A Man Starving to Death Feels No Hunger
By Hieromonk Tikhon
The ancient Greek word “Economy” (Οἰκονομία) means ‘the management or administration of a household or family,’ from οἶκος, meaning “house,” and νέμω, meaning “distribute, allocate.” All the work done in a household is done for a purpose, and nothing is done without reason. Hence, “economy” implies a lack of wastefulness, which is why we associate the word “economical” with efficiency.
The word “Economy” is very important for us Orthodox. In the Church, one of the uses of this word refers to the Economy of our Salvation—God’s plan of how we will be saved. A whole plan in which God leads those who desire to their salvation. A major part of this Economy is the Church’s services, which, along with the yearly cycle of services, exist for a reason, being provided by God precisely because we need each of them for our salvation.
We are currently in Great Lent, where the frequency and volume of the Church’s services are increased for all of us. Why? Because they are necessary for our salvation. Why would they exist if they weren’t? Why do we even have Great Lent, and other periods of fasting in general? Because they are necessary for our salvation.
A rich man doesn’t need money. He doesn’t need to go to work. He can devote himself to whichever whims he chooses. A poor man doesn’t have the same luxury. For the rich man, the job is optional; for the poor man, it is a matter of survival. “If anyone is not willing to work, neither let him eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10), says St. Paul. And what is the result of not eating? Death by starvation.
The man who doesn’t need the services of the Church is the one who is already spiritually rich. Venerable Luke of Steiris, when visiting the Sacred Monastery of the Holy Archangels in Boeotia, was speaking with the abbot as the bell began to ring calling the monks to the temple for the service. The abbot told St. Luke, “Let us go to the church.” St. Luke asked, “Why?” The abbot, perhaps wondering why a monk would ask such a question, began to say, “So that we can call the grace of God upon ourselves…” but by a miraculous vision, he looked at the saint and saw him ablaze with the grace of God. He realised that St. Luke lived with this grace always upon him, and didn’t need the grace of the services like others did.
So, perhaps some services of the Church are optional for the saints among us (though such holy people could not bear to cut off their communion with Christ, even if they weren’t at church). For the rest of us who have not attained to this great spiritual height, what are we to do? Spiritually, we are poor, so what choice do we have besides to go to church, where the Great Bestower bestows His grace, love, and mercy upon us?
The person who skips Church services is blinded by delusion and pride: Delusion, in that he considers himself rich when he is poor, and proud, in that he thought he knew how to better spend his time than was revealed to Him by God. The kingdom of the heavens does not await such a person, who has not even set foot on the first rung of the Beatitudes: “Blessed are [they who recognise themselves as] poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens” (Matthew 5:3).
None of the services of Great Lent are optional. On Fridays we gather to thank the Mother of God for getting us through the week of strict fasting. We gather on Sundays to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ, Who died and was resurrected for our salvation. We have other special services, such as the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, and the chanting of the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete. Holy Week is full of services. Why? You already know the answer—because we need them. They don’t exist by accident. They are part of God’s Economy of our Salvation.
If your church attendance has improved this Great Lent, I congratulate you; keep on going! If it hasn’t, please understand that you are spiritually starving yourself to death. A paradoxical thing about starvation: a man starving to death is only hungry in the early stages of not eating—after this the hunger subsides until he has no desire to eat whatsoever, and by the time he dies, his longing for food has long since faded into memory. Let your lack of desire for that spiritual food of the Church’s services reveal how close you are to your own spiritual death, and how much you are in need of the spiritual sustenance of the Church’s services. I speak as first among sinners.
“And after one of those who reclined at table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, ‘Happy is he who shall eat dinner in the kingdom of God.’ But He said to him, ‘A certain man made a great supper and invited many. And he sent forth his slave at the hour of the supper to say to those who were invited, “Come, for everything is now ready.” And they all with one accord began to beg for themselves to be excused. The first said to him, “I bought a field, and I have need to go out and to see it; I beg thee, have me excused.” And another said, “I bought five pairs of oxen, and I go to prove them; I beg thee, have me excused.” And another said, “I married a wife, and on this account I am not able to come.” And that slave came to his lord and reported these things. Then the master of the house, having been provoked to anger, said to his slave, “Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and maimed and lame and blind.” And the slave said, “Lord, it hath been done as thou commandest, and still there is room.” And the lord said to the slave, “Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house might be filled. For I say to you that not one of those men who were invited shall taste of my supper.”’” (Luke 14:15-24).
