Sermon for the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers
Epistle: Acts 6.1-7
Gospel: Mark
15.43-16.8
by Nabil L. Hanna, protopresbyter
3 May
2009
St. George Orthodox Church, Indianapolis
At this Liturgy, we will shortly offer the Holy Oblation, and then our Lord will bless it and give it back to us with the command: “In the fear of God, with faith and with love, draw near.”
Fear, faith and love: let’s take a look at this interesting combination.
Our gospel passage ends curiously: “and they said nothing to any one, for they were afraid.” They went to the tomb and found it empty, but there met them an angel who explained to them what had happened and gave them the command to go tell the disciples, but they were paralyzed by fear – at least for a while. Eventually, of course, they did proclaim all that happened—that’s how we know about it—this Good News of our salvation.
Fear is gripping our world now: I’m sure we’ve all been following the hysteria—for that is what I believe it is—regarding the H1N1 virus. (It’s no longer called swine flu after pork producers complained they were losing money, because, in this hysteria, many countries are banned the importation of pork, and Egypt has gone so far as to slaughter every last pig in that country!)
The hysteria is causing some to be afraid of Holy Communion. Perhaps you saw an article in yesterday’s Indianapolis Star, where some churches are eliminating or changing what they do for Communion. I say: they should be afraid in approaching Communion, but absolutely not because of viruses. (Of course, some of these other churches have a very different understanding of Communion. For some of them it is just a reenactment or, as they say, ‘symbolic,’ but we understand this as the holy Body and the precious Blood of Christ.)
Now God gave us brains with which to reason; we’re not at all afraid of science or opposed to it. Setting aside the Communion issue for just a moment, let’s consider the following points and facts (and why I believe the CDC and World Health Organization are overstepping due diligence and proper preparedness—that we all want them to exercise—and, out of fear of liability for missing something, have entered the realm of ‘hype,’ along with the all-too-willing media):
1. The H1N1 virus is a mild flu virus, milder than the typical flu viruses that we face each year (why?: because H1N1 attaches to receptors in the throat, rather than deeper in the lungs)
2. In the United States alone, we have at least 23,000-25,000 deaths every year directly as a result of flu viruses
3. H1N1 has, thankfully, caused only 1 death so far in the United States (even in Mexico, the toll is not in the thousands but, as of this morning, stands at exactly 19)—too many, but insignificant compared to other flu strains and many other causes of death
4. We should always use good hygiene, because there are always viruses and other harmful microbes all around us, in which case H1N1 does not necessitate any additional procedures (certainly no change in Communion practices!)
5. The survival and transmission of influenza viruses have recently been demonstrated conclusively to depend on low absolute humidity, such as found in cold weather. This is why flu season begins in late autumn and ends when the weather warms up and gets wetter, and that’s why we run humidifiers in winter.
6. H1N1 is, fortunately, appearing at a time when its spread is most difficult, but the concern of health officials is not so much for now but for what it might do if it persists to the fall; that is when it might become the fearsome pandemic.
7. H1N1 is mild now, but what health officials and the media say they also fear is what if it should mutate to a more virulent form (like the hypothetical fears that SARS and bird flu would mutate to virulent, readily-transmissible forms, or that the human immunodeficiency virus would wipe out the human race)
8. With every new virus we are reminded of the 1918 Spanish Flu. The 1918 flu pandemic, it is pointed out, also started out slowly and late in the season—that’s the main similarity of that H1N1 virus with the current strain—but, that also occurred in the course of World War I, with the soldiers fighting in filthy trenches. They did not have the hygiene facilities available now, nor did any anti-viral medications (like Tamiflu) exist until just a few years ago
I am NOT advocating a cavalier attitude—far from it—but let’s get a grip here! We do what we can as part of ongoing diligence for good hygiene, but when it comes to Holy Communion: many flu seasons have come and gone over the past 2000 years, but the Church has remained the same, and there has never been the slightest indication of the spread of disease through Holy Communion, of which we partake for the healing of soul and body.
I, for one, never share a cup or utensils with anyone. In Arabic, ba’raf. The very thought makes me nauseous. If someone asks me for a drink of my pop can or bottle of water, I’ll say, “Here, keep it. I don’t want it back.” Very rarely will my touch food other than a sandwich. But when it comes to Holy Communion there has never and never will be any such thought. It’s just unthinkable, for Communion is itself for “healing of soul and body, for remission of sins and for life everlasting!”
Let no one rob us of our faith! We have been freed from sickness and even death. “In the fear of God, in FAITH and in love…” we are invited to draw near.
Communion is what we should be scared of, not the little microbes. We approach only with the fear of God, not with fear of microbes.
As I said, hand washing is highly recommended. I’m always conscious of where my hands have been and what they may have touched before touching my face or food. I love the TV program Monk; my kids sometimes refer to me as “Monk.” Some people, however, can’t stop washing their hands. That’s not a sign of what’s on the surface of their skin; it’s sign of what’s inside them: guilt.
In the Liturgy hand washing is prescribed. You see it when a bishop serves: just before touching the Eucharist bread to prepare the gifts, he washes his hands before all the people. That’s because the bishop prepares the gifts in the middle of the Liturgy, but a priest washes his hands too, before he touches the bread. A priest prepares it during matins, or, if he’s serving along, before matins starts, but he still washes his hands while reciting a prayer.
Nevertheless, we wash, even in the Liturgy, but do not be afraid. Hear the words of our Lord from the scriptures:
When the Pharisees gathered together to him, with some of the scribes, who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands defiled, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they wash their hands, observing the tradition of the elders; and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they purify themselves; and there are many other traditions which they observe, the washing of cups and pots and vessels of bronze.) And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with hands defiled?" And he said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me’” (Mark 7.1-6)
Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and so passes on? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man. (Mt. 15.17-20)
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!, for you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of extortion and rapacity. You blind Pharisee! First cleanse the inside of the cup and of the plate, that the outside also may be clean. (Mt. 23.25-26)
To be clear: we’re not talking about cups and saucers but the inside of us, of our hearts.
Metropolitan Isaiah of Denver put it very well: “Probably the ones who are in the greatest danger of allowing Holy Communion to harm them are they who have gone through the procedure of preparation with prayer and abstinence, but who are afraid to touch the communion spoon with their lips.”
Concerning Holy Communion, St. Paul writes:
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. (1 Cor. 11.27-30)
When it comes to Holy Communion, we must be prepared and approaching only with Faith, otherwise we have a much bigger cause for alarm than germs. To repeat what St. Paul said plainly: an unworthy partaking is why some of the people to whom he was writing, the people of Corinth, were sick and had died!
Communion is either for healing, or it’s for condemnation, depending on our inner state.
Let’s be afraid of God, if our hearts aren’t clean. Let’s be afraid of the Body and Blood of the fearful God much more than of little microbes.
Misplaced fear had paralyzed the women. Thankfully for us, they eventually overcame the fear and proclaimed the Good News for our salvation. It’s OK if we have questions and think about these things, but let us muster our courage and see that reason and faith overcome base fear.
Beloved in Christ, remember above all: “Love casts out fear.” Thus, in the Fear of God alone, with Faith in Him Who Loves us do death and gives His Body and Blood for our healing, let us offer the Holy Oblation with Thanksgiving and then draw nigh boldly.