Sermon
Sunday of Orthodoxy
I
take pride, sometimes maybe too much pride, in writing sermons to offer on
Sundays. I’ve always felt that you
deserve to hear a message that has been well thought out and well prepared. And
because I do not speak very well extemporaneously, I almost always speak from a
prepared text. This past week has been a
difficult one—for those of you who are parents, you know what it is like to
have a sick child. And you probably also
know what it is like when everyone in the family is sick at the same time, when
mom and dad look at each other and say “who’s going to take care of our child?”
when we’re both too sick to get out of bed.
This has been our household for the past five days. I’m sorry for missing services on Friday and
yesterday—good thing we have another priest, it’s nice to have a backup where I
haven’t had one in the past.
I’ve
made it a goal this Lent to speak less and pray more. That goes not only for my personal life but
for our liturgical life as well. I’ll
make an effort to offer more prayerful services with much shorter sermons. As you probably read in the bulletin, during
the five Sundays of Lent, we celebrate the longer Liturgy of St. Basil, part of
which has been reprinted in the pews for you to use during this time. So, this sermon will be one of my shorter
ones.
On
the first Sunday of Lent, we celebrate the Sunday of Orthodoxy. This commemorates an historical event, the
return of the icons to the churches after a 150 year absence. Icons were banned from the churches in the
late 7th century, because the prevailing thought at the time were
that they violated the second commandment, against the use of graven
images. It took 100 years for the church
to convene an Ecumenical Council to take up this issue and offer a once and for
all decision. In the year 787, the 7th
Ecumenical Council determined that icons were not only not anathema, but that
they served an important role in the life of the church. They offer a glimpse into heaven, as they
give us the opportunity to gaze at what holy people—the Virgin Mary, the Saints,
the angels look like. The icons in many
respects serve the same role as the posters of superheroes and athletes that
our children put on their bedroom walls—they are the heroes of our church, they
are our role models. The icons serve a
practical purpose of helping us focus in prayer. It is much easier to focus on Christ hanging
on the cross and keep my mind on prayer than it is to stare at the carpet or
into the sky. And icons tell stories—if
you don’t know the story of St. John the Baptist, just look up at the icon up
front and you’ll know all that you need
to about St. John---from the camel’s hair garment, to his home in the desert,
the River Jordan where he baptized people, the shepherd’s staff, the banner of
the a prophet and his message of repentance.
Most importantly, the finger pointing over his should reveals him as the
forerunner of Christ, the one who pointed the way that Christ was coming into
the world.
After
787, it took another 56 years for the icons to be restored. In the year 843, the empress Theodora ordered
that all the icons be returned to the churches.
The Holy Synod issued a statement which since the year 843, has been
read in all Orthodox Churches on the first Sunday of Lent, celebrating not only
the return of the icons, but celebrating all those who have lived and died as
people of faith.
There
are no memorial services allowed in the Orthodox Church on the Sunday of
Orthodoxy. But yet there are memorial
prayers—these are not offered for specific people but for all people who have
died as faithful and devout Christians.
In a little while when we sing Aionia I Mnimi, it will not be for anyone
specific, but collectively for all of our departed loved ones and for all those
who have died since the beginning of time as faithful people of God.
During
the procession which we will begin shortly, there will be prayers for the
living—for our parish, for our parishioners, for our city, for our nation and
for our world. And with your indulgence,
I am going to make two specific commemorations of people, which is not usually
part of this service, because I have been asked to do so. Most of you know Freda Gerecke. She is one of the kindest, most devout people
I’ve ever met. She is not doing well,
not sure this morning if she’s walking her last mile, but there certainly
aren’t many more miles to go on this earth.
So please pray for her and her family.
The second person is Nicholas, the little boy we’ve come to know as a
parish this past month, who is in
At
the conclusion of the procession, we will again hear the Synodal statement of
843, which speak to not only the triumph of icons but the triumph of Orthodoxy
in every life that embraces it. We will
confess our faith by reciting the Nicene Creed, emphasizing not only our belief,
but our hope for the future, and we will praise our God as the provider of
wonders and miracles, great and small.
Our
Sunday school children will again carry icons in procession. I’ve always liked this tradition, because it
is a visual reminder to us, the adults, that we have a responsibility to pass
on this faith of the Apostles, this faith of the fathers, this faith of the
Orthodox, this faith that has upheld the universe, this faith that has been
passed down to us, to our children. My
life won’t be a failure if my son does not own a home as big as the one I own,
or if he never graduates college or if he doesn’t ever win an athletic
trophy. My life will be a failure if I
fail to pass to him the faith that I have received. For the faith to uphold the universe, it
first has to uphold the roof of your home, of your place of employment, of our
church, of our town, of our nation. So
as we mark the Sunday of Orthodoxy, it is a time to revel in our faith, to
remember those who have come before us, to pray for ourselves, and to recommit
ourselves to preserving and spreading that faith to the generations who come
after us. Let us pray.
Services
this week-Pre-Sanctified Monday AM for Holy 40 martyrs of Sebaste; Compline on
Monday, Pre-Sanctified on Wednesday PM and Friday AM, and Salutations on Friday
PM; Lenten Retreat on March 28.