Christ and the Mask Challenge

People are drawn to the Orthodox Christian tradition for a variety of reasons. Some of the more common reasons I hear—besides the long history and continuity with the apostles—is the spiritual approach of Orthodoxy to Christianity as well as Orthodoxy’s mysticism—both of which are a part of the ascetical tradition. In today’s modern world, ancient wisdom and practice speak volumes.

One of the cornerstones of Orthodox asceticism is humility. The idea is simple. We try to set aside our own egos in order to love God and our neighbor in fulfillment of the Great Commandment given to us by our Lord. 

Though the idea is simple, the practice is hard. This is why the church gives us many opportunities to practice humility in the form of obedience. By being obedient to a rule given to us by the church, we are forced to set our own ego aside and do as the rule proscribes.

Perhaps, the most famous example of such an obedience is fasting. On Wednesdays, Fridays, during Lent, the Apostles’ Fast, the first two weeks in August, and Advent, Orthodox Christians refrain from eating meat, dairy, wine, and oil. Though our minds and bodies may be screaming for meat, we try to set our own wants and desires aside in order to keep our fast.

Our goal is to take what we learn from fasting and apply it in other parts of our lives. We seek to look beyond ourselves in order to see Christ in others. We hope we can tame our ego so that we can live to serve others.

As one desert father discovered, this sort of obedience isn’t always easy, nor does it always make sense.

“In order to test John’s obedience, St. Pambo ordered him to water a dry stick planted in the ground until it turned green. So distant was the spring from his cell that he had to leave in the evening to fetch the water and he only returned in the following morning. For three years he patiently fulfilled his Abba’s command. At the end of this period, the stick suddenly put forth leaves and bore fruit. The Abba picked the fruit, took it to the church, and invited the monks to eat, saying, ‘Come and taste the fruit of obedience.’”  [Adapted from The Sayings of the Desert Fathers]

For John, watering a dead stick didn’t make any sense. He may have even disagreed with St. Pambo that watering the stick would do any good. Yet, out of obedience and humility, John went out of his way to water that stick every day. By God’s help (and grace) that stick bore fruit. In other words, John’s obedience was his means of salvation.

For those in my parish, we have now been given a similar obedience to the one John was given. The City of Duluth has enacted a mask mandate in a public locations, including churches. For some, wearing a mask may seem as pointless as watering a stick. But, it’s an opportunity for us to learn obedience and humility. It’s an opportunity to set aside our ego and accept the mandate as an instruction from Christ, one that we pray will bear fruit.

Even Christ himself challenged his first-century listeners to accept such a rule as an act of humility. In the midst of Roman oppression and violence, Christ challenged his listeners to submit in peace to the Roman yoke. He challenged them to turn the other cheek, to give their cloak to the person who steals their coat, and to go an extra mile for the Roman soldier who forced them to go one mile. At the end of the day, Christ asked his disciples to love their enemy, even when that hated enemy was a Roman army that occupied their territory.

The challenge that Christ gave to his first-century disciples was to protest the government by loving them to the extreme. Even Christ himself allowed the Romans to do their worst, which, as we know, was death by crucifixion. Yet, Christ’s submission to the ruling powers of his day led to his resurrection.

Now, we are challenged as those original disciples were. Will we love our ruling powers to the extreme? Will we turn the cheek, give our cloak, and go the extra mile? Will we accept the mask mandate as a challenge and opportunity to set our egos aside and grow in humility? Will we allow God the opportunity to bear fruit through us?

With Christ, all things are possible.

(Note: “Obedience” is never an excuse to allow someone to physically or mentally abuse you. If you are being abused, please seek help.)