The Triumph of Christ

 

“ As the prophets have seen, as the apostles have taught, as the Church has received, as the teachers have set forth in dogmas, as the whole world has understood, as Grace has shone forth, as the truth was demonstrated, as falsehood was banished, as wisdom was emboldened, as Christ has awarded; thus do we believe, thus we speak, thus we preach Christ our true God and His saints, honoring them in words, in writings, in thoughts, in sacrifices, in temples, and in icons, worship ping and respecting the One as God and Master, and honoring the others, and apportioning relative worship to them, because of our common Master for they are His genuine servants.  this is the Faith of the apostles, this is the Faith of the fathers, this is the Faith of the Orthodox, this Faith hath established the whole world.”

 

This was going to be an entirely different post when it was first written, but as I have said before God has a mysterious way of working in the hearts and minds of men.  God has called us to preach Christ and to honor him in our writings, thoughts, churches and in the icons of the faith. And this blog I like to think I am in some small way carrying on the tradition set by the apostles. Which leads me to our discussion today. While yes, the council was restoring Icons to their proper place in the worship of God in the Church all those many years ago, it is not without the Victory of Christ that the Victory and Triumph of Orthodoxy was achieved. Without it, there would be no Sunday of Orthodoxy, Holy Pascha, The Nativity of Our Lord, and so on. The Victory of Christ is the victory over death and the victory for all mankind.

Death is a touchy subject for many, especially those who do not grasp the reality of life, and forget the power Christ defeated with his Holy Resurrection. Death for many in the world today is scary thought, a fear that grips their minds, their hearts, their souls. Death in the minds and hearts of people is the end, the sudden fading into black. We see this in many movies, tv shows, books, and writings of people that surely once we pass from this life, there is no next. But, we know this is not the case. First let me draw you to Mark, Chapter 12, Verse 27, where it states quite clearly, “He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken.”  If God is the God of the living, then those who have “died” must continue on living, this life is the next, the afterlife it is called. Jesus again in John 5:24 says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. Jesus has conquered death by his resurrection. Why should I fear death? In fact Christ also answers this question when says also in John 14:1-4, when says, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.  And you know the way to where I am going.” The Book of the Apocalypse, called Revelation says in 1:18, “And the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”  Jesus was of course talking about himself in Revelation, after all it is the Revelation of Jesus Christ to St. John, but it remains, that Jesus was dead, and is alive. He is the God of the living, not the dead. He has broken the power of death in our lives to fulfill it with His life, His Body, His Blood. We partake of this life every service when we have The Eucharist at the end of the Divine Liturgy. The living water that Jesus offered to St. Photini at the well is given to us freely at Divine Liturgy with open arms and a willingness to heal our bodies and souls if we only repent and ask for it. And yet, there are still some that fear death. Fear what decay and destruction might come to their mortal bodies, and yet they do not fear what could come to their immortal souls.  1 Corinthians 15:26 is a favorite verse of mine, not just because it was used in one of my favorite books, but rather because it speaks to the hearts of men, telling them with courage to embrace death, because it says, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” When we pass into life everlasting, we too defeat death, because it is Christ living in us, that has already and will forever defeat death. There is no need for fear, but joy and happiness. I think that’s what amazes me about Orthodoxy more than anything is the amount of people who when they repose in the Lord, a smile can be seen on their faces, because they are embracing Jesus in all his glory upon their repose.

We have once again come to the opening paragraph. I discussed the Triumph of Orthodoxy, which was celebrated this passed Sunday. But more than anything it isn’t about the Icons, the saints, the churches we gather in. Many in Africa, and the poorer regions of Orthodoxy may have these things, but they are not as grand as in Eastern Europe or here in America. Yet they still celebrate with full vigor and joy unending. Why? It is not because we defeated the iconoclast heresy long ago. No it is because we have a Savior, a Lord, a God who defeated death so that we do not have to fear it. We have Jesus Christ, the God-Man who united the divine with the mortal so that man could be who God meant him to be. We have forgotten that. People today either fear death, or they accept it as something that ends their existence. But to those of us Christians who remain true, death is not something to fear, rather it is something to embrace. Because Jesus has destroyed its power.

Amen.