2. Слово в неделю четвертую по Пятдесятнице

(Said in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra; printed separately 22 and in collections 1820, 1821, 1844 and 1848). Samples of sin, death: the gift of God, eternal life, in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom.6:23. Once upon a time the name of “sin” was as terrible for Christians as curses and executions. The Apostle James, wishing with one blow to crush the pride of a man who boasts of the knowledge of the truth, but lives according to the flesh, only said that it was a sin for him: “To him who knows to do good, and to him who does not do it, it is sin for him” (James 4:17). Nowadays many shudder at the name of dishonor, damage, death: the thought of sin, like a ghost, does not disturb the more enlightened age. Is this how what was predicted by the prophets about the kingdom of the Messiah is being fulfilled in us: “let sin be promised” (Dan.9:24)? Oh! Sin does not wear itself out in us like old clothes, which are thrown at our feet when we put on new ones; but like an old illness, in which the feeling of pain is dulled by time, and which is finally little distinguished from health 23. Such a dangerous habit is reinforced by the equally disastrous shortsightedness with which we look only at the charming guise under which sin appears to us; but we do not penetrate into its true property, and do not connect its consequences with it. What are our shortcomings, disasters, death? – They say 24: imperfections of nature, actions of chance, blows of fate! – Thus, self-love more conveniently allows us to blaspheme God than to find the source of evil in ourselves. The truth of God, listeners, has no need of our justification. But our untruth must be exposed for our own justification from God. To this end, in accordance with the present reading from the Apostle, let us reveal, as far as possible, the necessary union of sin with death, “the cost of sin is death,” and we will contrast the harmful deception of the sinful state with the advantages of the state of grace: “the gift of God, eternal life, in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). “God,” as the Wise One says, “do not create death” (Wis. 1:13). Could anything come from the source of life other than life? Having given existence to nothingness, He gave existence a law according to which it would act for good: acting according to this law is life. The noblest creatures received freedom, which is the ability to fulfill the law, in the consciousness of its perfection, out of love for the Lawgiver, and which therefore does not exclude the possibility of deviating from it; and such an arbitrary deviation from the law is a sin. But because the creature, leaving the limits set for it by the wisdom and goodness of the Creator, cannot ascend to the highest perfection, which, being nothingness in itself, not only cannot give, but cannot return to itself; then her deviation from the law necessarily means a fall into the lower circle of action, disorder, destruction, death. This is the way by which “by man alone there is sin in the world below, and death through sin” (Rom. 5:12). He enters like a thief, and then goes on a rampage like a robber: he strips, enslaves, and kills. A person, according to the threefold relationship of his actions to himself, his neighbor and God, can enjoy a threefold life: natural, as a being of the visible world, civil, as a member of society, and spiritual, as a humble angel: predominant sin imposes a tribute of death on natural life, on entire societies, and on the immortal human spirit. “The patterns of sin are death” (Rom. 6:23). In primitive innocence, man was immortal in body as well as in soul. The creatures he conquered were subject to natural changes, but in such a way that neither their ruler nor they themselves suffered from it. As soon as sin took possession of this ruler, both in his domain and in himself, through the incomprehensible action of God’s justice, a rebellion arose: and soon, perhaps, a single “lawlessness” would have “devastated the whole earth,” if 25 the merciful God had not put some distance between it and its harmful consequences in order to leave room for repentance and grace. Meanwhile, wondrous Providence commanded death in various forms to pursue and defeat sin in such proportion to its progress and power, so that its generation would be an obstacle to its power, and so that the blinded sinner would easily recognize in him his enemy and murderer. In order to show you the effect of this Divine judgment, I will not point to the first world, suddenly buried in the waves for the increase of unrighteousness; or on the ancient cities, which, with the cry of their depravity, brought down heavenly fire upon themselves; or on the graves of lust, which the luxury of the Jews created for themselves in the barren desert, etc. Whoever has eyes, without going around centuries and countries, always and everywhere sees