Perspective Matters

More and more, I am coming to understand what St. Issac meant by "This life is given to you for repentance; do not waste it on vain pursuits."

Christ is risen!

Perspective matters.

I say that as a man in the latter part of his life, after spending too many years missing the point of a central and fundamental discipline of Christianity - Repentance.

I spent too many years thinking repentance was just about admitting where I’m wrong or when I made a mistake, or worse, when I actively rebelled against God’s wisdom for my life.

But Christian repentance turns out to be a life-long choice to see every moment of my life, whether good or bad, from God’s perspective.

That choice opens up a powerful reality that nothing, and I mean nothing, can ever be a worthless experience. Every moment, even the bad moments, the scary moments, and the selfish and short-sighted moments, can become moments of learning, wisdom, and even joy IF I dare to see from God’s perspective rather than my limited perspective.

If you could learn how to turn every moment of your life into an encounter with God that transforms everything, would you do it?

Look at our lesson today in Acts 12:1-11:

About that time, Herod the king laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword; and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. So Peter was kept in prison; but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the Church.

The very night when Herod was about to bring him out, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison; and behold, an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, “Wrap your mantle around you and follow me.” And he went out and followed him; he did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened to them of its own accord, and they went out and passed on through one street; and immediately the angel left him. And Peter came to himself, and said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”

Notice three actions in temporary time that point us to an eternal purpose.

First, the persecution of the Faithful was intense, which caused them to pray.

They didn’t march on the capital. They didn’t organize a concert to benefit the families of the martyred saints or to protest St. Peter’s arrest. They prayed.

All too often, we think that prayer is a last resort when it should be our constant lifestyle. I’ll never train my time-bound body and soul to see eternity if I don’t carve out specific times to pray. Prayer is the lifestyle of the Orthodox Christian.

Second, the prayers of the Faithful bring rest and rescue.

Peter is asleep between two soldiers. Talk about a sense of confidence and peace. This is the same Peter who was so intimidated by a slavegirl outside of the high priest’s home when Jesus was arrested that he cursed and denied he ever knew Jesus. Peter’s lifestyle had changed with the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and his life among the Faithful as they prayed brought him peace and rescue. The angel comes; let’s the guards keep sleeping, and get Peter back to the gathered faithful!

Finally, the temporary rescue confirms God’s eternal purpose.

St. Peter sees this temporary rescue at this specific time and place as another confirmation that his ministry and the ministry of the Faithful are not yet finished. Peter has already heard from the risen Lord that he would be killed for being a follower of Jesus, but not today!

We remember another Apostle and hero of the Faith on this second Wednesday after Pascha. St. James, the brother of St. John, also known as the “sons of thunder,” because they became great preachers of the message of Christ and boldly stood for the Faith in the face of persecution. King Herod Agrippa, the grandson of King Herod the Great, martyred St. James for his bold preaching of the risen Christ in the early years of the Church’s existence. Herod wished to curry favor with the religious leaders in Jerusalem, so he had James arrested and executed for claiming that Jesus had risen from the dead. But far from stopping the spread of the Faith, this brave man’s faithfulness lives on even to this very day!

Today, are you able to see God in this very moment, SO THAT you can see Him eternally? This is the heart of true repentance and the constant changing of our perspective from temporary to eternal. The great wisdom of the Orthodox Faith is to sanctify each moment, so being a Normal Orthodox Christian becomes our way of seeing every moment of our lives!

P.S. O Holy Apostle James, intercede to our merciful God, that He may grant our souls forgiveness of sins.

Fr. Barnabas Powell is the parish priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, GA. He is also the founder of Faith Encouraged Ministries and produces the Faith Encouraged Daily Devotional on Substack. Watch the Faith Encouraged YouTube Channel here - https://www.youtube.com/@FaithEncouraged

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