127. Слово в день обретения мощей Преподобного Сергия 566

(Spoken at the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, July 5; printed in the Christian Readings of 1837 and in the collections of 1844 and 1848) His Lord said to him: Well done, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful for a little, I will put you over many. (Matthew 25:21). This is said in the parable of the kingdom of heaven. Consequently, these words represent the law of the kingdom of heaven: whoever turns out to be faithful in small things is given authority to do much. Do you want to see in reality what you hear in the allegory of the parable? You can still see on earth how the law of the kingdom of heaven operates in people whom the Heavenly King especially chose, tested in fidelity, found “faithful in small things,” and therefore “set over many,” and glorified as high and powerful instruments of his kingdom. Let's point out what is closer. Did our Reverend Father Sergius have much to gain when he chose this place for himself, or better yet, when God chose him to bless this place through him? - It is more convenient to say what he did not have and what he left, rather than what he had. He left a title, a parental home, an inheritance; I found here a desert, uninhabited, impassable, not completely waterless for one, but even scarce for the habitation of many; built a hut and a small church, but did not have a priest in it; sometimes there was no bread in the hut, and in the church the usual lamp for night prayers. One talent could be noted 567 that was given to him early: - this is the desire to serve God; but only time could reveal whether this talent was pure gold, and to what extent it would enrich the worker. And what has time revealed? Look how “he is set over many” this “faithful one of few.” How in many heavenly things he was empowered when he was still living on earth! How much earthly things extend their authority even now from heaven! Didn’t he act with high heavenly authority when, for example, he called for the life of the dead, or when he contributed to the deliverance of the fatherland from the yoke of the infidels not just with advice and prayer, but with insight and prediction? What could be stronger and more extensive than this power, which was able to transform a wild desert into an age-old abode 568, and which beneficial influences and actions - blessing, protection, consolation, healing, help in good, help against evil, spread over centuries, over places, over people, so that, by the grace of God, wondrous in the saints, it is impossible to indicate to this either an end or a limit? Here is an amazing, obvious experience, how in the kingdom of God “he who is faithful with a few is appointed over many.” But I’m talking about this not just to be surprised, but to learn. And therefore, having shown you in private experience the operation of the general law, I hasten to return your attention to this law itself, which, as the general law of the kingdom of God, must concern everyone, and each of us, if we want to belong to the kingdom of God. Whoever you are, who desires the kingdom of heaven for yourself, the parable of the kingdom of heaven is also spoken to you. So, if you want to achieve what you want, then you also need to achieve that this word of approval is said to you: “Good, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful for a little while.” For if you do not achieve this, then, of necessity, the opposite of this will happen: it will be said to you: “You are an evil servant and a lazy one”; and after this: “You will cast the unbreakable servant into utter darkness” (Matthew 25:26, 30). If you are horrified by this, then take care “about fidelity.” Do not consider it unimportant to “be faithful in a small way.” As Christians, we willingly call ourselves “faithful,” and in this name we place the hope of salvation, since, on the contrary, we imagine the name “unfaithful” to be both hateful and destructive. And fair enough. This way of thinking is Evangelical and Apostolic. “Which part will I return with the infidel?” says the Apostle (2 Cor. 6:15). And since the part of the faithful is salvation, according to the word of Jesus Christ himself: “Whoever has faith and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16): then the opposite part of the unfaithful must be destruction. But so that we do not deceive ourselves, we need to carefully consider the question: who has every right to be called faithful, and therefore do we have this right? Will anyone say: I have every right to be called faithful because I believe the Christian teaching about God? “I am afraid that the Apostle will make a strong objection to this: “You believe that there is only one God; Do good: and the devils believe and tremble” (James 2:19). However, no one calls them true. You see that the question, apparently simple, becomes more difficult when we delve deeper into its study. Strengthen your attention to overcome the difficulty. Applying the property of our language to the spirit of the Gospel teaching, it seems, without fear of error, we can recognize in the full concept of “faith” three subordinate and constituent concepts: “confidence, trust and fidelity.” When the Apostle says that “without faith it is impossible to please God; But it is fitting for one who comes to God to believe, for he is, and the rewarder is to those who seek him” (Heb. 11:6): he points especially to the initial part of faith, to “confidence” in the truths of the knowledge of God, to the faith of the mind. But when the same Apostle in another place says about Abraham that he “faithed” to God, “who gives life to the dead, and calls those who are not as though they are”; that he has “more faith than hope” (Rom. 4:17–18): here it is no longer a simple faith of the mind 570, but a deeper and stronger faith of the heart; this is a person’s unconditional devotion to God, an unlimited “confidence” in the promises of grace, without the need for any guarantee of arguments and certifications; this is the decisive direction of the soul towards the Divine 571, as if naturally encountering the grace of God. This includes faith that accepts the saving power of the sacraments, and, in special cases, is marked by miraculous gifts. But that this kind of faith, even miraculous, can