My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
KYRIE ELEISON! (LORD HAVE MERCY!)
"HAVE MERCY ON ME, O GOD, according to
Your great mercy;
And according to the abundance of Your
compassion, blot out my transgression…"
Psalm 51[50]:1
Jesus said:
"But go and learn what this means: ‘I DESIRE MERCY
and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Matthew 9:13).
The chanting of Kyrie eleison or Lord have mercy in Orthodox Christian worship echoes throughout the divine services in our churches. The word ‘Mercy’ (Gk. eleos) dominates all other words in petitions offered during all of our mystical services and one can sense its impact in our hearts, minds, and souls. Powerful, yet very gentle and infused with faith and love. Jesus, in His statement mentioned in Matthew 9:13, reveals that His priority is MERCY–the forgiving agape of God in action (see Psalm 51). God’s mercy brings to all, but especially to the sinners, hope of forgiveness.
Psalm 51[50] is written by King David. Historically, David committed the sins and transgressions of adultery and murder. However, he obtained mercy from God because of his repentance. The power of genuine and sincere repentance (Gk. metanoia) is absolutely necessary if God is to forgive the one who has committed this wicked ‘crime" (Gk. Eglema). What King David committed, adultery and murder were crimes indeed. It is true that there are many who fall into sins but, tragically, never come to repentance; therefore, non can use David’s sins as an excuse to sin. Sins and transgressions in themselves do not invite the mercy of God. Genuine and sincere and contrite repentance, however, does attract God’s mercy, for God sees it and responds accordingly. True repentance, for the Orthodox Christian, is characterized by participating in the Mystery (Sacrament) of Confession/reconciliation, the means used to acquire healing from the Lord and Physician of our souls and bodies. God’s grace is bestowed upon the penitent Christian who seeks inward spiritual katharsis, purity, and to be restored once again as a member of the body of Christ, the Church.
"A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit,
A broken and humbled heart God will
not despise" (Psalm 51:19).
The believer supplicating God’s mercy can only approach Him with "a broken spirit, a broken and humbled heart" and not arrogance. In the gospel according to Saint Luke 1:50, the Mother of God and Ever-virgin Mary says: "And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation." The word "fear of God" is used frequently throughout the Holy Scripture. In Ecclesiastes 12:13 we read: "Fear God and keep His Commandments, for this is the whole man." What causes this fear of God you say, "For God will bring every work into judgment, including everything that has been overlooked, whether it be good or evil" (v. 14). Or as Proverbs teache us, "the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 1:7). Wisdom begets the fear of God "in the simple" as said in v.4. "The simple" are beginners on the spiritual path. As these beginners practice this fear, they grow in "good understanding" of wisdom and His virtues.
Our Almighty God promised to His children mercy and He always keeps His promise. No one is entitled to His mercy for it is a divine gift to us. The Lord is faithful and merciful to those who love and trust Him without any hesitation and reservation. When we entreat God for mercy we must ask ourselves if we possess faith, love, and trust in Him, our Creator, or are we filled with doubt and uncertainty?
"Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy" (Matthew 5:7). To be merciful is to be like God. Mercy is agape (love) in action, i.e., works of mercy or philanthropy. God’s loving kindness, His Divine mercy in assuming our sufferings upon Himself in order to grant us His Heavenly Kingdom, sets us free from captivity to the devil. In view of God’s compassion and lovingkindness Luke 6:36, we ub tryb are to be "merciful" to all others. In the gospel of Saint Matthew 18:21-35 we are taught by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Himself to be merciful and forgiving as He is to all of us sinners. "Then the master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart does not forgive his brother his treaspasses." God shows love and strictness toward us depending on our willingness to be merciful and forgive our brothers and sisters. When each Christian forgives "from the heart" true reconciliation we are blessed and renewed by God’s grace.
According to our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ a believer will be merciful because he is also in need of mercy. There is no one without sin except for Christ, and no one is righteous before God. God the Father rules by MERCY and LOVE. In the epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians says, "But God who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have saved), and raised us together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians2:4-6). The beginning of His rule is redemption to Eternal Life.
Mankind relies totally on God’s mercy and kindness. Whether while worshipping in church or in our private prayers we will continue always to entreat His mercy: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner" the most solemn Jesus prayer of an Orthodox Christian. We pray for understanding and illumination so that we may be enlightened and may come to know His gospel. The prayer that Orthodox Christians pray before the reading of the gospel begins, "illumine our hearts, O Master, Who loves mankind with the pure light of Your Divine knowledge."
The Saints of our Church which we revere and seek their intercessions reminds through their own holy lives to recognize and admit our sinfulness and to repent. We learn from them that the holier a person is the greater is his understanding and feeling of his sinfulness and unworthiness. We do not merit salvation! "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that NOT OF YOURSELVES, it is THE GIFT OF GOD, NOT WORKS, LEST ANYONE SHOULD BOAST" (Ephesians 2:8-9). The Saints of our Holy Orthodox Church believed to be "the sinner of sinners" in other words the greatest of all sinners. No one can invoke God’s mercy who is prideful and arrogant.
The sincere Christian is meek and humble knowing that he or she is a creature that God the Creator made. The "Heavenly King" is Uncreated, God the Father. His rule is the "heavenly places." The desires of His subjects are thankfulness and glorifying God.
The goal of deification (theosis) is "that you may be filled with all the fullness of God" is accomplished by the working together, the synergism, of our faith and love with God’s power and Spirit "in us." (Ephesians 3:20-21). To live in the heavenly places we are to walk in solidarity and humility on earth. However, though we are members of the exalted body, the greatness IS OF GOD, and of ourselves. The holy Apostle Paul exhorts us: "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or CONCEIT, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself" (Philippians 2:3). "Conceit" or vainglory is a common and fatal vice. It hinders spiritual growth. Saint John Climacus says, "The spirit of despair exults at the sight of mounting vice, the spirit OF VAINGLORY at the sight of the growing treasures of virtue." To be conceited IS A FORM OF IDOLATRY, and it captures those who say they want to please God, but SECRETLY WISH TO PLEASE ONE’S SELF FIRST AND SECONDLY, OTHER PEOPLE MORE.
Seek always God’s mercy and glorify His Name forevermore! Amen.
_____________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 