10th Sunday of Luke
Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-17
Nutshell
(1) Challenge
There is a Chinese life philosophy called “wu wei,” which means “non-action.” The idea is that one lives by taking action when needed but also learns to let go of the need to control everything.
(2) Sin
Living this way can be freeing, but when pushed too far, it can mean that we let go of too much—including the spiritual reality around us, both the good and the evil.
(3) What happens?
When we ignore the spiritual world, it may become hard to forgive people, to pray regularly, to resist temptation, and to learn more about our faith. We may invest energy in irrelevant side-issues, become fascinated by heretical ideas, or fall into the age-old temptations of money, sex, and power.
(4) Christ forges a new path
While many may think that the solution to being attuned to the spiritual world is being more proactive, today, St. Paul tells us that it’s about being on the defense against attacks that would cause us to become indifferent.
(5) Longing satisfied
Girding our loins, putting on our breastplates, pulling up our shoestraps, taking up our shields, and donning our helmets means that we are protected from the arrows of the evil one. We stand firm in Christ our Lord, knowing that we’ve been rescued from death and that the Gospel is working in our hearts.
(6) Visible evidence
St. Nicholas, whom we just celebrated, is the perfect example of how we might properly put on the full armor of God. He stood up for Orthodoxy against Arius, showed compassion to those in need, and rebuked the devil when he tried to sink St. Nicholas’ ship.
(7) What shall I do?
By putting on our armor, we realize that the spiritual world is alive and well, and we’re protected from losing sight of what’s important. We also imitate St. Nicholas and keep his spirit alive and well for those around us.
Full Text
(1) Challenge
There is a Chinese life philosophy called “wu wei” (“ooo-way”), which means “non-action.” The idea is that one lives by taking action when needed, but also learns to let go of the need to control everything.
Those who practice it say that there are three steps to fully embracing it.
Firstly, one has to learn to accept things as they are. This realization acknowledges that things won’t always go as planned.
Secondly, one has to embrace imperfection—mistakes will be made, but that’s okay because that’s how we learn and grow.
Finally, the third step is to implement mindfulness, being aware of one’s thoughts and feelings.
Research has shown that adopting this way of life can reduce anxiety and help boost overall well-being.
(2) Sin
Living this way can be freeing. Imagine not letting the little things bother you. Imagine living more carefree, unburdened from worry, stress, anxiety, and troublesome thoughts.
It sounds nice, right?
But sometimes, it’s tempting to become too carefree, almost lackadaisical, especially about our spiritual lives.
How often have we struggled to fit in our daily prayer rule? If you’re like me, sometimes you’re rushing in the morning to get out the door and you tell yourself, “I’ll pray before bed.” But then, at the end of the day, you’re tired, struggling to keep your eyes open, and so you just crawl into bed.
Perhaps, you have the same struggle fitting regular weekly worship into your life.
And how often have we struggled to follow the fast? Sometimes it’s not that the hamburger is tempting; it’s just that it’s easier. It’s there, quick, and doesn’t take much thought or prep.
And, of course, there’s almsgiving, the third leg of our spiritual stool. Giving to the poor sounds nice, heroic even, but didn’t Jesus say we’d always have the poor with us? And what about my own finances? Shouldn’t I look after them first?
(3) What happens?
With our busy, chaotic American lives, it seems as if we have to let something go, or we’ll go crazy. And sometimes, it’s too tempting to let our spiritual lives fall to the wayside.
When we do, though, we become blind to the spiritual world, both the good and the evil, and several things can happen to us.
Without regular prayer, we may forget that our God is a God of love, and so our hearts may harden in such a way that we may not only forget to show love to others, but we may also forget how to receive love.
The Passion story demonstrates God’s forgiveness, compassion, and grace. And when we no longer meditate on this, we may find it hard to forgive those around us.
Without being spiritually nourished regularly, it may be hard to resist temptation. We may invest energy in irrelevant side issues, become fascinated by heretical ideas, or fall into the age-old temptations of money, sex, and power.
(4) Christ forges a new path
So, what do we do? I want to become more Christ-like. I want spiritual awareness. But how do I obtain it?
While many may think that the solution to being attuned to the spiritual world is being more proactive, today St. Paul tells us that it’s actually about being on the defense… defending against attacks that would cause us to become indifferent.
He wrote, “Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
Armor is defensive. We must be on guard, lest we become too lax in our spiritual lives.
(5) Longing satisfied
Girding our loins, putting on our breastplates, pulling up our shoestraps, taking up our shields, and donning our helmets means that we are protected from the arrows of the evil one.
We gird our loins with truth, knowing that the Gospel is truth and that Christ has defeated death.
We put on the breastplate of righteousness, knowing that Christ has been vindicated and that God will set the world right.
We pull up our shoestraps knowing that God has brought true peace into the world and into our lives.
We hold up the shield of faith and deflect any temptation to stray from Christ.
And finally, we wear the helmet of salvation knowing that we belong to God, we are his children.
We stand firm in Christ our Lord, knowing that we’ve been rescued from death and that the Gospel is working in our hearts.
(6) Visible evidence
St. Nicholas, whom we just celebrated, is the perfect example of how we might properly put on the full armor of God.
When he was tempted to stray from the truth of God’s salvation, St. Nicholas stood up for Orthodoxy. During his time, a priest by the name of Arius was teaching that Christ was not light of light, true God of true God. Instead, he taught that Christ was a creation. Yet, St. Nicholas held true to the teaching that in order for death to be defeated, Christ had to be fully human and fully divine. In this way, he helped defeat Arius.
When society hoped St. Nicholas would mind his own business and go along with societal norms, he showed compassion to those in need. There was a man with three daughters, and he didn’t have enough money for their dowry. Convention of the time would have had the father sell his daughters into slavery, yet St. Nicholas secretly gave them the money they needed for these three women to have a proper marriage and maintain their freedom.
And when the devil wished to draw a large group of pilgrims headed for Jerusalem, St. Nicholas folded his hands and prayed to Christ our Lord. Through prayer, he was able to rebuke the devil, and the ship made it safely to its destination.
There were no chinks in St. Nicholas’s armor.
(7) What shall I do?
By putting on our armor, we also realize that the spiritual world is alive and well, and we’re also protected from losing sight of what’s important: the Gospel that Jesus Christ is Lord.
By standing firm in our armor, we imitate St. Nicholas and keep his spirit alive and well for those around us.
By putting our armor to use, we stand firm as Christians in a modern world.
Amen.