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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

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of the Holy Spirit, amen. Glory be to Jesus Christ.

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Today, on the first Sunday of Lent, we celebrate

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the feast of the triumph of Orthodoxy, marking

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the definitive end of the iconoclastic controversy.

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we receive Holy Communion. We make a profession

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of faith right before we receive Communion. We

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say, I believe, O Lord, three things. I believe,

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O Lord, that thou art truly the Christ, the Son

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of the living God, who didst come into the world

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to save sinners, of whom I am first. And I believe

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that this is truly thine own most pure body and

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that this is truly thine own precious blood.

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The third of these is the reason why we say this

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prayer, affirming our belief that the bread and

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wine that we receive in Holy Communion is no

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longer just bread and wine, but that by the priest

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repeating the words of Jesus at the Last Supper,

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what are called the words of institution, that

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the bread has been changed into the body of Christ,

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and that the cup of wine has been changed into

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his blood. That's the first thing that we profess

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before we receive communion. that this is really

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the body and blood of Christ that we receive

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in communion. The other thing, we profess that

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Jesus came into the world to save sinners of

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whom I am the first. I imagine that many of you

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are tempted, like I am, to think in the back

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of my mind, you know, I'm really not such a bad

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person after all. Sure, I commit sins, but they're

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only, what do you want to say, small sins? Well,

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every sin is an offense against God. In a way,

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to have that kind of thought, which we're tempted,

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you know, at times, is sort of a milder version

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of the prayer of the Pharisee. Lord, I'm not

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so bad after all. I pay tithes, I fast, and I'm

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not like this no good Nick over here, this publican,

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this sinner. So regardless of the kinds of sins

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or the frequency of our sins, we affirm that

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in God's eyes and in our own eyes, we call ourselves,

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we admit our sinfulness, and we say that we are

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the greatest of the sinners. The third affirmation

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of faith is the first one, and sometimes we glide

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by that in our attention, that thou art truly

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the Christ, the Son of the living God, who came

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into the world. The belief that Jesus Christ

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is the Son of God who came into the world. Now

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this faith in who Jesus Christ is, is at the

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very foundation of our belief in icons. This,

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of course, was when Jesus recalled, when he asked

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his disciples, whom do men say that I am? Oh,

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some John the Baptist, some Elijah, or one of

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the prophets. And he said, whom do you say? that

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I am. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living

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God. And Peter speaking on behalf of his fellow

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disciples, and Jesus then congratulates him,

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so to speak, on his profession of faith. Flesh

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and blood have not revealed this to you, but

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my Father who is in heaven. the affirmation of

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who Jesus Christ is. For years and years, when

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I hear Christmas carols, just same traditional

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Christmas carols like you hear, they're beautiful.

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There is a certain amount of legitimate sentimentality

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and certainly nostalgia in our Christmas carols.

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But listen to the words. All of the traditional

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Christmas carols, to my recollection at this

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moment, all of them say that they believe that

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this boy that is born of Virgin Mary is the son

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of God, veiled in flesh the incarnate deity.

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This is who Jesus is. The Christmas carols are

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also... an affirmation of faith that this baby

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born in Bethlehem is the Son of God who came

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into the world to save sinners of whom I am first.

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Now the iconoclastic controversy. In the history

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of the early church, I would say the two most

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intense and prolonged controversies Number one,

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the Arian controversy, which is exactly what

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we've just been talking about, that who is Jesus

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Christ? And it took the church several hundred

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years to come to a complete resolution of that

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and to condemn all other opinions. Still in all,

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after 1 ,700 years, There are many people, some

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Christians included, who think that Jesus is

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a great man, was a great man, a wonderful moral

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teacher. But to say, just as Christmas carols

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say, that he is the incarnate son of God is what

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some people find hard to affirm. Now the iconoclastic

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controversy. As I said, for us Eastern Christians,

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so to speak, or Orthodox, this controversy was

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much more intense in the Eastern part of the

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Christian world than it was in the Western part.

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So that, a lot of times, is not in the forefront

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of the thinking of Western Christians, our fellow

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Christians in the West. But we believe... in

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the icons, the controversy over whether or not,

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number one, whether or not you should have icons,

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and then number two, can you venerate them, kiss

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them, show your respect and homage to this material

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thing? But then, of course, the fathers and the

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councils have affirmed that an icon is an affirmation

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of the reality of the incarnation, that Jesus

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Christ, that God, in Jesus Christ, when he became

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a human being, he accepted the ability to be

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described, to use the technical term, that you

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could draw a picture of God, now God who became

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flesh. So I would say during the 7th century,

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this controversy started to simmer in the East.

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And then at the last of the ecumenical councils,

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the 7th, in 787, they affirmed, the council fathers

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affirmed, that yes, you can. You not only can,

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but it's appropriate to show our respect to the

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person. represented in that icon, or the person

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represented on the cross that we venerate. But

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that wasn't the end of the story. It wasn't until

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this teaching of the Council was accepted in

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843, half a century later, that the feast that

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we celebrate today, the triumph of Orthodoxy,

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that this was, you know, widely accepted, and

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so to speak, this heresy was put to rest. But

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it's interesting to note that the story doesn't

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end there because people who were reluctant to

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venerate icons They were called iconoclasts,

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as opposed to iconodules, the people who showed

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reverence to the icons. That the church was confronted

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with the question, okay, these folks that didn't

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accept the veneration of icons, now they want

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to become formal, official members of the church.

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What do we do with them? And the answer was,

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They have to go to confession, so to speak, and

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make a profession of faith, which of course was

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very logical. That's how all heretics were reconciled.

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But we know that one of the simmering issues

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was, what do you do, especially with clergy,

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who were, as leaders of a Christian community,

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the ones who... did not accept the veneration

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of icons. Sure, you can be lenient and easygoing

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with the lay people, but what about the clergy?

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The bishops, few bishops and the priests that

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were opposed to the veneration of icons. When

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they come back in, what do we do with them? Two

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groups emerged. One were the, well, I'll call

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them in modern day terms, the hawks and the doves,

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the intransigent ones that maintain that you

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can receive them back into the church, but they

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cannot exercise their ministry as deacons or

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priests. This hardline position was one that

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Patriarch Ignatius at that time had. So these

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are two ways of... What are you going to do with

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them? They weren't heretics. It wasn't a heretical

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thing, but what do you do practically with these

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folks? Patriarch Ignatius, who was a monk, by

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the way, and monks normally have hard -line positions

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on matters, too. They don't like to compromise

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or appear to be compromising in anything. And

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then the more lenient ones, represented by Photius,

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who eventually did this political controversy,

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because it had political as well as religious

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controversies. In this storm, in about the year

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850 and 860, Patriarch was finally settled upon

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to replace Ignatius. And Photius wasn't a monk.

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He was a member of the diplomatic corps. He was

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a diplomat, so you would expect him to have a

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more easy opinion on this matter. Let them come

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in like everyone else, make their profession

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of faith, and they could resume their ministry

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as priests and deacons. So this controversy,

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again, as I said, these two councils, 869 and

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879, The fact that this matter was discussed

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shows us that the victory of the iconodules,

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the worshippers of icons, was not completely

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put to rest in 843. The lingering embers had

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to die out, so to speak. So the great heritage

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we have as Orthodox Christians is... I would

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say, based on what I just said in the last few

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minutes, twofold. That we believe who Jesus,

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we affirm this at the creed, same thing. That

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Jesus is the son of God who came into the world,

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light of light, true God of true God. We affirm

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our faith in the reality of the incarnation,

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who Jesus Christ is. And number two, we as Orthodox,

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of course, are very familiar with icons. We venerate

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them. So that's become part of the Orthodox ethos,

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the Orthodox mentality, the Orthodox soul, so

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to speak. So we have today, by God's grace, two

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wonderful gifts. that God has given to us and

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to his church. The belief in who Jesus is and

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the belief and the affirmation that we can describe

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him. We can draw pictures of him and show our

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respect to him each and every time we venerate

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his icon and we show respect to the angels and

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saints. when we cross ourselves and venerate

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their icons. So today is not only a feast of

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the triumph of orthodoxy, but I would say it's

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also a feast of thanksgiving. Thank you, Lord,

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unworthy as we are, that you have revealed these

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truths to us. May we always hold them dear and...

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at the very center of our life. Amen.