Do What He Tells You

Every Orthodox Christian is taught that obedience is a blessing. We are taught to be obedient first to God, then to the Church through our spiritual father. There are many stories of blessings that come from obedience, not the last of which is eternal life.

In today’s readings I was reminded of obedience. Take a moment and read today’s readings from Acts and the Gospel of John, and see if you capture the same idea as I did

In those days, Peter said to the people, “Repent and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for establishing all that God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old. Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet from your brethren as he raised me up. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul that does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came afterwards, also proclaimed these days. You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God gave to your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your posterity shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you in turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

Acts 3.19-26

At that time, there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; Jesus also was invited to the wedding, with his disciples. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the steward of the feast.” So they took it. When the steward of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first; and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

John 2.1-11

Peter teaches the people that God blesses us and saves us in our repentance. Quoting the Prophet Moses (see Deuteronomy 18.15-22), Saint Peter says, “You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you.” Moses was speaking of the Risen Christ. We must listen to Him.

Then again in the Gospel story of the Wedding in Cana, we see witness the blessing of obedience. “Do whatever he tells you,” is the simple commandment from the Panagia. When the wine servants obeyed Christ, the entire wedding party was blessed.

Here we are a ‘whole week’ after the joy of Pascha, getting back to our lives. We returned to work. We returned to our routine. The only thing I pray for is that we don’t return to our ‘old ways’ and begin to ‘do whatever’ God tells us.

He tells us to love. He tells us to serve. He tells us to forgive. He tells us to follow Him. When we obey Him, we will be blessed if we believe. If we believe the Scriptures and the Church witness, God will honor our obedience with ‘good wine’ in our lives.

Our ‘old routine’ is the poor wine. The ‘new wine’ is everything we do different for God now that we have celebrated Pascha. The Gospel story refers to the Old and New Covenant. I’m not speaking theologically here. I’m speaking metaphorically.

Let’s go back to Acts for a moment. Saint Peter warned the world would destroy those who do not obey Christ. The world does destroy us through sin, through sickness, through temptation. Christ heals us through forgiveness, through the sacraments, through repentance.

Let’s ‘get out there’ this week and obey Christ and receive His blessing. Just remember one thing. We can’t be blessed if we go back to the way we were. Pascha ushers in our new life in Christ. It is a life beyond the world’s pain. It is a life of joy and healing.