Christ is risen! Indeed, He is risen!
In the name of God the Father, the Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, One True God. Amen.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus
The Indian Orthodox Church along with other churches following the Gregorian calendar celebrated the feast of Pascha on April 12 of this year while our sister churches following the Julian calendar look forward to celebrate the feast of feasts on April 19. The Indian Orthodox Church commemorates the days after Pascha till the First Sunday after Pascha as ‘Hevoro Days’, also known as Days of Brightness.
In the previous post titled, “Called to be Instruments of Righteousness of God“, we looked at the letter of St. Paul to the Romans (Romans 6:12-23) which is read on Easter Monday and we learned that through the new life we receive on receiving Christ in our lives through the Holy Baptism, we are called to a life of imitating Him and showing the world Who Christ really is. We are called to be instruments of righteousness of God by not just believing who we are in Christ, but also acting upon that belief through tangible, real, and physical action steps in our life which leads to our identity with our walk in Christ.
We also understood that our acts on our belief is a constant struggle to saying no to sin and saying yes to God. It involves is presenting ourselves as living sacrifices to God. When we look onward on the reading of Bright Tuesday (or Hevoro Tuesday), we are called to understand the letter of St. Paul to Ephesians 6:10-24. Let us try to co-relate to what we have understood from yesterday.
Yesterday we learnt that St. Paul is asking us to continuously say no to sin. Though we are asked to wage a spiritual warfare against sin, we need to understand who are enemies are and we need proper armaments to fight against these enemies. In any normal warfare, the conquering nation first analyses the weaknesses of the nation it is trying to conquer and prepare its men by providing adequate armaments with ammunition before waging the war. In our current situation, where nations across the world are jointly waging a war against the pandemic, Covid-19, the personnel who are standing at the forefront are the medical staff, which includes doctors and nurses who are treating the patients and scientists who are working behind the scenes to decipher the virus and invent a vaccine against the virus. In this fight against the unseen enemy, the basic armaments that are required by the medical staff are the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) which prevent the spread of the virus to the staff and protect them from its attack.
Similarly, as followers of Christ, we are called to be in a constant warfare, not against our neighbors and countries through military or biological battles, but our battles of a spiritual nature which is against sin, and for that purpose, we are to prepare ourselves by understanding the enemy and arming our self with proper weapons. Spiritual warfare, just like military warfare, requires cunning strategy, firmness, resolve and violence, meaning swift, intense, rough, injurious force.
St. Paul says that our struggle is not against “enemies of blood and flesh” but against “spiritual forces of evil”. In other words, another person who hurts or harms us, who strikes us or slanders us, is not our real enemy. Rather, the real enemy is the demon(s) who influence and sometimes possess these very people to do such evil things. We are called to fight against evil in our interpersonal relationships but that rarely involves physical force or violence to do so. But before we begin our fight, we are called to “be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might”.
We are called to be strong, not on our own might, but we are to be dependent on the strength that comes from the Lord. When we try to fight our spiritual battles on our own strength, we will find that we run out of our strength to fight the full battle. How many times do we find ourselves ran aground, burned out, and depressed when we fail to overcome this or that habit or bad choice? As we fight our spiritual battles, we fail to appreciate the strength that could be given to us from a life of consistent Faith. God wants us to draw on His strength in our struggles because that’s the ONLY way we are going to ever struggle and be victorious in through our life.
St. Paul after asking us to stand strong in the might of our Lord, does not leave us without any weapons. Just as a soldier cannot overcome his enemy without any weapons and armor, we too, who are called to fight battles against powers and principalities and rulers of darkness, are given spiritual weapons and armor from God. Our weapons and armor is not of the physical nature, but they consist of truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. These belong to our armor and weaponry.
A belt is used to gird and strengthen us. A weightlifter uses a belt to reinforce his abdominal and back muscles. A belt is also used to attach other armor or weaponry. When we are truthful and honest, especially with and about ourselves, we can name our weakness and sin. This helps us to confess it and strengthen our integrity and credibility. By being truthful with others in a caring manner, we can help them to do the same.
An ancient breastplate is the modern-day equivalent of body armor. It protects a soldier’s vital organs against bullets and shrapnel. Righteousness is doing good, doing the right thing. It is also the avoidance of doing the wrong thing or sinning. Righteousness protects our most vital spiritual organ, our soul, from the stain of sin. Just like evil begets more evil, righteousness can spread from one person to another.
Shoes or modern-day boots allow the soldier to walk, run and climb places he could not without them. Think of walking barefoot from your house to your car on a cold winter day versus using your shoes or boots. The gospel of peace is a gentle, calm and non-reactive demeanor that can help us to approach others and overcome anger, bitterness and resentment, both in us and in them.
A shield was a large metal plate that a soldier would hold in front of himself to protect from the thrusts of spears, rocks thrown or arrows shot at him. A modern-day soldier has an armored vehicle for protection. Our faith, our total belief and trust in God’s mercy and protection shield us from “the flaming arrows of the evil one” (v.16). The Church Fathers equate these arrows to thoughts of envy, pride and lust that the demons constantly launch towards us. By making conscious effort to identify and reject these thoughts, by praying the Jesus Prayer, we lift up the shield of faith against these flames of passion.
A helmet is worn on the head, protecting another very vulnerable part of our body, our brain. Helmets have saved countless soldiers from blows that would render them unconscious, disabled or dead through many wars and struggles. Knowing and remembering the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ and His life-giving Resurrection, we understand how He has saved us from sin and death. Thus, we are empowered to hope in Him and His salvation.
Lastly, a sword is a long, thin piece of metal with a sharp point to pierce and a sharp edge to cut, and a handle to wield about. This made it one of the most lethal weapons in ancient battlefields. St. Paul says the Holy Spirit is our sword against the devil. He also says this same sword is the Word of God (v.17)
Thus the “belt of truth” is used to gird and strengthen us. The “breastplate of righteousness” is to protect our soul from stain of sin. The “Gospel of Peace” helps us approach others and overcome anger, bitterness and resentment. The “Shield of Faith” which we hold out in front of us is to protect us from the arrows of the “enemy.” And the “Helmet of Salvation” guards our mind and empowers us to hope in Him and His salvation while we use the “Sword of the Spirit – The Word of God” to attack our enemy.
In conclusion, as we begin a new life in Christ, we are called to struggle against sin and against the rulers of darkness in our life. We are called to use the armor of God in our struggles. But for a normal individual, to carry all these armor is a heavy load and would physically and emotionally tire them, unless they have adequate strength, much less use them in our struggles. To carry and use the armor of God is impossible for us to do alone. This strength comes from our Lord and our dependence upon Him.
It is only by using God’s armor with His strength, can we fight against the spiritual forces of evil. We must never yearn to fight against our neighbors and friends, causing emotional and physical injury. However, if we are truthful, righteous, peaceful, and faithful we will cause numerous casualties for the demons and bring death to sin and evil.
As we grow closer to our Lord in this season of Pascha, let us yearn to fight the sinful passions in our souls with the strength from our Lord and with the weapons granted to us during our Baptism.
Your brother in Christ Jesus
Jobin George