the sword of God against crime, hidden in nature itself and in the ordinary course of human affairs. Do you not see how death, in the words of the Prophet, “rises through your windows” (Jer. 9:21) - penetrates into all feelings and powers, since we open them to sin? As the cup of earthly pleasures pours, if not always sudden, then, without a doubt, slow poison into the mouth of excess; self-interest does not so much fill treasuries with gold as it fills the soul with torment; offense provokes against oneself, if not justice, then another offense; deceit falls into the hole that it dug for one’s neighbor, and “men do not spend their days with blood and flattery” (Psalm 54:24)? Just as the most subtle abuse of natural abilities unleashes an equally subtle weapon on itself: pride kills reason; wisdom, “which has not been trained to have God in the mind, is given over to the unskilled mind to do things that are not like it” (Rom. 1:28); and at the very root of sin - self-love - the thunder of misfortune strikes from time to time? And when God, “who does not want the death of the sinner,” says of Himself that He “brings the sins of the fathers on the children and on the children of the children, to the third and fourth generation” (Ex. 34:7): doesn’t this mean that sin itself, which has unlimited dominion over man, penetrates into his being, extends its power along with the life that he gives to others, and if this hereditary yoke is not overthrown, collects its “rents” from sons, grandsons and great-grandsons? But if in this or another way the sinful illness of one can become an infection for many, is it surprising that the death that follows it can also befall tribes and peoples, as well as people? Social life began when God spoke to the first human couple: “fill the earth and rule over it” (Gen. 1:28): there is no division or destruction here. Why are these civil bodies mortal, and sometimes too short-lived, if not for the same reason as natural ones? The impoverishment of love for the fatherland and mutual sincerity between members of society is accompanied by weakness and disorder in its actions; luxury, consuming his true contentment, torments him with imaginary needs; the desire for dominance and injustice arouse foreign and domestic enemies against him; in faith and piety it preserves or loses the basis of its laws, the motivation for activity, the fear of crime, the reward of exploits, the guarantee of security - in a word, life and soul. If you, faithful Fatherland, without growing old, outlive your neighbors and enemies, then bless the truth and faith that the Lord of hosts left you like long-living seed! Without them, no nation can expect a better fate than Israel, beloved but unfaithful to God. “Where are you dying, the house of Israel?” Ezekiel cries out to him (Ezekiel 18:31). In vain, having turned away from the path of righteousness, you dream that “the way of the Lord will not be established” (Ezek. 18:25); It is in vain that you think of escaping His justice—you are killing yourself with your wickedness. “Where are you dying, the house of Israel?” If there are cases when “the way of the wicked is sung” (Jer. 12:1), and their hand dominates, then this is either the last reward that they accept for some remnant of virtues, or the last tension that will deprive them of the remnant of strength. A depraved society in strength is like a man in a fever: his strong and quick actions are the effect of illness, and often a harbinger of death. The Sovereign Prophet saw and described the fate of triumphant wickedness: “I saw the wicked exalting himself and towering like the cedars of Lebanon.” But how long did this phenomenon last? - “I passed by, and lo and behold” (Ps. 36:35). However, all executions that pursue lawlessness in natural and social life are merely a memorable image and, so to speak, a trace of true death, completely inseparable from sin. “If one day you cut down the tree, you will surely die” (Gen. 2:17). Do you know that Adam lived on earth for nine centuries after being devoured from the forbidden tree: or did this word not come true, which not a single line can pass, even if heaven and earth were shaken? - No! Adam definitely “died” on the day of the Fall: he died in his mind, which, having participated in the Divine light, was clothed in the darkness of sensuality; died in his will, which had lost the power to strive for spiritual good; died in his heart, which fell from the heights of heavenly love and bliss and was fragmented according to the number of earthly delights; died in his activity, which from that time on could only produce “dead works” (Heb. 9:14). What then are we, born in sins and too rich in this inheritance of Adam, what are we in “the body of this death” (Rom. 7:24), if not the living dead in our tombs? Death is all the more murderous the less felt, and the most terrible of all deaths that we see and know! For they kill the temporary, but this one kills