Our Identity in Christ

 

Identity. There’s a lot of discussion in the media today about identity and what people identify as. Where that be pansexual, nonbinary, transgender, or some of the one hundred and twelve different genders I found doing my research. However, we as Orthodox Christians know that there are only two genders for in Genesis it says in 1:27, “He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created.” While man might have twisted and corrupted the divine plan for mankind, God has never abandoned us. He loves us beyond our wildest understanding. There is always hope for even the worst of sinners. As a lay person, I am the last one who should be talking about the scriptures and interpreting them, but I want to present here that our identity has already been defined for us, and that whether we are male or female, we are united in Christ.

Having been blessed to enter the Orthodox Church in recent years, I have come to have an understanding of Christ and his identity in a unique way that is not present in many places in the world. Christ himself did not come to just save us from the fires of hell, like the fire and brimstone preachers would tell us. No, Christ came to bring man into the fullness of light and life with his incarnation. His incarnation gave to us the uniting of both the divine and mortal and brought us into a place in which St. Athanasius says, “God became man that man might become God.” In that we have the ability to overcome the world just as Christ did. We can create and mold and shape the world as the sub-creators of the world. We are given the Holy Spirit upon our acceptance into the Church, and we use the Holy Spirit to guide our lives and become more like Christ with every passing moment. We can also deny this gift and become more like the demons who rejected God. Our identity is defined first and foremost by how we react and how we have interpreted the incarnation of God. Are we willing to sacrifice our own wills and thoughts for God? The great saints of our time willingly surrendered their lives at the hands of the Soviet persecutors and St. Nektarios when accused of immoral behavior did not try to resist his tormentors but rather accepted it as God’s will and sacrificed his own desire as a bishop to love God more fully.

Secondly our identity is not of this world. If we identify with the spirits of this world, we become more in tune with the world and what they want. In my opening paragraph I discussed the world and how they want to reject the nature of gender and sex in this current age. I see women laying with women, and men with men, and people are okay with it. They claim that their identity cannot be defined by the labels that man has given it, rather they want to be free to do as they please. They want to throw off the yoke of God, which Christ says is “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” They want the heavy yoke of sin around their neck not knowing that they are plunging themselves deeper and deeper into torment and sin. Our identity is a heavenly one.  We are called to be citizens of paradise, as one of my favorite hymns says. The people of this world, especially those in the west, have lost their faith because they do not practice it. It is better to hide their light under a basket than to stand for something they believe in. The reason we have allowed practices today to begin to warp the minds and hearts not just of the older generation, but the children is because we do not practice the faith. We do not pray, we do not attend services, we simply want to be able to be left alone and do what we want. We cannot be saved alone; we need others to hold us accountable and in doing so we need orthodoxy to bring about a change in our hearts through Jesus Christ.

Thirdly, our identity is defined in how we react to persecution. If we have accepted the first two points, then we understand that Christ is the savior of the world, and that we have a higher calling, a purpose to be of heaven not of earth. Our reaction to persecution is also a defining factor of our identity. I know that I have spoken before on this topic but let me go in detail as to what I mean in relationship identity. Christians since time immemorial have suffered at the hands of those who wish to see the seal of Christ stamped out from the world. Reading through the lives of apostles other night I saw how much the pagans took their anger and their unbelief out on the holy men of God. Trying to eradicate the Church before it could really be established, these pagans would crucify, burn, and torture those who stood for the faith. Today, with the gender identity craze is becoming more and more of threat to traditional and orthodox Christian belief, we have seen the weakest of Christians fall to the wayside and accept this perverse and disgusting teaching as if it came from the mouth of God himself. Instead of holding firm to the apostolic tradition, these so called Christians have rejected even the scriptures themselves. Presbyterians, Lutherans, Methodists, Anglicans, and many other faith traditions have placed themselves up as God and have allowed both women priests and homosexual priests within their ranks. They have torn asunder the scriptures and done evil in the sight of God. This is persecution and when the test came to decide whether they were true or false, the fire tested these people as false. While I no doubt there are many who hold firm to Christ in these traditions, the leaders of their respective traditions have turned many astray. Those who hold firm to their identity in Christ will accept persecution with open arms, knowing that Christ himself was subject to persecution and his response was to accept the cross willingly without complaint or argument. Are we so holy that we are better than even Christ himself? The apostles saw and were blessed, blessed more so are those of us who have not seen and yet believed.

While this article took a turn in a different direction that I assume many of you thought it would, it is still good to understand that our identity in Christ is what is most important. I am sure that I will return to this topic many times and expand on my thoughts further in future articles. For now though with the celebration of the Holy Cross tomorrow I am reminded that I must sacrifice myself daily and take up the cross and follow Christ. Wherever that leads me I am willing. For it is not I that lives, but Christ who lives through me.

Amen.

Tollhouse Cookies or Tollhouse Road: The Final Ascent Tollhouses 11-20

 

Yesterday we looked at the first ten tollhouses in which God will allow the demons to test your faith on your journey after death. We looked at how one would be judged and the sort of things that will be asked of you by the angels and demons as God makes his judgment regarding your soul. The first ten were relatively concentrated on the pride and the dereliction of your duty with fellow man. We have seen that pride is the root cause of all life’s problems and as we reach further up the ascent into heaven we no doubt will as well encounter the tollhouse of pride. While I would again stress this is figurative language, the journey of the soul is something that we Orthodox take seriously. Especially as it regards to the prayers for the dead and if you haven’t read that blog I suggest you do so.  May God grant us understanding as we continue this discussion on the tollhouse road.

The eleventh torment is that of pride. Yes, after we have endured all our sins that we have committed regarding avarice, envy, and love of riches we come to heart of the matter. We come to pride. It is here at the eleventh tollhouse all of the prideful moments of our lives will be laid bare. All the times we have forgotten to honor our parents, our government, and the superiors God has placed over us, will be exposed. We will be asked to account for our sins as they have taken place. There is often a lot of talk in the media today about pride. The LGBTQ+ community has even rallied around the very term in a sense to be proud of who they are. God does not ask us to proud of ourselves. Because without Him our lives are nothing. God asks us to be humble, to be meek, to seek Him and Him alone. Being self-absorbed in ourselves we lose the focus to focus on those around us. Taking care of others, being kind and in short we become lovers of ourselves.  God does not look kindly on us rejecting his plan for our lives, seeking our own earthly desires. But here the pride we have accumulated in ourselves will be exposed. It is a grave sin brothers and sisters. Do not fall into it.

