The Virtue of Uprightness in a Person’s LifeWeekly Wednesday Meeting – H.H. Pope Tawadros II

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. One God. Amen. May His blessing and His mercy rest upon us from now and forevermore. Amen.I will read a portion from Psalm 25:1 To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.2 O my God, I trust in You; Let me not be ashamed; Let not my enemies triumph over me.3 Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed; Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.4 Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths.5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day.6 Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses, For they are from of old.7 Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; According to Your mercy remember me, For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.8 Good and upright is the Lord; Therefore He teaches sinners in the way.9 The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way.10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.11 For Your name’s sake, O Lord, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.12 Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses.13 He himself shall dwell in prosperity, And his descendants shall inherit the earth.14 The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant.15 My eyes are ever toward the Lord, For He shall pluck my feet out of the net.(Psalm 25:1-15)The grace of God the Father be with us all. Amen.Next week we celebrate the Glorious Feast of the Cross, I wish you blessings. We celebrate the Feast of Nayrouz (the Coptic New Year) for the first 17 days of the month of Tout, and then on the 17th, 18th, and 19th of Tout we celebrate the Feast of the Cross. We celebrate the Feast of the Cross three times each year:1- 10th of Baramhat (March 19th)2- 2- 17th of Tout (September 27th) … and these first two are celebrated on fixed calendar dates.3- 3- Great Holy Friday, which is the original day to celebrate the Feast of the Cross.The Virtue of UprightnessWhen we meditate on the cross we find that the contemplations are endless; there are so many, but today I want to contemplate with you upon one of the virtues that the cross teaches us. The cross teaches us the virtue of uprightness (as the cross itself is upright); the virtue of uprightness (steadfastness, rightness, firmness, being established) in a person’s life.Every day you pray and say, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Ps 51:10), and in math we learn that a straight line is the shortest distance between two points, and so the line between earth and heaven is not to be a line that zig zags but should be a straight line.And the idea of uprightness or straightforwardness can be seen in every aspect of our lives, for example, when you pray and lift up your hands, you are establishing a straight line between you and heaven; when you sit before your Bible and read, you are constructing a straight line between the Word of God and your life and your heart; when you attend the Liturgy, the Prayers, the Tasbeha Praises, it is all in this same way – you are setting your hand and your feet on the straight path.And I want to remind you of something important: every time you see the cross, it is presenting you with a message on the importance of uprightness in life, uprightness in our ways, and of the uprightness that is to direct every day of our lives.And do not forget that at its very early beginnings, as we read in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, Christians were called “followers of the Way,” and in its original meaning, the word “way” means “straightness” or “rightness.”Also, whenever a country wants to build a highway, it always builds it straight, and so why does it end up having winding side roads? Because other towns come about and want access to the main road, and the more towns, the more winding byways, and so on. But as for the main roads and highways, you find that they are straight.And as the early Christians were called “followers of the Way,” Christ also used this term when He said, “You are the light of the world” (Mt 5:14). And you may ask me what light has to do with straightness, and I would tell you that from a physics perspective, light travels in straight lines, and so when Christ told us “You are the light of the world,” He did not mean that we are going to light up – we are not going to light up like the lights we see all around us – but we are going to light up by the uprightness of our lives, by the uprightness of our manners. And so, “You are the light of the world” means, “you are the ones who are able to offer the image of uprightness in this world” –uprightness in every area of life.Uprightness means that what a person says and does is one and the same – not two faced, not one way in front of people and another way behind them, or says certain things in public but other things when behind closed doors, this is not uprightness.Do not forget that our Church is called the “Orthodox” Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church. The word “orthodox” means straightforward – the straightforwardness of thought, of faith, of creed. Straightforwardness.And if God