Ecclesiasticus I: Introducing Eastern Orthodoxy
Ecclesiasticus II: Orthodox Icons, Saints, Feasts and Prayer
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"And
there appeared to them cloven tongues as it were of fire, and it sat upon
every one of them: and they began to speak with divers tongues, according
as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance." (Acts 2:3-4)
Following
His Ascension, when the Savior fulfilled His promise and sent the Holy
Spirit, the Comforter appeared to Christ’s followers as tongues of fire.
As a result of the Spirit’s operation the disciples spoke in languages
foreign to them and were guided as to what to say.
It
is extremely significant that on the day of Pentecost the manifestation
of the Holy Spirit should take the form of tongues, and that the first
results of the disciples’ baptism of the Holy Spirit should be the ability
to speak in languages other than their own.
First,
it affirms the universal character of Christ’s mission, one which was
wrought for all nations, resulting in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Furthermore,
the Divine Services sing of Pentecost in terms of being a reversal of
that which took place at the Tower of Babel (Genesis, chapter 11). "Of
old the tongues were confounded because of the audacity in the building
of the tower, but now the tongues are made wise because of the glory of
Divine knowledge. There God condemned the impious because of their offence,
and here Christ hath enlightened the fishermen by the Spirit. At that
time the confusion of tongues was wrought for punishment, but now the
concord of tongues hath been inaugurated for the salvation of our souls."
("Glory...now and ever," verse for the Aposticha at Pentecost
Vigil) "Once, when He descended and confounded the tongues, the Most
High divided the nations; and when He divided the tongues of fire, He
called all men into unity; and with one accord we glorify the All-holy
Spirit." (Kontakion for the Feast)
At
Babel a false unity established out of pride led to a scattering of all
men, confusion among the citizens of the earth. Diverse "tongues,"
in this case, became indicative of divisions, man’s inability to understand
God, his fellow man and environment. On Pentecost, however, the many "tongues"
of the Divine Spirit became a sign and source for unity, a profound unity
established through love for Christ that can only be granted by God Himself.
Of
great significance as well is the fact that the fruits of the disciples’
labors on Pentecost was the addition to the Church of about three thousand
souls. (Acts 2:41) Here we begin to understand what our Lord meant when
He told His chosen ones that they would henceforth be fishers of men.
Hearing about such a large number of individuals brought into the Church
by Peter and the eleven, we recall that during Christ’s earthly ministry
it was only when the disciples obeyed His will that they caught such an
enormous catch of fish that their "net brake." (Luke 5:4) "Blessed
art Thou, O Christ our God, Who hast shown forth the fishermen as supremely
wise by sending down upon them the Holy Spirit, and through them didst
draw the world into Thy net. O Befriender of man, glory be to Thee."
(Troparion for the Feast).
What
happened on that fiftieth day after our Lord’s resurrection was the filling
of the disciples with the Holy Spirit, their transformation into the Church.
Pentecost is the day of the Church’s founding. From this point in time
the disciples were empowered to do what our Lord told them: "As my
Father hath sent me, even so send I you." (John 20:21)
The
record of what the disciples did from the day of their "empowerment"
is clearly a matter of history. We know that even in St. Paul’s time the
Gospel had gone as far as Spain in the West and we are told as far as
India in the East. By the beginning of the fourth century the Emperor
Constantine not only stopped the persecution of Christians but gave the
Church an official status. Christians to some measure, by this time, occupied
every city and town. And there were still those who were willing, if necessary,
to give their lives for Christ. From that time as well, the Church never
lost its conviction that Jesus had given it the strict mandate to "catch"
the entire world, to bring all men into His net. The disciples – and those
who came after them – were convinced that their message, committed to
them by Christ, was vital, a matter of life or death. This is why they
were able to convince so many, because they themselves were convinced.
Speaking
of our contemporary situation, it can be said that somewhere along the
line, many Church members have lost this sense of urgency with regard
to the Faith. Orthodox Christianity has become, for not a few of its adherents,
simply the national religion of certain people, part of their culture,
their ethos. The very thought of Orthodoxy being of vital importance because
the world’s salvation depends on it, is utterly alien to numerous individuals.
But,
thanks to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, many in the Church have
come to understand the profound implications of Christ’s words to His
disciples on a particular occasion, when they could do nothing for a man
who needed healing: "Bring him to me."
The
Church in our own time is regaining its deep commitment to this command
relative to the entire world: "Bring him to me." We must bring
those in need of healing – and who is not in need of the healing that
Christ brings? – to our Lord, the only true Physician of souls and bodies.
Let
us take time then and analyze to what extent we have been able to comply
with Jesus’ command. If the truth be told, given the number of Orthodox
in this country and the resources now available, we have not lived up
to our potential in terms of making new disciples. At least one reason
for any apparent failures lies in our own lack of conviction. We must
ask ourselves, therefore, are we convinced, each of us individually, that
our Orthodox Christian Faith is the most precious thing that we possess,
that it is absolutely essential for those with whom we come in contact
to know about it? By and large, according to how we live day to day, many
of us would have to answer "no" to the above questions. And
yet for the Body of Christ to grow the answer must be "yes."
We cannot impart to others what we ourselves do not have. Christianity
is so maximalistic in terms of what is expected of man – we speak of being
crucified with Christ and losing our lives for His sake and the Gospel’s
– that for anyone to believe the claims of its adherents, the Faith must
be seen lived out by those who preach it. Thus, relative to the Feast
of Pentecost, our own mission in the United States begins with an appreciation
for what has already been given: "the seal of the gift of the Holy
Spirit." At our Chrismation, which is our personal Pentecost,
the same Spirit was bestowed for our enlightenment and transformation,
so as to empower us to be "invincible warriors" and witnesses
for the Faith as were Christ’s disciples 2000 years ago. (Festal hymns
taken from The Pentecostarion published by Holy Transfiguration Monastery,
Boston, MA.)
From The Dawn
Publication of the Diocese of the South
Orthodox Church in America
May 1999
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