The twelfth torment is that of anger. Christ himself was once filled with holy anger for the things that he found in the temple, and how he drove the moneychangers and others from the temple in Jerusalem. However, we are not so much concerned with holy anger for the things that God abhors and detests. We are talking about the things said to those out of anger and hatred for our fellow man. How many times do we lose our temper when things aren’t going our way and we lash out because we are filled with such rage that we become hostile to those around us. We speak ill of each other and we harm the salvation and very being of people by our actions. Do we punish our children severely when an encouraging word or a light punishment was sufficient for their actions? Do we show wrath against people who have wronged us? Oftentimes we do. We live in a world today where people are seeking to be first without equals, not among equals. We don’t treat each other with respect. We cancel those who disagree with us, and we shame those with a dissenting voice. We create in ourselves this self-righteousness that is not at all how Christ acted. He could have gotten angry and lashed out at Pilate, Herod, the pharisees and Sanhedrin. But he did not. We must control our temper lest it is laid bare for us at this tollhouse and exposes us as a fraud and hypocrite. We must walk with humility and patience. Knowing that our fellow man is also sinful. Anger and hatred have no place in the heart of a Christian. We must root this out with prayer, fasting and the Holy Eucharist. Otherwise here at the 12^th tollhouse the demons will come and will be able to overcome us.

The thirteenth torment is again exposing more of the same, but it hearkens back to what Christ says, “love your enemies.” The thirteenth torment is that of holding grudges. How many people do we absolutely hate and cannot forgive them for their actions? Here I am convicted again of my own sins in my own life where I have despised someone for a wrong they have committed against me. And I humbly ask you to pray for me that I might forgive them for their actions. I pray that we will forgive all people for their actions. People today do not want to forgive their neighbor, believing themselves to be above reproach and that what they want is more important. Holding grudges and basically already judging them in place of God is a dangerous sin. Are we better than God? Do we have more knowledge and wisdom than the God that created all things? If we believe this brothers and sisters, we must repent immediately. We must turn from our wicked ways and go and seek forgiveness not just from God but from the person we have a grudge against. We must learn to let it go. The thirteenth tollhouse will expose this and I would not want for Satan to have any way of accusing us at the judgement of my failure to love.

The fourteenth torment is murder. Christ says hating one’s brother or sister is already committing murder in the heart. Have we killed? Have we struck someone down because we wanted to? Taking a life is never easy, but so too is holding anger in hearts. Committing murder in our souls against our neighbor. We must restrain ourselves from harming one another. Even if it means rejecting our passion of harming someone who has harmed us.

The fifteenth torment is that of sorcery. Now today’s world places a large emphasis on sorcery with the Harry Potter novels, the Charmed television series, and other books that feature fantastical feats with use of magic. We dear brothers and sisters, must reject it for what it is. We must reject it, because magic is using the power of the demons to achieve our goals. To achieve what we want. Magic is real. Wiccans today perform magic through the use of their spells and other acts that a Christian must reject. It may be enjoyment for us to watch shows and want to have that sort of power. But when we let the demons creep into our minds using their subtle but effective methods we could get the idea that we too should practice witchcraft and use the power of the demonic arts to achieve our goals. Here the sins of sorcery and witchcraft will be laid bare for us. If we have not participated in this we have nothing to fear for we must be reminded that God sees all and forgives all. If we only repent we will not be subject to the terrors of the demons.

Now we come to the sexual torments. Those of which are terrible and great in the world today. We see these most often in the culture that we live in especially here in the United States. The sixteenth torment is fornication. Lust and the power of sex is rampant in the world today. We see this with Onlyfans, with Instagram, and other social media sites catering to our desire to fulfill our sexual urges. Porn is easily accessible to our youth, to everyone really. Pornhub caters to people who are seeking to fulfill a longing for companionship. We do not wish to seek the companionship of God. We want earthly desires to take away the responsibility of living our lives in fellowship with God and do not want to account for our actions. It is said here that these sins will be exposed and the demons as our prosecutors will accuse of us all the sins we have committed in fornication and lusting after those who we find desirable.

Next is the seventeenth torment. Getting closer to paradise, but still a ways to go. Adultery is here exposed. The seventeenth torment will see all that which we have done in relation to the marriage bed laid bare. Have we been faithful to our spouse? Have we sought another while being married to the person God has intended? For most Christians and people this will be an easy tollhouse as for most keeping the marriage bed sacred has been a duty and an honor. They have found the person they want to spend the rest of their lives with and will do anything to keep it pure. But for others, through divorce and their own pride they have sought to destroy it whether openly or secretly. Swinging and websites like Ashley Madison have made it easy for a person to cheat on their spouse with the help of few people or a few simple clicks. People have rejected the love of their spouse and the love of God for love of themselves.  We must not fall into that trap brothers and sisters. We must rise above it, whether we are celibate for the glory of God or have found a spouse. We must keep the marriage bed sacred and love the person God has entrusted to us with the upmost purity.

The eighteenth torment is that of homosexuality and sodomic sins. These sins are those where we have lusted after the person of our same gender our same kind. We have turned from the love between a man and woman and twisted it. We see this with the LGBTQ+ community today, calling for love is love. We see people accept it as natural, as a way in which God has intended but this tollhouse and Christianity in general know that it is not. It is a foreign concept that has invaded the minds and hearts of the people of this generation.  I have known many people who were of this persuasion in my life and it is an unnatural persuasion. It is not the life God has intended for us. Yet, through repentance they too can be saved. It is not that God will condemn them and sentence them, for we know God will forgive everything if we only confess. But confession must be pure, it must be an about face. We cannot continue to live in sin when we know it is not God’s chosen plan.

The next to last torment, the nineteenth torment is that of heresies. I have spoken quite often on heresies here, but this is once again a serious issue and must be taken accordingly. Here we will be asked if we upheld the doctrines of the Church. Whether we held within our hearts the true faith, or if we have allowed false teachings to permeate our lives. Have we clung true to the faith that has been preserved for 2000 years or have we allowed new ideas and teachings to be adopted as our own. The Orthodox Church is unchanging and unrepentant in our belief that we have protected the faith that God established and that everything outside of it is heresy. Yes that will be off putting for some, but you must look and discover the truth for yourself. I nor anyone else can come to a realization of faith for you. Heresy is a dangerous game, one that if not carefully discerned can lead to the corruption of the soul and eventually its condemnation.

Finally the twentieth and last torment. Here the soul will experience the greatest of trials, where nothing else but mercy will matter.  Have we granted mercy in our life time to those who deserve it? Have we rejected giving it when it mattered most? This is the last and greatest trial the soul will take up in the ascension to heaven. But do not fear, for God forgives all. We must only be able to understand and ask for mercy. Here in this lifetime we must seek mercy for all people, not just our own life. We must be willing to give mercy to even those who we believe do not deserve it. It is difficult, but with God’s grace and love in our hearts everything is possible.

We have reached the end of our journey and have completed the road to paradise. The tollhouse road was filled with distressing things. My mother told me other day after reading Part 1, that I need to remember that the demons do not have the power to drag us to hell. And yet she is indeed right. Only ourselves condemn us. The demons do not have the authority to drag us down and bring us into hell. Only by the judgment from God. Though this is figurative language and much of it is misunderstood by even the most scholarly of priests and clergy, we must understand that these torments are indeed real and will be used to judge us as to whether our salvation has been secured through Jesus or if we were simply going through the motions. Our lives are filled with opportunities to turn to Christ or to turn away. I am saved, am being saved, and will be saved. It is not a once saved always saved mentality. It is a living our lives in accordance to the commandments and we must fulfill them to have a true Christian faith. For most they will fall away. Others will rise to the occasion and live out as best they can the teachings of Christ. So I leave you with a question. Will you take up your cross and follow Christ or will you follow Satan and his demons?

Amen.

Cancelling Cancel Culture

 

Cancel Culture. How does it relate to Orthodoxy, and Christianity in general? The most obvious part of cancel culture is that it does fit the loving, caring and forgiving nature of Christ.  At its core, cancel culture seeks to destroy and devalue any and every position that it finds as wrong and distasteful in the sight of the world. At its core, cancel culture has a sense of pride about it. This is pride is that what anyone believes that goes against the collective majority is wrong and must be stamped out for the greater good. Christianity as we will see will indeed have a cancel culture within it, but not what you might think.

            First, we must understand that cancel culture is a mob mentality. It is a sense of pride and arrogance that the person who has been offended has more value to the world than those who they are trying to cancel. The person who is speaking, usually against something that is morally or spiritually wrong is told that their views are outdated, misogynist, homophobic or racist. While there is some of that going on in the world, yes, the majority of it is trying to belittle their fellow man and create god in their own image. They want a world free of the responsibility of sin, a world in which man can do as he pleases and does not answer to a higher power. We have allowed those who want to allow sin to creep into our doors and places of worship to overrun the society in the media, the government, and the schools that teach our children.  They seek to destroy the fabric of our faith with ideas foreign to that of the gospel, to the teachings of the Church. They seek to liberalize Christ and reject the words that he preached. For example, those who speak against homosexuality. We as Christians know from Romans 1:26-27 that, “Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.  In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.”  Thus we know from the writings of Paul that homosexuality is a sin. Those who stand up for this belief are told that God is love and that he wouldn’t allow for people to feel this way if it wasn’t natural. The same could be said for me when I want to eat a piece of cake. That cake looks good, its natural to eat food, but if I eat that cake it could cause me to have diabetes down the road. So while it may be “natural” it is a sickness that causes men and women to lust after each other and to commit sins against their own selves. But in the eyes of the world, they are considered pure, almost holy for being homosexual. The same with transgenderism, where men want to become women and women want to become men. The enemy has twisted the minds of people into believing that gender is construct, that people can change who they are based on what they feel in the inside. If you speak against it, you are labeled as evil yourself, and against people being who they are. We as Christians want people to be who they are, but we want them to be built in God’s image, not their own. This is pride. My last final thought on the pride of cancel culture is that of misogyny. People who believe women are devalued in the eyes of the world, the church, and society in general. This in the context of an Orthodox perspective is that the church should allow women priests, because it creates equality, and men and women are equal.  I would argue that Orthodox men and women are some of the most respectable people when it comes to equality, our greatest saint, and the pinnacle of faith is Mary, the Mother of God, called the Theotokos. As far as men and women being equal St. Paul also gives us a teaching regarding this, when he says, “Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.” Paul clearly says that women should not speak or teach in the church. This isn’t a view that women are inferior, but rather that men should take the roles of leadership and allow women to do what they do best, serve. That is why for 2000 years men have been chosen as priests, bishops, and patriarchs. They have governed the church and preserved the faith. Again, it comes back to pride. Instead of humbling themselves, women who call for a women priesthood are prideful and arrogant, unrepentant of their sin and refusing to accept their role within the structure of the church.

            Secondly we see that cancel culture devalues humanity. Instead of instructing and growing a person to become more knowledgeable or to correct their views on an issue, people want them mocked, removed from society. We are seeing this now with those speaking against Ukraine, with those in support of the Nazis in Ukraine calling for the arrest of anyone speaking against the war. We see this with celebrities who have stood for truth and justice being blackballed and removed from roles and other jobs because they did not agree with the narrative. Instead of showing these people the error of their ways, it has created a “My view is the right view and everyone else is wrong” mentality. Eventually when enough people believe the lies they are told, it becomes a mob mentality where the masses rule and the truth is squashed. Though the truth of the Church can never be overcome, see Matthew 16:18 for that, people want to marginalize the Church and its teachings to a point where it can not have any influence on society. People have established in their hearts that something is amiss, and they can fill this void with everything but Christ. They have tried their best to discover hidden truths, hidden messages, forgotten doctrines, instead of leaning on the understanding of the Church for 2000 years. The scriptures again tell us that this is dangerous, when it says in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”  The scriptures remind us that we should not rely on our own thoughts and beliefs but to rely on the Lord. Those that have twisted the scriptures and twisted the hearts and minds of the people have not relied on the Lord, and instead have created this false narrative that permeates through the society and has created this cancel culture. If we are to do anything about it, we must return to the Church and place our faith solely in Christ, nothing else.

