A Day is Coming

On October 7th in the Prologue from Ochrid (sometimes Ohrid) written by Saint Nikolai Velimirovic, the “For Consideration” section has a story about St. Andrew the Fool-for-Christ. In the story, St. Andrew is having a vision of a demon who says to the saint: “You’re the greatest enemy I have in the whole of Constantinople!”.

The story continues: instead of driving the demon away, St. Andrew let him speak for a while. This is what the devil said:

“I feel that a time is coming when my trade will be destroyed. At that time, men will be worse than I am now, and children more adept at wickedness than those who are full-grown. And I shall then take my rest and shall do nothing more to men, for they will do my will of themselves.”

St. Andrew went on to question the demon:

“At what sins do your people most rejoice?” The devil replied: “The service of idols, slander, evil against one’s neighbour, the sodomite sin, drunkenness, and love of money – these give us most joy.”

These stories and lists of sins always cause me to reflect. In my reflection I have to be so careful not to become a hypocrite. One of my greatest challenges personally in the church is seeing so many people within the church spending their time judging others outside the Church — slandering or scorning those who fall short, or finding an endless myriad of things to judge unbelievers for.

In doing so, I can easily become judgmental myself. Instead of judging those outside the Church, I begin to judge those within. I expect that within the walls of the Church we would pour our love out onto the world around us — especially toward those who mock or disdain us.

We are reminded in Ephesians 5:1-2:

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (RSV)

I need to be reminded that as Christ gave himself as a fragrant sacrifice to those who were crucifying him, we are to offer ourselves as a fragrant sacrifice to those who may be ‘crucifying’ us, in whatever form that takes. This is what we are to imitate when we find ourselves hated, mocked, or disdained by the world.

Fr. Thomas Hopko has his list of 55 maxims, and the only one I remember and carry with me always is #42: Don’t judge anyone for anything. It’s not lost on me that 42 is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything(1).

How do we love and not judge, and in a way that is so compelling that the atheist, the drunkard, the hateful, the one who is lost in any myriad of ways, falls in love with Christ?

It probably won’t surprise you that there appears to be nothing new under the sun (in Orthodoxy in particular):

You cannot be too gentle, too kind. Shun even to appear harsh in your treatment of each other. Joy, radiant joy, streams from the face of one who gives and kindles joy in the heart of one who receives. All condemnation is from the devil. Never condemn each other, not even those whom you catch committing an evil deed. We condemn others only because we shun knowing ourselves. When we gaze at our own failings, we see such a morass of filth that nothing in another can equal it. That is why we turn away, and make much of the faults of others. Keep away from the spilling of speech. Instead of condemning others, strive to reach inner peace. Keep silent, refrain from judgement. This will raise you above the deadly arrows of slander, insult, outrage, and will shield your glowing hearts against the evil that creeps around. -St. Seraphim of Sarov, Little Russian Philokalia (emphasis mine)

We are not called to point out the faults in others. We are told to keep our mouths shut and look at the depth of evil in our own hearts, “such a morass of filth that nothing in another can equal it” according to St. Seraphim.

If we do want to open our mouths, we should do so in a way that is a proclaiming of the Gospel, the Good News of Christ.

1. See The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams