Sermon

Holy Wednesday Evening 2008

Holy Unction

On a recent radio commercial I heard these questions: “In the past two weeks, have you questioned ‘Where is my life going?’ ‘Have you been sad about something?’ ‘Have you been frustrated by some circumstance in your life?’ Do you find yourself wishing you were someone else? If you answered ‘yes’ to one or more of these questions, you could be suffering with depression.” As I listened to this radio spot, I wondered to myself, “According to these questions, I’m depressed right now. Certainly many people in our world will answer yes to at least one if not all of these questions.”

At the root cause of all depression, I believe, is a gap between what we are and what we want to be. A gap between what I am and what I want to be. The person who wishes they were thinner experiences a gap between how they look and how they wished they looked. A person who is not happy with their job experiences a gap between where they work and the kind of job they wish they had. A person who is anxious and stressed out anticipates a gap between an outcome between what will be and what they wish could be. Let’s say I’m stressed out about delivering this sermon—that would be because I anticipate a gap between how it comes out and how I intend it to come out. If I am stressed out while driving, that would be because there is a gap between how slow and difficult the trip is going and how fast and easy we hoped it would be.

We all suffer from some sort of depression throughout our lives. Not necessarily every day, but I think it would be quite normal to go to bed sad or frustrated at least once in a while, or to feel anxious and stressed out at least once in a while. When one is depressed or disappointed, it helps to talk about it with someone. That’s what parents, siblings, friends, priests and professionals are for. And we all need to learn to be better listeners. For some people medication helps with depression—it becomes so severe that medication is needed to help where talking is not enough. And prayer helps with depression. I will come back to that later.

Depression is as much a condition of the spirit as it is of the mind. In Orthodox theology, the spirit and mind are tied together. The body houses both mind and spirit and is the shell that is supposed to protect both. Depression causes sadness in both mind and spirit which many times leads to physical problems. Doctors say that the best way to better health is diet, exercise and less stress, with lessening stress being the most important aid in better overall health. A healthy spirit will foster a healthy mind which will lead to a more healthy body and medical science is confirming now what the church has taught for 2,000 years.

There is a gap between what we are and what God wants us to be. A gap between what I am and what God calls me to be. This gap is called sin. The root cause to sin is spiritual sadness. One whose life is constantly yoked to God through prayer tends to not sin as much. The desire to close the gap between what we are and what God wants us to be is called the spiritual life. Realizing that there is a gap is called repentance. So this is what Orthodox spirituality is all about—it’s all about recognizing that there is a gap between every human being and God when we sin, and it’s about constant repentance or reorientation of our lives so that we are pointed in the direction of God and the gap can be closed.

Spiritual warfare is part of the spiritual life. What is spiritual warfare? It is a battle between the things of God and the things not of God that constantly bombard us in our life. Unless you are isolated and speak to no one during the day, there is constant temptation to gossip. There is constant temptation to judge others, to be jealous, to join others in sinful behavior and to engage in sinful behavior alone. There is the constant pressure to achieve and perform and when we fall short of our own expectations or the expectations of others, there is the constant temptation to be anxious or sad about our lot in life. Spiritual warfare is where goes literally to war against all the things in this life that go contrary to what God wishes for us to be—a war for joy and against sadness; a war for calmness in spirit rather than anxiety and stress; a war for righteousness and against a world which continues to dumb down morality; a war for fulfillment and against jealousy; a war for peace and against violence.

God, in His infinite love, mercy and compassion, recognizes that in our spiritual lives, in our spiritual warfare, there is a need for healing and strengthening. And so He bestows what we Orthodox Christian call grace to us through the sacraments. Grace completes what is infirm and heals what is lacking in each person. When we receive Holy Communion, we receive the Body and Blood of Christ and it dwells and moves within us. We know what we eat affects our whole body. As an example, a lot of red meat clogs the arteries. And the spiritual food we eat, Holy Communion, affects our whole bodies as well—It causes the spirit to leap for joy, for the eyes to see God, for our lips to taste Him. Food is basic to each human life—one cannot go very long without eating. We don’t eat infrequently, but rather all the time, for sustenance and strength. And likewise, we need spiritual food frequently. That’s why the church offers us the opportunity to receive Communion so often, for spiritual sustenance and strength.

