DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Saint Luke 12:42-48
(11/8-11/21)
Tuesday of the Twenty-fifth Week after Pentecost
The Lord’s Prayer ~ On Earth as in Heaven: Saint Luke 12:42-48, especially vs. 43:
“Blessed is that servant whom
his master will find so doing when he comes.” With
this passage we begin a series of readings in Saint Luke concerned with those
matters for which we pray in the Lord’s Prayer: doing God’s will,
forgiving and being forgiven, and coping with
evil. First, the Lord leads us into
the meaning of the petition, “...Your will be done on earth as it is in
Heaven” (Lk. 11:2). Be assured that when we ask the Lord for
His will to be done fully on earth in us and through us, He will help us in
striving to keep His commandments. He will shower
grace on us should we humbly and faithfully accept the sufferings required to
follow His orders.
Our Lord describes the servant who does His will as a
“...faithful and wise steward” (vs. 42). However, Blessed Theophylact
warns us that: “‘Such men are few and far
between.’ If the steward of
the master’s holding is faithful, but lacks wisdom, the property is
ruined because he is not able to administer it as he should....On the other
hand, if the steward is a wise and able administrator, but is not faithful, he
is no better than a thief, and the cleverer he is, the more disastrous the
results.” The Saint reveals
the issue: diligently keeping the commandments must be coupled with utter
reliance on the wisdom and grace of God.
As the holy Archbishop continues, “all the saints, as
friends of God, make use of what belongs to God, their Friend.” The steward of God therefore actively
practices virtue and lives quietly and devoutly as God shows him in the heart
from Holy Tradition. In doing these
basics, the friend of God becomes a servant who controls his own passions of
anger and self-indulgence. Such a
person draws strength from the Holy Mysteries having a genuine desire to make
God-pleasing decisions at work, at home, and among all with whom he comes in
contact.
To pray, “Your will be done on earth as it is in
heaven,” is a pledge to commit to God’s wisdom, a promise to follow
His ways, and a willingness to manage whatever He places in our care. Do these things and Christ may find us
worthy of greater gifts and responsibilities (vs. 44).
The Lord Jesus contrasts the wise and faithful steward with
the servant who does not make a true, wise, and assertive commitment from his
heart. The unfaithful servant says,
“Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” but as a steward
he “...says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’
and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be
drunk” (vs. 45). He indulges
his passions, lashes the sensibilities of his fellow Christians, and
discourages them. He lives
willfully and irreverently, giving free rein to his anger and desires.
Using the example of an indulgent servant, Christ
encourages us to control our desires.
Saint Paul teaches us to gain self-control by walking “...in the
Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Gal.
5:16). Saints Nicodemos
and Theophan warn us to prepare “...for labor,
sweat and struggle from your very first steps on the path. You must sacrifice everything to God and
do only His will. Yet you will meet
in yourself as many wills as you have powers and wants, which all clamor for
satisfaction, irrespective of whether it is in accordance with the will of God
or not. Therefore...it is necessary
to stifle your own wills and finally...kill them altogether.”
Remember: saying “Your will be done on earth as it is
in heaven” is a commitment to Jesus Christ Himself: I will take up a
struggle, maintain it for life, and quickly return to the Lord in repentance
whenever I fail. Let us prepare for
the coming of our Savior and make every effort to do our Master’s will so
that we may be blessed and not “...beaten with many stripes.” (vs. 47).
O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth,
meddling, lust of power, and idle talk; but give rather the spirit of chastity,
humility, patience and love to Thy servant.
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