1. И гражданская жизнь есть поприще богоугождения для тех, кои труды по ней Богу посвящают

Let every soul be subject to those in authority (Rom. 13:1). The circumstances of time teach a person and instill in him various instructions according to their kind. Thus, the royal days involuntarily incline attention to the Tsar and the kingdom, and here, in the church, they transfer thoughts from the earthly kingdom to the heavenly kingdom and encourage them to balance service in one with service for the other. In fact, brothers, when in the days of the king we gather in the churches of God, in which we usually serve the true God, “make prayers, supplications, petitions, thanksgivings” (1 Tim. 2:1) for the King and the kingdom, then we confess not only that the Most High owns the kingdom of man and directs it wherever he wants, but also that by serving the fatherland, we thereby serve God. How does it occur to some that there is no union between these ministries and that he who devotes himself to one will inevitably leave and forget the other? If here we bring thanks to God for past successes in public service and ask for help for further success in it, if, that is, this service seems to come from here and returns here, then when, in fact, perhaps, does it distract someone from serving God and weakens the spirit of piety in someone: doesn’t this depend on our guilt, and not on the service itself? When the Lord says: “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and the things that are God’s to the Gods” (Matthew 22:21), he inspires that combining this mutual service is not only possible, but also must. The nature of the matter itself shows that just as the body is an instrument through which the soul reveals its internal actions, so society and service in it are the best field for the disclosure and discovery of the invisible spirit of piety, and not for discovery only, but together for formation and strengthening. We will undoubtedly be convinced of this if we take a closer look at the Apostolic teaching on public service (Rom. 13:1-8). The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans writes: “Let every soul be subject to those in authority” (Rom. 13:1). When he says: every soul, he does not exclude anyone except the Supreme Head of the kingdom, who rules over all, and when he says: by the powers that be, he means all power in general, legally established. If now in a well-ordered society all members are in mutual dependence and mutual subordination, then it is a region of mutually obedient people and, consequently, a school of obedience. Now notice what obedience means in the Christian life. This is such a virtue, which alone, one can say, contains intact the entire composition of morality and piety. Let's judge by the opposite. The beginning of all sins is in the disobedience of the first man to the command of God the King, and now what is every sin if not the fruit of disobedience. Ask why the zealots of piety suffer most of all? From the waywardness of your will. What did the saints primarily arm themselves against? devotees? Against your will. What prevents a person – a sinner – from leaving sin and turning to God – on the path of righteousness? Persistence and corruption of one's will. How, therefore, it should be beneficial to destroy, or at least diminish this evil in us - our will, to crush this iron neck! But how and what is the most convenient way to do this? Nothing more than obedience, renunciation of one’s will, surrendering oneself to the will of another. For there is no doubt that this latter will hardly bend her orders to please us; and when it is against our will, then this will, of necessity, humble itself and enter into due limits. If now public service is a field of obedience; then judge for yourself how adapted it is to a truly Christian and pious life! Placing barriers to youthful fervor or the deliberate plans of a husband, and at the same time obliging him to certain activities that are not to the passionate heart, it not only does not allow evil to leave the heart, returning it inside, as if to destroy itself, but also suppresses it there, making a constant break in the will an actual service. It is true that in society more external affairs are required, while one’s own will can lurk internally: but what prudent person will allow such a split to remain forever in himself? Will not, on the contrary, everyone be forced to attach their heart to what they do on the outside? And can such a disagreement last? The spark goes out by itself if it is not intentionally fanned, and the sprout in the seed freezes if it is not stimulated by life-giving elements. The same thing happens with self-will: it will naturally weaken, diminish and, finally, become completely unnoticeable if it is not irritated by the fulfillment of its demands. That is why among permanent employees, after quite a long service, you can meet people who are mostly quiet, humble, and submissive. Thus, the Lord, through public service, brought us all into obedience in order to return everyone to Himself through the destruction of self-will and the formation of humble obedience. For whoever is submissive to people will be the more willing to submit to God, and whoever fulfills human decrees will be the more zealous to fulfill God’s commandments. But someone will say: we were created for God: we must work for Him alone in order to be worthy to be with Him in the Kingdom of Heaven. But what kind of communication is there between earthly service and the labors of the Kingdom for the sake of heaven? By serving for the sake of people and, moreover, for the sake of their earthly well-being, are we not moving away from our purpose, as much as heaven is higher than earth, and creation is lower than the Creator? Against such thinking, listen to what the Apostle says further: “There is no authority except from God: but the existing authorities were created by God” (Rom. 13:1). All power comes from God. Next, and the one under which each of us is directly committed and which we must obey. Therefore, regardless of whether this power is high or low, it is nevertheless power from God, and, obeying it, nevertheless obeys God. This is the connection between serving man and serving God. “Submit yourselves to every creature for the Lord’s sake” (1 Peter 2:13) - and you will no longer work for man, but for God: man then disappears from attention and heart, and there will be one God and His holy will. Is it not clear that turning public service into a means of pleasing God and acquiring the Kingdom of Heaven depends on each of us? Guide your heart, purify its intentions, sanctify its expectations: and please God by serving in some apparently insignificant position in society. The Lord favors the claim only in the number of deeds and their greatness, but mainly in the disposition with which they are performed. The widow's mite turned out to be more valuable to Him than rich deposits, and with a glass of water He promised not to forget the charity done in the Kingdom of Heaven. So, if whose service to the fatherland does not ascend to God and does not turn into service to Him, he certainly does not serve as he should, has the wrong goals, walks with the wrong disposition in this service. So - whoever is faithful in his service and obeys his superiors out of fear of punishment, does not serve rightly: for one must obey, according to the Apostle, “not only for anger, but also for conscience” (Rom. 13:5). Such a servant is very unreliable. If the bonds of fear are taken away from him, he will indulge in all the violence of self-will, despite the fact that there is an all-seeing and omnipresent God. Also, whoever does everything out of profit, in the hope of rewards, in anticipation of exaltation, serves vanity and passions, and not God. In society, rewards are needed to distinguish work and merit from laziness and unworthiness; promotions are needed to replace degrees that require experienced workers, who usually rise to this level by longevity and variety of occupations. But whoever sets such a search as the goal of his ministry perverts in his heart the intentions of the government and God, for which it is often necessary to beg, like Moses, that the most worthy be chosen. And service to society for society is not right service. It is as if society exists for itself and has a purpose within itself. The Lord deigned to have a civil order on earth so that by helping each other, admonishing and correcting each other, the more successfully we would achieve eternal bliss through the fulfillment of His holy will and the increase of His glory on earth. Society is the means. Whoever sets it as a goal takes away the goal from it and makes it seem empty and lifeless. Is this not why there is no order, peace and prosperity where they serve society for society itself? For whoever expects everything from him will be the first to turn against him as soon as he feels forgotten and unnoticed in him. But whoever works for him for the Lord’s sake, his heat of jealousy will not be cooled by the coldness and inattention of people. Should we finally talk about what a vast field there is in society for the exercise of love for one’s neighbors, which is the second most important commandment - the closest means to pleasing God (1 John 4:16) and the most direct path to the Kingdom of Heaven, when this is obvious by itself; for society is a union of people working mutually for each other, or, what is the same, walking in deeds of love? They compare society to a living body. In a living body, each member lives for everyone, and everything for everyone, and through such universal self-sacrifice the integrity and health of the body is preserved. The well-being of society is based in exactly the same way. And in this, whoever does not see the spirit of love, the main property of which is not to seek one’s own (1 Cor. 13:5), but also to look at friends, not only to please oneself (Rom. 15:1), but also to bear each other’s burdens (Gal. 6:2). Therefore, and vice versa - acting here as one should, what can most likely be learned if not love, when you constantly walk among activities that are not only not alien to love, but also require it? Therefore, in his depiction of public service, the Apostle further adds: “Render to everyone what is due: to him is a lesson, a lesson: and to him is a tribute, a tribute: and to him is fear, fear: and to him is honor, honor. Owe no one else, but rather love one another: love one another, and fulfill the law” (Rom. 13:7-8). That is, according to the Apostle, works of public service may still cease and change: but love must be a feeling that does not cease, like the feeling of a debt that has not been paid and will not be paid at the end of life. Just as in a tree, although every year a certain amount of fruit is taken from it as a tribute, the power of life remains afterward, as the basis for future fruiting: so love must invariably remain in the heart of a true servant of the fatherland, with all the abundance of visible deeds. Let us not deceive ourselves, brothers! – If the union of society is in love, and serving it teaches love: then, on the contrary, each service to it should receive its true value only from the presence of love in it. The work of external service cannot be considered bad; However, we should not think that this is all that we owe to society. We must remember that we act before the Lord, whose commandment is “that we love one another” (1 John 3:11), and who, entrusting service to others to strengthen love, will not justify those who have managed to cool it with this service, and even less those who turn their very service into deeds contrary to love. So, let every soul obey the powers that be, and obey the Lord for the sake of the Lord, so that it may pay its due to everyone, remaining indebted to no one for anything except love. This briefly contains all our responsibilities to God, our neighbors and ourselves. Therefore, one should piously hope that the fruit of serving the fatherland is as great as the reward for piety and virtue. You just need to put the true spirit into this service. In some matters of external service there may not be this spirit, just as there is no vital spirit in a clock that runs regularly. A servant without true spirit in his heart is a well-sculpted statue of cold and dead matter. He is the same in society as a dead part in the body, which is carried by other members and turns where the whole body goes. - So, brothers, now praying for the well-being of our fatherland, while praying for the health of the blessed Sovereign, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, let us also pray that the Lord may bestow on us the true spirit of service to the Tsar and the fatherland, so that his prosperity will be strong and unshakable. What depends on us in this matter, let us ourselves offer as a sacrifice on the altar of the fatherland, so that from this altar it may ascend to the throne of God: this is selfless obedience, piety and love. - Amen. On the birthday of the blessed Sovereign, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich. You might be interested in: