Combat Without Violence

The Rev’d Stephen E. Stults
St. Barnabas Anglican Church

Easter I, 2013

Combat without Violence

1 John 5:4-5   ⁴ For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.  ⁵ Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

The Apostle John, “the beloved disciple”, makes a wonderful and sweeping statement in our Epistle selection for the day from the first Epistle of St. John.  He says something that seems to belie logic and the “real life” situation here on Earth.

We are told that “whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” On our first inspection of this statement, surely we must exclaim, “Why, it’s simply not true! We see and hear of Christians all over the world in perilous straits.  We know that they are being persecuted and harassed in places like the Middle East, in China, and in Africa. What can this possibly mean?”

Seen in this light, it is an incredulous statement.  That is, until we dig deeper into the Word of God and understand what the Holy Spirit is teaching us through the Apostle John.  What we know about the God’s Word is that it witnesses to us on several levels simultaneously, and that this witness includes the transcendence of normal time. What do we mean by that? Simply that the Word constantly speaks to us about “now” and “not yet.”  We are taught lessons for our temporal, fleshly life, while being constantly reminded of our real life, our larger life, to come in the next world.  This time duality, or continuum, if you will, is the dramatic tension under which all Christians live.  This sense of the “here and now” vs. the “yet to come” is both a challenge and a comfort to the Christian.

The Collect for the Fourth Sunday after Trinity asks that “we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal.”  This is every Christian’s challenge, that we can pass through this world, dealing with it and its various triumphs and vicissitudes in such a way that we do not surrender our soul to it.  Yes, we must survive, and hopefully prosper in it, but without giving ourselves over to it. The challenge is how to do well in this world while not becoming a servant to, or participating in, its wickedness. In short, we must not become doulos, or slaves to it.

For those who seek to be godly, this “survival without surrender” is our daily task and challenge.   This is the “here and now” for which the Word provides instruction.

Then, we have, most blessedly, the “not yet”, or “here to come” to consider.  It is in our consideration of it that our comfort springs forth. As we celebrated last week, and as we continue to celebrate in our hearts this Easter season, we Christians have something to look forward to.  Christ, through His victory on Easter Day has opened unto us the gates of larger life. Through Him and by Him, our ancient, rebellious Foe is defeated and we are admitted into blessedness, forever.  In very simplistic terms, we are indeed in “stage one” of Eternity.  Our earthly existence is but the first step in our journey into timelessness, where we will be still and know God forever. It is a state that belies all imagination and all logic, for in that state we will have no past, nor any future.  We will be translated out of time into the eternal “Now.” We will simply “be” with God, in an existence without time. How glorious is that?

Yet, we must take many steps in our flesh before we arrive on the eternal shore, and here it is that we return to our current, temporal, state. St. John tells us that our victory in overcoming the world is our faith.  It is our faith that Jesus is the Son of God, and that it is He that has truly overcome the world, the flesh, and the Devil.

The question is, how do we receive the faith to have this sure and certain knowledge?  How do we know, not merely think, or feel, or surmise, that we have salvation? Ah, this is the question… I once had a very young person ask me, “Yes, but how do you know?”  The answer to her, and to you, is this: faith knows. Then, the question changes to, “How does one get faith?”

Here, the answer gets a little simpler, and yet more difficult.  One must pray for it.  In so praying, one must ask for the Holy Spirit to make His abode with him and bring the gift of faith.  In so doing, one can be enabled to believe, and what’s more, to know.  This is the simple part.  One must simply open up one’s heart and ask God, from whom comes every blessing.  God answers prayer, and this is one in which He especially delights.

In prayer, one becomes open to the Infinite.  This means, through earnest, fervent prayer, one’s soul is open to Almighty God and, in some mysterious, wonderful way, communication takes place.  We don’t always have an immediate answer to our prayers, nor do we always sense that our prayers are even heard.  Yet, they are. In prayer, our soul speaks to God, and more importantly, God the Holy Spirit speaks to our soul. This quiet conversation takes place on a level far below our consciousness, yet it occurs. This is why it is essential that a Christian come to church, and participate in the most powerful prayer possible, communal prayer. When we, with one heart and one mind, pray the liturgy together, we are a much focused, very powerful prayer force.  The Holy Spirit broods over and delights in places where such prayer is offered.

Yet, when we pray, another phenomenon happens. Now, comes the more difficult part. When a soul seeks to draw closer to God, another, more malevolent attraction happens.  Satan and his host know when we pray.  They hate it, and they will assault and attack the soul when they can, at every opportunity, to deflect us from our prayerful purpose.  Matthew Henry tells us the Devil is an “implacable foe” to God and that the “the enriched soul must be doubly on its guard” against the wiles of the Devil.

This is when we Christians must engage in combat without violence.  That is, we must pray doubly hard for two things. First, we should ask that we are shielded and protected from the diabolical host, especially when we pray.  Second, we should pray that God’s Will be done in our lives.  These two prayer statements, prayed with fervor, will yield to us blessing and peace.  It is only in a serene acceptance of, and a joyful looking for, God’s Will for our lives that we will experience true peace and true joy.

Some of us, including this priest in younger years, used to scoff at the power of prayer.  “How can prayer change the world?” we said. “It can’t.  It’s pure mystical non-sense,” we said. “Prayer is just mumbo-jumbo, or worst, just “vain repetitions.”

That was before. That was before we realized that prayer changes the world because it changes us. It was before we allowed the power of Jesus Christ, though His Holy Spirit and the divine Grace of the Holy Sacraments, to infuse us.  We started to pray.  We started to read the Holy Word with delight and even eagerness. Then, we saw the world with new eyes and new faith. Then, we meditated with divine joy upon those mighty acts which procured us our salvation.   Then, we rejoiced in the assurance of our eternal life with God.  We accepted the truth that (1 John 5:12) “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life”  Finally, we realized, with bright eyes and sparkling soul, washed with the blood of the Lamb, that we too have overcome the world.

1 John 5:4-5   ⁴ For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.  ⁵ Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.   AMEN.