I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. (1 Tim. 3:15)He [the Father] put all things under His [the Son’s] feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Eph. 1:22-23)
Today is the Leavetaking of the Nativity of our Lord. Today, among other passages, we are given these two to reflect upon. A critical part of the incarnation is the establishment of the Body of Christ, the church, which is “the pillar and ground of the truth” and “the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”
It is fashionable these days to reject the church and claim to love Jesus instead. But as one early Christian said, you cannot have God as your Father without having the church as your mother.
Our Lord did not come to establish a better philosophy, a holy book, or a group of people loosely associated with His name, but rather to bring men out of the captivity of sin and death and into the ark of salvation, His body, the church. The church is the hospital for the soul, filled with spiritually sick people who are moving toward healing and wholeness through partaking in the mysteries of grace.
Nativity icon is from the OCA’s website.