the eternal; those themselves are mortal, but this one can be immortal. The coffin, according to one Christian teacher (Tertul.), is a refuge from death; but this is not for the one dying in sin, for the “second death” (Rev. 21:8) or the revelation of the first death in all its horrors awaits him even beyond the grave. Let us know, listeners, what we should fear. If the sword is terrible, then the killer is even more terrible; If death is terrible, which affects not so much a person as sin, then how much more terrible is the sin that gives birth to death! But since fear is a useless tormentor, as long as it is not a nurturer of love: let us not hesitate to give our heart, deceived by sin, an object most worthy of its attachment, and to this alone, if possible, let us gather all our wasted strength, like the sad wreckage of a shipwreck to a safe shore. – What animal light the sky sends into our inner hell! And how quickly the shadow of death flees from him! The God of righteousness and reward for the righteous becomes the God of mercy and grace for the sinner! “Now it is the gift of God, eternal life, in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). Having found us dead, grace does not demand that we deserve life, for this is impossible. It is not found by the seeker; is not questioning; bestows, not rewards. "God's Gift". Let us acknowledge our sinful blindness. What do we not do to satisfy vain desires and criminal passions! We sacrifice peace to wealth, honor to wealth, and again to peace to honor; we rush into danger in order to extract glory from it, or to plunge an opponent into it; We spend a century in constant worries in order to achieve a better state, which is always moving away from us; and, seeing our health weakening, we continue to kill ourselves with excessive efforts in order to achieve what we want. But to throw off the heavy burden of sin and take the light yoke of Jesus, to snatch a weak heart from the world and place it in the power of God, which is perfected in weaknesses, to be abolished and let God do his work in us - this is difficult, it exceeds our strength!.. Alas! We are more active and stronger for our destruction than we would need for our salvation. Grace renews and restores to man everything that sin destroys. She again draws him spiritual life from God, its source; introduces it into the joint of the immortal body of the Church and, when our earthly church of the body is destroyed, prepares a church not made by hands in heaven. "The Eternal Belly". On the contrary, for what reward do we work for sin? “Let us put ourselves between him and death, and, looking here and there, we will involuntarily repeat the cry of the son of Saul: “I have tasted little honey, and yet I die” (1 Samuel 14:43). I tasted a few drops of pleasure - and I see before me a sea of ​​​​evils. After a few minutes of pleasure, an eternity of torment awaits. I did not satisfy the flesh, but destroyed the soul. “I don’t taste enough honey, and now I’m dying.” Finally, grace presents to us the almighty Giver and most faithful Sponsor of its gifts, Jesus Christ the God-man. He is God, for our re-creation can be accomplished by the power of the one Creator; but also man, so that we can safely and boldly approach Him. He became “sin and a curse” for us (2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13) in order to redeem us from sin and curse, and, having acquired us with His blood, He waits for us to receive everything through Him in Him. "About Christ Jesus our Lord". On what, on the contrary, do we place our hopes when we submit to sin? – The crafty enemy, every time he gives us forbidden fruit, promises too much: “you will be like gods” (Gen. 3:5), but, having fulfilled his will, we usually either receive nothing, or receive incomparably less than we hoped. And why do we still rely on this cane rod, which has already been crushed many times under our hand and pierced it, and not hasten to the Doctor, who heals the ulcers of souls and bodies? Why do we hold on to the earth, which turns us around along with itself, and do not use all our strength for the cross of the Intercessor, which is the ladder to heaven? Why, when so quickly “the form of this world passes away” (1 Cor. 7:31), “the earth is always troubled, and the mountains are cut into the hearts of the sea” (Psalm 45:3), we, from the blows that threaten us, do not hide in the wounds of our Savior? O God, do not want the sinner to die, but rather turn and live for him! Take our sin, may it not take from us the doom of eternal death; and grant us Your gift, eternal life, in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. A separate edition of this word has not been found. Finally, there is little difference from health. - In ed. 1820 and 1821: “they finally cease to distinguish from health.” They say . - In ed. 1820 and 1821 there is no such word. if. - In ed. 1820 and 1821 - “whenever.” You might be interested in: