The consuming fire

V Lent Thursday - Thursday of the Great Canon

And the Lord said, The cry of Sodom and Gomorrha has been increased towards me, and their sins are very great. I will therefore go down and see, if they completely correspond with the cry which comes to me, and if not, that I may know. And the men having departed thence, came to Sodom; and Abraham was still standing before the Lord. And Abraham drew nigh and said, Wouldest thou destroy the righteous with the wicked, and shall the righteous be as the wicked? Should there be fifty righteous in the city, wilt thou destroy them? Wilt thou not spare the whole place for the sake of the fifty righteous, if they be in it? By no means shalt thou do this so as to destroy the righteous with the wicked, so the righteous shall be as the wicked: by no means. Thou that judgest the whole earth, shalt thou not do right? And the Lord said, If there should be in Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole city, and the whole place for their sakes. And Abraham answered and said, Now I have begun to speak to my Lord, and I am earth and ashes. But if the fifty righteous should be diminished to forty-five, wilt thou destroy the whole city because of the five wanting? And he said, I will not destroy it, if I should find there forty-five. And he continued to speak to him still, and said, But if there should be found there forty? And he said, I will not destroy it for the forty's sake. And he said, Will there be anything against me, Lord, if I shall speak? but if there be found there thirty? And he said, I will not destroy it for the thirty's sake. And he said, Since I am able to speak to the Lord, what if there should be found there twenty? And he said, I will not destroy it, if I should find there twenty. And he said, Will there be anything against me, Lord, if I speak yet once? but if there should be found there ten? And he said, I will not destroy it for the ten's sake. And the Lord departed, when he left off speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place. - Genesis 18: 20-33

Abraham pleads with the Lord not to destroy Sodom if only ten righteous men can be found there. The two angels sent by God will not find ten, but only one, the righteous Lot, and only he and his daughters will survive.

Living, as we are today, in the midst of Sodom, we must be absolutely determined not only to remain moral ourselves, but also to speak and to act against the lies of Sodom with absolute and consistent clarity and intransigence, not giving one inch. The lies of Sodom are that white is black, good is evil, the abnormal is normal, and the perverted is sacred. These thoughts, constantly repeated and shoved down the throats of everyone who will listen, corrode the mind and will, and only a militant state of soul burning with righteous indignation will resist.

The biggest lie is that the Christian virtue of non-condemnation means calling evil good, that "forgiveness" means saying that sin is not a sin. This is absurd, of course: if it is not a sin, then there is nothing to forgive. The reality is that the sins of Sodom are explicitly among those that cry out to God for vengeance, that God will indeed avenge them, and that it will be terrible to behold. Our God is a consuming fire, and nothing impure can stand in His presence.

We need to wake up and beg God to renew in us manly and righteous wrath against the sodomites, both those who practice these abominations and those who sanction them and propagandize them. If we are not indignant against such insults to God's holiness and honor, if we are not wrathful against the present destruction of innocence and purity on a catastrophic scale, we will have neither hope of turning the tide nor of escaping God's wrath ourselves, as aiders and abettors of these most satanic sins.

If we are destined to play the part of Lot, and destruction is inevitable, let us stand firm, and the Lord will send His angels to rescue us in time.

This commentary was taken from The Eternal Sacrifice: The Genesis Readings for Great Lent by Fr. Steven Allen. You can order a copy from Lulu at http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/FrStevenAllen

Today’s reading from Esaias, with commentary:

Thus saith the Lord God, who made the heaven, and established it; who settled the earth, and the things in it, and gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to them that tread on it: 6 I the Lord God have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will strengthen thee: and I have given thee for the covenant of a race, for a light of the Gentiles: 7 to open the eyes of the blind, to bring the bound and them that sit in darkness out of bonds and the prison-house. 8 I am the Lord God: that is my name: I will not give my glory to another, nor my praises to graven images. 9 Behold, the ancient things have come to pass, and so will the new things which I tell you: yea, before I tell them they are made known to you. 10 Sing unto the Lord a new song: ye who are his dominion, glorify his name from the end of the earth: ye that go down to the sea, and sail upon it; the islands, and they that dwell in them. 11 Rejoice, thou wilderness, and the villages thereof, the hamlets, and the dwellers in Kedar: the inhabitants of the rock shall rejoice, they shall shout from the top of the mountains. 12 They shall give glory to God, and shall proclaim his praises in the islands. 13 The Lord God of hosts shall go forth, and crush the war: he shall stir up jealousy, and shall shout mightily against his enemies. 14 I have been silent: shall I also always be silent and forbear: I have endured like a travailing woman: I will now amaze and wither at once. 15 I will make desolate mountains and hills, and will dry up all their grass; and I will make the rivers islands, and dry up the pools. 16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not, and I will cause them to tread paths which they have not known: I will turn darkness into light for them, and crooked things into straight. These things will I do, and will not forsake them. - Esaias 42: 5-16

The Arian heretics, twisting the words of Scripture as heretics always do, argued that the Lord's words in verse eight, "...I will not give my glory to another..." mean that the Father alone is uncreated God, and that the glory proper to Him cannot belong to the Logos, which is created. But Christ Himself, Who - as they believe - is the Incarnate Logos, said these words on the night before He died: "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was (John 17:5)." Since God does not share His glory with another, and since Christ shared His glory "before the world was," Christ must be of the same essence as the Father. He is God. These words in verse eight, therefore, means the opposite of what the Arians contended. Here is what St. Cyril of Alexandria says:

If He is properly and truly the only God, He may be said by us to be the Creator of all things. AS the most wise Paul says, "Although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth - as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords" - yet for us there is one God, the Father, from Whom are all things and for Whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through Whom are all things and through Whom we exist (I Corinthians 8: 5-6)." And since He has introduced Himself to us as the author of great and marvelous things, he says that His glory, that is, the sum of virtues appropriate to God, is not to be given to lifeless idols or to any other created thing, but is to be retained for Himself alone. It follows from this that the glory of the Godhead may not fittingly be attributed to any other being that differs from Him in essence but only to the ineffable and transcendent nature itself. Although He said that His own glory is to be given to nobody, however, He gave it to the Son. For the Son has been glorified in the same way, indeed, as the Father Who is worshipped in heaven and on earth. How then did God give His glory to Him, as to one who was not different from Him in virtue of the consubstantiality, even though each was divided off into His own hypostasis? The nature of the supreme deity is one in three distinct hypostases, conceived of and worshiped as such by those who hold orthodox views. - St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Isaiah.

What is the New Song which the Lord commands us to sing in verse ten? Another great Alexandrian, St. Clement, says that the New Song is Christ Himself:

Inasmuch as the Word was from the first, He was and is the divine source of things. But inasmuch as He has now assumed the name Christ, consecrated of old and worthy of power, He has now been called the New Song. This Word, the Christ, the cause of both our being at first (for He was in God) and of our well-being, this very Word has now appeared as a man. He alone is both God and man. He is the Author of all blessings to us. By Him, we, being taught to live well, are sent on our way to life eternal...This is the New Song, the manifestation of the Word that was in the beginning and before the beginning. The Savior, Who has existed before, has in recent days appeared. - St. Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Greeks

Thus it is not only in the mysteriological action of the Divine Liturgy that we offer to the Father the sacrifice which alone is fitting to His glory, that of His Only-Begotten Son. In the Church's daily round of psalmody and hymns, the sacrifice of praise which constitutes the Divine Office of Vespers, Compline, Matins, the Midnight Office, and the Hours, inspired by the Holy Spirit, we offer Christ Himself noetically to the glory of the Father, for, being the Word, He is the content and subject of all our praises and meditations. Let us then hasten to our parish churches and monasteries not only for the Divine Liturgy, but for all of the canonical services, which are not "extra" but are, rather, fundamental to our preparation and thanksgiving for Holy Communion, fundamental to the Life in Christ. God commands it today, in our hearing, by the mouth of Esaias the prophet.

Today’s reading from Proverbs, with commentary:

My son: 17 The paths of life turn aside from evil; and the ways of righteousness are length of life. He that receives instruction shall be in prosperity; and he that regards reproofs shall be made wise. He that keeps his ways, preserves his own soul; and he that loves his life will spare his mouth. 18 Pride goes before destruction, and folly before a fall. 19 Better is a meek-spirited man with lowliness, than one who divides spoils with the proud. 20 He who is skillful in business finds good: but he that trusts in God is most blessed. 21 Men call the wise and understanding evil: but they that are pleasing in speech shall hear more. 22 Understanding is a fountain of life to its possessors; but the instruction of fools is evil. 23 The heart of the wise will discern the things which proceed from his own mouth; and on his lips he will wear knowledge. 24 Good words are honeycombs, and the sweetness thereof is a healing of the soul. 25 There are ways that seem to be right to a man, but the end of them looks to the depth of hell. 26 A man who labours, labours for himself, and drives from him his own ruin. 27 But the perverse bears destruction upon his own mouth: a foolish man digs up evil for himself, and treasures fire on his own lips. 28 A perverse man spreads mischief, and will kindle a torch of deceit with mischiefs; and he separates friends. 29 A transgressor tries to ensnare friends, and leads them in ways that are not good. 30 And the man that fixes his eyes devises perverse things, and marks out with his lips all evil: he is a furnace of wickedness. 31 Old age is a crown of honour, but it is found in the ways of righteousness. 32 A man slow to anger is better than a strong man; and he that governs his temper better than he that takes a city. 33 All evils come upon the ungodly into their bosoms; but all righteous things come of the Lord. 17:1 Better is a morsel with pleasure in peace, than a house full of many good things and unjust sacrifices, with strife. 2 A wise servant shall have rule over foolish masters, and shall divide portions among brethren. 3 As silver and gold are tried in a furnace, so are choice hearts with the Lord. 4 A bad man hearkens to the tongue of transgressors: but a righteous man attends not to false lips. 5 He that laughs at the poor provokes him that made him; and he that rejoices at the destruction of another shall not be held guiltless: but he that has compassion shall find mercy. 6 Children’s children are the crown of old men; and their fathers are the glory of children. The faithful man has the whole world full of wealth; but the faithless not even a farthing. 7 Faithful lips will not suit a fool; nor lying lips a just man. 8 Instruction is to them that use it a gracious reward; and whithersoever it may turn, it shall prosper. 9 He that conceals injuries seeks love; but he that hates to hide them separates friends and kindred. 10 A threat breaks down the heart of a wise man; but a fool, though scourged, understands not. 11 Every bad man stirs up strifes: but the Lord will send out against him an unmerciful messenger. 12 Care may befall a man of understanding; but fools will meditate evils. 13 Whoso rewards evil for good, evil shall not be removed from his house. 14 Rightful rule gives power to words; but sedition and strife precede poverty. 15 He that pronounces the unjust just, and the just unjust, is unclean and abominable with God. 16 Why has the fool wealth? for a senseless man will not be able to purchase wisdom. He that exalts his own house seeks ruin; and he that turns aside from instruction shall fall into mischief. 17 Have thou a friend for every time, and let brethren be useful in distress; for on this account are they born. - Proverbs 16:17 - 17:17

What does the sacred author mean by the second half of verse 17:6, “The faithful man has the whole world full of wealth; but the faithless not even a farthing?” Frequently our experience is the opposite: The man that takes the path of the Gospel, as commanded by Christ, experiences poverty and hardship, while the worldly man has an easy life with plenty of material abundance. Here is what St. John Cassian says on the subject:

Instead of the pleasure that a person has in possessing one field and house, he who has passed over into the adoption of the children of God (Ephesians 1:5), will enjoy a hundred times more all the riches that belong to the eternal Father and that he will possess as his own, and in imitation of the true Son he will proclaim by disposition and by virtue, “All that the Father has is mine (John 16:15).” No longer occupied with the criminal concern of distraction and worry, but secure and happy, he will enter everywhere as it were into his property, and every day he will hear it said to him by the apostle, “All things are yours, whether the world or things present or things to come (I Corinthians 3:22).” And by Solomon, The faithful man has the whole world full of wealth (Proverbs 17:6b).” – St. John Cassian, Conferences

The wealth of the rich but faithless man is an illusion, in two senses: First, everything he thinks he owns really belongs to God. Second, it’s all going to be lost to him at the time of his death. He will take nothing to the grave. Lying on his deathbed, after a lifetime of chasing shadows, he will experience the words of Holy Scripture at the core of his being: “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity,” but he will not be able to get that lifetime back. It has been wasted on chasing that which is insubstantial and temporary, and even this illusory gain will now be taken away.

The poverty of the poor yet faithful man is also an illusion, but one that often tempts him to despondency and loss of hope in God. When he plunges himself into prayer, however, and discovers the riches of prayer in his heart, he looks out on God’s creation with new eyes, realizing that it all belongs to God, and, because he is a child of God, that it all belongs to him. That he can control and use so little of it now for his earthly needs and those of his family is a temporary condition allowed by God, in order to call him to deeper faith and hope, and to illumine his mind to see the inner meaning of his fellow creatures: that their ultimate purpose is not to satisfy the desires of man, but to give glory to their Creator. This thought gives freedom and consolation, and he thinks, “Yes, it is all so beautiful, and that makes me happy. Certainly I can last one day more, trusting in the loving God Who will always provide for me and being joyful in the contemplation of the beauties of created things, which lift me up to contemplation of His infinite beauty and perfection.”

St. Clement of Alexandria, commenting on the first half of the same verse, says this:

“Children’s children are the crown of old men; and their fathers are the glory of children,” it is said. Our glory is the Father of all, and the crown of the whole Church is Christ. – St. Clement of Alexandria, Christ the Educator

Amen.