Riches to a Needy World

The Nativity of Christ   

Jacob of Serug (5^th Century) reflecting on the Virgin Mary wrotee in one of his poems: 

“Daughter of poor ones,

who became mother of the Lord of Kings

and gave riches to a needy world

that it might live from Him.”    

At Christmas God gives His love freely to a needy world.  He saw a world awash in sin and violence, and deemed it in need of divine love.   He saw the world’s people lost, separated from their Creator, and He deemed them in need of His presence.  He saw a world in need of salvation, and He provided for its salvation.  This is the story of Christmas.

As God’s children, as we prepare ourselves to celebrate the birth of the Savior, let us see the world as God saw it, and imitate Him in giving to the needy in the world as well.  Christmas is truly the season of giving to those who cannot repay.  We are to love others as God has loved us.

Icon Sale to Profit Charity

Archangel Michael

Christopher’s Restaurant and Catering in Kettering, Ohio, is having their annual Christmas art sale.  Proceeds from the sale of the art is being donated to the YWCA Battered Women’s Shelter in Dayton, and to an Orthodox prison ministry. 

This year’s featured artist is Daryl Cochran, who is himself an Orthodox Christian, and currently is an inmate at the London Correctional Institute in London, OH.  Daryl converted to Orthodoxy a few years ago while in prison and is a talented artist and iconographer.

Daryl produced several icons related to the nativity season, as well as some traditional Orthodox iconographer and other Christmas art.

Daryl’s art and icons are on display at the restaurant, and some of them can be viewed in this blog.  They were photographed with a ruler to give some sense of the size of the icons.

Most of the icons are now framed – the framing was donated by the Patterson Chase Company, 460 Patterson Road, in Dayton.  Patterson Chase is not receiving any reimbursement for the framing.

Holy Family

Some of the icons are done with gold leaf.

You can purchase one of the icons, depending on their availability by contacting Chip Pritchard, owner of Christopher’s Restaurant at 937-299-0089 or at  chip@christophers.biz.   Please note some of the icons may have already been sold at the restaurant.

Most of the icons are priced at $90 which includes any framing, and shipping and handling, and are available to be shipped immediately after Christmas when the art display is finished.  You will be making your check to Christopher’s Restaurant.   The restaurant is donating all of the proceeds to the above mentioned charities.

St. Nicholas

Chip Pritchard is an Orthodox Christian and member of St. Paul the Apostle Orthodox Church in Dayton, OH.

Christopher’s Restaurant and Catering

 is located at

2318 East Dorothy Lane

Kettering, OH   45420.

These icons are representative samples of Daryl Cochran’s work.  If you would like to commission Daryl to paint an icon for you, you can contact Fr. Ted Bobosh at FrTed@stpdayton.org.

You can view more of the icons and paintings of Daryl that are on display at Christopher’s by visiting my flickr page:   http://www.flickr.com/photos/frted/sets/72157622908968892/

If you would like to view other examples of Daryl’s iconography, you can go to :

my flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/frted/sets/72157621794996182/

This last set of icon photos are of icons that are privately owned and currently not for sale, but are representative of Daryl’s iconography in case you would like to commission him to paint an icon for you.

If you want to order one of the icons in the art show at Christopher’s Restaurant, contact Chip Pritchard directlyat chip@christophers.biz.

Contact Fr. Ted if you want to commission Daryl to paint an icon for you.

St. Nicholas and Giving to the Poor

Susan Holman in her important historical study of the church’s response to famine in the 4^th Century, THE HUNGRY ARE DYING: BEGGARS AND BISHOPS IN ROMAN CAPPADOCIA,  offers an assessment of the 4^th Century church’s attitude toward the poor:  

 “In addition to their identity as kin, the needy are construed as heavenly citizens and entitled to civic justice by virtue of their identity as bearers of the divine image…by virtue of their relationship to God the creator, who has given them both their human nature and membership in the civic community known as the kingdom of heaven…This citizenship depends, further, on a special identification of the poor with Christ, and emphasizing the incarnate nature of deity in Christ.”  

As St. Gregory Nazianzen says of the poor:

“our brothers in God…born with the same nature…compounded of nerves and bones as we are; more than this, they also have received the same divine image as we have, and have perhaps guarded it better…They have put on the same Christ…[and] have been made sharers with us of the same….doctrine, the same Testaments, the same Assemblies, the same mysteries, the same hope, Christ.” 

St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

It is in this same 4^th Century Church that the beloved St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, also lived and ministered to the needy.  As was normative in his day, one of the bishop’s main tasks was to distribute the funds the church collected to the needy.   St. Nicholas was noted for not just giving from the common collection to the poor, but for giving from his personal wealth.  

 St. Paul says, “God loves the cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7), which according to the accounts of his life, St Nicholas was the cheerful giver.     

Writing about charity and generosity Jalal ud-Din Rumi wrote, “A hand that is always open or always closed is a crippled hand.  A bird that cannot open and close its wings cannot fly.”  If we are to imitate St. Nicholas then we have to have hands that work for the needy.”

The Limits of Being Rich

 At that time, Jesus told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’  So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”  (Luke 12:16-21)

Many believers wish that God would at some point in their lives speak to them – if for no other reason than to know for sure that He existed.

In Luke 12:16-21, we are presented the story of a man to whom God spoke directly.   Unfortunately, God’s words to the man were “You fool!”  It certainly would be a rude awakening for any of us believers if when God finally spoke to us, first words were to call us a fool!   We might then wish that God had never spoken to us, for such a judgment by God would not be a welcomed word by us.

If we examine our own lives and our own values, do we imagine that God’s first words to us would be one of praise for our lives and thinking, or would we be rebuked for our folly – for basing our lives on shallow ideas, on goals that turn out to be phantoms which disappear in a second when we wake up to reality?

The man’s folly was not that he had become rich, but he had not become rich towards God.   Wealth and prosperity can be a blessing from the Lord, but they are given to us in order for us to accomplish His will, not to selfishly spend it on our selves which also turns out to be folly.   

Being rich is not the same as being rich towards God.  Blessing received from God are by God’s design meant to enable us to give – not just to be thankful but to be generous as well.

This Gospel lesson from Christ offers us one of the earliest glimpses into the notion of a “bubble economy.”  For the rich man’s bubble was burst in that moment when he was told he was going to die that night.  His wealth was shown to be a mere dream but not the reality upon which to base his life’s decisions. It was not even the case that his wealth was the result of ill-gotten goods – he didn’t lie, cheat and steal to obtain his wealth, but worked for it.   Yet in the eternal scale of things, his wealth was not all that valuable to that man.   Blessings received might make us rich, but we have to receive those blessing and use them to make us rich towards God.

The Folly of Wealth

While wealth and prosperity may be a blessing from the Lord, they represent a certain temptation, humanly speaking, for those trust in their wealth.   Our Lord Jesus told this parable:

 At that time, Jesus told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’  So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”   (Luke 12:16-21)

Wealth and prosperity are much welcomed and valued in this world, yet they are of no value in any life beyond this world.  They are thus the materialist’s best friend for getting through this life.   For those who believe in God, life in this world represents only a limited portion of the life in God – for God’s plan and Kingdom exist beyond the limits of death and this world.   Thus wealth and prosperity cannot be judged only for their value in this world but also for the impact they may have on life in the world to come.   St. John Chrysostom (sounding a bit like the Buddha) says that the wealth of this world is but a dream—when we die, we will awake from this dream and understand the true value of wealth.

“Present realities, you see, are no better than a dream; rather, just as people imagining in sleep they have money, even in control of a king’s ransom, are more indigent than anyone once day dawns, so too with this life, because you can take nothing to the next, you will be more indigent than anyone, even if in possession of everyone’s property. You were rich in dream only, after all.”

Prosperity squandered on one’s self in this world is of no real benefit in this world for bringing about satisfaction nor in the world to come.  Profligacy and prodigality do not quench one’s selfish passions but rather inflame them.  Taking all one can get leads to wanting more, not to being satisfied let alone being generous.    Overeating leads to obesity to longevity.    Sharing one’s food, even with a modicum of ascetic self denial, can lead to longevity of life in this world, and eternal blessings in the life of the world to come.

Take a few minutes to read Leo Tolstoy’s HOW MUCH LAND DOES A MAN NEED?

The Cheerful Giver

 The amount we give is not judged by the largeness of the gifts but the largeness of our hearts. The poor woman who shares her meager pot of stew with another poor woman is far more to be praised than the rich man who throws a few gold coins into a collection at church. But although most Christians acknowledge the truth of this, their words and actions convey a different message. When a rich man makes a large gift to the church, he is heartily thanked; and although he will not feel the lack of that money himself, he is praised for his generosity. When a poor man makes a small gift, nothing is said; even though that gift may cause him to go hungry, no one praises him or thanks him. It would be better to praise no one than to confine our praise to the rich. Better still, we should take trouble to observe every true act of generosity, whether by the rich or the poor, and then offer our praise. Indeed let us be as generous with our praise as people are generous with their money.         (St. John Chrysostom)

“for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor 9:7).

Facing God’s Final Judgment

Giotto's Last Judgment (1305AD)

Among certain Christian groups, (especially apocalyptic, end times and sectarian traditionalists), it is addictively popular to conjure up images of the Last Judgment with sinners and unbelievers being subject to eternally excruciating tortures as they pay for their sins; all this despite proclaiming that Christ died for our sins and paid the price on the cross that God should be exacting from sinners.   As St. Paul wrote:

 “While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. …  But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us”  (Romans 5:6-8 RSV).

Paul’s words seem to mean not so much that Christ died in place of us (a substitution) but that He died on our behalf in order to spare us all from the coming judgment of God. 

St. Matthew in his Gospel offers us a few other images about the Last Judgment which certainly put the basis for God’s judgment against humanity in terms very different than sin and unbelief.

First there is the rather well known imagery of the Last Judgment Parable in Matthew 25:31-46 in which the sheep and goats are separated before being judged.  In this parable however it is not sin which leads to condemnation by the Judge, but the failure of people to minister to the least of Christ’s brothers and sisters – the failure to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, provide shelter for the homeless, or to visit the sick and imprisoned.   The judgment is not based upon committing sin but rather upon omitting acts of charity and ministry when they were in the power of people to do so.   Righteousness in the parable is equated not with sinlessness, nor even with repentance, but rather with compassion, charity, kindness, mercy and ministry. 

Another imagine of the Last Judgment can be found in Matthew 18:23-35, the Parable of the unforgiving servant.  The king forgives the debt of a servant who owes him a fortune so large it could not possible be repaid, but then the forgiven servant refuses to forgive the debt of a fellow servant who owed him a significant but certainly repayable amount of money.   St. Matthew wrote:

At that time, Jesus said to Peter, “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. … Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you   besought me; and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his lord delivered him to the jailers, till he should pay all his debt. So also my    heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

The king’s final judgment of the servant is clearly based upon the servant’s willingness or unwillingness to forgive  his fellow servant.  The image is one of the servant being forgiven by his Lord and King (not his equal!) but his own unwillingness to forgive his fellow servant (his equal).   Christ concludes the parable saying God will not forgive us at the Last Judgment if we are unforgiving and unmerciful.  It is not sin and unbelief that will cause the judgment but our willingness (or unwillingness) to forgive and be merciful.

These two parables in Matthew’s Gospel give us additional insight into God’s final judgment and move that judgment away from simply being about condemning sinners.  God in Christianity is not the enforcer of karma, but is Lord of the universe and can lay aside justice in an act of love, forgiveness and mercy, which He demonstrated His willingness to do by sending His Son into the world to die on the cross for us.  This is an act of God’s love for us and His desire to overcome death and our own sinfulness.

The failure to forgive, the failure to be merciful, the failure to be charitable and compassionate:  these are the failures that bring about God’s judgment and wrath according to Jesus Christ our Lord.   Images of God venting justice and revenge on sinners and unbelievers do not reveal the full picture of God’s Last Judgment, nor are they faithful to the images Christ gave to us through His own teachings.   To have such a narrow view of vengeful God is to risk falling under the same condemnation as Job’s “friends” (Job 42:7-8) who were so certain that God’s judgments are always just and who end up condemning rather than comforting God’s servant only to find themselves condemned by God.

Please Your Neighbor Not Yourself

We who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. For even Christ did not please Himself… (Romans 15:1-2)

Fr. Charles Joanides in his book  Attending to Your Marriage offers the following paraphrased version of a story from the desert fathers to illustrate the importance of and the possibility of people living together in harmony.  He uses the story in reference to married couples working together, but the story from the monastic tradition talks about the values and virtues any Christians need to live together in concord. 

One day, two brothers were sitting together, and one of the two offered the following observation: 

“Brother, it occurs to me that we have never had an argument.”

            “Yes,” stated the other, “this is true.”

            “Well, I would like to conduct and experiment.”

            “What kind of experiment?”

            “Let’s have an argument.”

            “Very well, but how will we do this?”

