In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
One of the drawbacks, it seems to me, of being raised in Canadian society is the extent to which we are formed to depend on various sorts of systems, organisations, etc., for things to be accomplished in life. When we are faced with the reality of Christ, there is a big tendency in our country to try to box in Christ. We try to make Him subject to one sort of system or another. Perhaps we try to invent a technique to get out of Him what we want. My suspicion is that today, in the case of this exorcism which the Lord accomplishes (but that the apostles previously could not), what the Lord is driving at is that the apostles had not yet caught on to the fact that it is not a technique. In my experience, I do not think there is a technique for exorcising anyone.
Only our Saviour can be the Exorcist of someone who is possessed. When our Saviour is speaking about the faith that is required, I think that it is truly our Orthodox understanding that He is the one who accomplishes it, that enables us to let Him work through us. They have to have confidence in Him that He can do it, and they must co-operate with Him in order that He will do it. Therefore, if there is a mountain pushed into the sea somewhere, it is because the apostles, knowing God’s will, co-operate with Him in prayer, and it is done. However, it is not because the apostles know some technique. Anyway, when it comes to techniques and such things, what technique can there be when the shadow of an apostle will heal someone (as we read in the Acts of the Apostles). Just the shadow of an apostle passing over someone brings the Lord’s healing (see Acts 5:15). There is no technique in that. It is the Grace of the Holy Spirit.
In our life in the Orthodox Church (especially in North America), we are falling into a trap of systems and “correct”, “acceptable” ways of going about things according to bylaws, and so forth. The Orthodox way has nothing to do with these systems. It does not matter how many bylaws we have. The Orthodox way is not found in the bylaws, and these governmentally-approved, politically-correct manners of doing things.
The Apostle Paul is saying today, in effect : “You have many guides. You have many people who will give you some sense of direction in Christ, but you do not have many fathers”. He not only regarded himself as a father to all the people that he had brought to Christ, but, he, in fact, behaved as their father, whether they always accepted it or not, whether they always understood it or not. He behaved as their father.
The Orthodox way is focussed on interpersonal relationships of love : love in Jesus Christ, reference to Jesus Christ, faith in Jesus Christ, trust in Jesus Christ, living in harmony with Jesus Christ. Christ is our life (see Philippians 1:21). He is everything. We are nothing. He must increase and we must decrease (see John 3:30). He is the reason for our existence. He is the reason we are here, together. We are here, together, because we have some sort of love for each other in Christ. We show Christ to each other and encourage each other in Christ.
This is the Orthodox way. It has nothing to do with prestige ; it has to do with responsibility. It has nothing to do with earthly power ; it has to do with authority in Christ. Not only bishops have such authority. Indeed, lay people also have such authority in Christ.
The laity in the Orthodox Church are not insignificant players. In fact, if it were not for these holy, Christ-loving lay-people, the Orthodox Church would not exist. Most especially, the Orthodox Church would not exist these days in the territories of the former Soviet Union where it was only the faithful who were “free” (even though they paid for it with their lives, sometimes). They were still the only ones who were free to pray and be faithful, and they dared to do what Christ was calling them to do – to be the Church. I have heard many stories of just how the Lord, through the prayers, the faithfulness and the bravery of these Orthodox lay-people, protected the Church in these Orthodox countries that used to belong to the former Soviet Union.
It is still the responsibility of the lay-people here in North America to be faithful, to pray, to be Christ to each other. The responsibility and the challenge have not gone away simply because the economy is better. In fact, our challenge can be even greater because we have become spiritually fat, physically fat, forgetful and neglectful in our cozy comfort. Indeed, the cozy comfort makes our continent a land of forgetfulness. It is my prayer that in this community we will be able to live up to the words of the Gospel, to the example of the apostles, to the example and witness of the Mother of God after whom this parish is named. It is my prayer that we will be able, like her, to be faithful to Christ (to Him, and not just to some system), and allow Him to lead and guide our lives on the right way. There is only the Orthodox way when it comes to following the right way. Have no fear in following the Mother of God’s example. Let us entrust our lives to her intercessory prayers and to her protection, asking that she will enable us to be faithful to her Son, as she has always been and is to this day, so that we may glorify Him, together with her and all the holy Church : Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now, and ever, and unto the ages of ages.