DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Genesis 7:6-9
(3/26) 1st
The
Flood & Baptism-III ~ Obedience: Genesis 7:6-9, especially vss. 8, 9: “...of
all things that creep upon the earth, pairs went in to Noah into the ark, male and
female, as God commanded Noah.”
Holy Scripture records that “Noah did all things
whatever the Lord God commanded him” (Gen. 6:23), yet Noah never spoke in
reply to God. Throughout the entire
account of the Great Flood, Noah acts, and only as the Lord commands. On the other hand, the Lord’s
speech takes many forms. He
directs, commands, asks, and explains.
Finally, long after the Flood, as we will read, Noah does speak, but he
speaks then only to his sons (vss. 9:25-27). Never at all does he speak to God, yet
he obeys the Lord without hesitation.
Noah’s silent actions speak fluently. He “speaks” by preparing and
loading the ark, by entering it, and even by waiting silently for God to tell
him when he may leave the ark. Noah
typifies obedience to God for any who would actualize the Mystery of being
“saved through water”
(1 Pet. 3:20). True Christian
obedience begins silently within the self - when we choose to obey the
Lord. The Faithful respond
obediently because they truly believe in Christ as God and King.
The wordlessness of Noah’s behavior clearly reveals that the habit
of true obedience must begin within the silence of the soul. Listen to the Elder Joseph the
Hesychast: “Obedience is not to carry out this or that order that you
were given, while you object on the inside. Obedience is to subordinate your
soul’s convictions so that you may be freed from your evil self. Obedience is to become a slave in order
to become free. Purchase your
freedom for a small price....And don’t listen to that thought of yours
which advises you....”[1]
Here is a problem: our “listening” to thoughts that create
struggles, raging storms of ideas and impulses within us. St. Augustine of Hippo advises, “A
temptation arises: it is the wind.
It disturbs you: it is the surging of the sea. This is the moment to awaken Christ and
let Him remind you of those words: ‘Who can this be? Even the winds and
the sea obey Him.’”[2]
Notice: when Christ awakens within, the choice of how we shall respond
to Him remains ours. Consider Noah:
despite utter silence, he must not be disdained as an automaton, lacking the
capacity to choose. Like us, he is
created in the image of God.
Freedom was ingrained in his essential nature, even as a descendant of
fallen Adam. Noah freely chose to
obey.
Free choice is the ground of life for the Christian. In undertaking the life in Christ
through the Baptismal Mystery, each one is examined carefully so that he may
exercise freedom fully: “Dost thou renounce Satan? Hast thou renounced Satan?” Even as we are challenged to breathe and
spit on him, the choice is ours.
Over and over our freedom is exercised: “Dost thou unite thyself
unto Christ? Hast thou united
thyself unto Christ? Dost thou
believe in Him?” As the Elder
Joseph suggests, obedience is to subordinate the soul to Christ, but it is done
in full freedom, in the freedom that was exhibited by Noah, in the freedom that
is ours as well.
Finally, notice the last question that is put to the Baptismal
candidate: “Dost thou believe in Him?” We were not asked if we “believed
‘that’ Jesus is Lord, but if we believe ‘in’ Jesus the
Lord.” Christian obedience is
commitment to Christ as King and our God.
It is allegiance. It is to
become His obedient servant as the Elder Joseph notes. Being a servant of Jesus Christ is the
first mark of identification that
Let us now lay aside all earthly care: that we may receive the King of all, Who comes invisibly upborne by the Angelic Hosts. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.[3]