The Strength to Endure

“Endurance is nobler than strength, and patience than beauty.” So says the 19th-century writer and art critic John Ruskin. But is he right? Well, I think so, as long as all those important words are defined properly! The truth is it takes Strength to Endure. But where does that Strength come from and how do I make sure I have it?

The key is to understand WHY we should endure. What motivates me to stay faithful? Frankly, most people give up on different things in their lives because they’ve lost the “WHY” in their endurance. Sometimes that’s a good thing. If a particular habit or practice in your life is a dead end, stopping that practice is a great help! But too many people give up on good things in their lives because they forget why it’s valuable. That’s why so many in our modern society are abandoning their faith connections. Or maybe they are finally being honest about who they really were all along.

The statistics don’t lie. There are more and more people in our society “deconstructing” their Faith and even our precious Orthodox Church is seeing our youth either make the Faith nothing more than some ethnic connection or leave the Church altogether. How do we stay Faithful and how do we pass on this wisdom to the next generation?

Look at our lesson today in Colossians 1:1-3; 7-11:

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God and Timothy our brother, to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ at Colossai: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ from the day you heard and understood the grace of God in truth, as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. And so, from the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, to lead a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy.

Paul’s Colossian letter is another one of his “prison epistles.” The Colossian parish had been planted there by St. Epaphras, a spiritual son of St. Paul sent to do this very work of planting churches. But, as usual, problems with false teachers had begun to undermine the strength of the community. Ain’t that always the way!

Of course, one of the side effects of bad theology is weakness in WHY it’s important to stay faithful to sound wisdom. Bad theology, and bad teaching, make endurance impossible!

So, Paul writes this parish he’s never visited and tries to help them endure with good teaching! And he uses his four prayers for them to help them see WHY staying faithful to sound theology is always worth it!

First, Paul prays they will be “filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” You won’t understand WHY you need to stay with sound teaching if you don’t know the “endgame!” Knowing God’s will for you means a commitment to spiritual wisdom and understanding. It is never enough to simply know “about” God, you have to enter into a “knowing” that is based on a personal relationship with Him through timeless prayer and communion with His Whole Church! You are strengthened to stay faithful when you purposefully apply yourself to learning the Faith as much as possible.

Next, Paul prays they will “lead a life worthy of the Lord.” Knowing Christ means entering into WHY He is the epitome of human existence and that takes the ability to keep growing in understanding His WORTH so you can always strive towards worthiness! And you’ll know you are headed toward worthiness when you see your life “bearing” good fruit from your efforts. Of course, this is always going to be a goal in front of us, but that very notion keeps me focused on WHY it’s worth staying faithful. Faithfulness is strengthened when I am actively staying attentive to HOW I live through the practice of the spiritual disciplines of the Faith.

Next, Paul prays they will be always “increasing in the knowledge of God.” So much misunderstanding about the word “knowledge.” It is always bigger than merely “knowing about.” And that’s where the problems start. If I stop my hunger for God by simply knowing about Him, I’ll rob myself of the depth of power to endure by growing in my love for Him and His Church – it’s a package deal after all! The truth is the word “know” actually means a more intimate knowing than simply gathering information. It is the very same meaning as when the scripture says “Adam knew his wife Eve and she conceived.” Intimacy with God flows from my daily practice of prayer. That intimacy in prayer destroys ignorance and strengthens faithfulness!

Finally, Paul prays they will be “strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy.” In the end, I’ll always run out of gas to endure if I’m just depending on my own strength to do this! I need to regularly plug into the Source for strength by my prioritizing my relationship with God FIRST in my life in disciplined attendance in worship, daily prayer, and generosity in sharing my life with others. The power of regular (weekly, at least) attendance in worship and corporate prayer allows centuries of wisdom to wash over me, filling me with the wisdom I need to stay faithful, especially when being faithful is hard!

The story of St. Arethas the Great Martyr and His Fellow Martyrs is a perfect illustration of the power of Faithfulness and the strength of knowing WHY we never abandon Christ, even at the cost of our own lives. St. Arethas and his companions lived in the 6th century in what is now modern-day Yemen. The city was called Najran. A local tribal ruler named Dhu Nuwas was conquering territory around Najran and he was trying to make the Christian Faith disappear. He began attacking Najran, and the leaders of the city wanted to surrender, much to the disappointment of St. Arethas. Dhu Newas had promised that, if the city would surrender, he would not force the inhabitants to renounce Christ. Dhu Nuwas broke his word immediately upon accepting the surrender of the city and insisted that the people of Najran, which was known as a Christian city, renounce Christianity. St. Arethas led the people to stand firm for Christ. The tyrant commanded that all the men should be beheaded if they didn’t renounce their faith. The men refused and died a martyr’s death. Dhu Nuwas then had all the women brought before him and he commanded them upon pain of death to reject Christ. Much to his surprise, the women, even knowing the fate of their men, rebuked the tyrant and refused to give up their faith. The tyrant was shocked that the women insulted him even more harshly than the men had done. None of the women gave up!

Soon after, the Ethiopian king in alliance with the Eastern Roman Empire defeated Dhu Nuwas and raised up churches all through the area to the memory of these great martyrs of the Faith. So great was their example of strength to remain faithful, that we remember these heroes to this very day.

Today, these four insights from St. Paul give us the path of transformation to build the strength we need to stay faithful to Christ our whole lives AND to pass on to the next generation how they can endure as well. By embracing this Normal Orthodox Life, we stay strong!

P.S. Be entreated, O Lord, by the sufferings endured for You by the Saints, and we pray You, heal all our pain.

Please pray for Fr. Barnabas as he travels to speak in Irvine, CA at St. Paul’s parish. Please attend if you are in the area! Go to stpaulsirvine.org/watchful-sober