Posted by from Fr. Steven Kostoff (dcalvert) on 5/30/2007, 3:24 pm
Dear Fathers, Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,
We are currently enjoying the "fast-free" week of Pentecost, the Feast itself having arrived as "the last and great day" this past Sunday. At the Vespers of Pentecost on Sunday, "on bended knees," we implored the Risen Lord, Who sat down at the "right hand" of God the Father, to send the Holy Spirit upon us, as He did upon the apostles who "were all together in one place." (ACTS 2:1) It is quite significant that Pentecost occurred exactly fifty days after the Resurrection of Christ. In the ancient world, there was a deep symbolic or even sacred character to the use of numbers, and this is fully shared and reflected in the Scriptures. Fr. Alexander Schmemann explains this "sacred numerology" as it relates to the Feast of Pentecost:
Pentecost in Greek means fifty, and in the sacred biblical symbolism of numbers, the
number fifty symbolizes both the fulness of time and that which is beyond time: the
Kingdom of God itself. It symbolizes the fulness of time by its first component: 49
which is the fulness of seven (7 x 7): the number of time. And, it symbolizes that
which is beyond time by its second component: 49 + 1, this one being the new day,
the "day without evening" of God's eternal Kingdom. With the descent of the Holy
Spirit upon Christ's disciples, the time of salvation, the Divine work of redemption has
been completed, the fulness revealed, all gifts bestowed; it belongs to us now to
"appropriate" these gifts, to be that which we have become in Christ: participants
and citizens of His Kingdom.
This reality that takes us beyond the fulness of time as experienced in this world, we call eschatological: the fulness of the Kingdom of God which is "not of this world" but yet experienced here and now within the grace-filled life of the Church, herself the Temple of the Holy Spirit. The "appropriation" of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, referred to above by Fr. Alexander, implies the rejection of a way of life that is described as "fleshly." In an extraordinary passage of the Apostle Paul, found in his Epistle to the Galatians, we encounter the contrast between the "works of the flesh" and the "fruit of the Spirit." (GAL. 5:16-24) St. Paul emphasizes this contrast at the beginning of this passage:
But I say to you, walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.
For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are
against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing
what you would. But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law. (GAL. 5:16-17)
It is essential to realize that the Apostle Paul does not mean by "flesh" what we would call our "bodies" or physical existence. He is not attacking our bodily, physical existence as such. That would introduce us to the realm of dualism, an artificial and non-Scriptural conflict between the spiritual and the material. By "flesh," the Apostle Paul means the human person in rebellion against God, that results in a self-centered way of life that further results in perversions of both the body and soul. As this passage continues, you can clearly discern the comprehensive nature of the "flesh" as encompassing both the mind and body and directing them to sinful activities or attitudes:
Now the works of the flesh are plain: immorality, impurity, licentiousnes, idolatry, sorcery,
enmity, stife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness,
carousing, and the like. (GAL. 5:19-21)
My intention is not to be discouraging, but if anything here sounds self-descriptive or reminiscent of your last confession, then the you are still contending with the "works of the flesh." According to the Apostle, the long-term prospects for such a way of life are not very promising, if not altogether bleak:
I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit
the kingdom of God. (GAL. 5:21)
However, the "good news" is that there exists another way of life, one that is "spiritual" but expressed through our bodily existence in the rhythms of our daily life:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law. (GAL. 5:22-23)
There is no mention in these "fruits of the Spirit" of miracle-working, visions, ecstatic and/or mystical experiences. St. Paul calls upon very human virtues, but with the implication that they are heightened - or deepened - by the Holy Spirit in such a way that a new way of living is being manifested, one he calls elsewhere a "new creation." (II COR. 5:17) This newness of life in the Holy Spirit distinguished the early Christians from their environment, and is meant to distinguish Christians to this day. Failure to live by the "fruit of the Spirit" is essentially a failure of our Christian vocation. St. Paul implies as much when he writes with confidence:
And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
(GAL. 5:24)
A final exhortation with behavioral consequences concludes this remarkable passage on the newness of life made possible by the Holy Spirit:
If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us have no self-conceit, no
provoking of one another, no envy of one another. (GAL. 5:25)
As members of the original Pentecostal Church, Orthodox Christians have every opportunity to both "live by the Spirit," and "walk by the Spirit."
Fr. Steven C. Kostoff
Christ the Savior/Holy Spirit Orthodox Church
http://www.christthesavioroca.org
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