March 19, 2000 Sunday of Orthodoxy

The Hierarchs of the Standing Conference of The Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas

To all the clergy and laity of the Holy Orthodox Church throughout the Americas Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In the reading of the Gospel on the Sunday of Orthodoxy we hear an expression of the fundamental Orthodox approach to faith: Come and see! (John 1:46) With these words, Philip invites Nathanael to experience the presence and the power of God in the person of Jesus Christ. This invitation to come and see is extended as well by the Holy Icons, which in a spiritual and symbolic language call us to experience for ourselves the person of the God-Man Jesus Christ, who lives and moves in His saints, both to desire and to do His good pleasure (Phil. 2:13).

      But the call to encounter the living God, this come and see, is for us not simply an invitation. It is also a challenge. These words provoke us to examine our life as a Church at this auspicious vantage-point in human history that we mark as the year 2000 AD. Are we as a Church ready to issue the summons to come and see to the world around us? Do we live and proclaim the ageless Orthodox Faith in a way that brings others into our midst, that allows them to experience the presence and the power of the living God?

      What is the quality of our Orthodox worship? Does it fulfill the criterion of the Apostle Paul, who portrays Christian worship as an experience in which an unbeliever or outsider, falling on his face will worship God and declare that God is really among you (1Cor. 14:25)? This Apostolic criterion requires us truly to commit the very best, the first fruits of our time, talent, and treasures to the act of worship (cf. Exodus 34:26). When Moses called the children of the Old Covenant to contribute to the construction of a glorious house of prayer, they gave freewill offerings so generously that Moses had eventually to prohibit then from contributing more. As children of the New and better Covenant of the precious Blood of Jesus Christ, do we show the same zeal for the beauty of our spiritual service of Orthodox worship? Are visitors being converted by both the form and the power of godliness in out midst (cf. 2 Tim. 3:5)? Indeed, are we ourselves continually being converted to a greater love for God and a more repentant manner of life by our participation in the Divine Liturgy?

      Again, what is the quality of our Orthodox life in the community? The Lord, immediately before His saving passion and death, told the Twelve, By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:35). In speaking about the kind of Christian love that binds everything together in perfect harmony (Eph. 3:14), the Apostle Paul mentions several characteristics of community life: abundant forgiveness, peace, mutual edification, eagerness for prayer and thanksgiving, mutual subjection of one to another, justness and fairness to all, and graciousness in speech and behavior (cf. Eph. 3:12-4:6). These are the elements of our collective life in Christ that must be present if others are to come and see the presence of the God Who is love in our communities.

      Finally, what is the quality of our Orthodox witness to the truth? The Lord said, If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:32). Are we as Orthodox Christians truly students of the Scriptures? Do we live and learn as people who are being set free from sin and superstition and the deception of the evil one? Are we always prepared, as the Apostle Peter urges (1 Pet. 3:15), to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is within us? Unless we offer an expression of our Orthodox faith that is substantive, relevant, and full of discernment and wisdom, those who come and see what we stand for as a Church will not be brought into the saving and liberating knowledge of the truth.

      On the Sunday of Orthodoxy we celebrate the dogma of the Incarnation of the Son of God as it is expressed through the Holy Icons, and we thank God for preserving His truth inviolate in every age. At the same time, we affirm our unity and identity with the Church of Christ through the centuries. But along with the blessings of this tremendous spiritual heritage comes an equally awesome responsibility, the responsibility to live worthily as living icons of the Son of God (cf. Rom. 8:29). We should not distinguish ourselves from the rest of Christendom simply because we bear the name “Orthodox.” We should be distinguished above all by the Christ-like manner of our life, and especially by the highest quality of our worship, by the abundance of love in our communities, and by our conscientious devotion to the truth. When our lives proclaim wordlessly the invitation Come and see to those around us, then are we truly worthy bearers of the name “Orthodox Christians,” worthy bearers of the image of God within ourselves.

      May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you. With paternal blessings and love in Christ,

     Archbishop DEMETRIOS, Chairman Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

     Metropolitan PHILIP, Vice Chairman Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

     Metropolitan JOSEPH, Secretary Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Church

     Metropolitan NICHOLAS of Amissos, Treasurer Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese in the USA

     Metropolitan THEODOSIUS Orthodox Church in America

     Archbishop VICTORIN Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese in America and Canada

     Metropolitan CHRISTOPHER Serbian Orthodox Church in the USA and Canada

     Metropolitan CONSTANTINE Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA