Sunday of Orthodoxy 2021 Fr. James Jorgenson

is a very pastoral question. What do you do with

former iconoclastic Christians who decide to

return to the fullness of orthodoxy when they're

converted from their heresy, if you want to put

it in those terms? Well, it was pretty clear

for lay people that they would be received through

penance and confession. and then be restored

to communion. But the issue was, what do you

do with the iconoclastic clergy? How do they

come in? Do they come in as laymen, because they

promoted this heresy? They can't be priests and

deacons. Or do we take an easy route and accept

them in their orders and allow them to continue

functioning now as Orthodox priests and deacons?

The patriarch at the time was the famous St.

Photius, who had been in the diplomatic service.

He was a civil official before he became bishop

and patriarch. And so he took a more mellow path.

He belonged to, sometimes the history books refer

to as the doves and the hawks among the bishops

at this time. So he was a dove. leniency, let

them abjure their heresy and come in. And that

his point of thinking, his way of thinking is

the one that was accepted at these councils in

689 and excuse me, 769 and 770. No, 869 and 879.

Got it right. The Presence of icons in the church

is a fascinating one from my point of view. I

remember years ago back in the late 1970s, there

were a group of Christians called the Evangelical

Orthodox Church. Many of you probably heard about

them. But they were looking around and trying

to discover how can we become Orthodox. So our

bishops had an official dialogue with them. And

I was asked to present a paper on the church

as one holy Catholic and apostolic to describe

what these four marks are of the church. And

I was told, you know, don't be too soft. Say

it as it is. And afterwards, I finished my paper

and I looked around. at the Evangelical Orthodox,

and I said, well, any questions? Anything to

discuss? He said, nope, we believe everything

you said, which was very gratifying to see the

completeness of their mental conversion to the

Orthodox Church. After the paper, also, Father

Schmemann came up to me and he said, Father James,

that was a very good paper. He said, but next

time, I want you to present a paper that doesn't

say so much that the church is the same, but

I want you to present a paper which says the

church is the true church because it is always

changing, which is a fascinating way. I knew

how Father Schmevin thought. And that has always

stuck in my mind. And I think the development

of icons, the president... The presence of icons

in our church is a perfect illustration of what

this means. The church is the same, but it is

always changing. Because if you had apostles

or first, second, third, fourth century Christians

that came in, they would probably be surprised

at the presence, proliferation really, of icons

and images in our church. But their presence

came about as an organic development, an integral

process within the life of the church. It was

something that was a change, but an intrinsically

correct change. And that, of course, in the history

of the Christian church, this is a real point

of contention. What is an authentic development

or what is an innovation? Notice the difference.

An authentic development or an innovation. And

icons are a perfect example of an authentic development.

Even today, if modern non -Orthodox were to come

into the church, Some of them, frankly, I don't

mean this uncharitably, but some Protestants

are modern -day iconoclasts, that there shouldn't

be all this kind of artwork in the church. It's

distracting, so to speak. So what they notice

are the icons and the beauty of our liturgical

worship. the texts, and the music. So what attracts

people, by and large, to the Orthodox Church

is the truth of what we teach, that what we teach

is the one holy Catholic and apostolic faith,

the one that was revealed by Jesus Christ, preached

by the apostles. taught and explained by the

fathers of the church and the councils of the

church, which has come down to us as a package,

as an authentic development in the life of the

church. And the theology behind the presence

of icons is precisely this. The hinge is that

Jesus Christ as the... Troparian and the Kentuckian

proclaim, no one could describe the image of

the Father, but when you took flesh from the

Theotokos, you accepted to be described. So the

icons are an artistic affirmation of our belief

that Jesus Christ is God who became a human being,

became man. And in his human form, we can express

the inexpressible incarnate word of the Father.

So today is frequently called the triumph of

orthodoxy. And in many places, the orthodox get

together from all different jurisdictions and

show everybody how united we are. You know, we

really are united in our faith, but sometimes

we don't put this unity into canonical practice.

Let me put it gently like that. So we have so

much, my friends, those of us who converted to

the church, those of us who are cradle Orthodox,

we have so much to be thankful for. particularly

on this day, that we possess this pearl of great

price, the fullness of the Catholic and apostolic

faith, which has been transmitted to us. So today,

with the entire church, let us thank God for

this wonderful heritage that we have and let

us live a life expressive of what God has given

to us. in his church. Amen.