DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS

The Commemoration of Joseph the Betrothed, David the Prophet and King, & James the Brother of the Lord

Sunday, December 31, 2006    Tone 4

8th Vigil, 6th Royal Hr Nativity of Christ: Isaiah 7:10-16; 8:1-4, 8-10   Epistle: 2 Timothy 4:5-8

Gospel: St. Mark 1:1-8

 

Measuring One’s Life: 2 Timothy 4:5-8, especially vs. 7: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”  St. John Chrysostom points out that by no stretch of the imagination is the Apostle Paul boasting in this passage, but is rather encouraging.  He compares St. Paul with “...a father whose son was sitting by him, bewailing his orphan state, [who] might console him, saying, Weep not, my son; we have lived a good life, we have arrived at old age, and now we leave thee....we depart with glory, and thou mayest be held in admiration for our actions.”  The Apostle was facing his death, and so he consoled his protege, Timothy.  Today, he is encouraging us, his children in the Faith, to continue in the fight, maintain the race, sustain our growth in Christ, and press on to be found worthy of “the crown of righteousness” by “the Lord, the righteous Judge,” which He gives to “all who have loved His appearing” (vs. 8).

St. Paul describes his life with three metaphors - struggling, racing, and guarding (vs. 7), thus encouraging each disciple to measure his own life in Christ.  He describes his life as a Christian as an “agona,” a perilous combat such as one might face in a Roman arena, and a race completed, a “teteleka,” a goal attained or accomplished, and finally a “tetereka,” a completed guard duty, of a watch over the Faith.  His images compel and urge us to look deeper into ourselves, to go below the surface of moral conformity as a standard for measuring ourselves as Christians.  St. Paul would have us remember that our Lord Jesus, Who endured the agony of the Cross, completed the salvation of our race, and protected His flock with His own blood, will one day be our “righteous Judge....on that Day” when He appears (vs. 8).

Do you see life in Christ as an “agona,” as a combat of perilous dimension?  When one awakes in Christ, receiving His light, all reality is illumined.  Behold, a battlefield!  We are in a war zone.  The enemy is bombarding us with thoughts and rationalizations like missiles to kill our spirits and cut us off from the Lord.  Let our disposition rivet our thoughts on Jesus Christ, and not deny that we are under assault!  Our souls are at stake!  Shall we surrender to the world?  Listen to St. John Chrysostom: “Let us strengthen our resolution, and we shall bear all things easily....if our flesh be nailed down by the fear of God, nothing will be able to shake us.”

And even more, Beloved of the Lord, remember that the fight in which we are engaged is a good fight, and not just because we are on the winning side - which we are.  Bear in mind that the life in Christ is a world-class competition, cosmic in dimension.  For each one of us there is a goal to be won, as the Apostle Paul says: “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize?  So run, that ye may obtain....  I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I....” (1 Cor. 9:24,26).  What shall we “obtain” if not life eternal, life with God our Father, the solace of a worthwhile life?  In St. John Chrysostom’s words, the contest of Christian living “does not end in nothing....it draws all up to heaven.  This race is brighter than the sun....”

Many powers would rob us of the prize and goal of the Christian life: present pleasures, pride, self-satisfaction, and indifference to our own soul’s health.  The Holy Fathers of the Church bid us - beseech us - to be “watchful.”  That is their byword: “guarding the nous [the deep center of the heart], which by Christ’s power can change men from being sinful, indecent, profane, ignorant and unjust to being just, responsive, pure, holy and wise,” to borrow the words of Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos.  Yes, let us keep the Faith and guard it well within us!

Make me worthy, O Lord, to know and love Thee, not with a scattered nous, but with a heart filled with Thy glory and that seeks only the Great Prize which Thou dost offer to all.

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