Parallels: “He puts an equal sign between Himself and anyone in need”

Graphic used by permission of Ancient Faith Ministries.

The point of this blog is to help us all look for and find ways to encounter Christ at the liturgy after the Liturgy. The liturgy after the Liturgy is a phrase attributed to Fr. Alexander Schmemann of blessed memory. This concept is based in part on a sermon by St. John Chrysostom, who said,

“Would you see His altar also?…This altar is composed of the very members of Christ, and the body of the Lord becomes an altar. This altar is more venerable even than the one which we now use. For it [referring to the holy table in our churches] is …but a stone by nature; but become holy because it receives Christ’s Body: but that altar [referring to people] is holy because it is itself Christ’s Body…[which] you may see lying  everywhere, in the alleys and in the market places, and you may sacrifice upon it anytime…When then you see a poor person, believe that you are beholding an altar. When you see this one as a beggar, do not only refrain from insulting him, but actually give him honor, and if you witness someone else insulting him, stop him; prevent it.” 

So, after the Divine Liturgy, we have many opportunities to commune with Christ in our interactions with the poor and suffering, and whomever God brings our way.

Recently, during the Divine Liturgy, I’ve been looking at the prayers and hymns in a new light. Here are three phrases that relate not just to our worship in Church, but also to the Liturgy that happens the other 166 hours of the week. 

• Twice in the petitions, the priest says, “Let us ask...for a good defense before the awesome judgment seat of Christ.” And we respond, “Grant this, oh, Lord.” Is this a totally passive request? Is the verdict at the Last Judgement something that is totally out of our control? Is our only recourse is to ask for mercy, and hope to God that he gives us some? Well, in some ways, yes, our very existence is dependent on God’s mercy. On the other hand, Jesus in Matthew 25 makes it clear that when the nations are gathered before him, the difference between those who enter His Kingdom and those who are banished is not simply based on the King’s whims or who prayed these petitions most fervently. Jesus said, “Whatever you have done to the least of these, you’ve done to me.” There are actions, a cooperation with God. We have a part to play. If we accept Christ when He appears to us in the beggar, the starving, the destitute, the stranger, it should be no surprise that we will recognize Him and He will recognize us, when we are face to face. When we pray for a “good defense before the awesome judgement seat of Christ,” it means that we are also ready to put into action our love for God by loving others after the dismissal. 
  
  Just another note on this. If you look at the list of petitions, you’ll see a similar pattern in some of them. For example, we ask that the whole day be sinless; grant this, oh Lord. We can ask for this, but God won’t magically keep us from sinning. We can become more sinless if we use His power to resist temptations. It’s that whole synergy thing of God giving Himself to us and our cooperating with Him to answer these prayers. 
  
  By the way, the phrase, “Let us ask...for a good defense before the awesome judgment seat of Christ” also shows up in two of the Prayers of Preparation for Communion.
  
  
• Another phrase in the Divine Liturgy that relates to the Second Liturgy is the end of the Cherubic Hymn. “...that we may receive the King of all, who comes invisibly upborne by the angelic hosts. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.”
  
  We who represent the Cherubim are singing to the life-giving Trinity and we’re laying aside all earthly cares, so that we may receive the King of all. This is the big deal of the Divine Liturgy. We are about to receive Christ Himself in the Eucharist. I guess technically, that-which-was-bread-and-wine is visible, but no one has ever seen God and lived, according to the Scriptures. We’ve prepared ourselves to receive Christ who we cannot see. In the liturgy after the Liturgy though, we can prepare ourselves to receive Christ who we CAN see, as St. John Chrysostom said, “lying  everywhere, in the alleys and in the market places,” and as Christ Himself said, in “the least of these.”
  
  As St. Augustine said, “Do not grieve or complain that you were born in a time when you can no longer see God in the flesh. He did not in fact take this privilege from you. As he says, [referencing Matthew 25] ‘Whatever you have done to the least of my brothers, you did to me’.”
  
  As we go about our lives throughout the week, we who represent the Cherubim can sing to the life-giving Trinity and we can lay aside all earthly cares, so that we may receive the King of all, who comes to us visibly. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

 

• And finally, the third phase we’re looking at today is what the priest says right before Communion, “With the fear of God, and with faith and love, draw near.” Here is an invitation to draw near to Christ in the Eucharist. First, why do we approach with the fear of God? Well, we’re receiving fire, as St. Simon Metaphrastes says in the Prayers After Communion, and as C.S. Lewis said of Aslan, “He is not a tame lion.” This is not a casual, everyday encounter. Secondly, why do we approach with faith? It takes faith to believe that something as simple as bread and wine is more than just bread and wine. It doesn’t look like Jesus, but we in faith receive that-which-was-bread-and-wine as Christ Himself. And third, why do we draw near with love? Well, among other reasons, as St. Paul says, “If we have not love, we are nothing.” We approach out of love and obedience, and a desire to become one with Christ, whether the feelings are there or not.
  
  Now let’s look at these with a Second Liturgy perspective. Christ also extends this invitation to draw near to the Himself, not just in the Chalice, but in the outcasts, those in poverty, those who are suffering injustice. And just as we approach receiving Christ in the Eucharist with the fear of God, faith, and love, we are invited to approach our fellow humans in the same way. Why should we have the fear of God when we encounter someone who, for example, is begging alongside the street? This is a holy encounter, not to be taken lightly or casually. This ties right in with the second invitation, approaching with faith. Just as bread and wine is simple and doesn’t look like God but we believe it is, we need to have faith that God shows up in the unlikely disguise of other people. And it may take faith for us to give generously, not just of our abundance, but sacrificially. And of course, thirdly, we approach with love, because that is what we are called to do, and we can love because God Himself first loved us.
  
  St. Maria of Paris sums this up beautifully, “The way to God lies through love of people. At the Last Judgment I shall not be asked whether I was successful in my ascetic exercises, nor how many bows and prostrations I made. Instead I shall be asked did I feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and the prisoners. That is all I shall be asked. About every poor, hungry and imprisoned person the Savior says 'I': 'I was hungry and thirsty, I was sick and in prison.' To think that he puts an equal sign between himself and anyone in need. . . . I always knew it, but now it has somehow penetrated to my sinews. It fills me with awe.”
  
  By her life example, she approached everyone she knew with the fear (or awe) of God, with faith, and with love. 

So, what do you think? What other sections of the Divine Liturgy remind you and prepare you for encountering Christ after the dismissal? We’d love to hear from you.