A brother asked Abba Sisoes, ‘What shall I do, abba, for I have fallen?’ The old man said to him, ‘Get up again.’ The brother said, ‘I have got up again, but I have fallen again.’ The old man said, ‘Get up again and again.’ So then the brother said, ‘How many times?’ The old man said, ‘Until you are taken up either in virtue or in sin. For a man presents himself to judgment in the state in which he is found.’
The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Benedicta Ward, 1975, p 220-221
For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
Ephesians 6:12-13 (NRSV)
St. Paul the Apostle uses many military images in his various writings. In particular, these are used either when fighting against ourselves or when fighting against the devil. The same type of imagery is used by the very gentle, merciful, and forgiving Desert Fathers and Mothers. It is worth looking at those images, and I commend that study to you.
The comic above is a translation from a Japanese manga, which means that you must read it from right to left for it to make sense. But, the point that is made is the same as the Desert Fathers and Mothers. As long as you keep getting up, you have not lost yet. The winner is the last person standing. In our Christian case, if we are still standing at the time of the Judgment Seat of Christ, then we win. The issue is not whether we sin. We do. The issue is whether we know how to keep getting up from our various sins in order to keep on plodding forward.
Years ago I heard Christians called the “walking wounded” by one preacher. The term originally comes from military medicine and it meant those military wounded who were still able to walk and did not need immediate medical attention. It fits rather well with the theme of this post. However, the term has morphed to also be used in pop psychology. Sadly, there it means those who cannot find healing or “closure.”
But, the military term walking wounded does not necessarily mean something negative. Most of the time it does mean those who need not be treated immediately and can be set aside to wait for treatment until the more severely wounded can be treated. But, it can also mean those wounded soldiers who continue to fight despite their wounds. If you read the narratives of most Medal of Honor winners, they generally have been wounded more than once. Most Medal of Honor awards are post-humous, they fight until their last breath. That is, they keep getting up.
It is in that sense that the preacher I mentioned was using the term “walking wounded.” That is, Christians are those who have been wounded by sin yet keep walking forward and fighting the good fight until the day of their death. Some are grievously wounded, and have fallen into alcoholism or have PTSD, or have been damaged severely by this life. We are supposed to reach out to them, like medics on the battlefield, to help them to make it through. Some are able to march forward and give us a heroic example, the saints whom we honor.
But, like the Medal of Honor winners, all of us are supposed to keep standing up, wound after wound, and keep going forward in the fight against the enemy until we reach death and transition to God’s presence. After all, it is the last person standing who wins, and we live with the hope and expectation that, though we die, yet in the Resurrection we shall be standing with him and we shall be shown to have won with him. Our hope and our expectation is of eternal victory though in this world we will experience nothing except unending war with ourselves and the cosmic powers of this present darkness.
I have not said it would be easy or pleasant. But it is that to which we are called.
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