Sunday, February 29, 2004
Lenten Fast
Sunday of Orthodoxy: First of Lent: (Tone 4)
Kellia: Exodus 3:1-8 Epistle: Hebrews 11:24-26, 32-12:2 Gospel: St. John 1:41-51
Exodus 3:1-8, especially vs. 2, "And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in
a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and lo, the bush was burning, yet it was
not consumed." St. Nikolai of Zica left us his own reflections on the burning bush, and, thereby,
he invites us to consider its meaning for ourselves: "Let me ponder on the burning bush on
Horeb: 1. How the bush burned but was not consumed. 2. How the most pure Virgin, carrying
the Lord within herself, bore the divine fire but was not burned by it. 3. How the fire of divine
grace rejuvenates, heals and illumines my sinful soul."
The association of the presence and action of God with fire is found throughout Holy Scripture.
Observe that some of the recorded instances of the holy fire of God's presence are described as
grace-bearing, light-giving, or strengthening - the fire of God coming to enable or to renew. On
the other hand, when the Apostle prays in the Epistle to the Hebrews, may we "serve God
acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:28, 29), we
see the fire of the Lord falling to consume in a moment of judgment (Num. 16:21) - as the terrible
destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah reminds us (Gen 19:24, 25).
These two images of Divine fire, so opposite in character, raise questions concerning the
vengeance and mercy of God. Speaking of the vision of the Prophet Daniel in which a fiery
stream was revealed pouring forth from the throne of the Ancient of Days (Dan 7:9, 10), St. John
Maximovitch says: "The more consciously and persistently a man strives toward God in his life,
the greater will be his joy when he hears: 'Come unto Me, ye blessed.' And conversely: the same
words will call the fire of horror and torture on those who did not desire Him, who fled and
fought or blasphemed Him during their lifetime!" The deep truth of God as love, revealed by our
Lord Jesus Christ, can be experienced - depending on the state of one's soul - as fury or as grace.
The recognition that the experience of the fire of God depends in part upon our response to God
is both sobering and hopeful. Like the pillar of fire by which the ancient People were led,
directed, and protected by God (Ex. 13:21-22), so the most pure Virgin Theotokos also was led,
directed, and overshadowed so that she might bear in her womb the all-consuming fire of the
eternal Word of God. As she received and contained the Uncontainable, so she received and was
blessed to give physical nurture to the fire of God upon Whom no one may look and survive.
The appellation "all-pure" directs us to consider the state of her heart and soul which God knew
and selected as fitting for His union with our nature. Likewise, the term calls us to self-examination, prayer, and purification through ascesis. May the fire of God illumine my darkness!
Most significant for those who are called "the Faithful in Christ," is the announcement of
purification and cleansing by fire which can also make us fit vessels for the fire of God. The
empowering presence of the Holy Spirit of God descending upon the Disciples at Pentecost,
"appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them" (Acts 2:3). These
"average, ordinary" men were filled and shielded by the fire of God, and thus received that fire as
a great grace. Divine fire is radically renewing. The change in the disciples, as one compares
their manner in the Gospel of Luke, while they accompanied the Lord in His dusty walk through
Galilee, Samaria, and Judea, with the portrait of them in the Acts of the Apostles, is awesome.
Were these the same men? They were indeed, "average and ordinary" like ourselves, but men
who were able to say, "we have seen with our eyes...we have looked upon, and our hands have
handled...the Word of life....manifested to us" (1 Jn. 1:1, 2), men healed by the Fire of God.
O All-Holy Spirit from above, be Thou our blessed unction, strength, and fire of love.
