In deference to my bishop, I did not prepare a homily on this week’s lessons.  So this week I would like to share the class I gave on Wednesday and some thoughts on the events of the past week.

Orthodoxy and Money

Our God is more than idea: He took flesh for us.  He lived among us.  He continues to live among us through His continuing Incarnation in the Holy Orthodox Church.  He did this out of love for us, so that we would not suffer in this fallen world alone;  so that through Him we can live life in abundance now and forever.  Some think of God as something abstract or someone far away, but God is not really like that.  He does more than watch us – He offers everything He has so that we can live better lives.  This includes offering His death and Resurrection for us, revealing Himself through the Sacraments/Mysteries, and teaching us.  His teaching is found in the Scriptures and, thanks to the gift of the Holy Spirit, in the teachings of the Holy Fathers and Mothers of the Church.

Living a Christian life involves more than confessing Christ as your Saviour.  It even involves more than partaking of the Mysteries and prayers that He offers us through His Church.  It involves developing and routinizing a way of life that is thoroughly grounded in His teaching, how else are we to become Christ-like if we do not implement His teachings?  What kind of belief would we have if we did not take what He teaches seriously?  What good would the Sacraments/Mysteries be if we did not take advantage of their deifying power to change our lives to the better?

Christ teaches us how to live.  Not just in church, but in our marriages, our relationships, our jobs… in everything.  This is not to say that there is a “one size fits all” solution to every problem, but rather that there is an approach that leads to sanctifying choices no matter what the circumstances.  This is less a roadmap that it is a holistic worldview that leads one inevitably towards the only destination worth reaching: perfection and unity in Christ.

So what does God teach us about money? 

1.   The first thing is to recognize that money is not separate from anything else in our lives.  It, like our time and our relationships, is to be treated according to basic Christian principles.
   

2.   That we are stewards of the things we have.  God entrusted them to us to further His purposes (and our growth).  This means charity and sacrificial giving (what about tithing?).
   

3.   That we should work hard (e.g. Proverbs 10:4), but not love money (1 Timothy 6:10), or be jealous of the prosperity of others (Exodus 20: 17).
   

4.   That we are more than consumers, and that relationships with others are more than contracts and transactions.  We are made in the image of God, designed to be in community with others (look at how the Church lived in Acts!). 
   

5.   God provides what is needful (not just the “lilies of the field”, but especially the “One Thing Needful” of salvation and perfection through Christ.
   

What about debt?  Debt is at the center of our current economic problems.  Would it have been avoided if we had followed God’s advice?

1.   Proverbs says that surety is foolish (6: 1-5 & 11: 15).  Many Christian counselors advise against loaning money or cosigning.  Does this counteract our Christian virtue of compassion?
   

2.   Going into debt makes you a slave to the lender (Proverbs 22:7).  It also makes presumptions about the future (James 4: 13-15) and limits your maneuverability.
   

3.   Regarding the current crisis, debt has enabled us to satisfy artificially inflated wants.  We confuse things we want/like for things that we need.
   

Questions to ponder:  Why should the Christian work hard?  What is the obligation of people with disposable income (i.e. more money than they need)?  What is the obligation of the poor?

Some Commentary on the Past Week

This was another busy week here at St. Michael’s, culminating with the visit of our archpastor, His Eminence Archbishop Antony.  While much of the business was pretty mundane, there were some things you might be interested in.

Tuesday was election day, one of my favorite times. 

I love election day not just because it means politicians will stop trying to oversell themselves and their differences, but also because it is a reaffirmation of our commitment to the ideals of freedom and democracy.  I’ve studied the theory and practice of democracy quite a bit, and, while I don’t buy into Rousseau’s ideas about the “will of the people” or the notion that democracy will lead us to some utopian future where individuals and communities are perfected through self-governance, I do buy into the more limited (but still quite grand) belief that democracy is the best institutional defense against tyranny.  Anything else (like useful policies) is pretty much gravy compared to that. 

As for this particular election, I think the contrast between the profiles of the two candidates was striking, and reckon that it was as much a rejection of an unsustainably aggressive foreign policy as an investment in charisma, optimism, and trust in government solutions.  As someone born and raised in the South, I love the fact that we elected an “African-American” president (I put that in quotes because he is, as he has pointed out, as much a mutt as just about every others American; if we were being objective, he could be called “white” as much as “black” if it weren’t for the questionable and vestigial way we categorize race). 

I also love that President-elect Obama admits to be driven by his Christian faith.  Conservatives complain about double standards in the media (as when they point out that Conservative politicians who admit to being driven by their faith get mocked while liberal ones are embraced for their enlightenment); and they can argue that President-elect Obama interprets the implications of his faith incorrectly; but they should still recognize and appreciate (as Frank Schaeffer has written) that his popularity shows the limited reach of the new atheism and that we have not been entirely cut off from our Christian roots.  I could not personally support Senator Obama because I know abortion to be a great evil, but I do like what his election says about America and Americans (very, very few of whom voted for him because they want to see the slaughter of innocents to continue).

On Wednesday, I got to visit a brother priest in the hospital.

Ihumen Gregory was in good spirits.  Not only is he a wonderful pastor to his flock in New Britain and a liturgical scholar of the highest ordes, he is a kind heart and a generous mentor.  I know that you will join me in praying that he is back in the pulpit and before the altar soon.  Until then, we are doing what we can to help him and our sister parish.

Later on Wednesday, our adult education class joined our brothers and sisters from St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church across the river in Blackstone, MA for a tour of the local mosque/masjid.  It went very well.  The men at the mosque were friendly and hospitable.  Their imam gave us a nice ecumenical “introduction to Islam” and tour.  We were also able to watch them pray their evening prayers.  I was relieved that  there was no awkward invitation to participate: they, like us, believe that understanding and tolerance can be maintained despite fundamental theological differences (this, as opposed to some who try to create false toleration by papering over our differences).   I think that simultaneously understanding and tolerating difference is the civic equivalent of “walking and chewing gum” at the same time.  We should really teach (and trust) everyone to do it.

On Friday, His Eminence, Archbishop Antony Arrived (and stayed through Sunday)

He had spent all day Friday on the road, from Ohio to New Jersey, and arrived in Massachusetts (where he was staying with old friends) around midnight.  I met him there to pick up the two seminarians he had brought with him.  This was a real treat: Ivan and Andriy had both stayed with us for a month or so during their breaks from seminary, and we enjoyed hosting them again.  On Saturday morning, Archbishop Antony and I visited Ihumen Gregory, then (after sitting in Boston traffic) worked our way back to Woonsocket for the evening’s celebrations.

At four o’clock we celebrated Vespers.  It was a wonderful occasion.  V. Rev. Fr. Roman, Heirodeacon Vasyl and Seminarian/Reader Ivan came down from our sister parish in Boston; our own Subdeacon John came home from Chicago; and lots of folks came to celebrate the arrival of Arcbishop Antony.  The service went well (our cantors have been working hard to prepare, and it really showed), as did the reception thereafter.  During the latter, Archbishop Antony affirmed his desire to keep me here in Woonsocket for many years to come; an announcement that allayed the concerns of many.  In addition to parishioners and our board, several clergy from the community came to pay their respects.

On Sunday, we celebrated the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy and our Patronal Feast

The high point of every Orthodox Christian’s week (and life!) is Communion with God and His Community through the Holy Eucharist, and this week was no exception.  While every Eucharist manifests the fullness of Christ and His Church, it is most evident and natural when presided by the bishop.  It is within this context that you can begin to understand how exciting this past Sunday was for us.  As icing on the cake, we had the “setting aside” and tonsuring/ordination of two men, one to serve as the leader of our cantors (“Dyak”) and the other as the leader of our altar servers (subdeacon).  Vocations are an indicator of a community’s vitality, and this weekend was testimony of the vigor of St. Michael’s.  Another indicator was the wonderful turnout and all the volunteer work that went into the preparations and execution of the myriad events this weekend. 

The visit by a bishop is bit like having the commanding general come in the sense that his delegates (especially the priest, but also the parish board) are called to present and account for the state of the parish.  Formally, this means that the bishop “inspects” the parish books and meets with the parish board (both of these went fine), but there is so much more involved.  He is our archpastor, and has the discernment and responsibility to ensure that the needs of his flock (those entrusted to him by Christ) are being met.  There is also the matter of making sure that the services are being conducted in a satisfactory manner (i.e. prayerfully and correctly), that the sacred grounds and articles are being tended, etc.  All of this went well (Glory and thanks to God).

Conclusion and the Coming Week

And now?  Now it is recovery time.  This week we will commemorate the tragic events of the Holodomor, a testimony to the evil that can be committed against the alleged “enemies of progress”.  It (and the broader soviet/communist experience) is also one of the many reasons I do not trust government, especially the “perfect storm” of a government that is 1) large 2) committed to “progress” 3) lacking in real Christian morality 4) unfettered by institutions that would protect its people from tyranny [political commentary: an Obama administration combines numbers one and two and a mixed bag on number three; leaving only four to act as a levee against the ravages of “good intentions”.