Today I had a “take off your shoes” moment. Through an unexpected series of events, I was suddenly invited at the end of last week to go to Kansas City to attend a convocation of people involved in various Orthodox charities. But, even to say “Orthodox charities” is misleading because it lets you picture a group of social work executives talking shop. That would be very far away from the reality of what I have been experiencing. But, let me describe some of the group, and you will see what I mean.
Father Xxx is a Serbian Orthodox priest. He looks it, in his cassock, pectoral cross, hat, long beard down to the middle of his chest, and long braid down his back. He works in the inner city and has placed his parish on the street that is the dividing line between the black and white areas of the inner city. The church is in a former downtown store building, on the third floor. They reach out to the inner city with God’s love, counseling, etc. But, people are also coming to the Lord, because he is not just interested in “social work.”
Father Yyy is from Canada. He, also, is typically Orthodox coiffed and vested. He speaks with a hearty French-Canadian accent, and works in an inner city area of Quebec. His parish has started a bakery, in which they make very high-quality specialty bread. As a result of his efforts, they employ 10 inner city residents full-time, as well as funding several church projects. People are being reached for our Lord. He is not into just doing “social work.”
Mother Zzzz is all swathed in black, and has a pair of earphones on her head. The contrast is almost shocking. But, she is also part of an inner city ministry that reaches out and touches people. Just because she is a nun does not mean that she cannot use the newest of technological developments to help her touch people.
Mrs. Wwww looks as though she were homeless herself. That is the result of living for nearly 30 years in Harlem. She has adopted the dress style of the area in which she works. But, she and her husband–and a priest–have been running a “house” in Harlem that works with psychiatrically damaged persons. And people come to the Lord because they are not just into doing “social work.”
Mrs. Vvvv looks like a typical upper-class lady. She is extremely well-groomed, and looks like she could have run for homecoming queen way back in high school. You would think of her as a typical suburban wife, which, in some ways, she is. However, she heads a ministry that works with 400 pregnant women a month, many of them teenagers, to make sure that they have what they need in order to be able to successfully bear their baby and raise it, rather than aborting it. She is not into the political side of the right-to-life movement. She is into making it possible, in very practical ways, for otherwise abandoned young women to make the decision to let the child live. And people come to the Lord because they are not just into doing “social work.”
Mother Uuuu is African-American and the founder of a monastery. In her habit, most people would probably mistake her for Black Muslim. But, she is not. She and her nuns also do inner-city work. And people come to the Lord because they are not just into doing “social work.”
And, so we were gathered together to talk about how to support each other, how to make the Church conscious of the needs, etc. On the second day of the meeting I realized that no one had talked politics. Frankly, I have been to gatherings of this type where a certain type of political philosophy began to be spoken. None of that was here. Rather, the whole emphasis has been on how to better help those in need and how to open up doors for our Lord to touch them and bring them into His Church.
That is when I realized that I was on holy ground. I suddenly felt as though I ought to take off my shoes and kiss their feet. Here was true holiness. None of them were concerned about themselves and about how they could grow in holiness, they were concerned about other people. Do they keep the fast, work out their own salvation with fear and trembling, look to grow from glory to glory, offer themselves as a living sacrifice? Yes, they do. But, that is not their focus. Their focus on those practices is that they are excellent ways to so train themselves that they can better serve the people they serve. In other words, their focus is not on how I can grow in holiness as an end in itself, but on how I can grow in holiness in order to be a better servant to those to whom the Lord has sent me.
And, that is true holiness, holiness for the sake of the world.
Serving our fellow man is great, and we ought to, but does one need to grow in holiness in order to do that?
I think that the more one grows in holiness, the better one can help one’s fellow man. Interestingly enough, it is the experience of many Christians that the more they help their fellow man, the more their spiritual life improves. And, the converse is true as well. Many Christians report that the more they pray and seek God’s face, the more they end up helping others.
When one looks at government programs, one can see what helping one’s fellow man completely divorced from holiness means. Mind you, we do need government programs, if nothing else because the Church has shown itself so able to ignore the needy. But, purely secular programs often lead to petty dictators, rules with no meaning, etc., etc.
True holiness (not fake rule-following) often communicates itself to those receiving help. Many is the testimony of some saintly person who helps others out, and, as a result, those others end up making stronger (or first-time) commitments to the Lord. So, I see holiness, loving God, and loving your fellow man (in practical ways not simply saying you do) as being intertwined.
Fr. Obregon,
Thanks for your explanation.
As a Lutheran, I understand a doctrine of vocation wherein God is at work, through me in whatever I do, for my neighbor.
That God is not dependant on the degree of my faithfulness, or holiness, or piety.
So, if I’m a lowly sinner, let’s say a drug addict, or a glutton, or …whatever…in my speaking to the person I’m helping about the Lord…the Lord will be in His Word, accomplishig what He will…in the life of the receiver of that Word.
Thanks Fr. Obregon!
Steve, I agree with you. God works in spite of our unfaithfulness. I was not making a theological statement but rather pointing out the practical reality that there is an ascending spiral of growth that involves holiness, love of God, and love of neighbor. In fact, all of us start at the bottom and begin to grow with our first prayer to God and continue growing as we serve our neighbor, then pray to God, then serve our neighbor, then pray . . . .
Well said! Thanks for sharing.
“In fact, all of us start at the bottom and begin to grow with our first prayer to God and continue growing as we serve our neighbor, then pray to God, then serve our neighbor, then pray . . . .”
That’s one of the differences between Lutheranism and the Orthodoxy and R. Catholicism, and Evangelicalism.
Lutherans (many of us anyway) believe that we are as holy as we are ever going to be, the moment we are baptised. Because we are given the holiness of Christ and that is enough.
Thanks Father O. !