Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Placing of the Belt of the Theotokos in Halkoprateia
2nd Vesp, Indiction: Leviticus 26:3-12, 14-17, 19-24 Epistle: 2 Corinthians 12:20-13:2
Gospel: St. Mark 4:24-34
Leviticus 26:3-12, 14-17, 19-24, especially vs. 23: "And if by this
discipline you are not turned to Me, but walk contrary to Me, then I also will walk contrary to
you, and I Myself will smite you sevenfold for your sins." The Biblical idiom of "walking," of
course, expresses one's manner of living. To say that "Enoch walked with God" (Gen. 5:24),
brings Enoch's manner of life to mind: he observed God's commandments and did them (Lev.
26:3). And God walked with him, and was his God, and he is forever one of God's people (vs.
12). He did not "spurn" but clung to God's statutes (vs. 15), keeping covenant with God. His
pride was in the power of God, never in his own strength (vs.19). Enoch, therefore, received a
sevenfold blessing from God: "he was not, for God took him" (Gen. 5:24). Along with Elijah the
Prophet, death had no dominion over Enoch, for he walked "worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing
Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God" (Col. 1:10).
Judas Iscariot, having the astounding blessing to walk many miles through Galilee, Samaria, and
Judea in the company of the Lord Jesus Christ, never walked with Him in his heart. He chose
instead to walk "in the counsel of the ungodly [and he] stood in the way of sinners [and] sat in the
seat of the pestilent. And his will [was] rather [against] the law of the Lord" (Ps. 1:1,2 LXX).
And so his life ended "like the chaff which the wind doth hurl away from the face of the earth,
[and] for this reason [he] shall...not stand up in judgment...." (Ps. 1:4,5 LXX).
This contrast of images between the blessed who "walk in [God's] statutes and observe [His]
commandments and do them" (Lev. 26:3) and the contrary souls who "will not hearken to [the
Lord], and will not do all [His] commandments" (Lev. 26:14) is a line that cuts through the midst
of this reading. The options presented are a gift from the Church to help in scanning the months
of the new year that lie before us as members of Christ. The appeal of Apostle Paul cries out:
"we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the
dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Rom. 6:4).
God first gave these two sets of opposing images - of blessing versus "sudden terror,
consumption, and fever" (Lev. 26:16) to a people of the soil, to a farming community. Hence,
His images speak to what is essential for husbandry: increase of seed sown and the yield from
vines and fruit trees (vs. 4) and peace from the attacks of wild animals and foreign invaders (vs.
6), and, of course, the opposite for those who abhorred His ordinances and broke covenant with
Him (vs. 15). While the material culture of contemporary society affords only a few people with
this sort of direct contact with the land - threshing, vintage and sowing - still in this age of terror
around the world, who does not appreciate immediately what it means to "eat your bread to the
full, and dwell in your land securely" (vs. 5)?
The spiritual problem is the same for farmer and technician: to walk with the Lord such that the
"evil beasts" in our hearts are removed - the revelry and drunkenness, lewdness, lust, strife and
envy. Instead, Beloved of the Lord, let there be a fruitful, righteous walk before Him (Rom.
13:13). Let us heed the Apostle: "walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh"
(Gal 5:16). "As you have...received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him" (Col. 2:6). When the
dark enemies approach your heart and mind, chase them from you with "the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being
watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication...." (Eph 6:17,18).
O Lord Who lovest mankind, as Thou dost feed us with Thy holy Mysteries, so also make straight
our path before Thee, establish us in Thy fear, and make firm our steps in Thy ways.