sometimes be incomplete, unjustified and unsaving, the truly terrible saying of Christ does not allow us to doubt: “Many people will say to Me in that day: I have not prophesied in Your name, and in Your name I have driven out demons, and in Your name I have created many mighty powers; and then we will confess to them that I know you no more; Depart from Me, you who practice iniquity” (Matthew 7:22–23). So, a necessary addition to faith, for it to be justifying and saving, must be “fidelity.” The Apostle points to this addition of faith when he says: “The righteous shall live by faith; and if he is offended, My soul is not pleased with him. But we, brethren, have no accusation of destruction, but faith to supply the soul” (Heb. 10:38-39). “Faith,” the opposite of the disastrous “resentment,” wavering, backsliding, inconstancy, and betrayal, is “fidelity”—fidelity to God and Christ in the unchanging confession of the Orthodox faith, fidelity to the commandments of God, consisting in their unslothful fulfillment, fidelity to the sacraments, gifts, ministries, in the careful use of them according to God’s intention, for the glory God's Now, it seems, it has been discovered that the full right to the saving title of “faithful” is not as easy to acquire as we easily assign this title to ourselves without thinking about the right. If you really want to belong to the number of “faithful”, over whom the provision of Christ must be fulfilled: “whoever has faith and is baptized will be saved”: then not only mentally believe that God exists, that He rewards those who seek Him, that out of ineffable love for mankind, He sent His only begotten Son to earth in order to open to us the path of salvation, and His Holy Spirit to bless us and consecrate; not only without an inquisitive mind, accept with confidence the inexplicable mysteries of faith; but surrender to faith with all your soul and with all your life, so that faith is the main thought of your life, and your whole life is an expression of faith; finally, be faithful to the Heavenly King, to whom, in addition to the fact that you belong by natural right, as the Creator and Lord of everything, you voluntarily entered into service when you entered Christianity; Be unfailingly and constantly faithful to His name, His commands, His service, His gifts and talents, which He entrusts to us, “to anyone against his strength” (Matthew 25:15). Probably, many of us are not quite afraid of becoming unfaithful before God, because we imagine unfaithfulness only in a large form, and do not pay attention to unfaithfulness in a small way. If someone said to us: “Let us go, let us serve another God” (Deut. 13:2): who would not be horrified at the thought of such unfaithfulness? In this case, the very greatness of the evil reduces the danger of being exposed to it. Becoming untrue about something “small” is not so terrible: and the danger, neglected by the appearance of unimportance, is all the more convenient for the unwary. Another calms himself with thoughts: I am not like a crafty servant who buried the talent given to him in the ground and did nothing good; I am doing something; it doesn’t matter if some contributions of my talent remain without profit or are completely lost; that some commandments or vows are not fulfilled; that some days of the year or hours of the day are not dedicated to God as they should be; that some means of good are used carelessly, or are used only for one’s own pleasure. Ah, my minion! You do not judge as our righteous Lord judges. Only to those who are “faithful in little things” does He grant much: consequently, by allowing yourself to be deliberately unfaithful in little things, you deprive yourself of the right to much. And if for unfaithfulness in little things you do not receive much from the Lord; Yes, and you will lose little through infidelity: what will you finally be left with? Sly self-justification sometimes dares to say that being faithful about “little things” is not worth the effort; and that one could be more faithful if more were entrusted. Let us stop these shameless lips with the word of the Lord: “he who is faithful in a little is also faithful in much, and the unjust in a little is also unrighteous in much” (Luke 16:10). Whoever steals or wastes a ruble: won’t he do the same out of a thousand? So it is in the spiritual: to someone who is unfaithful in small things, greater gifts would only be an opportunity for greater unfaithfulness. It is not generosity that God lacks to suddenly give man many and lofty gifts of grace: but in order to protect him from extreme condemnation for unfaithfulness in great things, He tests him in lesser ministries, and thereby prepares him for greater gifts. With these and similar thoughts, brethren, let us often arouse ourselves to walk faithfully in everything before God. Let us strive to be faithful before Him in using the gifts of nature, so that He may bestow upon us the gifts of grace from the highest nature; Let us faithfully preserve the firstfruits of grace, so that we may be worthy of great gifts; As soon as we see our unfaithfulness in this, we will at least be faithful in recognizing and confessing our sins, and - God “is faithful and righteous, that he may forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9); and for this faithfulness in small things - in repentance, he will reward us with an abundance of spiritual peace and eternal salvation. Amen. This word, and the words under numbers CCXI, CCXII, CCXVIII, CCXL, have been compared with handwritten originals stored in the library of Bethany Seminary. In the author's manuscript and in Chr. in the reading it is added: “in its lean bosom.” In the author's manuscript and in Chr. Thurs. this is followed by the words: “to give this monastery firmness, superior to the firmness of the Kingdom and the capital, to make it a reserve repository of immaterial benefits for those in need of the kingdom of heaven, and at the same time, material benefits for some times of the needs of the earthly kingdom; – which”, etc. In the author's manuscript: “by ourselves.” In the author's manuscript and in Christ. Thurs. the words follow: “who sees nothing here.” In the author's manuscript and in Christ. Thurs. “which seems to occur naturally,” etc. You might be interested in: