Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Lenten Fast
Discoveries of the Head of the Forerunner
6th Hour: Isaiah 1:19-2:3 1st Vespers: Genesis 1:14-2:3 2nd Vespers: Prov 1:20-33
Isaiah 1:19-2:4, especially vs. 2:3, "And many nations shall go
and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of
Jacob; and He will tell us His way, and we will walk in it: for out of Zion shall go forth the law,
and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem." The play, No Exit, written by the Existentialist,
Jean Paul Sartre, depicts the common experience of exhaustion and futility within contemporary
society. The play has a cast of three characters, very diverse personalities, thrown together
'eternally' in a space with no exit. Each one works out his or her life-role against the personas of
the other two. At the end of the play, it is clear that the whole action must begin all over again.
Thus, Sartre declares, each person expresses himself in endless interaction with others. The play
presents itself as an ultimate, albeit depressing, truth concerning human life.
In opposition to Jean Paul Sartre's proclamation in No Exit, God reveals that human beings are
not bound to inescapable personas, something He declares in today's Isaiah reading. Rather, the
Lord calls us to "eat the good of the land," or to refuse Him - as a result of which "a sword shall
devour [us]" (vss.19, 20). What is inescapable in our nature is moral freedom, to choose or to
refuse God, truth, and life - "...for the mouth of the Lord has spoken" (vs. 1:20).
At the conclusion of the passage, Isaiah describes the age to come and adds to the motif of
freedom the declaration that the Church is the ultimate destiny of history. At the conclusion of
time, the Church, which Isaiah calls "the mountain of the Lord, the house of God, Zion and
Jerusalem" (see vss. 2:2-4), will be the exalted desire of all nations toward which all mankind
shall assemble. People will encourage each other to go to the New Jerusalem "to the house of the
God of Jacob; that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths" (vs. 3). By the
grace of God, after the exit of this present world with its repetitious news of sordid crimes and
sins, the freedom to choose God's truth, His worship, and His ways shall continue eternally.
Between the opening and closing verses of the reading - between the declaration of our present
freedom to choose and the assurance of eternal human freedom in the age to come - the Prophet
confronts us with the actual state of our present life (vss. 1:21-23) and of God's judgment on us.
Instead of being a "faithful" bride to God our Holy and loving Bridegroom, our race (and each of
us personally) plays the "harlot" with false gods, debasing the "silver" of our freedom in Christ in
order to serve pleasure, wealth, success, power, and self-indulgence (vs. 21). God designed this
world to be the home of the "faithful" (vs. 21), but we make it a nesting place for "murderers"
(vs. 21). The wine of a freely chosen Holy Communion is watered down by thievery, bribery,
and the acquisition of things which do not endure. Both merchandise and truth are watered-down
into inferior "wine" created solely for indulgence but depleted of true eternal and godly value (vs.
22). We favor leaders, the "princes" over us, who "rebel" against God, and themselves keep
company with thieves and respond to bribes (vs. 23). The very ones who should be pleading the
cause of widows and orphans, ignore the defenseless (vs. 23).
Then, in "a preview album," God reveals His coming judgment against all of mankind's sin and
rebellion. He displays pictures of fire, caustic cleansing, shame, and destruction. We shall stand
before the righteous who have cleansed themselves by true repentance and answer for our sins.
St. Nikolai of Zica epitomizes this word of the Lord: "I shall look at you, and see if you have Me
within you; and you will look at Me, as in a mirror, and will see what you are."
"For all the worlds, large and small, that do not tremble before Thine awesome presence, I cry
out: 'O Master Most Merciful, have mercy on me and save me!'" (St. Nikolai of Zica)
