Spiritual Contemplations for those who serve the Lord |
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
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Last month’s article, the first part of this topic, included an introduction to the problem and danger of spiritual slackness on a servant’s life. The two main reasons mentioned previously were: 1. Lack of love for God. 2. Loss or Deformation of the goal This article discusses some other obvious reasons: Forgetting or Forsaking Repentance Repentance is a perpetual life fortified with the spirit of mortification, contrition and remorse before God, accompanied by perpetual remembrance of one’s weaknesses and feeling of utter need for grace, protection of the Holy Spirit and God’s defense. Despite the forgiveness procured for his renowned sin and the assurance granted by God through Nathan, “So David said to Nathan, 'I have sinned against the Lord.' And Nathan said to David, 'The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.'” (2 Samuel 12:13). David continued to remember his sin and weaknesses saying, “For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me” (Psalm 51:3), hoping for repentance, contrition, alertness and steadfastness in order not to fall again or lose his spiritual fervor. An assertion of this concept is St. Anthony’s favorable quote “if we forget our sins, God will remind us of them. If we remember our sins, God will disregard them.” Hence, it is dangerous to lose emotional sensitivity to self scrutiny as well as to the need for self reprimand. It has become essential for us to renew the feelings of repentance through atoning prayers as the ones listed in the Agpeya “Yes, Lord, grant us in that Hour to be without fear, anxiety or condemnation; and do not judge us according to our iniquities” (The Absolution of the Midnight Prayers). It is hazardous to enter into a spiritual comfortable zone that leads to feeling rich and self satisfied with our spirituality. All these are deluded and deluding feelings against which the Holy Book or Revelations warns us saying, “Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see” (Revelation 3:17-18). It is good to recite St. Makarious' words, “Blessed is the one who sticks to Repentance until he meets the Lord.” It is strange to see people leave themselves for long periods without repentance, self search or confession. Thus the required measuring norms of self analysis will eventually lose accuracy. As a result the person will continue to do wrong, taking refuge in excuses, and justifications to errors in order to absolve the self. All these are dangerous slimy ways by Satan that lead to spiritual apathy. Loss of Discipleship A life of discipleship assists us in becoming quickly aware of the precipice and danger of gradual spiritual weakness. Adopting discipleship willingly and submissively will provide supportive and protective counseling and advice that will safeguard against slackness and the drifting away from principles. A perpetual life of discipleship can be likened to a censor full of glowingly ignited coal waiting to be fanned and incense to be added so that the coal may remain hot and the incense filling the spirit with the sweet smell of the expensive perfume of repentance. How odd it is to see a servant rejecting discipleship because his ego has been quieted with the honor of teaching. To such servants, St. James says, “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body” (James 3:1-2). Discipleship is a powerful weapon against spiritual dryness. Superficiality of Worship It is dry ritualistic worship void of spirit, satisfied with to-the-letter performance and mere external movements without experiencing the fervor and awe of grace. Such type of worship creates boredom and weariness. This in turn brings about repulsion and rebellion against religious environment, spiritual values and literally all the corners of worship. Therapeutic practices for this type of spiritual sluggishness:
Appearances and Egoism The self is a big hindrance before spiritual growth. A servant might be tempted with the thought that he/she is indispensably important in church and that without them service would not advance, having forgotten that from stones God can get sons to Abraham and that he had chosen his disciples from common uneducated fishermen to make them fishers of men. A very clear example of God’s preferences is what He did with Elijah after his victory. For after he had killed the prophets of the Baal, God told him “Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place” (1 Kings 19:16). It seems that God wanted to exempt Elijah from the danger of feeling great in his own eyes. Likewise, St. Paul was given a thorn in his flesh so that he might not grow conceited because of the many revelations. We, also, if we live with God’s word as the Holy Bible says, we will arrive at implementing the words of St. Gregory’s the Great, “When you read the Word with awe, the soul will wake up to its hidden folds. Then a sword of sorrow and pinches from the conscience will pierce it leaving it with no choice but to weep and wash its sins in its tears.” …“Look into yourself to see God united in you… If you get to see Him, snatch yourself from your sight to see God alone living all the time in you.” So the essence of this truth is that you see in yourself…snatch yourself from your sight. Contrary to the life of appearances and superficiality is a life of depth, circumspection and closeness to God in the depths of the heart. That is the requirement for expelling all spiritual dryness. An outward person finds joy in external movements and appearances because this is his only measuring stick for service and activities. On the other hand, an in-depth person seeks his own salvation and that of others. * Adapted from HGBY monthly clergical spouse letters - September 2013
Spiritual tepidity and dryness is a big problem, even more serious when it finds its way to servants because it is destructive to life as well as service if succumbed and resigned to it. Spiritual indifference creeps in stealthily and gradually attacking even those who have chosen to walk the spiritual walk. The fight against it requires extra efforts, striving and repentance in order to avoid spiritual degradation and eventually loss of the crown of heaven. The Holy Book of Revelations expressed the danger of spiritual apathy in the message to the angel of the church in Laodicea. “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot] I will vomit you out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:15-16). It is not an exaggeration to say that this whole present generation suffers from different forms of spiritual degeneration which have penetrated life, worship and service. It is sensed in confessions wherein individuals express their struggle against this dangerous enemy. For, there is the one suffering from tremendous weakness in prayer; another suffers from lack of enthusiasm in reading the Holy Bible. A third worships and serves in superficiality and dividedness. In this respect it is necessary to investigate the cause of this spiritual weakness and the means of combating it with the God-given weapons along with our alertness, struggling and fighting. What, then, are the causes of a lukewarm spiritual life? Lack of Love for God
Love is the source of the saying by the Fathers, “Love God and do whatever you want to do.” This saying sprang from a strong love for God from a pure heart. “ Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart” (1 Peter 1:22). This type of love for God protects against faltering and breaking the commandment. “ There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9). The Fact of the Matter: a spiritually cold person is someone who has not yet matured in his love nor does he/she proactively practice love towards God. Remedy: + Providing chances of meditating on the cross and what the Lord has done for us will fill the heart with love for God and appreciation for His initiated unconditional love. “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). + Living in an environment of meditative life-giving prayers in the person of Jesus Christ and all His attributes (praises, psalms, memoirs of the saints). + Uttering frequently the name of Jesus Christ as a sweet precious melody. + Residing in a surrounding of brotherly love, hastening to do good works and merciful acts. “put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering” (Colossians 3:12). This perpetuates the flow of love and dissipates all coldness, weakness and stiffness of feelings. + Singing to your God with psalms and spiritual songs. “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19). “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16). Loss / Deformation of Goal
If the spiritual goal gets lost, the result will be confusion in understanding and deviation away from the core of the kingdom. Turning towards self-glorification and honor causes spiritual callousness and defilement of the walk resulting in scarcity of fruit in spiritual life and service. Therefore, a servant should have a genuine spiritual goal extending its purity and clarity from heaven as expressed in St. Paul’s word, “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14). Thus it can be deduced that the absence of an absolute spiritual goal from a servant’s heart, mind and conscience will lead him into a distractive dilemma ending up in spiritual dryness and beating the air as St Paul said, “Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air” (1 Corinthians 9:26).
Clarity of goal grants self-control. “ And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown” (1 Corinthians 9:25). Let us remind ourselves with the goal for which we were called to serve and worship. ....... to be continued. * Adapted from HGBY monthly clergical spouse letters - August 2013
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