You Keep Using That Word
When a word loses its meaning, it loses its purpose. What we say and how we say it matters. Take for example, the word "holy."
OK, one of my favorite movies is “Princess Bride,” one of my favorite scenes is when Vincent keeps using the word “inconceivable!” Finally, after hearing this word from Vincent many times, Inigo Montoya responds, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
The truth is that words matter, and their meaning matters. When we forget to protect the meaning of words, meaning is sacrificed to one degree or another. Great harm can come to essential truths if we lazily disregard the meaning of our words. This is why translation is such a challenging job and why we struggle over seemingly small matters when we do theology.
By the way, when we purposefully or accidentally lose the meaning of words, we always sacrifice understanding!
It’s because we are handling truths that have eternal consequences, so we don’t move fast (my grandmother always reminded me, “You only stumble when you hurry.”) and we insist on the fullest meaning of a word SO THAT we deal with the powerful meaning being offered us!
The misunderstanding of words has spawned whole religious movements. Entire peoples have been used and abused based on the misuse of theology, sociology, politics, and power.
Words matter. Period.
As an aside, I will not allow my children to use the word “awesome” for anything other than the Trinity. Flippantly applying the concept of awesomeness dilutes the power of awe in our lives, directly impacting my ability to stand in authentic awe of the Uncreated!
This is just a pet peeve; there is no reason to panic!
Look at our lesson today in Ephesians 1:1-9:
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose.
Notice, please, the phrase “holy and blameless.” That’s our focus today, and precisely the word “holy.” I think “blameless” is pretty straightforward, but I have been amazed at the trouble the word “holy” conjures up in people’s minds. When I’ve taught classes on the Faith, one of my main objectives is to fill up our thoughts and understanding of the word “holy.”
When I’ve asked, many people try to define “holy” by saying, “Well, you know, if something is holy, it’s, well, holy.” Or they think of “holy” as a magical attribute that makes saints glow in the dark.
Let’s be honest: we often use the word “holy” in the Christian faith. We should probably understand this word as good or better than many others!
And we Orthodox use the word “holy” a lot!
Just listen to the beautiful Trisagion Hymn in the liturgy or the Morning and Evening Prayers where we say, “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.” We use the word “holy” in every stage of our liturgical life. So, getting the word “holy” right can unlock centuries of Wisdom and Spiritual Maturity. If our God is “holy” and we are called to be “holy” like Him, then knowing what “holy” means is absolutely necessary!
The true meaning of “holy” is this: “set apart for a specific and exclusive use.” The nature of a “holy” object or person is that this object or person belongs only to One purpose and One usage.
The Chalice is “Holy” on the altar because this Cup is used for only one purpose forever!
And we become “holy” when we continue to grow in the faith to belong exclusively to Jesus Christ and His eternal love.
When we are “holy,” we reflect our exclusive devotion to Christ in becoming like Him in our interactions with others, in our compassion and care for the weak and the poor, and in actively prioritizing our relationship with God higher than all our other relationships. In every instance in the Scriptures where the writers use the word “holy,” this is what they mean for us to focus on.
A great illustration of this foundational truth is when Jesus says, “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore your eye is SINGLE, your whole body will be full of light” (Matthew 6:22). Notice Jesus says your eye has to be single—focused on one reality, seeing one purpose, goal, and meaning. Then your body will be filled with light, and you will be holy—set apart for one specific use!
In my old way of Faith, I wrongly believed being “holy” meant not doing bad things or sinning. But that reduced my relationship with Jesus to nothing more than some behavioral modification program. Now, through the wisdom of the faith, I see being Holy as reorienting my whole life towards Jesus Christ. My life has changed, and that’s why my actions and behaviors have changed.
What a better example of holiness than the saints we remember today: The 14 Holy Elders of Optina Monastery in Russia. These saints were powerful witnesses to the Orthodox Faith from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century. These heroes were uniquely gifted with discernment, prophecy, clairvoyance, and spiritual fatherhood, and they used these gifts to shepherd souls to faithfulness to Jesus Christ. They are Leo (who reposed in 1841), Macarius (1860), Moses (1862), Anthony (1865), Hilarion (1873), Ambrose (1891), Anatolius (1894), Isaacius (1894), Joseph (1911), Barsanuphius (1913), Anatolius (1922), Nectarius (1928), Nicon (1931), and Isaacius (1936).
Today, you are called to be “holy.” You are called to belong, to see as your primary purpose of existence, to serve exclusively the God Who made you and loves you more than you, yourself, know how to love. You are called to belong only to Jesus Christ and reflect that exclusive relationship in your choices, priorities, and actions. In other words, you are called to live a Normal Orthodox life!
P.S. For your greatness in prayer and humility and love, for your ascetical firmness and Orthodoxy of faith, God has given His exceeding wondrous gifts to you as unto prophets of His will, as to angels on the earth, and stewards of men's salvation. Wherefore enlighten us also, O universal lights of Optina.
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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/@FaithEncouragedTV
