Spiritual Contemplations for those who serve the Lord |
The Need for Self-Evaluation Every servant should look at self-evaluation as a necessary process carried out not only at the end of a fiscal year but as a continuous endeavor that throws light on his performance and the success or failure therein. Self assessment requires sitting quietly with oneself, developing self awareness that leads to evaluation of performance, productivity, achievements and hence the required improvements. In addition to the assessment, correction and direction of the Holy Spirit,; self evaluation requires emphasis on three important dimensions: 1. Goals 2. Emotions and motives 3. Performance 1. Assessment of Goals A servant's goals in service, both for himself and for those whom he serves, must be spiritual in nature entirely stripped of personal or earthly gains; always pointing towards Jesus Christ and spiritual accomplishments under the direction of Jesus Christ's teachings. St. Paul emphasized this concept saying, “For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:2). Focusing on spirituality as a primary goal, safeguards against dispersion of thoughts and loss of peace. In addition, remembering that service is from the Lord directed to the Lord, will confirm the need for the Lord as the one and only one goal; as Lord Jesus Christ Himself has confirmed “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.'” (Luke 10:41-42). It is important to know that spirituality does not stand in the way of diversification and innovation in service provided spirituality remains the main goal. The best example in balancing out a spiritually directed service is St. Paul as revealed in his words, “to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you” (1 Corinthians 9:22-23). Any service that has the salvation of souls as its primary goal is a quiet, faith-charged service full of consolation and satisfaction. 2. Assessment of Emotions and Motives In general, self-appraisal is not an easy task. It requires honest and thorough critical reflection on oneself. Such reflection helps synthesize emotions and motives of the heart and analyze the modes and causes of actions in order to gain control over one's own spiritual growth and promote it. “For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God” (1 Corinthians 2:11-12). A faithful servant should be honest with himself not allowing delusion to creep in his heart because of people's praise. Critical reflection helps a servant analyze the motives behind his service whether they are for financial gains, love for authority, egoistical satisfaction; all of them being anything but spiritual and all them being far away from the real godly goal in service which is the glory of God and not the self. Solomon gives the most outstanding sequence in conducting critical thinking and the therapeutic steps to be taken thereafter “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. Put away from you a deceitful mouth, and put perverse lips far from you. Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or the left; remove your foot from evil” (Proverbs 4:23-27). The "servant" status is neither guarantee nor immunity against change of motives and personal agendas. In fact, replacement of goals with new earthly ones can easily take place and any servant is very much exposed to abominable changes of heart. Judah Iscariot is an example of a perverted heart. His presence and service with Jesus Christ in very close proximity did not stop him from selling his Master. King Saul is another example of a perverted heart. Although God had given him a new heart and zeal for accomplishing God's mission, yet gradually his heart started to change becoming filled with envy and jealousy against David to the extent that he wanted to kill him. St. Paul urges the Philippians to follow his example and pattern “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things” (Philippians 3:18-19). This proves the constant need for revising our goals and motives always praying for God's protection repeating with David, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24). 3. Assessment of Performance Performance incorporates a servant's manner and style of conducting service which is in direct relation with his personality. Examples of different performances resulting from different personality profiles appear in different styles of management ranging from very strict to very lenient, very spiritual to very dialectical and very rule oriented. Hence, for the boat of service to sail smoothly in a sea of ups and downs and lots of turmoil, a servant may need to avoid rigid imposition and make some personality adaptations if his work in some areas is not adequate before his service fails and he gets to be blamed. This does not mean that a servant changes his personality to the extent of becoming pleaser of men. Rather, he should ask the Holy Spirit's wisdom and guidance to fulfill his primary goal which is relaying faithfully the message of the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of souls taking St. Paul's service as an example of a balanced service feeding milk to those who were not ready to receive solid food, “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, 'I am of Paul,' and another, 'I am of Apollos,' are you not carnal?” (1 Corinthians 3:1-4). Conclusion The best example of a servant who has adopted critical thinking as a route to self-evaluation, assessment of performance under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and stability of goal is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
This is clear in His words to the apostles wherein and thereby he has established a number of norms. “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you” (John 16:12-15). The Lord Jesus knew when and how to cater for the needs of different genres of people addressing His disciples differently than the multitudes of people or the Pharisees and Sadducees. Since variables are too many and the constants are few, priests should remain constant to the constants i.e spirituality in service while revising their production according the requirements and needs of the time of their service. David describes the various manners God uses saying “With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; with a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless; with the pure You will show Yourself pure; and with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd. You will save the humble people; but Your eyes are on the haughty, that You may bring them down. 'For You are my lamp, O Lord; the Lord shall enlighten my darkness. For by You I can run against a troop; by my God I can leap over a wall. As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.’” (2 Samuel 22:26-31). “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; the God of my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; my Savior, You save me from violence” (2 Samuel 22:2-3). May the Lord guide us with His Holy Spirit while we revise our goals, assess our performances in our service and make the necessary adjustments.
1 Comment
The importance of the ministry comes from its strength, depth, love and giving. The way it affects and changes people! The Effective Word This was clear in the Lord Christ’s service, Glory be to Him. We should take notice of the Lord Christ’s invitation to St. Matthew, “And as He passed by, He saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax collector’s post and said to him, “Follow me”. And he arose and followed Him” (Mark 2:14), (Mattew 9:9). It was just a word said to a person responsible for tax collecting. As a result, he left his job, arose and followed Him without even asking where to? The same powerful invitation was used when calling the four fishermen disciples. As it is written, “And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then Jesus said to them, "Come after Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." And immediately they left their nets and followed Him. When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets. And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him.” (Mark 1:16-20). Through the power of the Word, they left everything and followed Him immediately, without any hesitation, delay or argument. They left their father, their nets, and everything. St. Peter summarized it all by saying ..."See, we have left all and followed You." (Matt 19:27).
His words had the power of convincing even those who argued with Him. When He explained to the scribes and Pharisees how a person is allowed to do good deeds on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1-12) and about the Resurrection, it was written “......He forty had silenced the Sadducees” (Matthew 22:34). Also, “...no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.” (Matthew 22:46). His words also influenced others because of their warmth and love. When he said to Zacchaeus, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house." (Luke 19:5). A word, so deep and warm, led this person to repentance, so that he said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house” ( Luke 19:8, 9). All this because of one strong, warm word spoken by the Lord. The same powerful words characterized the ministry of our Fathers, the Apostles. A sermon said by St. Peter the Apostle on Pentecost, attracted three thousand people who were baptized that same day (Acts 2:37-41). The strength of the word also appears in St. Paul’s ministry, even when he was captured and judged before Felix the governor “Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid...” . (Acts 24:25). Also, King Agrippa said to St. Paul, "You almost persuade me to become a Christian." (Acts 26:28). The Power Of Giving Some servants like the easy service, with no troubles or effort, but the power of the ministry appears in bearing its hardships, in love, giving and rejoicing. An example of this is St. Paul the Apostle’s ministry “...in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness (2 Cor 11:26, 27). * Adapted from HH Pope Shenouda III's The Spiritual Ministry - Chapter 4
There is no place for liars in the kingdom of heaven as it is written, “But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie” (Revelation 15:22). As people consider the servant to be the representative of heaven on earth, they expect him to be adorned with all heavenly virtues including the virtue of credibility. There is no a single person on earth who had not been hurt, at least once, by lack of others’ credibility. Many had completely lost their trust in others due to their incredibility. Nevertheless, the last person on earth they expect to be incredible is the servant. He is the man of God about Whom it was said, “For He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23). Therefore, people expect the servant to be faithful like His Master whom he serves. Credibility has many types: (1) Speaking the truth: It is inconvenient for a servant to lie, manipulate, and prevaricate under pretext of wisdom. “This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic” (James 3:15). (2) All the truth: Pope Shenouda wrote an article about “Half-truths” saying, “There is no in half-truths any fairness towards truths. Although they seem credible, yet they do not give a comprehensive concept about truth as it is”. Many servants use half-truths as a way to avoid a certain embarrassing situation. When he is asked about someone or something, he doesn’t reply with the entire truth but with only a part of it. A servant cannot be blamed if he abstains from answering a certain question, but he would be blamed if he gives a half answer that gives a wrong impression to the one who asks that this is all about that matter. People can understand well a servant’s abstinence from answering as a part of keeping confidentiality, yet they do not forgive his incredibility, and they even become offended by it. (3) Keeping promises: St. Paul was so keen to keep his word to the Corinthians realizing that taking things lightly i.e. not keeping his promises would lead him to lose their trust in him. Hence, he wrote to them saying, “Therefore, when I was planning this, did I do it lightly? Or the things I plan, do I plan according to the flesh, that with me there should be Yes, Yes, and No, No? But as God is faithful, our word to you was not Yes and No. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, Silvanus, and Timothy—was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us” (2 Corinthians 1:17-20). Examples of situations in which a servant does not keep his promises are the following: promising to pray for a certain matter, promising to visit a certain child, promising to call a certain person and check on him, promising to intervene in a certain problem…etc. (4) Consistency: Inconsistency is one of the things that make people offended the most by a servant. He, for example, may attend a meeting with his fellow servants and agree with them about certain arrangements and after they start going in the direction they agreed together upon, he suddenly changes all what he said before. This would leave them confused, frustrated, and losing trust in his credibility. (5) Credibility of deeds and avoiding hypocrisy: St. Paul speaks about people departing from faith in latter times saying, “speaking lies in hypocrisy…” (1 Timothy 4:2). This means that hypocrisy is a type of lying. Pretending is also a type of lying. Jesus Christ Himself rebuked the Scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy. Therefore, a hypocrite priest who would pretend to be righteous and holy would lose his credibility not only in the eyes of his people but also in the eyes of his fellow priests and his father the bishop. The most thing that offend people from the part of a priest is finding him doing the totally opposite of what he preaches. (6) Using accurate words with neither exaggeration nor hastening: Pope Shenouda speaks about this saying, “An accurate person is accurate in his words. He weighs every word before uttering it. He evaluates its meaning and convenience for the listeners in advance. The one who talks and then regrets what he said is described to be inaccurate in his speech. Also, the one who is blamed by others for what he says and pretends that he didn’t mean it is an inaccurate person. An accurate person says what he means, and means what he says. Hastening in speaking is among the causes that lead to inaccuracy. We mean by hastening either hastening in giving an opinion, hastening in judging people, or hastening in becoming angry. The one who takes his time, weighs each word before uttering it is the most accurate person. He has a balanced way of thinking that allows him to choose the convenient words, and to calculate the possible reactions to them. He cannot be blamed for a single word he says”. (7) Credibility of teaching: A servant must not pretend to know matters he did not study. He must not hasten to answer a question before being sure of its answer. He must not attribute a quote to a certain saint he is not sure about. Being inaccurate in teaching may lead the servant to lose his credibility in the eyes of people who do not trust him anymore. *Adapted from HGBY monthly Clergical letters - September 2017
1. Discipleship of Thoughts Within man there exists a huge, creative, constructive mental energy freely granted and furnished by God in order for man to think of all that is good, pious and of good reputation. St. Paul says to the Philippians, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things” (Philippians 4:8). Therefore, it is necessary for thoughts to be brought under discipline according to the course of Christian perfection in order to obtain the trophy of Grace and gain protection against prodigality, ignorance, and loss. The sources of thought discipline are numerous:
Here we ought to remember that we need first and foremost to acquire humility because discipleship of the mind needs humbleness of the mind. On the other hand, when will the time come for a proud, arrogant, stubborn, stagnant, counseling-rejecting mind to be disciplined? 2. Discipleship of the Senses and Organs The human body is a magnanimous entity with members, senses, feelings and propensities that need to be disciplined to become healed, straightened and stabilized in the path of righteousness; in order to know how to proceed in every good deed. The best source of accomplishing this comprehensive discipleship is in the church environment with her Orthodox worshipping and celebrations that are rich occasions, feasts and prayers.
