IF You Are Willing
Great Lent confronts us with our fundamental need - to have our will healed, strengthened, and exercised!
The Holy Scriptures have some basic meta-narratives that are consistent throughout the scriptures. One of these meta-narratives is faithfulness vs. unfaithfulness.
From Eden through the Nation of Israel and the Prophets and the kings right up to the Battle of Armageddon, those who are faithful to God and those who are unfaithful have very different ends.
Some either misunderstand this or nefariously use it to say God is evil or angry or Someone to avoid or reject. But that perspective flows from a wrong notion of Who God is. He warns of the consequences of choices. He doesn’t impose those consequences. He sees the disastrous outcomes of our short-sighted living and lovingly warns us. At times, those warnings are stark and intended to shake us out of our selfish lethargy.
And it is this contrast that we are invited to confront in our Lenten journey in this Arena of the Virtues. How do we live faithful lives?
Look at our lesson today in Isaiah 1:19-2:3:
“If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
How the faithful city has become a harlot, she that was full of justice! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers. Your silver has become dross, your wine mixed with water. Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Every one loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not defend the fatherless, and the widow’s cause does not come to them.
Therefore the Lord says, the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: “Ah, I will vent my wrath on my enemies, and avenge myself on my foes. I will turn my hand against you and will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your alloy. And I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.”
The very first verse gives us the insight we must have if we are going to be faithful followers of Jesus Christ – Willingness and Obedience.
In the Lenten season, we are first invited to confront the reality of our weakened will. Our will is the place where our faithfulness will be embraced or abandoned. In fact, my enfeebled will is why the “medicine” of Great Lent is so necessary for my spiritual maturity. Until my weakened will is confronted with repentance and spiritual disciplines, my weakness will make my faithfulness almost impossible. My Will Must Be Healed and Strengthened.
Then, and only then, will Obedience be possible.
But look what is accomplished when I submit my broken will to the medicine of the Faith. My strengthened will, by grace and love, then sets me free to obey the wisdom of the Faith in growing in maturity and faithfulness. My motivation for that obedience is informed by the tragedy that awaits the unfaithful. Then it grows beyond that elementary motivation to being motivated by love for the God Who loves me enough to supply me with all I need for my spiritual healing.
And, in light of God’s serious promise to “vent” His “wrath” on His “enemies” and “avenge” Himself on all His “foes,” we are confronted with the stark cost of unfaithfulness. Terrifying, but not without hope. This wrathfulness restores God’s “city,” His people, as “the city of righteousness” and “the faithful city.” God accomplishes this through His “fire” that burns away all the dross of unfaithfulness and the “alloy” that weakens the metal of His people. This is far from our notions of retribution and speaks clearly about restoration. This is God’s eternal purpose of His “wrath.” Not destruction but restoration. The spiritual strengthening of our will is God’s way of burning away that weakens us.
The spiritual disciplines of Prayer, Fasting, and Generosity are the fire of God’s love doing this work in your life. It feels like fire because of the weakened state of our will, but don’t draw away from it. Lean into it and allow it to heal and strengthen you!
The saints of the Church considered the cponsequences of being faithful to Christ as worth it. There is no better example of this than St. Chrysanthos and his wife, St. Daria. Chrysanthos was a young man who lived in Alexandria in the 3rd century AD. He became a Christian after learning of the Faith from a certain bishop in the area. His father, a prominent Roman senator and pagan, attempted to change his son’s devotion by locking him away in prison for several days. The improvement didn’t move Chrysanthos at all. So his father had a certain woman named Daria, a beautiful young woman, brought to Chrysanthos and had them wed. The father hoped this beautiful woman would sway his son to return to paganism. On the contrary, Chrysanthos’ faith and piety so moved Daria that she converted to Christ, and both of them were buried alive in a pit for their faith.
Today, are you ready to embrace the wisdom of Great Lent to heal and strengthen your will so that you will faithfully obey the God Who loves you so very much? If you approach Great Lent in this spirit, you’ll find yourself living a Normal Orthodox life!
P.S. Your Martyrs, O Lord, in their courageous contest for You, received as the prize the crowns of incorruption and life from You, our immortal God. For since they possessed Your strength, they cast down the tyrants and wholly destroyed the demons' strengthless presumption. O Christ God, by their prayers, save our souls since You are merciful.
