Friday, April 22, 2005 Lenten Fast
Theodore Sykeote, Bishop of Anastasiopolis
6th Hour: Isaiah 66:10-24 1st Vespers: Genesis 49:33-50:26 2nd Vespers: Proverbs 31:8-31
Genesis 49:33-50:26 LXX, especially vss. 19, 20: "And Joseph said to them, Fear not, for I am God's.
Ye took counsel against me for evil, but God took counsel for me for good, that the matter might be as it is today, and much
people might be fed." We mortals are bound by time and all the constraints of finitude, and so we yearn to have ourselves,
heart, soul, and body, united with the eternal God - our true destiny. This is the reason why the Patriarchs, Jacob and
Joseph, enjoined their survivors to bury their remains in the land promised to them by the God Who is from before time and
forever. Their request was a gesture that expressed their will to be forever one in purpose with the eternal God and thus
overcome the strictures of time. It is difficult for us who exist in time, who face definite beginnings and certain ends, to
conceive of a relationship with "the Most High Who dwells on high for ever" (Is. 57:15 LXX). Nevertheless, Beloved in
the Lord, let us strive for fellowship with Him Whose "years shall not fail" (Heb. 1:12). After all, "eternal life which was
with the Father...was manifested" and by Him, we have a real fellowship "with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ"
(1 Jn. 1:2,3). The Patriarchs had sure relationship with the eternal God, but we enjoy Holy Communion with Him.
Therefore, we, especially, should rejoice in the Patriarchs' actions, for their deeds express elements of the Mystery of
Christ: eternal accountability, "the light of eternity" in present events, and the knowledge that life and history have an
eternal outcome beyond death.
The Patriarchs lived their lives "before God," in the knowledge that they were accountable to Him for their actions. The
Righteous Joseph fled from the lustful advances of the wife of Potiphar, rather than "sin against God" (Gen. 39:7-12). As
today's reading shows, when his brothers anticipated his wrath and sought to avoid it, "Joseph said to them, Fear not, for I
am God's. Ye took counsel against me for evil, but God took counsel for me for good, that the matter might be as it is
today" (Gen. 50:19-20). He could not indulge his passion of anger against the purpose of the eternal God. Let us also
beseech God: give us grace "to serve Thee in holiness all the days of our life," for we know that one day we shall have to
make a "defense before the dread Judgment Seat of Christ." After all, Christ has taught us plainly "that for every idle word
men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment" (Mt. 12:36).
Knowing and welcoming the eternal God into every moment of life, the Patriarchs thereby allowed the light of eternity to
shine into all that occurred. God's uncreated light illumines the activities of mortal men when we accept the presence of
God no matter the outward circumstances: "I Am He; and until ye shall have grown old, I Am He: I bear you, I have made,
and I will relieve, I will take up and save you" (Is. 46:4 LXX). It was natural for the godly Joseph to reassure his brothers,
"Fear not, I will maintain you and your families: and he comforted them, and spoke kindly to them" (Gen. 50:21). He knew
that God had a plan for their entire posterity. We who are illumined also seek the light of God for the eyes of our hearts,
for faith unashamed, that we may love truly, fulfill all wisdom, and obey God's commandments.
As the end of his life approached, the Patriarch Joseph, "spoke to his brethren, saying, 'I die, and God will surely visit you
and will bring you out of this land to the land concerning which God sware to our fathers'" (Gen. 50:24 LXX).
Relationship with the eternal God orients one's vision toward the destiny of mankind. History and one's own life are
understood and experienced from the viewpoint of their ultimate, eternal culmination: "Grant unto me the home-country of
my heart's desire, making me again a citizen of Paradise."
O Christ, Thou didst make the Thief a citizen of Paradise. Make me worthy of the same.