There is no I in Church

From The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky:

“Once upon a time there was a peas­ant woman and a very wicked woman she was. And she died and did not leave a sin­gle good deed behind. The dev­ils caught her and plunged her into the lake of fire. So her guardian angel stood and won­dered what good deed of hers he could remem­ber to tell to God; ‘she once pulled up an onion in her gar­den,’ said he, ‘and gave it to a beg­gar woman.’ And God answered: ‘You take that onion then, hold it to her in the lake, and let her take hold and be pulled out. And if you can pull her out of the lake, let her come to Par­adise, but if the onion breaks, then the woman must stay where she is.’ The angel ran to the woman and held out the onion to her; ‘Come,’ said he, ‘catch hold and I’ll pull you out.’ And he began cau­tiously pulling her out. He had just pulled her right out, when the other sin­ners in the lake, see­ing how she was being drawn out, began catch­ing hold of her so as to be pulled out with her. But she was a very wicked woman and she began kick­ing them. ‘I’m to be pulled out, not you. It’s my onion, not yours.’As soon as she said that, the onion broke. And the woman fell into the lake and she is burn­ing there to this day. So the angel wept and went away.”

Last night I had the opportunity to listen to a talk by Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware). Earlier that night, I was able to be at a very small reception and had the opportunity to chat with him for a couple of minutes, but I will save that story for another time. Metropolitan Kallistos used the story above to point out that what we do in the Church in the Divine Liturgy, we do together as a community. Except for the prayers before communion, and some translations of the Creed, every prayer in the Divine Liturgy is a plural prayer. Like the woman in the story above, it is all about all of us catching a hold of one another and being kept from the lake of fire by Our Lord. Let’s look at some of the prayers in the litanies:

Have mercy on us, O God, according to your great goodness, hear us and have mercy.

Help us, save us, have mercy on us, and keep us, O God, by your grace.

For the peace of God, and for the salvation of our souls, let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, our God, save Your people and bless Your inheritance; protect the whole body of Your Church; sanctify those who love the beauty of Your house; glorify them in return by Your divine power; and do not forsake us who hope in You.

Lord, You have given us grace to offer these common prayers with one heart. You have promised to grant the requests of two or three gathered in Your name. Fulfill now the petitions of Your servants for our benefit, giving us the knowledge of Your truth in this world, and granting us eternal life in the world to come.

Just like in the Brothers Karamazov, the final prayer quoted above reminds us that he has promised to grant the requests of two or three gathered together in his name. It is when the Church is gathered together in unity of mind and purpose that we most resemble the Trinity, which itself is a community in unity, the Three in One. There is no “I” in Church. We are all being saved together. It is together that we are the Body of Christ, the Kingdom of God. It is together that we offer our sacrifice of praise and thanks and that we offer his creatures of bread and wine. Thine own of thine own we offer unto thee. We are already his. The bread and wine are already his. But, it is together that we offer back to him what is his already. “For You are a good and loving God, and to You we give glory, to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages.“

But, it is not simply us in the Church who are involved. There is a whole world of people who need to grab unto us as we grab onto the Body and Blood of Our Lord. Evangelism is not the perfect telling the imperfect that they need to be like us. No, they are already like us for we are imperfect sinners also. Rather, evangelism is giving them the news that they can grab unto us as we are being pulled out from the lake of fire so that they may be pulled out with us. John Wesley used to say that he was but a brand plucked from the fire. So am I. So are each and every one of us who have been dragged into the Church.

I also know that I have family and friends whom I wish would grab onto my heels so that they might be pulled out with me. Little by little I begin to understand why Saint Paul’s desire in Romans were that if it were possible that he would be accursed so that Israel might make it in. His attitude was that there was no “I” in Church, and his desire was that if he had to jump into the lake of fire so that they might have a way to hold on to him and be dragged out with him, then he would do it.

Let me finish with the prayer before the Trisagion:

Holy God, You dwell among Your saints. You are praised by the Seraphim with the thrice holy hymn and glorified by the Cherubim and worshiped by all the heavenly powers. You have brought all things out of nothing into being. You have created man and woman in Your image and likeness and adorned them with all the gifts of Your grace. You give wisdom and understanding to the supplicant and do not overlook the sinner but have established repentance as the way of salvation. You have enabled us, Your lowly and unworthy servants, to stand at this hour before the glory of Your holy altar and to offer to You due worship and praise. Master, accept the thrice holy hymn also from the lips of us sinners and visit us in Your goodness. Forgive our voluntary and involuntary transgressions, sanctify our souls and bodies, and grant that we may worship and serve You in holiness all the days of our lives, by the intercessions of the holy Theotokos and of all the saints who have pleased You throughout the ages.

Notice that this prayer finishes not with even simply us in the local congregation, but it implores God to let us grab onto the heels of the holy Theotokos and of all the saints so that we might be pulled from the lake of fire, so that we might be forgiven our “voluntary and involuntary transgressions,” so that we might be sanctified in, “our souls and bodies,” and so that we might, “worship and serve you in holiness all the days of our life.” There is no “I” in Church.