223. Беседа о трудолюбии

(Printed in the Works of St. Ot. 1847 and in the collection of 1861) In everything I imagine myself as God’s servant, in much patience, in sorrows, in troubles, in cramped conditions, in wounds, in prisons, in disorder, in labor. (2 Cor. 6:4-5). Saint Paul, as the planter of the Church of Corinth, writes to the Corinthians, and, as the universal Apostle, appeals to all Christians: “we pray that the grace of God may not be received unto you in vain” (2 Cor. 6:1). That is, he convinces Christians to lead their lives in such a way that the grace of God, which they received from Christ through His sacraments, does not remain fruitless in them, but that they actively use its help and strengthen their salvation with good deeds. Not being like teachers who place heavy and unbearable burdens on the shoulders of others, which they themselves do not want to touch with a finger, the Apostle, on the contrary, presents himself as bearing and bearing heavy and unbearable burdens, so that the disciples do not refuse to bear anything less than is possible for them. “In everything I imagine myself as God’s servant, in patience, in sorrow, in troubles, in cramped conditions, in wounds, in prisons, in disorder, in labor,” and in a variety of other feats and virtues, which I interrupt the calculation for the sake of brevity. From this multitude of burdens, truly more or less heavy for corrupted nature, but not unbearable with the help of grace, I now take one, and, moreover, one of the more inevitable and more bearable, and I wish to see it on my and your shoulders. This is work. I pray with the Apostle: “let you imagine that God’s servants are at work.” Or is the teaching of works not worth the labor, and unworthy of the pulpit? Wouldn't some say that those who need to work will go to work without instruction, out of captivity, or driven by passion; and whoever can get by without labor, should he really be tormented by labor in vain? If anyone admits that he has these thoughts in his head, or, looking carefully, finds them in the disposition of his life: let him also have our recognition that these very thoughts present to us the doctrine of labor as requiring labor and worthy of attention. Is forced labor much better than the labor of an ox, bearing a yoke and drawing a plow? And isn’t it particularly difficult, firstly, due to the burden of labor itself, and secondly, due to the painful feeling of bondage? And therefore, wouldn’t it be good if we could elevate the lowest labor of man above the labor of the dumb, and, without weakening the necessary labor, reduce its burden, replacing the overwhelming feeling of bondage with the bearable burden of moral necessity, rationally recognized? Is labor driven by passion, for example, out of greed, noble, and is it not associated with torment, because every prevailing passion is an internal tormentor? And therefore, wouldn’t it be better if we ennobled labor by driving out, or at least overcoming, the low inclination towards self-interest with a higher impulse to action? Some people may not agree to call work out of ambition ignoble. Without entering into a dispute about this, I would only ask the high and powerful: are they completely satisfied with the workers in their service, if this is done only in order to rise and achieve honor? Wouldn't they rather wish this to be done out of purer motives - out of deep respect, out of devotion, zeal and love? What can we say about contempt for work, about aversion from it and about an idle life? If life is activity, then, by the opposite conclusion, idleness and idleness are not life, at least not the life of a rational and moral being. A long sleep in the morning, a slow awakening, then breakfast, a walk, idle talk with visitors or being visited, perhaps not the best idle talk, reading, then lunch, rest, a show, a game, dinner, and again a long sleep - is this the life of a rational and moral being? So, work through captivity, work through passion, aversion to work and idleness - all this requires either correction or improvement by a sound teaching about work; and such a teaching cannot be gleaned anywhere better than from the source of Christian wisdom. Is there work in heaven? – We cannot affirm this, although we know from the Revelation of John that the Powers there “have no rest day and night” (Rev. 4:8), performing constant praise to the Almighty. But it’s not like here on earth. Here work, peace, pleasure are separated, delimited, cut: and there the activity of the created Forces, which does not require rest, and their peace in God, and bliss, constitute one. However, for the good “spirits” who are sent to earth “to serve for those who want to inherit salvation” (Heb. 1:14), I think there is work, and not easy work, from the pure and bright region of heaven, as in a cellar or a mining cave, to descend for us into the dark and stuffy region of the earth, to be vigilant over our unworthiness, to extend to us subtle spiritual suggestions, often drowned out with our crude sensuality, to endure our shortcomings and infidelities, to retreat sometimes, out of necessity, from our impurities, but not too far to again look out for favorable moments for a beneficial approach to us, and finally, sometimes to grieve inconsolably over our unrepentance. Do not think about this lightly, son of dust! If the inhabitants of heaven do not consider it low and unpleasant for themselves to descend from their bliss to the unhappy earth, to work that will save you: do you dare to reject any useful work as low and unpleasant? Beware only of base motives, which alone make work truly base. If we ask whether there was work in paradise: the book of Genesis answers us: “The Lord God took man whom he had created, and brought him into the paradise of sweetness, to work it and keep it” (Gen. 2:15). Paradise did not need intensive cultivation, like our fields and gardens: because there was no curse yet, causing thorns and thistles to grow. Why is the man in heaven assigned to “do”? To resolve this, Saint Chrysostom cites the saying of the wise: “For idleness taught many evil” (Sir. 33:28). Therefore, he concludes, God “desired that” man “have some small and measured concern about storing and doing. If he were completely freed from all labor, then, taking advantage of the great peace, he would easily succumb to laziness. And by doing the work, although not accompanied by pain and exhaustion, he was better able to remain chaste.” From this discussion of the golden-talking teacher, we must learn that, even if one of us lived in almost heavenly contentment and prosperity, even if there was nothing that forced us to work, however, even in this case we should not neglect work or shy away from it, but should use it as a guardian of internal and external well-being, so that “idleness does not teach many evil.” But our state is no longer heavenly: and in this state, work has a new meaning, and is necessary in a new way. For pride and disobedience to a man expelled from paradise, God the Judge said: “By the sweat of your brow you shall bear your bread” (Gen. 3:19). That is, as Saint Chrysostom explains: “because you have not taken advantage of so much freedom; Therefore, I will curse the earth so that it will no longer bring you its products without shouting and sowing, as before, but with much labor, burden and exhaustion; I will surround you with constant sorrows and embarrassment, I will force you to do everything with shedding sweat, so that these oppressions will be a continuous lesson for you to humble yourself and be aware of your nature.” If, in this way, work is God’s punishment for all people, and at the same time God’s teaching to them for humility and the knowledge of their weakness, which should lead to the propitiation of the Judge of God: then is it possible to run away from work as from God’s punishment, without the danger of greater punishment? Isn’t it foolish to run away from work, as taught by God? Should we not be afraid that the new judgment of God will say: since you knew that for careless work and parasitism in paradise, man was reduced from painless labor to painful, but beneficial, labor on earth; but you don’t want to use this corrective means: then all that remains is to bring you down to an even lower level - to the labor of hell, painful and fruitless? However, Christianity, which makes everything easier, improves, delights and improves, prescribes work for us, not so much as a punishment from God, but in the form of serving God. “In everything,” says the Apostle, “I imagine myself as God’s servant,” and by the way, “in labor.” How? If work is necessary for you: look at it not as a blind necessity, but as the arrangement of the wisdom of God in human life; and therefore carry it not with a feeling of bondage, but with a feeling of obedience to the will of God. And if, according to the social dispensation, work is imposed on you from another person: bear it not only for the sake of man, but together for the sake of God, “not working before your eyes, as people pleasing, but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the soul” (Eph. 6:6). If they burden you with heavy and long labors: offer in your labors to God the sacrifice of resignation and patience. If nothing forces you to work, then all the more conveniently can you imagine yourself as servants of God in the work that you undertake for the good of your neighbor. Because serving the good of one’s neighbor is real service to Christ, according to His own word: “Since you have made one and the least of these brothers of mine, you have been made together by me” (Matthew 25:40). Will I say one more decisive word of the Apostle about work - will I say it especially to the free, and the noble, and the abundant, or will I hold back so that they do not send me with it to slaves and workers? But the word of the Apostle speaks to everyone, and I dare not retreat from it before anyone. What does it say? - “These things I have commanded you, that if anyone does not want to do it, let him eat” (2 Thess. 3:10). Let us think, stretching out our untiring hand to a meager meal, whether we, according to this testament or rule, would be worthy to share bread and water with this tabernacle maker, who himself fulfilled the rule given to others, even more strictly than others, not only by the work of the Apostles, but also simply by work, as he says: “You know that you will serve my demands and those who are with me with my hands.” these” (Acts 20:34). “We labor to work with our own hands” (1 Cor. 4:12). “Do not waste any man’s bread, but labor and struggle, working day and night with your own hands, so that we do not burden anyone with you” (2 Thess. 3:8)? But whoever is not worthy to eat with Paul will, of course, not be worthy to eat with Christ, at His table, in His kingdom. Let us not be lazy, inactive and idle; let us love work; let us do what is useful, if not out of our own need, then out of love for others; Yes, according to good deeds, according to the will of the Apostles, we not only eat earthly food with the delight of conscience, but, finally, we will also enjoy immortal meals, according to the will of Christ the Lord, who said: “I bequeath to you, as My Father has bequeathed to Me a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom” (Luke 22:29-30 )! Amen. You might be interested in: