The Irresistable Urge to Move Forward
Our flame must burn hotter
In the end times, Orthodox Christians must outpace those who desire to move society towards hell on Earth, with a more fiery desire inside to see the will of Christ done ‘on Earth, as it is in Heaven’.
It is not enough to theoretically know God, to theoretically know His will.
‘I go to church, I read my Bible, I’m a good person.’
All of that counts for naught—zip, zero, zilch—if you are not at the absolute center of God’s will.
Few Orthodox Christians know this.
Few are dialed in.
Few know exactly what they are doing, and exactly where they are going.
My patron saint, St. Nicholas of Japan, knew.
‘Rejoice, you who knew your path at an all-night vigil.’
One day, the theology student Ivan Kasatkin, who felt an unclear pull toward Japan, saw a notice posted in a lecture hall inviting a priest to serve at the Russian consulate in Hakodate, on the island of Ezo (Hokkaido), Japan. This happened in June 1860, during his final year at the Academy.
"Passing by the Academy rooms one day, my eyes quite accidentally stopped on a sheet of white paper lying there, where I read the following lines: ‘Would anyone wish to go to Japan to take the position of rector of the consulate church in Hakodate and begin preaching Orthodoxy in that country?’ What if I went?—I decided. And that very day, during the all-night vigil, I already belonged to Japan." (Christian Rest, 1912, No. 2)
St. Nicholas of Japan lived as a man possessed: possessed by the Spirit of God.
A man on a mission.
Even as he brushed shoulders with the elite, even as he talked to princes and princesses, even ambassadors to tsars, he counted it as naught.
This is noise. This is sheer boredom. This is a distraction. I must get back to Japan, he thought.
In his 1895 Diary, Father Nicholas recalls his youthful journey through Siberia as follows:
"Thirty-five years ago, when I was traveling to Japan, there was a place in Siberia with a charming view of a green, square-shaped field on a mountain slope to the left. A thought suddenly crossed my mind: it would be good if people were given crosses when they completed their education and entered life, and then, as they fulfilled their duties, those crosses would be taken off—so that when they lay in the grave, their chests would be clean, as a sign that they had lived up to the expectations placed upon them, to the extent that God had helped them. That, at least, would be more reasonable. I still hold the same thoughts now." (June 26 / July 8, 1895)
This crystal-clear and simultaneously intense sense of calling to his mission remained with Father Nicholas throughout his life.
The translation notes indicate that ‘intense’ doesn’t quite communicate St. Nicholas's urgent desire for his beloved Japan, to see her converted to Christ.
‘Fiery’ says it even better.
As I look at Japan, I see that too many Protestants and liberals have invaded the country for years, and the Japanese people are thinking, ‘This must be the path forward. Becoming like the liberal West must be the way.’
But we, as Orthodox Christians, already know the Way.
And St. Nicholas of Japan planted the seeds, which bloomed into a beautiful tree during his life.
But the work is not finished.
Japan is not converted to Christ.
Not all in Japan have heard the Word of God, as expressed by the Orthodox Christian faith.
Until every soul on planet Earth hears the Gospel, as presented from the Orthodox Christian perspective, the world will not end.
Christ will keep the planet spinning until every last soul has heard the Good News.
And we have a part.
All of us in the West have been spoiled for far too long.
We have been distracted.
We must move forward.
We must live as men and women possessed.
Possessed by the Spirit of God.
And not in theory. But in the grace and power of God, as conveyed through the Sacraments, especially Baptism, Confession, and Communion.
We must move forward.
You are an evangelist.
Your title is not ‘Evangelist’—only Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John have that title.
But you are one, nonetheless.
If you have been baptized into the One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, you have been ordained to preach the Gospel, ‘both in season and out.’
Who around you has heard?
The harvest fields are ripe.
You are as Christ to those around you.
Heed the call.