The sacrament of confession affords us to lighten our souls by ridding them of guilt and spiritual confusion. What a great tool our church has given to it’s people, the ability to be loosed of sin and spiritual sadness simply by having a conversation with God in the presence of one His servants, a priest. Confession doesn’t cost money, it doesn’t take a lot of time—all it takes is a contrite heart and humble spirit. And the benefit is immense—the ability to start over again, no matter how bad it seems one is losing the spiritual war. That’s why I continue to preach about confession, because there are so many people who don’t have joy in their spirits because of past failings and confession is the way to rid yourself of past spiritual failings and once again be filled with the joy of the Lord.

Holy Unction is a sacrament of healing for souls and bodies. Holy Unction will not heal a broken leg. So why be anointed with oil if it does not effect physical healing? Because the Holy Oil, together with the prayers used in its administration, calls upon God to heal us in spirit and to loose of sadness in spirit, that many times is caused by sadness in body. Let’s say a person is hard of hearing—that might cause someone to become sad in their life, sad in their spirit. So, if one has his ears anointed, it is with the prayer that this physical difficulty does not impair spiritual growth. If a person has problems with their eyes, or knees, or if a person is suffering from illness like heart disease or cancer, the prayer offered in this sacrament is two-fold—for physical healing at the hands of God’s healers, his doctors and nurses; and for spiritual protection, so that the person suffering with cancer or some other illness is not wounded in spirit, that as disease might ravage the body, it does not ravage the soul. It is also for healing of spiritual sadness, the kind of depression we all suffer from—with a prayer that we may be visited by God, that we may experience His mercy, help, comforting, healing, forgiveness and ultimately salvation.

Prayer is the non-sacramental portion of the spiritual life that should be done most frequently of all. Prayer is a daily (or even multiple times daily) call of God to come into our lives, to direct them properly, to not only bridge the gap between us and Him but to keep it from getting any larger, and to help us when we are confused with life’s menu of choices, to choose things that are Godly and avoid things that take us away from God. Prayer is a daily managing of life, that’s why the par excellence prayer in the church is the Lord’s prayer—give us this day our daily bread, give us O Lord the things we need to get us through today, which are usually not big things but little things. Stamina when we are tired, efficiency when there are too many things on our plates, discernment in making decisions and over all health of body and mind.

Spirituality helps manage our daily lives. Prayer helps us manage stress, sadness, and disappointment on a daily basis because bringing God’s power into any situation, regardless of how stressful it is, brings peace. The sacraments are gifts we receive frequently from the church, so we don’t get too far off in our individual spiritual lives. The sacraments impart grace that heals what is infirm and completes what is lacking in each person. The church is its sacraments—it is not a building, or a group of people, but the church is the Body of Christ, and its membership is defined by those who partake of the body of Christ on a regular basis. In fact, the only reason to belong to an Orthodox Church is to receive the gift of the Sacraments. Holy Unction should be received at a minimum of once a year, though as we continue to develop our spiritual life in this parish, I will be offering it on at least one more occasion each fall. Holy Communion should be received on a regular basis, certainly more than only a few times a year. And Holy Confession is something that also needs to be done on a regular basis—this is not an optional sacrament. You couldn’t get through life without crying once in a while—this is the emotional release God gave us to release joys and sorrows from deep within us. And confession is the spiritual release of sins and spiritual disappointments deep within us. Some of the unhappiest people in the world are those who don’t ever cry. And some of the most unhappy Orthodox Christians are the ones who have never cried out to God in confession.

In 100 years, it won’t matter if you were stuck in traffic today; it won’t matter if your kid didn’t get the top grade on his science project; it won’t matter if you never got your dream job; or lived in a dream house. It won’t even matter if you never got married or had children; or if you lived to see 100 or only lived to see 50. The gap between who and what you are and who and what you wish to be won’t matter. The gap that exists between you and God will be the only thing that matters. Daily prayer and partaking in the sacraments of Holy Communion, Holy Unction and Holy Confession help close this gap, they help bring our lives into union with God, so that having learned to live in unity with God in this world, with all of its problems and distractions, we will be made worthy through His grace and love to enter into God’s world, where there will be no gap between us and God, where there will be no stress or disappointment. Heaven is the place of survivors, not victims. It’s the place for people who never give up on spiritual warfare no matter how hard it gets. Holy Unction is one weapon, one tool, one gift the church offers to help you in your spiritual journey. And tonight you will be anointed with the prayer that through this oil, you will find healing of soul, strengthening of body and joy of spirit, and continued strength in your spiritual journey.

When you come up here to be anointed, a prayer will be said over each of you, “Holy Father, physician of our souls and bodies, visit, have mercy, forgive, heal and save your servant” and you will say your name, as a way of presenting yourself to God. Please say your name, even if I know it. I will anoint your forehead, chin, cheeks, top and bottom of each hand and if there is anywhere else you would like me to put the oil, let me know—eyes, ears, knees, etc. And as you come forward, this is an opportunity to bring to your mind the places in your life where you need healing. And after you are anointed, I want you to return to your pews for at least five minutes, rub the oil into your skin, and pray to God about some of your pains. As you rub the oil into your skin, pray to God for your healing of whatever pains are in your heart, on your body or in your soul. Think about the things that keep you away from God.

Last year, I asked people to approach only one at a time so that I could have a private moment with each person. Yes, this took a little longer, but it provided for very powerful encounters between me and each person. So, please be patient as you wait, I want to sincerely pray for each of you individually.

Holy Unction is a sacrament of the church, and the sacraments are administered by priests through the Grace of the Holy Spirit. So important is it that this sacrament is received from the hand of another priest that I will not be receiving it this evening because there is no other priest here. I received Holy Unction two weeks ago, and knelt in front of a priest for the prayers of healing and received anointing with his hands. Therefore, please do not ask me if you can take Holy Unction home. I have it here all year, I can anoint you at any time. And if you have loved ones who are home bound, I will be happy to visit them with you and offer this sacrament to them. I will be available to anoint people at other services on Holy Week or at any other time during the year when you feel that you need this gift of Holy Unction.

Tomorrow there will be two services held in our church—Divine Liturgy commemorating the Last Supper will be held from 9:30-11:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. And tomorrow evening we will celebrate the Service of the Passion of Christ, beginning at 7:00 p.m. I believe that this is the most important service of the Liturgical year, more important perhaps than even the Resurrection. Because tomorrow’s service is about hope—it’s about the pains Christ suffered for us. If there was no crucifixion, there would be no resurrection. And if there was no Resurrection, there would be no hope, the soul would indeed be destined to spend eternity estranged from God. Tomorrow evening also provides the opportunity to kneel at His cross and offer up our own pains and leave them here. There are lots of you who have been frustrated in life—tomorrow is a day to come and cry them out to the Lord. Because if you don’t get rid of your pain, you’ll never have true joy. If you don’t want to sit through the entire service, come from 8:00-9:00 p.m., witness the procession of the crucified Christ and depart for home. But please come tomorrow, not for my sake, but for yours. Today, tomorrow and Friday, our themes are sorrow and healing—so that when we gather in three days, we can do so in joy, indeed ready to make a new start. Indeed the Lord is near to those who have a broken and humbled heart. If there are no wounds to heal, then no healing will occur. Just like when you go to the doctor, if you say, I’m in perfect health, there will be nothing the doctor can do for you. Everyone has spiritual wounds, things that take us away from God, things that take away our hope—bring those things to your mind as you come to be anointed. Bring those things to mind tomorrow and throughout this week, and ask for and allow God’s grace to again pour into your soul. For as we prayed a short while ago, God did not create us for destruction, or stress or sadness, but for the keeping of His commandments and for the inheriting of life eternal. And in 100 years, this is all that will matter. Let this sacrament be a step in that direction for each of you. Amen. Kali Anastasi!