Oftentimes contemporary believers ask priests the question given in the title, and then, they start making excuses.
“We need to get enough sleep… We need to spend time with our family… We need to do housework… And yet, we have to get up early and go to church! What for?!”
Of course, in order to justify their own laziness, interested people may find even more of similar objections. But first, we have to understand what is the point of the weekly church going, and then we will be able to compare it with our self-justifications. After all, this is not a man-made requirement but given to us, mankind, by God in Ten Commandments:
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” (Ex 20:8-11, NKJV)
Death penalty was due for the violation of this commandment in the Old Testament. The same death penalty was also due for murder. In the New Testament, Sunday became a greater holy day, because Christ, having risen from the dead, made this day holy. As stated in the church doctrine, a violator of this commandment is subject to excommunication.
If any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, or any of those enumerated in the list of the clergy, or a layman, has no very grave necessity nor difficult business so as to keep him from church for a very long time, but being in town does not go to church on three consecutive Sundays – three weeks – if he is a cleric let him be deposed, but if a layman let him be cut off. (Canon 80 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council of Trullo)
It’s unlikely that Creator would give us absurd commands, and in truth, neither church canon was written to torment people. Then, what is the meaning of this commandment?
Christianity in its entirety sprouts and grows from the self-revelation of God the Trinity revealed through Lord Jesus Christ. Entering mystery of His inner life, participating in the Divine glory is the meaning and the goal of our lives. Since according to the Apostle John, “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16, NKJV), then only through love it is possible to enter in a communion with Him.
According to Lord, the law of God in its entirety comes down to two commandments:
‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40, NKJV)
But is it possible to fulfill these commandments without going to church? Is it possible that a couple in love would willingly avoid meeting each other? Yes, it is possible to talk on the phone, but isn’t it much more better to talk face to face? The same goes for the person who loves God and seeks to meet Him. Let’s take King David for example. He, as the ruler of his people, waged countless wars against the enemies and exercised justice, yet he cried:
How lovely is Your tabernacle,
O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, yes, even faints
For the courts of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Even the sparrow has found a home,
And the swallow a nest for herself,
Where she may lay her young —
Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts,
My King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in Your house;
They will still be praising You. Selah
Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
They make it a spring;
The rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength;
Each one appears before God in Zion.
Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
Give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
O God, behold our shield,
And look upon the face of Your anointed.
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
(Ps 84:1-10, NKJV)
And exiled, he wept every day because he could not visit the house of God:
When I remember these things,
I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go with the multitude;
I went with them to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and praise,
With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.”
(Ps 42:4, NKJV)
Precisely this attitude and these feelings arouse the need to visit the church of God and make it an inner necessity.
And it’s not surprising! After all, the eyes of God are always turned to His Church. Here He dwells with His Body and Blood. Here He regenerates us from ‘the old man to the new man’ through baptism. Thus, the Church is our small heavenly homeland. Here God forgives our sins in the sacrament of Confession. Here He gives us Himself in the most Holy Communion. Is it possible to find such sources of imperishable life anywhere else?
An ancient ascetic once said that those who fight the devil throughout the weekdays, strive to get the sources of living water in Communion of the Church on Saturday and Sunday, so that they could satisfy the thirst of the heart and cleanse themselves from the dirt of stained conscience.
In ancient legends it’s said when a deer hunts snakes and devours them, the poison burns its intestines and it runs to the spring. Thus, we should strive to go to church in order to calm the irritation of our hearts through a joint prayer. According to the saint Ignatius Theophorus of Antioch we should “try to gather more often for the Communion and the glorification of God. Because if you often meet together, then the forces of satan are cast down, and that his disastrous deeds wrack by the unanimity of your faith. There is nothing better than peace, it destroys all warfare of heavenly and earthly spirits” (St. Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Ephesians, 13).
Nowadays many are afraid of evil eye, corruption and witchcraft. And many stick needles in all the jambs, decorate themselves with amulets like Christmas trees, smoke all the corners with incense yet forget that only church prayer can save a person from the power of the devil. Ultimately, the devil fears the power of God and is unable to harm those who abide in God’s love.
The way King David sang:
Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.
One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple.
For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock.
And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me;
Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
(Ps 27: 3-6, NKJV)
Yet, in the church God not only protects us and gives us strength, He also teaches us. In fact, all the church services are a true school of God’s love. We listen to His word, remember His miraculous deeds, and we also learn about our future.
Truly, “in His temple all say, ‘Glory!’” (Ps 29:9, NKJV). Right there we see the commitment of martyrs, victories of ascetics, fortitude and courage of kings and priests. We learn about the mystery of His nature, about the salvation that Christ gave us. Here we rejoice at Christ’s resurrection on Bright Easter Sunday. So it’s not without a reason that we call the Sunday service a “little Easter”.
Often it seems to us that everything is just plain awful, scary or hopeless, yet, every Sunday service tells us about our transcendent and ever-present Hope. Not without reason David says that “[w]e ponder Your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of Your temple,” (Ps 47:10, NKJV).
Sunday service is the best medicine against all the countless depressions and sorrows that swarm in the “gray day-to-day life”. It is a rainbow sparkle of God’s testament amidst the fog of everyday bustle.
The heart and soul of our festive divine service are the prayers and reflection upon the Holy Bible, reading which in church holds a special power. For example, a certain ascetic witnessed tongues of flame flowing out of the mouth of a deacon who had been reading the word of God during the Sunday liturgy. Those flames cleansed souls of praying people and then ascended to Heaven.
Those who say that there is no need to go to church and they can read the Bible at home just as well, sadly, are mistaken. Even if they open the Holy Bible at home and read it, due to their exclusion from the church meeting, they won’t be able to comprehend the essence of the text.
It’s verified that those who do not participate in Holy Communion are unable to grasp God’s will. Unsurprisingly, so. After all, the Holy Bible is like “a manual” for receiving God’s grace. But if a person simply reads the manual without actually applying it to assemble a cabinet, for example, or to execute programming, this manual will stay unclear and soon will be forgotten. It’s a known fact that our consciousness is quick at filtering out unnecessary information. That’s why Scripture is inseparable from church meeting, for it was given to us in the Church. Conversely, those who attend Sunday Liturgy and then read the Holy Bible at home will discover new meanings, which otherwise would go unnoticed.
Often it is holidays when people learn God’s will about themselves. Proof to that we find in Letter to the Shepherd (3.2) by St. John of the Ladder who stated, “God always rewards His servants, but more so on annual and Lord’s festivals.”
It’s no coincidence that regular church goers are somewhat different in their appearance and spiritual state. On the one hand, virtues become natural to them, on the other hand, frequent confession keeps them from sinning severely. Yes, oftentimes, in christians vices are also being aggravated, because Satan doesn’t wish for mankind created from dust to ascend to Heaven, whence he was cast out. That’s why Satan sees us, mankind, as enemies and attacks us. But we must not fear him, we must fight him and win. As “he who overcomes shall inherit all things,” said Lord! (Rev 21:7, NKJV)
When people claim to be christians yet don’t commune in prayers with their brothers and sisters, how could they be believers? Just are the words of Theodore Balsamon of Antioch, a foremost scholar of Church canons, who stated:
Thus one of the two is revealed - either that this person doesn’t concern him or herself with fulfillment of God’s commands prayers to God and hymns, or that this person is not a person of faith. Otherwise why, for twenty days, would that person not want to be in church with christians and commune with faithful people of God? (Theodore Balsamon, Interpretation to 80 Canon of Sixth Ecumenical Council.)
That’s the reason why the christians we regard as exemplary, are the christians of apostolic church in Jerusalem who “believed were together, and had all things in common … continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people” (Acts 2:44-47, NKJV). Precisely this unanimity brought them their inner strength. They abided in the life-giving might of Holy Spirit, which was being poured out on them in response to their love.
That’s why New Testament explicitly forbids neglecting church meetings: “Let us … not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” (Heb 10:25, NKJV).
Divine service gives us all the best that makes Russia holy and lets other christian nations exist. In church we shake off the pressure of our daily bustle and struggle out of the snare of crises and wars right into God's peace. And this is the only correct decision. Neither invectives and revolutions nor animosity and hatred but church prayer and virtues can change the world. “If the foundations are destroyed,
What can the righteous [one] do? The Lord is in His holy temple” (Ps 11:3-4, NKJV), and to Him he [the righteous one] runs to find protection. This is not cowardice but wisdom and courage. Only a silly person would try to cope with the onslaught of world evil on his or her own, whether it’s terror or a natural disaster, revolution or war. Only God Almighty will protect His creation. This is also the reason why a church or a temple have always been considered a safe haven.
