Food for the Soul: Pentecost - Messengers
of Christ
With the passing of the Feast of the Accension of Our Lord
a few weeks ago we have completed the season of Pascha. With
this conclusion we find that we no longer greet each other with
the familiar exclamation of 'Christ is Risen!' and we no longer
sing the magnification hymn to the Mother of God known as 'the
Angel Cried.' Christ, the God Man, has departed from this world
to take His place at the right hand of the Father. But before
His Acension, He reminds us that it is to our advantage that
He leaves us, "It is to your advantage that I go away,
for if I do not go away, the counselor will not come to you;
But if I go, I will send him to you." (Jn 16:7) It is in
this scripture that we hear the foreshadowing of the feast of
Pentecost as the day on which God realizes His promise, the
promise of the Holy Spirit. The promise of the sending of the
Holy Spirit is found in many passages in the New Testament.
"And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another
Counselor, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of Truth."
(Jn 14: 16-17 see also Jn 14:26, 15:26-27, 16:7, 16:13)
With the Feast of Pentecost we find that all has been fulfilled.
In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was revealed through the
intermediaries of the Law and the prophets. But now God fulfills
what he spoke in the Gospel of John and sends us the Holy Spirit
directly and without intermediaries.We have been given the gift
of the Holy Spirit so that we can continue to know and love
God according to the Spirit since we can no longer no Him according
to the flesh. But with this fullfillment of promise comes a
great challenge. As we read in Luke, "For unto whomsoever
much is given, of him shall much be required..." (Lk 12:48)
It is in the scripture reading for Matins of the Feast of Pentecost
that we learn what it is that is expected of us as receivers
of the Holy Spirit. "So Jesus said to them again, "Peace
to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." And
when He has said this, He breathed on them, and said to them,
"Receive the Holy Spirit." (Jn 20:21-22) Matthews
account of this same event makes our task a bit more clear,
"Go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teachign them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded
you." (Mt 28:18-20)
"Go therefore and teach all nations..." is known
as the Great Commission where Christ specifically sets His Church
as a missionary Church, a Church that was for the salvation
of all and not only for those in the upper-room. And so as Christians
we are expected to preach the Gospel and the salvation wrought
through the death and Resurrection of Christ Jesus. In short,
each and every Christian is called and indeed expected to be
a missionary. But how is it that we can all be missionaries?
It is certainly not possible for everyone to travel to the jungles
of Latin America or Africa to preach the Word of God. So how
can we fulfill that which is required of us?
Earlier we noted that we have passed through the time in which
we greet eachother with the proclamation of Christ's Resurrection.
But the fact that we no longer make the exclamation in the Church
give no justification to stop telling people about the Resurrected
Christ. It always seemed rather odd to me that during the Paschal
season those of us in the Church, who presumably know that Christ
is Risen, greet eachother over and over again with the words,
'Christ is Risen!', as if we need to keep reminding ourselves
of the fact. Indeed it is a joy to greet our fellow brothers
and sisters in this manner but how often, if ever, have we proclaimed
the Risen Lord to those who do not know of Christ? How often
do we sit in our own conclaves like the shaken and scared disciples
of the upper room afraid, or worse not interested in proclaiming
the Resurrection of Christ. When we greet our friends at church
and fail to share the Good News of the Resurrection with others
we fail to live up to that which is required of us by Christ.
Ours is by nature a Church of missions. Indeed each Sunday
we confess in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed that, "...we
believe in one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church." But
we often fail to grasp the full understanding of this statement
especially with regards to the word 'Apostolic'. To be sure
we all know what or who is an Apostle. But do we really know
what it means to be an Apostolic Church? The most common understanding
is that ours is a church which traces her foundation to the
time of the Apostles. While this is certainly a very true and
fair definition, it is but half of what it means to be an Apostolic
Church. The proper meaning of the word will help us to identify
what an Apostolic Church means. The Greek word, 'apostolos'
is defined as one who is a delegate, messenger, or one sent
forth with orders. So when applied to the Church we see that
to be an Apostolic Church is to be a Church which is sent out
with orders, and that order being to, "...teach all nations
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit." (Mt 28: 18-20)
If our Church is by nature an apostolic Church
we therefore, as Christians, are by nature apostles and in being
apostles we are delegates and messengers of Christ. So let us
live up to that which is required of us and be true messengers
of Christ either by actually participating in the many cross-cultural
missionary activities offered by OCMC, Orthodox Christian Mission
Center or by acting on a grass-roots level in our daily lives
by not only being an example of Christs love but by actively
proclaiming the Good News of Christs Resurrection.
Troparion - Tone 8
Blessed art Thou O Christ Our God
Who has revealed the fishermen as most wise
By sending down upon them the Holy Spirit
Through them Thou didst draw the world into Thy net
O Lover of Man, Glory to Thee!
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