22. Слово в пятую неделю великого поста

(Spoken at the Cathedral Miracle Monastery on March 19th; printed in the meetings of 1822, 1835, 1844 and 1848) She prayed to Him: Grant to us that we may be one at Your right hand, and one on Your left, sitting in Your glory. Jesus said, I don’t know, I ask for something. Mark 10:37–38. A case that apparently should not have been expected is presented to us in these words of the Gospel. The best students of the best of Teachers, right before the end of their training, turn out to be ignorant! It is known that the twelve disciples, otherwise called the Apostles, were chosen by the Divine Teacher, Jesus Christ, primarily over thousands of other obvious and secret disciples of Him. It can be noted that James and John, about whom we are now speaking, were especially chosen among the twelve Apostles: for to them, and besides them only to Peter, He gave that high power of attorney that He allowed them to be witnesses of His glorious Transfiguration on Tabor, and His difficult feat in the Garden of Gethsemane. For about three years, these happy disciples remained almost inseparably with their only Teacher, hearing from Him the words of eternal life. The moment was approaching when He would say to them: “All that I have heard from My Father I have told you” (John 15:15). And such students, and at such a time, do not know what they are saying! “No news, she’s asking for something.” What, with such enlightenment, plunged them into such ignorance? – The desire to be above others, and to be almost equal to the One who is above all. “Grant to us that we may be one at Your right hand, and one on Your left, sitting in Your glory.” Let us not, brethren, disparage these closest followers of Christ because they, too, stumbled on their path, before the descent of the Holy Spirit illuminated them with an unstoppable light and strengthened them with invincible power. But seeing how sometimes the very “light of the world” (Matthew 5:14) was subject to eclipse, the very “pillars” (Gal.2:9) of the Church wavered, let us think about how we need to be vigilant over ourselves and continually cry out for light and strength to the Father of lights and the Lord of hosts. “Be careful to stand, and be careful that you do not fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). The Apostle Paul, speaking about the fall and punishment of the Jews, during the formation of the people of God from them under the leadership of Moses, notes that “this whole image was received by him; And the Bible was written for our instruction” (1 Cor. 10:11). Similarly, about the temptations of the first followers of Christ, into which their damaged nature in Adam attracted them, and into which the inscrutable, but always wise and good Providence allowed them to fall at the very time when the new people of God were to be formed from them, we can say that all this happened to them, as an image or example for those who followed them, and is described in the Gospel for our instruction. Thus, the adventure of James and John, who sought first places before the Apostles, teaches us to recognize and avert the temptation that lies in the desire to be above others. In this century we hear a parable: a bad warrior is one who does not want to be a military leader. This is not Solomon's parable; This is not wisdom, but carnal and vain wisdom. The true parable says: “He who makes his house high seeks destruction” (Prov. 17:16). And again: “Everyone who is high-hearted is not pure before God” (Prov. 16:5). The parable of the One who is greater than Solomon agrees with this: “Whoever exalts himself will humble himself” (Luke 18:14). It is difficult to understand how the wise men of this age do not understand these clear evidence of the truth, who, without ceasing to be called followers of Christ, contrary to the word of Christ, consider the desire to elevate oneself above others, in a word, ambition, as the correct trait of a noble spirit. They even think of making the Apostle Paul a preacher of ambition, catching his saying: “It is better for me to die than for anyone to destroy my praise” (1 Cor. 9:15). But listen more carefully to the preaching of the Apostle, you preachers of ambition, and learn the difference between zeal for praise, which animates him, and between greed for honor, which consumes you. You think that by fulfilling an office you will earn honor: he says that the performance of the most sacred office, to preach the heavenly truth, does not bring him any praise, as a matter of necessary duty: “Even if I preach the gospel, I have no praise; “My needs are always present” (1 Cor. 9:16). You want a reward for every deed: he believes his reward is to remain without the reward to which he has the right: “What kind of reward is that? let me preach the gospel of Christ without compensation, lest I should do it in my own country in the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:18). You are trying to break free from subordination and gain freedom and power over others: but he, having complete freedom, renounces it and enslaves himself to everyone: “he is free from everyone, having made himself a slave to everyone” (1 Cor. 9:19). Let him die, you cry, or at least let him who touches our honor before men be punished with proud contempt, but the Apostle says: let me die if anyone degrades my praise before God; It is better for me to die than to lose God’s favor: “It is better for me to die than for anyone to waste my praise.” Is it possible to mix this holy zeal for selfless service to God and others with the passion of ambition? Ask your ambitious heart, what would it be like if you