DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
1 John 2:7-17
(02/10 or 02/23)
Friday of the Third Week Before the Great Fast
Lust: 1 John 2:7-17, especially vs. 17: “And the world is passing away, and the lust of it;
but he who does the will of God abides forever.” Yesterday
we began a series of meditations focused on six ‘key truths’ drawn
from Saint John’s First Epistle.
‘Sin’ was the first of these truths; and today the focus is
on ‘lust,’ (in the original Greek, ‘epithymia’). Although the dictionary definition of
‘lust in English is “strong desire or inclination;” yet, in
this present, sensuously overcharged age, the concept of ‘lust’
more often refers to inordinate sexual craving.
Saint John’s use of ‘lust’ (‘epithymia’) has the wider sense of ‘any’
strong “...desire for, inclination toward, or passionate
attachment.” Just as English
employs ‘desire’ with both negative and positive connotations
(depending on the context), so do the New Testament writers (e.g., see Mt.
13:17; Lk. 15:16; or Php.
1:23). However, in Scripture,
‘epithymia’ most often is used
negatively, as exemplified in the opening quote above (1 Jn. 2:17).
Orthodox Christianity usually understands
‘lusts’ to be equivalents of the ‘passions.’ Saint Gregory of Sinai, like other Holy
Fathers, does not understand the passions to be evil: God “...did not make [the soul]
have rage and animal lust; He endowed the soul only with appetitive power and
with the courage to be lovingly attracted,” to have healthy, natural
desire.
But desire transforms into ‘lust’ as God is
excluded. Then the natural powers
of the soul become corrupt. Among
the desert Fathers, Abba Sisoes quotes the Apostle
James to point out that “...each man is tempted when he is lured and
enticed by his own desire” (Jam. 1:14).
With Saint John, the problem with desire is not inherent in
creation (in the physical order).
It arises from enslavement to the things in the world and to our
physical being. (1 Jn. 2:15-16).
God made the world, the flesh, and our eyes, yet sin turns natural
desire into lust.
What is Saint John’s solution to desire run
amok? What can be done when lust
separates us from God? The Apostle
stresses two points: first, we must seek God’s grace to resist hatred,
craving and lust, since we are renewed and supported by a power greater than
‘lust’ or unruly passions: “...the darkness is passing away,
and the true light is already shining” (vs. 8). This new condition is God’s gift
to us in Christ, if we will embrace Him.
Do not delay!
Second, Saint John gives the faithful a new commandment
from the Lord - a commandment we had from the beginning of time (vs. 7): love
one another and abide in the light so that there will be “...no cause for
stumbling...” (vs. 10). The Apostle describes this ‘new
spiritual condition in Christ’ with several images: our sins are forgiven
for His Name’s sake (vs. 12).
We have known the Father Who is from the beginning (vss. 13,14, and Jn. 1:1).
We have overcome the wicked one in Christ (vs. 13). We are strong because the word of God
exists in us (vs. 14). With a
‘passionless’ love, let us care for those whom God introduces into
our lives.
Given that God’s word is at work in us, the Apostle counsels resistance to the wicked one whom the Lord Jesus
already has defeated. We are
vulnerable only when we allow Satan to entice us to shift our love
‘from’ God ‘to’ what is in creation. In Christ, we can resist, despite our
weakness: “Do not love the world or the things in the world...” (vs. 15). When
we love created things, love for the Father withdraws (vs. 15). The flow of love between us and God
ends. Without the ‘life
blood’ of God’s love, our hearts will die. Then “...all that is in the
world...,” lust for the things of the flesh, takes control. We lust after things that we see rather
than for our unseen Father (vs. 16); yet, in Christ, we can overcome and abide
forever (vs. 17)!
To Thee I come, O Christ, blinded in my soul’s eyes,
crying unto Thee in repentance, “Thou art the Light; let me abide in Thee
that I not stumble but overcome the wicked one.”
Return to the February Calendar