155. Угождение

We see that people please people. Subjects please their kings, those who are subject to their authorities, slaves please their masters, children please their parents, and others please other people. So, especially as Christians, we must please God. 1) Our faith and confession. For faith should not be idle and vain, but fruitful, accompanied by love and good deeds, as the Apostle demands this of us: Show me your faith by your works (James 2:18). 2) Our promise, which we gave to God at Holy Baptism, requires this from us. For then, having left Satan behind, they promised to serve and please Him. 3) Our very conscience demands this. For by our very conscience we are convinced to please God, and to honor Him with the highest reverence, which cannot be without pleasing. 4) This is required of us by the necessary need and the work of our salvation. For we must certainly please Him, from Whom we ask for temporary and eternal salvation and from Whom we desire to receive every good thing, mental and physical. For who does not please the one from whom he asks and seeks mercy and every good thing? Natural reason itself convinces him of this. So, if we, Christians, want to receive mercy from God, we must please Him. People please their kings. God is our King, and the Eternal King, the King of kings, and a terrible King throughout the whole earth. So, we must please Him as our Eternal King. People please the authorities and their bosses. God is our Supreme Ruler and Leader, whose power and authority are eternal. So, we must please Him as our Eternal Lord and Chief. People please their masters. God is our Lord Most High, Lord of lords. So, we must please Him as our Highest Lord. People please their benefactors. God is our Highest Benefactor, from whom countless others have received and are receiving blessings, and there is no greater benefactor than Whom there is and cannot be, for we are His creation, and everything that we have, we have from Him. So, one must please Him, as the Highest Benefactor. People please their fathers. God is our Father; He begat us with His holy word and the washing of spiritual baptism. So, we must please Him, as our Merciful Father. One must please Him Whom all the holy Angels please with fear, love and joy; The One whom all creation serves and pleases; To the One before whom all tremble; To the One Whom it is terrible to resist and Whom to irritate; To the One who can destroy both soul and body in fiery hell (Matthew 10:28); To the One who has life and death in everyone’s hand; To Him, finally, from Whom we “tea the resurrection and life of the world to come.” And one must please Him sincerely, heartily and unfeignedly; that is, that satisfaction must come from faith and heartfelt trust. For He, as the Knower of the Heart, tests the depth of our hearts and sees how we please Him: sincerely or hypocritically. Who should a Christian please us if not our God? But let’s see who pleases God and who does not, and how we need to please Him. 1) God is pleased whoever does His holy will. God is not pleased whoever does not do His holy will. God is pleased whoever acts and lives humbly. He who exalts himself and is proud and lives in pride and pomp does not please God. God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5). He pleases God who places all his hope in Him, the hope of both temporary and eternal salvation. God is not pleased whoever puts his trust in himself, his honor, princes and high people, and other creatures. He pleases God who calls Him from a pure heart and prays to Him, and asks Him for help and intercession in their needs and misfortunes. He does not please God who abandons prayer, and in his need resorts to a weak creature, and says either to man or to gold and silver: “You are my hope,” which is fitting and proper for God alone to say. God is pleased who heartily thanks Him for all good things, and praises Him and sings: I will praise the name of my God in song, I will magnify Him with praise, and this will please God more than a young calf with growing horns and hooves (Ps. 69:31-32). He who abandons this debt does not please God, and thus becomes ungrateful to God. God is pleased whoever remembers His holy name with reverence and reverence. God is not pleased by those who do not give worthy honor to His holy name, but without any need, without fear and reverence, and in all cases remember, somehow unworthy deifications and remembrances of the terrible and holy name of God have become a custom: “By God! That's why God! God is my witness!” and so on. Those who remember the terrible name of God in jokes and lies commit lawlessness. God is pleased whoever gives worthy honor to his parents, authorities and others who are in honor. God is not pleased whoever does not give honor to them. He pleases God who saves not only his own life, but also his neighbor’s; God is not pleased whoever neglects this. God is pleased whoever, in an honest and chaste marriage, or without it, lives purely and immaculately. He who does not maintain purity does not please God, but either commits adultery, as those who are married do, or commits fornication, as those living without a legal marriage do. Let everyone's marriage be honest and the bed undefiled; But God judges fornicators and adulterers (Heb. 13:4). He pleases God who turns away from kidnapping, theft and all