But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2 Corinthians 12:9
Our experience of worship is helps us grow in our faith in several ways. One of those ways is that worship is educational. In our worship, there are three Greek words that refer to the strength of God. The first is the word “ischis” which means, strength, power or might. The most often used example of this word is in the Trisagion Prayers and Trisagion Hymn—Agios o Theos, Agios Ischiros, Agios Athanatos, Eleison Imas. This is more accurately translated “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.” The words “Mighty” and “Immortal” are not used as descriptive words. Rather, they address God as the One who is Mighty and the One who is Immortal, as there is no one else who can compare to the might of God and of course no one but God is immortal. When we ask God to have mercy on us, that is also a significant thing, in that God being Mighty and Immortal, His mercy means so much more than any mercy given or withheld by us can mean. Ephesians 6:10 reads Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. St. Paul follows this verse with a lengthy analogy that by putting on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (Ephesians 6:11)
During the chanting of the Trisagion Hymn at the Divine Liturgy, the priest, or deacon, exclaims to the people “Dynamis” before the hymn is sung one final time. In many translations of the Liturgy, this command is translated as “again, fervently,” or “again,” or “with strength” or even “louder.” Dynamis is a word that doesn’t really translate. It means to offer this hymn with all of your being, with all of your effort, with all of your soul and with all of your essence, to lean into God with everything you have and everything you are. This imitates Christ sacrificing for us, with all of Himself, and how His greatest power was demonstrated in His greatest offering of self. In Luke 1:35, which we just read on the feast of the Annunciation a few days ago, the Archangel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary that “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.” Imagine the power, the Dynamis of the Most High God coming upon the Virgin Mary. Imagine it coming on us. While none of us will experience the Dynamis of God in the same way as the Virgin Mary, when we humble ourselves before God, in the same way that the Virgin Mary did, we can experience on a smaller scale the might and strength of God, because as we read in 2 Corinthians 12:9, the strength of God is perfected in our weakness.
The third word we hear in the Divine Liturgy is the word kratos. We hear For Yours is the dominion, and Yours is the Kingdom, the power and the glory, “Oti Son to Kratos, and Sou estin I Vasilia, ke I dynamis, ke I Doxa.” We actually hear the words kratos and dynami in the same sentence. This kind of power or might is written about in Ephesians 1:19-21: and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe, according to the working of His great might which He accomplished in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and made Him sit at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
This strength and power is accessible to all of us through humility, when we humble ourselves in the site of the Lord, so that He can lift us up.
In Thy strength the king rejoices, O Lord; and in Thy help how greatly He exults! Thou hast given him his heart’s desire, and hast not withheld the request of his lips. For Thou dost met him with goodly blessings; Thou dost set a crown of fine gold upon his head. He asked life of Thee; thou gavest it to him, length of days forever and ever. His glory is great through Thy help; splendor and majesty Thou dost bestow upon him. Yea, Thou dost make him most blessed forever; Thou dost make him glad with the joy of Thy presence. For the king trusts in the Lord; and through the steadfast love of the Most high he shall not be moved. Your hand will find out all your enemies; your right hand will find out those who hate you. You will make them as a blazing oven when You appear. The Lord will swallow them up in His wrath; and fire will consume them. You will destroy their offspring from the earth, and their children from among the sons of men. If they plan evil against You, if they devise mischief, they will not succeed. For You will put them to flight; You will aim at their faces with Your bows. Be exalted, O Lord, in Thy strength! We will sing and praise Thy power. Psalm 21
Humbly open your heart to God in prayer and worship, ask Him to fill your empty spaces with His power, let His strength flow over your weakness. Lean into God today!
