September 2021

The theme this week has been centered around how other people view our Christian life, and whether our life attracts others to the Church, or drives them away. At first glance, this appears to be a burden we don’t deserve. Why should our actions determine whether someone joins the Church? Isn’t that the same thing as judging us? Is it fair that our actions are used ‘against us’ by others who are judging the Church as hypocrites? That is the point this week. It isn’t about what it fair, but about being a witness.

As I wrote yesterday, the Light in your life can attract many to become followers of Christ but it can also chase them away. As Christ said, “A city on a hill cannot be hid,” (Matthew 5.14) it was both a compliment and a warning. When we live as faithful Orthodox Christians, we attract others to Christ. When we do not act as we should, we drive them away. When the Light of Christ shines, it reveals good and bad.

Living as an Orthodox Christian in the modern world is much more than ‘just’ attending Sunday Divine Liturgy and keeping the fast. Deep down we know this to be true, so why bring it up? Well, maybe we have forgotten that it was the Pharisees that were able to keep all the rules, but outside the Temple they were cruel and judgmental of others. Have we become Pharisee Orthodox?

People find hope in all sorts of places and things. As I get older, it occurs to me that much has been said about hope, yet many find it difficult to find hope. People hope in their knowledge of what ‘works’ in life, only to find out one day ‘it’ doesn’t work. They hope in their efforts and commitment, only to find out one day that ‘it’ wasn’t enough. After many failed attempts, some even hope they will find peace in drugs and alcohol, only to find that never works even in the short term. The search for hope continues.

Sometimes we turn to God and demand He answer our every prayer with, “Yes. Right Away!” When God doesn’t do what we want, instead of thinking maybe we shouldn’t be making such a request, we chastise God for not caring. Then, when God does indeed give to us what we ask, rather than having actual gratitude, we walk away justified because God came through like He is supposed to. Either way, all too often we take God’s grace for granted.

It is so easy to forget sometimes that we are not the source of everything. It is difficult to remember that, while we use our minds and our strength to accomplish many good things, it is not because of anything good we have done. As we pray in the Divine Liturgy, “Every perfect is from above, coming down from You the giver of life.”

I often blog about the struggle between living the Orthodox Christian way of life, and the worldly way of life. Some people ask me why I ‘always’ point out the evil in the world. It has been suggested that I blog too much doom and gloom. I won’t deny it because it is true. Be Transfigured Ministries was created to inspire us to live a NEW life in Christ, but how will we ever want a NEW life if we love the old one so much?

It is becoming more obvious that the secular world is departing rather quickly from the moral standards of Christianity. We should not be surprised. For millennia the world has fought against God. There have been eras of better and worse moral standards in this ever-swinging pendulum. As modern Orthodox Christians, having grown up in a world ‘more or less’ supportive of Christian morals, witnessing the recent move away from God can cause great anxiety. The good news is, the Church has dealt with it before, and it can deal with it again.

Today is the Feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Mother of God, the New Eve. From her, God received flesh and became a man. From her, we have received our salvation. Thus, we pray, “Most Holy Theotokos, save us!” She isn’t our savior, but she gave birth to our savior. That makes her (in my opinion) second best thing. Without her, God would not have had flesh through which He saved us.