In reading
the Parable of the Sower (St. Luke 8:5-15), I'm impressed with the
realization that God loves winners and that the Devil is a loser.
Think about it for a minute. Who are the followers of God? Those who
believe, who put their belief into action, who seek out the poor to
help them, those who, despite all adversities, never lose faith but
are steadfast. Even those who suffer and in the depth of their suffering
reach out to God. They're all winners.
Consider the parable. . . "the seed on the wayside is the Word
of God, and the devil comes and carries away the word from their heart
in case they should believe and be saved." These poor people
are losers, because they are the victims of the devil who is the prince
of losers. "The seed that falls on a rock are people who when
they first hear, welcome the Word with joy, but these have no roots;
they believe for a little while and in time of trial, they give up.
They are losers for they give in to the prince of losers, the Devil."
Who are the winners? People that received the Word of God as rich,
fertile soil receives a seed to nourish it, to cause it to flourish
and bear fruit so that others might benefit. These are winners and
the homeland of winners is the Kingdom of God. Is it not clear that
the Devil has nothing to do with righteous people and that the unrighteous
have nothing to do with God?
Consider the black and the white of it for there's no gray zone here.
Either we belong to God's Kingdom or we belong to Satan and his world.
If to God then we are winners, because there is something promised
and fulfilled by Him that Satan can promise but cannot deliver. If
you are the kind of person who puts your faith into action, who understands
that the love of God means expressing that love in your daily life
and the disciplines that you impose upon yourself, worship, prayer
and fasting, of ministering to people who need your help, of maintaining
constant, vigilant contact with God and with your inner self through
self-awareness and meditation, then the chances are, you are a winner.
But if you're the kind of person who wallows in self concerns, who
is always worried about worldly things, constantly frustrated by the
decisions that have to be made on a daily basis and constantly compromising
with the absolutes of God's Truth, the kind of person who is just
too lethargic to shake loose from apathy, then the chances are you're
a loser, and the devil is a loser and the prince of losers.
Anybody who will live and practice his faith has certain criteria
laid out for him. Jesus really left us few Commandments, but the criteria
that He did leave us are really very basic: Love God! Love your
fellow man! "This Commandment I leave with you, that you
love one another even as I have loved you". That makes you a
winner. And when we fail to love as He loved, then we become losers.
St. Augustine said in reference to this, "Love, then do as you
please", and that's Orthodox. Now we can talk about "end
of time" prophecies and preaching, about "born again"
ministries, about any kind of criterion you want, but it all boils
down to that one idea, when we love as Christ exemplifies love, we
can do as we please because it is then impossible for us to violate
any of the criteria which He has set down for us. In other words,
if you love as Jesus loved, you're always a winner. Even when we are
in trouble, in pain, in conflict, if we love as He loved, we can never
be losers.
I remember people in my ministry who, no matter how difficult things
became, never lost faith in God. I look upon the faces of very dear
people who have suffered the loss of loved ones, the premature death
of children, personal pain and suffering, business tribulations, problems
in school, trouble with raising their children or children who are
having problems with their parents, and yet have never lost faith.
These are the real winners. They're the ones who, no matter how bad
things seem on the face of the earth, believe the promise that they
are going to be victorious in the end and live life joyfully.
I have also looked upon a sea of faces of those who are very close
to the edge of succumbing to satanic wiles. People who are grudge
bearers, who find it hard to forgive, who find it easy to exaggerate
their ill feelings about others, people who don't get along with their
brothers, their sisters, their parents, who only complain about life.
I warn you who are toying around with the devil's wiles, don't allow
your life to pass you by in anger and in grudge-bearing against those
whom God has given you to love, because then you are on the brink
of being a loser, and the devil is a loser.
From Word
Magazine
Publication of the Antiochian Orthodox
Christian Archdiocese of North America
February 1983
p. 17
