406. Слово по освящении храма Знамения Божией Матери, при доме графа Димитрия Николаевича Шереметева

(Said September 21; printed separately.) And she told King David, saying: The Lord bless the house of Abeddar, and all the ark thereof, for the sake of God. (2 Samuel 6:12). Having the church of God near you, in your home, is a pleasant and longed-for thought when you think about the grace of the church of God, but also a terrifying thought when you think about the holiness of Him who lives in it. That this thought was desired by the king and prophet David, this can be noted from the following narrative about him in the book of Chronicles: “And you shall make houses for yourself in the city of David, and prepare a place for the ark of God, and make a tabernacle for it” (1 Chronicles 15:1). The tabernacle was the same as in later times the church of God, with the peculiarity that the entire structure of the tabernacle was movable. Then there was the tabernacle of God, built, according to the command of God, by Moses. The sanctuary is obviously important due to its origin and antiquity. She stood at this time either in Shiloh, where she had previously been during the youth of the prophet Samuel, or in Gibeon, where Solomon later found her upon his accession to the throne. And the main and essential shrine of the tabernacle is the ark of God with the God-written tablets of the commandments, even under the high priest Elijah, taken out of it for the war against the Philistines, taken captive by them, but, as a result of punitive miracles from him on them, returned to the land of Israel, remained for a long time in Cariathyarim, in the house of Amminadab. So, David should have gone to worship at the tabernacle of Moses, or to the ark of God, or, even better, to unite the randomly separated shrines by returning the ark of God to the tabernacle of Moses. But that's not what he thought. He builds himself a house in Jerusalem, and then a new tabernacle, and he wants to move the ark of God here. Obviously, together with a pious feeling, the desire to have a sanctuary near oneself is at work here. This is an encouraging example for those who even now desire to have a church of God near them. They are following good footsteps. In order to consecrate the newly created tabernacle and give it the dignity of the church of God, David had to bring the ark of God into it. For this purpose he gathered the nobles and the people and came to Kariathyarim. Here a mistake crept into a good enterprise. According to the Divine establishment, in order to move the ark of God, only the high priest and the priests could touch it in order to clothe it with coverings, and then the Levites had to lift it onto the shoulders of the Levites. They probably did not remember this law, but they remembered that the ark came from the Philistines on a chariot and they also placed it on the chariot. The solemn procession began. On one slope the chariot tilted, and precautions had to be taken against the fall of the icon. Uzzah the Levite extended his hand, and instead of supporting the chariot, he touched the ark itself. The ark did not fall, but the one who boldly and illegally touched the shrine fell dead. Then in David’s heart the place of pious desire was replaced by pious horror: “How will the ark of the Lord come down to me?” (1 Chronicles 13:12) - he said, and left him in the house of Abeddar. Why did God's judgment strike Uzzah so harshly? Is it only for violating the rules of ritual, for a strong reminder of the too-forgotten law to the high priests, priests and Levites? Or, moreover, for some moral impurity discerned by the Judge, the Knower of the Heart, which is no longer compatible with holiness? – The Judge of the Heart knows this. But why did this incident so much strike David, who did not act contrary to the law of rituals, and even paid attention to it on his part, leaving the Levites to act at the ark of God? Without a doubt, because in this particular case, he saw the general law of holiness, once in a similar case spoken by Moses in the name of God: “I will be sanctified in those who draw near to Me” (Lev. 10:3). That is: whoever draws closer than others to God and to the shrine that signifies the special presence of God: in him the holiness of God primarily reveals itself, beneficial to the worthy, inviolable to the unworthy. Moses, in fasting and purity, approaches God on Sinai, accepts the God-written tablets and is enlightened so that the people cannot bear the light of his face. Uzzah approaches the same shrine of the tablets, and not the tablets themselves, but only the ark in which they lay, touches and is struck by death. So, if you revere, believe, and clear your conscience, then the shrine of God burns away sin and enlightens a person; otherwise, it scorches the sinner. Since David had enough self-knowledge and humility not to consider himself free from sin, it is natural that he was afraid of the proximity of the shrine, which in his eyes struck the sinner. What should we think, looking at this example of David? Can we have more boldness before the holy thing than he? Shall we not fear the Lord together with him, and shall we not say: How shall the ark of the Lord come unto me? Is it not daring to desire that the church of God with its shrine comes and establishes itself in my home? Isn’t it enough that I can go to the church of God, where it is, and, having only stepped over its feet, stand from afar with the publican and with his prayer: God be merciful to me a sinner? But if David, by his example, leads us into fear, then by his example he can calm us down and inspire us with the boldness of faith before God. The ark of God, which struck Uzzah and was left in the house of Abeddar out of fear, did not strike the house of Abeddar. On the contrary, “he announced to King David, saying: The Lord bless the house of Abeddar, and all the arks thereof for the sake of God.” David put aside fear, took on boldness, gathered again the priests and Levites and all Israel, and, in accordance with the prescription of the Law of Moses, on the shoulders of the Levites, he triumphantly brought the ark of God into the tabernacle, which he had erected for him. The new grace of Christ is more lenient and generous than the old law of Moses. Just as the sky is dotted with stars, so she dotted the earth with churches of God; and often allows the house of man to embrace the house of God. This church, now consecrated, is not now assigned to the house, but in a previous generation. Now, the pious thought of returning to him the shrine that he had and which he had lost acted. Let him not frighten those living in this house with his shrine, but rather, let him comfort and benefit them with his grace. May the Lord bless them, and everyone like them, at home for the Lord's sake. May He create by His grace that the house adjacent to this church will always be close to it with pious zeal, and in all respects worthy of a holy neighborhood. Amen. You might be interested in: