Thankfulness is faithfulness

It is Thanksgiving Day. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

I know that it is customary for many families who share a meal together on this day to go around the table and say what they are thankful for.  It is a good custom, to be sure, but if we were really honest with ourselves, the sheer number of thanks for all the blessings, good fortunes, etc. that we each enjoy would fill up quite a lot of time to the point that the meal would never be eaten at least not before it's cold.

I was thinking about making a list of all of the things I am thankful for.  I took a walk this cold evening, just going over in my head the number of things I have that I should be thankful, but take for granted.  It was a long list and I don't have the time to write it. Instead, I was thinking of this story from the Gospel of Luke.  We all know the story about how ten lepers were cleansed by Jesus.  In case you don't here's the text:

Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. ¹² Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. ¹³ And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
¹⁴ So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.
¹⁵ And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, ¹⁶ and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.
¹⁷ So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? ¹⁸ Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

I admit that I don't know the text of the miracle by heart so when I read it in preparation for this post, I was struck by a few things.  First, the lepers are not close to Jesus, but afar off.   This just shows how scorned lepers were.  People who were infected with leprosy were told to keep far off from them lest they be infected, too.  Add to that a belief among many ancient peoples who thought that being struck by disease was in direct correlation to your worth or value as a person.  The text doesn't indicate whether Jesus saw AND approached them, but merely saw them. 

And he didn't heal them right away, but said instead for them to show themselves to the priests.  And they went.  To be given a clean bill of health by the priests so that you could reenter the temple worship and society itself required the priests to go over the entire body of the leper to ensure there was no trace of the disease anymore.  To ensure you were cured was as humiliating as having the disease itself.  Nonetheless, all ten of them go.  But it is only AS they go, that they are healed from their infirmity.  And we know the rest of the story: only one returns to give thanks.

Christ says to the one leper who comes back and gives thanks as saying that his faith made him well.   We have no indication that the other nine lepers who were cured as they went to the priests were reinfected because they did not give thanks and I doubt they would have been.  But the faithfulness of the one also reflected thankfulness.  We can argue ad nauseam as to whether faith precedes thankfulness just as the old Mediaeval philosophers debated whether faith preceded understanding or understanding preceded faith.  Here, in this story, it is apparent that thankfulness and faithfulness are two sides of the same coin.  It is not simply enough to have faith, but to demonstrate that faith in thanksgiving to God. 

I'm sure many would argue that one can still be thankful and have no faith in God.  I would agree, but for the Christian, the two simply must accompany one another.  If we are thankful, we must have faith; if we are faithful, we must give thanks.  And not only should we be thankful, but we should do so joyfully.  A Christian should always be joyful even if it seems that joy is the farthest thing from us. 

So, rather than make a list to share with those who would wish to read it of all the things I am thankful for, I would simply implore that all who are thankful on this do so faithfully and do so consistently. It's easy and natural to turn to God in times of distress and unhappines. It's easy and natural as well to simply go about our daily lives without being thankful.  But if we are not being thankful, then we are being faithful?

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Whom do we want in the Church

A few days ago, I was on YouTube looking up the video for the induction of the band, Rush, into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame, which I had never seen, despite the fact that I call myself a diehard Rush fan.  But I've had other things to do.  After I had watched the video, I was looking at the videos appearing on the sidebar which are related.  One of the videos was entitled "RUSH Does NOT Belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."  I was immediately horrified and offended.  How can anyone make this argument?  I'm glad I watched the video.  (Warning:  Some foul language used)

The person who made the video, who, at first sight looks like someone you would never take seriously (long hair, wearing a stocking cap. He looks like Jay from movies like "Clerks," "Dogma," and "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back).   After I got past that, the guy makes a very cogent and  persuasive argument.  I expected it to be a vitriolic attack on Rush based on personal taste, but it's anything but.  His argument rests that Rush is actually too good and too pure for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame which has repeatedly admitted into its halls many artists who are not Rock and Roll artists period.  This would include people like Michael Jackson, Arethra Franklin, Run DMC, etc.  Now, I myself would never deny any accolades to these artists, but the guy has a point:  They are not rock n' roll artists.  Why are they there then?

To him and also to me, the reason is simple:  Commercial success.  Rush does have commercial success and always has.  But that reason alone has been used to justify the exclusion of other great artists.  Case in point:  Metallica.  Metallica has had great commercial success and is largely responsible for making thrash or speed metal a staple of American mainstream heavy metal music.  Who else has done this?  Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth.  Are any of them in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?  No.  Should they be?  Since they are not as commercially successful as Metallica, probably not.

The guy on the video has a valid point.  Rush does not deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because it was never guided by simply commerical success.  In fact, Rush is a favorite victim of music critics and magazines for as long as they've been around (40+ years). Rolling Stone has constantly and consistently either ignored them or derided them.  But, Rush is now in and the critics can't complain any more (I guess they can, but it's pretty useless now).

This got me thinking about the Church. Should the Church receive anyone and everyone that may want in even if they're even the most nominally Orthodox or Christian?  If the Church is truly catholic, i.e. universal, then it is for all.  However, it seems that many churches today in the Christian world want to be catholic in terms of diversity of opinion rather than in unity of the faith.   True catholicity is the latter, not the former.  The faith is catholic.  The faith is unchanging and for all.

Should the Orthodox Church or any church for that matter, in an attempt to reach out and be truly catholic do so at the expense of her own doctrine?  Should the churches reach out to atheists, practioners of other religions, nominal Christians, etc. and say that they are welcome to bring their own beliefs into the church with them?  I would hope most serious Christians would answer no, but the fact is that the opposite is happening.  Churches are reaching out by saying that doctrine doesn't matter, unity of the faith doesn't matter.  The only thing that matters is that we call ourselves by the same name, whether that be Catholic or Orthodox or Lutheran or Methodist, or what-have-you.  What you actually believe is between you and God.

The inevitable result is that you have many people under the same roof and as many as divergent opinions.  How would you even preach to this group?  How would this group even worship together?  How would this group even decide on a building together?

Our faith is a communal one, not only with God but also with our fellow man.  And that community acts and works together in the worship of God.  It has to.  Otherwise, it is absolute chaos.  So, what are we to do with people in the church who, for whatever reasons, insist on believing what they wish even when it stands in stark contrast to the faith handed down to the saints once and for all?  Are they to be anathematized and cast out or are they to be tolerated within the ranks of the church?

My fear is that such "tolerance" will lead to two things.  First, those who clearly hold heterodox beliefs will demand more and more concessions to accommodate their heterodoxy and if such concessions are not immediately granted, they will threaten to leave.  Second, once concessions are granted and more and more are given, the faithful will break off and there will be schism.  This is exactly the situation we find in today's Anglican Church, the ELCA and even the United Methodist Church.    Why are churches more concerned with the number of people rather than the purity of the message?  Maybe it's the same reason why the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame admits artists who are not rock and roll artists:  commercial success.

The sad thing is that even if churches recognize the why, the fact is churches are not making plans to change.  Catholicity now means encompassing the whole regardless of the faith instead of the faith encompassing the whole.

Don't get all twisted out of shape about a papyrus fragment talking about "Jesus' wife"

I remember having a conversation many years ago with a friend of mine about the movie, Dogma.  This movie was causing quite a stir because it blatantly mocked and tried (but failed) to repudiate basic Christian teachings.  I had not seen the movie so I was dependent upon my friend to fill me in on what people found objectionable.  Because I had not seen it, I really could not provide much for the conversation.   I can't remember all the points he made, but I do remember this very poignantly:  "Those with a strong faith will laugh at it; those with a weak faith will be repulsed by it."  Those may not be the exact words of my friend, but you get the idea.

I finally did see it, years later.  I remember one scene in particular where Chris Rock, playing the so-called "13th apostle" says that the Virgin Mary giving birth to Christ is true but that believing she was ever virgin (semper virgo for you Western Riters out there) was due to just plain gullibility.   I suppose that in the minds of the writers of Dogma, a virgin birth of God in the flesh is way more believable than a married couple refraining from intercourse since obviously that NEVER happens, right?

Those who hate Christ and His Church will always try to find ways to destroy the faith and the faithful.  This should come as no surprise.  Most recently, a papyrus fragment was brought to world attention.  This small fragment, written in Coptic, dating to the fourth century, is no larger than a credit card.   The contents of the papyrus say that Jesus was married and that Mary Magdalene was an apostle.  Well, stop the presses!  Everyone pack up your bibles and catechisms and prayer books because we've got to rewrite doctrine!  Of course, not even the woman who brought this to light is saying that this is a definitive find.  Numerous more tests are to be conducted to determine the document's authenticity. 

I'm not going to spend my valuable time debunking the find. It's actually really easy to do when you consider that this one fragment has no corroboration in any other written source in any other written language in any other geographical area from before or after the fourth century.  When a "tradition" like that has such a limited provenance, it's most likely that that particular tradition was held by a radical minority or is a forgery.

But we don't need to get into arguments related to paleography or papyrology or history or language to rebut this.  We have, as Orthodox Christians, 2000 years of unbroken tradition, safeguarded by the Bride of Christ, the Church.  One little papyrus fragment the size of a credit card will not bring down the Church.  I don't worry about it; you shouldn't either.

Unlike the Muslims in the Middle East who work themselves into a tizzy every time their Prophet is mocked or not venerated by non-Muslims, we Christians have put up with a lot of assaults on the faith; most of us have come to accept that such is the price of admission.  We bear the assaults and we should continue to do so with joy.  We don't and shouldn't call for the death of those who wield the attacks.

Those who are really upset with this find are no different than those who felt threatened by the movie, Dogma or who are consistently appalled by the covers of Time, Newsweek, US News and World Report, etc. around Easter time, when those periodicals feel the need to convince the Christian faithful that what some "scholar", who lives in his mom's basement, thinks should make them throw out what they believe. Bottom line:  Those offended people have a weak faith.

Dormition Fast and the HHS Mandate

Today, August 1, the celebration of the Procession of the Cross, begins our two week fast to celebrate the falling asleep of the Temple of God:  Mary, the Theotokos and ever-virgin.  In these two weeks, Orthodox Christians are expected to increase their prayers, their tithes while removing meat and dairy from their diets so that when the feast comes, we may embrace it with joy and the fulness may replace our imposed emptiness.

Today is also a very dark day for religious freedom in this country.  Today is the day the HHS Mandate that all employers who provide health insurance, including religious institutions, must provide birth control, sterilization drugs and services as well as abortifacients to its women employees free of charge, regardless of whether the women want/need such services and regardless of whether that violates the religious institution's conscience.  Churches will be exempted, but hospitals and other charities, specifically those affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church will be expected and forced to comply.

I could go into a long post and rehash what most of us already know about how this does trample religious liberty, that nothing like this can be found ANYWHERE in the history of jurisprudence in this country and that the progressives show their true colors where they believe the state is the supreme arbiter of everything and that religion, particularly traditional religion, is a threat to that supremacy.  But I won't.

And the reason that I won't is because, as Christians, we have failed to really make our faith important both in our family life and in our public life.  Yes, this mandate is still wrong and the people who favor it are wrong to impose it on those who disagree (these are the same people who want to impose their beliefs on Chik-Fil-A because its owner won't endorse same-sex marriage, but that's OK to do).  I am not suggesting that we trot around time trumpeting our fasting and alms giving.  I seem to remember Jesus rallying against those very things back in His day.  But, it seems, many of us only take our faith and its practice seriously only when something like this assault comes around.

Dormition fast has been around for a long time and it has been practiced in this country ever since Russian missions established the first Orthodox churches here in the late 18th century.  Orthodox Christians continue to make up a very very small fraction of the Christian population of the United States, but in efforts to not make ourselves too different from the Protestants and Catholics around us, our praxis has been pushed aside.  Yes, we may believe all of what our faith teaches, but as St. James says, a faith without works is a dead faith.

I know I have very few readers, but I would like to issue this challenge for this Dormition Fast to any Orthodox Chrisitan:  Show that your faith matters to you!  Go to one of the Paraklesis services during these two weeks, go to the Liturgy on Transfiguration, go to Dormition Liturgy. If your parish doesn't offer those services, make the extra effort to pray at home and with your family.  If you are able, fast.  If you can't do it for two weeks, then do it for what time you can.  If you have some leftover change, give it to a charity.  At the same time, don't trumpet it about.  Don't post on facebook that you gave $10 to the local homeless shelter!  Pray in silence.  And don't just do it for this Dormition Fast.  Do it for the Nativity Fast, do it for Great Lent. Do this ALL YEAR ROUND!  And, be joyful in it.

My point is that perhaps if we actually showed that our faith mattered in the practice of it, perhaps such things like this HHS Mandate might never have come into being.  We have become schismatics in our faith--acknowledging and believing on the one hand, but failing to practice it on the other.  If we hold such a cavalier and unserious attitude towards something that was enshrined into the first amendment of the Bill of Rights, namely the free exercise of religion, then perhaps we deserve to allow the state to dictate to us in these matters.

As disheartened as we may be, let us cry out with joy, this our Orthodox Battle Hymn:

Σῶσον Κύριε τὸν λαόν σου καὶ εὐλόγησον τὴν κληρονομίαν σου, νίκας τοῖς Βασιλεῦσι κατὰ βαρβάρων δωρούμενος καὶ τὸ σὸν φυλάττων διὰ τοῦ Σταυροῦ σου πολίτευμα.

Oh Lord, save Thy people and bless Thine inheritance, granting to Thy Sovereigns victory over the barbarians and by Thy Cross preserving Thine Estate.--Apolytikion for August 1, The Processiono f the Cross, Tone 1

The Sunday of the Myrrhbearers

The Second Sunday after our Lord's Pascha takes us back to the first revelation of our Lord to his followers after His Resuurrection. We also give honor to St. Joseph of Arimathea as well as Nicodemus.  But, as we know from the Gospel, both Nicodemus and Joseph were followers of Jesus in secret.  Those women, on the other hand, who defied the possibility of threat of death to anoint our Lord with spices and ointments while he was entombed, were openly followers of our Lord and were prepared to even go to their deaths. 

But, as we know from the story, to their surprise, there were no soldiers guarding the tomb and the stone which they wondered how to roll away from the tomb had already been removed.  Astonished they saw the grave clothes and were told about the Resurrection by an Angel sitting upon the stone and were commanded to also go tell the Apostles what they had seen.  The Apostles were still in hiding.  They were in hiding ever since the crucifixion and remained in hiding for at least another week (so that St. Thomas could join them).  But the women's faith never wavered.  I don't think it coincidence then that the good news of Christ's Resurrection was preached to them first, even before the Apostles.

If this account confirms anything, it confirms that without these women, the Christian faith might well have never emerged as it did.  And this same spirit, this same courage has been present in many generations of Orthodox women across many lands.  Great martyrs, like St. Barbara and St. Paraskeve and St. Thekla all had great faith.  During the time of the Russian Revolution, the men were the ones who hid in their upper rooms while it was the women who still went to church on Sundays and feast days keeping the faith alive in themselves and teaching their children and grandchildren so the faith would not die.

Such great faith and courage cannot be readily dismissed.  In the hymnography of today's feast, the myrrhbearers are often described as the "weaker sex" or "weaker by nature."  But, as we know from the Imitation "highest cannot stand without the lowest."  Though weak, their faith made them strong and St. Mary Magdalen was made an "apostle to the apostles" to confirm their faith. Despite the fact that Christ had consistently told his Apostles of his impending death and Resurrection, they seemed to lose heart and focus.  The lowest had to support the highest.

Women of the Orthodox women still play a very necessary and important role in ensuring that the faith remains strong for future generations of Orthodox Christians.  We should be thankful to them for having helped preserve the faith for 2000 years  as teachers, as wives, as mothers, as myrrhbearers, as martyrs, as carers for the sick and lonely, and, especially, as true servants of God.  May the faith of the myrrhbearers confirm our fledgling faith and through their intercessions, may our Risen Lord have mercy upon us and save us.

Jesus, Mary, Joseph and Knowledge

Christ is Born! Glorify Him! I sincerely hope all of you and yours have a wonderful Christmas and a blessed New Year and let us all give thanks and praise to the one who was incarnate for our sakes to break us from the bondage of the evil one!

Last Sunday was the Sunday of Genealogy in the Eastern Rite, where we read Christ's genealogy according to Matthew. The reading serves as proof that the babe that was born in a manger or cave in the city of Bethlehem was not an angel, nor ambassador, nor God in mere appearance of a man, but God AS man. God has human ancestors and a human mother though no human father. Sinners are in this list of genealogy yet God did humble Himself and was born of a virgin and from a line of great murders, adulterers, thieves, traitors and harlots. God comes to dwell among us sinners and has come from a line of sinners. So much for God being a blue blooded, country club member, Republican! (Sorry for the politics!)

And last night, at the Royal Hours of Nativity and the Matins Vigil, we heard the Gospels again about Christ coming into this world as a real human baby. We hear of shepherds and and magi from Persia and angels giving glory to the newborn king. We hear of Mary who gives praise in her Magnificat to God that she would bear a son, though a virgin and then cherishing the gifts of the magi and shepherds. But what do we hear about Joseph? Not a word.

If roles were assigned in a church Christmas Program, I think that the only role worse than that of a shepherd (from the perspective of speaking parts; In a "Charlie Brown Christmas, Shermy resents that every year he has to play a shepherd!) would be Joseph. There is not one single recorded word of St. Joseph in the Scriptures. Make no mistake, he DOES a lot. He is responsible for ensuring that Mary suffers no disgrace and marries her despite being pregnant outside of marriage and for ensuring that Christ is protected from the murdering jealousy of King Herod and raises the Christ as his own though he knows the child is clearly not his. But he is silent. Yet, he does all these things because, as the epistle lesson from the Galatians at the Third Royal Hour proclaims, of his faith. St. Joseph is the epitome of faith.

Despite his overwhelming silence, in the Royal Hours, there are several idiomela hymns where the hymnographers have given Joseph some speeches. Of course, these are elaborations and such is intrinsic to Byzantine hymnography. He laments the shame that he will incur from Mary's pre-marital pregnancy. Still, it his actions and his faith that allow us a glimpse into the whole person of St. Joseph. He takes Mary as his wife and when she gives birth, we read that familiar line that "Joseph did not know Mary until she had given birth to her son." (Matt. 1:24-5).

(Now this verse is often caught in the cross hairs of the debate of Mary as semper virgo. We will not go into that here, though I would point out, very clearly, that those who do not regard Mary as an ever virgin have the onus to prove otherwise. The teaching of Mary as semper virgo has nearly 2000 years of teaching and preaching ascribed to it whereas those who deny it have only been around for 200 years or so and are tainted by a suprarationalism which, in effect, denies that anyone can exist without sexual drives.)

The verb in Greek to know is gignoskein. In the Greek language just as in King James Version English, the word "know" can also be used as a synonym or euphemism to describe sexual intercourse. But why must this verse always be read only in this context? What if we read, in this passage, a journey of Joseph that progresses from faith to knowledge? When Mary gave birth to the Incarnate Word of God, the Emmanuel "God with us", he then realized who she was because of who her Son was. Though ashamed and confused and heartbroken to hear of Mary's pregnant state, he still, by faith, overcame those and protected her and her Son. The knowledge that the Son of God was born from her and confirmed the faithful acts which he had performed. Knowledge is born of the faith.

There is an old Augustinian catchphrase, "Credo ut intellegam" which means "I believe so that I may understand." In the later Middle Ages, some theologians disputed that and reversed it saying "Intellego ut credam" which means "I understand so that I may believe." This was their version of the chicken and the egg! Which comes first--a faith that breeds understanding or a knowledge that allows us to see everything through faith? If St. Joseph is to be used as a type or exemplar, I say that Augustine was right. We believe in order to understand. St. Joseph did all those acts, believed and was lead by his faith and, as a result, truly knew who his wife was from the birth of her Son, our Saviour.

In the forty days of our preparation for the feast of the Nativity, our fast has been supported by our faith in God that He has sent us His Son, the Word, incarnate for our sakes. Last night our faith was confirmed in the Knowledge that only such could be the case. And St. Joseph then knew his wife, intimately, but not sexually as the Theotokos, the "God bearer."

