215. Слово по освящении храма Святителя и Чудотворца Николая, в городе Бронницах

(Said July 8; printed separately and in the Collection of 1861) Holy brethren, the title of heavenly partaker, understand the Messenger and Holy Hierarch of our confession Jesus Christ. ( Heb. 3:1 ). This is the greeting and teaching of the Holy Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Jews, which we heard in this church reading. But before I occupy your attention with this Apostolic greeting and teaching, “exalt the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together” (Ps. 33:4)! Let us say with the Apostle Paul: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of generous gifts and the God of all joy” (2 Cor. 1:3)! Was it not through His generosity that this church was created and adorned? Is it not sanctified by His grace? Isn’t it His consolation that is given to us now, in solemn prayers, “to be comforted in you through the common faith, yours and mine” (Rom. 1:12)? Remembering the generosity of the brethren who contributed to the creation and improvement of this church, I thank those who bear fruit and do good in this holy and all-honorable church, and I thank God for them, and I call upon them, firstly, “every spiritual blessing in heaven in Christ” (Eph. 1:3), and then earthly blessings for the needs of temporary life. But at the same time I invite both them and everyone to recognize God’s bounty over your own God-pleasing generosity. What do human intentions mean without God's blessing? What do human actions mean without the help and assistance of God? “Unless the Lord builds a house, those who build it labor in vain” (Ps. 126:1), says the perspicacious observer of the ways of God. After generous royal and national offerings for the construction of the church, King David confesses with humble joy before God: “Who am I, and who are my people, as I am able to promise this to You? For all things are Yours, and from Yours we give unto You” (1 Chronicles 29:14). And if, according to the word of the Lord, “it is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35); if for this reason he who gives what he needs to his neighbor has some kind of bliss in this: then think how much greater bliss God will give you when by His providence he arranges for you the opportunity, and by His grace he breathes into you the zeal, to give something from your property to Himself and His holy church! Do not flatter yourself with the thought of your strength, or superiority, or virtue: but with David, joyfully and humbly confess before God: “Who am I?” For everything is Yours, and from Yours we give to You.” I turn to the Apostolic greeting and teaching. “Holy brothers” (Heb. 3:1). Who is it that Saint Paul calls, so kindly and yet so respectfully? Would you believe it? Or will you say that the Apostle Paul never saw you, never talked to you, and never wrote letters to you? True, St. Paul initially addressed the Jews who believed in Christ when he wrote the words we cited. But God made him an Apostle not for the Jews alone, but for all peoples, and for all times, and for all the Churches of Christ, as he himself says about himself: “I am a Greek and a Barbarian, a wise man and a fool” (Rom. 1:14); that is, he must preach the saving doctrine to all nations, and to people of every kind and rank. Therefore, when he addressed the word of teaching to Jewish Christians, then the Holy Spirit acting in him extended the word of teaching through him to all Christians of all nations, all times, all Churches, and consequently to you. So there is no doubt that, among others, the Apostle calls you with the kind title of “brothers” and the high title of “saints.” If we say that we are unworthy of either name, then we will tell the truth. It would be a great mercy if St. Paul called us children, as he called the Christians of Galatia when he wrote to them: “My children, I am still sick with them, until Christ is imagined in you” (Gal. 4:19). Do we dare to be considered brothers to the Apostle? Do we dare to call ourselves saints when, according to the words of another Apostle, “even if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8)? One might think that St. Paul foresaw these perplexities; and, in order to eliminate them, to his appeal: “holy brethren,” he added another interpretive: “the title of a heavenly partaker” (Heb. 3:1). “Heavenly calling” he calls God’s calling of people in Christ to heavenly eternal bliss. We become “participants” of this title through faith in Christ and holy baptism. Because all who believe in Christ are children of God, as St. John the Theologian: “the little ones received him, and gave them the realm to become children of God, believing in His name” (John 1:12): it is clear and certain that all believers, or otherwise, all partakers of the heavenly calling, all Christians, from first to last, are “brothers,” not according to the flesh, not according to grace, not according to earthly, but according to heavenly kinship, as children of the Heavenly Father, as children of the Mother of the Church. Since all those who received Christian baptism in the church received in it cleansing from sins and sanctification, according to what was said: “Thou shalt love the Church, and gave it unto thyself for her sake, that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it with the washing of water in the verb” (Eph. 5:25-26): then it is also worthy of acceptance that all of us, believers who have been baptized, have the heavenly calling the partakers, according to the power of faith, according to the gift of grace, according to the effect of baptism, must be “holy brethren.” I was not brief in examining the Apostle’s greeting, not only so that you could understand it correctly and apply it to yourself, but also so that you would guess how in the greeting itself we are given instruction. The Great Apostle, filled with the Holy Spirit, while still walking on earth and reaching the third heaven, descends, approaches us, makes friends and becomes related to us, caresses and magnifies us with the names of brothers, saints, participants in the same heavenly calling. Likewise, the other Apostles call us, sometimes “brothers” (James 2:1), sometimes “beloved” (1 John 4:1). The Prophets and Martyrs, all the Saints, are ready to call us brothers, so long as we do not reject this kinship by our deeds. Not enough. The Apostle assures that the Only Begotten Son of God Himself “is not ashamed to call us names upon the brethren” (Heb. 2:11). What are we? Are we really going to be insensitive to so much goodness, so much condescension, so much honor, so much love? Are we not striving to firmly stand in the rank to which we are already being elevated? Even if we are unworthy of this, do we really want to remain unworthy when we are already worthy? Shall we not be jealous of the holiness that we have already acquired, because its deposit and firstfruits are given to us in baptism? Let us not be so ungrateful, so unwise, so unwell-intentioned against ourselves. Brothers of the saints! Let us not be slaves to sin. “Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, doing that which is holy in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1). Partakers of the heavenly calling! Let us be attentive to this calling, and let us follow it without laziness, along the path of God’s law, through the teachings of the Gospel and the Apostles, through the example of the Saints. This time we have from the Apostle a brief teaching, but much instructive, and essential for salvation. “Consider the Apostle and Holy One of our confession, Jesus Christ” (Heb. 3:1). What does it mean to “understand” Jesus Christ? Does it mean to simply know, initially, or only by name? - But was it necessary for the Apostle to talk about this, when we only become and are called Christians because we have some, albeit elementary, knowledge of Jesus Christ? Does it mean to understand Jesus Christ completely and completely, just as we understand some natural objects or human sciences? – But this is not possible, because Jesus Christ is incomprehensible not only in His Divine essence, but also in the mystery of His incarnation. Therefore, we must believe that between these extremes the Apostolic teaching shows us something in between; that we must actively exercise and improve in the understanding of our Lord Jesus Christ, not daring to test His incomprehensibility, but also not being content to know Him only by name, superficially, coldly. So understand Jesus Christ, the “Only Begotten Son of God,” Consubstantial with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, the true God, omnipotent, all-good, all-wise: and nourish your faith with the life-giving confidence that He, as the omnipotent, is completely able, as the all-good, completely desires, as the all-wise, has perfect means ready, to arrange for us both temporary good and bliss eternal. Consider Jesus Christ, the “Son of Man,” who took upon Himself not only our nature, but also our infirmities, “tempted in every way, according to our likeness,” “unless there is sin” (Heb. 4:15): and confirm your hope with the Apostolic reasoning, that He, “in whom He suffered, having Himself been tempted, can also” help us “who are tempted” ( Hebrews 2:18). Consider Jesus Christ the “God-man,” who in one person inseparably and inextricably united the divine and human natures: and be comforted by the thought that here the edges of the abyss that separated sinner man from God meet, and man’s original communion with God is restored to greater than previous perfection; that, through the deified humanity of Christ, “all divine powers are given to all other humanity, even unto life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3), and everything is “drawn” to Himself by the “Heavenly Father” for salvation, life and glory; and not only be comforted by the thought of this, but also open your hearts to receive the grace and powers of the Divine, and resist earthly attractions in order to actively follow the attraction of the Heavenly Father. Consider Jesus Christ, “the Messenger of our confession,” who is without comparison superior to all the messengers of God, not only those on earth, such as Moses and the Prophets, but also those in heaven, such as the Angels, “sent to serve for those who wish to inherit knowledge” (Heb. 1:14); Who proclaimed the Divine confession of the Deity, revealed secrets hidden from the ages and unknown to the Angels, taught the most perfect teaching of life and salvation: and such understanding of the Messenger of our confession should dispose us to unswervingly adhere to the confession of faith proclaimed by Him, so that with thirsty ears and hungry hearts we can accept His teaching, in order not only to listen to His words, but also to do them. Consider Jesus Christ, “the Holy Hierarch of our confession,” the great Hierarch, not according to the order of Aaron, temporary, but according to the order of Melchizedek, eternal, who offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins on the altar of the cross, and with this “in one offering completed” all “who are sanctified forever” (Heb. 10:14), but also for each of for them, the sacrament of the same saving sacrifice arranges and prepares them everywhere and every day on the mysterious altar; Who, having passed through heaven, and there “at the right hand of God” the Father, unceasingly “intercedes for us” (Rom. 8:34), and from then on sent and is sending to the Church His Holy Spirit, filling everything with creative power, especially filling the Church of Christ with grace-filled power. With such an understanding of the holiness of Christ, you should understand the feeling that the church hymn expresses in relation to the church: “in the church worth your glory, we stand in heaven.” For the church, like heaven, is filled with the Divine. In her prayers, the Holy Spirit “intercedes for us with groanings that cannot be uttered” (Rom. 8:26); in the Gospel Christ speaks to us; on the altar, Christ appears in His body and blood, with the memory of His suffering, death and resurrection, and offers us Divine food; in the sacrament of baptism we put on Christ; in the sacrament of anointing the Holy Spirit places His seal; the Holy Spirit “puts” into the hierarchy and priesthood, and acts in it. Do not stop your thoughts on the visible priest; he, like you, is a man, and, perhaps, weaker than you: but the Holy Spirit, who descended on the Apostles, reached him by special continuous succession, and acts through him; The Saint of our confession, Jesus Christ, stands invisibly above him, and through him he sanctifies. Respect also what is visible in the church, since it is imbued with the invisible saint: before the invisible, be especially reverent, as in heaven, as before the face of God. Oh, that all of us, brethren, would, as we should, “understand the Apostle and Holy Hierarch of our confession Jesus Christ”! Then we would all, with obedience and unanimity, confess the good confession of the Gospel, the Council, the Fatherland, and there would not be those who, having abandoned the Gospel, are attached to strange and different teachings, who teach and learn more about the doctrines and commandments of men than the teachings of Christ and the commandments of God, and who succeed in enmity and slander, and not in the meekness and humility of Christ, and not in love commemorating a true disciple of Christ. Then we would all bear the saving name of Jesus Christ not only in our lips, but especially in our minds and hearts; and His Divine power would be experienced experimentally in our soul, and in our life: and then would it occur to anyone to start competitions and disputes about the sounds and letters of this name? Because, as the Apostle says, “the kingdom of God is not in words, but in power” (1 Cor. 4:20). Then in the clergy and the priestly service we would all recognize the visible work of the invisible Hierarch of confessing our Jesus Christ, and consequently the work is always holy, the work of the eternal Bishop, and therefore the work can never be destroyed by anyone: and then is it possible that anyone would dare to blaspheme the holiness and priesthood of the Universal Church, and through alienation from it condemn himself to deprivation of sanctification? Because, as Saint Chrysostom says (in the Epistle to Tim.), “if God does not work with these,” that is, with the priests, “God; then below the bathhouse" of baptism "imashi, below the mysteries you partake, or enjoy the blessing, bear it as a Christian." To protect yourself from these disastrous deprivations, “holy brothers, of the title of heavenly partaker, understand the Messenger and Holy Hierarch of our confession Jesus Christ”; strive to acquire inner heart knowledge of Him through the teaching of the Gospel and the Apostles, through frequent and, as far as possible, unceasing invocation of His Divine name, through purifying yourself by fulfilling His commandments, through communication with Him in His sanctuary and in the sacraments. Keep yourself from the imaginary zealots of the confession, whom no one sent, no one consecrated, who have neither saint, nor shrine, nor saints, except for some names (for the saints abide and rest with us in the church), who “do not enter by the door, but climb elsewhere,” whereas, according to the word of the Lord, only “whoever enters by the door, the shepherd eats for the sheep” ( John 10:1–2). However, let us call with love those who are not from this court into the saving fence of Christ, and for them, together with ourselves, let us pray, so that “we may all attain to the union of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to the measure of the age of the fulfillment of Christ, so that we may not be infants, tossed about and tossed about by every wind of doctrine, but what is true in love, let us grow up all things into Him, Whose head is Christ” (Eph. 4:13–15), and to Him be glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen. You might be interested in: