Suffering Prayer: Does it Cross the Line?

We’re familiar with the story of Job. There’s a heavenly wager between God and Satan, of which Job is ignorant, regarding the motivation of Job's worship of God, and whether or not it is truly authentic. As Job is minding his own business, everything he owns is taken, including his family and health. The remainder of the book follows with dialogue between Job and his friends, as well as between Job and God.

Read one of the prayers of Job after his friends once again fail to properly hear his suffering…

“…Surely now God has worn me out; he has made desolate all my company. And he has shriveled me up, which is a witness against me… He has torn me in his wrath, and hated me; he has gnashed his teeth at me... God gives me up to the ungodly, and casts me into the hands of the wicked. I was at ease, and he broke me asunder; he seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces;
he set me up as his target, his archers surround me.
He slashes open my kidneys, and does not spare; he pours out my gall on the ground. He breaks me with breach upon breach; he runs upon me like a warrior. I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and have laid my strength in the dust. My face is red with weeping, and on my eyelids is deep darkness; although there is no violence in my hands,
and my prayer is pure.”    ~ Job 16:1-22 (excerpt)

Directness is not a characteristic Job lacks. But did he go too far in how he expressed himself to God? Perhaps we withhold words from God, because we believe them to be unwholesome, or perhaps reflect a rebellious attitude, or even hatred toward God. I don’t believe any of us are strangers to what Job is expressing in this prayer, and his voice might even resonate with exactly what we are feeling, or have felt at one time.

Too far? Well, Job claims that his prayer is pure.

Maybe someone close to you listened to you voice your pain and questions, and perhaps like Job’s friends they tried, with good intentions, to play the role of savior, or counselor. They might have even judged or condemned your “rebellious” approach to prayer and the holiness of God, leaving you confused as to how you should (if you should) express your honest thoughts to God.

I agree with Pierre Wolff in his book, May I Hate God?*, and believe that Job’s prayer speaks deeply to who God is, and who we are in relation to Him. When we express harsh feelings, grief, hatred, and sorrow, it presupposes trust and love. But how?

When we trust God, we are able to freely express our grief. By expressing ourselves, we believe He’s able to take it; that with Him, we can reveal ourselves as we really are.

If our words/prayers are accepted, then love is present. The risk we take in expressing ourselves to God is proportionate to the love we believe is there, and we risk because we believe love is able to save.

So, this kind of expression is actually a desire for reconciliation and healing. Healing for our selves of course, but...

It also happens to be the cry of God’s voice to the world for healing. It seems as if we are revolting against God with our “whys”, when the “whys” we direct toward Him are really (or also) expressions of His revolt. Instead of us accusing God, God is sorrowfully questioning the world through us.

• Why do you distort my creation?
• Why do you exploit and hate each other?
• Why do you continue to forsake My Way, when I promised eternal life?
• Why do you commune with every sinful attraction, rather than my eternal love?

It’s not whether our words are right or wrong, good or bad, but whether we love our Father enough to tell Him everything, whether we believe in the immensity of His love which can understand any kind or level of sorrow.

So what does Job’s suffering prayer tell us?

It speaks of the immensity of God’s love, and the Resurrection power of Christ. God accepts our words, and so Love is present. And when we acknowledge He is still alive and present in our lives, this is the power of the Resurrection. And through this Love and Resurrection life, we find healing; still wounded, but transformed. And because we have mourned, and experienced God’s love through it, we are better able to comfort others with the same compassion we received from God.

Job trusted God, and knew God. He knew God was Love, He knew Love was present, and whether or not what Job lost was restored (the story happens to end with him being restored) communion with God was present, because where there is compassion, there is communion. Job found consolation – not from his friends, but by being brutally honest, and trusting the God who is not always apparent, but is always and everywhere present.

* May I Hate God? by Pierre Wolff; Paulist Press, 1979.

Image: Illumination of Job from the Syriac Bible

Why Are We Following? (Matthew 4:23-25)

In the text prior to this portion of Scripture, we see Jesus identifying select individuals for a specific purpose, i.e. His Disciples. In this passage (Matt. 4:23-25), we see that Christ’s message is not just for a select few, but that the gospel of the kingdom is universal; for all people, everywhere. We also see Jesus becoming, not only well known, but followed by many. But why are so many people following Him? Or WHAT are the people following?

Notice in the text, that it says Jesus went about teaching, preaching, and healing. At a first reading, we might tend to think of these actions as separate, or disassociated. On the contrary, every aspect of Christ’s ministry was connected, associated into one holistic message. His teaching, preaching, and healing were the same message, and not separate actions. In other words, the gospel of the kingdom that He was teaching and preaching was attached to His signs, which in turn made His signs a message of who He is; the Person of Christ, the incarnate Word of God; redeemer and healer of the world.

Perhaps, out of the crowds that were following Jesus, some of them were just following Him as a magician, ignoring the message of the gospel that was communicated through His works. We do know that many abandoned Him at the last hour, and many even advocated for His crucifixion. Perhaps, at times, we are like those who follow the signs of Christ, and not the Person of Christ. It’s easy for us to reflect on specific trials in our lives, in the past or in the present, where this could be the case. In my own life I can recall a very definitive trial, where I was so focused on receiving a sign from God, that most of the time, I missed out on the “joy” of my trial as James writes about in his New Testament epistle. So, what are we to do?

With God’s grace, we need to see the biggest sign of all, which is even found within this text of Scripture. That Christ is revealed among us, and is present in the world. Kreesdos ee mech mer haydnetsav! That is the gospel of the kingdom! When we see who He is, through His signs and works, we trust and follow the Person of Christ, not just His signs, and we enter into and experience His kingdom.

Remember, Christ’s works and miracles were, and still are always about Him, and are always meant to draw us closer to Him, in order for us to become like Him. They beckon us to follow Him, because of who He is; because by His Word and through His works, He is revealed. His signs, and the Person of who He is, must not be separated. His preaching, teaching, and healing are one. We must be careful to not just follow a mere sign, but instead desire to become like Christ, the Person performing the signs. Otherwise, we run the risk of seeing Jesus as just a magician, someone void of a message, merely a performer of 'signs', and not a healer of our soul/body.

So what are we following? Why are we following? Or…WHO are we following? Are we following Christ for what He can do for us, or are we following Him because of what He has already done for us; for the world? By following Him, are we bringing the message of the gospel to the world through our works, just as Christ did? Do our works function as a message, pointing and directing others to Christ, and to His kingdom, just as Christ’s works pointed to Himself? Does our teaching and preaching bring healing to others as Christ's did? As Christ revealed Himself, are we revealing Christ to the world?

May we see Christ as who He is; Emmanuel; ‘God with us’, everywhere present...

...always giving glory to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The Ascension and Return of Christ

"And when he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." – Acts 1:9-11

What do we picture in our minds when we read this section of Scripture? Specifically, how do we picture the return of Christ when we read, "…will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."? Do we picture Him returning in/from the clouds? Is that the part of His ascension on which we focus, or is there another aspect of His ascension that escapes our attention?

…didn’t Christ ascend from/within the midst of His people?

Yes, but what significance does this have in contrast to Christ returning from the clouds? Perhaps we can understand this liturgically. During every Badarak (Divine Liturgy), the promise of Christ’s return is manifested. That is, just as Christ left, He returns to us in the Badarak, within the midst of His people, as a foretaste of what is to come, and what is already here. Eternal life -- present now, and in the future when we live with Him in His presence forever.

Here is further insight from an Eastern Orthodox priest, blogger, and author...

"…the classical Orthodox understanding of the relation between earth and heaven; past, present and future; and the mystery of the Kingdom of God at work in the world. His universe is distinctly “one-storey.” This understanding also undergirds the Orthodox understanding of eschatology (the study of the “last things”). St. John Chrysostom, in his eucharistic prayer, gives thanks for the Second Coming of Christ in the past tense – not that he is saying that the Second Coming has already occurred in history – but that the Eucharistic celebration stands within the Kingdom of God, such that the Second Coming can be described in the past tense. The Eucharist is the “Marriage Feast of the Lamb,” the “Banquet at the End of the Age." – Fr. Stephen Freeman

This reality can also be understood through the art or icons of the Orthodox Church, such as the Armenian Orthodox image above (click image to enlarge), or this Greek Orthodox icon. "Icons of the Ascension represent Christ in such a way that one cannot tell whether He is going to heaven or coming again to earth. This captures the profound truth that we are already living under His reign while awaiting His return. Thus, the icons shows Christ being taken up, coming again in like manner, and yet continually present."
– Orthodox Study Bible (Acts 1: 9-11)


I would like to thank Rev. Todd A. Zielinski, one of my spiritual directors, for introducing me to this theological reality.

On Baptism - Part I

Why talk about Baptism? For all of us who were baptized, it happened in the past, and many of us, if we were baptized as infants, can’t even recall the event. Isn’t it enough to know that getting baptized was important to do, and move on to more relevant things? If this is our attitude toward Baptism, then we risk taking Baptism, and all that it means, for granted. Here are some questions to help us examine our attitude toward Baptism¹:

• Is Baptism just a necessary condition for church membership, or to be a member in good standing?
• Is it just a formality in order to receive the rest of the Sacraments of the Church?
• Do we think of it as a guarantee of salvation and eternal life?
• Is it just a past event, or is it a permanent experience that permeates our lives and shapes our Christian worldview; our motivations, actions, and decisions?

In order to understand Baptism, let’s begin with Scripture. Galatians 3:27 says, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”, and Romans 6:4 says, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” From these Scriptures, we can recall how the Church refers to Baptism as the second birth, because in Baptism we identify with and participate in the death and resurrection of Christ. We are cleansed of and die to our sinful life, and are reborn into a new, spiritual, holy life, in which we put on a new nature. We put on Christ, are clothed with Christ, and participate in His divine nature.

In Exodus 14, Moses leads the Israelites, the chosen people of God, through the Red Sea on their way to the Promised Land. The early Church Fathers viewed this event as a foreshadowing of Baptism, in that Baptism is a passage of God’s chosen people through the waters of sin and death to the promised land of freedom in Christ. Thus, Baptism is not only an individual event, but a communal event. In fact, Baptism was not originally a private event to be celebrated among family and friends. It was a community and public event to be shared with and among the Church. Either way, we are brought to the font as individuals by the community, and we leave the font as members of the community; members of the people of God; members of His Body, the Church.

This being said, what happens at Baptism, and what Baptism means is ultimately a Mystery. In fact, ‘Sacraments’ in the Armenian Orthodox Church are more aptly referred to as ‘Mysteries’, and because the Armenian Orthodox Church emphasizes Mystery, there is no obligation to analyze Baptism, explain what it means in every detail, or have a definitive answer to what is essentially mysterious. We do it out of obedience, following the apostolic teachings of the early Church, knowing that it is a Mystery ordained and established by Christ. Thus, within this framework of Mystery, we acknowledge Baptism as an expression of what has already been accomplished through Christ; the grace that is already available to us because of Christ’s incarnation, death, and resurrection. Through Baptism, by faith, we lay claim to and receive this available saving grace.

¹Alexander Schmemann – Of Water and the Spirit: A Liturgical Study of Baptism, 8-9.

Picture above: St. Gregory the Illuminator baptizes Tiridates III, King of Armenia