Tag: righteousness

Learning Patience

Learning Patience

Adapted from a sermon by Fr Michael Fanous

Passage Luke 20:9-19

The Lord uses the analogy of the wicked vinedressers in a parable that recounted the story of Israelites and God up until this point in history. The Lord set up everything nicely and entrusted the land to the vinedressers.

In the Old Testament, the Lord gave the people the law and the commandments. He was always amongst them and created the entire earth for humanity to inhabit. Similarly, the vinedressers wanted the gifts that God had to offer but they didn’t want God Himself.

Israel was God’s chosen people in the Old Testament. He gave them the land, the tabernacle, He dwelt among them, and despite all this, they still rejected Him. Today, people are given so many gifts and benefit immensely from these gifts, yet they continue to reject the source of these gifts. People want the good in life without God, the Provider of goodness.

This could be an issue we face from time to time. When we want the gifts of God, but we don’t always want God. God is patient with all His children. In the Old Testament, He sent prophets, Kings, priests, all people that could voice His Word. The message was clear – to strive for godliness and righteousness. And yet, they rejected Him. To the extent that the prophets were beaten. Isaiah was sawn in half. Zachariah was murdered between the temple and the altar. Jeremiah and Ezekiel were stoned.

All the prophets that were sent suffered and were destroyed for the message they preached. The Lord remains patient with them, and us, to the extent that He sent His Own Son, so that they may return to God. He too, was crucified. God is very patient with us all. He asked for a small amount of fruit among the entire produce, and even that was rejected. The vinedressers believed they were the owners and didn’t need Him.

In the fullness of time, Christ found someone patient and longsuffering who was the virgin Saint Mary. When she was born, she was given as a servant of the temple to do all the tedious jobs that no one else wanted to do, like clean after the animals. When she grew up and it was time for her to leave the temple, they needed somewhere for her live. Throughout this, she was patient. The angel came to her and told she would have a Son, but she wanted to remain a virgin. This was the ultimate answer from God, she was a virgin but still a mother.

Patience was exhibited when she gave birth in a manager. She suffered in her travels to Egypt by night which was a foreign land where no one wanted them. She suffered greatly, the height on this was Christ on the Cross and the accusations that followed.

All the glory that she was given was not something that she took to heart, but she gave glory to God. When she was told she was to be the mother of God, she called herself the maidservant of the Lord. This is all glory that she did not take upon herself. The miracles that followed did not cause her to esteem herself.

What do we learn from St Mary? Long suffering. When we are impatient when we are asked the same question more than once. This is the time to pursue long suffering. Are we impatient with the Lord and our requests of Him? We must recognise the importance of patience. The Lord teaches us, “By your patience possess your souls” – Luke 21:19.

Patience is a virtue we all need. When tribulation passes us by, in patience we trust that Lord will solve it. We need to be patient in order to attain peace with others. The Lord is telling us to be patient, to be like His own mother.

In the coming two weeks of fasting, let us practice patience with everyone. Let us wait on the Lord to give us joy. And in turn, imitate Saint Mary. People learn from the patience they see in others.

The Breastplate of Righteousness

The Armour of God Part 2

The Breastplate of Righteousness

By Mark Loga

In Ephesian Chapter 6, St Paul so eloquently describes the different pieces of the “whole armour of God”, that we must gird ourselves with as Christians in order to withstand the power and forces of the enemy.

The thought of placing physical armour can be likened to the Roman soldiers preparing themselves for protection in the midst of battle. The breastplate of righteousness is the second piece of armour that St Paul mentions. For the Roman soldier, the breastplate served as protection for some of the most important parts of the body, in particular the heart. Therefore, if a soldier did not wear his breastplate, he was vulnerable to an attack that could result in instant death.

When we see the word ‘heart’ in our Bible, it is often about the inner part of our “minds” or our “inner being”. It is our heart that determines who we are. For example David prayed, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer” Psalm 19:14. Matthew reminds us, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” Matthew 6:21. Luke, the physician, tells us, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good” Luke 6:45. And Solomon encourages us saying, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it springs the issues of life” Proverbs 4:23. Our hearts define who we are. Therefore, if the heart serves as the centre of our emotions, feelings and our identity as Christians, it’s no wonder that Satan, who is crafty, cunning, and evil, would want to attack such a vital organ in an attempt to break us down.  

As Christians in this modern world, we are in constant spiritual warfare where the evil one is constantly attacking our hearts, therefore we must gird ourselves with the breastplate of righteousness. If we do not protect ourselves with righteousness, we open ourselves up to attack from the enemy and can fall into sin and spiritual death.

Unfortunately, our sinful nature often gets in the way of living an upright life. When we decide to live based on our own desires rather than God’s, we make decisions that are harmful to ourselves and others. Romans 8:6 says, “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”

One of the ways the Bible defines righteousness is in terms of God’s commandments: “My tongue shall speak of Your word, for all Your commandments are righteousness” Psalm 119:172. Therefore, it’s clear God’s commandments are righteousness and we can put on this breastplate by obeying God in our lives. It is important to become more aware of the decisions we make, we can determine whether or not they are following God’s Will by actively tuning into his wavelength everyday of our lives. In addition, we can ask Him to give us the strength to live righteously. Ultimately, this will allow us to withstand attacks from the enemy and live in ways that glorify Christ.

Those who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness

The Beatitudes Series Part 4

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness’ sake for they shall be filled

By Demiana Salib

“Why are you cast down my soul? And why are you disquieted within me?” (Ps 43:5) – Because, in my deepest distress, I feel like I’m not getting it right. I don’t know what right is. If I make a decision tomorrow, or next week, or next month, I know that I will be wiser even in those short periods of time, but I need to live in the present. And today, I don’t know if this is the right thing to do. 

What is the obsession with being right? Right and wrong is all relative to my own personal understanding. In Judges, everyone did what was right in their own eyes and life was chaos, to say the least. So, I can strive to get it right yet still be very wrong.

But God has fulfilled His promise to be there for me always, even when I get it wrong. I can get it wrong 7 times, I can get it wrong 70×7 times which is more maths than I can handle and He will still take me back (Matt. 18:22). So why do I need to be right?

I can be “right,” yet still filled with the same shame and despair. Fr Antony Paul once called the Pharisees the “super righteous, but lacking in heart.” These were the only ones that Christ rebuked – not those that came in sin – because they were righteous in their own eyes (1). Do I want to be right all the time or do I want to be righteous in the eyes of my Father? 

“A person may exhaust most of his income in pursuing such [worldly] activities. However, if a servant so much as looks at such things as the main source of mental diversion and spiritual comfort, they will instead trigger acute psychological anxiety. They will waste his time, deplete his health, dwindle his money, spoil his taste for prayer and spiritual activities, and weaken his resolve for repentance.”

Fr Matta El Meskeen

If I strive to be righteous for the sake of being right, I’m only going to pull myself further away from God. I can be achieving what I intended, but there will be a stark reality check when I see how far I have removed myself from Christ. A life of getting it right is a life of anxiety, but it is what we, as humans, have come to know and expect. To hunger and thirst for righteousness in the eyes of the Father is the spiritual height of blessing. To hunger and thirst as if my very existence depended on it.

It is no longer about getting it right but, God, I just want to know You more and more each day. I’m not going to get it right, but for as long as I am spending my days with You, then I know I’m going far. I have tasted the sweetness of Your grace and now, nothing else will satisfy. When I was searching for You at first, I couldn’t see You clearly but as I move closer and closer, You come into focus and my anxieties fade. My decisions become easier, I’m not striving to get it right but to get to know You and all else is secondary.

When I am stuck in my own selfish desires, I want to get it right on my own. But when I look to God, I empty my selfish desires before His Throne and He gives me His grace in return. My repentance is no longer, “God I messed up,” and stops there but, “God, the infinite and eternal, Creator of heaven and earth, I am in awe of You and Your love for humanity, have mercy upon me, a sinner.”

Isaiah teaches us,

“Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.” – Isaiah 55:2

It was as if Isaiah knew how we would react to the coronavirus pandemic. The immediate reaction was to start hoarding as many imperishable goods as possible. But why do we spend money on what is not bread? As in, why are we so fixated on more than our daily needs? It is good to plan but in remembrance of, “give us this day our daily bread,” sustain us for today and I know tomorrow is in Your Hands. Then I know my soul will delight in abundance.

It is in the hunger and thirst for righteousness’ sake that God will work all things for good for those that love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). God will make good of even my biggest mistakes if I live to serve Him. I am satisfied in knowing He is in control, and in His control, my darkest of days with Him are still brighter than my brightest days without Him, for the Lord will perfect that which concerns me (Ps 138:8).

The confusion is all cured by one simple prayer: God, if it does not bring me closer to You, then I don’t want it. Although I may not know right from wrong in this lifetime, I will hunger and thirst for righteousness’ sake, not so that I get the answers right, but so I am filled with You, and that I may dwell in the house of the Lord forevermore (Ps 23:6). 

(1) full sermon on praying with intent by Fr Antony Paul –  https://subspla.sh/2hwp6rx

Peace

Peace

by Mark Anton

Peace – no, we’re not talking about throwing up those deuces, but the “My peace I leave with you” and the “in the world you will have tribulation but take heart for I have overcome the world” kind of peace.

In other words, we’re talking about the true and lasting peace that ‘transcends all understanding, guarding our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus’(Philippians 4:7).

So what is this peace? Why is it so important and where can we find it?

St Augustine was a man who once indulged in all the world had to offer and despite all his experiences and endeavours in the world, he famously concluded that “our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You,”

St Isaac the Syrian also echoed this when he said that “in all the paths that men walk in the world, they do not attain peace until they draw nigh to hope in God.”

St Augustine and St Isaacaccurately diagnosed the yearning for inner peace that we all have inside of us and the only place we can find it.Said another way, there are many things the world has to offer us, and they can often appear to promise us peace and rest, but they will fail to deliver because the source of true and lasting peace is God alone.

The Lord Himself spoke of this type of peace when he told his disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit. He spoke of His imminent departure and then encouraged His disciples not to be troubled or afraid because He will provide the true and lasting peace that is different from the peace the world knows:

“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27).

In his Nativity message on Luke 24, HH Pope Shenouda III explains the different types of peace that every person needs in their life – peace with God, peace with people and peace of the heart – and that we cannot attain true inner peace unless we learn to trust in God. That is, if we place our lives in our own hands or the hands of other people, we will always be troubled, but if we believe that our lives are in God’s hands, we will find rest.

Those who trust in God and His planning for their lives are not troubled or restless and exude a peace that is tangible and visible.

To have peace with God is to live a life of righteousness and, conversely, when our relationship with God is shaken, we lose our inner peace which is the result of sin and distancing ourselves from God. He who lives in peace with God will naturally live in peace with others, and those who have attained true peace reflect this in their interactions with others – they bear with patience and will pardon and forgive others.

Our Lord Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and the source of peace Himself. In Christ’s life, we have the shining example of peace. Not only did our Lord live a life of non-violence, and exemplify peace in the external sense of the word, but He also gave those around Him rest and comfort. St Anatoly of Optina said that wherever God is there is peace and that where there is everything ruinous, proud and hostile, there is the devil. We know that in the world we will have tribulations (John 16:33), and so peace does not mean to be in a place where there are no external disturbances but rather to be amid all those things and still have peace in our hearts.

We have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us, and so like the disciples sitting in the upper room, we too can hope in God for true peace during our difficulties.

Being Favoured by God

Being Favoured by God

by Fr Daniel Fanous

And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favoured one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” (Luke 1:26-28) “Rejoice highly favoured one,” or later it says about St Mary that “you have found favour with God.” (Luke 1:30)

What does it mean? These incredible words… that somebody can be favoured by God! That God looks down upon a person and says, “you are favoured by Me.”

Is there anything more important in life than to sit and decide, “I want to pursue the favour of God?” I would love that God looks down and the person that He says, “highly favoured one, the Lord has favoured you.” is me.

What does that word “favoured” mean? In Greek it comes from the word meaning “grace,” and so it literally means that God is favouring somebody or that He extends favour or His grace onto that person. So, either He says with feeling, “I favour that person,” or gives something of Himself to that person – He extends His favour to that person. And so, for St Mary, it could mean that God is inclined towards her, that God sees her in a special light. But moreover, that she could have grace in His eyes.

Listening to these words, how can a human being have grace in the eyes of God? How can a human being, in the face of God, be said to have grace? How can God look down and say that person is special? For God, this is actually the same thing as saying “I see myself in you.” Can you imagine that? Can you imagine God saying to somebody, I see myself in you? Can you imagine the greatest human being… the president, the pope, saying “you know what, you, I see myself in you.” They’re words that are incredibly beautiful, because in saying that, I see grace in you, God said to St Mary “I see myself in you.”

Look at David’s life, God said to Him, “my heart is like your own heart… my heart is yours.” David after he had sinned, chasing after another woman, committing adultery, getting her pregnant and murdering her husband… after all that atrocities, God said to him “my heart is like your own heart,” because after that sin, he repented in such a way, in the Psalms, unlike any other human being.

In Psalm 51 we read that God only requests one thing from us, a broken spirit and a contrite heart (Psalm 51:17) and I can’t know for certain, but I feel by being favoured by God, by having grace in his eyes, having the heart of God, it is only then, like St Mary, we will attain an astounding level of humility. We become disturbed if we think we’re special, we become disturbed if we receive any glory, we become disturbed if people praise us; not because we pretend we haven’t done something good, not because you’re smart and you pretend you’re not smart, not because you’re rich and you pretend you’re not rich, but because I know that these things are due only to God and the glory likewise is due only to God… and not to me.

St Mary was disturbed by the idea that there might be anything special about her. Her humility in the face of all of this is what makes her highly favoured before God. David, even though he committed grave sins in opposition to St Mary who was pure, his repentance, his broken spirit, was equal before the eyes of God. These two qualities are so favoured by God, two things that make God say about us, “I see myself in you… you have grace in My eyes.” They represent the extremes of those who are precious and favoured in the eyes of God.

We often think that only the saints and those who are perfect are precious in the eyes of God, but if you take two children, one who is perfect and yet humble and the other who is not perfect, who is weak, who makes mistakes, but always struggling, always wants to do the right thing, when they does something wrong, straight away come and says sorry, which of those two are more precious in the eyes of the father or the mother? … they are the same. You know, in actual fact, if you ask many parents, the child that is more deficient and weaker, is somehow the one that is more favoured, in my eyes. What then for God? Let us either be like David or Mary, be pure but be humble. Be disturbed at the things that are working for you, because you know that your talents you are not yours, these are things which God has given to you, and never take that glory unto yourself lest you steal God’s glory from him.