The monk offering the suggestion paused and then stated, “I have an idea. Here’s a brick. I will put the brick between us and I will say that it is mine, and you will argue that it is yours. We will then continue arguing until one of us succeeds in winning the argument. Any questions?”

“No brother, I don’t think so,” stated the second brother with some trepidation.

The second brother responds, “No brother, I believe it’s mine.”

The first brother retorts, “I distinctly remember it being my brick.”

The second brother responds, “No brother, I think it belongs to me.”

The first brother retorts with more conviction, “I believe you’re wrong. It’s my brick.”

Seeing his brother becoming distressed, the second monk says, “Yes, I think you are correct. It is your brick.”

After some silence, the first brother observes, “No brother, let it be ours-to God’s glory.”

These precious stories may sometimes seem simplistic, but they are anything but simple. In this case, these two precious souls who were coexisting in relative harmony and peace find this exercise impossible to complete. The reason why is related to their mutual struggle to live Christ-like existences. To be more specific, their chosen lifestyle compelled them to consider their neighbor’s needs as much, and more, than their own needs.

                                                                 

Giving to the poor = Lending to God

St. John Chrysostom is well known for using commerce imagery when talking about giving charity to the poor.  Generally he saw money given to charity as an investment the Christian makes in this world, but he collects it back with interest in the Kingdom of God.   Chrysostom famously said to give to the poor is to put God in debt to you for it is God who will pay you back all money you gave to the poor – with the caveat that the repayment occurs not in this world but in the world to come.    The more you give to the poor in this world, the more that awaits you in the Kingdom; you are thus providing for your own eternity.    God relies on the Christian people to be His bankers for the poor – to provide for their needs through charity which in reality is for you to make a loan to God which God repays in the Kingdom of Heaven.  Charity is thus not giving away anything but rather lending to God; God will repay the loan with interest as a reward in His Kingdom.   Giving to charity puts God in your debt – not a bad position to be in according to St. John when Judgment Day comes around.   His imagery relies on Christ’s words in Matthew 25:31-46 in which Christ says whatever we have done to the least of Christ’s brothers and sisters, we have done to Him.  Chrysostom said in his commentary on the Pslams:

“So when you see that gold is lovely, and you are reluctant to throw it way, think of the sowers, think of the investors, think of the merchants, who begin with outlay and expenditure, each of them entrusting this to insecure ventures; waves and hollows of the ground, after all, and debtors’ receipts are all insecure.  Investors frequently sustain a loss of their capital, you recall, whereas the one who tills the heavens has none of these risks to fear, but has grounds for confidence about capital and interest – if, that is, we should call this sort of thing interest and not something far more significant than capital.  Capital, after all, is money, whereas heaven’s interest is the kingdom.  Do you see the kind of investment involved, bearing an interest far in excess of the capital?  While it is an investment redeemed in the future, in the present life you will enjoy great freedom: you will have relief from scheming, you will put paid to the envy of calumniators and plotters, you will live your whole life at ease, not stressed by concern for possessions but borne up by hopes for future goods.”   (St. John Chrysostom, comments on Psalm 112)

Forgiving as Giving

There is no Christian who cannot be a minister of the Gospel.   It is always in our power to give to others, even when we have no material gifts to give, we can minister to others spiritually.    Sixth Century St. Dorotheos of Gaza said:

For even if you cannot give as the rich gave their gifts into the temple treasury, give two farthings as the poor widow did, and from you God will consider it a greater gift than the gifts of the rich.  And if you do not have as much as two farthings?  You still have power to give alms, you can take pity on the sick and give alms by ministering to them.  And if you cannot do even this?  You can comfort your brother by your words.  Express your pity for him in words and take heed of the one who said, ‘A good word is better than the best of gifts.’  Suppose you cannot even help him by words; you can still, even when he is incensed against you, take pity on him and bear with him in the time of his fury, seeing that he is being dealt with spitefully by the common enemy and, instead of making a sharp remark and adding to his fury, keep silent and so have pity on him and his soul, thus dragging him away from the enemy.  Even if he offends against you, you can have mercy on him and forgive his offence against you, so that you may receive forgiveness from God.  For it says, ‘Forgive and it shall be forgiven you.’  And you shall be found to have mercy on your brother’s soul by pardoning him his offence against you.  God made us a gift of the power, if we wish to use it, or forgiving one another the sins committed against us, so that if we do not have the means of coming to the aid of their bodies, we may come to the aid of their souls.

(The icon of St. Juliana the Merciful is from St. Paul the Apostle Church, Dayton, OH)