John 9: 1-38; Acts 16: 16-34.
In today’s Gospel, we have recounted for us the healing of the blind man who had been blind from birth. In this Gospel, we have juxtaposed the faith of the blind man against the disbelief of the Pharisees.
The Pharisees for all their self-professed piety were spiritually blind, in that, they could not see that the very rules that they lived by had bound their spiritual perception in chains. These chains were so strong that they could not recognise Him who is their Creator!
They accused our blessed Lord and Saviour of not being of God yet they failed to recognise that standing before them was the Lord of the Sabbath! They failed to realise that this God-man was above their man-made laws!
Indeed, their absolute spiritual destitution left them the ones that could not see – even though the blind man could not see with his physical eyes he could see with the eyes of his heart. This then shows us that one can follow every prescribed law and custom in the Church but if one's heart is not correctly disposed it is all in vain!
That is not to say that the Holy Mysteries that such a priest would dispense would be invalid – this is the heresy of Donatism- rather, any possible spiritual benefit would be denied this cleric!
The law is a theme that runs right through books of the New Testament. In the early days of the Church, there was much disagreement over whether Gentiles were required to follow the 613 Levitical laws.
This matter was eventually settled in the first Ecumenical council of the Church in Jerusalem (Acts 15). In this council it was decided by - the guidance of the All-Holy Spirit - that Gentiles did not need to obey the Levitical law bar abstaining from food offered to false gods, strangled meat and fortification.
Therefore, it is pertinent to note here that our blessed Lord and Saviour was clear as a bell regarding what constituted the Law – solely to Love God above all else and to reflect that love back to one's fellow human beings – those created in His likeness and image ( Matthew 22: 34-40)!
Then it follows, that for groups that like to insist that the Levitical law still stands in its entirety for Christians are spiritually blind for they have missed the whole point of Christ’s ministry – to liberate man from spiritual death caused by his own pride and self-absorption!
When will we learn? For there are many Canons from the Ecumenical councils that relate to Church discipline that no longer are fit for purpose. For instance, there is a canon (Canon IX of the Council of Trullo) that calls for a priest to be deposed should he go to a tavern.
“Let no cleric be permitted to keep a “public house.” For if it be not permitted to enter a tavern, much more is it forbidden to serve others in it and to carry on a trade which is unlawful for him. But if he shall have done any such thing, either let him desist or be deposed.”
However, one must note that taverns in the seventh century were very different from our pubs, bars, hotels and restaurants! In the seventh century, taverns tended to be places where one could not only have a meal or find a place to stay but they tended to offer other more dubious services.
Thus in the context of the seventh century, this canon makes perfect sense as these places could have been places of great temptation for a cleric.
Yet if one jumps ahead to the 21st-century one rarely - if ever - finds these kinds of temptations in our bars, restaurants, and hotels. How many bishops, priests, and deacons have not been to a bar, hotel, or restaurant? If one followed this canon to the letter then every cleric should be deposed! In all actuality, this canon is not fit for purpose in the 21st century as it is anachronistic and does not represent our lived reality of the 21st Century.
Moreover, in the 21st-century, there is at least one case of an Orthodox Priest who still runs his parent's restaurant which he inherited.
Does this mean that he should abandon his livelihood? Like many priests in America, he is not paid by the Church and has to make money somehow!
Seemingly it is time that we as the Church called more Pan-Orthodox councils to examine all the disciplinary canons and adjust them to more appropriately suit our age.
Think about it in this way, we live in a world that a person in the seventh century would find very different to the world they knew.
For instance, we live in the age of information technology - they lived in an age where - although the sciences were beginning to get more and more advanced - they could not imagine getting a message from one part of the planet to another in milliseconds!
This is only one example - there are many other examples of how our lived realities are very much different. If we as the Church pretend that these disciplinary canons are fit for our day then we will inevitably begin to fail at our basic call to show others the truth of the Gospel.
How can a Church that is living in the past effectively minister to our youth who live in a world so different to the world of the great Church Fathers?
I am not saying that the Church does what the Western Sects of Christianity did and change everything to the point where it became unrecognisable – which clearly was a disaster for them!
One only has to look at the numbers that go to their Churches and these numbers are dismal at best!
What I am saying is it is now time to look especially at the disciplinary canons and ascertain which ones are appropriate to keep and which ones had better be adapted for our day and age.
Disciplinary canons are up for change anytime the Church sees fit to adjust them via an Ecumenical or Pan-Orthodox council! Doctrinal canons such as one pertaining to the matters of the faith cannot change as they reflect the truth of the All-Holy Trinity’s revelation - to His Church -through the guiding hand of the All-Holy Spirit.
Also, it is vital that the use of liturgical language is addressed for it is clear that when it comes to understanding the faith the laity knows nothing as it is ‘all Greek to them’.
The Divine Liturgies are such wonderful pedagogical treasures – why stifle their ability to teach the laity by hiding these truths behind language that is incomprehensible to the laity?
Is this not verging on Gnosticism where only those who are great and powerful have all the spiritual knowledge – almost like in the secret rites of Gnosticism of old?
Christ preached the Gospel in a way that the people would understand Him - not in esoteric coded language that a small few could understand. To not preach the Gospel in clear language is a betrayal of Christ’s injunction to the Church to preach the Gospel to the ends of the Earth.
Indeed, many came to the faith at Pentecost because they heard the Apostles preach to them in their own language – and so it should be with us – we are to preach to the people in a language that they can comprehend.
This is why it is vital that we look to the great teachers of the faith such as Saints Cyril and Methodius whose feast was celebrated last Tuesday. These great saints were the ones that were sent to convert the Slavic peoples. One of the things that did that was vital to the success of their mission to the Slavs was to translate all the service books- including the Holy Scriptures – into Old Slavonic- the language spoken by the Slavs of their day.
It was because of their willingness to meet the Slavs on their terms - through their language and culture - that they were able to show the Slavs the beautiful truths of the Gospel. It is due to this willingness that we can proudly acknowledge that this work eventually led to the founding of our Mother Church the Ukrainian Orthodox Church at the Baptism of Kiev and Rus.
Note that they did not impose the Greek language and customs on the Slavs – rather they met the Slavs on familiar ground - the familiar ground of their language and culture.
Another great Saint who did likewise was Saint Herman of Alaska, who by his willingness to learn the language and culture of the Aleuts, was able to teach them the truths of Holy Orthodoxy ensuring to this day that Orthodoxy is alive and well amongst the Aleut people of Alaska.
The lesson here is that whilst it is wonderful that we have these venerable languages that have served the Orthodox Church so well throughout the centuries their use in the Divine Liturgy, is now alienating the laity and potential converts!
Let us then look at our current context and embrace with open arms the possibility of an Orthodox Church that purposely embraces the Australian culture.
We have a great opportunity to help Holy Orthodoxy grow in this Great Southern Land. There is no reason why we cannot build the kingdom of God in this beautiful land of Australia in a way that is Orthodox but uniquely reflects a distinctive Australian Orthodoxy.
Finally, let us focus this week on how we can excise the things that make us spiritually blind. Let us ask the All-Holy Trinity to guide us to see the things that bind us in shackles and cause us to become spiritually blind. We all have our areas of weakness and it is vital that we hone in on these areas to better grow in our spiritual lives!
Let us put our focus on growing in faith and love for the All-Holy Trinity for such graces will enable us to better preach the truth of Christ’s Gospel to a broken world!
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