Ukrainian Orthodoxy		Orthodoxie ukrainienne

The Adventure of Battle!

Very Reverend Ihor Kutash kutash@unicorne.org

(Twenty-seventh Sunday after Pentecost)

We have referred in these Sunday meditations to the conviction that Christians adhere to with immense firmness that this is God’s world. He is it’s Maker and it’s Lord and that no competitor can truly challenge Him with any success. The adversary, the devil (the name "satan" means just that) does his best to oppose God it seems, but his efforts are always foreseen by God. They are accounted for in God’s plan and actually end up by adding to God’s victory. (This can be clearly discerned in the events leading up to and following Christ’s crucifixion).

We must nonetheless deal take seriously the deceptions that are launched at us, whether they come from satan and his cohorts, or from our own passions which we have not yet mastered, or from other people, who are often prone to be as deceived as we are.

This is why in today’s Epistle Paul of Tarsus reminds us how necessary it is to be relying upon our Lord, who is also our Friend, our Guide and our peerless Teacher. Saint Paul writes: "Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."

Paul was a sports fan. He loved to watch wrestlers. He uses images from this sport to show that Christians must exercise effort to master their passions and realize their potential as beloved children of God. Paul writes: "We are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalites, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places".

Sometimes those who preach on this text become so sombre and stern that we may make the mistake of thinking that we have to be afraid of the devil and his minions. This is absolutely wrong! Jesus’ victory is final and conclusive! He has done all for our salvation. However, we must also do all that we can to make this precious gift truly our own. We must exercise effort to receive it, to preserve it and to develop it to its full potential.

It may be useful for us to consider this struggle against the deceivers as an important and exciting adventure which demands all of our best efforts and resources, just as is required of athletes as they train for the particular sport in which they excel.

The most efficient weapon against satan may be the joy and certainty which come from union with God, a union which includes all the gifts that He gave and still gives us in calling us to live in this beautiful world which shines with His glory and His love.

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