were made to feel that you are the worst of people of the same condition as you, that you are the first of all worthy of contempt and condemnation? But the Apostle Paul spontaneously confesses this very feeling of his heart before the whole Church: “I am an apostle, and am not worthy to be called an Apostle; I am the first of sinners” (1 Cor. 15:9). If it seems incredible to you that such a derogatory recognition of such a great Saint could come from inner conviction, then know that it is no other reason than ambition that prevents you from believing what a spiritual person feels in the depths of his humility. “How can you believe, since you accept glory from one another, and do not seek the glory that is from the one God” (John 5:44)? But let us return to James and John, and remove some of the traits that marked their desire to exalt themselves above others. Firstly, this desire prompted them to pursue strange and in no way consistent with the circumstances in which they found themselves. “Give to us,” they said to Jesus Christ, “Give to us, so that we may be one on Your right hand, and one on Your left, sitting in Your glory.” But was it time to say this? Just before this, Jesus Christ told them: “Behold, we are ascending to Jerusalem, and the Son of man will be betrayed by the high priest and the scribe, and they will condemn Him to death, and they will betray Him with their tongues and mock Him” (Mark 10:33). And soon this prediction was to be fulfilled. What an incongruity! He goes to the place of reproach and death: but they want to share among themselves the first places in His glory. The time of achievement comes: and they ask for a crown. It would behoove one to ask for faith, so as not to be the first or the last in abandoning their Lord when He is betrayed: but they offer a strange demand, to be closest to the One who will soon be abandoned! Is it not the same confusion, in different forms, that today represents the desire to exalt oneself above others? They strive for a high place: but they do not notice the abysses, that is, the dangers that are on the way to it, or that surround it. Another, for example, says: let me sit in the seat of justice; but he does not think that perhaps this place is surrounded by networks of slander, undermined by bribery, that it is waiting not for someone who would appear on it, as on a throne, in the blaze of glory, but for someone who, on it, as on an altar, would sacrifice his peace of mind, his benefits, and sometimes the favor of many powerful people, in order to save one powerless one. Are not many trying to reach this throne, while they are ready to flee from this altar? What can we say about that kind of ambition, of which some of the most ambitious people feel the absurdity - about the ambition of those who try to reach the sacred seat of truth through untruth and sacrilege, to achieve the highest degree in society through the base means of people-pleasing, flattery and servility? “We will not do injustice to any of the ambitious if we say to all of them, without exception, the same thing that the First and Last said to His seekers of primacy: “You do not know what you are looking for.” Secondly, the desire for exaltation revealed in James and John the flaw that they did not sufficiently delve into themselves, into their abilities and into their inner state. For in this the Lord secretly convicts them when He asks in a parable: “Can I drink the cup that I drink, and with baptism, with which I am baptized, be baptized” (Mark 10:38)? This cup of Christ is the same one for which He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane: “My Father! Even if it is possible to eat, let this cup pass by from Me” (Matthew 26:39); that is, the cup of suffering and death. This baptism of Christ is the baptism of blood shed on the cross. Consequently, the question proposed to James and John introduces them to testing themselves, whether they are capable of participating in the suffering and cross of Christ. And although they, having fully or imperfectly understood this, declared themselves capable, which, apparently, the Lord also recognized when he said to them: “The cup that I have drunk has drunk; and with baptism, with it I am baptized, I am baptized" (Mk. 10:39): but subsequent events show that the Lord promised only to them in the future the gift of participation in His suffering, which was finally accomplished by the beheading of Jacob and the imprisonment of John; at the very time when they so decisively asserted that they could drink the cup of Christ, they were very far from this possibility; for when Jesus Christ stood in prayer before this cup, they could not remain vigil with him for even a single hour; and when the Jews laid their hands on Him, then they, along with the others, “left Him and fled” (Mark 14:50). Such ignorance of oneself, and the extent of one’s strengths and abilities, is a common shortcoming of people who have a desire to exalt themselves. They are ready to take any place that promises satisfaction to this desire: but they do not know that, perhaps, the first work that this place will require will lead them to exhaustion, the first danger will put them to flight. Ask yourself, seeker of that which is greater than you, can you drink the cup to which you stretch out your hand? If you think that you should sit at the very helm of the government of society, can you properly handle this great weapon and hold it firmly during the storm? If you want to be called a man of council in the assembly of elders, do you have within yourself the wisdom and spirit of council required for this title? If you are trying to leave