Arrogant Christianity

Daily Readings: Isaiah 1:21-31; Rom 7:25-8:11, Mt. 12:38-45
Ընթերցուածքներ` Եսայ. Ա 21-31; Հռոմ. Է 25- Ը 11; Մատ. ԺԲ 38-45 

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen!

As Christian’s we are very arrogant; We are arrogant, and audacious. Yes, this may be true of people who are not Christian as well, but as Christians we are especially seen as arrogant. Why though? I remember the first time as a teenager I had to appear before a judge in a courtroom. I had to dress a certain way and was not allowed to speak unless spoken t and when I did speak, my words had to be weighed and carefully chosen. I’ll be honest, even though I hadn’t done anything wrong, I was in a place where I was answering to a higher authority so, there was a sense of fear, awe, and reverence for the judge. The judge was someone who had the power to free me, exonerate me, punish me and question me. Therefore, it was right that I felt that sense of fear. Likewise, in life there are other people who hold a certain level of authority that must be honored and respected such as a police officer, a doctor, a priest, a teacher, a parent, or someone in our life that has more experience than us. We respect them not because they are perfect but because we recognize the authority that has been entrusted to them. There is fear in that authority, there is respect, there may even be admiration.

Yet, we as Christian’s are very arrogant when it come so the ultimate authority. We are arrogant not because we don’t respect others but because we claim to believe in God, and even more than believe, we relate. We believe in God, recognizing His greatness, and authority and we are taught to have a sense of fear and awe out of recognizing that authority. “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13) We also declare God as our Lord. We recognize the authorship, as supreme ruler, master, and possessor of all creation. That is why we go to Him to be illuminated and grow and as Scripture teaches us “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Prov. 1) Yet, as Christians we also claim God as our Heavenly Father. And it is for this reason my dears, that we are arrogant. To refer to God as God, we are declaring our belief in His authority; to refer to God as our Lord, we declare our submission to His authority; yet, to call God “father” is to speak with such intimacy that one must either be arrogant or more?

In the Divine Liturgy, (p. 40) the priest prays, “God of truth and Father of mercy, we thank you, who have exalted our nature, condemned as we were, above that of the blessed patriarchs; for you were called God to them, whereas in compassion you have been pleased to be named Father to us…” You see in Judaism, prayer to God acknowledged that God is a Lord, that God is omnipotent, unapproachable, unknowable and must be feared. In Judaism when one would pray to God, they would refer to their forefathers, “God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…” Yet, through God the Son Christ Jesus, that relationship, that communion with God for us changed. We became no longer a distant creation, or a stranger that feared God or was ashamed because of our brokenness and our sinfulness, but rather, we became the children of God.

It is here that we must reflect, how much audacity do we have to call God our Father? Because to be a Christian my dears is to be courageous in this way. A courage we receive through God the Holy Spirit, who illuminates us to see not God the Father not as a distant power, or as only a Lord, and King but to see us as His children and Him as our compassionate Father. That is why the prayer in the Badarak continues, “…And now, O Lord, we beseech you, make the grace of so new and precious a naming of yourself shine forth and flourish day by day in your holy Church And grant us to open our mouths with a cry of bold voice, to call upon you, O heavenly Father, to sing and say…” To be a Christian therefore begins with a commanding voice to claim God as our Father and us as His children. This is something the world will see and call us arrogant for. Who are we to be that intimate with God? What makes us special?

It is the love of God my dears that gives us that authority, give us the claim to be His children. A love we are given through God the Son Jesus Christ, who came and died on the Cross for us, not because we are perfect but because He loves us in the same way our earthly fathers would give of themselves for their children. Yet, there is another layer to this relationship my dears. If appearing before a judge or someone of higher authority demands of us a level of preparation and respect, perhaps we need to ask, what is required of us as a child of God? What is more arrogant, calling God our Heavenly Father or denying that truth as His children through the way we live? There is nothing a child must do to earn the love of their father. A father (and mother) will do everything and anything for their child to be better than them, to have more than them. Yet, as children when we grow up, we begin to mature and recognize that no matter where we end up in life, it was only because of the love our parents we had the opportunities that we had.

Likewise, though we are courageous to say God is our Father, we must be humble my dear brothers and sisters, as His children, to live as He commands, no longer out of fear but as a reflection of His love. To recognize that God is no longer merely a judge who will condemn us for our sins, but is like a father, who embraces us when we fall, defends us when we are hurt, loves, guides, and provides us. To call God as our Father is to also see ourselves as His beloved child; to be as our Father in Heaven is. It is this truth gives us courage; it is the recognition at being a beloved child of God, His love that sees not our stain but removes our sinfulness, and that love that sees our darkness, our shortcomings, our real arrogance, our hatred, our pridefulness, our addictions, our failures and yet, does not look with disappointment but stretches out His hand to bring us back into Communion with Him. And as our response to that love, we are called to repent, to turn to Him, to live, pray, ask, learn and be the children we were created to be.

So that one day, when we stand before the Judgement seat, we will not be afraid, but our Lord, our God, our Heavenly Father will embrace us, heal us, and raise us to life through His merciful love. A love that the world will say makes us arrogant and audacious. Yet, a love that is freely given to all creation, and which opens our mouth, with a courageous cry of our bold voice, to call upon our Heavenly Father and say, “Hayr Mer”. Amen!