Orthodox Christians – Let Us Celebrate the Joy of Christ!

By Jackie Morfesis

As Orthodox Christians, let us celebrate the joy of Christ. Furthermore, let us celebrate the joy of Christ, stop wallowing in sin, and focusing on the darkness of our lives and the lives of others. To be clear, we all know that no one is without sin and that we all “fall short of the glory of God.” However, we conveniently fail to reference the complete passage from Romans 3:23-26 which says we do not stay in a place of sinfulness: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

We also know that humility, repentance, and God’s everlasting and daily forgiveness is tantamount to the faith walk. However, here is what we also know regarding our salvation: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24). Our Lord went to Calvary to defeat death with death. To fulfill the law. To free us from the bondage of sin. To bring life to the tombs. To break the chains of Hades.

Yet, as well-meaning Orthodox Christians, we often forget the joy of salvation. The joy of not being “left as orphans” (John 14:18). The joy of being given the gift of the Holy Spirit. The truth is that we do not only worship the Light of Christ – but that we carry within us the Light of Christ, and we are called to be the Light of Christ in the world.

We know that the passion of our Lord is part of His glorious resurrection. We know that our journeys through pain, sorrow, suffering, grief, trauma, tragedy, betrayal, abuse and all manner of sickness and hardship burn, refine, and remold us in the fire of God’s love. None of this should be taken for granted, dismissed, dishonored, minimized, or not valued. What brings our life to ashes becomes our most remarkable testimony of faith when we allow God to move His hand over our trials and tribulations.

The sin, amartia, occurs when we are so focused, obsessed, on the darkness, on our sinfulness – that instead of claiming our power and authority as a child of God and ambassador in His kingdom right here on earth – we wallow in a false sense of humility as an excuse to be a lukewarm Christian and not one of bold faith. We must be prayerful about how we might be falling short. Let us begin by hungering for God’s Holy Word, for God’s Holy Word, is their bread of life (John 6:25). Scripture should be on our tongues and in our hearts as quickly as our breath.

Let us know that the word of God fortifies us. “The word of God is the sword of the spirit” (Ephesians 6:17). May we not only know God’s Word but live God’s Word. Let us move in the world just as the Early Christians moved – unafraid to testify to His love, mercy, forgiveness, and salvation. Let us spread the Good News, and be bodily the Good News. How can we battle in the kingdom if we do not even know how to armor up? If we do not even know what weapons we are given by God? We cannot stand for God, the battle for God, or be His ambassador unarmed, uninformed, and unprepared. Would you send a soldier into battle this way? Of course not, and neither does God (Ephesians 6:10-18).

As Orthodox Christians, we must claim our power to “tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19) and not instead fixate on wallowing in darkness and sin. We are accustomed to dousing our Light, the Light of Christ – and continually repeating that we need to fixate on our sinfulness with the utmost humility that we do not get off our knees to be God’s hands and feet in the world. To walk with pride – not the pride of a self-inflated ego, but the true knowledge that we are worthy (Ephesians 4:1). That God made us. That God has a divine plan and purpose for our lives (Jeremiah 29:11).

What has happened to us? What has happened to us? I know what has happened. The demonic and adverse powers rejoice when Christians hide their light. They rejoice when we cover our lamps. They rejoice when well-meaning Orthodox encourage us to wallow in the darkness and meditate on sinfulness. “Don’t hide your light! Let it shine for all; let your good deed glow for all to see so that they will praise your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:15).

The demonic whispers into the ears of well-meaning Orthodox Christians that we are still in bondage when in fact, our Lord gave His life on the cross – and His glorious resurrection so that we are no longer prisoners – that we are freed from the bondage of sin and darkness. “For you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (Romans 6:18). Jesus is our freedom. This is the gift He has given us as a child of God.

Imagine serving those imprisoned and saying: “I have a relationship with the Lord, but He will not free you from spiritual bondage. You will wallow and live in the trenches of sin and darkness for the rest of your life as a result of knowing Him. You will continue to be tormented by every sin you have committed. You will not be forgiven. He will not wash the memory of your past as white as snow when we know that He does (Isaiah 1:18).” How many souls will be saved? How many souls can we comfort in this way?

The God I serve is the one who delivered me. He delivered me from every grief, every sorrow, every suffering, every betrayal, every abuse, and every torment. He is the Deliverer. If we do not believe this – then we are no better than the hypocrites. It does not mean that we will no longer suffer on the faith walk – but that our Lord is with us in our suffering and that the darkness is not our identity nor our attachment. Nor our rallying cry as Orthodox Christians. “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).

All the angels in heaven sing when as Orthodox Christians, we boldly testify publicly about what God has done for us. When we share the good news with our brothers and sisters. When we dare to be different. When we dare to be criticized, forsaken, and ostracized for our God. When we dare to be part of the remnant in a world that celebrates being woven into the tattered and torn tapestry of despair, hopelessness, and desolation. This is our blessing. To have courage for God, to believe His Word, and be unafraid to give testimony to His greatness and His glory.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem to fulfill God’s divine plan for our salvation. He came to break not only the bonds of Hades but the bonds of sinfulness over our lives. Let us honor the Lord by rejoicing not only in His holy birth – but by celebrating that we have been saved. And because we are saved, we have a holy calling to spread the good news, so that others know that everything they are fighting has already been brought to death on the cross. Let us celebrate the Light and not the Darkness. Where our heart focuses – will be our life and our future. “For where your treasure is there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21).

I refuse to let anyone steal my joy. I have worked too long and too hard in the trenches of spiritual ashes to allow anyone to push me back into despair when my Lord and my God came to raise us from the clenches of darkness with the promise of hope, life, and salvation.

The next time you hear a well-meaning Orthodox Christian tell you that the only focus of the faith walk is meditating and praying on your sinfulness and that the true meaning of Orthodoxy is humility – tell them that you are already saved. Tell them that humility is a character trait,  a great virtue, but not the meaning of Orthodox salvation. We must have humility on the path, but humility is not the path. The path and the Way are our Lord. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).

Tell them that your God sent His beloved Son to the cross of Calvary for your soul and sinfulness. That you have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior. That you were given the gift of the Holy Spirit at your baptism. What a radical and revolutionary concept – a Christian who is saved and whose sins have been washed and saved by the blood of the Lamb. God have mercy.