375. Слово в день Благовещения

(Said by the Bachelor of Theology Hieromonk Philaret at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra; printed separately.) And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign in the house of Jacob forever (Luke 1:32–33). In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Come and reign, King of bliss and glory! Without You, “the world... lies in evil” (1 John 5:19); the darkness of Egypt spreads and threatens the whole earth; Your enemies roar like skinnies, or carelessly fall asleep on the corpses of their prey; the remaining drops of oil burn out, it seems, in the lamps of Your vigilant servants and with their flickering illuminate the universal midnight. Hurry, Bridegroom of pure souls! Arise, Sun of Truth! reign, King of bliss and glory! For a long time now, the misfortunes of mankind have thus called upon the Deliverer. Finally, the day awaited for centuries is approaching. The broken scepter of Judah, the completion of the weeks of Daniel, the rumor about a new kingdom predetermined by fate, which would begin from Judea, spreading among the very pagans, pre-announce Him; The angel brings a direct prediction about the coming Seed of Promise; the blessed Virgin is preparing to be his mother; those awaiting deliverance in Jerusalem are filled with impatience. But what will follow this expectation! The great successor of David will be born into a low family of woodworkers; will grow in poverty; will spend his wonderful life in troubles and misfortunes; for a moment they recognize him as the King, and soon, instead of a throne, a cross is erected for him. He himself almost renounces, apparently, the crown of David, his father: “my kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). At this sight, vice again lifts the brow; cowardice falls; faith and virtue raise their hands to heaven and call for consolation. Quiet light of holy glory! Send your ray to dispel the darkness of restless thoughts, so that we may at least see the dawn of hope sitting in the darkness. The truth, listeners, should not be terrible for lovers of the truth: for “perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). Let us listen to love; then her voice, menacing to the ear, will be sweet to our hearts. “My kingdom,” says the Truth, “is not of this world” (John 18:36). I do not reject the kingdom, which inherently belongs to me: only this is not the world. It is in the world, but not of the world. I have a small flock, but it is scattered from the East to the West, from the South to the North. I have the most extensive dominion, but whose center is higher than all the capitals of the world. In the church, in the palace, in the hut I find those who are true to myself; in the hut, in the palace, even in the church, I see my enemies. The prince of darkness embraces with his power most of the sunflower: “I am the King appointed by the Father of lights over Zion, her holy mountain, who proclaims the commandment of the Lord” (Ps. 2:6-7). The commandment of the Lord, the word of God is my scepter; those who hear and keep it are the servants of my kingdom. Until the time that the Father has placed in his power, the word of this kingdom is hidden within it, and it is not separated by safe boundaries. The world, like the kingdom of darkness, does not see him; but always opposes it as the kingdom of light. “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). Hear how a single verb terrifies and encourages, amazes and strengthens; or, better yet, first it encourages and strengthens, then it frightens and amazes. “My kingdom” is a strengthening hope! “Not of this world” - this is a striking fear. What insightful concern for our weakness! What a wise guide to generosity! Before revealing the cause of concern, he points to the source of consolation; represents the victory already taking place, and then delivers in battle; gives the shield, and then strikes. Why are we delaying? Let us overcome temptation with the strength given to us, and let us cast out fear with love. Christ reigns: what could be more desirable than this! “The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice” (Ps. 97:1). There is no need that there are still “clouds and darkness around him” (Ps. 96:2), that his kingdom does not always have enough sensual splendor; which sometimes seems to be swallowed up by the kingdom of darkness. Enough: “The Lord reigns, let men be angry” (Ps. 98:1), as much as they want. Let impatience be indignant, wickedness mock, malice rage. Let the world be troubled: it is its misfortune that it is not worthy to have either a great or a good Lord—why should Christians be troubled? “All things work out for good to those who love God” (Rom. 8:28). So, Christians, these temporary contradictions of the kingdom of Christ and his, so to speak, expulsion from the world, sometimes obvious and rude, sometimes subtle and cunning, are events that were predetermined by the man-loving God in favor of the people who love him. He tempts them like gold in a furnace, in order to finally accept them like sacrificial fruitfulness. The world is that crucible in which the fire of temptation, gradually destroying the flesh, purifies spiritual treasure and raises its value before the eyes of heaven. If the heavenly King demands free and heartfelt service to himself, if He creates a kingdom of children and brothers, then is it surprising that he does not buy our obedience with visible benefits, that he does not enslave us with fear of near losses, but takes away his reward from our eyes, and sometimes even exposes us to some troubles in order to allow us to more easily and unselfishly choose him as the Lord of our hearts? If faith is given grace and eternity to hope, then is it not necessary to remove the vision in order to give place to faith and hope? If “the meek should inherit the land” of bliss (Matthew 5:5), then in the land of testing is there no reason to endure the impudent and oppressive people around them? If love for God, in order for us to be worthy of Him, must prevail in us over any other, then don’t we owe it to Him that He makes it easier for us to fulfill this office, making our enemy the charming world, which is so difficult to stop loving? Come, brave sage, who imagines judging the judge of all the earth: tell us, how would you have acted differently? “I would give earthly blessings to those who are worthy of heavenly ones.” Shut up: you are a man, your thoughts, your desires expose you. This is not the will of Him who makes His elect “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). He wishes them Divine happiness - happiness to turn evil into good, obstacles into means, and not have the need for earth on the way to heaven. “At the very least, doesn’t Christian love itself make us wish that those who are not of the world should be snatched away from it, so as not to have the danger of touching its uncleanness?” Oh, this love is Christian, but not yet Christ’s. You love Christians; Christ – both Christians and people. You favor the faithful; He cares about everyone. You want to keep those who are there; and He, through his own, acquires those who are not his. He surrounds the light with darkness in order to, little by little, as much as possible, enlighten the darkness; allows the sons of light to mingle with the sons of hostility, so that this too may provide an opportunity to “receive the love of God, so that they may be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:10). If the kingdom of light were separated so that not a single spark fell from it into the kingdom of darkness, then what would the world be if not hell, and what would become of those unfortunates whom Christ now does not count as his own, since they have not yet crucified the flesh with passions and lusts, but does not tear away in the hope of their correction? Let us assume for a moment the possibility of such a complete separation of the sons of the kingdom from the sons of this age. Let us imagine, for example, that Christ would suddenly appear in this church, just as he once did in Jerusalem, and find here, as there, “those selling and buying” (Matthew 21:12), selling Pharisee piety and buying the glory of zealous servants of the Divine, selling their pomp and buying the wonder of the frivolous, selling deceptive beauty to the eyes and buying deception to the heart, those who sacrifice a few solemn minutes to God and want to pay with them for a whole life of wickedness - I would cast all of them out immediately, forever, so that they do not pray at home with the house of a vile purchase, and, as unworthy, I would cut off from the community of true believers... What hope would then be left for these exiles? Repentance? But who would teach them it? Who would have assured that it could still be accepted? Who would support in its constant implementation? Without instruction, without excitement, in the midst of temptations, being constantly drawn by the desire of the sea of ​​life, they would be completely lost for the kingdom of God, just as it is for them. Nowadays, if their conscience is lulled, then instruction awakens it; when instruction does not work, the example of virtue follows; shame corrects; decency itself, which forces one to imitate to some extent the actions of piety, is already a kind of instruction in it. Therefore, the Sower of the heavenly seed commanded his servants to delay the separation of their wheat from the chaff until everything is ripe: “leave both to grow until the harvest” (Matthew 13:30). True, the tares sometimes seem to grow too fat and overly crowd the wheat: but let us not be deceived by the empty appearance; Let us not envy fatness, which will soon become the fat food of fire. How sad it is for the flesh to hear that the kingdom of Christ is not of this world, so low would it be to be jealous of this evil world. He does not reign, but slaves. If we exclude from him those who prefer the title of Christian to all his titles, then only slaves will remain in him - slaves of ambition, slaves of gold, slaves of the womb, slaves of voluptuousness, and all together, slaves of pride. Why else are they all in such a hurry to move from acquisition to acquisition, from pleasure to pleasure, from honor to honor, if not because everyone in his present state is too aware of his slavery? Turn away, believing soul, your eyes from seeing vanity; turn to your peace, and in secret seek the quiet, serene kingdom of God within yourself. “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). In living faith, and in firm hope, in a clear conscience, in angelic love - here is the kingdom of God. Here Christ the second is conceived, born, dwells, and reigns. In this Divine kingdom there are no troubles, no famine, no thirst, for our King feeds his servants with “hidden manna” (Rev. 2:17); no sorrows or despondency, He is joy; neither sickness nor death, - He is life; neither persecution nor oppression, “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor. 3:17). The heavenly breath of this Spirit, refreshing the air of the soul, diffuses in it the sweet stench of peace. The heart is this great and spacious sea, which is so often agitated by storms, filled with countless reptiles, and to which the serpent of the abyss curses, crushes its waves on the stone of constancy, and in its meek desire depicts a single lust, “I will be satisfied, never to be revealed to Your glory” (Ps. 16:15). Here the sky is always clear: neither the clouds of doubt cover the light of God, nor the thunder of His anger shakes the inner ear. The field of activity is covered with golden classes, which the more the warmth of love fills and increases, the more humility bows down. What a sight! Behold a new heaven and a new earth! Behold the small world, which contains within itself the highest beauties of the great! All this is the beginning of bliss; soon - infinity! Now it is in moderation; soon without measure! This is the morning dawn; soon a day of non-evening! This is a midnight vigil; The wedding celebration is coming soon! Let him come, “Thy kingdom come” (Matthew 6:10), the King of glory, the Bridegroom of immortality: first Thy kingdom is in our heart, and then our heart is in Thy kingdom. For this Thy Spirit intercedes in us with unutterable groans; for this the Church, Your Bride, cries; they also excite us to draw closer to You, despite any obstacles. “And the Spirit and the Bride say: come, and hear and say: come!” ( Rev. 22:17 ). Amen. You might be interested in: