And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!†But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.
One meaning of the word oeconomia among the Orthodox is “the Church’s ‘handling’ or ‘management’ of various pastoral and disciplinary questions, problems, and issues that have arisen through the centuries of Church history.” But it has also become an expression for the freedom from the law that is present in the Orthodox Church. Does this mean that there is no law? Not at all, certainly we Orthodox have canones de sobra or enough canons to last us for a while. But, it does mean that we try to follow the principle set in place by our Lord Jesus Christ himself. In theory, we apply our canons as is best for the people involved rather than as a simple following of the rules.
Phariseeism is not the following of rules, per se. Even our Lord says, “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” Rather, phariseeism is twofold: the application of rules regardless of its effects upon people; and, the interpretation of rules in such a way that they apply to situations significantly outside the original intent of the rule. Thus, something that is forbidden in no rule can end up forbidden by a pharisee by using some odd type of allegorical and analogical interpretation. It would often be better to simply say that there is no rule for this occasion.
Licentiousness is the opposite of phariseeism. It not only grants that rules (whether the Law or canons) need to be interpreted as is best for the people involved, but goes even farther and makes the rules into principles, as though God had given us the 10 Suggestions. In this country that often couples with individualism in such a way that any individual has the right to apply any rule as they best see fit. This is not only present in the Church, but also quite present in the society. One need only talk to a police officer to see how often people are “shocked” that they end up in trouble because they chose to not follow a law.
—TO BE CONTINUED—
Leave a Reply