The Lord is the strength of His people, He is the saving refuge of His anointed. O save Thy people, and bless Thy heritage; be Thou their shepherd, and carry them forever.
Psalm 28:8-9
The phrase “Save Your people and bless Your inheritance” is found two times in the Divine Liturgy. It occurs in this prayer, and it is said at the conclusion of Holy Communion. In both instances, it is a plea to God for salvation and blessing. It is an acknowledgement that salvation comes from the Lord and from Him alone. Salvation is not something we claim for ourselves. It is also not something that occurs in a defined moment. Rather it is a continuous process. In the Orthodox world, we do not say “I am saved”, or “I was saved on (date).” Rather, the correct thought is three-fold.
I have been saved. A plan has been put in motion by God and also with our participation that can lead to salvation. The plan begins with God’s covenant with Abraham, which leads to the salvific work of Jesus Christ—His death on the cross and Resurrection from the dead. There is no salvation without these events. Through our baptism, we join the body of Christ and enter onto the road that can lead to salvation. This does happen at a specific time.
I am being saved. The journey to salvation is a choice we must make continually. There is no “once saved, always saved” in Orthodoxy. We make choices every day that lead us either towards or away from salvation. Every choice to sin is a step backward, and every choice to love, serve and repent of sin is a step forward. “Spiritual warfare” is the term used to describe the battle between these two opposing things, and it is a battle that is waged every day.
I can be saved. Salvation is a combination of faith, works and grace. Faith is our belief in the saving work of Jesus Christ and our desire to follow Him, in other words the “I have been saved” paragraph. Work is what we are doing today in our journey to salvation, repentance, service, forgiveness, charity, obedience to the commandments. This is the “I am being saved” paragraph. The ultimate entrance into the Kingdom of God is by an act of His grace. God decides who will enter the Kingdom of heaven and who will not. It is not for us to put ourselves in, or to say one cannot possibly go. We can be saved through God’s grace.
The analogy of a cup, rocks and water illustrates the salvation equation. A cup is a structure that holds something, but when the cup is empty, it is of no use. The cup represents our faith, the structure of what we believe. The rocks represent works. Pour rocks on a table and they have no form. Works without faith end up being narcissistic. An empty cup is like an empty faith. So, we put the rocks in the cup, we combine faith and works. But even a cup that is filled with the smallest of rocks will not be full. This is where the water comes in. Grace is the water that fills the empty spaces in the cup. The equation is achieved when all are used.
In asking God to “save Your people,” we are asking for His assistance, guidance and strength in the spiritual warfare we fight daily. We are asking Him to strengthen our faith, to guide our works, and to bestow on us His grace.
Moving to the phrase “bless Your inheritance,” we are the inheritors of God’s plan for salvation and all that this entails—His love, our faith, our work, His mercy. We take our place in a long line of inheritors. We are asking God to bless our generation, the particular time in which we live, the unique challenges that we face. We are also asking God to preserve our generation and to bring about future generations and bless them in the same way.
In our Christian identity, we probably do not think of ourselves as “inheritors” or “trustees” or maybe even as children. God is our Father. We are His children. We are inheritors of all that has come before us. We are also trustees, in the sense that what we hold is temporary. We will pass on from this life, but before we do, it is incumbent that we pass on our faith, our inheritance, to those who will come after us. All of this points to a faith and a journey that is continually in motion. It also points to a faith that has been passed down to us from the generations before us and must pass through us to the generations coming after us.
O Lord, bless those who praise You and sanctify those who put their trust in You. Save Your people and bless Your inheritance. Protect the whole body of Your Church. Sanctify those who love the beauty of Your house. Glorify them in return by Your divine power, and do not forsake us who place our hope in You. Grant peace to Your world, to Your churches, to the clergy, to those in public service, to the armed forces, and to all Your people. For every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from You, the Father of Lights and to You we send up glory, and thanksgiving, and worship, to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
The journey to salvation is a daily one. Choose to take a step forward today.
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