Title: Beirut Flash Mob sings 'Christ is Risen' Source:
YouTube URL Source:https://youtu.be/o0ZS9o6NLnM Published:May 1, 2015 Author:SAt7Arabic Post Date:2015-05-01 11:46:56 by Orthodoxa Keywords:Christ is Risen, Beirut, Orthodox Christian Views:4277 Comments:4
Poster Comment:
The English captions are translating it as "Jesus is Risen" but it more properly is "Christ is Risen" or more literally as "The Messiah (Al Massih) is Risen".
Does this ever happen in the US? Yes, in every home that celebrates Paskha.
Christ has risen. He has truly risen.
Very good, but you know that is not what I am asking.
I think that Bob's question was not whether all Orthodox sing that particular hymn (We do, abeit in many different languages and melodies) but the rhetorical question of do American Christians boldly and unashamedly proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ in the public square like those Arab Christians were doing in Lebanon.
I remember years ago listening to a reporter asking the late Pope Shenouda III of the Coptic Orthodox Church whether he worried that his Church in Egypt might be wiped out due to the fact of Muslim persecution of Christians in Egypt. He replied that he did not fear for his Church, that it had been persecuted harshly for most of its history and that Jesus Christ had promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against it -- he said that he feared more for Churches in the West where we have complete freedom to worship God without any fear of persecution and yet stay home or do something else besides going to Church.
While of course there are some American Christians who do indeed proclaim Jesus in the public square to the best of their ability, it should spur us to do more when our brethren in other lands do so under much more difficult circumstances.
And as a note, while the use of the "flash mob" gimmick was an innovation to help get people's attention -- the Orthodox Church has always sought to proclaim the truth about Jesus Christ in the public square, at least when we live up to what we are supposed to do. Here's a video of a traditional Russian Orthodox congregation parading through the streets of their city proclaiming that Christ is Risen.
At least in my humble opinion, Christians of all confessions -- Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox -- should strive to follow Jesus' command not to hide our Light under a bushel. We have the complete freedom to do so here, we have no excuse.
