Stand Firm

seashale76 · Dec 5, 2015

December 6, 2015 – Twenty-seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Stand Firm: Ephesians 6:10-17, especially vs. 10: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.” Three times in this passage, the translators use the word stand (vss. 11, 13, 14) to convey the apostle’s counsel concerning our struggles (vs. 12) as Christ’s warriors. That same verb, with an added prefix, is used in verse 13 to mean withstand. All of these are combat terms, telling us to hold our position. In other words, the apostle urges us to oppose whatever dark forces arise against us.

Of utmost importance in reading this passage is an understanding of the apostle’s underlying assumptions. First, we must know that we are in a fight. Second, it is possible for us to lose the battle. Third, we have the capability to oppose the enemy’s tactics – to resist, stand, and extinguish everything thrown at us.

The last of these counsels contains Saint Paul’s primary message. He is utterly confident that victory is sure “in the Lord, and in the power of His might” (vs. 10). Our battle gear in Christ, both defensive and offensive, turns the advantage in our favor against whatever “schemes,” “forces,” “wicked temptations,” or “flaming missiles” Satan may hurl at us.

If we lose the struggle, it will not be because the Lord our God has abandoned us! We will lose only if we fail to recognize the strategic nature of the engagement. We are not dealing with human beings, mere “flesh and blood” (vs. 12). While other people may seem to be our active opponents, they are merely pawns.

In fact, we are pitted against “principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (vs. 12). Therefore we cannot use weaponry appropriate to fighting people. What we face daily is spiritual warfare. We must use entirely different defensive and offensive implements – armaments suited to the nature of the strife.

Twice, the Apostle Paul uses the phrase “the armor of God.” In spiritual warfare, if we would be “strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might” (vs. 10), then we must rely on “the whole armor of God” (vss. 11, 13). If we rely on what our physical senses alone commend, we will lose. Let us examine briefly the weapons God gives from His armory.

Our primary defense is truth (vs. 14) – not just any truth, but the Truth that is God, who enables us to become gods, as the Fathers say. Christ is our only reliable Truth against satanic lies, half-truths, or the pitting of one truth against another.

Righteousness (vs. 14) is the ultimate guardian of the heart, and thus Saint Paul speaks of it as a breastplate. If we vacillate neither left nor right but hold to what is good and just, then our thoughts and actions will recognize every distorted and attractive delusion.

The Apostle relates the gospel to our feet (vs. 15): how we walk, how we live, how we interact with others. The Good News must be presented to others through a convincing life, not by words and gestures alone.

The hardest part of our life in Christ is trusting God in all circumstances (vs. 16). “Teach me to treat all that comes to me throughout the day with peace of soul and with firm conviction that Your will governs all,” says Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow. This kind of faith shields against every assault on our hearts and minds. Let us keep our minds fixed on the salvation that is to come (vs. 17), for the word of God (vs. 17) cuts through the web of lies and dispels the darkness that would overtake us.

Grant me grace to take up the armor Thou dost provide, meet every evil and to stand
https://theocpm.org/december-6-2015-twenty-seventh-sunday-after-pentecost/

Scripture Readings
Sunday, December 6, 2015

Composite 2 - Proverbs 10, 3, 8 (Vespers, 1st reading)
1
The memory of the righteous is with praise and the blessing of the Lord is upon his head. Blessed is the man who has found wisdom and the mortal who has understanding. For it is better to purchase her than treasuries of gold and silver. She is more precious than precious stones and all that is precious is unworthy of her. For length of days and years of life are in her right hand; and in her left hand are riches and glory. Out of her mouth proceeds righteousness and she bears law and mercy upon her tongue.
2
Hear me, O child, for I will speak noble things. Blessed is the man who keeps my ways, for my ways are the ways of life, and in them is prepared favor from the Lord. Therefore, I pray thee, and utter my voice to the sons of men: For I, wisdom, have dwelt with counsel and knowledge and I have called upon understanding. Counsel and safety are mine, understanding and strength are mine. I love those who love me and those seeking me shall find grace.
3
Understand craftiness, O you who are simple, and imbibe knowledge, you who are untaught. Hear me again, for I will speak noble things: I will open my mouth and from my lips shall come what is right. For my throat shall meditate truth; false lips are an abomination before me. All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is nothing in them that is twisted or perverse. They are all straight to him who understands and right to those who find knowledge.
4
I shall instruct you in truth, so that your hope will be in the Lord and you shall be filled with the Spirit.

Proverbs 10:31-11:12 (Vespers, 2nd reading)
31
The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut out.
32
The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked what is perverse.
1
Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight.
2
When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom.
3
The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them.
4
Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.
5
The righteousness of the blameless will direct his way aright, but the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.
6
The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, but the unfaithful will be caught by their lust.
7
When a wicked man dies, his expectation will perish, and the hope of the unjust perishes.
8
The righteous is delivered from trouble, and it comes to the wicked instead.
9
The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous will be delivered.
10
When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices; and when the wicked perish, there is jubilation.
11
By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted, but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.
12
He who is devoid of wisdom despises his neighbor, but a man of understanding holds his peace.

Wisdom of Solomon 4:7-15 (Vespers, 3rd reading)
7
But the righteous man, though he die early, will be at rest.
8
For old age is not honored for length of time, nor measured by number of years;
9
but understanding is gray hair for men, and a blameless life is ripe old age.
10
There was one who pleased God and was loved by him,
11
He was caught up lest evil change his understanding or guile deceive his soul.
12
For the fascination of wickedness obscures what is good, and roving desire perverts the innocent mind.
13
Being perfected in a short time, he fulfilled long years;
14
for his soul was pleasing to the Lord, therefore he took him quickly from the midst of wickedness.
15
Yet the peoples saw and did not understand, nor take such a thing to heart, that God’s grace and mercy are with his elect, and he watches over his holy ones.

Luke 24:12-35 (5th Matins Gospel)
12
But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.
13
Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.
14
And they talked together of all these things which had happened.
15
So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.
16
But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.
17
And He said to them, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?”
18
Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?”
19
And He said to them, “What things?” So they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,
20
and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.
21
But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.
22
Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.
23
When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.
24
And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see.
25
Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
26
Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?
27
And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
28
Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther.
29
But they constrained Him, saying, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” And He went in to stay with them.
30
Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.
31
Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.
32
And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”
33
So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together,
34
saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!”
35
And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.

Hebrews 13:17-21 (Epistle, Saint)
17
Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.
18
Pray for us; for we are confident that we have a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably.
19
But I especially urge you to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner.
20
Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
21
make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Luke 6:17-23 (Gospel, Saint)
17
And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases,
18
as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed.
19
And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all.
20
Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said: Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
21
Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
22
Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake.
23
Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, for in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.

Ephesians 6:10-17 (Epistle)
10
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
11
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
13
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14
Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15
and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16
above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
17
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;

Luke 17:12-19 (Gospel)
12
Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off.
13
And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
14
So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.
15
And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God,
16
and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.
17
So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?
18
Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?
19
And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

Today’s commemorated feasts and saints
27th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST — Tone 2. ST. NICHOLAS THE WONDERWORKER, ARCHBISHOP OF MYRA IN LYCIA (ca. 345).

St Nicholas the Wonderworker and Archbishop of Myra in Lycia

Commemorated on December 6

Troparion & Kontakion

Saint Nicholas, the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia is famed as a great saint pleasing unto God. He was born in the city of Patara in the region of Lycia (on the south coast of the Asia Minor peninsula), and was the only son of pious parents Theophanes and Nonna, who had vowed to dedicate him to God.

As the fruit of the prayer of his childless parents, the infant Nicholas from the very day of his birth revealed to people the light of his future glory as a wonderworker. His mother, Nonna, after giving birth was immediately healed from illness. The newborn infant, while still in the baptismal font, stood on his feet three hours, without support from anyone, thereby honoring the Most Holy Trinity. St Nicholas from his infancy began a life of fasting, and on Wednesdays and Fridays he would not accept milk from his mother until after his parents had finished their evening prayers.

From his childhood Nicholas thrived on the study of Divine Scripture; by day he would not leave church, and by night he prayed and read books, making himself a worthy dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. Bishop Nicholas of Patara rejoiced at the spiritual success and deep piety of his nephew. He ordained him a reader, and then elevated Nicholas to the priesthood, making him his assistant and entrusting him to instruct the flock.

In serving the Lord the youth was fervent of spirit, and in his proficiency with questions of faith he was like an Elder, who aroused the wonder and deep respect of believers. Constantly at work and vivacious, in unceasing prayer, the priest Nicholas displayed great kind-heartedness towards the flock, and towards the afflicted who came to him for help, and he distributed all his inheritance to the poor.

There was a certain formerly rich inhabitant of Patara, whom St Nicholas saved from great sin. The man had three grown daughters, and in desparation he planned to sell their bodies so they would have money for food. The saint, learning of the man’s poverty and of his wicked intention, secretly visited him one night and threw a sack of gold through the window. With the money the man arranged an honorable marriage for his daughter. St Nicholas also provided gold for the other daughters, thereby saving the family from falling into spiritual destruction. In bestowing charity, St Nicholas always strove to do this secretly and to conceal his good deeds.

The Bishop of Patara decided to go on pilgrimage to the holy places at Jerusalem, and entrusted the guidance of his flock to St Nicholas, who fulfilled this obedience carefully and with love. When the bishop returned, Nicholas asked his blessing for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Along the way the saint predicted a storm would arise and threaten the ship. St Nicholas saw the devil get on the ship, intending to sink it and kill all the passengers. At the entreaty of the despairing pilgrims, he calmed the waves of the sea by his prayers. Through his prayer a certain sailor of the ship, who had fallen from the mast and was mortally injured was also restored to health.

When he reached the ancient city of Jerusalem and came to Golgotha, St Nicholas gave thanks to the Savior. He went to all the holy places, worshiping at each one. One night on Mount Sion, the closed doors of the church opened by themselves for the great pilgrim. Going round the holy places connected with the earthly service of the Son of God, St Nicholas decided to withdraw into the desert, but he was stopped by a divine voice urging him to return to his native country. He returned to Lycia, and yearning for a life of quietude, the saint entered into the brotherhood of a monastery named Holy Sion, which had been founded by his uncle. But the Lord again indicated another path for him, “Nicholas, this is not the vineyard where you shall bear fruit for Me. Return to the world, and glorify My Name there.” So he left Patara and went to Myra in Lycia.

Upon the death of Archbishop John, Nicholas was chosen as Bishop of Myra after one of the bishops of the Council said that a new archbishop should be revealed by God, not chosen by men. One of the elder bishops had a vision of a radiant Man, Who told him that the one who came to the church that night and was first to enter should be made archbishop. He would be named Nicholas. The bishop went to the church at night to await Nicholas. The saint, always the first to arrive at church, was stopped by the bishop. “What is your name, child?” he asked. God’s chosen one replied, “My name is Nicholas, Master, and I am your servant.”

After his consecration as archbishop, St Nicholas remained a great ascetic, appearing to his flock as an image of gentleness, kindness and love for people. This was particularly precious for the Lycian Church during the persecution of Christians under the emperor Diocletian (284-305). Bishop Nicholas, locked up in prison together with other Christians for refusing to worship idols, sustained them and exhorted them to endure the fetters, punishment and torture. The Lord preserved him unharmed. Upon the accession of St Constantine (May 21) as emperor, St Nicholas was restored to his flock, which joyfully received their guide and intercessor.

Despite his great gentleness of spirit and purity of heart, St Nicholas was a zealous and ardent warrior of the Church of Christ. Fighting evil spirits, the saint made the rounds of the pagan temples and shrines in the city of Myra and its surroundings, shattering the idols and turning the temples to dust.

In the year 325 St Nicholas was a participant in the First Ecumenical Council. This Council proclaimed the Nicean Symbol of Faith, and he stood up against the heretic Arius with the likes of Sts Sylvester the Bishop of Rome (January 2), Alexander of Alexandria (May 29), Spyridon of Trimythontos (December 12) and other Fathers of the Council.

St Nicholas, fired with zeal for the Lord, assailed the heretic Arius with his words, and also struck him upon the face. For this reason, he was deprived of the emblems of his episcopal rank and placed under guard. But several of the holy Fathers had the same vision, seeing the Lord Himself and the Mother of God returning to him the Gospel and omophorion. The Fathers of the Council agreed that the audacity of the saint was pleasing to God, and restored the saint to the office of bishop.

Having returned to his own diocese, the saint brought it peace and blessings, sowing the word of Truth, uprooting heresy, nourishing his flock with sound doctrine, and also providing food for their bodies.

Even during his life the saint worked many miracles. One of the greatest was the deliverance from death of three men unjustly condemned by the Governor, who had been bribed. The saint boldly went up to the executioner and took his sword, already suspended over the heads of the condemned. The Governor, denounced by St Nicholas for his wrong doing, repented and begged for forgiveness.

Witnessing this remarkable event were three military officers, who were sent to Phrygia by the emperor Constantine to put down a rebellion. They did not suspect that soon they would also be compelled to seek the intercession of St Nicholas. Evil men slandered them before the emperor, and the officers were sentenced to death. Appearing to St Constantine in a dream, St Nicholas called on him to overturn the unjust sentence of the military officers.

He worked many other miracles, and struggled many long years at his labor. Through the prayers of the saint, the city of Myra was rescued from a terrible famine. He appeared to a certain Italian merchant and left him three gold pieces as a pledge of payment. He requested him to sail to Myra and deliver grain there. More than once, the saint saved those drowning in the sea, and provided release from captivity and imprisonment.

Having reached old age, St Nicholas peacefully fell asleep in the Lord. His venerable relics were preserved incorrupt in the local cathedral church and flowed with curative myrrh, from which many received healing. In the year 1087, his relics were transferred to the Italian city of Bari, where they rest even now (See May 9).

The name of the great saint of God, the hierarch and wonderworker Nicholas, a speedy helper and suppliant for all hastening to him, is famed in every corner of the earth, in many lands and among many peoples. In Russia there are a multitude of cathedrals, monasteries and churches consecrated in his name. There is, perhaps, not a single city without a church dedicated to him.

The first Russian Christian prince Askold (+ 882) was baptized in 866 by Patriarch Photius (February 6) with the name Nicholas. Over the grave of Askold, St Olga (July 11) built the first temple of St Nicholas in the Russian Church at Kiev. Primary cathedrals were dedicated to St Nicholas at Izborsk, Ostrov, Mozhaisk, and Zaraisk. At Novgorod the Great, one of the main churches of the city, the Nikolo-Dvorischensk church, later became a cathedral.

Famed and venerable churches and monasteries dedicated to St Nicholas are found at Kiev, Smolensk, Pskov, Toropetsa, Galich, Archangelsk, Great Ustiug, Tobolsk. Moscow had dozens of churches named for the saint, and also three monasteries in the Moscow diocese: the Nikolo-Greek (Staryi) in the Chinese-quarter, the Nikolo-Perervinsk and the Nikolo-Ugreshsk. One of the chief towers of the Kremlin was named the Nikolsk.

Many of the churches devoted to the saint were those established at market squares by Russian merchants, sea-farers and those who traveled by land, venerating the wonderworker Nicholas as a protector of all those journeying on dry land and sea. They sometimes received the name among the people of “Nicholas soaked.”

Many village churches in Russia were dedicated to the wonderworker Nicholas, venerated by peasants as a merciful intercessor before the Lord for all the people in their work. And in the Russian land St Nicholas did not cease his intercession. Ancient Kiev preserves the memory about the miraculous rescue of a drowning infant by the saint. The great wonderworker, hearing the grief-filled prayers of the parents for the loss of their only child, took the infant from the waters, revived him and placed him in the choir-loft of the church of Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) before his wonderworking icon. In the morning the infant was found safe by his thrilled parents, praising St Nicholas the Wonderworker.

Many wonderworking icons of St Nicholas appeared in Russia and came also from other lands. There is the ancient Byzantine embordered image of the saint, brought to Moscow from Novgorod, and the large icon painted in the thirteenth century by a Novgorod master.

Two depictions of the wonderworker are especially numerous in the Russian Church: St Nicholas of Zaraisk, portrayed in full-length, with his right hand raised in blessing and with a Gospel (this image was brought to Ryazan in 1225 by the Byzantine Princess Eupraxia, the future wife of Prince Theodore. She perished in 1237 with her husband and infant son during the incursion of Batu); and St Nicholas of Mozhaisk, also in full stature, with a sword in his right hand and a city in his left. This recalls the miraculous rescue of the city of Mozhaisk from an invasion of enemies, through the prayers of the saint. It is impossible to list all the grace-filled icons of St Nicholas, or to enumerate all his miracles.

St Nicholas is the patron of travelers, and we pray to him for deliverance from floods, poverty, or any misfortunes. He has promised to help those who remember his parents, Theophanes and Nonna.

St Nicholas is also commemorated on May 9 (The transfer of his relics) and on July 29 (his nativity). oca.org

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