“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, when we pray for you” (Colossians 1:3)
St. Paul has such an open, innocent and unaffected way to connect himself with God and with those whom he loves, even if he had never met them. What a joy it had to be receiving an epistle from that great apostle, hearing it read in the congregation and realizing that he not only addressed them, but he prayed for them. It’s good to pray for others, better to let them know they are loved not only by the Lord, but by those who share their faith, and best when it is done with the conviction that God will act in ways that are most beneficial to those we mention by name in our prayers.
His prayers were that of thanksgiving on their behalf and for sharing their lives on earth with his. He may later point out some defects in their community, some flaws brought to his attention that he would correct with compassion and delicacy, but he starts and ends with thanks and praise. One of the thanksgiving prayers priests lift up to the Lord at vespers includes the phrase: “to the best of our ability.” It means several things: One, that we realize our limits as mere humans. Like Job when told by the Almighty in a way touched by sarcasm: “Where were you when I laid out the earth’s foundation? (Job 38:4). “Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death? Or comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?” (38:18). How vast is our thanksgiving, since we know so little about God’s great cosmos. Two, that our praise and songs of gratitude are mixed with our emotions. To what extent can we die to ourselves, suppress our ongoing feelings of needs, worries and emotions, in order to purify our souls and offer them up to the Lord. Third, how have we truly overcome our own concerns and projected our interests beyond what seems good to the all-important “I”?
The great saint Paul goes on to explain the reason for his prayers: “because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints” (Colossians 1:4). The people of Colossae sent forth prayers in two directions: Vertically God-ward, and horizontally across the known world at the time for all the saints everywhere—“faith in Christ Jesus” and “love for saints.” Note the way he reverses the title and Name of the Lord: Christ Jesus. Perhaps he as a Jew remembers that the Messiah is Jesus. In our time we hear too often “Jesus Christ,” as though it were first and last name of the Lord.
Faith and love are bound together like word and deed. They cannot be separated in a complete Orthodox Christian or in a healthy Church. Too many think it possible to take refuge in faith and flee from responsibility to love those whom the Lord loves. We should not take for granted that faith abounds—at least in these troubled times. I find it strange and sad that many who give themselves in service for others, for animals and now in the concern for the earth, yet consider themselves agnostics or atheists. Before we dare judge them we ought to judge ourselves and realize how official religions, specifically Orthodox Christianity, seem to have failed them somehow.
What is our witness to the Lord and to His people? Dare we proclaim what was self-evident in times past: Look at the Christians, how they love one another? And when we join love to faith liturgically: “Let us love one another, that we may confess—Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Trinity One in essence and undivided”?