Truly, a church is an embassy of Heaven on Earth, where we, strangers seeking the heavenly Abode, gain support:
How precious is Your loving kindness, O God!
Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.
They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house,
And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.
For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light.”
(Ps 36:7-9, NKJV).
I think it's apparent that love for God requires visiting the house of God as often as possible. The same is required by the second commandment of love for one’s neighbor. After all, where can you meet with the most beautiful side of a person? Is it in a shop, or a cinema, or maybe in a clinic? Of course, not. Only in the house of our common Father can we meet with brothers and sisters. And our communal prayer will sooner reach God, than a prayer of a prideful loner. Lord Jesus Christ Himself said:
If two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” (Matt 18:19-20)
Here we rise from the bustle and can pray for lessening our troubles and for the whole Universe. In church we ask God to heal our relatives, to release captives, to safeguard travelers and to save the lost and dying. In church we communicate with those, who have already left our physical world but have not left the Church of Christ. The dead manifest themselves and beg to pray for them in church. They say that every remembrance for them is like a birthday, yet we often disregard this. Where then is our love? Let’s imagine their condition and circumstances. They don’t have a physical body and can’t take Communion, they can’t do good deeds (for example, giving alms) either. They expect and eagerly await support from their relatives and friends, yet they get only excuses. It’s as good as telling your suffering from hunger mother, “Oh, sorry, I won’t give you food, I want to sleep in.” The fact is that for the deceased, church prayers are the best nutrition - and definitely not glasses of vodka poured in the cemetery, completely unneeded but by demons and alcoholics.
However, also the saints worthy of glorification wait for us in church. Holy icons allow us to see them, their words are heard at the service, and they themselves often visit the house of God, and especially so during the days they are celebrated. They pray to God together with us, like eagle’s wings their mighty blessings raise church prayers directly to the Divine throne.
Not only people but also bodiless angels participate in church prayers. Angels’ hymns (for example, “Trisagion”) are sung by us, humans, and angels sing along our hymns (“Axion Estin”, otherwise known as “It’s Truly Meet”). According to church tradition, there is an Angel above the holy table in every consecrated church, who offers up church prayers to God. There is also a blessed spirit at the entrance to the church who watches the thoughts of those entering and leaving church. This presence is quite palpable. It’s not an ungrounded rumor that many unrepentant sinners don’t feel well in church - this is the power of God that rejects their sinful will, and angels punish them for their sins. Those sinners should not disregard church, they should be convicted of their sins, receive absolution in the sacrament of Confession and remember to thank God.
Yet, many object, “Alright! We have to go to church, but why every Sunday? What is such fanaticism for?”
To put it shortly, we can say, Creator said so, so we, as His creation, must unconditionally abide by it. Lord of all times has gifted us with all the days of our lives. Can’t He demand just four out of 168 hours a week to be devoted to Him? Moreover, the time spent in church is still for our own good. When a doctor prescribes us a treatment, do we not try to follow his recommendations to a tee, striving to treat an ailment? Why then do we ignore words of the Greatest Healer of body and soul?
Is the fulfillment of His Supreme Will a fanaticism? According to the Russian definition dictionary ‘fanaticism’ (lat. fanaticus - frenetic, frenzied) is a driven to an extreme (degree) commitment to some sort of beliefs or views and total intolerance of different views (for example, religious fanaticism). Here comes the question, what is ‘an extreme degree’?
If we take into consideration the initial term ‘frenzy’, then it’s unlikely that most of those who go to church weekly pounce onto others in an ecstatic delight or rage. More often than not for people a simple decency is already considered an extreme degree. If not stealing anything or not killing anyone is a fanaticism, then we are fanatics, indeed. If the fact that we recognize the one and only way to God is also a fanaticism, then are fanatics, alright. However, such understanding of the word ‘fanaticism’ would enable only ‘fanatics’ to reach the Kingdom of Heaven. As for all other ‘moderate’ and ‘sane’ ones, only eternal darkness awaits them. God said to those, “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth” (Rev 3:15-16, NKJV).
Here we have to contemplate again the questions given in the beginning of our musings: “Sunday is the only day off, we have to get enough sleep, spend some quality time with family, yet here we have to wake up early and go to church”.
However, no one forces a person to go to an early service. In cities and towns, almost everywhere early and late services are administered. In the countryside, however, no one sleeps in even on Sundays. In cities, we are free to go to the evening service on Saturday, then come home and spend time with family, read an interesting book, and after evening prayer go to bed at 11-12 pm, and then wake up in the morning at about half past eight and attend Divine Liturgy. Nine hours of sleep can restore almost anyone’s strength, and if this doesn’t happen, we could use a nap later on.
All our problems are rooted not in the church but in our rhythm of life which doesn’t follow God’s will and thus, exhausts us. Only communication with God, who is the source of all powers in the Universe, can grant mankind both spiritual and physical strength. It has been long observed that if you get internally drained by the time Saturday rolls in, then Sunday Liturgy fills you up with inner strength. And this strength also includes the body. For that reason, ascetics, who have lived in inhuman conditions of desert, lived up to 120-130 years, yet we barely live for 70-80 years. God invigorates those who have hope in Him and serve Him. Pre-revolution conducted analysis showed that the longest lifespan was recorded neither amongst nobles nor merchants but by priests who had much worse living conditions. This is an obvious testimony to the benefits of weekly church-going.
When it comes to spending time with family, who said we can’t go to church all together? If there are little kids in the family, the wife can come to church later, and after Liturgy the whole family can go for a walk, or go to a cafe, or simply talk with each other. Can a ‘communication’, when the whole family is glued to the TV, possibly compare to an actual interpersonal communication? More often than not, those who don’t go to church because of family, don’t exchange even a few sentences a day with their family.
As far as housework and other chores are concerned, according to the word of God, on Sundays we are not allowed to do what is not crucially important. We must not make Sunday a day of cleaning or washing, nor use Sunday to can fruits or what-not for the coming year. All hard work should be arranged on Sunday evening.
The only kind of hard work we can and should do on Sundays and holidays is charity work. The true and satisfying to God rule of holiday observance is to thoroughly clean a sick or an old man’s home, to help out at church, to make canned goods for orphans or families with many children.
The question of household chores during holidays is inextricably linked with another one of going to church during a summer. Many people say, “We can’t live through the winter without the produce we grow and can during summer. How can we go to church then?”
I think the answer is obvious. No one stops them from going to church in the nearest village, and do the farming work during the first half of Saturday or Sunday evening. Thus, health will be preserved and God’s will will be observed. Even if there’s no church nearby, we should dedicate our Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings to prayers and reading Scripture. Those who don’t want to observe the will of God, receive His penance. Expected harvest is either ruined by locusts, worms or crop diseases. When the rain is needed, there’s a drought, when dry weather is needed, there’s a flood. This way God lets humans see who is the Boss in the world. Often God visits those who despise His will themselves. Doctors acquainted with the author recounted experiences from their practice and the so called phenomena of “Sunday death”, when a person toils and moils in the fields without even raising eyes to the sky, and then dies right there, in the vegetable patch, due to a stroke or a heart attack, face first to the ground.
In contrast, those who keep God’s command, receive unprecedented harvest. For example, in the monastery of Optina harvests quadrupled that of their neighbors, although they used the same land use techniques and machinery.
Some say, “I can’t go to church because it’s cold, rainy or it’s snowing. I’d rather pray at home.” Yet, oh miracle! The same people are ready to brave the rain on the open-air stadium just to cheer for their favorite team, slave away in a vegetable plot till they faint, or dance at the disco throughout the night. Yet, only when it comes to going to the House of God do they feel tired! The weather is merely an excuse for their unwillingness. Seriously, is it even possible to consider that God will hear prayers of people who don’t wish to sacrifice even a little bit for Him?
Another no less ridiculous objection is also often heard, “There are no benches in church, and it’s hot there. It's a far cry from Catholics!”
Of course, this objection can’t be taken seriously, yet for many comfort considerations are more important than the issue of eternal salvation. However, God doesn’t wish for the death of an outcast. Neither will Christ break a broken rod nor will He extinguish a smoking flax. When it comes to benches, it is not a pivotal question in the first place. Orthodox Greeks have benches in their churches, but Russians don’t have them. Even now, when a person is weak or ill, no one prevents him or her from sitting on the benches at the back of almost any church. Moreover, according to the typikon of Russian Church, parishioners may sit up to seven times during the festive evening service. Ultimately, if it’s hard to stand the whole service, yet all the benches are taken, who stops a person from bringing a foldable stool? It’s unlikely that anyone would condemn or blame for that. It’s only necessary to stand up during the reading of Gospel, Cherubimic hymn, Eucharist canon and about a dozen of other important moments during the service. Presumably, this will not be a problem to anyone. As for people with disabilities, these rules don't apply to them at all. I repeat once again, those objections are not sustainable and cannot be used as a reason not to keep God’s command.
Neither is the following objection justified: “In our church everyone is so mean and grumpy. Elderly women scold and chastise at any turn. And yet they call themselves Christians! I don’t want to be like them, so I won’t go to church.”
Does anyone actually force us to become like that? Does anyone actually force you to put on boxing gloves when you go into church? Don’t chastise and scold others yourself and then you’ll be able to change others. Apostle Paul says, “Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls” (Rom 14:4, NKJV).
This objection would have been justified should the priests preach and teach to argue and squabble. Yet, it’s not so. Neither Bible nor the Church, nor Her servants have ever preached that. On the contrary, each sermon, each hymn calls to us to be benign and merciful.
So this is not a reason not to go to church either. We should understand that people who go to church don’t come from Mars, they are from the same world as we all are. And there it is a commonplace to scold and cuss so that sometimes you won’t hear a single Russian word from some mouths. Only foul language. However, precisely in church there is no cursing. It won’t be wrong to state that the church is the only place that is free of abusive language.
It’s exactly our mundane world where it is common to be grumpy and to pour out irritation and discontent under a banner of fighting for justice. Isn’t it what old bones do in clinics gossiping unkindly about anyone, from the president to the nurses. And upon entering church, how could those people change themselves 180 degrees at the drop of a hat and become meek as a sheep? No, they couldn’t. God gifted us with free will, and without our efforts, nothing will change.
We are always present in church only partially. Sometimes this part is big enough and a person becomes a saint, sometimes this part is smaller. Sometimes a person holds on to God only by a little finger. Yet, the Judge and Appraiser are not us, but God. While there’s still time, there’s always hope. Before a painting is completed, who could appraise it? If only by completed parts. And those completed parts are the saints. The Church should be judged by the example of saints and not by those who have yet to complete their earthly journey. There are good grounds for the saying ‘the end crowns all’.
The Church calls itself a hospital (during the sacrament of Confession there are such words in a prayer: “Take heed, therefore, that having come to the Divine Physician, you not depart unhealed”), thus, is it reasonable to expect that healthy people fill the Church? There are healthy ones, but they abide already in Heaven. Only then, when all those who wish to be healed will use the help of Church, only then will the Church appear in its true glory. So, in a church you should look not at those around you but at God. After all, we come not to people but to Creator.
More often than not people refuse to go to church, saying, “It’s so obscure in your church. The service is ordained in some strange language.”
Let’s paraphrase this objection. A first-grader comes to school and after hearing a lesson on Advanced Mathematics refuses to go to school, saying, “No way! I won’t go! Everything is Greek to me!” Not very smart, is it? The same way it is also not very smart to give up learning Divine science due to incomprehensibility.
Contrariwise, if everything was clear and understood, then there would be no sense in learning it. After all, you already know everything when experts talk shop. Trust me, the science of living with God is no less complex and refined than mathematics, so let it have its own language and terminology. I think we should not refuse church education that lets us understand what is actually unclear. Still, we should keep in mind that Divine service is not for missionary work but for believers themselves. Thank God, if we pray with due attention, in a month or so of constant going to church, we will understand everything needed. However, the depths of Divine service will be revealed more and more in years to come. This is truly an amazing mystery of God. Unlike one dimensional protestant sermons, we have an eternal University, where liturgical texts become a teaching aid and the teacher is Lord Himself.
Church Slavonic language is neither Latin nor Sanskrit. This is a sacred form of the Russian language. We just need to put in a little effort - buy a dictionary and a couple of books, learn a couple of dozen words - and the language will reveal its secrets. And God will reward these efforts hundredfold. While praying, it will become easier to focus on Divine mystery. Thoughts will not fly away due to word associations. Thus, church slavonic language improves conditions for communication with God, which is the point of us going to church. When it comes to knowledge, then it is passed on in Russian language. It’s a wild-goose chase to find a priest who would preach in slavonic language. In Church everything is full of wisdom: ancient language is for prayers and modern language is for sermons.
Finally, to orthodox people themselves, church slavonic language is dear because it lets them hear the Word of God most accurately. We can literally hear the letter of the Gospel, because church slavonic grammar is almost the same as ancient Greek one - in which Revelation was given to us. Believe me, as in poetry and jurisprudence, in theology verbal subtleties often change the essence of the matter. I think anyone interested in literature can understand this truth. In a detective, a random matchstick can change the course of the investigation. This way, a chance to hear Christ’s Word most accurately is invaluable.
Of course, church slavonic language is not a dogma. In the Universal Orthodox Church Divine services are ordained in more than 80 different languages. Even in Russia, in theory, it is possible to refrain from slavonic language. But it can happen only when slavonic language will become as distant to the believers as Latin is to Italians. I think at the moment this problem is not even in question. However, even if that comes to pass, then the Church will create a new sacred language, which will translate the Bible as accurately as possible and will not let our minds fly off into a lalaland. The Church is still alive and has the power to revive anyone entering it. So, take up the course on divine Wisdom and Creator will lead you into the depths of His mind.
Other people say, “I believe in God, but I don’t trust priests, that’s why I won’t go to church.”
But no one requires parishioners to trust priests. We trust in God, and priests are merely His servants and instruments of fulfilling His will. Someone said, “Electricity current flows even through a rusty wire.” Thus, grace flows even through an unworthy one. Saint John Chrysostom speaks the truth, saying, “We, who sit on pulpit and preach, are tied up in sins. Nevertheless, relying on God’s love of mankind, we despair not and do not attribute Him hardness of heart. God let priests be enslaved by vices, so that they could treat others with indulgence.” Let’s imagine that in church the services were ordained not by an erring priest but by Archangel Michael. I’m afraid, right after the first conversation with us, Archangel Michael would flare up with righteous anger and all that would be left us is a pile of ash.
All in all, this statement is comparable with turning down medical assistance due to avarice of modern medicine. To those who happened to land themselves in a hospital, a financial preoccupation of certain doctors is glaringly obvious. But for some reason people are in no hurry to avoid medical care. Yet, when it concerns a much more important problem pertaining to the health of a soul, any sort of facts or hearsay comes to mind just to avoid going to church. Once there was such a case. A monk lived a solitary life in the desert and a priest visited him to commune him. Yet, once this monk overheard that the said priest fornicated. Then, he refused to receive Communion from him. The same night he had a revelation in a dream. In a dream he saw a golden well with crystal-clear water and a leper drawing water from it with a golden bucket. Then he heard God’s voice saying, “See, the water remains pure, albeit a leper dispenses it. The same way, the grace remains untainted and pristine, no matter through whom it passes.” After that, hermit resumed receiving Communion from that priest refraining from speculation whether the priest was holy or sinner.
However, if we take a break to think then all these excuses come to naught. After all, how could we ignore the direct will of God just because of the priest's sins? “Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand” (Rom 14:4, NKJV).
“Church is not in a building, Church is in the heart,” others say. “That’s why we can pray at home.”
This saying looks like a Russian one, however, in truth it traces up to Russian homebred sectants, who contrary to God’s word, broke away from Church. Indeed, God abides in bodies of Christians as well, however, He enters them through Holy Communion that Church ordains. Moreover, prayers in Church are of higher rank than prayers at home. Saint John Chrysostom says:
You are mistaken, man. Of course, it is possible to pray at home, but praying the same way as in church, where there is such a plethora of saints and fathers, where with a single heart is a hymn to God ascribed, is impossible. You will not be heard so soon, when you pray on your own as when you pray with your brothers. There is something more there, something more like a unanimity and harmony, a union of love and prayers of priests. For that reason priests stand there in front, so that prayers of masses as the weakest ones, united with the priests’ strongest prayers, and together these prayers ascend to Heaven… When even Apostle Peter, the pillar of Church, was freed from a prison thanks to church prayers (Acts 12:5, NKJV), then tell me, how could you disregard its power and what excuse could you have? Listen to God Himself, Who said that devout prayers of many please Him (John 3:10-11, NKJV) … Not mankind alone calls here onto God with trepidation, but angels and archangels fall down before God and pray. The time itself favors them, the very sacrifice itself facilitates them. As people take olive branches and wave them in front of the ruler, reminding him of mercy and benevolence, the same way angels instead of olive branches presenting the Body of Christ, implore Lord for the mankind as though saying, ‘We implore for those, for whom You shed Your blood, for those, for whom you sacrificed Your body.’ “ (St. John Chrysostom, Word Three against Anomoeans)
So, this objection is also completely unfounded. After all, as much as the house of God is holier than your own, as much superior is the church prayer compared to praying at home.
Some others say, “I would like to go to church every week, but my wife/husband, parents, children, etc. don’t let me.”
Here we should remind ourselves of the severe words Christ said, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me,” (Matt 10:37, NKJV). This frightful choice we must face at any time. Yes, it’s tough. Yes, it may be painful. And should you indulge a human, however insignificant this may seem in your opinion, God will deny you at the Judgement day. And would your loved one be able to help you answer the judgment? Would your love towards your family vindicate you when the Gospel states otherwise? Would you not yearn and feel deeply chagrined remembering the day you chose your phantom love over God? Real life experience shows that those who choose someone over God would end up betrayed by that person.
Others say, “I won’t go to that church because ‘aura’ is not good. I don’t feel well in church, especially because of incense.”
In truth, in all churches the ‘aura’ is the same, it is the aura of God’s grace. All churches are sanctified by Holy Spirit. In all churches abides Christ the Savior with His Body and Blood. God’s angels stand at the entrance of each church. The problem lies in people themselves. Sometimes, this phenomenon has a logical explanation. On holidays, when ‘visitors’ come to church, churches are jam-packed with people. In all honesty, there are too few sacred places for such a great number of christians. Thus, many indeed feel stuffy. Sometimes, it happens that in poor churches low-grade incense is used. But those reasons are not essential ones. More often than not people feel unwell even in an empty church. Christians know the spiritual sources of that too well.
Evil deeds that humans wish not to confess drive away God’s grace. This resistance of human’s will against God’s power feels like ‘a bad aura’. Yet not only a human turns away from God, but God Himself doesn’t accept an egotist, as is written by Apostle James, “God resists the proud” (Jam 4:6, NKJV). Such cases have been known since ancient times. For example, Saint Mary of Egypt who led a life of harlot tried to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and bow unto the Life-Giving Cross of God. Yet, invisible force repelled her from the church gates. Only after she repented and promised not to commit her sin again, did God let her into His house. Nowadays there are also recorded cases when killers and prostitutes couldn’t stand the incense and fainted. Especially often it happens to those who practice occult magic, delve into astrology, psychic practice and other devilry. Some force twisted them at the most important moments of the service, and an ambulance had to take them away. Here we are faced with another reason for rejection by the church.
Not only humans but also those who cause those sinful habits don’t wish to meet Creator. These creatures are rebellious angels, demons. These unclean beings prevent humans from entering a church. The same beings drain power from those in church. Sometimes, a person who can spend hours in a gym, can’t withstand ten minutes in the presence of Creator. Only God can help those who are entangled by demons. But He helps only those who have repented and wish to live according to the will of God Almighty. As it is, all those arguments are but half-baked repetitions of satanic propaganda. It’s no coincidence that this terminology of this argument is borrowed from psychic mediums - and church knows that all of them serve Devil, - who like to intellectualize about some energies, through which humans can be ‘recharged’, as if humans are not children of God but some battery.
In this we can observe symptoms of spiritual illness. Instead of love, people try to manipulate Creator. This is a sure sign of demonism.
Last objection is related to previous ones, but can be heard more often: “I have God in my soul, so I don’t need your rituals. I do good deeds as it is. Would God actually send me to hell just because I don’t go to church?”
But what meaning does ‘God’ hold for those people? If we mean conscience, then, yes, of course, this voice of God lives in the heart of every human. There are no exceptions. Neither Hitler nor Chikatilo were deprived of it. All evildoers knew that there was good and there was evil. The voice of God tried to keep them from iniquity. But were they saints just because they heard that voice? Besides, conscience is not God, just His voice. After all, if you hear a voice of the president through the radio, does it mean that he is in your room? The same way, the fact that a human has conscience doesn’t mean he or she has God in his or her soul.
Let’s try to ponder the expression ‘God in my soul’ itself. Who is God? God is Almighty, Infinite, Omniscient, Just, Good Spirit, Creator of Universe, Who cannot be contained by heaven or heavens of heaven. Then how can your soul contain Him, Whose face are angels afraid to look up to?
Does the speaker actually sincerely think this Immeasurable Power dwells in him or her? Let us put it into a doubt. Let’s ask that person to manifest this Power. The statement ‘God in the soul’ is more explosive than trying to hide a nuclear blast within oneself. Is it possible to keep Hiroshima explosion or the eruption of a volcano in secret? So we demand of such a speaker similar proofs. Let that person create a miracle, e.g. resurrect a deceased, or manifest God’s love by turning the other cheek to those who slapped him or her. Could that person have even a hundredth of love for his enemies that God has? The love of God Who prayed for them before crucifixion? In the end, only a saint could dare to claim that ‘God is in his or her soul’.We demand from the speaker such sainthood, otherwise this statement is a lie, and the father of lies is the devil.
Others say, “I only do good deeds, is it possible that God will still send me to hell?” But let us cast some doubts on that goodness. What can be taken as a criterion for good and evil, that could define whether we do good or evil? If we take as a criterion ourselves, as it is often said ‘I choose for myself what I think is good and what is evil,’ then these concepts lose their values. After all, Lavrentyi Beriya, Joseph Goebbels and Pol Pot considered themselves absolutely right. Then why do you yourselves think that their actions deserve condemnation? If we have the right to define for ourselves the right and wrong, the good and evil, then shouldn’t we let all murderers, perverts and rapists do so as well? Oh, right, and then let God disagree with your criteria and judge you not by your criteria but by His own. After all, isn’t it unjust to let us choose for ourselves, yet deny the right to free and Almighty God to judge us by His own law. Then, according to His laws, without repentance before God and Holy Communion, a human will end up in hell.
Truth to be told, what’s the point of our criteria in front of God, when we don’t even have the right to make laws. After all, we have created neither our bodies, nor souls, nor our minds, nor willpower, nor our senses. All that we have is a gift, and not even a gift but a temporarily entrusted for keeping property, then why do we decide that we can willfully make do with it with impunity? Moreso, we deny the right of the One Who created us to demand from us a report on how we use these gifts. Doesn’t this seem quite insolent? Why would we think that God of the Universe would fulfill our will corroded by sin? We broke the Fourth commandment, yet we think that God is under some obligation to us? Isn’t it silly?
After all, instead of devoting our Sundays to God, we devote it to the devil. On weekends, and especially so on Saturday eves and Sundays, people often get drunk, brawl, lead a dissolute life, and when not, they still entertain themselves in unsightly ways by watching dubious TV shows, movies, where vices are abound, and so on. And only our Creator ends up being superfluous on His own day. But doesn’t God, Who gifted us with everything, have the right to demand from us just a few hours?
So, hell awaits those who despise God’s will. And the reason for that is not God’s cruelty but the fact that they left the source of Water of Life and tried to dig empty wells of their own excuses. They refused the Holy Communion cup, they deprived themselves of God’s word and ended up wandering in the darkness of this evil age. Leaving the light, they find darkness. Leaving love they find hatred. Leaving life they throw themselves into the embrace of eternal death. How could we not mourn for their stubbornness? How could we not hope for their return to the house of our heavenly Father?
Alongside King David let us say, “But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy; In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple” (Ps 5:7, NKJV). After all, “I will go into Your house with burnt offerings; I will pay You my vows, [w]hich my lips have uttered [a]nd my mouth has spoken when I was in trouble” (Ps 66:13-14, NKJV).