            Finally I said I would speak about Christianity having a cancel culture of its own but not in the way you would expect. This of course is the cancelling of sin. Sin cannot abide in the House of God, in the Body of Christ. Sin is a disease that sours the whole loaf. It creates problems and drags down those who even though they might seem strong will break at the very thought of something that goes against their beliefs. Therefore, the Church guards closely against heresies and false teachings. It is why the church only allows members to be entered into the church after a period of reflection and even then some will fall away, either because of their own sins, or because of the sins of others. The Church thus has a system of excommunication in which it expels members for a time to allow the person to repent of their sins and to come back into the fullness of faith. It is a foreign concept to most western Christians, because their churches do not practice it, but it is a custom as old as the Church itself. It when used correctly sees the person living in sin return to the fold stronger and more willing to follow the teachings of the church. When a person rejects the excommunication put on them it leads to further heresies and prelest. The Church cancels sin. It is a part of our culture. We therefore cannot stand idly by when a person is endangering their soul and causing havoc on others. We must stand for what is right and defend the truth.

            I had a lot to say in this article and I hope everyone was able to grow and learn from this today. May God bless you and keep you, guiding you to the place where there is no sorrow or suffering, but life-everlasting.

 

Amen.

An Explanation of the Creed

 

I believe in one God, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages; Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten, not created, of one essence with the Father through Whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried; And He rose on the third day, according to the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father; And He will come again with glory to judge the living and dead. His kingdom shall have no end.

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Creator of life, Who proceeds from the Father, Who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, Who spoke through the prophets.

In one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.

I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come.

Amen.

 

                The Creed. The Symbol of Faith. Perhaps no other document outside of the Holy Scripture is so much beloved and well known to Christians. Especially those of us in the Orthodox Faith. The Creed is the lifeblood of the Church, it shapes it, gives it its purpose and its mission. It confesses everything we need for salvation. While rummaging through another of Father Spyridon Bailey’s books I was once again compelled to write an article. This time not so much a book review of “Small Steps into the Kingdom” which is the book for anyone interested. No, this time I was compelled to write an article because it is extremely important for the truth to be proclaimed. The Nicene Creed is just that truth.

                The Nicene Creed, more commonly known as the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, is the creed proclaimed by the Church Fathers in Nicaea in what is today Turkey but was once a part of Greece. The Council was formed to stop the spread of heresy and to establish the basis for everything that Christ had taught and had been passed down from one bishop to the next. Most protestants will be interested to learn that the Church was already an established hierarchy by the time this council was established, and more so when the canon of scripture was established.  The Church in turn chose their successors to from among the honorable men, and in turn the process has continued until this very day. These group of bishops, the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council not only reaffirmed the Faith that had already been preserved by God through them but reaffirmed the faith for all generations. The Nicene Creed is and will forever be the vow of all Christians who truly place their faith in Christ and believe in the true wholeness of the Church.

                Let’s take the first statement. I believe. This isn’t a group of people talking about something they think or want to think is real. This is actual wholehearted belief. It is something as I have mentioned before worth dying for. I believe, means that you not only think it, that you also dwell on it, and that you would act on it. It is the very fiber of your being. The statement I believe, means your whole soul is committed to the words that come after it. If not, you are a Pharisee and a hypocrite. You are paying service with lips, not with actions and you certainly have no place in the Kingdom.

                The second phrase-In One God. Christians do not have a pantheon of gods, a whole host of gods who rule the stars, the air, the winds, the trees, the forges and the lightning. No, there is but One God, whose name is the Most High. He is the source of all beings, the source of all life, the source of all light. He is called the Father of Lights in one of my favorite prayers the priest prays. One God, nothing other than Him can sit on the throne of our hearts. He is called Father, Creator, Almighty. These are descriptions, they describe who God is. We cannot know God in his essence, but we can know God in how he works. He is the Father of us all, whether we acknowledge that reality or not, He Is. He is also Almighty, full of might. Nothing is impossible for God. He does what he wishes, and he wishes what he does.  He cannot contradict himself; he cannot do what is outside his nature. He is who He is. He is also Creator. The trees, the birds, the fish, and yes humans are his creation. He gives us the nous to let us flourish and grow in Him, to mature and become citizens of Paradise.  Even the invisible the Creed says, those things that the human eye cannot perceive are created by Him. The spiritual realm, the realm where the angels work and do the bidding of God is all his domain. Nothing in and of itself can do anything without the permission of God.

                Moving forward in the Creed, we get to the part about Jesus. Now this was crucial in the earliest days of the Church, because as I have said before there were those who denied both the humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ. Light of Light-I’ve already said God is Father of Lights. He is the creator of everything, and light is one of those things. So Jesus being Light of Light confirms his status as God. But then the Council really hammered the point home, when they said True God of True God. Confirming that Jesus was indeed God, not some created being like the Jehovah’s Witnesses would have you believe. Incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, again confirming that Jesus was both human and divine. But also granting Mary the title of Theotokos, the Mother of God. Then there are those who like the Muslims believe that Jesus did not die, but rather turned someone else into a copy of Jesus and was not crucified. The Church Fathers reaffirm the scriptures as the Scriptures reaffirm the Creed when it says he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, suffered, and was buried. Yes, Christ actually died. He suffered, it wasn’t a mirage, it wasn’t some trick laid on by the eyes, it happened, and Christ was buried. His tomb at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem can still be seen to this day. It is not the “garden tomb” that is promulgated by some protestant Christians.  He rose again on the third day after. Yes, he was dead is now alive. Revelation says as much. His ascension is recorded in the Book of Acts, and Jesus spoke often about His Second Coming. He will return. He will judge the living and dead and His Kingdom has no end.

                Now we get into the controversial portion of the creed. It was bound to happen. And in the Holy Spirit the Lord, the Creator of Life, Who proceeds from the Father.  Now all you Roman Catholics and some of you protestants just had your minds either blown or they exploded in a fit of rage. You’ll say to me he proceeds from the Father and the Son.  Actually…. No. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father alone, and not from Jesus Christ. The filioque as you would put it, was only added later and at the condemning by the eastern patriarchs and only accepted by Rome. The Holy Spirit is and always will be God, and in saying that he proceeds from Jesus Christ only diminishes His role within the Trinity.  

                In one holy catholic and apostolic church. First there are not many churches. There are many faith traditions within Christianity, but only One Church, the Orthodox Christian Church. We are not Eastern Orthodox, though some call us that. We are catholic, with a small c to avoid confusion with the Roman Catholics. We are a universal church, we can be found on every continent, in almost every country and every land. The Church is holy, because it was established by Christ, not by man. It is apostolic, because we have an unbroken line of succession from the apostles to the current bishops today. For example, Patriarch Bartholomew is the 270^th Patriarch of Constantinople, founded by St. Andrew, brother of St. Peter. Theodore II of Alexandria is the 115^th successor, meaning the 116^th Pope of Alexandria, founded by St. Mark who the wrote gospel that bears his name. So, you see the Church is reaffirming what is already believed, and was established at this point in time.

                Baptism for the forgiveness of sins. Again self-explanatory. We understand that baptism is a crucial aspect of salvation, not just a mere symbol. It is our entrance into the Church, our act of faith that admits into the mysteries of the church. Without baptism there is no salvation. There is a baptism not of water, but of blood, the blood of the martyr which the church teaches as well. So baptism here is not a baptism of the Holy Spirit, but rather, water that Christ spoke about with Nicodemus. The Resurrection of the dead.  We all accept that Christ will return and will resurrect the dead when he comes. The dead shall rise first and then those who are alive. The life of the age to come means the eternal life. The life we have beyond this mortal being and spend with Christ in glory.

 

So, there you have it. A simple explanation of the Creed. I hope that you get a chance to continue growing in the faith and will love as Christ loves.

 

Amen.  

A look at Orthodox Monarchy

 

            When choosing a name for something, like a dog or your children, a lot of thought goes into the decision. You may talk with family members, you may seek advice from your priest, you may even pray about the decision. All of these are noble and good, and in the end the name that you give your child especially will be carried with them the rest of their earthly and eternal lives. So too when I took up my keyboard to first write this blog, I took my time in deciding a name for it. As you all know by now if you’re reading this, the name of the blog is The Tsar’s Corner. That’s not by accident, and certainly not a misnomer. When something is laid on your heart, a wellspring of the Holy Spirit pours forth and if you allow it, God can speak through you. I don’t imagine God uses this 29-year-old young man from the spiritually inept regions of the United States to do much good, but I pray that as God guides me on my journey, he might just give me the grace of the Holy Spirit to do a few good things in this life. This article you are about to read is one of those things I pray God blesses with the uttermost blessing. A chance to share with you a passion of mine, as well as something that I have grown to understand is the basis of how God not only rules the universe but has ordained man to govern the earth. It is a foreign concept in our age of enlightenment, in our age of reason, but nonetheless it is the way God has intended. I am of course talking about monarchy. And my friends that is why this blog is called the Tsar’s Corner. Named in honor of St. Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia.

            With that said, let’s look at the most recent Orthodox monarchy, that of Russia for our first inspiration. Russia, that bastion of orthodoxy that has in recent years come under so much scrutiny from the west and the United States of America was once the mightiest of the Orthodox lands, the third Rome if you will. Now, I am not going to go into detail over whether it is the Third Rome, that is an entirely different argument, but it is important that it was center for Orthodox thought from the fall of Constantinople in 1453 to 1917 when it itself fell to the abominable and morally heinous Soviet Regime. Out of Russia, great saints of the faith rose certainly after this especially during the great periods of persecution and tribulation that was suffered at the hands of the soviets, but so too before this. We witness of course, Seraphim of Sarov, of who’s name I carry. We witness the Optina Elders, Valaam had its greatest period of spiritual growth during the reigns of the Tsars and certainly the people were allowed to worship fully in spirit and in truth during the reigns of the Tsars from St. Vladimir the Great, to the final Romanov monarch St. Tsar Nicholas II. St. Vladimir, influenced by the repentance of his grandmother St. Olga of Kiev, sought the light of Orthodoxy in Constantinople. It was there that his emissaries said, “We knew not whether we were in Heaven or on Earth… We only know that God dwells there among the people, and their service is fairer than the ceremonies of other nations."  The truth of Christianity was brought back to Kievan Rus and there it stayed and has not left since.

            Though Russia was the last bastion of Orthodox Monarchy, it was not the first. We know that from the reign of St. Constantine the Great and his mother St. Helen, that Byzantium and the Eastern Roman Empire was a Christian nation. It was there when the forging of the great Nicene Creed, the ecumenical councils, and when the church fathers began to write. God was the King of the Universe, and the Emperor was God’s chosen vessel to rule. Now this seems eerily familiar with the so called “Vicar of Christ” title the Pope of Rome has assumed, but no, it was different. The Emperor wasn’t chosen by God to rule over the Church and create new teachings and new policies or to rule over the thoughts of men, but rather to bring peace and stability to the people and govern justly and with the heart of Christ.  The Emperor would from time to time be asked to solve disputes within the church, but as an outside adjudicator. The Emperor was after all, not an ordained priest, but a layman, under the guidance of a spiritual father. A confessor. The Emperor was meant to be one of virtue. Now we know that this wasn’t often the case, many were corrupt men, as all men are. We also know that many saints and many of the elders of the church were at one time royalty, surrendering everything they had for the sake of Christ. These men and their spouses were to uphold the commandments for all to follow, to be the shining example of their people. If we compare it to today’s politicians, we see that those men are not examples for us to follow, rather they are laughed at, mocked, and often times are involved in things that as Christians we should and must scorn.

            Finally, we reach the last argument I will make regarding monarchy. Heaven. Yes even heaven is a monarchy. With Jesus as King and Sovereign over the universe, and the angels his ministers, or as the bible more eloquently puts it, “He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.” (Psalm 104:4) I am reminded of the Lord of Spirits podcast, of the teachings of Fathers Andrew Damick and Stephen De Young, who as Orthodox priests proclaim the truth that Orthodoxy has maintained, in that Jesus as the King, and the angels his ministers, sit in council together, and final authority rests of the shoulders of God, and thus heaven itself is a monarchy. Though God does take counsel, he being creator of all, and omniscient, knows everything. He makes the decisions for the world that is best for us. He being the good king, like an Aragorn of Lord of the Rings note. Again, don’t take my word for it, rather read Isaiah 37:6 which says, “O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.” Or Psalm 95:3 which says, “For the Lord is a great God And a great King above all gods,” I might do a future post on God of gods, and the like but now is not the time. Another verse that shows that heaven is a monarchy, is 1 Timothy 1:17 it reads, “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.  Psalm 47:8 says, “God reigns over the nations, God sits on His holy throne. Even Matthew says in 4:!7, “From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Revelation 11:15 talks about the victory that Christ won at His Resurrection, and the establishment of the eternal Kingdom of God when it says, “Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.”

            So you have seen the examples of Russia and Byzantium. You have also been given scriptural references that Heaven is a monarchy. So what do we do with this information now that it is presented. There are always two options. The first is to reject it. As often men do when it doesn’t fit their narrative. They reject it and come up with a rational explanation. No, heaven is a monarchy, people should be free to govern themselves, a king would only make matters worse. If we look at the democracies of the world in which this argument has been made, then, it is a lie. Countries of the west, like Britain, France, Germany, Poland, and the United States are all spiritually weak, and feeble minded. We see this with the politicians, and leaders of the countries allowing mob rule and for morality to be thrown aside for comfort and ease. Places like Russia and Ukraine and the Eastern European nations that once held fast to the Tsar are albeit spiritually sound but struggling against the pulls of the devils and their wiles to bring down these nations and destroy them. When power rests in the hands of one person, decisions can be swift, and taking the council of a few chosen who have been learned in the scriptures and writings of the Church can make the actions of the ruler much more informed. What happens when we allow all to make a decision is that no one agrees on anything, and they try to profit off gaining their own interests and power. Sad really. So that is why I pray for the return of an Orthodox Emperor, one who can unite the Commonwealth of Peoples under the Orthodox banner of faith and restore peace and stability to the world. Not in a one world new world order sort of way, but one that will bring honor and glory to God and God alone.

 

Amen.

 

 

 

Facing the Persecutor

 

Persecution. Not the greatest of topics, but as the past two blogs have become a running theme, it’s the logical next step in our discussion that I have taken up on my blog. We have discussed St. Sophronios who was beloved by his flock but saw that the persecution of the Christians was due to lukewarm hearts and disdain for true and righteous beliefs. We discussed St. Ephraim, who left his home in Greece to become a monk and come to America, a foreign and strange land to him where he would be looked down upon for his simple way of life and his status as a monk. But we have not gotten at the heart of the matter, rather the heart of the world. Our discussions on this blog have shown that persecution does exist, sometimes subtly, other times as it was with the Islamic Invasions of the Holy Land, very real and very straightforward. But both times it is there. It lurks in the shadows as does the devil. He doesn’t need to work in the light, for by working in the shadows does he do his greatest damage to the hearts of men. When the devil corrupts, he corrupts only to the point in which we allow him to. Just like God, he doesn’t force himself on us, but whispers and connives and plots in hearts until we are so ensnared by his thinking, we pass it off as our own and often the world sees what the devil has created as normal. And that is where we land ourselves in this article today.

You see we see it in the world around us whether we admit it to ourselves or if we are ignorant and blissful of the situation, but it is real. From political leaders who wish to tear down the fabric of society and remake it in their image, or from so called religious leaders who beg and plead with those they have been entrusted with to make evil good and good evil. But dear brothers and sisters this is simply persecution in its subtleness. Jesus spoke of those who would hate true Christians and seek to destroy them. He says in John 15:23, “He who hates Me hates My Father also.” He also says even before that in John 15:18, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.” The world is constantly working against Christians. That is why I have spoken at great length about the bastions of faith like Elder Ephraim and St. Sophronios. Father Seraphim Rose’s book was such an eye opener for me, that it has changed how I view the world and how I interact with it. The world hates what we stand for, they are willing to go into destruction of their own accord by being themselves deceived. And yet, they do not want to admit this. Sin has corrupted their hearts and minds and allowed them to persecute the Church and her members in the name of preserving peace and prosperity. In fact, Jesus even speaks of this, because he in John 16:2 in the same discourse as the two previous mentioned verses in this article says, “They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.”  We have seen this time and time again. St. Paul before he was appointed as Apostle to the Gentiles was himself a great persecutor of Christians. There have been martyrs too numerous to count who have surrendered their lives, by being beheaded, burned alive, fed to wild beasts, pushed off cliffs, broken on wheels, and other such torturous devices.  

The hopes of these people who commit these acts is not as I have said to preserve peace and prosperity, but to eradicate their own conscience and to try and expunge the name of God from the Earth. They wish to not have to confront their own demons, their own sins. They wish to again as I have said place the blame on others for their own rejection of God. My dear brothers and sisters, it is just beginning. Elder Ephraim speaks of the neo-martyrs of America, others have said what began in Russia will be finished in America. Elder Paisios was known to have spoken about the war between Russia and Turkey and retaking of Constantinople and the defeat of the NATO forces. All of this in preparation for the coming of Jesus and the beginning of the age of eternity. These times may come in our lifetime, they may be years, decades away, it is not for us to decide but to wait and watch. God calls us to be protectors of our nous, our hearts and minds, our souls.  Persecution will come. It will grow stronger as the chains that bind Satan will be loosened. This however will be for a short time. Just like in the days of the early church when droves went to the arena and contested for their faith among the multitudes, we ourselves might be called once again to great contests. If that is the case, we must arm ourselves with spiritual armor, with the hope of salvation. We know that times will test us but when we are strongest is when we have our faith solely rested in the Bosom of God.

Amen.

The Call of Obedience

 

I had meant to write this yesterday, but circumstances didn’t allow me, so let’s talk about it today. There is a lot in the media today about rebellion and “living your best life.” Oftentimes the typical mainstream media television show or movie will feature a character fed up with their job and they leave it to find true freedom and happiness doing whatever they want and however they want. In an era that has rejected the basic principles of Christianity, the world sees freedom as being able to do what you want, when you want. There is no sense of obedience. The media, the elites, the intellectuals, all have reduced us to basic primal animals. We are told that releasing our inner animal and fulfilling our pleasures are what will give us a satisfying life. Whether its sexual, or monetary, or anything in between. Everything goes. That is where our problem for today’s blog lies and what we can do about it.

To start our discussion about obedience, we need to start at the source. That means we look at the One who gave us the example to follow, who every life of every saint is patterned after. I am of course referring to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ as the epitome of humankind gives us the clearest picture of how we should act. In John 6:36-39 Jesus says, “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.” Jesus though God himself, did not come to do his own thing. He wasn’t going to go off script and try to do something that was against his nature. With the Holy Spirit dwelling within all Orthodox Christians, we can become more like Jesus. If we are to be more like Jesus, then, we should not act differently than what God has called us to be. True obedience to God means surrendering our wills, our desires and our thoughts for the sake and glory of his Kingdom. It is not the source of a poor life, a worse life than one if we forsake God. On the contrary, by surrendering ourselves to God we open the entire world for us. We become the Sons of God. We enter the glory of the Lord and participate in the heavenly liturgy. Again Psalm 119 discusses this in verses 1-8 when it says, “Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord.  Blessed are those who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart—they do no wrong but follow his ways. You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed. OH, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees! Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands. I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws. I will obey your decrees; do not utterly forsake me.  Clearly there are benefits to obeying the commandments of God. Of course, there are also benefits for obeying the commandments of others, especially those in authority. The same can be said for breaking commandments

People today don’t normally believe in Hell. In fact, I would argue that most people today do not believe in Hell. But to the Orthodox Christian, Hell is just as real as Heaven, and to believe in one, a person must believe in the other. This isn’t a get out of jail free card from Monopoly, your actions, and your reactions to the teachings of Jesus Christ determine your eternal fate. I don’t want to discuss Hell in this blog, because its solely focused on obedience, but the consequence of Hell is important to our discussion. Disobedience of God’s commandments is sin. Im sure most reading this blog are familiar with that term. But sin, in the western world is a transgression against God, and God must enact justice upon those who sin. Sort of life a Judge, Jury and Executioner. But for us in the Orthodox Faith, that have kept the tradition and teachings of the Apostles, sin is rather a sickness. A disease that infects all mankind. We only can overcome this sickness through prayer, fasting and obedience to our spiritual father and elders. The more that we turn away from God and choose to do our own things as I mentioned in the opening, we create more sickness, more death inside of us. Some will scoff and say how could a good and benevolent God do something so evil as to condemn those who commit sin to eternal punishment? My response is this…You have already condemned yourself by turning from God and rejecting the very gift he has presented to you. It is not his fault you have sinned. He has given you every opportunity to repent and to come to the fullness of faith, but so many have rejected this path to “live their best life now” (looking at you Joel Osteen). 

Without a sense of structure, without obedience, without temperament, we cannot achieve spiritual success. This Lent, I am calling all of us, to look into our own hearts and find the obedience to listen to God. To follow his example. To take up our cross. This Lent, the Lent of Forgiveness, I am pleading for all to join together and find our pathway to the Tomb.

Amen.

Great Compline

 

One of my favorite services within the Orthodox Church is Great Compline. Great Compline is usually only done during Great Lent, so it’s a very special time and service. Its also not uncommon for many priests to hear confession during service, although it is not so at my local parish. Compline is the last service of the day in the cycle of prayers that the church offers, along with 1^st-9^th hours, liturgy, and vespers. As it is the last service of the day, in Greek it is referred to as Ἀπόδειπνον (after-supper). On Mount Athos this is an especially important service as those who have gathered as both pilgrims and the monks will venerate the relics kept by each monastery and the icons as well. It includes Psalms 4, 6, 12 along with the troparia for the day and the creed and the Trisagion. Other psalms included within the Great Compline are 24, 30, 90, 50, 101, 69 and 142 in order of when they are sung within the service. During the service the Prayer of St. Ephraim will be said as well as the Prayer of St. Basil the Great. The prayer of St. Basil is one of my favorite orthodox prayers and I love it when the service gets to this part. It reads, “O Lord, O Lord, Who hast delivered us from every arrow that flieth by day, deliver us from everything that walketh in darkness.  Receive as an evening sacrifice the lifting up of our hands.  Vouchsafe us also to pass through the course of the night without blemish, untempted by evil.  And deliver us from every anxiety and fear that come to us from the devil.  Grant unto our souls compunction, and unto our thoughts solicitude concerning the trial at Thy dread and righteous judgment.  Nail down our flesh with the fear of Thee, and mortify our earthly members, that in quietness of sleep we may be enlightened by the vision of Thy judgments.  Take from us every unseemly dream and pernicious carnal desire.  Raise us up at the hour of prayer, fortified in faith and advancing in Thy commandments; through the benevolence and goodness of Thine Only-begotten Son, with Whom Thou art blessed, together with Thy most-holy and good and life creating Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages.  Amen.”  Our aim within Compline like all other services is to contemplate our humanity and to seek forgiveness of our sins. One of the greatest examples of this is the King Manasseh who the Bible records as being a wicked King of Judah, but the Orthodox Church recognizes as a saint because he sought forgiveness for his sins in later life. Even in the Chronicles it says that he repented and turned the Jewish people towards God at the end of his reign. The prayer he wrote is included in compline and I have included it here as well for your viewing pleasure. It reads, “O Lord Almighty, the God of our fathers, of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and of their righteous seed; Who hast made heaven and the earth with all their majesty; Who hast bound the sea by the word of Thy commandment; Who hast closed the abyss, and sealed it by Thy terrible and glorious name; of Whom all things are afraid, and tremble from the presence of Thy might; for no one can endure the majesty of Thy glory, and unbearable is the wrath of Thy threatening toward sinners, but immeasurable and unsearchable is the mercifulness of Thy promise; for Thou art the Lord most High, compassionate, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy, and repentest of the evils of men: Thou, O Lord, according to the multitude of Thy goodness, hast promised penitence and forgiveness to them that have sinned against Thee, and in the multitude of Thy compassions hast decreed repentance for the salvation of sinners.  Thou, therefore, O Lord God of hosts, hast not appointed repentance for the righteous, for Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, who have not sinned against Thee, but hast laid repentance upon me a sinner, for I have sinned more than the number of the sands of the sea.  Mine iniquities are multiplied, and I am not worthy to look upon and to see the height of heaven for the multitude of mine iniquities.  For I am bowed down with many iron bands so that I cannot lift up my head, and there is no release for me, because I have provoked Thine anger, and done evil before Thee, neither having done Thy will, nor having kept Thy commandments; and now I bow the knees of my heart, beseeching of Thee clemency.  I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned, and I know mine iniquities; but imploring I pray Thee: Loose me, O Lord, loose me, and destroy me not with mine iniquities.  Neither in enmity forever keep mine evils, neither condemn me to the nethermost parts of the earth.  For Thou, O God, art the God of them that repent, and upon me Thou wilt show all Thy goodness; for Thou shalt save me who am unworthy, according to the plenitude of Thy mercy, and I will praise Thee continually throughout the days of my life: for all the heavenly hosts hymn Thee, and Thine is the glory unto the ages of ages.  Amen.”

            While not my typical blog post, I wanted to share a few thoughts about Great Compline and why it is so important. If you are near to an Orthodox Church this Great Lent please go and attend.

 

Amen.

 

The Lent of Forgiveness

 

We have finally reached the beginning of Great Lent. It seems only yesterday that we were in the churches singing and praising God for the glory of the Nativity of Christ and now we are preparing for the celebration of the Holy Resurrection. It is a time of many things, a time of struggle, a time of hope, a time of peace, but also most importantly a time of forgiveness. Forgiveness among all people of all times and places where we can return to the fullness of faith and rest in the Bosom of Abraham that is Jesus Christ. But like so many problems in the world today, people refuse to grant freely what Christ gave us and teaches us. We want to hold grudges and we want punishment for those who have wronged us. But this Lent, this Great Lent, should be the Lent of Forgiveness. If we are to become more Christlike on the path of theosis, then this should be our goal.

Forgiveness is a touchy subject among many people. You see it in the media today when a person commits a sin against the standards of the world. Often that person is cancelled and removed from public life because they are an undesirable, one who has views that cannot be shared by anyone lest they offend. There are those on the opposite end of the spectrum as well, who believe all things should and could be promoted and no apologizing is necessary for their actions. However, when we fall, forgiveness is the medicine not only we give the person who has offended us, but also the gift we give ourselves. St Paul writes, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). He also says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) Those of us in Christ who have enjoined ourselves with him through Holy Baptism are a new creation. We should act like it. We should not have the same views as those around us. 

We must forgive everyone whether we like it or not. Jesus reminds us that all of us have sinned, in John 8:7 when the pharisees bring the adulteress to him when he says…“Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” Jesus never withheld forgiveness to those who asked. Whether it be the blind beggars, the paralyzed man lowered from the roof into the house for Jesus to heal him, or the man with the withered hand that Jesus healed on the Sabbath. Jesus had compassion and forgiveness for all men regardless of the sins committed. Jesus even offered forgiveness to those who crucified him, which is when in the eyes of the unbelievers Jesus was at his weakest. Jesus said, “Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.  (Luke 23:34) Jesus also warns us in his words of what will happen if we refuse forgiveness to those who have wronged us when he says, “But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:15) We will not be forgiven our own sins and trespasses if we do not forgive others. In a world that constantly seeks to destroy us and bring us into their conformity, we must rise above it and reject the earthly notion that people are not worthy of forgiveness. The last bible verse I will leave you with on this is Matthew 18:21-22 when Peter comes to Jesus to ask about forgiving someone who has wronged him. The verses say, “Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.

What does forgiveness do? This is a common question among people today. By forgiving them are we condoning their actions?  Certainly not. We know that because of our fallen nature, that people will make mistakes, and that the world will not be completely restored until the Second Coming of Christ. We also cannot forget what they have done to us, or what we have done to them. Time itself goes forward; it cannot be rewound like a VHS tape.  However like I have said it is the gift we give both ourselves and the other party involved. St. Paul says of God when we seek forgiveness, “For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” (Hebrews 8:12) Christ also speaks of this when he says, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” (Matthew 5:7) Forgiveness grants us mercy. It grants us the freedom from our sins because God has looked upon us in our weakness and frailty and seen that we are but human.  It grants those who give forgiveness mercy because they are blessed. Forgiveness cleanses the soul and washes it clean. Its like clay that can be molded and fashioned into the image of Christ much more easily, than say an unrepentant heart that has turned to stone in its bitterness and cold. When we refuse to forgive, even ourselves, we become bitter. We ensnare our souls with hatred and anger.  The demons are freely allowed to enter our hearts and twist the clay of our souls into their image, not the image of Christ. It allows for more sin to corrupt us and we become prideful. Because really at the heart of all unforgiveness is pride. Whether its our own fault something has occurred and we must seek forgiveness from someone else, or not giving forgiveness to someone who has wronged us. When we let go our pride, then we can receive the blessing spoken in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

 

Amen.