DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Daniel
7:9-12 (02/06) A Reading in Kellia for the Forefeast of the Sunday of Last
Judgment
Judgment: Daniel 7:9-12 SAAS, especially vs.10: “...The court
was in session and the books were opened.” There is judgment in life. Sooner or later what we say and do comes home to roost. And there is
judgment in death. As the Lord
Jesus puts it, “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak,
they will give account of it in the day of judgment”
(Mt. 12:36). For when we meet that
final wall and this life ends, we shall answer to God. As Saint John of Damaskos
reminds us, “...in the beginning Thou didst create man after Thine own image and likeness...to reign over Thy creatures...But
when, beguiled by the malice of the Devil, he tasted of the food...Thou didst
condemn him to return again unto the earth whence he was taken, and to entreat
repose.” Thus, there is
judgment in eternity to which we contribute now but that becomes eternal. Seeing Heaven’s Court in session
and judgment meted out to the condemnation of Satan and his angels (vss. 11,
12), the Prophet Daniel could not stop watching.
Be attentive to what our compassionate Lord
and His Prophet tell us, for we garner eternal judgment to ourselves in the
hours and days of this life. They
speak of a whole-life accounting, which will be much more than the
uncomfortable comeuppances that can catch up with us in this life. Note therefore, that the Prophet Daniel
and our Lord encourage us to repent often and deeply all through this present
life, preparing for what they show us is to come.
When we came to Baptism, death-as-a-certainty
was done away from eternal judgment although not from this temporal existence,
but neither were we given an absolute, cut-and-dried
guarantee of eternal life. In
Baptism and Chrismation, we were given,
“...unworthy though we be, blessed purification through hallowed
water...” and sanctification and illumination and remission of our
sins. However, that was then, and
since then there is all that we have garnered to ourselves by our subsequent
words and deeds. So, first of all,
let us give special attention to the Saint John of Damaskos’
phrase, “...to entreat repose.”
Repose is not a simple synonym for death, temporal or
eternal. It is another word for rest, for death may possibly be no rest,
but eternal anguish written into all eternity from a cumulative record of an
evil, un-repented life. This often unstated
truth is glossed over at many funerals, apparently out of respect for the grief
of friends and loved ones.
Fortunately, it not avoided in Orthodoxy. We know that there are Christ-hating
lives that meet death with false, thoughtless hopes of some bliss beyond, of
reincarnation, or of a simple, blank, black nothing without consciousness,
feeling, or awareness. The step
taken in Baptism was to unite us unto the deathless One,
unto Christ, Who trampled down death to show us the emptiness of all
counterfeit notions of what comes after this life and to give us the
possibility of eternal life. As the
Prophet says, “...books were opened” (vs. 10). Judgment will be made, make no mistake.
The time to
entreat repose is now. Prepare
for the end of this life. Make your bed well to rest in joy. The choices to repose in Christ or
separate from Him are made daily.
The Mystery of Baptism purified us once. The Mystery of Penitence - of
confession, of assuring absolution can renew that. The fiery flame of God’s throne is
divine love; but it is not sentimental love that glosses over the awesomeness,
holiness, and purity of God.
Judgment is final. Let us repent now.
“For God so loved the world that He gave
His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16).
“If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous. And He Himself is
the propitiation for our sins...” (1 Jn. 2:1,2). Christ promises to refresh us (Mt.
11:28). Live
repentance. Hasten to Him!
Lead me
to Thee, O Christ: to speak, to confess all, and to know Thy forgiving love.
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