“We need to get enough sleep… We need to spend time with our family… We need to do housework… And yet, we have to get up early and go to church! What for?!”
Of course, in order to justify their own laziness, interested people may find even more of similar objections. But first, we have to understand what is the point of the weekly church going, and then we will be able to compare it with our self-justifications. After all, this is not a man-made requirement but given to us, mankind, by God in Ten Commandments:
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” (Ex 20:8-11, NKJV)
Death penalty was due for the violation of this commandment in the Old Testament. The same death penalty was also due for murder. In the New Testament, Sunday became a greater holy day, because Christ, having risen from the dead, made this day holy. As stated in the church doctrine, a violator of this commandment is subject to excommunication.
If any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, or any of those enumerated in the list of the clergy, or a layman, has no very grave necessity nor difficult business so as to keep him from church for a very long time, but being in town does not go to church on three consecutive Sundays – three weeks – if he is a cleric let him be deposed, but if a layman let him be cut off. (Canon 80 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council of Trullo)
It’s unlikely that Creator would give us absurd commands, and in truth, neither church canon was written to torment people. Then, what is the meaning of this commandment?
Christianity in its entirety sprouts and grows from the self-revelation of God the Trinity revealed through Lord Jesus Christ. Entering mystery of His inner life, participating in the Divine glory is the meaning and the goal of our lives. Since according to the Apostle John, “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16, NKJV), then only through love it is possible to enter in a communion with Him.
According to Lord, the law of God in its entirety comes down to two commandments:
‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40, NKJV)
But is it possible to fulfill these commandments without going to church? Is it possible that a couple in love would willingly avoid meeting each other? Yes, it is possible to talk on the phone, but isn’t it much more better to talk face to face? The same goes for the person who loves God and seeks to meet Him. Let’s take King David for example. He, as the ruler of his people, waged countless wars against the enemies and exercised justice, yet he cried:
How lovely is Your tabernacle,
O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, yes, even faints
For the courts of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Even the sparrow has found a home,
And the swallow a nest for herself,
Where she may lay her young —
Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts,
My King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in Your house;
They will still be praising You. Selah
Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
They make it a spring;
The rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength;
Each one appears before God in Zion.
Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
Give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
O God, behold our shield,
And look upon the face of Your anointed.
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
(Ps 84:1-10, NKJV)
And exiled, he wept every day because he could not visit the house of God:
When I remember these things,
I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go with the multitude;
I went with them to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and praise,
With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.”
(Ps 42:4, NKJV)
Precisely this attitude and these feelings arouse the need to visit the church of God and make it an inner necessity.
And it’s not surprising! After all, the eyes of God are always turned to His Church. Here He dwells with His Body and Blood. Here He regenerates us from ‘the old man to the new man’ through baptism. Thus, the Church is our small heavenly homeland. Here God forgives our sins in the sacrament of Confession. Here He gives us Himself in the most Holy Communion. Is it possible to find such sources of imperishable life anywhere else?
An ancient ascetic once said that those who fight the devil throughout the weekdays, strive to get the sources of living water in Communion of the Church on Saturday and Sunday, so that they could satisfy the thirst of the heart and cleanse themselves from the dirt of stained conscience.
In ancient legends it’s said when a deer hunts snakes and devours them, the poison burns its intestines and it runs to the spring. Thus, we should strive to go to church in order to calm the irritation of our hearts through a joint prayer. According to the saint Ignatius Theophorus of Antioch we should “try to gather more often for the Communion and the glorification of God. Because if you often meet together, then the forces of satan are cast down, and that his disastrous deeds wrack by the unanimity of your faith. There is nothing better than peace, it destroys all warfare of heavenly and earthly spirits” (St. Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Ephesians, 13).
Nowadays many are afraid of evil eye, corruption and witchcraft. And many stick needles in all the jambs, decorate themselves with amulets like Christmas trees, smoke all the corners with incense yet forget that only church prayer can save a person from the power of the devil. Ultimately, the devil fears the power of God and is unable to harm those who abide in God’s love.
The way King David sang:
Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.
One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple.
For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock.
And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me;
Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
(Ps 27: 3-6, NKJV)
Yet, in the church God not only protects us and gives us strength, He also teaches us. In fact, all the church services are a true school of God’s love. We listen to His word, remember His miraculous deeds, and we also learn about our future.
Truly, “in His temple all say, ‘Glory!’” (Ps 29:9, NKJV). Right there we see the commitment of martyrs, victories of ascetics, fortitude and courage of kings and priests. We learn about the mystery of His nature, about the salvation that Christ gave us. Here we rejoice at Christ’s resurrection on Bright Easter Sunday. So it’s not without a reason that we call the Sunday service a “little Easter”.
Often it seems to us that everything is just plain awful, scary or hopeless, yet, every Sunday service tells us about our transcendent and ever-present Hope. Not without reason David says that “[w]e ponder Your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of Your temple,” (Ps 47:10, NKJV).
Sunday service is the best medicine against all the countless depressions and sorrows that swarm in the “gray day-to-day life”. It is a rainbow sparkle of God’s testament amidst the fog of everyday bustle.
The heart and soul of our festive divine service are the prayers and reflection upon the Holy Bible, reading which in church holds a special power. For example, a certain ascetic witnessed tongues of flame flowing out of the mouth of a deacon who had been reading the word of God during the Sunday liturgy. Those flames cleansed souls of praying people and then ascended to Heaven.
Those who say that there is no need to go to church and they can read the Bible at home just as well, sadly, are mistaken. Even if they open the Holy Bible at home and read it, due to their exclusion from the church meeting, they won’t be able to comprehend the essence of the text.
It’s verified that those who do not participate in Holy Communion are unable to grasp God’s will. Unsurprisingly, so. After all, the Holy Bible is like “a manual” for receiving God’s grace. But if a person simply reads the manual without actually applying it to assemble a cabinet, for example, or to execute programming, this manual will stay unclear and soon will be forgotten. It’s a known fact that our consciousness is quick at filtering out unnecessary information. That’s why Scripture is inseparable from church meeting, for it was given to us in the Church. Conversely, those who attend Sunday Liturgy and then read the Holy Bible at home will discover new meanings, which otherwise would go unnoticed.
Often it is holidays when people learn God’s will about themselves. Proof to that we find in Letter to the Shepherd (3.2) by St. John of the Ladder who stated, “God always rewards His servants, but more so on annual and Lord’s festivals.”
It’s no coincidence that regular church goers are somewhat different in their appearance and spiritual state. On the one hand, virtues become natural to them, on the other hand, frequent confession keeps them from sinning severely. Yes, oftentimes, in christians vices are also being aggravated, because Satan doesn’t wish for mankind created from dust to ascend to Heaven, whence he was cast out. That’s why Satan sees us, mankind, as enemies and attacks us. But we must not fear him, we must fight him and win. As “he who overcomes shall inherit all things,” said Lord! (Rev 21:7, NKJV)
When people claim to be christians yet don’t commune in prayers with their brothers and sisters, how could they be believers? Just are the words of Theodore Balsamon of Antioch, a foremost scholar of Church canons, who stated:
Thus one of the two is revealed - either that this person doesn’t concern him or herself with fulfillment of God’s commands prayers to God and hymns, or that this person is not a person of faith. Otherwise why, for twenty days, would that person not want to be in church with christians and commune with faithful people of God? (Theodore Balsamon, Interpretation to 80 Canon of Sixth Ecumenical Council.)
That’s the reason why the christians we regard as exemplary, are the christians of apostolic church in Jerusalem who “believed were together, and had all things in common … continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people” (Acts 2:44-47, NKJV). Precisely this unanimity brought them their inner strength. They abided in the life-giving might of Holy Spirit, which was being poured out on them in response to their love.
That’s why New Testament explicitly forbids neglecting church meetings: “Let us … not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” (Heb 10:25, NKJV).
Divine service gives us all the best that makes Russia holy and lets other christian nations exist. In church we shake off the pressure of our daily bustle and struggle out of the snare of crises and wars right into God's peace. And this is the only correct decision. Neither invectives and revolutions nor animosity and hatred but church prayer and virtues can change the world. “If the foundations are destroyed,
What can the righteous [one] do? The Lord is in His holy temple” (Ps 11:3-4, NKJV), and to Him he [the righteous one] runs to find protection. This is not cowardice but wisdom and courage. Only a silly person would try to cope with the onslaught of world evil on his or her own, whether it’s terror or a natural disaster, revolution or war. Only God Almighty will protect His creation. This is also the reason why a church or a temple have always been considered a safe haven.
Truly, a church is an embassy of Heaven on Earth, where we, strangers seeking the heavenly Abode, gain support:
How precious is Your loving kindness, O God!
Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.
They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house,
And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.
For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light.”
(Ps 36:7-9, NKJV).
I think it's apparent that love for God requires visiting the house of God as often as possible. The same is required by the second commandment of love for one’s neighbor. After all, where can you meet with the most beautiful side of a person? Is it in a shop, or a cinema, or maybe in a clinic? Of course, not. Only in the house of our common Father can we meet with brothers and sisters. And our communal prayer will sooner reach God, than a prayer of a prideful loner. Lord Jesus Christ Himself said:
If two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” (Matt 18:19-20)
Here we rise from the bustle and can pray for lessening our troubles and for the whole Universe. In church we ask God to heal our relatives, to release captives, to safeguard travelers and to save the lost and dying. In church we communicate with those, who have already left our physical world but have not left the Church of Christ. The dead manifest themselves and beg to pray for them in church. They say that every remembrance for them is like a birthday, yet we often disregard this. Where then is our love? Let’s imagine their condition and circumstances. They don’t have a physical body and can’t take Communion, they can’t do good deeds (for example, giving alms) either. They expect and eagerly await support from their relatives and friends, yet they get only excuses. It’s as good as telling your suffering from hunger mother, “Oh, sorry, I won’t give you food, I want to sleep in.” The fact is that for the deceased, church prayers are the best nutrition - and definitely not glasses of vodka poured in the cemetery, completely unneeded but by demons and alcoholics.
However, also the saints worthy of glorification wait for us in church. Holy icons allow us to see them, their words are heard at the service, and they themselves often visit the house of God, and especially so during the days they are celebrated. They pray to God together with us, like eagle’s wings their mighty blessings raise church prayers directly to the Divine throne.
Not only people but also bodiless angels participate in church prayers. Angels’ hymns (for example, “Trisagion”) are sung by us, humans, and angels sing along our hymns (“Axion Estin”, otherwise known as “It’s Truly Meet”). According to church tradition, there is an Angel above the holy table in every consecrated church, who offers up church prayers to God. There is also a blessed spirit at the entrance to the church who watches the thoughts of those entering and leaving church. This presence is quite palpable. It’s not an ungrounded rumor that many unrepentant sinners don’t feel well in church - this is the power of God that rejects their sinful will, and angels punish them for their sins. Those sinners should not disregard church, they should be convicted of their sins, receive absolution in the sacrament of Confession and remember to thank God.
Yet, many object, “Alright! We have to go to church, but why every Sunday? What is such fanaticism for?”
To put it shortly, we can say, Creator said so, so we, as His creation, must unconditionally abide by it. Lord of all times has gifted us with all the days of our lives. Can’t He demand just four out of 168 hours a week to be devoted to Him? Moreover, the time spent in church is still for our own good. When a doctor prescribes us a treatment, do we not try to follow his recommendations to a tee, striving to treat an ailment? Why then do we ignore words of the Greatest Healer of body and soul?
Is the fulfillment of His Supreme Will a fanaticism? According to the Russian definition dictionary ‘fanaticism’ (lat. fanaticus - frenetic, frenzied) is a driven to an extreme (degree) commitment to some sort of beliefs or views and total intolerance of different views (for example, religious fanaticism). Here comes the question, what is ‘an extreme degree’?
If we take into consideration the initial term ‘frenzy’, then it’s unlikely that most of those who go to church weekly pounce onto others in an ecstatic delight or rage. More often than not for people a simple decency is already considered an extreme degree. If not stealing anything or not killing anyone is a fanaticism, then we are fanatics, indeed. If the fact that we recognize the one and only way to God is also a fanaticism, then are fanatics, alright. However, such understanding of the word ‘fanaticism’ would enable only ‘fanatics’ to reach the Kingdom of Heaven. As for all other ‘moderate’ and ‘sane’ ones, only eternal darkness awaits them. God said to those, “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth” (Rev 3:15-16, NKJV).
Here we have to contemplate again the questions given in the beginning of our musings: “Sunday is the only day off, we have to get enough sleep, spend some quality time with family, yet here we have to wake up early and go to church”.
However, no one forces a person to go to an early service. In cities and towns, almost everywhere early and late services are administered. In the countryside, however, no one sleeps in even on Sundays. In cities, we are free to go to the evening service on Saturday, then come home and spend time with family, read an interesting book, and after evening prayer go to bed at 11-12 pm, and then wake up in the morning at about half past eight and attend Divine Liturgy. Nine hours of sleep can restore almost anyone’s strength, and if this doesn’t happen, we could use a nap later on.
All our problems are rooted not in the church but in our rhythm of life which doesn’t follow God’s will and thus, exhausts us. Only communication with God, who is the source of all powers in the Universe, can grant mankind both spiritual and physical strength. It has been long observed that if you get internally drained by the time Saturday rolls in, then Sunday Liturgy fills you up with inner strength. And this strength also includes the body. For that reason, ascetics, who have lived in inhuman conditions of desert, lived up to 120-130 years, yet we barely live for 70-80 years. God invigorates those who have hope in Him and serve Him. Pre-revolution conducted analysis showed that the longest lifespan was recorded neither amongst nobles nor merchants but by priests who had much worse living conditions. This is an obvious testimony to the benefits of weekly church-going.
When it comes to spending time with family, who said we can’t go to church all together? If there are little kids in the family, the wife can come to church later, and after Liturgy the whole family can go for a walk, or go to a cafe, or simply talk with each other. Can a ‘communication’, when the whole family is glued to the TV, possibly compare to an actual interpersonal communication? More often than not, those who don’t go to church because of family, don’t exchange even a few sentences a day with their family.
As far as housework and other chores are concerned, according to the word of God, on Sundays we are not allowed to do what is not crucially important. We must not make Sunday a day of cleaning or washing, nor use Sunday to can fruits or what-not for the coming year. All hard work should be arranged on Sunday evening.
The only kind of hard work we can and should do on Sundays and holidays is charity work. The true and satisfying to God rule of holiday observance is to thoroughly clean a sick or an old man’s home, to help out at church, to make canned goods for orphans or families with many children.
The question of household chores during holidays is inextricably linked with another one of going to church during a summer. Many people say, “We can’t live through the winter without the produce we grow and can during summer. How can we go to church then?”
I think the answer is obvious. No one stops them from going to church in the nearest village, and do the farming work during the first half of Saturday or Sunday evening. Thus, health will be preserved and God’s will will be observed. Even if there’s no church nearby, we should dedicate our Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings to prayers and reading Scripture. Those who don’t want to observe the will of God, receive His penance. Expected harvest is either ruined by locusts, worms or crop diseases. When the rain is needed, there’s a drought, when dry weather is needed, there’s a flood. This way God lets humans see who is the Boss in the world. Often God visits those who despise His will themselves. Doctors acquainted with the author recounted experiences from their practice and the so called phenomena of “Sunday death”, when a person toils and moils in the fields without even raising eyes to the sky, and then dies right there, in the vegetable patch, due to a stroke or a heart attack, face first to the ground.
In contrast, those who keep God’s command, receive unprecedented harvest. For example, in the monastery of Optina harvests quadrupled that of their neighbors, although they used the same land use techniques and machinery.
Some say, “I can’t go to church because it’s cold, rainy or it’s snowing. I’d rather pray at home.” Yet, oh miracle! The same people are ready to brave the rain on the open-air stadium just to cheer for their favorite team, slave away in a vegetable plot till they faint, or dance at the disco throughout the night. Yet, only when it comes to going to the House of God do they feel tired! The weather is merely an excuse for their unwillingness. Seriously, is it even possible to consider that God will hear prayers of people who don’t wish to sacrifice even a little bit for Him?
Another no less ridiculous objection is also often heard, “There are no benches in church, and it’s hot there. It's a far cry from Catholics!”
