24.XII.2022
Anxiety relief! The Prince of Peace is coming!
The text for the sermon will be the text from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, chapter 9, verses one to six! Let’s be careful!
Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Dear friends! Dear Ukrainians, all the people of the One who created each person! Dear readers of the portal! A year of great calamity is passing, caused by the terrible, cynical and cruel military aggression of terrorist Russia, which took more than one life and more than one peace of mind. Everything seemed to shake, which before that was considered so strong and certain. Humanity, which planned successful landings of Martian modules, reached economic peaks, and even in many cases was ready to applaud the end of the fight against COVID, is witnessing unprecedented scale of savagery and barbarism. Entire Ukrainian cities and villages were literally wiped off the face of the earth. The year of great resistance has shown most clearly the colossal gulf between the good that comes from the Most High and the consequences of thoughts, visions, concepts, approaches and actions that lead to shame, violence and baseness. For each of us, this year has become a year of forming priorities, personal relationships with God and others, as well as serious considerations about time, one’s own life, death, which caught the eye of many and managed to reap a considerable harvest, bringing suffering and tears.
After all, passing through times of sorrow, we begin to seriously reflect on a very important truth — we are not alone. And not only because everyone helps us, fights with us and sympathizes. God settles the hearts of many and destroys the strongholds of spiritual obscurity. He does not desire any death, on the contrary, he wants everyone to stand on the path of God’s truth, which must be triumphantly, confidently raised on the pedestal of God’s Banner, which comes from above (Ezekiel 33:11). No matter what God, our Creator (I am especially addressing those who read in Ukraine), would we be able to get a guarantee that we were able to live to this day in the days when rockets fly continuously destroying infrastructure and human lives? What is the guarantee of this year’s resistance and success in the fight against the enemy? Isn’t God’s wisdom and support, which is a clear testimony that we are alive and see the result of prayers? Shouldn’t we call on our Creator for help in the «day of trouble» (Psalm 49:15)?
I recall the words of one of the tweets of the General of the Ukrainian General Staff Valery Zaluzhny with reference to the words of the prophet Jeremiah: «Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you about a great and incomprehensible thing that you do not know!» And indeed, if it were not for the Lord, — as David says in the text of Psalm 123 (124), «the water would have flooded us, the stream would have passed over our soul, the stormy water would then have passed over our soul» (Psalm 123:1-2). And indeed, from moscow’s aggression, their «stormy water» brought great trouble and suffering. Watching the footage from Mariupol, Borodyanka, Izyum, and the crucified Bucha, it becomes creepy all over the world — how could it come to this? Therefore, only the Lord gives us wisdom in resistance, equanimity, prayerfulness and diligence.
Why so? A question that remains relevant for many. Why was evil so calmly able to penetrate not only into the consciousness of those who bear the name of man to commit lawlessness? After all, where does God look when death is waiting, when tears and suffering are incessant? Unfortunately, such situations clearly demonstrated how those who carry the name of what is called a person can easily lose it at one moment; one who accumulates resources to commit untruth in any form cannot remain invisible to others. After all, any human choice between a lesser and a greater evil is still a conscious choice of evil, however much it may be. Besides, the lesser evil is the most dangerous. After all, after feeding him, nurturing him, giving him every opportunity to be, as a result we get an even more terrible evil, an even more terrible Philistine Goliath, in whose hands something is more than a spear and a shield. This newest «Goliath» turned out to have not only tanks, artillery, infantry and everything that he came with after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but also the idea of a «Russian world», which literally means to wipe out everything around, plunder and transform its ruins.
God, in response to the question «how could this happen» says through the mouth of the prophet Jeremiah: «listen, house of Israel! Is my dear wrong? Aren’t your roads wrong? Isn’t it because some people went against God’s decrees and ways that is the true cause of violence and injustice? But why does God not immediately stop the hand of the rapist and murderer? What does God expect at this time? He gives us a chance to see that in the simplest, everyday situations, we should never, under any circumstances, get on the path of untruth and sin, understanding what catastrophic consequences this can lead to. For a person, it is a wonderful chance to see the Divine optics of the spiritual world, which is formalized in such things and phenomena. Any evil pursues the ultimate goal — to erase not only cities, villages, nations, but also to erase any humanity in itself; its goal is to transform a person simply into a living being, in which everything divine is essentially and irrevocably erased and thus, creating a hell within himself, dooming himself to his own conscious destruction.
But, beloved, we did not die! And not only because we can read these lines and think about it, subjecting everything to analysis and our life steps. After all, let’s face it, any evil in everyday quarrels, unwillingness to do good to our fellow man, envy, slander, arrogance, evil words and curses — isn’t this a sign that this is our personal next step towards collaboration and support of the enemy? Doesn’t this mean that such a person, knowingly or not, dresses in darkness, in a spiritual blackout and lives a useless and unhappy life? Because if the light of oblenergo can turn off due to constant shelling, then what kind of disaster is it when the inner light of faith, goodness and hope turns off with continuous electricity? What could be the worst? What forces can deliver such a person from such a scenario of hopelessness? War is not just an existential evil, the product of human vices and cynicism; it is a symptom that clearly defines the optimization model of spiritual awakening. The cry that constantly sounds to us from the sirens of air alarms: «Wake up! Do not sleep! See what kind of enemy and adversary every human untruth creates.» When an air alert is announced, one should find a shelter, a safe place that will be a hiding place from possible danger. When we hide in the shadow of God’s wings in times of spiritual anxiety, in His righteousness and light — we do not have a blackout! Even with candles and generators, we can be cheerful, supported by the Lord, inspired by Him to support others and give light to others.
I’ll be honest, I don’t know if the air alert has been declared at the moment you read these lines, but without any cynicism and slyness, let me declare the alarm lifted! Yes, it’s a rebound! Maybe not airy, but one that, according to the Divine design, will be left behind, including airy in the future. Anxieties that will go away once and for all. God, whose name we confess, according to the words of the prophet Isaiah, «breaks the bow and spear» once and for all ends wars! His true will is to bring eternal joy and comfort and «to wipe away every tear from their eyes» (Revelation 21:4). His sovereignty and authority not only to finalize the scenario of any wars, but also to finally establish a true and genuine just Peace! A peace in which there will be no adversary, no oppressor, no stormy sea and unrest. Isn’t that what Ukraine needs so much? Do you dig it? «Illusion» — you will say that it is not subject to human efforts. To some extent it is. In this regard, professors of political science Hein Homans and Dan Reiter in the «theory of the end of wars» specifically for The New Yorker noted that [direct speech] «there is no mechanism in the international system that would force the parties to comply with the terms of the agreement. If one party wants to violate the terms of the peace agreement, there is no such instance to which the other party could complain.» Thus, humanity, due to its own worthlessness, condemns itself to a permanent state of war.
But the Holy Scripture assures that what is impossible for people is possible for God! (Matthew 19:26).
Indeed, not all families have a sense of celebration and joy. As Andrii Illenko, a fighter of the «Karpatska Sich» battalion, rightly notes in his Telegram channel: «Sad Christmas Eve in 2022.» You who are sad and crying today! You who live in uncertainty and indeterminacy, listen — the repulsion of all anxiety! Great Light, Great Joy has shone for such people, which I want to announce to all of you! Who will end all violence and wars? Who will establish his just Peace once and for all? Who is this True Lord of Peace and Truth?
One day, «A child was born to us»! Christ was born in Whose Hands Power and Strength! He Whose Name Will Be Called Strange Counselor! The Father of Eternity indicates that His purpose will never cease! Prince of Peace — this is what started the birth of the Little Baby in the poor Bethlehem manger. The prophet Micah wrote: «You, Bethlehem-Ephrat, are the smallest among the thousands of Jews. From you will come out according to My will the One who will be the ruler in Israel — although His origin is from the beginning, from eternal times» (Micah 5:1) In order to bring His True Peace, our Lord and the Savior Jesus Christ, according to the words of the Apostle Paul in the reference to the Philippians, notes that He «humbled Himself, becoming like each of us. How many among those who have risen to such a high rank and station are capable of stooping so low in the name of love, our Safety and Peace?
May His Peace and Grace reign over every Ukrainian family, whether you are in Ukraine or in another country that has hospitably received you, hearing and reading this News! We pray for every Ukrainian family, for all good-hearted people — whether they are generals or political leaders, employees of state executive services, volunteers, chaplains, Christian teachers and pastors who support Ukraine and pray for peace in it! God’s protection to our soldiers!
Be sure, God will certainly give His Victory from above and His Peace! The birth of Christ is a message of Peace, God’s Optimism, Great Hope, comfort for hearts and confidence in a great future! Christ was born! Let’s praise Him! Merry Christmas!
Dr. Eugene Raspopov
