Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost. The Holy Martyr James of Persia (422); Our Venerable Father Palladius
Nativity Fast
Ephesians 4:1-6; Luke 10:25-37
Read Ephesians 4:1-6
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
“Worthy” – that is a loaded word. It says that we have something to live up to. That can be discouraging if we are feeling like a failure in what is already on our plate, or motivating if, finally, we are welcomed into something worth doing in this world.
We usually see worthy things as occasions to rise to. We visualize going up. But look at the direction of this worthy thing: “all lowliness and meekness.” Where is the worth in that? Paul shows us by the repetition of two words.
That lowly and meek direction is a direction toward others – all others. And that direction toward others is a direction toward God – the one God.
“One God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all.”
“One body and one Spirit,…one hope…one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all.”
All others. One God.
The challenge is in “forbearing one another.” But the person begging us to do this is a prisoner. He knows it is possible to love one’s enemies.
The first word of today’s reading is, “Therefore”. That means that all of today’s reading is possible because of something else. And that something else is in the verse immediately preceding: “Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20)