the circle of ordinary citizens and join the class of noble men, do you really hope by nobility of spirit to support yourself along with others belonging to this class, or by mere vain pomp and outward splendor, which will only reveal what you lack and will probably deplete what you have? The more someone has true knowledge about himself, the less he considers himself capable of withstanding such a test, and therefore he accepts into the law of his behavior the rule of the Wise: “Do not seek those who are superior to you” (Sir.3:21). On the contrary, the stronger and more daringly someone seeks what is higher than him, the more doubtless it can be concluded that he either did not test himself, or was deceived in this test, and will deceive the hopes of those who will favor the fulfillment of his desire. Thirdly, the desire for exaltation, acting in James and John, was accompanied by a violation of the peace between the Apostles. “And when he heard the ten, he began to be indignant against James and John” (Mark 10:41). The Gospel History does not explain what kind of indignation there was: were the Apostles upset by the untimely pressure on their Teacher about the advantages in glory, when He was preparing and preparing them to enter the difficult field of the cross; were they offended by the injustice that was revealed in the fact that of the twelve who equally left everything for Jesus and remained with Him in His misfortunes, and who are therefore all equally promised twelve thrones in His kingdom, two want to delight in a certain special degree of glory; or finally, in the other ten, the same spirit of exaltation was at work, since some, apparently, could present their special rights in preference to others, such as another Jacob, that he was a relative of the Lord in the flesh, Andrew, that he was the first to decide to follow Jesus (for in the same feat it is more important to set the first example than to follow the example of others), - Peter, that he was the first to confess Jesus Christ as the Son of God. But be that as it may: it is written quite clearly for our instruction in this history that mutual indignation was never visible between the Apostles until the desire for primacy appeared between them; but as soon as this desire arose, mutual indignation followed. This means that the closest product of the spirit of exaltation and ambition is the spirit of discord and discord. The Apostle, predicting the last times, among other things says that then “because iniquity will abound, the love of many will fail” (Matthew 24:12). It doesn’t take much insight to discern this sad sign between us: and with this we can also notice that of all the iniquities, perhaps more than all, love is dried up by pride and ambition. Luxurious is easily friends with luxurious; the selfish, if not in community with the selfish, then runs away from him: but the ambitious tries to overthrow and destroy the ambitious, and does not leave anyone in peace and quiet, because his last goal is to see everyone under his feet. We recognize, Christians, in the passionate desire to be above others, a serious and dangerous illness of the human spirit and an ulcer of society. Having recognized this, let us accept either for healing or for our protection those medicines with which the Physician of souls and bodies healed her in His disciples. “When Jesus called them, he said to them: You know that those who pretend to master tongues prevail against them, and their great men master them, so it will not be like this among you” (Mark 10:42–43). The first remedy against the spirit of exaltation and dominance should be the thought that this is a spirit peculiar to the pagans. It is their misfortune that they are captivated by human glory, because they do not know the glory of God; they strive to exalt themselves on earth, because they have no hope of ascending to heaven. Will we, Christians, having known true glory, pursue false glory? No, brothers! “Not so let it be in you.” But what should Christians do? Our Divine Mentor continues: “Whoever wills to be in you, let him be your servant” (Mark 10:43). Do you desire excellence and perfection? try primarily and completely to serve the good of your neighbors. If you are already superior to others in your rank; all the more try to serve their good, so that you are not below your rank: but if you are below others; also zealously try to serve their good, and then no one sane will say that you are in a low state; therefore, the highest earthly power, according to the Christian concept, is nothing other than “God’s servant for good” (Rom. 13:4). Finally, if, despite this, the old Adam, who once wanted to be like God, still yearns in you when you are humbled before people, or when you are exalted before some of them, again flatters you with the dream that you can be a Divinity above them: then enter the doctor’s clinic of the new Adam, and take eternal animal medicine against this ancient disease. Jesus Christ offers you Himself as a healer: “For the Son of man did not come and let them serve Him, but let Him serve and give His soul redemption for many reasons” (Matthew 20:28). Christian! Do you really think to exalt yourself above your Christ? “It is sufficient for the disciple to be like his teacher” (Matthew 10:25). But our Divine Teacher, being the Lord of all, humbles Himself and serves His servants: how much more may we humble ourselves and serve each other with love, “doing greater honor to one another” (Phil. 2:3). Amen. In collection 1822 and 1835: in such a dark... In collection 1822 and 1835: will destroy... 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