So then, many of what the world considers to be “good deeds” are actually not good, since they are done as an expression not of faith, but of pride and self-reliance. (Everything I do, for example…) It is the deed done humbly, in obedience of God, trusting only in him, that is truly good. If we have faith, it cannot but reflect itself in our lives. “Let your light so shine before men.” But first we must have faith. Maybe this is part of the reason that humility is the first of the beatitudes.

Touched me on the raw. and the following came up:

“Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me”

I think these are the words that we omit when we do our good deeds. We often rely much on our works, and more of that - we choose works that are preferable to us, that look more attractive, hoping inside for grateful audience appraisal, awaiting or even demanding “applause”. Thus feeding our pride & self-estimation. Vanity often is the source of our actions.

“Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me”

These are the words that We should cry out when we have a chance to do something - in the framework of our everyday duties, or any good deed towards our neighbor. Because with His mercy our works may lead not to the good we meant, but to some opposite result. We should ask God to guide our positive energy, our noble impulses to the right channel. Especially if we have no priest or trustworthy person, whom we can trust & whose advice we can ask in this connection. As our works can do much harm to our neighbor and ourselves, because we seldom can understand what is really good & what is devastating. We should seek to obtain the inner feeling of recognizing what exactly the works that we are destined to do are. As we often underestimate what we have & are anxious to reach what we don’t, but sometimes think that we must get it at all price. We thus underestimate “the little”, and dream of “the big”, “the great”, having forgotten that the road to the great passes through the little, and only this way. It’s like strolling about the streets in search of the bakery, which is located in front of our house. And was always there (but we didn’t notice - such a trifle)! It’s like combing out the forest thoroughly, looking for a jewel, which is here on the road under your feet (where we would prefer not to look. What for? If it’s something precious, it should be definitely some far away, and surround by a certain mystery, and I’ll be a real hero If I - not somebody else - find it!

We just forget (or don’t’ like to remember, as it’s so boring!) that the great is in the little, and for the little our God gives us the great.

Who of us did not come across a situation, when it’s much easier to do something big, difficult, costly - than to do very simple, unnoticeable, routine? It happens that it’s much easier & preferable to obtain some precious thing for any person, or a church, hand it over to him triumphantly, and enjoy ourselves, witnessing the happiness all around by appraisal from everyone; than to make way for somebody’s car on the road, or a seat to an elderly man in metro. And are we very seldom in the situation, when we rush to help “the whole world”, having not asked our ill mother what medicine we should purchase for her today? Or didn’t we prefer to open the “awful truth”, accuse another person, without knowing perfectly well about him & his actions? The intention was so noble - but the result maybe far from that+

“The big”, to be more exact, what we view as “the big” can make us grow in our own eyes, and also - in the eyes of others. But we should bother how not to lose ourselves in the eyes of God!

Good deeds are thus, I think, not so harmless. As the SOURCES of our intentions, the inspirers are may be different.

“Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me”

These words we should remember when we burn with the desire to “improve this imperfect world”. We should pray, so that our works can be really welcome to God, so that we really can serve Our Lord our neighbors in spirit & truth, so that we have reasoning & at least a little wisdom “to differ the spirits”. So that we are able to bring up our “inner person”, and not to feed our pride to the sizes of an elephant. And - so that the God will of us can be fulfilled. We should develop ourselves, help ourselves to open, discover our capabilities, find out what it is that we really can bring to God & people, how WE can help, we, but not that imaginary person whom we prefer often to regard ourselves, whose image we draw in our head & to which we try to correspond to. And if we fail - “Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me”.

The thoughts extorted as an exclamation, sorry. All that I say or write concerns me first of all.

In Christ,

Natalia
This comment is posted with permission from The St Nicholas email list: http://groups.google.com/group/saint-nicholas-orthodox-church

Father, Bless,

That is a very enlightening explanation. The legal explanation/definition of justification in Western theology always bothered me, but I never could quite explain why. It just always seemed to me to be a flawed analogy attempting to explain a mysterious Reality. So if I understand correctly, you are saying that the word does not mean that we have been declared just by the ‘decree’ of God because of the sacrifice of His son, but are actually being made just, in reality, through the power made available to us through the sacrifice of His son.

And the analogy that has helped me to think of the relationship of faith and works is that of life and breathing. If a person isn’t breathing then they are either dead or soon will be.

In Christ,

Deborah