for Orthodox Christians an earthly foreshadowing of a real place in the heavenly realm where God sits in judgment and rules the earth. On the side walls of this place of worship are more icons—this time of martyrs and saints who have died and have already entered God's eternal kingdom. These icons are not just reminders of people long dead, however. These icons are visible reminders that the saints are around the throne of God today and that they are praying for us and seeking to encourage us to continue to focus on Jesus and to run the race set before us.
Finally, the liturgy itself—what happens in worship—is meant to usher the worshipers into the heavenly realm, to remind them of who they are, Whose they are, and what is real. The liturgy is meant to replicate on earth the kind of worship that is taking place in heaven. It is filled with prayers of praise and thanksgiving shaped by the Scriptures and includes the reading of Scripture, chanting, a message, and the Eucharist. The use of incense is meant to remind worshipers of the glory of the Lord and to stand as a scented reminder of the prayers of God's people ascending to God. The bread and the wine of the Eucharist are a way of tasting and experiencing God. In this setting, in the scent of incense, in the use of lighting, in the sounds of the liturgy, and in the taste of the Eucharist, all senses are used to transport the worshiper to the heavenly realms.
"In Orthodox liturgy," says Father Sawchak, "we experience nothing less than heaven. We mystically join in with the angels, who are singing the Thrice Holy Hymn, 'Holy, Holy, Holy,' and with the saints of the church who have gone before us." The first half of the liturgy, the liturgy of the Word, includes readings from the Gospels and from the epistles of Paul. That is followed by the liturgy of the Eucharist, "part of which is remembering and being thankful for all of the things that have happened for us. We remember the cross, the tomb, the resurrection on the third day, the ascension into heaven, and the sitting at the right hand of the Father; and then we remember something that has already happened, and that is the second and glorious coming. We are experiencing something that has yet to happen in earthly terms but has been accomplished in mystical terms—is done and over with. We are able to fully participate, again, in nothing less than heaven."
This is the essence of faith: remembering what is true and real even though we cannot see it. This is part of what is meant to happen when any Christians gather for worship. That is, this is part of why we need weekly worship, because there we are reminded of who we are and of the reality of the kingdom of God so that we can go back into a world that will ultimately pass away and live as persons whose destination is God's eternal kingdom.
This is a gift the Orthodox give us. Since studying Orthodoxy, I have noticed how pedestrian some church sanctuaries in American Protestant churches are. I wonder if Protestant churches might not learn something from the Orthodox about sacred spaces and if we might not design worship spaces in such a way that when worshipers enter, they are receiving a foretaste of heaven, experiencing the sense of mystical communion with the saints, and seeing a vision of what the heavenly realm is like.
" Surrounded by So Great a Cloud of Witnesses . . ."
The one practice that most Protestants associate with the Orthodox is the veneration of icons. Icons, as we have noted, are painted figures depicting Jesus and his life, the Holy Family, angels, the apostles, and saints who have gone before us into heaven. We might see these icons not only in churches but also in the homes of the Orthodox.
"Very often," says Father Sawchak, "you find it said that icons are windows into heaven. We do not worship those who are pictured on the icons. We venerate them and we look to them—specifically, the saints of the church—as good examples to follow." He says that in a world where many people hang posters depicting movie stars or sports figures, it should not seem odd that people seeking real heroes might look to depictions of saints who may have given up their lives for Christ.
"We need good examples in our world to be able to follow and look up to," he says; "and all of those people that we look to in these icons were sinners, and they all had one common denominator: They lived a life of repentance and they changed, each in their own different way and each with different life circumstances."
My study of Orthodoxy led me to a book of the New Testament that seems very Orthodox and Eastern to me: the Epistle to the Hebrews. Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians who had experienced hardship and persecution for their faith. They had been Christians for some time, and the excitement and newness had begun to wear off. Some of them were becoming less regular in meeting together for worship. Others were allowing their spiritual passion to dim. Some, consequently, were beginning to lose their faith and were actually returning to the synagogue, where they would once again be accepted, where life might be easier.
The Book of Hebrews makes the case for these Jewish Christians to continue to follow Jesus, offering encouragement, a bit of chastisement, and some helpful advice on pursuing the Christian life. The author reminds his readers of the benefits of following Christ and the difference this makes in our lives here and for eternity.
The author of Hebrews also speaks of the earthly Temple in Jerusalem as a foreshadowing of the heavenly realm. In Hebrews 8:5 he notes of the priests in Jerusalem, "They offer worship in a sanctuary that is a sketch and shadow of the heavenly one." In Chapters 9 and 10 he continues to speak of the heavenly sanctuary of which the Temple in Jerusalem was only an earthly representation. Then the writer gives us one of the most-loved chapters in all of the New Testament, the great faith chapter. He says that this is what faith is: It is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is how we live as Christians: We live by faith. We have a certainty regarding our hope in God. We trust God and we live by faith, not by what we see in this world.
Then the author recounts the faith of the heroes of the Bible. By faith, Abel offered God a better sacrifice. By faith, Noah built the ark, even though it had yet to rain a drop. By faith, Abraham answered the call of God to leave the comforts of his life and go to a land he had never seen before, living there like a stranger in a foreign country. Why did he do this? He did this because "he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God" (Hebrews 11:10). By faith, Sarah and Jacob and Joseph and Moses and Rahab and Gideon and Samson and all the rest lived, even facing persecution and death, because they were sure of what they hoped for and certain of what they could not see. Then the author brings things to a climax with these words in Chapter 12: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12:1-2). I love this! We are surrounded by this cloud of witnesses, these people of faith who trusted God and received their reward. They encircle us, they go before us, they cheer us on and challenge us not to give up the faith! I love the way so many Orthodox churches capture this feeling by lining the walls with icons of those who have gone before us. By meditating on them, by remembering what is real and what is lasting, by recalling the city whose architect and builder is God, we can throw off those things that hinder us and run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
Several years ago I entered a very old Orthodox chapel at a monastery in Greece. Its walls were covered with icons of those in the town who had died for their faith from the earliest days of Christianity. As powerful as this imagery was, I was struck by the idea that we as contemporary believers are called to be living icons, both in the church and in the world. We are called to be flesh-and-blood witnesses of the fact that this world we live in is only temporary and that there is a kingdom whose builder is God. We are called to encourage others as they seek to follow Jesus. And we are called to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.
While I do not believe the Orthodox church is the only true and faithful expression of Christianity, I do believe it is one authentic expression of the Christian faith. I thank God for the richness of that faith and for all that we can learn from our Orthodox brothers and sisters.
