Forgive me, a Sinner
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Everything in the Church is connected; everything in the Church works together, because the Church is an organic unity.
This past weekend, we celebrated the Great and Holy Pascha, the high point of the liturgical year. This past Wednesday, we started the Pascha Book Study; that group is discussing a book by Dr. Jean Claude Larchet. Dr. Larchet is French; he is an Orthodox Christian, and the author of many books and articles. But the book that we are going to be reading throughout this Paschal Season is called The New Media Epidemic. It’s about the dangers that are becoming apparent as media and technology take over more and more of our lives.
Most of us would agree that media and technology are a real challenge and the source of a good many problems, but what connection does all that have to do with Pascha? Why choose to focus on this particular book and this particular subject during the fifty days between Pascha and Pentecost?
This is the perfect time of the year to talk about media and technology, because, during this season, we focus on the basics of the Faith. And it’s those fundamental teachings, it’s those primary realities that must shape how we use media and technology.
For example, today is Thomas Sunday. What we commemorate on this day is the encounter that St Thomas has with our Risen Lord and Master. But what we proclaim on this day is how we know that Christ Jesus did, in fact, rise from the dead. And we can be certain that our Lord and Master came out of the tomb and ascended into heaven because, just like St Thomas, we touch His Glorified Body. We do that in the Divine Liturgy, when we partake of the Holy Eucharist.
Now, if you were to ask most American Christians how they know Christ Jesus has risen from the dead, they would say that they believe in the resurrection because of the Holy Scriptures. And the Bible is very, very important, but the Holy Eucharist is even more important, and here’s why: The gospel passage that we read this morning comes from St John. But the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John did not write those words down until sixty years after the Resurrection and Ascension of our Lord and Master. But Christians have been serving the Holy Eucharist from the very beginning.
And the Holy Eucharist gives us direct, spiritual contact with Christ Jesus. Most American Christians believe that the Holy Gifts are a reminder or a memory aid, but the Church has always taught that the bread and the wine that we receive in the Holy Eucharist are the risen and glorified flesh and blood of our Lord and Master. Here’s how St John Chrysostom put it in a homily he preached back in the fourth century:
How many now say, “I wish I could see His from and the marks on His body…But lo! Thou seeest Him; Thou dost touch Him; Thou dost eat Him. For this Body which you receive is the Body which lay in a manager and was reverenced by the Magi…This Body, scourged and nailed to the cross was more than death could stand against, and it is this selfsame Body thou dost now behold on the holy altar.
So we are even more blessed than St Thomas: He was able to stand before our Risen Lord and Master, but, by faith, we partake of and are united to the King of Glory Who has ascended into heaven and reigns even now with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
That’s how we know that Christ Jesus is risen from the dead. And so in the Divine Liturgy, the Church only uses as much technology as will facilitate that specific experience. In the liturgy, the Church only uses media in a way that will support that particular experience.
And, to some degree, that’s a trial and error process. Many times it’s obvious that certain kinds of technology and certain kinds of media have absolutely no place in the Church. For example, we would never mount screens on top of the iconostasis. Some folks might think it’s a good idea because we could put the words to hymns up there, and we could use quotations from the Holy Fathers, but it would also be a major disruption. It would prevent all of us from concentrating and really paying attention; adults would start to think that the Divine Liturgy is kind of like a sports bar, and children would start to think that the Divine Liturgy is like Chuck E Cheese.
So no screens in the nave. But the Church is also able to adapt and adopt certain kinds of technology. Here’s an example that might embarrass a few folks, but it’s precisely the sort of thing that we’re talking about: Most of us forget what a recent phenomenon indoor plumbing is. It’s only been around for a little over a hundred years. And most of us don’t realize that moving the bathroom indoors wasn’t necessarily regarded as a good idea. In fact, lots of people were shocked: ‘You’re going to do what?? In the house?!?’
So the Church was not, at first, excited about having bathrooms in temples. It was considered disrespectful and unsanitary. And, even though we today find it humorous, there are fumigation issues, and no one wants to hear a toilet flush during the Divine Services. But building codes for public facilities now require bathrooms, and you can vent them properly and isolate the noise, so, now, as we get ready to finish up the first quarter of the 21st century, the Church has figured out how to incorporate that technology into her life. But notice: The criteria is not convenience or a desire to keep up with the culture. The criteria is this: Is this technology, or is this media, going to facilitate my access to the Holy Eucharist? In other words, is this technology or this media going to bring me closer to our Risen and Ascended Lord and Master?
We’ll be talking a lot about this in the weeks ahead, but you can already start applying those criteria to your own life: Does my Smartphone support my participation in the Holy Eucharist? Do my tablet, my watch, my earbuds get me ready for the Divine Services? Will this game or this website or this app help me prepare to partake of the Body and Blood of our Glorified Savior?
In his book, Dr Larchet states that media and technology are changing us so much, many philosophers and cultural critics believe that we are becoming a new kind of human being. So these people have come up with new terms to describe us. Two of those terms are ‘connected man’ and ‘communicating man’. But what we Orthodox need to become are Liturgical Persons. Because what is at the very center of our lives is our communion with Christ Jesus, the Risen and Ascended King of Glory.
So mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, as we turn to our Typika on the first Sunday of the Paschal Season, let us resolve that we will not only take part in the Pascha Book Study, but that we will also begin to evaluate all media and all technology in light of the Divine Services to which we shall soon return. Because that is how we will be drawn ever closer to our Lord and Master, and that is how we will all be able, with one mouth and one heart, to praise and glorify the all honorable and majestic Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.