187. Слово в неделю вторуюнадесять по Пятдесятнице

(Printed in the 1844 and 1848 collections) 654 And behold, a certain person said to Him: to the good teacher, I will do good: let the Imam have eternal life. (Matthew 19:16). “To have an eternal life,” to inherit an immortal and blessed life in heaven, is of course better than to receive any treasure or advantage on earth. Therefore, no one should be indifferent to the question: what is the surest and most convenient way to achieve the eternal belly; especially when we see that many go to this goal in different ways, and who best achieves it is not easy to discern, because this is revealed completely, only beyond the limits of the visible. And it is not in vain that the Gospel comes to the aid of this concern. In it we have now heard this interesting question: “What good will I do: may the Imam have eternal life?” and the answer to it, no matter how worthy of attention, in terms of the subject, is just as worthy of trust, in the face of the Answerer, Who did not gladly accept the title of “Good Teacher,” pronounced in the sense of an ordinary affection, but to Whom this title is due in the lofty sense of His own saying: “No one is good, except one God” (Matthew 19:17). What is the answer? - “If you want to be taken into your belly, keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:17). I fear that this short and simple answer will not reassure many testers, just as it did not reassure “one certain,” the questioner of the Gospel. “Keep the commandments!” - Only? – some will probably say. For a question so incomprehensibly great, and difficult for the wise, what a small solution, and not even new for children! Perhaps, following the Gospel questioner, they will offer this objection: “I have preserved all this from my youth,” but at the same time I feel that “I have not finished yet” (Matthew 19:20), I have not sufficiently prepared myself for eternal life. Such thoughts lead to special reflection on the importance, meaning and use of the rule: “if you want to take it into your belly, keep the commandments.” If the king issued a law, shouldn’t all his subjects obey it exactly? Because failure to comply with the royal law consists of resistance to the royal power, an insult to the royal majesty, harm to society, for the benefit of which the law was established, and to the violator of the law, which is useful for everyone. Moreover, the power that found it necessary to establish the law is in the need to support its implementation, and, consequently, to punish its violators. What can we say about the “commandments” of God, about these laws of the reigning King? How much higher and stronger is the duty here, both reverence for the Lawgiver and obedience to the law! There is even greater fear of harm from breaking the law, and of righteous punishment for that! A good subject, to whom someone would say: follow the king’s laws, would he allow himself to give such a response to this that this advice is not very important? How much more are you, a son of the kingdom of God, or desiring to be such, when you hear the instruction: “Keep the commandments” of God, do you dare to think that this instruction is not of great importance? If the “good Teacher,” or more precisely, the self-good Teacher, who is the very wisdom of God, gives you the instruction: “keep the commandments”: what could be truer than this instruction? If He connects this instruction with the condition: “if you want to take it into your stomach”; and therefore, in keeping the commandments, he shows you the path to eternal, blessed life: what could be more important than this instruction? If this instruction seems small to you: remember what the Lord said about the little commandments: “Whoever destroys one of these little commandments and teaches men this way, he will be called in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:19). What does it mean: “in the kingdom of heaven?” Saint Chrysostom will explain this to us. “Whenever,” he says, “you hear the least in the kingdom of heaven, you understand nothing else except Gehenna and torment: for the kingdom is not only a pleasure to announce, but also the time of resurrection, and its terrible passing. - At that time, the opinion will be, this is, the rejected, the last. The latter will then fall into Gehenna in every possible way” (Conversations 16 on Matt.). If in this way the violation of a small commandment reduces one to Gehenna, then, on the contrary, keeping a small commandment and a small instruction protects from Gehenna. And is that something that protects against immeasurable and endless evils worthy of little attention? The commandments that the Lord offered as a means to achieve eternal life are simple: “You shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, honor your father and mother, and love your sincere ones as you love yourself” (Matthew 19:18–19). Truly, even children, according to the dispensation of the Father of lights, are not unaware of this teaching. Well? Is that why it is less important? Isn’t it all the more wise and powerful? How much the sages of the world have tormented and tormented themselves and others with studies about the blessed life! Who did they teach to live? Who was made blessed? Their teaching, of course, is not for children’s understanding and activity: because their own understanding never completely emerges from the struggle with misunderstandings; their own activity does not remember their teaching. This is the insignificance of human importance! On the contrary, here is the greatness of the simplicity of God: God spoke not many, simple commandments, and in them he taught the teaching of life, which is deeply significant for the wise, and accessible to children, and enlightens the ignorant, and guides the enlightened, and purifies human souls, and protects human societies, and arranges temporary life, and forms for the eternal. Is the sun less majestic because it shines on valleys like mountains, on huts like palaces, and on insects like planets? So, is “the commandment of the Lord less bright” because it “enlightens the eyes” of the soul and children, like fathers, and “makes wise children” (Ps. 19:8-9), like elders? But what really is the meaning of the rule: “keep the commandments” in relation to eternal life? The Evangelical youth spoke about them without hesitation: “I have kept all this from my youth.” But meanwhile, of course, he did not go far along the path to eternal life, when he did not yet know it; for it is only natural for someone who does not know to ask, as he asked: “What good will I do, so that the Imam will have eternal life”? Where is the fruit of keeping the commandments? In this reasoning, it is necessary to note, firstly, that this man boasted in vain; he did not test the depths of his heart, and spoke a lie when he said: “I have kept all this from my youth.” It's not difficult to catch him. If he had truly kept the commandment: “You shall love your sincere as yourself”: then he would desire contentment and abundance for his neighbor as much as for himself, and then it would not be difficult for him to share his acquisitions with the poor. But he could not force himself to do this, and from the Teacher of eternal life, and at the same time from the path of eternal life, “he departed sorrowing: for he had much gain” (Matthew 19:22). So, if he did not go far along the path to eternal life, it is because he did not go far along the path of the commandments. It was not the commandments that were fruitless for him; but he did not work hard enough to cultivate and collect the fruit. Secondly, the true meaning of the Lord’s saying: “If you want to be taken into your belly, keep the commandments,” must be determined by the strict accuracy of its expressions. He did not say: fulfill the commandments; because he knew that for this there would not be enough strength of human nature, which from its ancestors was damaged by sin, and which “has been diligently thinking evil from youth” (Gen. 8:21). But he said: “keep the commandments,” that is, do not lose sight of them, do not ignore them, always have them before your eyes, conform your actions to them, as much as you understand and as much as you can. He also did not say: keep the commandments, and you will enter the belly; for he knew that a person will not achieve eternal life by simply observing the commandments, which he cannot fulfill perfectly. But he said: “If you want to take it into your belly, keep the commandments”; that is, whoever wants to achieve eternal life needs to begin and continue this work by observing the commandments, although, however, this is not the only thing that is needed, and this is not the only thing that will accomplish this task. What should be the fruit of keeping the commandments? – The fact that you observe them, and, if possible, actually fulfill them; Therefore, you cleanse yourself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and prepare yourself to receive God’s grace: and since on the path of the commandments you become exhausted, stumble, fall into the deathly state of sin, then you experience your weakness, humble your thoughts, feel the need for redemption from sins, and for heavenly help in doing good, you are encouraged to resort from the law to grace: you deeply and inwardly know the dignity and power of the merits and benefits of Jesus Christ, His suffering and death, for us propitiatory and cleansing from sins, His resurrection, for us life-giving, you cling to Him with faith, hope, love, gratitude, the desire to follow His teaching and example. This is exactly what our Lord wants to lead to through the commandments, when after the initial instruction: “keep the commandments,” he offers another complete one: “come after Me” (Matthew 19:21). For this latter, just like the first, applies not to the Gospel youth alone, but to everyone who “wants to be drawn into the belly.” In particular, the only advice that applied to him was to cleanse his heart from the passion for wealth seen in him by the Knower of the Heart: “Sell what you have and give to the poor” (Matthew 19:21). From this it is clear that the rule: “keep the commandments” has the meaning of a means that is not the only and ultimately sufficient, but essentially necessary and valid for the acquisition of eternal salvation. After this, not without special care, we must ask: are we using this remedy in accordance with its need and dignity? I know that for those who truly strive to do according to the commandments, humility will not allow them to boast: “I have kept all this from my youth.” But aren’t there many who will be forbidden by this accusatory conscience? Don’t we often see that God’s commandments are violated more carelessly and boldly than human laws? In saying this, I do not alleviate guilt against the laws, but I weigh the weight of guilt against God’s commandments. Do the careless think about what their carelessness means? If the Lord, faithful in His words and unchangeable in His promises, connected the desire and hope of eternal life with keeping the commandments: then not wanting to keep the commandments does not mean not wanting to enter into the life? If you do not think of deceiving yourself with fruitless desires and unfounded hopes, but sincerely “want to take it into your belly,” then also sincerely and actively “keep the commandments.” For any business undertaken, do not first ask whether it will be pleasant, profitable, safe, or praiseworthy before people, but first and most of all, test whether it will be pleasing to God, whether it will not be contrary to His commandments. For every deed done, do not praise yourself in the lusts of your soul, but test again to see if any commandment of God has been violated in it, and chalk up success to the promoting and covering grace, and in stumblings and falls, with repentance and faith, appeal to merciful and restoring grace, and with new vigilance, set your conscience on guard for keeping the commandments, so that you may finally, with the boldness of faith, say to the Lord: “Behold, I have desired Your commandment; live me in Thy righteousness" (Ps. 119:40); and it will be done to you according to your faith and according to your faithfulness. Amen. The time of pronouncing this word and those following it in this section is unknown; We place them after the words spoken in 1844, as printed in the collection of this year. You might be interested in: