We know that the Orthodox Faith is the same yesterday, today, and forever because it’s the truth of Christ revealed to His Church from the beginning. We continue to learn and grow in that faith, that truth, but that Faith has been “once delivered to the Saints” (Jude 1:3). To be a faithful Orthodox means that we don’t change that ‘faith once received,’ but rather, become grafted into it, into ever deeper communion with God through Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
When we put Christ on in baptism (to use the language of St. Paul and the Church) and are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Chrismation, we’re changed; we gain a new identity; we become part of the new race of Adam. And that identity supersedes all: race, gender, rich, poor—for all are called to be one in Christ—fellow sinners being healed, saved, deified. It’s our adherence to that new life in Christ in the fullness of His Church, that is, Orthodox (‘right believing’)—and this right faith unites us together.
As we grow in our faith, we learn to accept the teachings of the Church not only because the Church says so, but because, through worship, teaching, prayer, and Sacraments, the Truth grows in us through the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit. It becomes ‘owned’ by us—not onerous or burdensome, but intuitive, freely ours, as we grow in love of Christ and one another.
Now, back to living in our culture: it challenges us today as Orthodox Christians to such an extent that we may find ourselves ‘unpopular’, labeled politically ‘incorrect,’ narrow-minded, rejected by others, or worse. The temptation can be great to “fit in,” to compromise the faith. But we cannot be faithful Orthodox Christians, true to our Lord—growing and healing, and embrace that which is contrary to the Orthodox Faith. Otherwise, we create division in the Body of Christ; we withhold healing from ourselves and others who need it just as we do. Christ is a “rock that makes men stumble and a stone that makes them fall” (I Pet. 2:8). There’s simply no getting around it: Without changing more and more into the likeness of Christ (not the culture) there’s no growth in communion with God, no healing, no salvation.
To be an Orthodox Christian is to stand above any particular culture, especially when its beliefs conflict with what has been believed since the beginning, by all people in all times, everywhere—all those who call themselves Christians in the Church (Vincentian Canon, 6th century). We as Orthodox are called on not to submit to the culture, but to transform the culture, not to conform the faith to the culture. This is hard; this increasingly sets us apart, subjects us to ridicule, maybe even puts our job at risk—someday, it may cause us even to risk imprisonment.
The Myrrh-bearing women and the pious Joseph, were single-minded in their love for Jesus Christ. They may have struggled with fear in their care for Jesus, in going to Jesus, even as all others rejected Him, fled from Him, denied Him in order to keep themselves from being condemned or persecuted. But despite whatever fear they had, the love of Christ, love for Christ, compelled them to come to Jesus and to go forth proclaiming the Good News of His resurrection—even as others attempted to silence them, even as they were threatened to be cast out of the Temple, even as Christians began to be persecuted and killed for this faith we still proclaim. They are a shining example of the strength of modesty, the courage of humility.
The women disciples of the Lord and the pious Joseph had courage because they loved; they trusted Jesus as God and they feared God more than they feared man. They loved God more than they feared whatever man might do to them if they went to the Lord, if they went forth proclaiming the truth of His resurrection. St. John Chrysostom writes, that Joseph, who was a member of the Council of the Jews, “exposed himself to death” in order to bury Jesus (St. John Chrysostom in The Bible and the Orthodox Fathers for Orthodox, Johanna Manley, p. 52). The women disciples, ventured all to go to anoint Christ, risking persecution by their fellow unbelieving Jews. When the disciples fled, the women drew near with their love.
You and I are called to a greater love, a love that is willing to ‘offend’ when needed for the sake of another’s eternal soul, for the sake of the truth that is the only hope of the hopeless. “Perfect love casts out fear.” And our love for Christ compels us to overcome our fears and have the courage to stand up for the truth while also loving those who are confused. We love so that those who sin may find healing as we do and that others may not face the same fate, that they can struggle, recover, repent. There is forgiveness with God for all of us willing to struggle, repent. Such is God’s grace and love for us. What we do not do is change our beliefs to accommodate the culture and deprive others of their healing or protection.
The question for us is, will we be like those who flee or succumb to the culture out of fear, or will we be humbly courageous like the Myrrh-bearing women and Joseph of Arimathea, who loved God more than they feared the condemnation of man. Only in this way, the way of true love, do will we learn to likewise love our fellow man as we should, to contend for the faith as we are called to do, to give hope to the hopeless and bring healing to the sin-sick, to stand for and model such healing and repentance in our own lives. Only in this way, do we protect that which is sacred and those who are most vulnerable in our society. We stand for the Truth, representing Christ as His ambassadors, offering the stability and firm foundation to those tossed about on the storm-tossed seas by every confusing wind of doctrine that our culture can generate. The love of God compels us, the love of God animates us, the love of God shows us the way. Christ is risen!
Fr. Robert Miclean
Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Women and the Pious Joseph
19 May 2013
