Assumption of the Theotokos Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Denver

Is your “God” too small?

Hollywood has long had a penchant for producing cinematic representations of God and the angelic hosts. I remember one of the very first movies I saw as a child was “The Ten Commandments” starring Charlton Heston as Moses to whom “God” spoke out of the burning bush with a classic Cecile B. De Mille voice. Later movies depicted God in a far less flattering way such as George Burns’ role in “Oh, God.” Granted, ol’ George was plenty old when he made this film but hardly god-like. And then last years’ hit film “Bruce Almighty” has the venerable actor Morgan Freeman portraying a God who takes a holiday from His duties to help “Bruce,” played by Jim Carrey, come to understand the nature of his existence and relationships.

Such celluloid treatments of the Divine by Hollywood can surely be approached on their own merits, as entertainment pieces intended solely for light-hearted amusement in the cinemas of the world. And in cases such as “Bruce Almighty” positive messages emerge as when the character of “Bruce” kneels in the rain in the middle of the road, crying out to God; “I submit to your will!” In other cases, however, cinematic treatments leave a great deal to be desired as when John Travolta played a slovenly, overall-wearing Archangel Michael. But this isn’t another worn-out diatribe decrying the “godlessness” of Hollywood. No, the subject at hand has to do with our conception of God and the extent to which our vision of Him has been atrophied and damaged by, among other things, such popular media representations.

We have surely come a long way from the scene of God’s hand blazing the Ten Commandments on the stone tablets to the scene of Morgan Freeman as ‘God’ mopping the floor with Jim Carrey’s ‘Bruce.’ Such “over the top” representations as De Mille’s are seen today as quaint though misguided notions of a time best forgotten when such words as “fear” and “awe” were still frequently used to describe God. And one need look no further than Monty Python’s “God” in “The Holy Grail” or the Simpson’s cartoon depiction of God having a friendly chat with Homer to understand the smallness of God in society. “Familiarity breeds contempt” runs the well-known adage and I fear our present view of God is both too familiar and contemptuous.

I remember learning as a young boy that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov. 9:10). As a young boy I had plenty of opportunities to learn wisdom because my parents had the good sense to put the fear of God in me. This scripture was applied to me liberally in conjunction with my grandmother’s frequent admonition; “Be sure your sins will find you out” (Num. 32:23) as I careened through childhood. So perhaps the fear of the Lord came more naturally for me as a result of the much-needed discipline I received from my parents, grandparents, and any other adult within arm’s reach of me in Church, the site of many of my boyhood escapades.

The absence of the fear of God today stands in sharp contrast to the witness of Holy Scripture & Tradition and the writings of the Holy Fathers, for whom awe and wonder was a given. St. Paul devoted much of his letter to the Hebrews to this theme of God’s transcendence and majesty as in; “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God,” (Heb. 10:31) and “For our God is a consuming fire.” (Heb. 12:29) The context for these remarks by St. Paul isn’t God’s loathing of us, quite the opposite. The Apostle is writing to instruct the Hebrews about the priesthood of Christ who “was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin.” (Heb. 4:15) And because Christ the Divine Logos has assumed our humanity in order to save us we must “fear lest a promise being left us of entering into His rest any of (us) should seem to come short of it.” (Heb. 4:1) In other words, our response to the love of God made manifest in the sacrifice of His Son should spur us to ever greater heights of devotion, service, effort, and love.

But this love is awesome! It so defies humanity’s meager attempts at explanation that the Fathers of the Church refused to describe it in positive terms. To say, for example, that “God is love, light, truth, pure, etc” is wholly inadequate since our definition of these terms can in no way circumscribe all that God is. In fact, human categories and concepts so fail to describe God that the Church Fathers spoke of “apophatic theology” which sought to strip away all human concepts of God. The medieval Christian classic “The Cloud of Un-Knowing” (author unknown) went so far as to say that not only is God beyond our capacity for knowledge but He is even beyond our capacity for ignorance.

As Orthodox Christians who are graced to worship God in the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom and St. Basil the Great, we hear on a weekly basis the prayerful cry of these two saints who better understood the irreducibility of God’s power. Hence, such phrases as; “Lord, our God, whose power is beyond compare, and whose glory is beyond understanding; whose mercy is boundless, and who love for us is ineffable: look upon us..” And again; “Holy God, You dwell among your saints. You are praised by the Seraphim with the thrice holy hymn and glorified by the Cherubim and worshipped by all the heavenly powers. You have brought all things out of nothing into being..” And then while the cherubic hymn is being sung, the priest prays; “No one who is bound by worldly desires and pleasures is worthy to approach, draw near or minister to You, the King of Glory. To serve You is great and awesome even for the heavenly powers..”

Then, as the faithful, duly prepared, await the call of the priest to “With the fear of God, faith and love, draw near,” they read the prayers of preparation such as; “Behold I approach for Holy Communion. O Creator, let me not be burnt by communicating, for Thou art a fire which burns the unworthy. But purify me from every stain.” And again; “Tremble O man, when you see the deifying blood for it is a coal that burns the unworthy. The Body of God both deifies and nourishes. It deifies the spirit and wondrously nourishes the mind.” And then, recalling the imagery of the bridal chamber, the following prayer is said; “Into the brilliant company of the angels how shall I the unworthy one enter? For if I dare to enter the bridal chamber my clothing will disgrace me for it is not a wedding garment, and being bound by the angels I shall be cast out. Of your love, Lord, cleanse my soul of pollution and save me.”

Such is the unbroken witness of the Church as to the ineffability of God. Sadly, our notion of God seems to be too small today when the Holy Mysteries of the Church, the sacred Body and Blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ are treated as casually as they often are. Many today speak of a “right” to receive Holy Communion and any suggestion on the part of some that due preparation, confession, diligence, and agreement with Christ’s Holy Church on matters doctrinal or otherwise be embraced is greeted with hoots of outrage. When we conveniently lay aside, when and as we please, the teachings of Holy Scripture & Tradition in favor of our own narrow positions we have made God even smaller than ourselves. When we reject the discipline of the Eucharistic chalice in favor of an open, free-for-all approach to receiving Holy Communion, we only expose ourselves as having been seduced by the spirit of the age. When we blanche at the notion of anyone and anything, even of God Himself, discerning and calling into judgment our “right” to be guided by our own distorted consciences we clearly fail to grasp Who it is we must one day face.

St. Paul’s letter to the Hebrews addresses itself to the “right” of God to judge mankind. “For the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” (Heb. 4:12-13) St. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Philippians that; “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:10-11)

And because our notion of God is so small today our faith is equally small. Faced with the trials and adversities of 21^st-century life, we often fear for our security, our peace of mind, and our very lives. Terror, warfare, disease, and poverty seemingly stand just in the shadows waiting an opportunity to pounce. Daily news reports of escalating tensions around the globe combine with a tottering economy and the very vacuous nature of frenetic, soul-less consumerism to drive humanity to the brink of madness. And yet serenity in chaos, peace of soul in the turmoil of our times, and steadfast assurance of God’s provision are within our grasp if we but divest ourselves of the caricatures of God foisted upon us and come to see God as He is; “always existing, always the same.” Christ the Lord is just as capable of delivering us from the fires of adversity we must all face as He was of delivering the three Hebrew children from the fiery furnace of Babylon. He hasn’t changed. He is changeless.

And so, in this time of Pentecost when we ask the Holy Spirit to descend upon us again, to revive, renew, and refresh us, let’s put forth the effort to prepare ourselves to receive Him. He is the “live coal that burns the unworthy” but the Lord seeks to make us worthy and to clothe us in His righteousness as we humbly submit to His will and seek Him for the grace to change our lives. We have no “rights” with God and such empty-headed talk is utter foolishness! But we have nonetheless been invited to His banquet table to receive from Him all that He desires to give us. This Sunday, as we call down the Holy Spirit to change the bread and the wine into the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us also ask that He enter into our hearts and souls and bodies and change us into the people of God that He would have us be.

