spiritual Psalter is a must for anyone who wishes to really get into the depths of one's own soul and how it cries for repentance and its dependence on the Lord. Here is the excerpt:

Before Thy glory, O Christ my Savior, I will announce all my misconduct
and confess the infinitude of Thy mercies, which Thou pourest out upon
me according to Thy kindness.

From my mother’s womb I began to grieve Thee, and utterly have I
disregarded Thy grace, for I have neglected my soul. Thou, O my Master,
according to the multitude of Thy mercies, hast regarded all my
wickedness with patience and kindess. Thy grace has lifted up my head,
but daily it is brought low by my sins.

Bad habits entangle me like snares, and I rejoice at being thus bound.
I sink to the very depths of evil, and this delights me. Daily the
enemy gives me new shackles, for he sees how this variety of bonds
pleases me.

The fact that I am bound by my own desires should provoke weeping and
lamentation, shame and disgrace. And yet more terrible is the fact that
I bind myself with the shackles that the enemy places upon me, and I
slay myself with the passions that give him pleasure.

Although I know how dreadful these shackles are, I hide behind a noble
appearance from all who might see. I appear to be robed in the
beautiful clothes of reverence, but my soul is entagled with shameful
thoughts. Before all who might see, I am reverent, but inside I am
filled with all manner of indecency.

My conscience accuses me of all this, and I act as if I wish to be
freed of my shackles, yet I ever remain bound by the same snares.

How pitiful I am; and how pitiful is my daily repentance, for it has no
foundation. Every day I lay a foundation for the building, and again
with my own hands I demolish it.

My repentance has not even made a good beginning as yet; yet there is
no end to my wicked negligence. I have become a slave to passions and
to the evil will of the enemy who destroys me.

Who will give the water to my head, and the founts to my eyes for
tears, so that I may ever weep before Thee, O merciful God, that Thou
mightest send Thy grace and draw me, a sinner, out of the sea, furious
with the waves of sin, that hourly convulses my soul? For my desires
are worse than wounds that cannot be bandaged.

I wait hoping for repentance and deceive myself with this vain promise
until my death. Ever do I say, “I will repent,” but never do I repent.
My words give the appearance of heartfelt repentance, but in deed I am
always far from repentance.

What will happen to me in the day of the trial, when God unveils all
things at His court! Certainly I shall be sentenced to torment, if here
I have not moved Thee to mercy, O my Judge, by my tears.

Beautiful, isn't it? I can only imagine the beauty of it in the original Syriac. The themes of sin and the need for repentance are ever present here, but for McCain, it's simply not good enough. It needs to be "corrected" so McCain inserts his own words:

I hope on Thy mercies, O Lord; I fall at Thy feet and beseech Thee:
Grant me the spirit of repentance and lead my soul out of the dungeon
of iniquity! May a ray of light shine in my mind before I go to the
terrible judgment which awaits me, where there is no opportunity to
repent of one’s wicked deeds.

Anyone who has read St. Eprhaim's Spiritual Psalter knows that man's hope on the mercies and compassions of God is also an ever present theme. But, McCain feels the need to add to this one section. What St. Ephraim wrote was not wrong, theologically or otherwise, so why the insertion? My honest opinion is that people today make the Scriptures and the Holy Fathers say what they want them to say. Gay marriage or unions? No women priests? No abortion? No fasting? No liturgy? No monasticism? That was then, this is now. And we moderns are always right, right?

What McCain did is a microcosm of the war that is being waged against the church fathers and Scriptures from both without and within the various Christian communities. The rallying cry is that "we know better." How could anyone living 2000 years ago with cable, without internet, without ultrasounds, without cars, without MP3s, without HVACs, without indoor plumbing know "anything?" They don't hence the need to "update" their theology. Because no one could possibly know God without having the enlightenment of today.

Rather than let the Fathers and the Scriptures speak, we rehabilitate and redefine what is said. It is relativism where all viewpoints, except for traditional ones, are valid. Nothing is certain except for the certainty that things will change again depending on one's mood.

If Christ is the same yesterday, today and until the end of ages, then this constant rehabilitation to the witnesses of His Incarnation (i.e. Scriptures and the Fathers, amidst other things) mocks His Incarnation. It mocks our salvation in him. And it makes our egos our Lord and Master, rather than Christ.

It's a boy

My wife and I just found out that we will be having a son. His due date is July 7. I'm excited and nervous!

By the Waters of Babylon

One of the few things I think the Russian Orthodox got right, liturgically speaking, is their use of Psalm 136, By the Waters of Babylon, as the Polyeleon psalm at Matins on Sunday of the Prodigal Sun. In the Greek and Arabic Typicon, this Psalm is prescribed for the next two Sundays but not for today.

As the Hebrews sang this psalm as they were exiled from their homes so we sing this psalm because we are exiled from God and it is only through conscientious awareness of that fact that any kind of repentance can begin. To deny we are exiled from God because of our sin destroys any chance of a new beginning. God is with us, though we cannot walk with Him as did Adam and Eve before sin entered His creation.

Here is a Russian version of this psalm

The First Sunday of Triodion: The Publican and the Pharisee

Gospel: St. Luke 18: 10-14. The lessons: humility and repentance.

The Lenten season begins then by a quest,a prayer for humility which is the beginning of true repentance. For repentance, above everything else, is a return o the genuine order of things, the restoration of the right vision. It is, therefore, rooted in humility, and humility--the divine and beautiful humility--is its fruit and end.--Fr. Alexander Schmemann, Great Lent, p.25

The fault of the Pharisee is that he has no desire to change his outlook; he is complacent, self-satisfied, and so he allows no place for God to act within him. The Publican, on the other hand, truly longs for a "change of mind": he is self-dissatisfied, "poor in spirit," and where there is this saving self-dissatisfaction, there is room for God to act. Unless we learn the secret of the Publican's inward poverty, we hall not share in the Lenten springtime.--Bishop KALLISTOS, "The Meaning of the Great Fast" from The Lenten Triodion, p. 40

The Church welcomes the Lenten spring with a spirit of exultation. She greets the time of repentance with the expectancy and enthusiasm of a child entering into a new and exciting experience. The tone of the church services is one of brightness and light. The words are a clarion call to a spiritual contest, the invitation to a spiritual adventure, the summons to a spiritual feat. There is nothing gloomy here, nothing dark or remorseful, masochistic or morbid, anxious or hysterical, pietistic or sentimental.--Fr. Thomas Hopko, The Lenten Spring, p. 9

Brethren, let us not pray as the Pharisee: for he who exults himself s hall be humbled. Let us humble ourselves before God and with fasting cry aloud as the Publican: God be merciful to us sinners.

A Pharisee, overcome with vainglory, and a Publican, bowed down in repentance came to Thee the only Master. The one boasted and was deprived of blessings, while the other kept silent and was accounted worthy of gifts. Confirm me, O Christ our God, in these his cries of sorrow, for Thou lovest mankind.--Idiomela stichera at Psalm 140 at Great Vespers

Express Lane Communion?

From the files of the "What were you thinking?"

There are express lanes for everything everywhere. If you have a special pass, you can go in the express lane for tollbooths. There are express check outs at grocery stores. You can have express shipping. Everything is express now. So, I suppose it was not unusual when I read this article about Express Lane Communion.

From the article:

For at least 40 years, this downtown United Methodist church has offered communion to city dwellers and commuters during the morning rush. At 7:30, Phil Blackwell--who inherited the tradition--consecrates the elements with whomever happens to be in the room at the moment. For the next 90 minutes, communion and a simple prayer are offered for anyone who walks in.

The communion, offered without a traditional liturgy, could very well have an "express lane" feel. When I first heard about this communal rite, I wondered: theologically, what is communion absent community? Culturally, why do I and others imagine we don't have time for liturgy?

Though I could go to great lengths about what is wrong with this practice, I'm going to focus on instead the root cause of why such new practices as Express Lane Communion have become a part of the Christian mainstream.

What is communion without community and why do people not have time for the full liturgy? The answer to both questions is the same: that people are egoists and have time only for themselves. It's a horrible reality that even in the midst of the Kingdom of God, we are still focusing on ourselves as individuals and not as the Body of Christ.

People want the Eucharist but they want it on their own terms. Why take an hour and a half for prayer when I can just get the Eucharist in 90 seconds? Why prepare at all? That doesn't do it for me; I'm ready when I say I am whether that's four seconds or four hours. It's all about me.

This egoism is not a mainstream Protestant problem or a Catholic problem or an Orthodox problem: It's a Christian problem. The Church, the Ecclesia, the body of those "called out" (ek+kaleo is Greek for "to call out" or "choose") is a foil to the needs of self. But too many Christians reject the Church or church in general. They want to be spiritual and love Jesus, but again, it's always on their own terms. They want their own express lanes to come into the Kingdom, carrying as many items or as few as they wish.

For all the errors that exist within the Church or churches, whether Orthodox or other confession, the root cause can be traced to egoism. Arius and Nestorius and Eutyches and Pelagius and the Basileus Leo III "Isaurian" were no doubt pious men, but they wanted to elevate their own understanding of God above the Church's consensus and teaching.

Removing the community from communion and jettisoning the preparation for communion are opposite sides of the same coin. That is why no Orthodox Liturgy can ever occur without at least two or three people present. The Reformation in the West considered the private communion and private masses of the priests as one of its main grudges. (Ironic that the Protestants who decried this are the ones perpetuating it now).

If we are all about ourselves, then why even receive the Lord in the Eucharist? There's probably not even room.

One long journey done...another one to shortly begin

On November 15, we started fasting and praying fervently in anticipation of our Lord's Incarnation, taking on humanity in all ways. On December 23, we celebrated the Royal Hours which proclaimed the truth of the Old Testament Prophets. On December 24 and 25, we celebrated the actual feast of our Lord's coming in the flesh with the Magi who were there to adore Him. Our fasting changed to feasting uninterrupted for 12 more days.

