Divine Economy and Effectiveness of the Sacraments

Archpriest Andrei Kudryavtsev | October 25, 2017

 

The salvation of a person is impossible without life in the Church, and the latter is directly connected with participation in the Sacraments. First and foremost, in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, which on a metaphysical level can be identified with the Church itself. "Take, eat: this is My Body" (Matt. 26:26), "His Body, which is the Church" (Col. 1:24).

At the same time, we cannot assert that church life and participation in the Sacraments give an "automatic" right to eternal life. From this, it follows that life in the Church is a necessary but insufficient condition for salvation. To claim that the reason for the insufficiency of life in the Church for salvation lies in the Church itself, which is "holy and without blemish" (Eph. 5:27), would be the greatest audacity. In the religious consciousness of some people, the holiness and purity of the Church are equated with the apparent life of Christians. Such erroneous judgment creates dissonance, especially when the life of church members clearly contradicts the divine commandments. The holiness and purity of the Church do not arise from the way of life of the people within the Church but from the Divine nature of the Church itself. "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned" (John 15:5-6). Even visible formal signs of a person's belonging to the Church (attendance at services, participation in the Sacraments, and even holding a clerical rank) do not yet testify to the connection between the person-branch and the vine-Christ. A vivid confirmation of this last point is found in the words of the prayer from the rite of Confession: "Reconcile and unite him (the penitent) to Your Holy Church, O Christ Jesus, our Lord." [1] Thus, the fact that a sinful life separates a person from the Body of Christ is affirmed in the Church's self-awareness at a mystical level. Let us emphasize that the words of this prayer apply to all Orthodox Christians without exception, regardless of rank, title, status, etc., even to active participants in the sacramental life of the Church.

We come to the understanding of the necessity to distinguish between the validity of the sacrament and its effectiveness. By the validity of the sacrament, one must understand its correct performance; by effectiveness, its grace-filled impact on an individual specific person—a member of the Church. By what criteria can the validity and effectiveness of a sacrament be determined?

Reflecting on the effectiveness of the Sacraments of the Church, Archpriest Sergius Bulgakov writes: "The Church has true effective Sacraments, which is one of the marks of the true Church. This effectiveness is connected with the presence of a hierarchy of apostolic succession and the preservation of true teaching. Communion in the Sacraments and mutual recognition of the Sacraments are therefore one of the foundations of church unity." [2] However, as we have already mentioned, a person's participation in the sacrament, even if the sacrament is performed by a clergyman with apostolic succession and in Eucharistic communion with the fullness of the Church, is still not a guarantee that the sacrament will be salvific for the one who partakes in it. The sacrament "at first is valid for the person receiving it, but not yet effective, not yet sanctifying. Upon reception, it turns out to be only a pledge, a seed of future deification, a potential 'image' of future glory in Christ, but by no means that glory itself, and not even the beginning of its realization: it is a possibility, not the fruit." [3] Thus, the criteria proposed by Father Sergius—the presence of a church hierarchy with apostolic succession, the preservation of the truth (orthodoxy) of the teaching, and communion in the Sacraments—are criteria for the validity of the sacrament, not for its effectiveness. These criteria apply both to an individual community and to a local Church. The rules for determining apostolic succession and communion in the Sacraments are regulated by the conciliar opinion of the Church based on the canons of the holy apostles and Councils.

In other words, regarding the Sacraments, it can be said that validity is a necessary but insufficient condition for the effectiveness of the Sacraments. Therefore, the comment by Archpriest Sergius Bulgakov is perplexing: "The Orthodox Church does not reject the effectiveness of the Sacraments in Roman Catholicism, for here the apostolic succession of the hierarchy is undeniably preserved, although the distortions in teaching hinder direct sacramental communion with Catholics." [4] As we can see, from the criteria proposed by Father Sergius himself, only the criterion of succession is relevant in relation to the Roman Catholic Church. When the conditions for the validity of the Sacraments are not met, it is absurd to speak of their effectiveness. The same applies to any religious society that is outside Eucharistic communion with the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

What criteria should be followed to determine the effectiveness of the Church's Sacraments for a person? "With a sincere turning of such a person to God, this 'image,' pledge, seed is revealed into a true 'likeness,' the grace of the Sacrament no longer 'sleeps,' but truly acts within him, conforming him to Christ—as one who already truly lives by Christ. Only in such a case does this Sacrament become effective for him, that is, salvific." [5] This is precisely the perspective on determining the effectiveness of the Sacraments that is inherent in the Church's consciousness. "And when you see the help given to you in your heart, know for certain that this grace did not come from without, but was given to you mystically at Baptism and now acts to the extent that you, hating the (sinful) thought, turned away from it." [6] Can we rationally approach the identification of those moments when "grace appeared in the heart"? After all, only the Lord penetrates the heart of man (cf. Jer. 17:10). Of course not. Even for us, our own heart’s movements often remain a mystery, which is why we, with the words of St. Mardarius, pray: "Master God, Almighty Father, Lord, Only-Begotten Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit! One Divinity, one Power, have mercy on me, a sinner, and save me by Your known ways, O unworthy servant of Yours, for You are blessed forever and ever. Amen." [7] That is why, right before Communion, after we have already thoroughly "prepared," we again pray: "May the communion of Your most pure Mysteries, O Lord, not be to my judgment or condemnation, but to the healing of soul and body." [8]

Thus, it is impossible to determine visible criteria by which one can establish the effectiveness of a sacrament. We can only assert that if a person belongs to the Church, then it, having "true effective sacraments," imparts them to the person in their fullness, but the grace-filled power of the sacrament is received by the person to the extent that their heart is open to receiving it. As for the effectiveness of the sacraments, each of us determines it by being attentive to the grace-filled action of the Holy Spirit within us.

Let us dwell a little on the effectiveness of the sacraments. As we have already established, the grace of the Holy Spirit is imparted in full through the sacramental life of the Church. However, each individual person assimilates this grace to varying degrees. This difference is determined both by the person's desire, on the level of personal will, to receive the grace-filled gifts, and by Divine Providence. "You are the body of Christ, and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the Church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?" (1 Cor. 12:27-30). From the apostle's words, it follows, firstly, that grace-filled gifts are necessary for the building up of the earthly Church. "To equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ" (Eph. 4:12). And secondly, their abundance, diversity, and grace-filled power are directly dependent on the piety of the people who make up the earthly part of the Church. "But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way" (1 Cor. 12:31). In other words, one could say that when the Lord sees people's hearts predisposed or ready to follow Him to Golgotha (cf. Luke 9:23), the gifts of the Holy Spirit are imparted more abundantly, and their effect on people, so to speak, becomes deeper, more expressive, and more perceptible to the person. Conversely, the internal apostasy of individual members of the earthly Church accumulates into the apostasy of the church organization itself (parish, diocese, local Church), with the quite natural consequence of a decrease in the grace-filled power imparted by the Lord. Nonetheless, the possibility of salvation within the Church, as the basic purpose of the Church's existence, remains. Even in a society entirely afflicted by apostasy, only the Church will remain the organism where a meeting between man and God can occur. But we must forget about an abundance of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in an apostate society. It can be stated that while the validity of the sacraments remains, their effectiveness is not static and corresponds to Divine Providence, Divine Economy, and is always directed towards the salvation of souls.

The sense of connection between personal piety and the gifts of the Holy Spirit has been present throughout the entire history of the Church. Thus, the secularization of general church life even in the early stages of history, along with the simultaneous desire of certain Church members to preserve zeal for a pious life, led, on the one hand, to the formation of monasticism as a distinct church institution (by the 4th century), and on the other hand, to the emergence of various schisms and even sects, such as Montanism in the 2nd century. We will not dwell in detail on the description of the sects that were characterized by "zeal" for pious living. We will merely point out that monasticism, as a special form of church life organization, remained under the grace-filled action of the Holy Spirit due to the fact that it preserved the aforementioned criteria for the validity of the sacraments. In contrast to monasticism, other groups of "zealots" violated one or more criteria for the validity of the sacraments and gradually degenerated into sects in which the effectiveness of the gifts of the Holy Spirit was absent. But once again, we draw attention to the fact that monasticism represents a sort of separate organization within the single church organism.

Let us provide an example of the experience of the effectiveness of grace from modern history. The author once heard a story from an elderly nun of the St. George-Danevsky Women's Monastery (Ukraine, Chernihiv region) about how, in February 1917, when the future nun was still a child, her entire family felt that "grace had left us." Only later, from a priest's announcement in the church, did they learn about the tragic revolutionary events in the capital. The conclusion about the action, or rather inaction, of grace was apparently drawn by the nun’s parents, brothers, and sisters solely from their personal spiritual sensations, based on their personal religious experience. Undoubtedly, the words "grace had left us" do not speak of complete abandonment by God. But certain grace-filled gifts ceased to be felt. And this was recognized by people only in comparison between "how it was" and "how it became." Considering this fact, the participation of a significant number of clergy and pious laypeople in the White Movement at the beginning of the 20th century gains a completely unique aspect. The author does not claim that the White Movement consisted exclusively of zealots for Orthodoxy. But the vivid feeling that grace was departing, and that in "Red" Russia it would not be present to the same extent as it was before the revolution, prompted true zealots of piety to join the White Movement. "It is enough to mention Prince Dmitry Shakhovskoy, the future Archbishop John of San Francisco, who, almost still a child, enlisted in the Volunteer Army, adding two years to his age." [9] In turn, "Sergianism," for which the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad long reproached the Moscow Patriarchate, is evaluated differently. What uncompromising steadfastness in faith can be expected from those whom grace had likewise left? The host of new martyrs and confessors of Russia is merely an exception that confirms the general tendency toward apostasy. The new martyrs were that harvest, the reaping, which the Lord gathered (cf. Rev. 14:16).

In general, the earthly history of the Church is a history that will come to an end in the times when "the Son of Man, when He comes, will He find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8). At that time, in the entire earthly Church, there will be only two ascetics of piety, "These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth" (Rev. 11:4). Yet the Church itself will continue to exist, for "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18). Aside from the possibility of salvation, expecting any supernatural gifts in the Church at that time would be naive.

In other words, we, as members of the earthly Church, are gradually receiving fewer and fewer supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit compared to previous generations of Christians. Our religious experience differs from the religious experience of earlier generations. We objectively can no longer experience what our predecessors did a hundred years ago, not to mention even earlier times. Let me emphasize once again—we do not lose even the slightest possibility of salvation, but we do lose, for example, the ability to perceive the unified grace-filled action of the Holy Spirit in the world, in Holy Scripture, and in the Church, thus spiritually becoming almost indistinguishable from materialists over time. "For idolaters, as for materialist philosophers (which is the same thing), nature is like Chinese script. To a foreigner or an uneducated person who sees a scroll of Chinese characters for the first time, they appear as a beautiful ornament, a wonderful pattern, a charming design, but without any inner meaning or significance. Imagine two Chinese men standing in front of a parchment covered with characters: one illiterate and the other literate. The illiterate man looks and sees only the charming pattern. All his attention is focused on the drawing of the writing, on the strokes and lines. Meanwhile, the literate man, without paying attention to the form of the characters, quickly follows the meaning, the thought, the spiritual significance contained in those ornate symbols. The illiterate person is captivated by the appearance of the signs, while the literate person sees the signs with his eyes but understands the meaning with his spirit. This is a truthful depiction, on the one hand, of idolaters (whether educated or uneducated), and on the other hand, of true Christians. The former have their senses and spirit captivated by the symbols, while the latter perceive the symbols with their senses but read the spirit with their spirit." [10] A vivid illustration of the saint's theses is, for example, the presentation by Professor Archimandrite Januarius (Ivliev) of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy at the theological dialogues between representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church and the German Episcopal Conference. "Archimandrite Januarius (Ivliev), speaking on 'The New Testament on Marriage and Family,' emphasized that the passages in the New Testament mentioning marriage and family are difficult to systematize, and attempts to create a general New Testament perspective on marriage are arbitrary. According to the speaker, 'the texts of different authors and traditions are more like the songs of different birds in a spring garden: the birds do not use a common score, their voices cannot be "harmonized," yet we hear their songs as beautiful and spiritual. Each bird sits on its own branch and sings in its own way.'" [11] Father Januarius believes this happens because "the Spirit blows where it wills" (John 3:8). But as we can see, the reason lies entirely elsewhere. And the continuation of the apostle John's thought only confirms the already established fact: "The Spirit blows where it wills, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit" (John 3:8). A person born of the Spirit only does not know from where (or when) the Holy Spirit comes and where it goes. This is the mystery of Divine Providence. "The Holy Spirit, sympathizing with our weakness, visits us even if we are impure; and if He finds that only the mind prays to Him with love for the truth, He descends upon it and dispels the whole phalanx of surrounding thoughts and sinful notions, turning it to the fervent desire for spiritual prayer." [12] Yet the righteous person clearly hears the voice of the Spirit and understands its meaning. This voice belongs to one Source, and it is the same in all times (cf. Heb. 13:8). Not recognizing the coherence of the Holy Spirit's narrative in words characterizes only the listener, not the hearer (cf. Matt. 11:15). Belonging to the Church of Christ keeps the door to the Kingdom of Heaven potentially open for us, to our Divine home (cf. John 14:2). But entering through this door largely depends on us. Our current situation is somewhat similar to the situation of the Old Testament Church before Christ's first coming. The Lord made a covenant with His people. "You are a chosen race, [...] a people for His own possession" (1 Peter 2:9). The word of the Covenant is unshakable, and this word is the Word of God Himself—Christ, who remains with us "always, to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:20) in His Body—the Church. In the earthly Church, however, only theologians are able to hear clearly and in full harmony the Word of God. "If you are a theologian, you will pray truly, and if you pray truly, you are a theologian." [13] A theologian is not a scholar; a theologian is a prayerful person. The result of prayer, its effectiveness, is accessible only to the one praying. The effectiveness of prayer is understood by a person exclusively as personal religious experience.

The apostle Paul points to the action of Divine Providence in the world, which includes "the plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in heaven and on earth under Christ" (Eph. 1:10). In Greek, the word "οἰκονομία" (economy) means "management of the household" or "arrangement of the household." "In the New Testament, this word is used in a figurative sense to mean God's management of His household, that is, God's plan for the salvation of the world He created, God's dispensation... In this same sense, the word 'economy' is most often used by the early Christian Fathers and teachers of the Church." [14] The understanding of "economy" as "condescension" or "pragmatism" is foreign to early Christian thought.

Taking the above into account, several conclusions can be drawn. First, the action of Divine economy consists in the spread or preservation of the Orthodox Church in territories where God has already entered into a mystical covenant with the people, primarily through the sacrament of Baptism. Second, the preservation of the Church through the power of Divine economy does not necessarily equate to the former abundance of the grace-filled gifts of the Holy Spirit. Third, the absence of the Church in certain territories, or its disappearance, its "departure," is also, to no lesser degree, the action of Divine economy.

Divine economy is sometimes forced to preserve the canonical Church in a particular territory solely to maintain the validity of the sacraments being performed. At times, the preservation of the Church’s canonicity is achieved by bypassing canonical rules, but always with the necessary reception of these processes by the fullness of the Church. The apparent paradox is easily understood if we remember that "the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27). Only the fullness of the Church’s consciousness legitimizes what occurs in violation of the Law. However, as a forced measure, such an economy (the management of the household) leads to a diminishment of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are poured out on all members of the Church. These gifts are given to the extent that a given Local Church (parish, diocese) is able to receive them. Individual zealots perceive this diminishment of grace as its loss. It becomes evident that they begin to seek ways to restore the intensity of the flow of living water (cf. John 7:38) or to find a place where the source of "living water" (Rev. 21:6) is no less intense compared to how "it used to be." In this search, any extremity is dangerous. On the one hand, falling away from the one common vine—Christ—threatens destruction, while on the other hand, the risk of dulling the sharpness of religious experience due to "compromise" with the general apostasy, which has led to this form of Divine economy, poses a threat. Here arises the question of the effectiveness of the sacraments for a person who lived in previously grace-filled conditions and now finds themselves "by the rivers of Babylon." Continuing the thought of St. Nicholas of Serbia, we might say that certain Christians who "see symbols with their senses but read the spirit with their spirit" may well read on the parchment with "hieroglyphs": "Go from here and turn eastward and hide by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan" (1 Kings 17:3, cf. Rev. 12:6). And then, to fail to heed the call for one who has heard it would be tantamount to destruction. "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" (Matt. 11:15).

 

NOTES

[1] Rite of Confession. Orthodox Worship, Translations of Liturgical Books. [Electronic resource] // PE "Azbuka of Faith". URL: http://azbyka.ru/bogosluzhenie/trebnik/treb08.shtml (accessed 20.06.2016).

[2] Bulgakov, S., Archpriest. On the Sacraments. The Sanctifying Power of the Church. [Electronic resource] // Electronic editions of works and biographical and critical materials. URL: http://www.magister.msk.ru/library/philos/bulgakov/bulgak27.htm (accessed 20.06.2016).

[3] Malkov, P. Introduction to Liturgical Tradition. Sacraments of the Orthodox Church, Chapter 1, Section 7. [Electronic resource] // PE "Azbuka of Faith". URL: http://azbyka.ru/vvedenie-v-liturgicheskoe-predanie-tainstva-pravoslavnoj-cerkvi (accessed 20.06.2016).

[4] Bulgakov, S., Archpriest. On the Sacraments. The Sanctifying Power of the Church, footnote 1. [Electronic resource] // Electronic editions of works and biographical and critical materials. URL: http://www.magister.msk.ru/library/philos/bulgakov/bulgak27.htm (accessed 20.06.2016).

[5] Malkov, P. Introduction to Liturgical Tradition. Sacraments of the Orthodox Church, Chapter 1, Section 7. [Electronic resource] // PE "Azbuka of Faith". URL: http://azbyka.ru/vvedenie-v-liturgicheskoe-predanie-tainstva-pravoslavnoj-cerkvi (accessed 20.06.2016).

[6] St. Mark the Ascetic. Word 4. For Those Doubting About Holy Baptism. // St. Mark the Ascetic. Moral and Ascetic Discourses. Sergiev Posad, 1911, p. 88. Cited by: Malkov, P. Introduction to Liturgical Tradition. Sacraments of the Orthodox Church, Chapter 1, Section 7. [Electronic resource] // PE "Azbuka of Faith". URL: http://azbyka.ru/vvedenie-v-liturgicheskoe-predanie-tainstva-pravoslavnoj-cerkvi (accessed 20.06.2016).

[7] The Third Hour Prayer. // Third Hour. Orthodox Worship, Translations of Liturgical Books. [Electronic resource] // PE "Azbuka of Faith". URL: http://azbyka.ru/bogosluzhenie/chasoslov/chas08.shtml (accessed 20.06.2016).

[8] Divine Liturgy of Our Father John Chrysostom. Orthodox Worship, Translations of Liturgical Books. [Electronic resource] // PE "Azbuka of Faith". URL: http://azbyka.ru/bogosluzhenie/slugebnik/slug04.shtml (accessed 20.06.2016).

[9] Polyansky, A.V. White Guard. [Electronic resource] // Saint John. URL: http://ioann.ucoz.ua/publ/nojabr/belaja_gvardija/109-1-0-304 (accessed 20.06.2016).

[10] Nicholas of Serbia, St. Symbols and Signals, Chapter 7. [Electronic resource] // PE "Azbuka of Faith". URL: http://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Nikolaj_Serbskij/simvoly-i-signaly/1 (accessed 20.06.2016).

[11] Theological Conversations between Representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church and the German Episcopal Conference took place in St. Petersburg. [Electronic resource] // Official Website of the St. Petersburg Metropolia of the Russian Orthodox Church, News, June 16, 2016. URL: http://mitropolia.spb.ru/news/av/?id=103427#ad-image-0 (accessed 20.06.2016).

[12] Evagrius Ponticus. On Prayer, Chapter 63. [Electronic resource] // PE "Azbuka of Faith". URL: http://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Evagrij_Pontijskij/slovo-o-molitve/ (accessed 20.06.2016).

[13] Evagrius Ponticus. On Prayer, Chapter 61. [Electronic resource] // PE "Azbuka of Faith". URL: http://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Evagrij_Pontijskij/slovo-o-molitve/ (accessed 20.06.2016).

[14] Vassa (Larina), Nun. The Principle of Economy in the Church and ROCOR under Metropolitan Anastassy. Report at the Orthodox Conference "The Paths of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 20th Century." [Electronic resource] // Archive.is. URL: http://archive.is/EWp2 (accessed 20.06.2016).

 

Russian source: https://bogoslov.ru/article/5571137