Sunday, August 22, 2004
Tone 3 The Sunday after the Dormition of the Theotokos
Kellia: Joshua 7:1-9 Epistle: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Gospel: St. Matthew 19:16-26
Joshua 7:1-9, especially vs. 1: "But the children of Israel committed a
great trespass, and purloined part of the accursed thing; and Achan the son of Carmi, the son of
Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing; and the Lord was very
angry with the children of Israel." In making the entire Amorite city of Jericho a holocaust,
Israel offered the life and property of that fortress community wholly to God. They saw the walls
fall with their own eyes. They knew that it did not fall by their efforts - not by battering rams, the
scaling of walls, nor undermining. Their sole effort had been to march obediently around the
City as commanded in a solemn procession of dedication to God. They ritually offered not only
the enemy fortress with its people and goods, and the outcome of any clash of arms, but
themselves as well. Beforehand, to the eyes of the world, and especially to those inside Jericho,
the ceremonial processions must have appeared as theater of the absurd. Nevertheless, Jericho
fell, and was "devoted, it and all things that [were] in it, to the Lord of Hosts" (Josh. 6:17).
When taking Jericho, God's People knew that it was devoted to the Lord and all things in it, yet
one man acted surreptitiously against the explicit orders of the day and appropriated part of the
things that had been devoted utterly to the Lord. It was a plain breach of trust against his fellow
Israelites and the Lord his God (Josh. 7:1). Beloved of the Lord, note what Joshua teaches us in
this passage: the cost of individual duplicity wounds the entire People of God. Israel was scarred
in what should have been a minor skirmish. The lives of thirty-six brave men fell needlessly and
the army of the nation turned their backs in flight before sworn foes. In this day and age, the
behavior of Achan within the military would be an occasion for court martial. What about such
apostasy in the Church today? How shall we understand the breach of trust when one violates his
Baptismal vows? Is such behavior merely a matter of individual choice? Does disregard for
what one pledges before God and the Church merely involve only the person who apostatizes?
Clearly not! The teaching of the Prophet is that duplicity wounds the entire Body of the Faithful.
By our sins we add to the wounds of Christ our God on the Cross! That is the mind of the
Church. That is the truth of the matter.
What this passage should do for Christians is to reveal the cost of our private sins on the large
canvas of God's perspective and out on the open processes of history which He governs. O Lord,
do Thou keep us from such duplicity that we wound not any of Thy Beloved! And when we do
fall, when we do sin, let this passage teach us to flee at once to our Pastors to confess our wrongs
before God, seek His forgiveness, and, to the extent we are able by confession, to stop the dread
Theo-logical outcomes of our wrong doings upon our brothers and sisters in the Lord.
May the Prophet Joshua help us learn the terrible social consequences of our private offences!
God also teaches us in this passage the correct, immediate response to disasters that befall the
People of God. "Joshua tore his garments; and Joshua fell on the earth on his face before the
Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they cast dust on their heads" (vs. 6). Bad
things happen to good people, as the saying has it. Still, notice what the leadership of the pious
community did. They worshiped God in grief and in sorrow, seeking from Him His direction and
consolation. Joshua poured out his concern that he had acted precipitously in crossing the Jordan
in the first place, that, perhaps, he had not heard God correctly (vs.7). He is not loathe to give
voice to his worst fears (vs. 9). Let us ever turn to God, grieve, and express our consternation.
Unto Thee we commend our whole life and our hope, O Master Who lovest mankind. Make us
worthy of the inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven and boldness toward Thee.