Unity in Humility
32nd Sun after Pent. Jan. 30, 2022, Matt. 15: 21-28,
In today’s short 3 verse Epistle reading we hear, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of who I am chief.” We struggle with this concept as we are pretty sure we’re not as bad as so and so whom we happen to know a bit about. But we are to only compare ourselves with how we are doing on the path that God has called US to walk. I think we can all understand we that we are called to be transformed into children of God, to walk in the fullness and light of God Himself, and we still have a long way to go. This self awareness is however the birthplace of humility; and humility is the only path that leads us home to God.
“O Lord, Son of David, have mercy upon me.” cries the Canaanite lady in today’s gospel. Sound familiar? If you recall from the lesson of the blind man a couple Sundays ago, “Son of David” was a well recognized title for the Messiah, but very few of God’s chosen people of “Israel” would consider calling Jesus this, because they refused to recognize Him as such. This mother pleading for her demon possessed daughter is from the despised tribe of the Canaanites, yet she recognizes that this is the Christ, the Messiah. Yet Christ tells her that He “…was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Many times we are told of those who were outside of the house of Israel and yet exemplified true faith far more than those “insiders” who were bona fide members of the “chosen people.” We have stories of many other faithful “outsiders.” The good Samaritan, the Roman centurion, the Samaritan woman at the well – St. Photini, whom Christ told that “..salvation is of the Jews.”
As members of the Orthodox Church, the new Israel, the original Church that has kept intact all that has been passed down from the apostles themselves from the very beginning of the church throughout every age until today, we should take note of this. We may be in the true Church, but our membership, our baptism into the Church does not guarantee our salvation. Nor do we know the fate of those outside the protection of the Church. We must each grow our own faith and continue to accept and walk in the gift of baptism we have received. God has sons and daughters but no grandchildren. Seek Christ and you will find Him; knock and the door will be opened; awaken! you who sleep – these are all action words. We are told that the violent, those who are active, take the kingdom of heaven by force, and we must each persevere until the end.
How persistent was this Canaanite woman? She falls on her face before Christ and begs Him for help and what was His reaction? He completely ignored her, “He answered her not a word.” She doesn’t pout and turn away, telling herself “well, that was a waste of time.” No she continues to cry out, she is not going away politely. That’s persistence. The disciples say, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.” She is causing quite a scene. Just like the blind man who Christ healed. The Lord then tells her He was sent only to the tribe of Israel, to God’s chosen people. What is her reaction? “Then she came and worshiped Him saying ‘Lord, help me.” Finally Christ calls her a dog. “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
How would we react when confronted with such rejection? First being completely ignored, then being told we aren’t of enough value to have our petition even considered, and then being called a dog. Would we just soldier on, take it in stride, perhaps even think that this is true and probably what we deserve? Or would we be more likely to have that snake of self-righteous indignation rise up in our throats and fill us with anger. “I don’t deserve to be treated like this? It’s not fair and I’m not going to put up with it. I’m out of here. I’ve got to maintain some self respect, some basic pride in who I am.”
Our Canaanite lady doesn’t go down that road. She demonstrates that saving characteristic, that great attitude, which we are told all through the scriptures and the writings of the Fathers in every century, is the most pleasing and soul saving quality we can possess. You know what I’m referring to, humility of course. “Yes Lord,” she agrees that she is only fit to be considered a dog not a child, “yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters table.” A crumb from Christ’s table would be enough to bring healing to her daughter. What is the “children’s bread?” (John 6: 51) “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” She knew who was before her, Christ, the Creator of all that exists, true God of true God, stood before her. This knowledge is the birthplace of humility.
“O woman, great is your faith,” Christ tells her, and her daughter is immediately healed. Christ is the only legitimate place to put our faith. But we tend to prefer to put our trust in ourselves. We hold our opinions on any given matter fiercely to our chest, defending them as if they are what will save our souls. Focusing on being “right.” And of course if I’m right, you must be wrong. We feel superior in our position, our faith in our rightness establishes our great wisdom and we take a further step down the “pride” road. Do our “opinions” really matter that much? Enough to keep us from loving those “others?” There are so many areas to disagree upon, and the enemy is always at hand, feeding us some new ones to keep us distracted, and not focusing on Christ, who is of course the only One we should place our faith in. “Let us disappear that God may appear” Saint Kyrollos tells us. “Grant me humility in my thoughts and a release from the slavery of my own reasonings,” we pray after we receive the life creating body and blood of Christ. And then we go into attack mode on how wrong those “others” are, who dare to think differently about quite unimportant subjects that really have very little real effect on our lives.
When a priest vests, the stole, the epitrachelion, is the vestment which represents his blessing to serve. As he puts it on he quotes the second verse from the 3 verse Psalm 133 The psalm begins, “Behold now, what is so good or so pleasant as for brothers to dwell together in unity.” 2nd verse “It is like myrrh running down upon the beard, the beard of Aaron, Running down upon the border of his robe.” Unity in Christ in His Church is to be sought above all private opinions. When our private opinions about any aspect of Church life interfere with this blessed unity and peace, we need to examine why they have such a hold on us. I have seen many cases over the last couple of years, while we have been dealing with this Covid pandemic, where various opinions on how best to deal with issues has shattered the peace and unity of the Church. We have been very fortunate here at St, Aidan, perhaps due to our small size, and also of course through the grace of God and love and prayers of our patron St. Aidan, we have not experienced much of this division. But let us ever stand on guard, for the evil one will certainly do what he can to tempt us. As St. James tells us, (3:16) “For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.”
Yesterday was St. Ignatius the Godbearer, Bishop of Antioch’s saint’s day. He was reputed to be the child Christ sat on His knee, and he was thrown to the lions in 107 AD. Pretty early witness. He has much to teach us regarding how to preserve the unity in the Church. In his letter to Polycarp he writes, “We should regard the bishop as we would the Lord Himself.” and “Listen to the Bishop if you want God to listen to you.” Our bishop is the visible representation of Christ and in him is our Unity intact.
Today we celebrate the synaxis of the Holy Cappadocian Fathers, Sts. Basil, John Chrysostom and Gregory the Theologian. We have their icon where they are all together, on the tetrapod. This feast day was established in the 11th century when there was division disrupting the unity of the Church, as there were followers of these three great saints disputing over which one was greatest. We can’t fight about theology in the Orthodox Church, but we can sure find enough other issues to take on! The three saints appeared together in a vision to St John of Euchaita in the year 1084, telling him there were no divisions or oppositions between them, and they were all equal before God. They asked that a common commemoration be started on Jan. 30, and the disputes and controversies be put to rest. May we too ask these blessed Hierarchs to pray that we might always dwell Christian in love and unity, and most especially that we may meet in unity and the discernment of God’s will today at our annual meeting!