Sunday, January 8, 2017

10 Questions for an end-of-the-year Spiritual Checkup (Part 2 of 3)

10 Questions for an end-of-the-year Spiritual Checkup
(Part 2 of 3)

In the last installment of this series we looked at the first three of ten “checkup” items for our spiritual health:

1.      Are you more aware of sin in your life? 
2.      Do you have a growing list of questions regarding the faith? 
3.      How is your generosity?  Or, does your budget reflect a commitment to funding God’s work in the world?

Today we will look at three more:

4.      Is there someone in your life who knows everything about you or, are there things you are hiding?  There are two thoughts behind this point.  The first thought comes from the saying of the dessert fathers that reads, The one who chooses himself as a spiritual guide, has chosen a blind man, and a fool.  As much as we would like to think that we can be objective in evaluating ourselves, we simply can’t.  And we can never really know our own spiritual inner workings without another set of eyes helping us.

Secondly, God made us to be with other people.  We are not really healthy outside of a healthy community.  And to the degree that we are sick (and, like it or not, we are all spiritually sick to some degree) we can only gain health with the help of others.  Alcoholics Anonymous gives us a good example of this point.  Step number five in the 12-step process reads as follows: Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.  For all of us as human beings, health/sobriety/sanity (whatever you want to call it) can only be found in healthy community.

5.      Are you actively involved in a local church?  Or, how’s your Divine Liturgy attendance?  When Jesus Christ ascended into heaven and sent the Holy Spirit down on the disciples (Pentecost) what he was doing was empower the church to do the work that he had done while in the world.  To put it differently, the church is now God’s primary vehicle of operation in the world. 

It’s through the church that grace is primarily given out (through baptism, chrismation, holy communion, and all of the other sacraments).  It’s also the church that guides us to (and helps to shape within us) a Godly life – through the life that she calls us to live.  To the degree that we aren’t plugged in to the church, we are sailing the oceans without a compass, a map or a rudder (because the church is all of these things for us).
                                                                                                                         
6.      Think of the person that upsets you the most/causes you the most grief in your life – what are you doing to love that person as would ChristThis is the hallmark of a Christian (because it’s so difficult to do).  But Jesus Christ is very clear in his teachings that we are not only to forgive those who wrong us, but to love them:

But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you (Luke 6:27-28).

And from the cross, Jesus leads by example with his final words to those who have placed him on the cross, Then said Jesus, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).  Is there a place in our lives where we need to offer more of God’s forgiveness?

- Offered by Fr. Panteleimon Dalianis


Saturday, January 7, 2017

10 Questions for an end-of-the-year Spiritual Checkup (Part 1 of 3)

10 Questions for an end-of-the-year Spiritual Checkup
(Part 1 of 3)

Once a year it’s wise to get a physical check-up – to make sure we are physically well.  The reason being that we are not static beings – we change from year to year.  Sometimes (usually when we’re young) we get stronger and healthier.  Other times, our health declines.

Our spiritual health is very much like our physical health in this respect.  There are periods in our lives when we are growing – even flourishing – spiritually, and other times when we are suffering setback after setback.  In the next three installments of my Sunday offering, we will go through a 10-point checklist to evaluate how our spiritual life is right now and offer some possible remedies in the areas where we could use some help.

1.     Are you more aware of sin in your life?  At first glance this may seem counter-intuitive.  Most of us think that spiritual progress means we have fewer sins, and this is true with one important caveat.  The testimony of the saints is that, as we mature in our walk with Christ, we do commit fewer and less “grave” sins, but we also become more sensitive to and repulsed by those “smaller” sins.  A passage from The Prologue from Ochrid makes this point well:

The more a man advances in spiritual knowledge and in purification of the heart, the more it appears to him that the depth in which he finds himself is even lower and that the height to which he strives is even higher. When one spiritual giant on his death bed heard that his companions were praising him because of his great asceticism, he began to weep and said, "My children, I have not even begun my spiritual life".

2.     Do you have a growing list of questions regarding the faith?  This shouldn’t require much explanation.  If we are studying the scriptures, reading the lives of the saints and trying to put all of this into practice in our lives, there will be questions.  If we aren’t then there won’t (it’s that simple).
                                                             
3.     How is your generosity?  Or, does your budget reflect a commitment to funding God’s work in the world?  The only resources that God has (think time, talent and treasure) are our resources.  And it’s not coincidental that Jesus talked about stewardship and money a lot.  Depending on how you count, roughly half of the parables in the gospels address the topic of money.  Some of the strongest statements we hear out of he mouth of Jesus are on the topic of money (Where your treasure is there your heart will be also (Matt. 6:21), and You cannot serve God and money (Matt. 6:24)).

Like it or not, how we use the resources God has lent to us speaks directly to the health of our soul.   God has promised us through the scriptures, he will be with you, he will not fail you or forsake you (Deut. 31:8).  Do we believe this?  Do we believe the words of King David, I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging bread (Ps. 37:25).

Its impossible to be serious in our walk with God if we aren’t proving that seriousness by committing our time, talent and treasure to God’s work.


- Offered by Fr. Panteleimon Dalianis

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

The "E" Word: (Relatively) Simple Ways to be more Evangelistic in our World (Part 5)

The "E" Word: 
(Relatively) Simple Ways to be more Evangelistic in our World
(Part 5)

In the last article in this series we offered the first three of six suggestions that we can apply in our lives and in our churches to be consciously more evangelistic.  These first three suggestions were:

1.     Begin with prayer
2.     Build relationships with non-believers
3.     Invite someone to church

In this article we will conclude this series on evangelism with three final methods to become more evangelistic as a Christian and as a parish.

4.  Become accountable to someone else for sharing the gospel.  If sharing God's message with the people around us is something we value (even if it's something we don't currently do), then accountability can be a great help.  That which is accounted for is much more likely to be done.

This accountability person can be a likeminded friend, a family member or a priest.  Ideally, it would be a mutual accountability where both parties would be looking for the other to support and encourage (and, of course, hold them accountable) in this effort to spread the gospel.

5.  Have a meal with a non-believer.  This point is related to point number two above ("build relationships with non-believers"), but is more specific.  The goal here is, with people we know well who are not Christians, and with people we know less well, to open our lives to them - to let them into our world and if we are in fact struggling to live the Christian life, to have Christ's words from the gospel of St. John take affect - Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven (Matt. 5:16).

St. Paul had this same idea in mind as he went about his missionary work.  He tells the church in Thessaloniki, So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves... (1 Thes. 2:8).  Real evangelism is much more than just convey the content of the gospel (that’s just the start).  It’s also about walking along-side other people in their varying levels of spiritual maturity to help and guide and grow them in their faith (i.e. we were ready to share with you… our own selves...).

6.  Create a line item in the budget for outreach/evangelism.  This applies to both individuals and parishes.  If we as individual Christians are serious about evangelism, we should invest some money in buying good books that we can then give to people we meet who might be fertile soil for the message of the gospel.  And, as a parish, we said above, that which is accounted for is much more likely to get done.  The same rule applies here.  If no money is put towards any given ministry we (1) show that that particular ministry isn't important to us (For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Matt. 6:21)) and (2) make it more difficult for that ministry to accomplish its work (anything we do well is going to cost some money).

For many of us, evangelism is unchartered water.  We often don’t know where to begin – but to that question, Jesus’ words in the book of Acts can give us some guidance.  Just before His ascension, He tells the apostles, … you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8).  Note that the first place where they will be witnesses is Jerusalem (which was where they were when Jesus said this).  The point being – we are to begin where we are – in our neighborhoods, in our schools, at our jobs, with our friends.  And may the Holy Spirit guide us in this sacred and God-glorifying work!


- Offered by Fr. Panteleimon Dalianis