265. Слово в день рождения Благочестивейшего Государя Императора Николая Павловича

(Said in the Assumption Cathedral on June 25; printed in the Moscow Ved. 1851, in the Works of the Holy Father 1851, in the Moskvityanin 1851 and in the collection 1861) As you are free, and not as a shelter for those who have evil, freedom, but as servants of God: honor everyone, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king (1 Pet. 2:16-17). That the most important of these commandments, taught by the Apostle, are familiar to us, and do not remain without action for us, this day can testify to this. The commandment - “Honor the King” - is in action when you remember the blessed birthday of the blessedly reigning King joyfully and solemnly. The commandment - “Fear God” - is in action when you bring your joy about the King, your desires and hopes for him before God, so that He will bless your joy, look upon your desires, and fulfill your hopes. And may the union of these two commandments be inseparable, beautiful and beneficial! The people - pleasing to God - are worthy to have a King blessed by God. The people - who honor the Tsar - through this please God: because the Tsar is God's dispensation. Just as the sky is undoubtedly better than the earth, and the heavenly is better than the earthly: then, just as indisputably, the best on earth should be that which is built in the image of the heavenly, which is what God taught Moses the Seer of God: “See, and create in the image shown to you on the mountain” (Ex. 25:40), that is, at the height of the vision of God. According to this, God, in the image of His heavenly unity of command, installed a King on earth; in the image of His omnipotence - the Autocratic Tsar; in the image of His eternal kingdom, lasting from century to century - the hereditary King. Oh, if only all the Kings of the earth would pay sufficient attention to their heavenly dignity, and would faithfully add to the features of the image of heaven that are required of them, godlike truth and goodness, heavenly wakefulness, purity of thought, holiness of intention and activity! Oh, that all peoples would fully understand the heavenly dignity of the King and the structure of the earthly kingdom in the image of heaven, and constantly mark themselves with the features of the same image - reverence and love for the King, humble obedience to His laws and commands, mutual consent and unanimity, and remove from themselves everything that has no image in heaven - exaltation, discord, self-will, self-interest and all evil thoughts, intentions and actions! Everything arranged well in the image of heaven would be blessed in the image of heaven. All earthly kingdoms would be a worthy threshold to the kingdom of heaven. Russia! You have a share in this good more than many kingdoms and peoples. “Take hold, O imashi, that no one may take your crown” (Rev. 3:11). Preserve and continue to decorate Your bright crown, constantly striving to fulfill more perfectly the crowning commandments: “Fear God, honor the King.” Extending from what is known to what is perhaps less seen and understood in the apostolic word, I draw your attention to the fact that the Apostle, while teaching the fear of God, respect for the King, and obedience to authorities, at the same time teaches freedom. “Obey,” he says, “to every human authority for the Lord’s sake; whether it be a king, as if he were predominant, or a prince, as he was sent from him” (1 Pet. 2:13–14), “as if he were free” (1 Peter 2:16). Obey as if you were free. Obey and be free. Whoever doubted whether these parts of the teaching are quite compatible, I would ask him: if there are those who are obligated by duty to obey you, for example, subordinates by rank and position, servants, workers: don’t you notice that some of them obey only out of necessity, reluctantly, forcibly, others voluntarily, willingly, diligently, and therefore freely? And don’t you understand that he who obeys only out of necessity will yield to this necessity no more, since he cannot overcome it, will work for you as little as possible, with little concern for the success of the matter and for your benefit, and is even ready to completely neglect the matter, as soon as supervision does not force him, or the threat of punishment and deprivation of reward is threatened; On the contrary, he who obeys out of free will will work for you with full strength, faithfully and without supervision, carefully and without fear of punishment? So, isn’t it obvious that obedience can be combined with freedom, and that such obedience is better than obedience that is not free? But there is a difficulty in how to harmonize and unite obedience and freedom, when their directions seem to be opposite; – freedom wants to expand human activity, and obedience limits it. In this case, the matter depends most on how freedom is understood. For there is hardly a word in human languages ​​that is so susceptible to misunderstanding and abuse as the word: freedom. Some people want to understand the name of freedom as the ability and freedom to do whatever you want. This is a dream; and the dream is not only unrealizable and absurd, but lawless and harmful. Do you know who was the first on earth to be seduced by this dream? – First man, Adam. Having received high abilities and powerful powers during creation, having been appointed ruler of heaven and earth, he enjoyed the most extensive freedom that a created being can have. But a limit was set to this freedom - the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam was not given the freedom to partake of its fruit. The abuser of freedom, the elder of man, who through the abuse of freedom became a spirit of darkness and malice, taught man the same abuse through dark suggestions. Man wanted to have completely unlimited freedom, like God, and dared to step beyond the limit set by God’s commandment. And what happened next? – Not only did he not gain more freedom, but he lost most of the one he had; and even if God had not condemned him, then the natural necessity of his nature, damaged by the Fall, would also have condemned him to slave labor: “By the sweat of your brow you shall bear your bread” (Gen. 3:19). The attempt of the forefather to illegally expand the area of ​​freedom, already almost universal, is surprising; however, it can be explained by the lack of knowledge of the experienced, the cunning of the tempter, and the very vastness of real dominion, under which it was easy not to stop before the limit, apparently insignificant. As for his descendants, who display such a desire, I don’t know whether it is more necessary to marvel at the fact that they do not respect, and as if they do not see the limits indicated to human freedom by the law of God, and the very composition of human society, and the necessity of nature, or more to mourn this innate infection, which they inherited from a forefather infected with the abuse of freedom, and which, due to a clouding of the mind, similarly hereditary, they are not sufficiently able to to see, and even less to heal, although this is simple in the true light. “Understand,” I will say with the Prophet, “understand... the madness of people, and you will never gain wisdom” (Ps. 94:8). Understand, dreamers of boundless freedom, the disastrous madness of your dreams - understand, finally, even after cruel experiences, when freedom, which crushed its limits, more than once stained the face of the earth with innocent blood, and, shedding streams of human blood, drowned itself in them! But how can we more correctly understand and define freedom? - Philosophy teaches that freedom is the ability and freedom to wisely choose and do the best, and that by nature it is the property of every person. What, it seems, could you wish for more? But this teaching has its light at the height of speculation about human nature as it should be: and descending to experience and activity as it is, it encounters darkness and stumbling blocks. In the innumerable human race, how many have such an open and educated mind as to correctly discern and distinguish the best? And those who see the best, do they always have enough strength to decisively choose it and put it into action? Do we not hear the complaint from the best of men: “Even though I am diligent, I do not obtain good deeds” (Rom. 7:18)? What can we say about the freedom of people who, although not in slavery to anyone, are subjugated by sensuality, possessed by passion, possessed by an evil habit? Is the greedy man free? Are you shackled in golden shackles? Is the carnivore free? Is he not bound, if not by cruel ties, then by soft nets? Are the proud and ambitious free? Are you not chained, not by your hands and feet, but by your head and heart, are you not chained to your own idol? Thus, the experience and consciousness of at least some people, in some cases, do not they say what the Divine Truth generally says: “Everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin” (John 8:34)? Observation of people and human societies shows that people who have allowed themselves more into this internal, moral slavery - into slavery to sins, passions, vices - are more often than others zealots of external freedom - as much expanded freedom as possible in human society before the law and authority. But will the expansion of external freedom contribute to their liberation from internal slavery? - There is no reason to think so. It is more likely that the opposite should be feared. In whom sensuality, passion, and vice have already gained predominance, he, upon removing the barriers opposed to vicious actions by law and power, will, of course, more uncontrollably than before, indulge in the satisfaction of passions and lusts, and will use external freedom only to plunge deeper into internal slavery. Unhappy freedom, which, as the Apostle explained, “they have as a cover for malice!” (1 Peter 2:16) Let us bless the law and the authorities, which, by setting, indicating and protecting, as necessary, the limits set on free actions, as much as they can, prevent the abuse of natural freedom and the spread of moral slavery, that is, slavery to sin, passions and vices. I said: as much as they can: because a complete cessation of the abuse of freedom, and the elevation of those immersed in the slavery of sin to true and perfect freedom, not only cannot be expected from the law and power of earthly people, but for this purpose the law of the Heavenly Lawgiver is not sufficient. The law warns against sin, reproaches and condemns the sinner; but does not impart to the slave of sin the power to break the bonds of this slavery, and does not teach the means to atone for the iniquities committed, which, like the fiery seal of sinful slavery, lie on the conscience. And this is what “the weakness of the law” consists of (Rom. 8:3), to which the Apostle testifies without hesitation. Here again the question arises: what is true freedom, and who can give it, and especially return it to those who have lost it through sin? – True freedom is the active ability of a person, not enslaved to sin, not burdened by a condemning conscience, to choose the best in the light of God’s truth, and to put it into action with the help of the gracious power of God. Only He who gave it to sinless man at creation can return this freedom to the slave of sin. The Creator of freedom himself declared this: “If... the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). “If you continue in My word, you will be My disciples truly, and you will understand the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31–32). Jesus Christ the Son of God, in our assumed nature, suffered and died for us, with His “blood... cleansed our conscience from dead works” (Heb. 9:14), and having broken the bonds of death by His resurrection, broke the bonds of sin and death that bind us, and, after His ascension into heaven, sending down the Spirit of truth, He gave us through faith the light of His truth - to see the best, and His grace-filled power to create it. This is freedom, which is not constrained by heaven, earth, or hell, which has the limit of the will of God, and this is not to its own detriment, because it strives to fulfill the will of God, which has no need to shake the legal decrees of men, because it knows how to discern in them the truth that “the kingdom of the Lord is, and He possesses tongues” (Ps. 21:29), which does not compulsorily honor the legal human authority and its commands that are not contrary to God, because he clearly sees the truth that “there is no... authority except from God, but the existing authorities were created by God” (Rom. 13:1). So, here is freedom, which is completely consistent with obedience to the law and legitimate authority, because it itself wants what obedience requires. I would have a lot to say about Christian internal, and not external, - moral and spiritual, and not carnal, always beneficial, and never rebellious freedom, which can live in a hut as comfortably as in the house of a nobleman or a king, which the subject, without ceasing to be subject, can use as much as the ruler, which is inviolable in chains and in prison, as can be seen in the Christian martyrs. But it’s time to put an end to the word. Let us love Christian freedom—freedom from sin, from passion, from vice, freedom to willingly obey the law and authority, and to do good “for the Lord’s sake,” out of faith and love for Him. And let no one be deceived by the people from whom the Apostolic word warns us - who “I promise freedom..., but they themselves are slaves of corruption” (2 Peter 2:19). Amen. You might be interested in: