DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Fri., December 9, 2005 Nativity Fast Conception of the Theotokos by Righteous Anna
Kellia: 2 Samuel 10:1-14 Epistle: Galatians 4:22-27 Gospel: St. Luke 8:16-21
Hear and Do: St. Luke 8:16-21, especially vs. 21: “But He answered and said to them, ‘My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.’” To approach the depth of the Lord’s words in this Gospel passage, we do well to begin with some seminal observations by Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos: “The ‘rule of reason,’ which is the basis of the whole of Western civilization, is the foundation of every internal and external anomaly. We who live in the Orthodox Church are trying to restore things. Our objective is twofold. We are striving on the one hand to limit the authority of intelligence [our rational faculties], and on the other hand to discover our nous” [the eye of our heart]. Our need is to accept that “in fallen man the nous is in deep darkness and intelligence constitutes the only source of existence....” To restore the natural, God-intended relationship between these two elements of our inner life, “the intelligence must be restricted, the nous must be developed, the word must be brought to birth by the illuminated nous, and then the intelligence must formulate the nous’ knowledge in words....”
Metropolitan Hierotheos implies that there is a grave danger for us, when reading the Lord Jesus’ words and being drawn to become His adopted “mother and...brothers” (vs. 21), that we will apply only human reasoning to the hearing and doing of God’s will. Should we fall into the trap of relying on our own judgment for discerning the will of God among the myriad details of daily life, we shall become subject to the devil. For in the moment our enemy finds one tiny bit of self-will and rational judgment in us that is not taught noeticly - that is not illumined from a godly heart - he will use our reasoning to cast us down into error and deep darkness.
Therefore, our hearing and obeying must be retrained to become anchored on the will of God as heard and obeyed from a heart attentive to and led by the Holy Spirit. Only such a renewed heart, one noeticly illumined, can rightly inform and guide our human reasoning to make sound or God-bearing judgments. Let us Orthodox Christians be wary of our own critical judgments and opinions, especially when they come from our reasoning. Rather, in Metropolitan Hierotheos’ words, let us recognize what the Church teaches us: to hear and “obey the will of God uncritically as it is expressed in Scripture and in the works of the Fathers of the Church.”
Without doubt, our rational minds will balk at the demands of the Gospel as long as our thinking operates apart from hearts that are enlightened by and obedient to the Holy Spirit. This is why the Lord warns us: “Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him” (vs. 18). While we may “seem” to others, and even to ourselves, to have much wisdom, yet, if the hearing of our minds does not heed the uncreated light of the Holy Spirit coming from hearts that hear and obey God, then we remain spiritually sick, living out a host of delusions.
In St. Matthew’s parallel version of this account, we learn that the Lord Jesus’ disciples were gathered around Him, of whom He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers” (Mt. 12:49). As we approach the Scriptures and the Holy Fathers within the Church, placing ourselves under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, “He will teach [us] all things, and bring to [our] remembrance all things that [the Lord Jesus] said to” [us] (Jn. 14:26).
By living a life of perpetual repentance in the Church, receiving the Mysteries of Christ and ever struggling to submit our hearts to the Holy Spirit, we shall come little by little to hear the Lord rightly and to obey Him truly from our hearts without delusion or confusion.
Keep us, O Lord, in the brilliantly lit heaven of the Church, leading us in the way of light that we may cry unto Thee, Glory to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.