Welcome to answers from an apostolic faith.
In the name Father and Son, the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.
Sometimes, Orthodox youth or even adults feel like the Church has too many rules. Some ask: Why does the Church have rules in the first place? Isn’t the Church divine? Isn’t God above rules? Why does the Coptic rite, for example, require us to remove our shoes before partaking of the Eucharist? Why do we need to fast nine hours before? And so on...
We begin to appreciate the purpose of such rules when we realize that the Church is different from any other entity in the universe. The Church is theanthropic. She is both divine and human. She is the intersection between both. In other words, it is true that the Church is divine, but the Church is also us humans. We are the body of Christ. And where humans are, weakness exists. So, the human element in the Church requires rules to function.
But let us be clear: these Church rules are in no way similar to secular law. For example, their purpose is for our salvation, our holiness. Their purpose is for all of us to live the will of God. In other words, these rules are similar to a canon or a measure or a ruler which we evaluate ourselves against to ensure we are walking in the right direction. Like St. Paul mentioned to the Thessalonians, he says:
'' 1 (...) We urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; 2 for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification...'' (1 Thessalonians 4:1-3)
Here, St. Paul is referring to certain commandments given to them that helped them in knowing how to live Christianity and please God. It is the same with the Church spiritual rules. Through them, the Church ensures that we live a healthy spiritual life, according to God’s will; that we are walking toward our sanctification, toward sainthood.
But again, why so many rules? Some seem like details. The Church would respond: Remember the little foxes that spoiled the vines that King Solomon spoke about? 1 These little details, these little sins that we do and think they are harmless? They actually do affect us. When God was condemning the Pharisees, he said to them the following:
1 This refers to the Song of Solomon 2:15.
'' 42 (...) Woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.'' (Luke 11:42)
Christ’s teaching was not focused only on love and justice, but also to give attention to the little details. Truly, sainthood doesn’t come easy. And to attain this, we have to work toward perfection in every aspect of our lives. But you might say: Well, I don’t want to be a saint! And that is your choice. But the will of God for you is your sanctification, your sainthood. And therefore, the Church, being this divine-human entity, attempts through the Spirit to make God’s will present in us humans, and therefore, these rules reflect this objective.
Another aspect that has to be mentioned in such a discussion is the understanding of the body of Christ. As you know, we are all one in Christ through partaking of the Eucharist. All the members of that one body ought to live a communal spiritual life. We need to pray together, fast together, read together, which leads to this concept of κοινωνία (kinonía), of fellowship.
This concept is more than just people sitting in the same room. Rather, it is people being one with one another, mirroring the Holy Trinity. In that understanding, it is quite normal that we find standard spiritual rules established by the Church across the board. These rules apply to Orthodox Christians throughout the world regardless of their location, age, and so on.
The main issue we face, however, is in the applications of these rules. Some resist or reject them altogether, thinking these rules are not spiritual, although they are. As explained, these spiritual rules are there for our edification. By rejecting them, I put myself above them and create for myself my own set of rules. Usually, my rules are more relaxed than what the Church has planned for me. So, this ideology leads to spiritual dryness, which is not God’s will for me.
Others go about these rules in a very legalistic way. In other words, they remove the spirit from the rule and apply it as secular law. This is no better. Without the spirit, these rules don’t bring any fruit. Therefore, we always need to approach those rules with a spiritual mindset and allowing those rules to edify us through our obedience. I therefore encourage any Church servant or leader to properly teach these rules and to focus on the spirituality behind them. Know them, live them, and teach them.
Let us give an example to conclude this video: Why do we fast for 9 hours before the Eucharist? The idea is simple, really. But before tackling the 9 hours, we should first address the need to fast as we pray. Referring to Mark 9:29, the Church says, in the fraction of the Great Lent, the following:
''And He [Christ] taught us that fasting and prayer cast out demons when He said, This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer and fasting. Fasting and prayer are those
which raised Elijah to heaven and saved Daniel from the lions’ den... [and so on]'' (Great Lent Fraction)
The fact that a certain type of demon cannot be exorcised other than by fasting and prayer clearly implies that, along with faith, there's a certain power to this combination. There's a certain spiritual depth there. Therefore, as we're about to live a journey of repentance in the liturgy and to partake of God Himself in the Eucharist, it is very proper or even essential for us to fast as we pray the liturgy.
Now, why 9 hours? Does this mean if I fast 8.5 hours, I cannot partake of the Eucharist? Of course not. If we were asked to fast before the liturgy without being given a specific number of hours, than some would fast 3 hours, while others 12 or more. But the idea, again, is that we are one body. We are knit together in the mystery of the Church. And therefore, it is very proper to collectively follow the same spiritual rule. St. Justin the Martyr says the following:
''Those who believe in the truth of our teachings, first of all, promise to live according to that teaching. Then we teach them how to pray and entreat God with fasting for the remission of their sins; and we the faithful pray and fast with them.'' (St. Justin Martyr)
He says we pray and fast with them. He's emphasizing the meaning of the one body again. So simply put, the Church has therefore decided a certain amount of hours that is achievable for nearly everyone.
As His Grace Bishop Raphael puts it, if someone eats lunch at noon and supper at 5 - 6 pm, then he's not eating for those 5 - 6 hours, but do we consider him to be fasting? No, because he already ate. 9 hours is just enough to say that I am fasting in the body. But with this bodily fasting, we also need to be fasting in the spirit, fasting from sin. In obedience, let us therefore keep those 9 hours of fasting, that we may approach the Eucharist with reverence.
Remember: Know your faith, live your faith, and teach your faith. And glory be to God forever. Amen