3. Faith and Dogmatic Discipline Since their inception in the bosom of the church, the faithful believers receive their dogma and doctrines passed on, once for all, from the saints. However, this faith edifice needs to be established through the believer’s continuous discipleship on the teachings and sayings of God and the fathers. These sayings nourish and confirm the beliefs protecting them from doubts and backsliding. The best source of dogma discipleship is the liturgical life in our great Orthodox Church enriched with the mysteries, dogma, and grace witnessed for by the Holy Spirit. One grows theologically and dogmatically whenever educated and disciplined on the thoughts of St. Cyril the Great, the Pillar of Faith, St. Athanasius the Apostolic, St. Dioscorus, the Defender of Faith, St. John Chrysostom, the Hero of Orthodoxy, and St. Gregory, the Theologian. Also, the faithful gets disciplined through the actual living of the church feasts such as the major feasts that highlight our Christian dogma. Some of these dogmas are the Incarnation, the Annunciation, the Cross, the Redemption, the Resurrection, the work of the Holy Spirit. Every major feast is a school by itself from which we draw firm teachings concerning our dogma. To be a disciple of dogmas is not just mere intellectual lectures on theology but rather a life lived primarily through the church. Therefore, it is the duty of servants to very early give those whom they serve to drink from these dogmas through a regular church life. 4. Personality Integrated Discipleship Man benefits from lessons offered by life itself. For example, St Anthony benefited from the words of the naked woman about to swim in the sea. Because of her words, he entered the desert taking her reproaching reply as if sent from heaven. St. Ephraim, the Syrian, learned from the woman staring at him who asked him to look at the ground from which he came. He benefitted from her words and trained himself to be humble.
*Adapted from HGBY monthly Clergical letters - Nov. 2012
We should seek to have wisdom. ‘The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom’ and ‘no one will be strong enough to overpower the soul that is nailed down by the fear of God, because to be nailed down is to be more securely fastened than to be rooted. In fact, the prophet prayed for this when he said, “Nail my flesh with your fear.” A good leader always walks in the fear of God and uses wisdom to discern between what is right and wrong in order not to break a vow or a commandment. We should learn from King Solomon who, before the beginning of his leadership, prayed for wisdom; but in our case we do not seek wisdom in order to judge others, but rather that we may adequately judge our own thoughts and actions. Therefore, ‘If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.’ We should not be driven by our emotions. ‘The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent man ignores an insult.’ How often have we regretted our reactions when faced with something trying? Making decisions based on our emotions is a behavior unbecoming a leader. Our hurt and frustration should never affect our faithfulness towards our responsibilities - ‘Observe now first of all that rational judgment is sovereign over the emotions by virtue of the restraining power of self-control.’ We often get defensive when we feel criticized, or at times we even “cover all bases” by defending ourselves before anyone has a chance to say anything negative about us! Rather than doing this, let us follow the example of our Lord Jesus Christ who remained silent in times of trial – ‘See how many things they testify against You!” But Jesus still answered nothing, so that Pilate marveled.’ Our Lord Jesus Christ was never quick to react to anything, ‘but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously’. We should live by example. ‘Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.' Do our actions always please and glorify God or are they sometimes done for our own pleasure and glory? Do our actions speak louder than our words or are we simply good preachers who do not practice what we preach? Can we truly say, ‘Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ’ or are our actions found wanting? My beloved, ‘You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?’ How can we justify ever being hurt or offended by others, when we ourselves do the very same shameful things? Ah! But our memory is always sharp when it comes to remembering the wrongs others have done to us and ever so weak when it comes to remembering our own mistakes. In the past, the saints fled from glory and eagerly accepted the cross, but nowadays we more often search for the things that will give us praise and shun the cross. If we do this, and are troubled when things seem difficult, then why do we expect so much of others? In any case, our faithfulness to God is not contingent on the behavior of others – whether they do or do not do – it is between us and God alone and instead of wasting time observing others, we should be the good example ourselves. We should be true servants. ‘Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Consider, our Lord Jesus Christ who came to us ‘taking the form of a bondservant’ in perfect obedience to His Heavenly Father and earthly family. Although God, He did not live amongst us as an authoritative man but as a true servant, always there in times of need, never asking anything of us which He did not first do, perfectly Himself. A leader should not be afraid of being humble, as though such a thing would be a threat. Pharaoh did not feel threatened by Joseph, and by this Egypt became the most powerful country in the world. Saul, on the other hand, was very threatened by David and so lost everything, which he otherwise would not have. ‘Before He humbled himself, only the angels knew Him. After He humbled Himself, all human nature knew Him. You see how His humbling of Himself did not make Him have less but produced countless benefits, countless deeds of virtue, and made His glory shine forth with greater brightness. God wants for nothing and has need of nothing. Yet, when He humbled Himself, He produced such great good, increased His household, and extended His kingdom. Why, then, are you afraid that you will become less if you humble yourself?’ My beloved, ‘fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.’ Let your obedience and your good works be done in the presence of God and not for the sake of man. Be a good leader in your spiritual life for the sake of your salvation, not for the sake of your elders. Be wise and humble, be strong and a good example and ‘above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.’ May we all become the image of our Lord Jesus Christ and follow His perfect example. *Adapted from HGBY Monthly Message for the Monastic and Consecrated Servants
This was actually a prophecy about St. John the Baptist whose main mission was to make God’s paths straight and prepare His way. In order to understand this passage, we must first understand the customs of that time when the book of Isaiah was written. In these days, when a king wanted to go into a journey with his procession or army through an uninhabited unpassed desert, he used to send before him a group of harbingers to pass through the way first and work on its paving. They did this by filling the valleys up, leveling hills, passing through the jungles to purify them and the crooked ways to straighten them. As soon as they finished their work, the way which was uninhabited before became paved and ready for the passage of the king with his procession or with his army. In case the way was inhabited, then the harbingers would pass before the king calling people to step aside and evacuate the path before him. May be this reminds us with Joshua’s order to the priests on crossing the Jordan to enter the promised land saying, “Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over before the people.” So, they took up the Ark of the Covenant and went before the people” (Joshua 3:6). They passed in a way about which the officers said, “That you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before” (Joshua 3:4). In fact, this is the essence of a servant’s ministry to cross before his children preparing the way for them, considering them as a king and himself as a humble servant of the king that passes before him to pave his way. - A servant preparing the way means that he is the forerunner of his children or youth in the courage of facing the dangers of thieves and beasts. He may, many times, sacrifice himself in order to save his children. This is what St. Peter the Seal of Martyrs did when he faced martyrdom, and what St. Athanasius and St. Dioscorus did by accepting persecution and exile while facing heretics and keeping faith. - A servant preparing the way means that he experiences the different stages of spiritual struggle on a personal level first before guiding and teaching. His teaching then comes not as theories coming from a high tower but as from a scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven who is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old. - A servant preparing the way means that he must work first on flattening every hill and mound by casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God whether in himself or in his children. - A servant preparing the way means that he exalts every valley by encouraging the fainthearted, caring for the rejected and despised people who are considered to be the base people of that world. - A servant preparing the way means that he takes thorns away which are the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things that choke the word making it unfruitful. - A servant preparing the way means that he digs and fertilizes until the barren tree brings fruits. - A servant preparing the way means that he watches over his flock lest Satan comes, while he is a sleep, and plants tares among wheat. - A servant preparing the way means that he toils a lot in order for his children to get rest; he becomes fool for Christ’s sake in order for his children to be wise in Christ; he becomes weak in order for them to be strong; and becomes dishonored in order for them to be distinguished. *Adapted from HGBY monthly Clergical letters
|
AboutMonthly articles for servants. Adapted from HGBY and other fathers' writings. Archives
April 2022
Categories
All
|