Of course, this objection can’t be taken seriously, yet for many comfort considerations are more important than the issue of eternal salvation. However, God doesn’t wish for the death of an outcast. Neither will Christ break a broken rod nor will He extinguish a smoking flax. When it comes to benches, it is not a pivotal question in the first place. Orthodox Greeks have benches in their churches, but Russians don’t have them. Even now, when a person is weak or ill, no one prevents him or her from sitting on the benches at the back of almost any church. Moreover, according to the typikon of Russian Church, parishioners may sit up to seven times during the festive evening service. Ultimately, if it’s hard to stand the whole service, yet all the benches are taken, who stops a person from bringing a foldable stool? It’s unlikely that anyone would condemn or blame for that. It’s only necessary to stand up during the reading of Gospel, Cherubimic hymn, Eucharist canon and about a dozen of other important moments during the service. Presumably, this will not be a problem to anyone. As for people with disabilities, these rules don't apply to them at all. I repeat once again, those objections are not sustainable and cannot be used as a reason not to keep God’s command.
Neither is the following objection justified: “In our church everyone is so mean and grumpy. Elderly women scold and chastise at any turn. And yet they call themselves Christians! I don’t want to be like them, so I won’t go to church.”
Does anyone actually force us to become like that? Does anyone actually force you to put on boxing gloves when you go into church? Don’t chastise and scold others yourself and then you’ll be able to change others. Apostle Paul says, “Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls” (Rom 14:4, NKJV).
This objection would have been justified should the priests preach and teach to argue and squabble. Yet, it’s not so. Neither Bible nor the Church, nor Her servants have ever preached that. On the contrary, each sermon, each hymn calls to us to be benign and merciful.
So this is not a reason not to go to church either. We should understand that people who go to church don’t come from Mars, they are from the same world as we all are. And there it is a commonplace to scold and cuss so that sometimes you won’t hear a single Russian word from some mouths. Only foul language. However, precisely in church there is no cursing. It won’t be wrong to state that the church is the only place that is free of abusive language.
It’s exactly our mundane world where it is common to be grumpy and to pour out irritation and discontent under a banner of fighting for justice. Isn’t it what old bones do in clinics gossiping unkindly about anyone, from the president to the nurses. And upon entering church, how could those people change themselves 180 degrees at the drop of a hat and become meek as a sheep? No, they couldn’t. God gifted us with free will, and without our efforts, nothing will change.
We are always present in church only partially. Sometimes this part is big enough and a person becomes a saint, sometimes this part is smaller. Sometimes a person holds on to God only by a little finger. Yet, the Judge and Appraiser are not us, but God. While there’s still time, there’s always hope. Before a painting is completed, who could appraise it? If only by completed parts. And those completed parts are the saints. The Church should be judged by the example of saints and not by those who have yet to complete their earthly journey. There are good grounds for the saying ‘the end crowns all’.
The Church calls itself a hospital (during the sacrament of Confession there are such words in a prayer: “Take heed, therefore, that having come to the Divine Physician, you not depart unhealed”), thus, is it reasonable to expect that healthy people fill the Church? There are healthy ones, but they abide already in Heaven. Only then, when all those who wish to be healed will use the help of Church, only then will the Church appear in its true glory. So, in a church you should look not at those around you but at God. After all, we come not to people but to Creator.
More often than not people refuse to go to church, saying, “It’s so obscure in your church. The service is ordained in some strange language.”
Let’s paraphrase this objection. A first-grader comes to school and after hearing a lesson on Advanced Mathematics refuses to go to school, saying, “No way! I won’t go! Everything is Greek to me!” Not very smart, is it? The same way it is also not very smart to give up learning Divine science due to incomprehensibility.
Contrariwise, if everything was clear and understood, then there would be no sense in learning it. After all, you already know everything when experts talk shop. Trust me, the science of living with God is no less complex and refined than mathematics, so let it have its own language and terminology. I think we should not refuse church education that lets us understand what is actually unclear. Still, we should keep in mind that Divine service is not for missionary work but for believers themselves. Thank God, if we pray with due attention, in a month or so of constant going to church, we will understand everything needed. However, the depths of Divine service will be revealed more and more in years to come. This is truly an amazing mystery of God. Unlike one dimensional protestant sermons, we have an eternal University, where liturgical texts become a teaching aid and the teacher is Lord Himself.
Church Slavonic language is neither Latin nor Sanskrit. This is a sacred form of the Russian language. We just need to put in a little effort - buy a dictionary and a couple of books, learn a couple of dozen words - and the language will reveal its secrets. And God will reward these efforts hundredfold. While praying, it will become easier to focus on Divine mystery. Thoughts will not fly away due to word associations. Thus, church slavonic language improves conditions for communication with God, which is the point of us going to church. When it comes to knowledge, then it is passed on in Russian language. It’s a wild-goose chase to find a priest who would preach in slavonic language. In Church everything is full of wisdom: ancient language is for prayers and modern language is for sermons.
Finally, to orthodox people themselves, church slavonic language is dear because it lets them hear the Word of God most accurately. We can literally hear the letter of the Gospel, because church slavonic grammar is almost the same as ancient Greek one - in which Revelation was given to us. Believe me, as in poetry and jurisprudence, in theology verbal subtleties often change the essence of the matter. I think anyone interested in literature can understand this truth. In a detective, a random matchstick can change the course of the investigation. This way, a chance to hear Christ’s Word most accurately is invaluable.
Of course, church slavonic language is not a dogma. In the Universal Orthodox Church Divine services are ordained in more than 80 different languages. Even in Russia, in theory, it is possible to refrain from slavonic language. But it can happen only when slavonic language will become as distant to the believers as Latin is to Italians. I think at the moment this problem is not even in question. However, even if that comes to pass, then the Church will create a new sacred language, which will translate the Bible as accurately as possible and will not let our minds fly off into a lalaland. The Church is still alive and has the power to revive anyone entering it. So, take up the course on divine Wisdom and Creator will lead you into the depths of His mind.
Other people say, “I believe in God, but I don’t trust priests, that’s why I won’t go to church.”
But no one requires parishioners to trust priests. We trust in God, and priests are merely His servants and instruments of fulfilling His will. Someone said, “Electricity current flows even through a rusty wire.” Thus, grace flows even through an unworthy one. Saint John Chrysostom speaks the truth, saying, “We, who sit on pulpit and preach, are tied up in sins. Nevertheless, relying on God’s love of mankind, we despair not and do not attribute Him hardness of heart. God let priests be enslaved by vices, so that they could treat others with indulgence.” Let’s imagine that in church the services were ordained not by an erring priest but by Archangel Michael. I’m afraid, right after the first conversation with us, Archangel Michael would flare up with righteous anger and all that would be left us is a pile of ash.
All in all, this statement is comparable with turning down medical assistance due to avarice of modern medicine. To those who happened to land themselves in a hospital, a financial preoccupation of certain doctors is glaringly obvious. But for some reason people are in no hurry to avoid medical care. Yet, when it concerns a much more important problem pertaining to the health of a soul, any sort of facts or hearsay comes to mind just to avoid going to church. Once there was such a case. A monk lived a solitary life in the desert and a priest visited him to commune him. Yet, once this monk overheard that the said priest fornicated. Then, he refused to receive Communion from him. The same night he had a revelation in a dream. In a dream he saw a golden well with crystal-clear water and a leper drawing water from it with a golden bucket. Then he heard God’s voice saying, “See, the water remains pure, albeit a leper dispenses it. The same way, the grace remains untainted and pristine, no matter through whom it passes.” After that, hermit resumed receiving Communion from that priest refraining from speculation whether the priest was holy or sinner.
However, if we take a break to think then all these excuses come to naught. After all, how could we ignore the direct will of God just because of the priest's sins? “Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand” (Rom 14:4, NKJV).
“Church is not in a building, Church is in the heart,” others say. “That’s why we can pray at home.”
This saying looks like a Russian one, however, in truth it traces up to Russian homebred sectants, who contrary to God’s word, broke away from Church. Indeed, God abides in bodies of Christians as well, however, He enters them through Holy Communion that Church ordains. Moreover, prayers in Church are of higher rank than prayers at home. Saint John Chrysostom says:
You are mistaken, man. Of course, it is possible to pray at home, but praying the same way as in church, where there is such a plethora of saints and fathers, where with a single heart is a hymn to God ascribed, is impossible. You will not be heard so soon, when you pray on your own as when you pray with your brothers. There is something more there, something more like a unanimity and harmony, a union of love and prayers of priests. For that reason priests stand there in front, so that prayers of masses as the weakest ones, united with the priests’ strongest prayers, and together these prayers ascend to Heaven… When even Apostle Peter, the pillar of Church, was freed from a prison thanks to church prayers (Acts 12:5, NKJV), then tell me, how could you disregard its power and what excuse could you have? Listen to God Himself, Who said that devout prayers of many please Him (John 3:10-11, NKJV) … Not mankind alone calls here onto God with trepidation, but angels and archangels fall down before God and pray. The time itself favors them, the very sacrifice itself facilitates them. As people take olive branches and wave them in front of the ruler, reminding him of mercy and benevolence, the same way angels instead of olive branches presenting the Body of Christ, implore Lord for the mankind as though saying, ‘We implore for those, for whom You shed Your blood, for those, for whom you sacrificed Your body.’ “ (St. John Chrysostom, Word Three against Anomoeans)
So, this objection is also completely unfounded. After all, as much as the house of God is holier than your own, as much superior is the church prayer compared to praying at home.
Some others say, “I would like to go to church every week, but my wife/husband, parents, children, etc. don’t let me.”
Here we should remind ourselves of the severe words Christ said, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me,” (Matt 10:37, NKJV). This frightful choice we must face at any time. Yes, it’s tough. Yes, it may be painful. And should you indulge a human, however insignificant this may seem in your opinion, God will deny you at the Judgement day. And would your loved one be able to help you answer the judgment? Would your love towards your family vindicate you when the Gospel states otherwise? Would you not yearn and feel deeply chagrined remembering the day you chose your phantom love over God? Real life experience shows that those who choose someone over God would end up betrayed by that person.
Others say, “I won’t go to that church because ‘aura’ is not good. I don’t feel well in church, especially because of incense.”
In truth, in all churches the ‘aura’ is the same, it is the aura of God’s grace. All churches are sanctified by Holy Spirit. In all churches abides Christ the Savior with His Body and Blood. God’s angels stand at the entrance of each church. The problem lies in people themselves. Sometimes, this phenomenon has a logical explanation. On holidays, when ‘visitors’ come to church, churches are jam-packed with people. In all honesty, there are too few sacred places for such a great number of christians. Thus, many indeed feel stuffy. Sometimes, it happens that in poor churches low-grade incense is used. But those reasons are not essential ones. More often than not people feel unwell even in an empty church. Christians know the spiritual sources of that too well.
Evil deeds that humans wish not to confess drive away God’s grace. This resistance of human’s will against God’s power feels like ‘a bad aura’. Yet not only a human turns away from God, but God Himself doesn’t accept an egotist, as is written by Apostle James, “God resists the proud” (Jam 4:6, NKJV). Such cases have been known since ancient times. For example, Saint Mary of Egypt who led a life of harlot tried to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and bow unto the Life-Giving Cross of God. Yet, invisible force repelled her from the church gates. Only after she repented and promised not to commit her sin again, did God let her into His house. Nowadays there are also recorded cases when killers and prostitutes couldn’t stand the incense and fainted. Especially often it happens to those who practice occult magic, delve into astrology, psychic practice and other devilry. Some force twisted them at the most important moments of the service, and an ambulance had to take them away. Here we are faced with another reason for rejection by the church.
Not only humans but also those who cause those sinful habits don’t wish to meet Creator. These creatures are rebellious angels, demons. These unclean beings prevent humans from entering a church. The same beings drain power from those in church. Sometimes, a person who can spend hours in a gym, can’t withstand ten minutes in the presence of Creator. Only God can help those who are entangled by demons. But He helps only those who have repented and wish to live according to the will of God Almighty. As it is, all those arguments are but half-baked repetitions of satanic propaganda. It’s no coincidence that this terminology of this argument is borrowed from psychic mediums - and church knows that all of them serve Devil, - who like to intellectualize about some energies, through which humans can be ‘recharged’, as if humans are not children of God but some battery.
In this we can observe symptoms of spiritual illness. Instead of love, people try to manipulate Creator. This is a sure sign of demonism.
Last objection is related to previous ones, but can be heard more often: “I have God in my soul, so I don’t need your rituals. I do good deeds as it is. Would God actually send me to hell just because I don’t go to church?”
But what meaning does ‘God’ hold for those people? If we mean conscience, then, yes, of course, this voice of God lives in the heart of every human. There are no exceptions. Neither Hitler nor Chikatilo were deprived of it. All evildoers knew that there was good and there was evil. The voice of God tried to keep them from iniquity. But were they saints just because they heard that voice? Besides, conscience is not God, just His voice. After all, if you hear a voice of the president through the radio, does it mean that he is in your room? The same way, the fact that a human has conscience doesn’t mean he or she has God in his or her soul.
Let’s try to ponder the expression ‘God in my soul’ itself. Who is God? God is Almighty, Infinite, Omniscient, Just, Good Spirit, Creator of Universe, Who cannot be contained by heaven or heavens of heaven. Then how can your soul contain Him, Whose face are angels afraid to look up to?
Does the speaker actually sincerely think this Immeasurable Power dwells in him or her? Let us put it into a doubt. Let’s ask that person to manifest this Power. The statement ‘God in the soul’ is more explosive than trying to hide a nuclear blast within oneself. Is it possible to keep Hiroshima explosion or the eruption of a volcano in secret? So we demand of such a speaker similar proofs. Let that person create a miracle, e.g. resurrect a deceased, or manifest God’s love by turning the other cheek to those who slapped him or her. Could that person have even a hundredth of love for his enemies that God has? The love of God Who prayed for them before crucifixion? In the end, only a saint could dare to claim that ‘God is in his or her soul’.We demand from the speaker such sainthood, otherwise this statement is a lie, and the father of lies is the devil.
Others say, “I only do good deeds, is it possible that God will still send me to hell?” But let us cast some doubts on that goodness. What can be taken as a criterion for good and evil, that could define whether we do good or evil? If we take as a criterion ourselves, as it is often said ‘I choose for myself what I think is good and what is evil,’ then these concepts lose their values. After all, Lavrentyi Beriya, Joseph Goebbels and Pol Pot considered themselves absolutely right. Then why do you yourselves think that their actions deserve condemnation? If we have the right to define for ourselves the right and wrong, the good and evil, then shouldn’t we let all murderers, perverts and rapists do so as well? Oh, right, and then let God disagree with your criteria and judge you not by your criteria but by His own. After all, isn’t it unjust to let us choose for ourselves, yet deny the right to free and Almighty God to judge us by His own law. Then, according to His laws, without repentance before God and Holy Communion, a human will end up in hell.
Truth to be told, what’s the point of our criteria in front of God, when we don’t even have the right to make laws. After all, we have created neither our bodies, nor souls, nor our minds, nor willpower, nor our senses. All that we have is a gift, and not even a gift but a temporarily entrusted for keeping property, then why do we decide that we can willfully make do with it with impunity? Moreso, we deny the right of the One Who created us to demand from us a report on how we use these gifts. Doesn’t this seem quite insolent? Why would we think that God of the Universe would fulfill our will corroded by sin? We broke the Fourth commandment, yet we think that God is under some obligation to us? Isn’t it silly?
After all, instead of devoting our Sundays to God, we devote it to the devil. On weekends, and especially so on Saturday eves and Sundays, people often get drunk, brawl, lead a dissolute life, and when not, they still entertain themselves in unsightly ways by watching dubious TV shows, movies, where vices are abound, and so on. And only our Creator ends up being superfluous on His own day. But doesn’t God, Who gifted us with everything, have the right to demand from us just a few hours?
So, hell awaits those who despise God’s will. And the reason for that is not God’s cruelty but the fact that they left the source of Water of Life and tried to dig empty wells of their own excuses. They refused the Holy Communion cup, they deprived themselves of God’s word and ended up wandering in the darkness of this evil age. Leaving the light, they find darkness. Leaving love they find hatred. Leaving life they throw themselves into the embrace of eternal death. How could we not mourn for their stubbornness? How could we not hope for their return to the house of our heavenly Father?
Alongside King David let us say, “But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy; In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple” (Ps 5:7, NKJV). After all, “I will go into Your house with burnt offerings; I will pay You my vows, [w]hich my lips have uttered [a]nd my mouth has spoken when I was in trouble” (Ps 66:13-14, NKJV).