The Reading from the Epistle of St. Paul to St. Titus. (3:8-15)
Today I would like to focus on this epistle as it is given to us for today’s celebration of the 7th ecumenical council. This council was convened in the year 787ad to discuss and to pray about the issue of iconoclasm and the veneration of holy images or icons within the churches. As you can tell by looking around you, the veneration and use of icons was overwhelmingly upheld and supported by the Church fathers and this practice has continued and been passed down faithfully to the present day. This is seen not merely as nice decoration, but as a necessary aspect of holy and reverent Orthodox Christian worship and prayer life.
Now in today’s epistle we hear the following: “But avoid foolish disputes, and genealogies, and contentions, and controversies about the Law; for they are unprofitable and vain.” The Apostle Paul loved the Church so much that he gave of himself in service to her. He pursued service to the Church although it would cost him everything, even his very life. His dedication to the Church was the logical expression of his love and devotion to Our Lord Jesus Christ, who had loved him and redeemed him from out of the pit of darkness. And we see often in the writings of the New Testament that the Church is seen not merely as a gathering of God’s people, but the Church is rather the very body as well as the bride of Christ. They are inseparable for us. For us, one cannot have Christ in fullness unless he also has the Church in it’s fullness.
St. Paul visited many places and started communities all over the Roman empire. Later after visiting and establishing churches, he would write to them to put certain things in order and to correct any deficiencies he had seen or that were brought to his attention by others after he would leave a particular place. And so here he writes to one of his disciples and fellow workers in the mission field, St. Titus with these words: “But avoid foolish disputes, and genealogies, and contentions, and controversies about the Law; for they are unprofitable and vain.”
St. Paul is looking for the peace and the unity of the Church. He tells Titus that the people are to avoid foolish disputes and contentions. I want to say that we see this as a potential issue in every church community and especially in the ones were we spend time together and we break bread together on a regular basis. It is really important for us to take some of these teachings to heart. Each one of us has a part to play in creating a beautiful, holy atmosphere of love that reflects the grace and presence of the Holy Spirit. It is critical that we do some self-reflection to see whether or not we might need to adjust our own behaviors or attitudes in light of these teachings. We want to have a vibrant community and healthy relations with one another and we should be able to speak to one another about many topics but some of the topics and discussions don’t help us much. Arguing about politics and conspiracies and the philosophies of the world won’t help us much. But it definitely can hurt us.
At the very least, we should be aware of how others around us might perceive things or might be offended by something that they overhear. To be clear, you have a God given obligation to your brothers and sisters in Christ not to be a stumbling block or a cause of offense whatsoever. At the very least I ask you to pay attention and to respect your neighbors in this community by keeping your voices down and respecting the space of the others. When some of you are having loud, spirited debates, as innocent as they may be, there is always a chance that someone will take offense or might even misunderstand something they heard or perhaps will take something out of it’s proper context. For this reason, I ask you to have your conversations in a way that is subdued and private not wide-open and potentially obnoxious.
In addition, it should be mentioned that not all topics are profitable for conversation at the Church. On that note, there are some conversations that are absolutely not fitting for the life of the church and those are topics that are against Christian teaching and the beliefs of the Church, which we consider sacred. St. Paul mentions this here in the epistle when he writes, “A man who is a heretic after the first and second admonition reject, knowing that such a one is subverted, and sins, being self-condemned.”
In some of the translations it will read “one who stirs up division” but in fact in the original Greek it is not schismatic but “heretic.” A heretic is one who willingly chooses to divide himself from the community by his acceptance and teaching of false doctrines. These are false teachings firstly about Christ, the Holy Trinity and the Mother of God, but this extends to the teachings of the Church on topics such as morality. Why? Because the moral law has it’s source in God, it is rooted in the Ten Commandments and it exists to protect the soul from harm, from destruction. The moral teaching of the Church is a shield and protection for everyone who desires to know God and to live a godly life. To live immoral lives, to break the ten commandments and the teachings of Christ is to fall into sin, which is separation from God and from others. A Christian is called to live a life reconciled to God and others.
On the day that we are baptized into the Orthodox Church we turn to the west and we spit on Satan. Each one of us must do so whenever someone brings you satanic or heretical teachings. Whether here or outside of the church. You are a child of God, bought at a price. When they say to you, for instance, that “the resurrection of Christ doesn’t matter” you should reject this with your heart and distance yourself from such people who know nothing and yet desire to influence everyone around them with their distorted understandings. The same holds true when they push the idea that all religions are a path to the same God. Or when they push false notions about the human person and sexuality and a multitude of others false points that are in fashion today.
When you entered the Church you accepted the teachings of Scripture, the New Testament and the gospels within the communal understanding of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. We are bound by these teachings and we don’t create our own version of them. Because whatever you create from your own opinion will reflect your distorted image and likeness and not the image and likeness of God. This is not faith, rather it is self-idolatry. Each person has to discern their thoughts and their heart, not in light of their feelings, rather in light of Christ and His Church.
So ours is a living communion with God the Father, and His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and this living communion flows between everyone who loves God and shares this faith. Let us be determined to be together in our shared love for Christ and His Church and not divisive or worse, steering people away from the arms of Christ. Satan is the father of lies, but Christ is our very life and hope, the One who loves us in and through the Church, now and forever and unto ages of ages AMEN.
Source: Sermons