We’ve Got It All Wrong!
Perhaps the most successful sitcom of all-time is the Beverly Hillbillies. The series aired on CBS from September 26, 1962 to May 23, 1971 and told the rags to riches story of a Bugtussle, Tennessee family striking oil in the Ozark Mountains. Soon after striking “black gold” the Clampetts move to Beverly Hills and television episodes were built upon the clash between the "uncivilized" hillbilly culture and the "worldly" Beverly Hills culture. Despite living in a large, beautiful mansion, the Clampetts lived as if they were still back in the mountains by retaining their old customs, their hillbilly attire, and country values. Their newfound wealth did not corrupt their core beliefs and the local culture did not change the way they lived. They lived in Beverly Hills, but were not like anything or anyone in Beverly Hills. They were true to their ideals.
I wonder that somehow we’ve all become tainted and corrupted by the world around us. It seems God’s Church and His people are slowly losing the culture war and the core values of our faith are deteriorating. Our faith is being challenged by the world and some people compromise their spiritual values for selfish achievement. It’s common knowledge that many of us are focused on achievement. No longer are we content to simply earn a living and raise God fearing, well-adjusted children. Instead, we want to amass fortunes, live in brick mansions, travel the globe, and develop high achieving, self-confident children. Years ago, a person’s social status didn’t seem too important. Rather, a person’s character and reputation meant everything especially if they lived humble, simple lives. Today, the single quality that young parents want their children to have is intelligence. Parents want their children to be smart more than anything else. Parents believe that if their children are smart they can attain higher education and have the means to make a fortune and live comfortable lives. The search for worldly success today eclipses nourishing a relationship with Jesus Christ and the development of our moral character. People are abandoning being dependent on God’s graces by thinking they know best and by pursuing their own agenda
Our Christian faith is feeding into this euphoria where our culture is climbing the ladder to success. Ministers hoping to connect with ambitious souls are preaching a whole new brand of theology called “Prosperity Theology”. Prosperity theology claims that God wants every Christian to be successful in every way, including their finances. Successful Christians are living within God’s will if they are successful because it is God’s will that we all prosper. The Biblical verse “God gives you the power to get wealth to establish his covenant” (Deuteronomy 8:18) is often cited to reinforce this position.
Somehow I think that we have it all wrong. Hitting the lottery, striking oil in our backyards, or building a financial empire is not what I think our faith is all about. If our lives are to have meaning, they must be founded upon virtue, service, and devotion to our loving Lord. Most of all, in order to truly have a meaningful faith, our faith must be purified by the fire of struggle and hardship. Christianity was not built through the prosperity of its believers, but grew through the blood of its martyrs, the sacrifices of its faithful, and the humility of each believer to carry his or her cross for the sake of the Gospel. Our personal faith is entirely dependent on God’s grace rather than personal achievement.
Today’s epistle reading from 2 Corinthians 11:31-12:9 is especially intriguing because St. Paul emphasizes his weakness and trials rather than boast about his spiritual visions, revelations, and experiences. St. Paul early on in the passage tells us how he was able to taste eternity in Paradise. Paul by vision or out-of-body experience was carried up into the third heaven (first heaven is the atmosphere, the second heaven is outer space) where he experienced a life changing personal event. The experience gave him a taste of what believers will know in eternity. Such an experience was too wonderful and magnificent to be limited by mere words. Rather than boast about this event, St. Paul chooses to boast of his weakness and suffering. Paul believes that his supernatural experience can be a temptation to fall into the sin of pride. He also explains that he was given “the thorn in the flesh” from God to prevent spiritual pride. Surely, the exceptional supernatural visions could have inflated Paul’s ego so that he felt superior to the other Christians. His thorn was given to keep him humble and aware of his weakness.
In today’s reading, St. Paul gives us an example of his weakness and his dependence on the God’s grace. Paul reminds the Corinthians that he was forced to escape the governor under King Aretas in Damascus for fear of his life (Acts 9:24). Paul was lowered down in a basket through a window to escape Jews who were trying to kill him. His escape is reminiscent of a fleeing criminal and is a sign of human weakness and humiliation. We can contrast his escape down the wall with scaling of the walls by powerful Roman military soldiers. In ancient Roman times, the first Roman soldier (over the rank of centurion) to scale a wall in the attack of a fortified city would earn a badge of honor. The “corona muralis” or wall crown was one of the highest Roman military honors rewarded and signified bravery. By contrast, Paul’s escape in a basket highlighted his weakness, humiliation, and disgrace. Yet, Paul’s escape showed the grace of God that allowed him to survive so that he could preach the Gospel. God delivered Paul so that God’s plan for his life could be fulfilled. Paul’s life was spared through his humility and dependence on God’s grace.
Over the years St. Paul’s trials strengthened his faith and changed his outlook in struggling through tough times. Paul’s escape at Damascus, his stoning and being dragged out by the mob at Lystra (Acts 14:19), his shipwreck, his thorn in the side, and other trials transform Paul so that he becomes totally dependent of God’s mercy for survival. Paul becomes proud of his sufferings and sees them as a means of inner strength. St. Paul would argue that his sufferings enabled him to come closer to Christ and were a source of blessing. People today would agree that Paul’s logic is out of place in our modern age. Most of us try to avoid suffering and pain. We seek stability, strength, and independence. I ask: Is there something wrong with our thinking or are the Prosperity Theologians correct? Does God want us to experience earthly prosperity or are trials necessary for our spiritual development?
It’s interesting to point out that Orthodox theologians and saints have much to say about trials and suffering. Generally speaking, people seeking spiritual perfection welcome trials and suffering. St. Maximos the Confessor uses the example of Job to conclude that God in his “loving providence” allows the devil in appropriate ways to inflict various sufferings on us. The devil was utterly unable to approach Job unless God willed it. Building on this point, St. Peter of Damaskos continues that people who love God are saved through the trials and temptations that God permits us to undergo. He advises us that there is several ways to undergo trials. The less perilous course is to patiently endure the trials and to turn to God to give us strength. St. Maximos agrees and advises us to accept these trials and points to the example of St. Paul. St. Paul endured these sufferings because he knew that the humility produced by suffering “safeguards the divine treasures of the soul.” St. Paul was content to patiently endure his sufferings because they were an example of his virtue and faith. Sufferings also benefit us because through them our hearts can become more pliable and responsive. In other words, suffering allows us to be more open to God so that He can constructively mold our lives.
On the other hand, the more dangerous course is to flee from God out of fear so we don’t have to face our trials. When we do this, however, we fall into the devil’s trap and deliver ourselves into the hands of eternal destruction. We also bring punishment upon ourselves. Our better alternative is to endure the temporary trials and see them as an opportunity to develop our faith.
In the end, we learn that it is God’s grace that sustains us in our weakness. God is always near and we should never loose hope in God when bad things happen to us. Our weakness is the vehicle by which God’s grace and Christ’s power are given to us. Before I talk about God’s grace given to us in humility, I want to define what we mean by God’s grace. The Orthodox Study Bible defines grace as:
“The gift of God’s own presence and action in His creation. Through grace, God forgives sins and transforms the believer into His image and likeness. Grace is not merely unmerited favor -- an attitude of God toward the believer. Grace is God’s uncreated energy bestowed in the sacraments and is therefore truly experienced. A Christian is saved through grace, which is a gift of God and not a reward for good works. However, because grace changes a person, he or she will manifest the effects of grace through righteous living.” [pages 799-800].
St. Theodoros tells us that God’s grace is important to our survival. He writes, “No one among us can prevail by our own unaided strength over the devices and wiles of the evil one; he can only prevail only through the invincible power of Christ. Sin is only abolished through the grace of God, for it was made dead through the mystery of the Cross.”
How do we receive God’s grace? St. Makarios says that in order to receive God’s graces we must be humble. What we learn is that false illusions of our own strength cause us to overlook divine power and result in our rebelliousness against God. It is for this reason that God humbles those that exalt themselves. Our souls can attribute nothing to itself, but only to God. When God, sees our soul trying he will reward it as though it had achieved it through its own efforts. Our body, soul, and our very being are only here by God’s grace. There is nothing that we can really call our own or take pride in accomplishing. Everything is attributed to God alone. When man accepts that he is nothing without God, this is the greatest gift that man can make and is the most precious offering to God. God will reward a humble heart.
Truly it’s God’s grace that sustain us as St. Paul writes, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” People filled with God’s grace are filled with inexpressible and nameless joy and exaltation. According to St. Makarios they behave as if they were at a royal banquet; or feel like bride and bridegroom delighting together spiritually; or sometimes act like bodiless angels because they are consumed with unutterable spiritual joy. The joyful existence of living a grace-filled life is simply beyond words because it is heavenly and we cannot describe it with worldly terms. Divine grace takes many different forms. It teaches and disciplines the soul to present itself perfect and spotless to the heavenly Father. May I ask is there any greater joy than living a spirit-filled life entirely for Christ? Who wouldn’t want to present themselves as a spotless radiant soul to our Lord?
As I close, I simply want to say that our world has failed in its carnal pursuit to find true delight and pleasure. Pure joy is only found in a life of virtue, service, devotion, and adoration of our loving God and living entirely on His grace. By yielding our lives to His Divine Wisdom, we are willingly placing ourselves on a road paved with struggle and hardship. Although we can take an easier road, only God’s road leads to salvation. Only God’s road contains the carefully selected trials that purify and perfect our soul so that it can become radiant and more acceptable to Christ. Fortunately, God’s road contains “rest stops” where we can refresh in His grace so that we will have the stamina and strength to sustain us on our journey.
We Stand by Grace
A pastor was traveling on a bus down a bumpy road. Seated next to him was a college student who noticed that the minister was reading his Bible. The minister asked, “Are you spiritually ready for the temptations that you will face in college?”
"I don’t have a problem with temptation," the young man told the minister. "I have strong willpower."
The minister took a pencil from his pocket and said, "I can make this pencil stand up on the cover of this Bible even though the bus ride is bumpy."
The young man said, "I’ll believe it when I see it. I don’t think you can do it."
"Look, I’m doing it," he replied as the young man watched.
"Yeah, but you didn’t tell me you would hold the pencil up with your hand."
"I didn’t have to tell you," the pastor remarked. "Have you ever seen a pencil stand up on its own without someone holding it?"
The minister then let go of the pencil, which instantly fell over. "The only reason you stand," he continued, "is because God is holding you up with His hand."
If God were to remove His hand of protecting grace, we would immediately fall into sin. Humility is depending completely on God, realizing that He upholds us by His grace (Romans 5:2). (Kent Crockett, Making Today Count for Eternity, Sisters,
My friends we are all held up by God even in our darkest hours. Fortunately, God’s grace is more than sufficient for us. Amen.
