Слово на Святое Воскресение Христово. Святого Димитрия, митрополита Ростовского

Passion for the sake of the poor, and the groaning of the needy, now I will rise, says the Lord (Ps. 11:6). These are the words of God the Holy Spirit, anciently spoken by David, and now fulfilled by God the Son Himself. Today is a world-joyful day, a day of joy for those in heaven, on earth and in the underworld. Three places - heaven, earth and the underworld - want to hear the highly desired - “Christ is risen”; That is why the Church proclaims three times to three places: “Christ is risen.” When I hear the words of Christ, previously spoken by David: passion for the sake of the poor, then I think that not the whole earth or the inhabitants of the earth rejoice in the Risen One. These words show that one should rejoice at one for whom Christ was resurrected: the passion for the sake of the poor. David does not remember kings, passes over princes in silence, does not say a word about the rich, although they all wanted to see His resurrection. The kings exclaimed: rise, rise, Lord, for You reign forever; however, they did not have time at all, for it is not said: “I will rise for the sake of the kings.” The glorious people cried out in this voice: Arise, my glory, but there was no voice: “I will arise for the sake of the glorious of the earth.” More than one earthly judge prayed: “Arise, O Lord, judge the earth,” but God does not want to be a friend to the earthly judge. Rich people, having many chambers, desired various, pleasing chambers and prayed: Arise, O Lord, into Thy rest (Ps. 132:8); God does not think of rising from a solid stone tomb. And when the poor, the strange, the wretched, everyone with a humble sigh, cried out: rise, O Lord my God, let Thy hand be exalted, do not forget Thy poor to the end (Ps. 9:33), - then at the same time they heard the words of Christ: now I will rise again for the sake of the poor and the sighing of the poor. So, why does Christ, having despised the rich and high-ranking, rise again for the sake of the poor alone - about this I, feeble-minded, would like to offer at least a small word to my listener. I pray to you, the now risen Word of God, the Teacher of wisdom and the Giver of meaning: grant me the word! For the sake of the passions of the poor and the sighing of the needy, I will now rise again, says the Lord. When I want to think a little about temporary riches and poverty and find out what good poverty has done for Christ God, and what wealth is to blame for, that the Risen One appears for the sake of the poor, but shies away from the rich, then naturally my mind attracts me, first of all, to wealth. But since the poverty of today is more honest than wealth, more valuable than even the treasures of the whole world, then let my first word be about poverty: what good has it done for God?.... Wealth or gifts to man from God are threefold: a spiritual gift, a physical gift, a gift of well-being. Spiritual - wisdom, piety, humility, good conscience and other virtues; physical gifts - facial beauty, eloquent language, good body composition and strength in it; the granting of well-being: treasure (silver, gold), houses created with great dependence, power over lesser people, mercy from greater ones. In the same way, the opposite of this poverty is threefold: spiritual poverty - riot of mind, inconstancy, quick permission to sin, and so on; bodily poverty is physical labor, blindness, lameness, numbness of the tongue, hearing loss; Poverty or lack of prosperity is known to everyone. Whoever is wasting away from hunger, who is thirsty, and especially in illness, who is vegetating from the frosty heat, who has no place to lay his head - this is what lack of well-being means. Let us see what pleases God better—poverty or wealth. The glorified Christ our God, indivisible in Divinity from the Holy Trinity, descended before His conception from heaven to earth, and truly by God’s judgment, going to destroy two cities, Sodom and Gomorrah, approaches on the field of Damascus to the oak of Mamre, under which our forefather Abraham is a beggar: a beggar, for he did not even have a small hut, except for a small ax and something else from flock, since he himself was a shepherd. What does poor Abraham do? In the spirit he sees God approaching, with a joyful face he falls to the ground, for it is written: Abraham saw God, and, falling on his face to the ground, he rejoiced. Abraham, due to the strength of his poverty, arranges a feast, performs the virtue of hosting strangers - he washes his feet. Here, listener, is the first merit of wretched poverty before God! The second good deed of poverty before God is in the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ from the Blessed Virgin Mary. When He was laid in a wretched and dishonorable den, who first of all gave honor and worship and brought gifts, if not the wretched shepherds? And who does not know from (the parable) about the Gospel widow the third benefit from poverty before God? She, being completely poor, gave her last two mites... What does wealth or prosperity do? Isn't this the opposite? Abraham, wandering as a beggar under an oak tree, accepts with love; and the rich man of the Gospel, feasting in the chambers, what does Christ do in the image of the wretched Lazarus? “He doesn’t even tell me to let him in.” Abraham throws an elaborate feast, but the rich man does not even serve a bite of bread from the excesses of the feast. Abraham washes the feet of strangers, but the rich man does not want one of the slaves to wash his raw face. Abraham accepts with joy, the rich man drives away with his heart. What does the poverty of wretched shepherds do to the born Christ God? – gives honor, worship, gift. And the rich king Herod wants to kill, he goes to his death. The den, poor in fruits, contained Christ; but the whole city of Bethlehem could not accommodate it, because it did not want to. What does wealth do against the poverty of a widow? There is no need to look for distant evidence, now they are clearly visible. A poor widow gives God two mites, but a rich man takes thousands from God. Therefore, God is better friendly with the poor, for he says worthily and righteously: for the sake of the passions of the poor and the sighing of the poor, and not for the rich, I will rise again. What does a rich man do with this? Is he trying to cleave to Christ? He has a proud thought: “I am a rich man; at the beginning of my name is god. You, Christ, are with Your poor as You wish: the poor are committed to You.” You see, listener, that Christ does not cleave to the rich; in this case, even the rich cannot cleave to Christ. Poor Lazarus, who had previously lain at the rich man’s gate, sits in Abraham’s bosom; The rich man, surrounded by terrible fire, looks kindly at Lazarus and asks for a drop of water. And what does the proud achieve? Know what the rich man hears: “With the measure that he has measured, with that it will be measured to him; You have not had mercy, and you will not have mercy.” Herod, who previously did not want to reign with Christ, now born, would have said with tenderness: “Rise up, Lord. Thou reignest forever: I will not reign with Thee, but will work for Thee.” The multitude of those who love vain things (even a whole day would not be enough to express what a multitude there are!)... short-lived well-being leads to destruction, and not to salvation. But let us turn our mental eyes to the opposite of bodily wealth or talents, bodily poverty. Let's see who magnifies the saving name of Jesus? - truly, those who do not have wealth, or bodily gifts. The blind man calls Him by his sweetest and most holy name: “Jesus, Son of David”; the leper says: Lord, if you want, you can cleanse me. The blind, the lame, the deaf, the withered, glorify Jesus as best they could, one saying: Jesus, Son of David, the other: Jesus, Son of God; another: Lord. What do healthy people do? - Those who had sound eyes watched over Him; those who had sound ears asked Him, as if pursuing them, if they would hear anything flattering from Him. Those who have a sound tongue plan how to destroy Him; Those who have sound hands throw stones at Him; those who have sound feet persecute Him. This is what those with physical gifts do: those who are healthy with all their bodily senses pursue, tempt, and persecute. But those who do not have that gift, physical wealth, the poor, magnify Jesus Christ, glorify, and honor. Therefore, it is not in vain that Christ says: I will rise again for the sake of the poor. Behold, prudent listeners, hear how the second human gift, bodily wealth, annoys Christ, and how bodily poverty pleases Him. Let us listen again briefly to whether in pleasing God the above-mentioned spiritual gifts, i.e., wisdom, piety, good conscience, etc., are consistent with the mental poverty that is contrary to it, i.e., riotousness, inclination to sin. Who among people is crazier than a demoniac? What does the madman say to Christ? - You are the Son of God. And what do the wise scribes and Pharisees say? - about the prince of demons he will cast out demons, there is a Samaritan, and he has a demon. The harlot wife is foolish, for by sinning a person destroys his mind, is attached to foolish beasts and becomes like them. What does a foolish wife do? - washes Jesus’ feet and wipes them with his hair, does not move away from his Teacher and Mentor; and, looking at her, other sinners follow Him and serve Him. And the wise scribes and Pharisees watch over the Righteous One, gnashing their teeth at Christ, saying: “He eats and drinks with sinners” (they have already made themselves saints!). Oh, the wise folly of sinners! Oh, the insane wisdom of such scribes! Listen, listener, how disgusting to God is spiritual, physical, and happiness-given wealth that is used for evil! What persecution does it bring to Christ, and how does Christ not say: “I will rise for the sake of the rich”! The rich annoyed Christ not only with words, but also with their hands, whips, and even sharp thorns, bringing Him to the bitterest death. Judas, although he was rich, nevertheless betrayed Jesus: venerable for their spiritual wealth and wisdom, the Jewish bishops condemned Him to death; Pilate, strong in body and power, nailed Him to the cross. So, Christ our Savior in His life on earth, even before His death on the cross, did not have such reproach or reproach from anyone as from those whom He Himself blessed with the above-mentioned threefold wealth. That is why Christ the Lord, having risen gloriously, does not appear to wise scribes, rich rulers, or strong warriors. By His solemn and victorious uprising He could have disgraced and destroyed them all; however, He did not appear to them. To whom did Christ appear? - appeared to those whom he chose and loved: he appeared to the poor, whom he called from the boat and the nets, saying: come after me. He did not appear to the soldiers, nor to Pilate, nor to the other rulers in Jerusalem after His resurrection, letting them know that in the general resurrection they would not all appear in person to Him, and if they did appear, it would not be for long, but would soon be sent to their seller Judas. Hearing this, someone will think: “I am not afraid of that hellish execution, for I do not betray Christ, I do not crucify.” But, having thought this, let him consider that if not sensually, then mentally, and not only once, but every day he kills, crucifies, with evil deeds and morals. Let a cunning person, especially one in a position of subordination, think that he is betraying his fellow servant to dishonor, or even to murder: when he wants to please his master, he slanders, digs a ditch, and, having found guilt, makes a great mountain out of grain, as a result of which the one who is heavily slandered falls. Truly, such a one sells Christ in an innocent person, and is worthy to be called Judas, a slave and a flatterer. A scribe condemns him to death when, seeing a non-literate person, he mocks him; Such a one reads books, but does not see what the church teacher writes: just like the case of a fool, it will happen to me (Eccl. 2:15), - he does not hear St. Paul, who in the first letter to the Corinthians says: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will reject the understanding of the prudent (1 Cor. 1:19). Thus, good spiritual gifts turn into evil when they coexist with evil. The same is done with bodily gifts. He cries out: “Crucify, crucify,” when someone creates righteousness out of unrighteousness, fearing no one, and saying to himself: “My mouth is with me, and who is the Lord? I will release the guilty thief, Barabbas; I will deliver the innocent Jesus to death.” Whoever God rewards with bodily talent, strength, he firmly binds Christ - whether at home, relying on strength, and not yielding to anyone, showing himself terrible to everyone - or in battle, trusting not in God, but in his bow, and not remembering that the cunning of the Sampsons is the strength of Delida, - the wise Judiths are on the military Holofernes. But let us turn the eyes of our minds to the poor. The Lord rose for the sake of the poor. Who knows, for the sake of all the poor. Blessed are the poor in spirit. If a beggar is humble because of the lack of treasures, but is highly intelligent and proud in spirit, then let him not hope that for his sake Christ has risen. If a beggar is ignorant in mind, the wisdom of those who love it counts for nothing; and if a wise man says something good, he does not listen, but only seeks to catch it with a word and thereby annoy him and swear: such a one beats Christ on the head with a cane.... Having searched for such beggars for a long time, I, without a doubt, say that I would have found an equal number of rich people, if not more. For a rich man who is not proud of his wealth is honorable, humble as much as he is great, a wise man who is not high-minded, handsome and strong in body, always bearing in his mind the Apostolic words: Let not all flesh boast (James 1:9), truly he is humble and poor in spirit, and therefore blessed. Blessed are the poor in spirit. There is no doubt that for the sake of such rich people Christ rises and remains with them. Those who do not have various talents and wealth, but are proud - those who, out of envy, put God on trial before them and interrogate why You gave a lot of wealth to him, but not to me at all - for such poor people Christ will not rise. The poor cried: rise, O Lord our God, may Thy hand be lifted up, do not forget Thy poor to the end, but the righteous poor cried, and the Lord heard them. So, not every poor person is holy, not every rich person is unrighteous. Christ the Lord redeemed us at the same price with His most holy blood, in order to grant salvation to everyone, not so that they would crucify Him, but so that they would be crucified with Him and rejoice and say: “I was crucified with You yesterday, I am with You today.” But you, beloved listener, co-crucified at the heel of the dead and buried Christ, having joined together today, rejoice. Amen 222. A piece of bread, a chunk - A brief church dictionary. Note electronic edition. From manuscripts. collection sermons of St. Dimitry, Metropolitan. Rostovsky. See Yaroslavl Diocesan Gazette, 1865, Nos. 14–15; Wed remarks regarding this sermon in the study by I. A. Shlyapkin: “St. Dimitri of Rostov and his time" 1891 St. Petersburg, pp. 340, 360. You might be interested in: