Work of the People

Titus 2:11-14 - For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

I recently visited a monastery which took my breath away. It was all sand colored stone with red tiled roofs and domes with crosses atop. The ramp leading up to the monastery was also made of stone with a trellis overhead and life bursting forth out of the winter season. There were geraniums, bougainvilleas, and more life being planted. Flanked on either side were pools of water and a baptismal font to the left that was in a gazebo-styled peninsula surrounded by this man-made lake. Inside the monastery there were stone passages narrow enough for one person and around each corner there was another view of the cross. The church within the monastery was built over a cave and sat within the center of the monastery as the centerpiece of life. Inside the church there is an ancient cave which had been used for worship dating back 1,400 years ago. The monastics there had been martyred without any historical details for us to know their names, but only recently was this site rediscovered and being revived into its former glory. The land surrounding the church was built up in multiple levels with all types of trees bearing abundant fruit in its orchard.

Upon speaking with the monks I learned the more recent and inspiring story of this monastery. Some 14 years ago a man had given his life over to sinful passions and the use of drugs to the point of nearly destroying himself. People were scared of him and wanted nothing to do with him. At the end of his rope while in the hospital, he got a visitor. It was an Orthodox Christian monk-priest who found the man in a wild drugged state and not in his right mind. The hieromonk told him,

“Your father was a builder, so you know how to build things too. I need you to build a chapel on top of a cave for me.”

Without any form of judgment or attempt to evangelize the man, the hieromonk took him under his wing and believed in him. While the man worked on the church, the hieromonk taught him about Christ, repentance, how to resist the temptations and with time, overcoming the addictive and enslaving passions. After seeing the work of his hands on the church and starting to lead a repentant life, he found the confidence and courage to keep building, and building, and building. More and more people came to help in the effort. The once wild man was given the Christian name John for John the Baptist. God transformed his life from unruly and destructive to self-controlled and peaceful. From lonely and abandoned to married and loved. From having no one to care for to having three children with his wife. First he and others built the church, then the rest of the monastery with small lakes and bridges and walkways through gardens. The people all worked together to create something with John that was bigger than themselves. They built it for Christ so that everyone in the community could come there and pray, worship, and find a solace.

He and many others with him built that monastery with their own hands. In fact, the monks told me that the people built 80% of the monastery with 20% of the effort being done by the five monks. While the monks could have gone fundraising to companies and bigger institutions to raise money and finish the monastery quickly, they refused to do that. They wanted to work with the people so that when it was complete, they could say that it was built by the people.

Years ago I had misunderstood monasticism to be too withdrawn and potentially not fulfilling the call to go and baptize all nations in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I had thought that the funds given to them were supporting a lifestyle for monks to be isolated from people and thus missing out on their evangelistic calling. Yet, over time I learned how very integrated with the community they really are and how welcoming they are. Their churches have even more opening hours than our own local churches. They feed the hungry, they pray for the sick, they house the pilgrims, they share the Gospel message with those who want to know, and pray for everyone in the world. Some monasteries even double as orphanages or places for people to seek spiritual deliverance. This monastery and many others I have visited are not withdrawn and they are not closed off from the world. Instead they are a light upon a hill which cannot be hidden. Their selfless light calls out to the world to come to Christ.

I was invited in to the refectory to eat with them and was fed like a king by the local women who sat at the table with me and the hieromonk. There was love and kindness which could not be faked. There was no false hospitality in anyone’s eyes or service. In fact, they were zealous for good works. When I tried to help, they did not want me to do all the helping. They wanted to share in the works of service so that everyone could have a hand in serving one another. It was like a musical chairs of serving one another with sincerity and love. They were innocent as doves and good as they come. But while I ate in their refectory, John continued to work outside.

I visited him while he mixed cement and laid stones and spoke with him about his work. He was so full of joy and happiness. Having seen the depths of darkness, there seemed to be nothing that could steal that light of Christ from him now. I asked him if he was buying the supplies and he was reluctant to offer it up, but eventually he told me that it was not his company buying the supplies, but his everyday money. I learned from the monks that God had transformed him into the joyful man I now see. People had once been afraid of him, but now they trusted him. They would call him up to do construction work for them. Christ had transformed him from a man that people avoided to a joyful man that the community adored. John’s offering to God was his skill as a builder, his money for supplies, and the sacrifice of his time. As I left the monastery, I marveled to see the Holy Spirit leading the work of the people. I can only imagine what it would be like to participate in a liturgy with them one Sunday in that tiny cave.