Today is the Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy. On the first Sunday of Great Lent in the year 843, the Church celebrated the decision of the Ecumenical Council that put an end to 120 years of persecution by the iconoclasts, who had tried over generations to remove the icons from the Orthodox Church. But the Seventh Council decreed that the rejection of icons was a rejection of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is God and man; and that our Lord, Who said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father,” has blessed all of creation by becoming Incarnate. As such, it is not a violation of the second commandment to depict our Lord, of the Theotokos, or the saints, in the form of an icon.
There are iconoclasts today – only now we call them, “Protestants.” Those who are converts to the Orthodox faith from a protestant group probably shared the struggle to come to grips with at least two issues in their journey to the Orthodox Church and faith: the veneration of the most holy Theotokos; and the veneration of icons. We are accused of many things, including the worship of idols, because we have icons in our churches, and in our homes – and because we pray before our icons, and we bow, or make prostrations, and kiss our icons.
They don’t seem to understand that the worst form of idol worship is when we give ourselves permission to live in the way we want to live, without regard for the laws of God or man. When we indulge ourselves in food or drink or any other pleasures of the flesh or of the world; when we allow our pride to tell us we are better than another, more worthy of respect, honor, and privilege – and when we become angry because these things are not granted to us by those who are not as good as we are – this self-indulgent self-worship is idolatry. We put ourselves in the place of God. They don’t seem to understand that when we bow before an icon, or make a prostration, this is a form of respect, and a way of showing that we have not attained the God-pleasing way of life that the saint we are honoring has demonstrated for us, as an example, and as a call to our own pursuit of holiness. Nor are we mistaken about what we are doing. We do not worship wood and paint; we know that an icon is not the person depicted thereon; but we also know that, because those who have departed this life are not dead, but alive in the presence of God, the respect and the love we show through the agency of the icon is received by the person, as if we are, in fact, truly in the presence of that person. So, in our reverence of the icons, we acknowledge the reality of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ; we affirm the essential goodness of God’s Creation; and we show our respect for the heroes of the faith who show us what is possible for us to attain in our own journey of faith, if we are willing to share with them in the Orthodox way of life: praying, and fasting, giving tithes and alms and offerings; struggling to overcome our passions with virtues; and loving and caring for each other.
It is this last step in particular – loving and caring for each other – that is the real key to understanding the importance of icons. Each and every person is made in the image and after the likeness of God. Each and every person is an icon of Christ. When we grasp this reality, it should change how we deal with every other person, and how we think of ourselves. If you reverence an icon of paint on wood, and treat it with the love and respect you would show to the person if that person was physically present, how can you not reverence the person who is actually there? How can we treat with indifference or contempt the person next to us, or in front of us, or behind us? How can we fail to feed the hungry, or clothe the naked, or shelter the homeless, or visit the sick or those in prison, when each of these persons is an icon of Christ – Who said, when we have ministered to the least of these around us, we have ministered unto Him? As for ourselves, when we consider that we are meant to be icons of Christ, and then consider how far short we have fallen from this high calling by our sins, how can we possibly think that we are better than anyone else? How can we not repent, and be humbled, rather than proud, of who we think we are?
The Orthodox Church and faith has triumphed over those who have sought her destruction, from the Romans to the Moslems to the Soviets. The Orthodox Church and faith has triumphed over heresies that sought to corrupt or destroy her from within. The gates of hell shall not prevail against her. Part of the reason for the triumph of Orthodoxy is because ours is a faith that is based on love; and because ours is a faith that is based on truth. Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; and He is the way to God the Father, Who has revealed Himself as the God of love. Each one of us is loved by God, Who sees in us the image of His beloved Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Brothers and sisters: Let us pray that Orthodoxy will triumph in our hearts, as it has triumphed across space and time. Let us love God, and worship Him. Let us love those who have gone before us in the faith, and show us what is possible for those who labor with all their being to draw near to God. And let us love one another, and respect every person as an icon of Christ; to the glory of God, and the salvation of our souls.
1 comment:
As one who has spent most of my life in what you termed a "protestant" church, thank you for clarifying the icon debate. I have recently contacted you on behalf of a student that will be in our home from Russia. I will look forward to your sermons to learn more.
Post a Comment