unrighteousness. God is not pleased whoever stretches out his hand to lawless deeds. He pleases God who keeps his tongue from slander, condemnation, slander, idle talk and all sorts of worthless and rotten words. God is not pleased if his tongue is not bridled. God is pleased whoever acts and treats his neighbor sincerely, sincerely and unhypocritically. God is not pleased whoever treats his neighbor falsely, flatteringly, craftily, or insidiously. He pleases God who does not desire anything alien without the will of the owner. God is not pleased whoever wants to steal or take away someone else's property. In a word, he pleases God who corrects himself and lives according to the rule of His holy word; God is not pleased whoever neglects this. But the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His”; and: “Let everyone who confesses the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness” (2 Tim. 2:19). 2) We, Christians, must please God more than our Kings, more than our authorities, more than our masters, more than our parents and more than everyone to whom we are subordinate. For one must fear, love, and honor Him more than every creature named in heaven or on earth. For He is our Supreme Lord and is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Therefore, subjects of kings, and subjects of authorities, and slaves of masters, and children of parents must obey and please the Lord for the sake of the Lord, as the apostle says: Be subject therefore to every human authority, for the sake of the Lord: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to rulers, as sent by Him (1 Peter 2:13-14), and so on. 3) If, as it happens, the authorities order and command us, but it is contrary to the will of God, then we should not listen to them about it, even if they threatened us with death. Roads must be human power for us; but God must be incomparably more precious, to whom even the authorities themselves must obey with fear. This is how the holy apostles teach us by their example, whom the lawless Jews forbade to teach and speak about the name of Christ; but they did not listen to them, and boldly taught and spoke God’s word, and answered those forbidding: We must obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29). 4) If we want to please God, then we must not despise our neighbor and turn away from him, but must have mercy on him and provide for his needs. Each of us should please our neighbor for good and edification (Rom. 15:2). Our neighbor requires advice from us - we will give advice when we can. He demands food from us - we will serve food. He needs clothes - we'll dress him. He requires repose in our house - let us give him rest. It requires our service - let us serve it. In grief and sadness he requires consolation - we will console him as best we can, and so on. For this is what the will of God wants and Christian love demands. Do not forget also to do good and be sociable, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God (Heb. 13:16). 5) From here it follows that we must love our enemies and do good to them if we want to please God. For this is the will of God (Matthew 5:44). If we want to do God’s will, and thus please God, then we must not take away our love from our enemies, and help them in their needs. This shows more than anything a Christian and a godly person. If you want to please the King of the earth and thus receive mercy from him, then you will not refuse to serve your enemy when he wants it from you and commands you. All the more should you do this for the sake of the Heavenly King, for whose sake you must please the earthly King, and love your enemies, and serve them in their needs. For this is what Christian true virtue consists of, that is, in overcoming oneself and repaying good for evil. So, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink: for by doing this you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Rom. 12:20–21). 6) In order for all this to be pleasing to God, we must do everything, that is, avoid evil and do good, and not for the sake of vanity and human praise, but for the sake of the glory of His holy name. Christ the Lord teaches us this: Let your light shine before people, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). Otherwise, how can God please what is not done for God’s sake? It follows from this that not every visible good deed is truly good, but that which is done for good, that is, for the sake of good, which is the glory of the name of God. Christian! God created the whole world for our sake, and creates everything for our sake, and sent His Son into the world for our sake, and gave Him up to death for our sake, and so redeemed us from sins, the devil, death and hell, and prepared an eternal kingdom: what more can God do for us? Let us also do everything for His sake, and love Him, and honor Him, and serve Him, and we will do His holy commandments for His own sake, and so from the bottom of our hearts we will please Him. 7) Godly deeds and a holy offer are followed by temptation both from the devil and from evil people. This is done by God’s permission to test man: is he doing for God’s sake what he started, and is he standing firm in the work he has begun? Therefore, everything that happens that is contrary to him must, as sent from the hand of the Lord, be accepted and generously endured, and not weaken in what he has begun, but become more successful. Trust in the Lord, be of good courage, and let your heart be strong, and trust in the Lord, the prophet exhorts (Ps. 27:14). 8) We cannot please God without God Himself, Christian, for our blindness, weakness, and corruption are great. Therefore, we must earnestly pray to God and sigh to Him, so that He Himself will guide us on the path pleasing to Him, and He will keep us on it, and lead us along it. Saint David teaches us this by his example, who throughout Psalm 118 prayed to God with all zeal and desired a holy and godly life. May we also follow him in this. Teach me, O Lord, to do Thy will, for Thou art my God (Ps. 143:10). God! Let me want, begin, think, create and say whatever pleases Your holy will. Do not allow, Lord, to want, to begin, to think, to create, or to say that which is not pleasing to Your will. Guide me, O Lord, in Thy path, and I will walk in Thy truth; Let my heart rejoice, fearing Your name (Ps. 85:11). When subjects before their King, subordinates before their boss, slaves before their master, children before their father walk and turn, then they turn with all fear and apprehension, so as not to slip in anything, and so as not to offend and anger them; and therefore they are careful about all sorts of obscene words and deeds, and thus please them. Christian! May we also follow in this such people who please people in such a way, and before God and our Eternal King, and our Father, who is in heaven, let us do so and turn, and let us beware of everything that is disgusting and displeasing to Him, and so please Him. For always and wherever we are, we are before God and turn; and whatever we do, say, think and begin, we do, think, begin and speak everything before Him. For God is present in every place, and sees every work we do, and hears every word we say. Therefore, whether we are in the house, we are before Him. Whatever work we do, we do it before Him. Whatever speech we speak, we speak before Him. Whether we think and begin, we think and begin before Him. Whether we are with people and talking, we are talking before Him. Whether we eat or drink, we eat and drink before Him. Whether we buy or sell, we buy and sell before Him. Whether we love something or hate something, whether we desire something or turn away from it, all this happens before Him. Whether we rest on a bed and calm down, we rest before Him. Whether we follow the path, He is with us, and we walk before Him. Whether we are in the desert or in solitude, in a city or a village, in a secret or open place, He is present with us, and we turn before Him. In a word, always and everywhere, wherever we are, He is with us, and we turn before Him, and whatever we do, think and say, everything is clear and open for Him (See Jer. 23:24; Job 34:21; Sir. 23:27–29; Heb. 4:13). Let us act before Him everywhere as our subjects do before their King and all those who are subject to their authority, and so let us render to Him, as our God, our King, our Lord and our Father, worthy honor, and thus please Him. Let us not be like those Christians who act decently before people and show themselves to be pious, but in secret places commit lawlessness and do such things that it is shameful to even speak of. Such Christians are hypocrites, wicked and godless. They are ashamed of people, but they are not ashamed of God; They are afraid of people, but they are not afraid of God. The prophet of God wrote about such people: They did not present God before them (Ps. 53:5). O man, where can you hide with your dark deeds from the One who is present everywhere and sees everything? You run away from people; but God precedes you everywhere, and you cannot escape from Him anywhere (See Am. 9:2–4). You hide from human eyes; but you cannot hide from God’s all-seeing eye anywhere or in any way. Take care that people do not hear your worthless and rotten words; but God hears them. You hide flattery, deceit, cunning and lies in the secrets of your heart, and take care that people do not know this evil of yours; but God, who tests hearts and bellies, clearly sees all this (Ps. 7:10; 1 Chr. 28:9). “I don’t see God.” True, it is impossible for anyone to see Him. No one has ever seen God (John 1:18). God is a Spirit, not subject to any feelings, and therefore it is impossible to see Him, but only by faith and mind He is known. Holy faith and God’s word teach us that God is everywhere, and sees everything we have, and every deed, word and thought is open to Him, as is especially depicted in Psalm 139: Lord, You have tested me, and so on. If you believe the word of God, then believe that God is in every place, and you walk and turn before Him, although you do not see Him; and He sees everything you do, and you cannot hide from Him anywhere or with anything. The word of God teaches all this. If you don’t believe God’s word, then why are you called a Christian? See that you walk carefully, not as fools, but as wise (Eph. 5:15). We also note that when people want to please kings, authorities and their fathers, they do what they do, and so, following their morals, they are pleased. Christian! Let us also imitate God, our Heavenly King and Father; Let us follow His Divine morals, and let us do what He does and thus please Him. He loves everyone, which is evident from all His creatures, and from His holy word, and from the incarnation of His Only Begotten Son. Let us also try to love Him with all our hearts, Him who loved us, and to love each other. Love is the fulfilling of the law (Rom. 13:10). He is Holy; Let us also be holy, creating holiness in the fear of God. He is Righteous, and we too will be Righteous, giving Him all honor and glory, and giving His due to our neighbors. He is Merciful and Merciful and has compassion for our misfortune; Let us also be merciful, just as our Heavenly Father is merciful. He does good to everyone, good and evil, He commands His sun to rise on the good and the evil and sends rain on the righteous and sinners (Matthew 5:45), so that we may do good to everyone, our relatives and not our relatives, our friends and our enemies, our known and our unknown. He is patient with everyone, waiting for everyone to repent; Let us also be long-suffering, and not repay evil for evil and annoyance for annoyance. He is True and Faithful in His words; Let us also be true and simple-hearted. He hates all sin and iniquity; Let us also hate all sin and iniquity, and turn away from it. He wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4); may our desire be so. He forgives the sins of all who repent; Let us, sinners, forgive their sins; Let us forgive, and our sins may be forgiven from Him. He listens to all those who pray and fulfills their requests; We will not turn our ears away from those who ask us, and we will fulfill their requests. So let us become like Him, so we will imitate Him, so we will follow His most holy morals, so we will be children of light, and living and true members of Christ, the Son of God, so we will show that it is not in vain that we call Him Father: Our Father, who art in heaven, and so on. And so we will please Him. For this is His holy will, and His holy word, and our promise, given by us at Baptism, and our Christian duty demands. Imitate God as beloved children (Eph. 5:1). We see that when subjects want to please their kings, those subject to their authorities, slaves to their masters, and children want to please their fathers, then not what they please, but what they see and do, and so they are pleased. Christians! We will do the same. Let us not do what pleases us, but what pleases God, and so let us please Him. God's word shows us what is pleasing to God and what is not pleasing. Let this sacred lamp shine on us in all our deeds, words, thoughts and endeavors; for this is why it was given to us by our Merciful Heavenly Father. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my paths (Ps. 119:105). It is pleasing for us to live in idleness and laziness, but this is not pleasing to God; Let us do what is pleasing to God, and shake off the sleep of laziness and idleness, and remain in useful and blessed labors. By the sweat of your face you will eat bread (Gen. 3:19). It pleases us to live in the pride and pomp of this world, but it does not please God, but our humility pleases; Let us love humility, pleasing to God, and let us live in humility (1 Peter 5:5–6). It pleases us to take the long path, the path of whims, luxury and merriment, but that is not pleasing to God; let us turn away from the long and wide path, and let us do what is pleasing to God, and enter the narrow path, for it is pleasing to Him: Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many go in through it; because strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life, and few find it, says the Lord (Matthew 7:13–14). It pleases us to be angry, and insult for insult, and evil for evil, and annoyance for annoyance, but it is not pleasing to God; Let us do what is pleasing to God, and forgive those who offend us, we forgive from our hearts. Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but give room to the wrath of God. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord (Rom. 12:19). It is not pleasing for us to love our enemies, to bless those who curse us, and to do good to those who hate us, but this pleases God; Let us do what is pleasing to God, and try to love not only our friends, but also our enemies, and do good to those who hate us, and so on. Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you (Matthew 5:44). It pleases us to fulfill our passionate lust, but this is disgusting to God, but our chastity and holiness please Him; Let us do what is pleasing to God and live in chastity and holiness (Titus 2:12). It pleases us with our tongue to talk idlely, slander, condemn, and utter other worthless and rotten words, but this is not pleasing to God; let us bridle our tongue and love prudent silence, and let every word we speak be dissolved with the salt of reason and be for the edification of our neighbor; for this is acceptable in the sight of God (See Eph. 4:29). Let us do the same in other things, and let us do not what our will and flesh desire, but what the will of God wants, and thus we will please Him. Let us come down with fear and zeal from the seat and throne on which we sit, and let us give a place to our God on it, and we will honor Him and worship Him, and always and in all our words, deeds and undertakings, let us say to Him with humility and fear: “Father, Thy will be done, and not mine! Let your will be done, not mine! I also want what You want; I don’t want what You don’t want either. Lord, help me. Amen". You might be interested in: