Go Orthodoxy! Today I would like to make three points about this celebration of Orthodoxy’s great victory iconoclasm and, by extension, every sort of heresy.
1. The Victory of Truth over confusion, of light over shadow and darkness, of life over death.
Living in New England, we are used to victory. Between the Celtics, the Patriots, and the Red Sox, we get to celebrate quite a bit. Living in a multi-cultural country, it is tempting to see the victory of Orthodoxy in the same way, but it isn’t. As good as our sports teams are, sometimes they lose. This is the way it is in the world: a team can win one day and lose the next. Even the best teams occasionally have bad years, and while a bad year for the Patriots is better than a good year for the team I grew up with (the Atlanta Falcons), we are still disappointed when they come up short. It may look that way to the world, but today we are not just celebrating the temporal victory of one religion over another, or even Orthodox Christianity over heretical iconoclasm.
No. The Sunday of Orthodoxy is more than the simple affirmation of one Creed against its competitors because the thing which this Creed affirms is the absolute source of Truth, light, and life. By affirming Orthodoxy, we adjust ourselves more closely to the workings of the world and its “deeper magic” and thereby bring its sanctifying power into our lives and into a world that so desperately needs it.
2. A Celebration of the lives that dedicated themselves to Christianity’s preservation and spread.
In addition to celebrating the revelation of the Way of Salvation, on the Sunday of Orthodoxy we also remember all those who have devoted their lives to it. Recognizing the valor of those who have gone before us comes natural to us here in America. It is part of our culture. Pani Tina and I recently watched a movie – one based on a true story – that captures this. The movie was Taking Chance, staring Kevin Bacon. He played a Marine colonel who volunteered to escort the body of a Marine KIA across the country. We were moved as we saw the way people reacted to the presence of the fallen warrior. We instinctively honor our war dead. We honor their sacrifice, and we honor their dedication to something greater themselves: this country, its protection, and its grandest ideals. But as much as we honor them, think how much more fitting it is to honor those who gave their life in service to something even greater. Nations – even great ones like ours – come and go, but the Truth is beyond time. Great nations enoble their people and provide the opportunity for them to do great things, but Orthodoxy does so much more. This is certainly not meant to disparage our country’s heroes: we should honor them. But the great men and women who devoted their lives to Orthodoxy – to include those depicted on our own walls – deserve even more. The sacrifices of our nation’s warriors have left us with a country in which we can live relatively comfortably and free from tyranny; the sacrifices of our departed saints have left us churches in which it is possible for to find healing, true fellowship, and eternal life. I love my county. But while I believe that there is none greater, I believe even more strongly that the Christian nation – the one in which there is no Jew, Greek, Ukrainian, or American – is by far the greatest.
3. We must recognize that it is now up to us.
Are we up to it? We say that we believe, but are we serious? We say that we have accepted Christ into our hearts, that we live in Him and Him in us. But have we? Are our actions directed by the Christ within us, or by our own fears and desires? It is time to take stock of our lives: when it comes to how I decide whether something is right or wrong, what do I refer to? My feelings? The spirit of the age? Or do I respect my commitment to the Truth enough to find out what God is teaching through His Church?
Too often, turning to Christ for direction is an afterthought, done not as part of our discernment, but to test whether the Church has it right. If this is your process, then you have to admit that instead of having Christ living inside you, nourishing you, healing you, helping you; you wear Him like an ornament or accessory, something to put around your neck as long as it doesn’t clash with the latest fashion or style.
Today we hear Christ gathering His disciples. We hear how quickly they love Him and accept Him as their master (e.g. “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”). What you do not hear is a disciple saying something like; “I accept you as Master and I will follow you… as long as you style your hair a bit so that it doesn’t look so old fashioned, and so long as you do not embarrass me in public.”
Either Christ is the Son of God and we are born anew through Him, or He isn’t. Either He lives in this Church or He doesn’t. As Christians we join the countless saints before us in our knowledge of the Truth. We are committed to it, to living it, and to sharing it with the world.
Be strong in this commitment. Trust it. Live it. Let it transform you from the inside out. It is the deeper magic, and it will perfect you.
