Shocked Reactions

I’m reading a book outside of my religious paradigm, and more than half-way through, it dawned on me that I should write some of my reactions down, which I decided to start today.  Don’t you just love run-on sentences?

Here’s the first “note”:

In the Protestant Church, it is true that a pastor is “only as good as his last sermon.” It always made me wonder, as a former protestant, what they do in their off hours (when they’re not giving sermons).  Maybe some counseling here and there – but not much – isn’t that what “Christian counselors” are for? Maybe some administrative duties. But it seems as though there’s nothing for a pastor to do but make his next sermon.  It’s all about teaching, learning, intellectualizing.  I didn’t realize or necessarily have a problem with this when I was a protestant, but during my searching and conversion to Orthodoxy, it was wonderful to not have my value placed on how well I could do intellectually, but in what place my heart was.  (Note that I am not perfect, or even try to be some days.)

However, in the Orthodox Church, the real admiration for a priest comes from who he is as a person. We interact more deeply with a priest (than I ever did with a protestant pastor – and sometimes it wasn’t even for a lack of my trying). We have Confession, where we offer our sins and brokenness to God in the presence of a priest, and he gives encouragement and council.  Granted, there are few who take advantage of this sacrament, but it’s wonderful.  We are aware of holiness because it’s around us all the time – in icons – and in the people around us. We have monastics in our midst, those who strive after God their entire lives. No, they’re not perfect, that’s not exactly the point, but they love God and desire communion with Him. They make little improvements here and there and eventually they will be a little closer to God. And isn’t that what we all want?

Second more shocking reaction:

The most horrible, well, maybe not the MOST, thing is that some people, some protestants see the heart as a bad thing. We need to understand that our temptations and our passions are corrupt, yes, but it is not who we are.  This is not what God meant for us. To be truly free is to be free from the things that enslave us and be in freedom in communion with God.  The nous is commonly translated “heart” and sometimes “intellect” and is the deepest part of a person (see other posts on nous).  This is where we commune with God.

Part of what I had written before was about how the western half of the world separates heart and mind because the concept of nous is very foreign to them… which I’m sure I’ve talked about elsewhere and leave that to your own reflection and infer whatever you will.

The book I was reading mentioned that ‘the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?’  which is Jeremiah 17:9, I found out as I searched for it in the ESV.  I went downstairs and got my roommate’s Orthodox Study Bible, hoping to find some sort of study note that would explain that verse.  To my surprise and utter shock, I found that Jeremiah 17:9 (17:5)says this, “the heart is deep beyond all things, and it is the man. Even so who can know him?”  I sat there in utter shock, not even knowing what to say or what I would post here.  I will leave that to your own interpretation, I suppose.  But I will add two things that might help you, if indeed anyone reads this.  The note says, “St. John Chrysostom labors the point that only God  an know men’s hearts, citing Psalm. 7:9; 1 Kings 16:7, 2 Chronicles 6:30, and Matthew 9:3,4.”  Also I should mention that the Orthodox Study Bible is using the first English translation of the Septuagint, translated by St. Athanasius Academy.  I’m not going to comment further on that because it’s complicated and I’m sure if someone wanted to know there are plenty of resources out there that are more reliable than a blog.

Holy Baptism

What is Baptism? Simply put, baptism is our death, burial, and resurrection in union with Jesus Christ.  It is a rite of passage, given by Christ to the Church, as an entrance into the Kingdom of God and eternal life.

The Apostle Paul describes the promise of God in this “mystery,” as most Orthodox call it, most succinctly when he writes, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4). To baptize (Gr. baptizo) literally means to immerse, to put into. Historically, the Orthodox Church has baptized by triple immersion, “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt 28:19).

In the Old Testament, baptism was pictured by the passage of God’s people with Moses through the Red Sea (1 Cor. 10: 1, 2). John the Baptist, the last prophet of the Old Covenant, baptized in water unto repentance (Mark 1:4; Acts 19:4).  John’s baptism was received by Jesus, who thereby transformed the water and baptism itself. In the New Covenant, baptism is the means by which we enter the Kingdom of God (John 3:5), are joined to Christ (Rom. 6:3), and are granted the remission of our sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).

What Results from Baptism? From the start, the Church has understood baptism as:

(1) A first and second dying. Our first dying with Christ in baptism was our death with Him on the Cross.  In the fourth century, Cyril of Jerusalem instructed his new converts: “You were led by the hand to the holy pool of divine baptism… and each of you was asked if he believe in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. And you made that saving confession, you descended into the water and came up again three times. In the very same moment you died and were born.”

The second death of baptism is continual – dying to sin daily as we walk in newness of life. St. Paul writes to the Colossians concerning baptism (Col. 2:12) and concludes by saying, “Therefore put to death your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Col. 3:5).

(2) The resurrection of righteousness. This is our life in Christ, our new birth and entrance into God’s Kingdom (John 3:3), our “newness of life” (Rom. 6:4). It is our being joined to Christ in His glorified humanity and indwelt by God Himself (John 14:23). Our relationship with God is not something static, a legal fiction given to us by a divine Judge. Rather this is a dynamic and real life in Christ, holding the promise of everlasting life. Our resurrection to new life now forms a prelude to the resurrection of our body at Christ’s Second Coming.

(3) An intimate and continual communion with God. We are raised to new life for a purpose: union and communion with God. In this sense baptism is the beginning of eternal life. For this reason, Peter writes that baptism now saves us (1 Pet. 3:21) – it is not the mere removal of dirt from our bodies, but it provides us with “a good conscience toward God.”

Because of these promises, the priest prays for the newly baptized, thanking God “who has given us, unworthy though we be, blessed purification through holy water, and divine sanctification through life-giving chrismation, and who now also has been pleased to bring new life to Your servant newly illuminated by water and the Spirit, and granted remission of sins – voluntary and involuntary.”

from the Orthodox Study Bible