Sunday, October 24, 2004 (Tone 4)
Great Martyr Arethas (al-Haarith)
1st Vespers, Martyr Demetrios: Isaiah 63:15-19, 64:1-5, 8-9 Epistle: Galatians 2:16-20
Gospel: St. Luke 8:5-15
Isaiah 63:15-19; 64:1-5, 8-9: In praying for his own generation, the
Prophet Isaiah has given voice to the cries of countless generations of God's suffering People:
"where is the abundance of Thy mercy, and of Thy compassions, that Thou hast withheld Thyself
from us, for Thou art our Father" (vss. 15,16). His words were apt for the captives at Babylon,
the Maccabean martyrs, and for all the Christian martyrs - from the first who died for Christ, to
those killed in the systematic persecution under Diocletian, Maximian, and Licinius, to the
countless who suffered for the Lord Christ under the repression of Iconoclasm, Islam, or
Communism, right up to this very day, whether as slaves, undesirables, or traitors. As the
Hieromonk Damascene said, "The Orthodox Christianity that we have received today was formed
and nurtured....in suffering and persecution, and it remains in that condition even today - when it
is genuine." Isaiah cries out for all of God's Faithful who have suffered.
But wait! Why should we limit the Prophet's words just to those attacked for faith in Christ?
What of the ascetic strugglers, the hungry, poor, and disease ridden, or those with chronic pain,
marriage partners confronted with infidelity and divorce, the abruptly unemployed, the
imprisoned, or families separated by war or military service? In every one of these cases, as well
as with the martyrs and confessors, the issue is the same: to maintain that inner union with Christ
against everything that would separate or would evoke despair and apostasy. Isaiah's prayer is
for us all, to help us transform suffering and make it redemptive when it falls to our lot.
In suffering, we cry to God naturally, begging Him to "turn from heaven, and look" upon us (vs.
15), trusting in His nature as we know Him in Christ - an ineffable God, One far beyond our
meager comprehension, zealous on our behalf, strong to save, abundant in mercy, and
overflowing in compassions (vs. 15). Who would not appeal to such a God! And did not Jesus
our Lord direct us to address Him as "our Father" (Mt. 6:9), exactly in the manner in which Isaiah
addresses Him in these verses (Is. 63:16 and 64:8)? It is that way for us "from the beginning"
since our Baptism and Chrismation, for His Name is signed upon us (vs. 16).
It is also natural in suffering that we look more deeply into our errant ways, into our hard hearts
and our tepid fear of God (vs. 17), and, like Isaiah, we may realize that God's gift of freedom has
been used as a spawning ground in us for sin and indifference to our gracious Creator. We may
even be tempted, like Isaiah himself, to accuse the Lord of being the source of our failings. It is
from such self-realization that we will gladly join the Prophet in begging our God to "return" for
His "servants' sake, for the sake of the tribes of [His] inheritance, that we may inherit a small part
of [His] holy mountain" (vss. 17,18), the Church and Body of Christ. In such times of inner
conversion, we long for God to "open the heavens [so that] trembling will take hold upon the
mountains [of our sins]...and they shall melt as wax melts before the fire; and fire shall burn up
the enemies" (vss. 1,2) lodged in our souls. Who else can save us? "We have not heard, neither
have our eyes seen a god beside" (vs. 4) the Lord of Heaven and earth who can save. By God's
grace may we come into our right minds and admit: "Thou wert angry and we have sinned;
therefore we have erred" (vs. 5). Like the prodigal son, may we say, "Thou art our Father, and
we are clay, all of us the work of Thine hands. Be not very wroth with us, and remember not our
sins for ever; but now look on us, for we are Thy people" (vss. 8,9). There is in suffering, as the
Cross also teaches us, a redemptive path.
Let us purify ourselves of every defilement, and with purity beseech Him, saying, Rise Lord, and
save us; for Thou art the Lover of mankind.