Whose Scum Is Not Gone From It

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Keraza Magazine issue 33-34, August 25, 2017

The Lord sent His word on the mouth of Ezekiel the prophet rebuking Jerusalem and describing her status saying, "Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is in it, and whose scum is not gone from it! Bring it out piece by piece, on which no lot has fallen...Then set the pot empty on the coals, that it may become hot and its bronze may burn, that its filthiness may be melted in it, that its scum may be consumed. She has grown weary with lies, and her great scum has not gone from her. Let her scum be in the fire" (Ezekiel 24:6,11-12). The scum is the rust of the copper. It is a green substance that accumulates by time over the vessels made of copper making them less brilliant and unhealthy for cooking. Therefore, the cooking vessels made of copper had to be regularly polished. In this Biblical passage, the Lord describes Jerusalem, His beloved city, as a pot of copper whose scum was in it, and she toiled a lot yet her scum did not go from it. There was only one single solution for her which was to be put in fire to be purified from that scum which accumulated along many years.

This is the situation of us all. We are chosen vessels for the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, layers of toxic rust had been accumulated in our heart along many years. This rust had corrupted the beauty of God’s image within us and quenched the brilliance of our light. It also ruined the good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. It is well known that copper is the symbol of power. Therefore, the accumulation of scum on it means the gradual depletion of its power by time.

What is then the scum accumulated within our hearts? And how does it accumulate? It is actually the accumulated layers of repeated sins and chronic passions due to the absence of daily repentance and purification. It is the accumulated heart cruelty and emotional indifference that make one insensitive towards his brethren and shuts up his heart from him. It is the corruption of the old man that blasphemes against the Holy Spirit everyday refusing to listen to His counsel. It is the rust of the spiritual senses that turns man to become blind, deaf, and unable to pick up the signs and instructions of heavens. It is a debased mind wrapped by the darkness of this age.

In the past, there was a profession called "copper polisher" who used to walk around villages and the ladies there would bring to him all the copper vessels asking him to polish them. He had to build a strong fire then throw the copper vessel in it and keep rubbing it with sand and tin until its scum would go from it. He would keep doing that until the vessel restore its brilliance.

Fire was the solution that the Lord offered to Jerusalem to free her from the scum of her pot. Ezekiel clarified well how she toiled a lot yet she was unable to get rid of the layers of green rust that had accumulated within her. This is the case with the man who thinks that he can purify himself with the self-righteousness. Purification is the work of the Holy Spirit within our hearts. We cannot get rid of the layers of rust accumulated within the vessels of our souls unless we surrender to the fiery work of the Holy Spirit.

Let us fix our gaze on our Christ, the all-holy, Who was described by saying, "His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them" (Mark 9:3). He has no scum within Him and we become purified when His image glows within us.

Bishop Youssef
Bishop, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States