Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Christ is Risen!
Cyril and Methodios, Enlighteners of the Slavs
Kellia: Deuteronomy 4:25-31 Apostle: Acts 12:25-13:12 Gospel: St. John 8:51-59
Deuteronomy 4:25-31, especially vs. 31 RSV: "For the Lord your God is a merciful God; He will not
fail you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them." The verse immediately
preceding the present passage from Deuteronomy ends on a severe note: "For the Lord your God is a devouring fire, a
jealous God" (Deut. 4:24). By that verse, the Prophet Moses was bent on convincing God's People of the grave dangers
inherent in idolatry, a theme he continues in the passage for today. Building on the theme of the wrath of God against
idolatry and sin, Moses declares what will happen to God's People should they indulge in idolatry: "you will soon utterly
perish from the land" (Deut. 4:26).
Still, note that Moses qualifies this pronouncement of judgment: "if you act corruptly by making a graven image in the
form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke Him to anger" (vs. 25). The
assumption is that the People are free to act corruptly or to refrain from idolatry. God reveals that possession of the land is
conditional on obedience, although this is stated negatively. "If you sin, you will be destroyed." A definite change follows
in Moses' speech (vs. 27). Read the present passage over again and notice how the great Law Giver leaves the conditional
framework he invoked at the beginning when he declared God's judgment - the "if" clause (of vs. 25). Instead, he begins to
speak in a prophetic manner, declaring what actually will take place. "The Lord will scatter you...and you will be left few
in number" (vs. 27), "You will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of men's hands, that neither see, nor hear" (vs. 28),
"you will seek the Lord your God" (vs. 29). What he had stated as a possibility, he subsequently declares as a prophecy of
the future. After this, the Prophet returns to a conditional form of address: "you will find [God], if you search after Him
with all your heart and with all your soul" (vs. 29); and immediately, he again reverts to prophecy: "When you are in
tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey His voice"
(vs. 30). By this shifting from "if" statements to prophecy, Moses captures the future history of the People of the Old
Covenant. Their history is predictable because they are sinners and provoke the wrath of God, but at times, they did seek
and find God because He is merciful (vs. 31). Moses relieves his dismal forecast with a proclamation of the Lord's mercy.
Carefully note Moses' declaration of God's mercy, because, as the successors of ancient Israel, we Orthodox Christians
cannot expect to escape punishment from God when we sin. The Lord allows consequences to come upon us. Who can
say with complete certainty that the sad final history of the Orthodox Christian empire did not come upon Byzantium in
some measure as judgment from God? Who can say with utter confidence that the terrible atheistic yoke that fell over the
Orthodox east did not contain in it an element of Divine justice?
However, Beloved of the Lord, let us hearken to God's Holy Prophet Moses: "when you are in tribulation" (vs. 30), "seek
the Lord your God, and you will find Him, if you search after Him with all your heart and with all your soul" (vs. 29). Why
can we hope to find God in the face of our terrible shortcomings and sins? Moses speaks as a Prophet to us: "you will find
Him" (vs. 29), because "the Lord your God is a merciful God; He will not fail you or destroy you or forget the covenant
with your fathers which He swore to them" (vs. 31). This is the teaching of the Apostles; this is the teaching of the
Orthodox Church: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness" (1 Jn. 1:9).
Have mercy on us, O God, according to Thy great goodness; hearken and have mercy.