On January 1, we celebrated our Lord's Circumcision in the Flesh, by which He showed Himself to be not a destroyer of the law but its fulfillment. With another short fast on January 5, we celebrated Theophany, our Lord's baptism in the Jordan at the hands of John the Foreunner, where creation and creator were united and the Trinity was made manifest. We gave especial attention to His Baptizer, John on January 7, the one who prepared the way for the Lord. We continued to celebrate Theophany for 8 more days.

During the rest of January we celebrated the memories of many great saints who proclaimed the mystery of the Incarnation and the dogma of the Trinity in Unity. Father such as as Sts. Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian vigorously defended the doctrine of the Trinity against the Arians. Sts. Cyril and Athanasius defended vigorously that our Lord was not two persons but one united in Christ and whom Mary did give birth to was indeed God and thus she was Theotokos. St. Maxiumus the Confessor refuted the evils of the Monothelete heresy, which was an offshoot of monophysitism and Arianism. All these heresies denied that Christ is BOTH truly God and truly human.

We also commemorated great ascetics such as St. Anthony the Great who lived the Christ-like life, renouncing the trappings of this world, emptying themselves of them as Christ emptied Himself of His Divinity, to commune more with God.

We celebrated great hymn writers and commentators on the Christ-like life and the Scriptures, notably St. John Chrysostom, St. John of Damascus and Sts. Ephraim and Isaac the Syrians. Their words continue to form the prayers for the repentant.

We commemorated great martyrs such as Sts. Barbara, Eugenia, Anastasia of Rome and others all of whom gave their life for the Bridegroom whom they loved because He loved us.

We celebrated again the Feast of the Meeting of our Lord where our Lord, again in fulfillment of the Law, was brought by his parents to the Temple in Jerusalem, where He was seen by the Righteous Simeon and Anna who both proclaimed that this child was the salvation which God had promised to the nation of Israel.

For more than 80 days, a little more than 1/5 of the total year, our devotion was centered on our Lord's incarnation. Tomorrow, Orthodox Christians begin yet another journey, the journey to the empty tomb of Christ and the Lord's sending of the Holy Spirit to proclaim what the Lord has done. This journey will be much more difficult as the events that we commemorate during the Great Lenten fast up through Holy Week, really do not mince what we are, what we have become because of our sin and our absolute need of God. Our fasting will be intense, our prayer even more fervent, the remembrance of the Patriarchs and Old Testament fathers who only had small foretastes of what would be realized in Christ will be at the center of our meditations.

Tomorrow, with the beginning of Triodion, we are called to repentance which can only be realized by the addition of what the publican had and the pharisee lacked: Humility. If we lack that single virtue, the next 120 days (the total time of the Triodio and the Pentecostarion), the next 1/3 of the year will be a difficult journey. Even if we should stumble, multiple times, five or ten times a day, there is always one more chance to get up.

Our Winter Pascha must give way to the Lenten Spring. Our feasting must give way to fasting. Our joy will now turn to sadness. But it will be a bright sadness for we already know the outcome: the Resurrection!

The Purification of Mary

While the Orthodox celebrate the Feast of the Meeting (or Presentation) of the Lord in the Temple on this day, the West celebrates the Purification of Mary. This feast is also referred to in the West as Candlemas because this was the traditional day when candles to be used in the church throughout the year were blessed. Though the East centers its liturgical focus on Christ meeting Simeon and Anna and being seen by Simeon as the Messiah incarnate and the West centers its liturgical focus on Mary fulfilling the law to be purified from her childbirth after 40 days, both East and West will not that one focus is inherently more important than the other. For the Eastern Christians, though, the term purification may throw some people into thinking that the Virgin Mary had done something wrong that required purification.

We do not know any of the sins of the Virgin Mary, though St. John Chrysostom mentions in his homilies that the Virgin was guilty of pride (especially at the Wedding at Cana, but that was years later, of course). But what we should not forget is that the Virgin Mary is not, as Fr. Alexander Schmemann is known to have said, the great exception but the great example. If Christ is the icon of salvation, the Theotokos is the icon of the saved. So, of what then does she come to be purified? Fr. Thomas Hopko explains:

...the scriptures teach that all human beings who are inevitably caught up in the falleness of the sinful world, are in need of "purification" when they come into direct contact with God, and especially when they are objects of direct divine action. God is always acting in our lives...These are also the times of worship, such as when the priests go into the Holy Place or when they touch the Holy Objects. thus, according to the Mosaic law, mere human beings who were in direct tough with God through His concrete divine actions were required to offer signs of ritual "purification" to express the fact that being mere mortals and victims of sin not to say sinners in their own right in virtually all cases) they had also the objects of the holy actions of the Most High and Holy God.--The Winter Pascha, p. 176

Lest we forget at any time, the Virgin Mary inherited the same mortal corruption as the rest of man. She still had to obey the law and still had to die and was in need of our Lord's crucifixion and death as the rest of us. This feast reminds us that Mary was simply human although she had direct communion with God whereas the priests and us, while we live, can only commune in mystical fashion. Such is why she is deserving of all honor and all praise as Theotokos. And such is why she is a powerful advocate for us before the dread judgment seat of Christ.