In Christ,

Fr. Apostolos




	Is your “God” too small? Hollywood has long had a penchant for producing cinematic representations of God and the angelic hosts. I remember one of the very first movies I saw as a child was “The Ten Commandments” starring Charlton Heston as Moses to whom “God” spoke out of the burning bush with a classic Cecile B. De Mille voice. Later movies depicted God in a far less flattering way such as George Burns’ role in “Oh, God.” Granted, ol’ George was plenty old when he made this film but hardly god-like. And then last years’ hit film “Bruce Almighty” has the venerable actor Morgan Freeman portraying a God who takes a holiday from His duties to help “Bruce,” played by Jim Carrey, come to understand the nature of his existence and relationships. Such celluloid treatments of the Divine by Hollywood can surely be approached on their own merits, as entertainment pieces intended solely for light-hearted amusement in the cinemas of the world. And in cases such as “Bruce Almighty” positive messages emerge as when the character of “Bruce” kneels in the rain in the middle of the road, crying out to God; “I submit to your will!” In other cases, however, cinematic treatments leave a great deal to be desired as when John Travolta played a slovenly, overall-wearing Archangel Michael. But this isn’t another worn-out diatribe decrying the “godlessness” of Hollywood. No, the subject at hand has to do with our conception of God and the extent to which our vision of Him has been atrophied and damaged by, among other things, such popular media representations. We have surely come a long way from the scene of God’s hand blazing the Ten Commandments on the stone tablets to the scene of Morgan Freeman as ‘God’ mopping the floor with Jim Carrey’s ‘Bruce.’ Such “over the top” representations as De Mille’s are seen today as quaint though misguided notions of a time best forgotten when such words as “fear” and “awe” were still frequently used to describe God. And one need look no further than Monty Python’s “God” in “The Holy Grail” or the Simpson’s cartoon depiction of God having a friendly chat with Homer to understand the smallness of God in society. “Familiarity breeds contempt” runs the well-known adage and I fear our present view of God is both too familiar and contemptuous. I remember learning as a young boy that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov. 9:10). As a young boy I had plenty of opportunities to learn wisdom because my parents had the good sense to put the fear of God in me. This scripture was applied to me liberally in conjunction with my grandmother’s frequent admonition; “Be sure your sins will find you out” (Num. 32:23) as I careened through childhood. So perhaps the fear of the Lord came more naturally for me as a result of the much-needed discipline I received from my parents, grandparents, and any other adult within arm’s reach of me in Church, the site of many of my boyhood escapades. The absence of the fear of God today stands in sharp contrast to the witness of Holy Scripture & Tradition and the writings of the Holy Fathers, for whom awe and wonder was a given. St. Paul devoted much of his letter to the Hebrews to this theme of God’s transcendence and majesty as in; “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God,” (Heb. 10:31) and “For our God is a consuming fire.” (Heb. 12:29) The context for these remarks by St. Paul isn’t God’s loathing of us, quite the opposite. The Apostle is writing to instruct the Hebrews about the priesthood of Christ who “was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin.” (Heb. 4:15) And because Christ the Divine Logos has assumed our humanity in order to save us we must “fear lest a promise being left us of entering into His rest any of (us) should seem to come short of it.” (Heb. 4:1) In other words, our response to the love of God made manifest in the sacrifice of His Son should spur us to ever greater heights of devotion, service, effort, and love. But this love is awesome! It so defies humanity’s meager attempts at explanation that the Fathers of the Church refused to describe it in positive terms. To say, for example, that “God is love, light, truth, pure, etc” is wholly inadequate since our definition of these terms can in no way circumscribe all that God is. In fact, human categories and concepts so fail to describe God that the Church Fathers spoke of “apophatic theology” which sought to strip away all human concepts of God. The medieval Christian classic “The Cloud of Un-Knowing” (author unknown) went so far as to say that not only is God beyond our capacity for knowledge but He is even beyond our capacity for ignorance. As Orthodox Christians who are graced to worship God in the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom and St. Basil the Great, we hear on a weekly basis the prayerful cry of these two saints who better understood the irreducibility of God’s power. Hence, such phrases as; “Lord, our God, whose power is beyond compare, and whose glory is beyond understanding; whose mercy is boundless, and who love for us is ineffable: look upon us..” And again; “Holy God, You dwell among your saints. You are praised by the Seraphim with the thrice holy hymn and glorified by the Cherubim and worshipped by all the heavenly powers. You have brought all things out of nothing into being..” And then while the cherubic hymn is being sung, the priest prays; “No one who is bound by worldly desires and pleasures is worthy to approach, draw near or minister to You, the King of Glory. To serve You is great and awesome even for the heavenly powers..” Then, as the faithful, duly prepared, await the call of the priest to “With the fear of God, faith and love, draw near,” they read the prayers of preparation such as; “Behold I approach for Holy Communion. O Creator, let me not be burnt by communicating, for Thou art a fire which burns the unworthy. But purify me from every stain.” And again; “Tremble O man, when you see the deifying blood for it is a coal that burns the unworthy. The Body of God both deifies and nourishes. It deifies the spirit and wondrously nourishes the mind.” And then, recalling the imagery of the bridal chamber, the following prayer is said; “Into the brilliant company of the angels how shall I the unworthy one enter? For if I dare to enter the bridal chamber my clothing will disgrace me for it is not a wedding garment, and being bound by the angels I shall be cast out. Of your love, Lord, cleanse my soul of pollution and save me.” Such is the unbroken witness of the Church as to the ineffability of God. Sadly, our notion of God seems to be too small today when the Holy Mysteries of the Church, the sacred Body and Blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ are treated as casually as they often are. Many today speak of a “right” to receive Holy Communion and any suggestion on the part of some that due preparation, confession, diligence, and agreement with Christ’s Holy Church on matters doctrinal or otherwise be embraced is greeted with hoots of outrage. When we conveniently lay aside, when and as we please, the teachings of Holy Scripture & Tradition in favor of our own narrow positions we have made God even smaller than ourselves. When we reject the discipline of the Eucharistic chalice in favor of an open, free-for-all approach to receiving Holy Communion, we only expose ourselves as having been seduced by the spirit of the age. When we blanche at the notion of anyone and anything, even of God Himself, discerning and calling into judgment our “right” to be guided by our own distorted consciences we clearly fail to grasp Who it is we must one day face. St. Paul’s letter to the Hebrews addresses itself to the “right” of God to judge mankind. “For the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” (Heb. 4:12-13) St. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Philippians that; “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:10-11) And because our notion of God is so small today our faith is equally small. Faced with the trials and adversities of 21^st-century life, we often fear for our security, our peace of mind, and our very lives. Terror, warfare, disease, and poverty seemingly stand just in the shadows waiting an opportunity to pounce. Daily news reports of escalating tensions around the globe combine with a tottering economy and the very vacuous nature of frenetic, soul-less consumerism to drive humanity to the brink of madness. And yet serenity in chaos, peace of soul in the turmoil of our times, and steadfast assurance of God’s provision are within our grasp if we but divest ourselves of the caricatures of God foisted upon us and come to see God as He is; “always existing, always the same.” Christ the Lord is just as capable of delivering us from the fires of adversity we must all face as He was of delivering the three Hebrew children from the fiery furnace of Babylon. He hasn’t changed. He is changeless. And so, in this time of Pentecost when we ask the Holy Spirit to descend upon us again, to revive, renew, and refresh us, let’s put forth the effort to prepare ourselves to receive Him. He is the “live coal that burns the unworthy” but the Lord seeks to make us worthy and to clothe us in His righteousness as we humbly submit to His will and seek Him for the grace to change our lives. We have no “rights” with God and such empty-headed talk is utter foolishness! But we have nonetheless been invited to His banquet table to receive from Him all that He desires to give us. This Sunday, as we call down the Holy Spirit to change the bread and the wine into the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us also ask that He enter into our hearts and souls and bodies and change us into the people of God that He would have us be. In Christ, Fr. Apostolos
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