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Want to know and live the Orthodox faith? Pray Orthros

In a follow up to what I wrote yesterday at being at home during the Liturgy, my priest gave a sermon today about ways for us in this "ordinary" time to still remain connected to Christ through the faith that He has bestowed upon us through the Church. I was actually quite shocked that Fr. Don, though I do know he is very liturgically minded, actually did not mention the Liturgy and the offices of Vespers and Orthros as ways of not only educating oneself in the faith but also in living and practicing the faith. What he mentioned were all good things: reading Scripture, having and keeping a rule of prayer, reading lives of the saints (his main focus of today's homily), etc.. But I was still floored that praying the Liturgy and the offices was not explicitly mentioned especially as we usually have only four people besides the priest and us chanters at Vespers on most Saturday evening and only one or two who make it through 90% or more of Orthros on Sunday morning. Heck, most people who come for Liturgy come late, some coming after the Cherubimic Hymn!

Despite Fr. Don's lack of a plug for Orthros, he has told me many times that if people really wanted to know and to live the Orthodox faith, there is no better office than Orthros. It is no coincidence that it is my favorite office to chant with all the variables and hymns. No other office of all the Orthodox services can compare to Orthros. On Sunday, it is a mini-Pascha. All the hymns, except if there is a major commemoration or Feast of the Mother of God, are dedicated to the incarnation of our Lord and His Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ. Those are the bedrocks of our theology--God becoming man and the God-man enduring death to raise us up from corruption.

Reading books is a fine practice and I'm not mocking it (I'm a bibliophile myself) but if I were a priest (and I cannot and should not ever be one) instructing catechumens or even cradle Orthodox about the faith, I would be less insistent on using books such as Bishop KALLISTOS' The Orthodox Church or Fr. Anthony Coniaris Introducing the Orthodox Church or Metropolitan HILARION's The Mystery of Faith or any other of Fr. Schmemann's or Fr. Hopko's fine tomes to teach the faith, but insist more that they make the effort to come for Orthros every Sunday. Sure, it means you have to get to the church at 8:45 rather than 10:00 and you have a lot more psalm readings and such, but it is worth it. Plus, the fact that hardly anyone attends gives you the perfect atmosphere to absorb everything that you hear in near silence (save for my obnoxious chanting style!) and contemplate it. Plus, reading any of the aforementioned volumes, to explain the faith, one will find that the explanations involve quotations primarily from Orthros!

Orthros is a gem of the church. I wish and hope more people would try and search it out. Praying Orthros is a great way to feed the mind as preparation to feed the soul at the Divine Liturgy!

Just my opinion, of course.

Getting a return from an investment requires making an investment

Forgive the market terminology, but that's essentially another way to read Luther's famous dictum of "A faith that costs nothing and demands nothing is worth nothing."

Unlike our fellow Christians who use the advent season to celebrate rather than to prepare, we Orthodox prepare for the major feasts through fasting, almsgiving and increased prayer. At least, that's what we are supposed to be doing. That doesn't mean we should be dour or down or depressed; we should do these things with joy. However, even with many of our Orthodox priests, we are being increasingly taught that the fasts and prayers are not really necessary for today's Christian, let alone Orthodox Christian. If our faith has been reduced to a mere intellectual assent, and I remind you that even the demons intellectually assent that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, then our faith is nothing and as such, we should rightfully expect nothing. Of course, as modern people, we demand entitlements for simply saying "I believe" but do nothing to help the poor, the meek, the otherwise cast out people of our society. Our Lord said, in his parable, that on the last day that those who have such a faith will be turned away while he says that He never knew us. Truly, we exist and are saved only by the mercy and grace of God, but to remain unchanged (and that is why God came, to change us from our sinful state to become truly human; true humanity is NOT to be sinful) is to cheapen the Gospel and God's grace to us. We would rightfully laugh at St. Matthew if he said to our Lord when our Lord told him to come and follow Him, "No thanks. I'm waiting to be saved by grace alone." As much as we associate with Luther the doctrine of sola gratia, his little saying indicates that even he believed that to do nothing was to cheapen God.

Props and shout-out to my fellow blogger Christopher Orr who pointed this out on his blog, Orrologion. I suggest you read it.