Nonviolent Spiritual Warfare
- davidwperk
- Nov 9, 2023
- 6 min read
Devotional Reflection, Thursday, November 9, 2023
Proper 26, the week of the twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key phrases for reflection from today’s reading:
6 Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation and tribe and language and people. 7He said in a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come; and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.’ 8Then another angel, a second, followed, saying, ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.’ . . .
13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Write this: Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.’
You will find the full text of today’s epistle reading at the end of this reflection.
Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 990)
AM Psalm [70], 71; PM Psalm 74
Ezra 7:(1-10)11-26; Rev. 14:1-13; Matt. 14:1-12
Today we celebrate the Feast of Richard Rolle, Walter Hilton, and Margery Kempe. (See below.)
David's Reflections
Today's epistle reading focuses on those who have suffered the consequences of refusing to worship the beast (Revelation 13) and on their reversal of fortunes in heaven. Some were in prison (as was the writer of Revelation, according to Revelation 1), some had been dispossessed, and some had died. They were those who had followed the Lamb wherever he led them, and in this case they went with The Lamb to imprisonment, rejection, and death.
Their crime probably had been the refusal to go to the shrine of the Emperor and burn a pinch of incense to the Emperor (probably Domitian who ruled from 81-96 CE), thus pledging their loyalty by worshipping his image. They were suspected of disloyalty and treason and the local officials in Asia Minor were arresting them as a result. It would be natural to suspect the followers of someone crucified, a punishment for insurrection and treason. Add to that their calling Jesus Lord (Greek kurios) a title for the emperor, and the earliest faith communities would be vulnerable to suspicion as treasonous.
The martyrs here are described as warriors who are participating with God in the subjugating of evil and resistance to God's will in the world. They were engaging in battle, as did the Lamb, waging the war of love that refuses to embrace values and beliefs contrary to their faith and suffering the consequences of that behavior. John foresees the incredible, the inevitable dissolution of the Roman machine of oppression, in his references to the fall of Babylon. Christian obedience to death will help bring about that fall.
The military language can be off putting to some readers, but reframing it in terms of Jesus' nonviolent, nonmilitary form of warrior behavior takes that edge off it for me. Could it be that our willingness to follow the Lamb wherever he goes might be a form of making war, of loving nonviolent resistance, of joining with God in bringing evil to heel in the world, of participating in the ongoing coming of God's reign in the world? If so, then our embracing and living into our core beliefs and values as Christians becomes even more important, serving a wider purpose than our individual well being.
As Oxford scholar G. B. Caird put it, ". . . the power of evil may be absorbed by innocent suffering and neutralized by forgiving love.” * Or as Anglican preacher extraordinaire, G A. Studdert-Kennedy put it poetically, in his poem “The Suffering God”:
Peace does not mean the end of all our striving,
Joy does not mean the drying of our tears;
Peace is the power that comes to souls arriving
Up to the light where God Himself appears.
Joy is the wine that God is ever pouring
Into the hearts of those who strive with Him,
Light'ning their eyes to vision and adoring,
Strength'ning their arms to warfare glad and grim.+
*G. B. Caird, A Commentary on the Revelation of St. John the Divine. Harper's New Testament Commentaries (New York: Harper, 1966), p. 157
+G. A. Studdert Kennedy, The Unutterable Beauty: The Collected Poems of G. A. Studdert Kennedy (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1938), p. 3.
The Collect of the Day, All Saints Sunday
Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen. (BCP, 245)
Today we celebrate the Feast of Richard Rolle, Walter Hilton, and Margery Kempe, mystics (Deaths in 1349, 1396, and ca 1440).
Collect of the Feast of Richard Rolle, Walter Hilton, and Margery Kempe
Direct our hearts, O Gracious God, and inspire our minds, that like your servants Richard Rolle, Walter Hilton, and Margery Kempe, we might pass through the cloud of unknowing until we behold your glory face to face; in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
A Collect for Guidance
O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people; Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP 100)
For Knowledge of God’s Creation
Almighty and everlasting God, you made the universe with all its marvelous order, its atoms, worlds, and galaxies, and the infinite complexity of living creatures: Grant that, as we probe the mysteries of your creation, we may come to know
you more truly, and more surely fulfill our role in your eternal purpose; in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 827)
A Collect for the Presence of Christ
Lord Jesus, stay with us, for evening is at hand and the day is past; be our companion in the way, kindle our hearts, and awaken hope, that we may know you as you are revealed in Scripture and the breaking of bread. Grant this for the sake of your love. Amen. (BCP, 124)
A Collect for Mission
O God of all the nations of the earth: Remember the multitudes who have been created in your image but have not known the redeeming work of our Savior Jesus Christ; and grant that, by the prayers and labors of your holy Church, they may be brought to know and worship you as you have been revealed in your Son; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 257)
Daily Office Epistle, Revelation 14:1-13
14:1Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion! And with him were one hundred forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder; the voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, 3and they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the one hundred forty-four thousand who have been redeemed from the earth. 4It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins; these follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been redeemed from humankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb, 5and in their mouth no lie was found; they are blameless.
6 Then I saw another angel flying in midheaven, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation and tribe and language and people. 7He said in a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come; and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.’ 8Then another angel, a second, followed, saying, ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.’ 9Then another angel, a third, followed them, crying with a loud voice, ‘Those who worship the beast and its image, and receive a mark on their foreheads or on their hands, 10they will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured unmixed into the cup of his anger, and they will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image and for anyone who receives the mark of its name.’ 12Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to the faith of Jesus.
13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Write this: Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.’
Daily Offices in The Book of Common Prayer
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, The Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayer, page 103, Book of Common Prayer
Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p 109, Book of Common Prayer
Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer
Compline (Night Prayer), page 127, Book of Common Prayer
Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer
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