Tuesday, January 9, 2018
Nativity Epistle
Bishop John of Melbourne
Christ is born! Glorify Him!
“Today the Virgin giveth birth to him Who is transcendent in essence;
and the earth offereth a cave to Him Who is unapproachable. Angels with
shepherds give glory; with a star, the Magi do journey; for our sakes a
young Child is born, Who is pre-eternal
God.” (Kontakion of the Feast of the Nativity)
They, observing the obedience of the star, understood the dignity of the King.
(St John Chrysostom, Homily 2 I:208-209).
The Magi did not see before them either sceptre or throne, only utter
poverty. What was it then that moved them to undertake the toil of a
journey without reward? ….it was the star and the light that God had
placed in their hearts that led them step by step
to more perfect knowledge.
(St John Chrysostom, Sermon, The Epiphany and the Flight into Egypt, P.G.57:81)
The star mysteriously calls the Magi from afar. This is an image of
our conscience, which mystically calls us to the true Church, where we
will find Christ, the Truth, the Saviour of mankind. The Kings followed
the star faithfully for more than two years.
Leaving their palaces behind, they dedicated themselves to this
mysterious call. They took with them the best of their riches as gifts
for the newborn King. This is equivalent to us leaving our homes, our
jobs and families, sacrificing time and exertion, visiting
holy places and monasteries, making donations, and dedicating our life
to prayer and the Church. Each one of us has been called by that
mysterious light of faith, which at some point in our life has begun to
shine in our soul. The kings are an image of us
Gentiles, the Church of the nations, the New Testament Church.
Now we must respond, and if not leave our homes, at least offer our gifts –
faith, love and good works.
“Faith instead of gold, love
instead of myrrh, and good works instead of frankincense let us bring to
the Creator Who cometh unto His own”. (Aposticha stihera, Matins, 23
December, Forefeast of the Nativity).
We offer our
faith in abiding by Orthodox doctrine, practicing the commandments, and keeping the Canons of the Church. We offer our
love by prayer and diligent attendance at the Church services every Sunday and feast day,
participating in the Mysteries. We offer
good works
when beautifying the temples of God and the services, by our hands, by
our voices, and also by our monetary donations. According to the Holy
Fathers, alms-giving is the most powerful means
for receiving mercy from God and a direct path to God. This is
especially true for us people in the West, who live in a material
abundance unheard of even by the three ancient Kings. We are called to
glorify Him, in obedience, prayer and works of mercy.
Exhausted by years of wandering, the three Kings finally arrived at
Jerusalem, guided by the mysterious call. Then the unthinkable happened.
For a moment they lost the star - the light of clear faith. This may
happen to us also. But let us not be disheartened!
At that point, even without seeing the star, the Magi headed towards
Bethlehem, now guided by Scripture, the Old Testament prophesies. In the
same way, in moments of hesitation, we must refer to Scripture,
especially the Revelation of St John concerning the
last days of the world. None of the confusion of present modern life
should be a surprise to us. Let us hold fast to the teachings of Holy
Scripture and the Holy Fathers of the Church! The Church always taught
that in the end times these two stars would be
our only true spiritual guides.
The Church teaches us not to be guided by emotions, feelings and
earthly thoughts, which so easily express disillusionment, distortions,
and untruth. A gross mistake is to accept
these as the voice of our
conscience. Our conscience is the voice of God in our heart, and calling
human feelings the conscience is in essence a blasphemy against
the Holy Spirit. Our feelings easily deceive us, make us susceptible to
the power of evil, and gullible followers of false teachers, based on
irrational, emotional trust. We should never
forget that the spiritual deception of our modern apocalyptic world is
the work of false churches and false pastors, wolves in sheep’s
clothing.
Having put their trust in Scripture itself, rather than in the
authority of the Jewish priests and scribes who told them what the
prophets said, the three Kings made their way to Bethlehem. They never
returned to the false teachers. On the way, the star
re-appeared, and their faith was re-ignited. They reached their goal of
seeing God by trusting the Scriptures and Old Testament prophets. The
Lord Himself says:
“O fools, and slow of heart-to believe, all that the prophets have
spoken: (…) And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded
unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself”. (Lk
24:25, 27).
We could reasonably expect the rich Kings to be dismayed when they
reached their destination – a poor and dirty cave, full of animals, hay,
manure, stench, and a few poor shepherds attending to some homeless
people. But they were not disheartened! Similarly,
let us also not be discouraged by the poverty of Church life in our last
times. Indeed, it is difficult, because our feelings cry out for more
familiar, physical comforts - rather than the elevated, spiritual gifts
of God. Brothers and sisters, let us resist
our this-worldly emotional thirst for luxury, comfort, ease, grandiose
churches, radiant vestments and magnificent choirs in large cathedrals.
Even more important for many are the sumptuous banquets, gorgeous
clothes, beautiful houses, and gifts to be given
to us rather than
from us - all accompanied by
fuzzy feelings of ‘love’, directed
toward ourselves rather than
toward God and our neighbour.
Many, even among those who call themselves Orthodox, and especially in
the West, have decided that food, gifts, family and fuzzy feelings
constitute the very
meaning of the feast. Such people have lost the true
understanding and significance of Church feasts and church life. In the
correct context and proportion, these comforts are not evil in
themselves. Nevertheless, as Orthodox Christians, we must know
all this is of the fallen world. If we become excessively attached to
the world, we will not reach our destination of spiritual salvation.
Anything to which we attach more importance than Christ – be
it even our family, children, or career – becomes an idol. In our
times, especially among us in the West, families are seldom united in
Christ. The Lord sternly warns us:
“He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me:
and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”
(Mt. 10:37).
Today, some find it necessary to take their children to heretical
and schismatic churches to celebrate the birth of Christ, ostensibly for
the sake of their children’s happiness. They do not see that it is not
the children who have led the parents out
of the True Church, but rather, it is the parents who have led the
children astray. But Christ says:
“Suffer [allow] the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.” (Mk. 10:14). We hear continually in the Divine Services:
“let us commit ourselves, one another and all our life unto Christ our God.” If we heed this call,
“all these things shall be added” to us
(small litany; Mt 6:33)!
Everything depends on our discernment – a choice between the physical
and the spiritual; between the earthly and the Heavenly. Our reward is
not limited to the next life only – for when we set God
first in our lives, we receive peace of heart even here and
now, during our short sojourn on earth. He will give us true life and
happiness, which will most certainly last forever. Let us love Him, our
God, rather than ourselves and our fallen world!
We are all invited to receive this joy and peace of the true God in His
true Church! We will not find this joy and peace anywhere else.
Brothers and sisters, do not hesitate! The doors are open to us all – now, come, and join the spiritual feast!
Christ is born! Glorify Him!
+ Bishop John
Nativity of Christ, 2017/18
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