Only God is Perfect

The Church takes another glimpse toward Great Lent today. We are just reaching the end of the first week of fasting (from meat only) and I pray you are getting excited about the Great Fast that begins on Monday. But before we get there, I have one more warning. Only God is perfect.

Before I comment on the readings from the Prophet Zecharaia today, I want to dray your attention to the commemoration of Saint John Cassian today. From his life story we learn an important reminder about the life of the Church. Only God is perfect.

Among the ‘OrthoBros’ it is popular to quote singular elders or singular saints with extremely narrowly focused citations. The practice of finding a single quote to defend a position, even from a saint, is not Orthodox. Even saints made mistakes. If you don’t believe that, you’re wrong.

The Holy Tradition of the Church never rests on one saint’s shoulders. The entire consciousness of the Church is needed to convey the Truth of God. In a manner of speaking, it is how the Holy Spirit protects the Church. If only one person says it, we take a step back.

Saint John Cassian, among other writings, wrote against Saint Augustine’s idea of predestination. It might be hard to believe, but there was a time when predestination was debated in the church, even among saints.

Ultimately, it was decided that Augustine was wrong, but he remains a saint. In the opposite situation, people like Origin, who was not a saint, believed and taught things that the Church ultimately agreed with. So, you see, it is never as simple as one saint, or one heretic.

As we make our final plans for the Great Fast, remember this. Only God is perfect, and that means YOU are not the exception. Before you spend the next seven weeks ‘defending the faith’ against who you believe to be heretics, take a step back. Fast and pray for a change.

Now, here is today’s prophecy…

“Thus says the Lord of hosts:  Behold, I will save my people from the east country and from the west country; and I will bring them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be my people and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness.” Thus says the Lord of hosts:  “Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of the prophets, since the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built.  For before those days there was no wage for man or any wage for beast, neither was there any safety from the foe for him who went out or came in; for I set every man against his fellow.  But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, says the Lord of hosts.  For there shall be a sowing of peace; the vine shall yield its fruit, and the ground shall give its increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.  And as you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you and you shall be a blessing.  Fear not, but let your hands be strong.” For thus says the Lord of hosts:  “As I purposed to do evil to you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the Lord of hosts,  so again have I purposed in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; fear not.  These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another, render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace, do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, says the Lord.” “Thus says the Lord of hosts:  The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah seasons of joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love truth and peace. “Thus says the Lord of hosts:  Peoples shall yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities; the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts; I am going.’  Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favor of the Lord.  Thus says the Lord of hosts:  In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'”

Zechariah 8:7-23

There are two points I want to add about today’s reading. First, and maybe most important is that the fast is a “season of joy and gladness,” not a time for doctrinal debates and online ‘rage-fests.’ The Fast is a time for us to not so gently be reminded that only God is perfect.

The second point is that God spoke about His rescue plan for us many centuries ago. He never forgets His people, and He will never forget you. Try to spend the next seven weeks thankful that Great Lent is here to bring you to Him, not for you to bring heretics to repentance.