DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Saint Luke 12:48-59 (11/9-11/22) Wednesday of the
Twenty-fifth Week after Pentecost
The Lord’s Prayer - Forgive us as we Forgive: Saint
Luke 12:48-59, especially vs. 49, 51: “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already
kindled!...Do you suppose that I came to give peace on
earth? I tell you not at all, but
rather division.” What is the nature of this fire of which Christ
speaks? How shall we understand
such violent language? Is His
purpose to disrupt and divide? Did
He not come to bring peace? (Jn. 16:33).
Does He contradict Himself?
The Lord Jesus Christ is quite willing to divide men and He
is forthright concerning His intentions: “Do you suppose that I came to
give peace on earth? I tell you not at all, but rather division” (vs. 51). The God-Man came as the Word of fire
which, in the words of Blessed Theophylact,
“...consumes every materialistic and coarse thought and destroys idols
made of whatever substance.”
Christ is the fire of truth against the imbedded lies of this world.
It was not long after the Lord expressed His longing to
ignite the fire that Satan launched his final assault to eliminate the God-Man:
the ultimate ‘Baptism’
of the Cross (vs. 50). Covert
conflict became open war. From that
day to the present, we all live under the conditions of total, spiritual war,
without neutrals or ‘civilian populations’ immune from the
conflict. In truth, each person on
earth supports one side or the other.
The spiritual war is not a conflict created by the purpose
of God, but the product of Satan and those who join him in fighting against
God. Blessed Theophylact
states the Apostolic truth: “We say therefore, that not every peace is
good and beyond reproach; there is a peace which is dangerous and drives us
away from the love of God, for example, when we make peace and establish
harmony by destroying….Indeed, concerning what is true and good, He wants
us to be at odds with each other rather than appease one another by compromise
of the good.”
Adversarial conflict is the present reality (vss. 58,59). Families
are torn apart and hatefully fragmented (vss. 52,53). It is a condition that every disciple
needs to face: “Father... divided against son and son against father,
mother against daughter and daughter against mother...” (vs. 53). Very
often the conflict appears to come not from unseen, demonic foes, but out of
the mouths of loved ones near and dear to us. Those we have relied upon fail us. We betray friends. Yes, people wrong us, and we wrong
others. This is the present
spiritual war.
In the no-man’s land where men and women are caught
in spiritual cross-fire between hate and wrong, the disciple survives solely by
speaking the truth, loving and forgiving.
The Lord teaches that we are in a war zone and how we may stay alive:
“When you pray, say: “...forgive us our sins, for we also forgive
everyone who is indebted to us” (Lk. 11:2,4).
To pray these words acknowledges two truths: our need for
forgiveness, and our equally desperate need to forgive all others. We admit to God what the Prophet David
confessed to the Lord: “Against Thee only have I sinned and done this
evil before Thee...” (Ps. 50:4).
Saint John the Theologian encourages us in repeating this confession:
“If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is
not in us” (1 Jn. 1:10).
For eternal survival we need to meet the Lord’s
standard: “...forgive men their trespasses, [so that] your
heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father
forgive your trespasses” (Mt. 6:14,15). “...make every effort along the
way to settle...” your debts with God and with your
‘adversaries’ (Lk. 12:58). Doing this is neither mere religious
talk nor gesture, but choices we face with urgent and eternal consequences.
Grant us, O Lord, pardon and remission of our sins and
transgressions and Thy good and profitable, life-bestowing grace to forgive
those who offend and wrong us.
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