The Theme throughout the Scriptures
At the beginning of that same prayer in John 17, Jesus says, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your son, that your son also may glorify you.” The context of that prayer is, quite obviously, Christ’s impending Passion. Remember also, that in that prayer Christ states, “And the glory which you gave me I have given them, that they may be one just as we are one.” Put that prayer together, in context, and it is seen that the one-ness with Christ is reached through his glory, and Christ’s glory is achieved through his Passion. And Christ’s Passion is the utmost humility.
Orthodox spirituality is defined by humility. That is not to say that all Orthodox Christians are perfectly humble. Oh, if that were only true! It is to say that the one core goal, the unifying principle of Orthodox spirituality is the struggle to humble ourselves.
That was how Christ could have received that glory of which he spoke, indeed, it was the only way: the path of humble suffering. That is the one characteristic common to every saint of the Church. That is the reason that every Orthodox service repeatedly returns to the central theme of “Lord, have mercy.” That is why we fast. That is why we bow. That is why we go to Confession. That is what makes Christian spirituality different from every other attempt at spirituality.
This theme is found throughout the Scriptures, as well. King David was the man after God’s own heart because he knew and practiced, “A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit, a broken and humbled heart God will not count as nothing.” And every prophet preached the need for Israel to humble itself and repent.
Then, our Chief Shepherd, Christ Jesus our God, “humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted him…” And St. Paul goes on to say to the Philippians, “but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.”
Without humility, we cannot attain even the first step in the spiritual life. As St. Paul says to the Ephesians, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” It takes humility to even realize that we cannot accomplish this ourselves, that we need God’s grace. Living in Christ is the process of continually communing with Christ, in humility, to receive the grace necessary for this continuing process of being saved.
We do not just create humility in ourselves, but like the Psalmist, we intentionally orient ourselves into this downward movement, praying, “I waited patiently for the Lord and he humbled me.”
How do we wait? In the next post, I will share some thoughts on how we intentionally and purposefully wait on the Lord.
Orthodox spirituality is defined by humility. That is not to say that all Orthodox Christians are perfectly humble. Oh, if that were only true! It is to say that the one core goal, the unifying principle of Orthodox spirituality is the struggle to humble ourselves.
That was how Christ could have received that glory of which he spoke, indeed, it was the only way: the path of humble suffering. That is the one characteristic common to every saint of the Church. That is the reason that every Orthodox service repeatedly returns to the central theme of “Lord, have mercy.” That is why we fast. That is why we bow. That is why we go to Confession. That is what makes Christian spirituality different from every other attempt at spirituality.
This theme is found throughout the Scriptures, as well. King David was the man after God’s own heart because he knew and practiced, “A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit, a broken and humbled heart God will not count as nothing.” And every prophet preached the need for Israel to humble itself and repent.
Then, our Chief Shepherd, Christ Jesus our God, “humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted him…” And St. Paul goes on to say to the Philippians, “but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.”
Without humility, we cannot attain even the first step in the spiritual life. As St. Paul says to the Ephesians, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” It takes humility to even realize that we cannot accomplish this ourselves, that we need God’s grace. Living in Christ is the process of continually communing with Christ, in humility, to receive the grace necessary for this continuing process of being saved.
We do not just create humility in ourselves, but like the Psalmist, we intentionally orient ourselves into this downward movement, praying, “I waited patiently for the Lord and he humbled me.”
How do we wait? In the next post, I will share some thoughts on how we intentionally and purposefully wait on the Lord.
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