wills and we live, I would like that when you celebrate the upcoming Feast of the Cross, that you be very absorbed in thoughts about uprightness in life, but before I tell you how we can sow uprightness in our lives, let us look at an example of it. The best example of uprightness is that of the prophet Daniel and the three young men (refer to Daniel Chapter 3 – link: https://biblehub.com/niv/daniel/3.htm )Daniel was a young man like any other young man and he had three friends whom we call “the young men,” and they were taken into exile. They were taken from their Jewish homeland and exiled to the region that is today known as Northern Iraq and Iran. When you are taken into exile you become foreigners, you are put to work as slaves, and you become people who have no social status. And so, what are you going to do Daniel? And what are you going to do O you three young men?We know that the secret to Daniel’s success was that when the king issued an edict that anyone who wants to pray must only pray before the gold statue that stood very high, that all “… must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace” (Dan 3:5-6), and yet these men worshipped the Living God, so how would they ever pray before the gold statue?And in the Book of Daniel we read that Daniel would enter his room and pray and that his window would be open. A long time ago, homes were all on the ground level – there were no buildings as we have today – and so anyone walking along the road would be able to look inside the house and see what people inside the house were doing. And so Daniel would be praying inside his home and he would also be recalling his homeland, “By the Rivers of Babylon” (Ps 137:1) – as we also pray from the Psalms. He would remember his homeland as he stood before the Rivers of Babylon – or in the kingdom of Digla and the Euphrates.What preserves uprightness?1- A life of prayerAnd so the first point is that the thing which preserved the uprightness and faithfulness of Daniel and the three young men was their prayers, and that they did not deviate from the Living God.2- Commitment to God, no matter what I stand to loseThe second thing was their commitment to the Living God even in the face of threats of punishment, that despite the king setting up the image of gold and commanding that everyone must worship before it and that whoever did not would be punished, they were willing to be punished, “But we will never forsake the Living God.”3- Do not change your colors: remain true, unchangingAnother very beautiful thing is that the prophet Daniel and the three young men did not fall into the sin of “changing colors,” the sin of being changeable, like a chameleon, being one color in the morning, another color in the afternoon – and of course this is a characteristic of snakes and of other earthly-crawling creatures, they change colors, but this is a very despicable trait for a person to have, to change their colors. But Daniel and these young men were not so, they remained the same before God and before people, they remained the same, unchanged.And so what was their punishment? Their punishment was very severe. Daniel was thrown in the lions’ den, which is a pit dug in the ground, filled with lions, and they would throw a person into it. This was a form of punishment but it was also a form of capital punishment – murder, and the three young men were cast into the fiery furnace, which is another mode of capital punishment.But the beautiful thing is that Daniel was not eaten by the lions and the fire did not devour the three young men. And so we ask the question: why not? They were humans, weren’t they? I will tell you why, because they had a strong backing, and this support was their uprightness, the uprightness of their lives.When Daniel was thrown into the den of lions we can say that the lions became like cats, they became afraid of him. And in some of the world’s illustrations of this scene, we see Daniel standing in front of the lions and the lions being afraid of him, rather than he being afraid of them.And when the king came asking about Daniel the next day – because they were friends – Daniel responded to him and said, “My God sent His angel, and He shut the mouths of the lions” (Dan 6:22). But right before saying that, Daniel said, “O king, live forever!”, even though it was the king who had ordered that Daniel be thrown into the lions’ den. This is loyalty and faithfulness, that the king is due respect, “O king, live forever! My God sent His angel, and He shut the mouths of the lions!”I plead with you to imagine this scene with me. All that Daniel was able to do was to pray, and even if just by saying, “Lord,” this too is a form of prayer, but the result was that the mouths of the lions were shut. They stood terrified. Uprightness terrifies the devils. And I suppose there is a beautiful Egyptian proverb that says, “Walk uprightly and your enemy will not know what to do with you.” Your enemy will not know what to do with you when you walk uprightly in your mannerisms and in your life. Walk uprightly.And so Daniel, by his uprightness and his prayers, had a strong support and backing so that when he went into the pit he may have been an afraid human being, but, “My God sent His angel, and He shut the mouths of the lions.”When the three young men were thrown into the fiery furnace that was “heated seven times hotter than usual,” meaning that the fire was heated so high so that they would be destroyed as quickly as possible, so much so that we read in the Holy Bible that the ropes they had been tied with were burned, but as for them, they walked about in the fiery furnace as if, as they say in the Tasbeha, as if the furnace were a cool dew. Like a person walking along the waterside, the breeze is sweet and the temperature is mild.Uprightness gives a person support, a backing to lean upon in his life, in his service work, in his family, and in his community. And we hear of many nations who participate in something called the “corruption index,” and they will say, “This nation is at 50% and that nation is at 70% and this nation is at 5%.” What is the story here? The story is that corruption is the opposite of uprightness, and the more a person walks in uprightness, the less corruption will be found his life.Uprightness gives power to your words; it makes your words right, and also, if you were to think about or plan to do anything, whether a minor thing or a big project, it will succeed and accomplish much good. But there is another person whose way is to go round and round about a matter, and to try to use street smarts and so on, but he accomplishes nothing. Uprightness is so important, and so now I want to tell you of 4 simple ways that we can sow uprightness in our lives.4 ways to sow uprightness in your life1-Pay attention to the little thingsNumber one: pay attention to the little things. There are many little things in our lives, like time, for example. There is a person to whom 5 o’clock is like 6 o’clock is like 7 o’clock – no difference, but there is another person who manages time by the minute! He pays attention because to him, every minute is of value.Another example is to pay attention to how you look at things – the purity of your glance. Sometimes a person will look at things in an impure way. Pay attention to how your eyes look at things. There is a beautiful statement that says, “Shyness is more attractive than beauty.” I will say it again, “Shyness is more attractive than beauty,” and in the spiritual life, shyness is what we would call “reverence” or “fear”.Another example of a “little” matter is friendship, how to be a loyal person to your friend. There are people who sell their friends out and that is why it is said, “A friend in need is a friend in deed,” meaning that it is during my times of trouble that I discover who my real friends are – standing by me, supporting me.Also pay attention to the words that come forth from you. A single word coming out of your mouth can cause your conscience to convict you for days and years – just a word can do this.Also pay attention to your deeds – anything you do, whether a personal thing or a public act, pay attention to this matter. And so the first thing is to pay attention to the little things.When we read in the Gospel of our teacher St. Matthew it says, “I was hungry and you fed Me, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink,” and they said to Him, “Lord, when did we see You this way? When did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and gave You something to drink?” He said to them, “Inasmuch you did it to the least of these My brethren” (cf. Mt 25:35-40). And so even the plate of food I offer someone, which is a very small thing, but it sows within a person the spirit of uprightness and the spirit of responsibility. And so this is the first point, to pay attention to the little things.2-Refuse every temptationNumber two is to refuse any temptation that comes to you. Going back to Daniel, he was a man of large build – tall and wide, and so they wanted to take him to be one of the king’s guards. So they said to him, “Come, let us take you and feed you the best of foods. And they took him before a table filled with all kinds of delicious and delectable, royal foods” (cf. Dan 1:8). He probably saw food he had never seen before! So he asked, “What is this food?” They said, “This food is the sacrifices that were offered to the idols, the statues.”Daniel said, “Oh, no, these I can’t even come near!” It says, “But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine” – the royal food is the delicious foods, and Daniel would not even drink any of the drinks offered him. So then what will you eat Daniel? He said, “I will just eat beans” (cf. Dan 1:12). They said, “What will beans do for you? They will make your body weak and if you eat this way the king will be angry with us.” He said, “Just test me for 10 days” (cf. Dan 1:12), and in these 10 days he succeeded.Refuse any temptations. You live just one life, do not let anyone tempt you with anything, not with a bodily temptation, nor a financial temptation, nor with a power-position, nor with high status. Refuse every temptation.We read in the Old Testament History books about queen Vashti (Esther Chapter 1). King Ahasuerus wanted to show off her beauty before the kingdom’s highest officials. Vashti was an idol-worshipper but she had principles. He wanted to show off her beauty in whatever way – to have her come in and dance or sing or do whatever, but when he sent to have her called in she refused to come, and a person who refuses the king loses their position, and she was a queen, so she would be kicked out of the kingdom, and she was in fact kicked out of the kingdom, but she refused every temptation.Be smart, do not allow anyone to change you, do not let anyone buy you out for anything, no matter what it may be. You are the son of God, and the son of the Lord is always precious and cannot be purchased for any price, no matter what that price or thing is. And this is what we see in the lives of the martyrs and the saints – no one could ever buy them out, never.And so be careful and remember the examples of queen Vashti and of righteous Joseph. Righteous Joseph was also exposed to many temptations, including being thrown in a pit and being thrown in prison. His situation was very dire, but because he remained upright the result was that he became the second in command to the Pharaoh of Egypt and the overseer of all the Egyptians, as we read in the Old Testament history (Genesis Chapter 41).3-Do not be hypocriticalThe third point is that you not be a hypocrite. To be a hypocrite is to have a divided persona, and this is one of the most common weaknesses that people fall into, hypocrisy.This is a story that all of you know but I like to retell it to you every now and then, about the boy who was sitting next to his father and when the phone rang the boy answered. And his father said to him, “Tell the person on the phone, ‘Baba is not here,’” even though his father was sitting right there. You see?Or how about the little girl whom when their neighbor came to visit them kept going around in circles around this guest. Not understanding why the little girl was going around her in circles, the neighbor asked, “My daughter, why are you doing this?” The girl said, “Because mama says that you are two-faced, so I’m looking for your other face.” You see?Or like the person who said, “Come, I’m going to play eye-doctor and take out the speck that is in your eye” (cf. Mt 7:3-5) – a speck is like a little piece of ash. Can you imagine someone telling you, “Come here and let me take this piece of ash out of your eye”? While all the while he is not aware that he has a piece of wood in his own eye! And having a plank of wood in his own eye means that he cannot even see, and so he cannot even see to perform this surgical act.Beware of hypocrisy. Beware of being two-faced. The more you live in uprightness the more you will be respected, respected. There is a person who appears to be an angel in public, but in private he is a devil. Oh, in the world he is an angel, completely, but when he is alone? And by the way, we see this many times in the problems people have in their personal lives, and such issues of course find their roots in psychological issues and things of that nature.There was a king by the name of Saul and he had a David, and this David was successful, and although he (Saul) was the king, he was trying to kill him (David). The king is trying to kill this young boy, as if the king had two personas, and this is why you need to beware of hypocrisy as you would a serpent. Let your life be true, let your heart pray every day and say, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Ps 51:10), and the more you walk in this uprightness the more you will be able to see the cross in your life more clearly. 4-Keep your emotions pureThe final thing is that you always keep your emotions pure. From the cross the Lord Christ said to our mother Mary and John the beloved, “Woman, behold your son! … Behold, your mother!” (cf. Jn 19:26, 27). While He is on the cross He still cares for the emotions of a mother and the emotions of sonship.And as they were crucifying Him, and this one and that one cursing Him, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,” (Lk 23:34), and when the thief on the cross next to Him, whose life had been full of wickedness, said to Him, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom,” to him He said, “Today you will be with Me in Paradise” (cf. Lk 23:42, 43). Pure emotions.Train yourself to always have pure emotions, or as it is often called in today’s vernacular, to “be transparent.” Be transparent before God and before people. In the Book of Acts it tells us, “I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men” (Acts 24:16). Toward God and people.ConclusionRighteousness is a virtue that we practice and that we attain from the cross, and in the Psalm I read, Psalm 25:8, it says, “Good and upright is the Lord; Therefore He teaches sinners in the way,” as if to say that the sinner walks in crooked paths but the righteous person walks in a straight path.On the Feast of the Cross we remember this uprightness and we examine ourselves in this area. We celebrate the Feast of the Cross for three days and they are three joyous days. May you be joyous with the cross and when you pray, place uprightness before you and ask the Lord, “Lord, grant me to live with an upright spirit, that my words be upright, that my thoughts be upright, that my whole life be upright.”To our God be all the glory and honor, from now and forevermore. Amen.8