456. Слово на память Преподобного Отца нашего Сергия Радонежского и всея России Чудотворца

(Said in the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, September 25). Seek... first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all this will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33). How much a person seeks in the world, and, as it seems to him, he searches out of necessity. For example: food, clothing, housing, security - and for the acquisition and provision of these first needs - money, abundance, power, honor. How many different means he uses to achieve his goals! Somehow intelligence and work, strength and cunning, audacity and baseness. And how often does he complain that what he is looking for is not found, or what is found does not satisfy, that the means do not lead to the goal, and the achieved goal does not reward the means used for it! What happiness it would be to find the secret: to satisfy all needs in one way, to achieve all desired goals with one means! This secret, indeed, is revealed to us by Jesus Christ when he says: “seek... first the kingdom of God; and all these things will be added to you.” Let us take care how we can establish ourselves in this teaching, which should free us from all worries. “Do not worry,” He says, “about your soul, what you eat or what you drink, or about your body, what you put on. “Do not hide for yourselves treasures on earth” (Matthew 6:25, 19). Do not worry about anything that people usually worry about; prefer one to all worries; seek one thing above all else: “seek... first the kingdom of God.” Everything else that people are looking for will be found and acquired by itself: “all these things will be added to you.” Since this teaching combines all the benefits for temporary and eternal life, and despite this, there are people who have known it for a long time, but never follow it: then we must conclude that they consider it either an impossible fable, or an insoluble riddle; either they do not believe that it is possible to fulfill it and receive the fruit promised in it, or they do not understand and do not hope to understand how it can be fulfilled. Against this, whether deliberate or thoughtless, clearly uttered, or hidden in the deeds of the sons of this age, slander and blasphemy against the Christian truth, what will we say in defense of the truth? - We can say nothing, without harm to the truth, especially here where I say this - nothing, perhaps one more word of Christ: “wisdom is justified from your children” (Matthew 11:19). You, a true child of Christ's spirit, we are in the spirit of the Father, if we live according to your spirit, - You, God-wise Sergius, have justified and are justifying the wisdom of God by deed, presenting to us experimentally the teaching of Christ, and the image of its fulfillment, and the fruits of faithfully following it. Seeking most of all “the kingdom of God and His righteousness,” you left everything - home, parents, inheritance, came here into the desert uninhabited, uncultivated, deserted, helpless, not caring what you eat, or what you eat, or what you put on; you renounced earthly treasure even when it was offered to you as a sacred adornment and blessing of the Saint. In this removal from all care for earthly things, that you have found the kingdom of God, we not only know this from the witnesses of your life, but we ourselves see it even to this day, since it appeared and still appears in you through the gifts of clairvoyance, incorruptibility, healing, and through other miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit. And that to these coveted gifts was added everything that you have put off caring about, everything in your desert that flourishes to this day testifies to this, and the very stone here cries out about this; for there is no other power that could create, preserve, protect, elevate, enrich, glorify all this, like the power of the kingdom of God that lives in You. Thus, the children of wisdom, which is not lacking in them, justify the teaching of Christ by deed and experience, without a doubt, stronger than any word and reasoning: and let us think, unsuccessful disciples of the same wisdom, whether they do not condemn us with their active wisdom, just as Noah once “condemned” the entire first “world” (Heb. 11:7) by no other judgment than with his active wisdom. by faith; - do they not condemn us by their example, and do they not make us irresponsible before God, if we know the teaching, we see its fulfillment, and therefore we cannot say with solidity either that it is unrealizable or that it is incomprehensible - and yet we still do not follow it with full faith and exact obedience, we are all concerned about earthly things, we do not seek the kingdom of God, or do we not first of all seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness? The sons of this age, who, according to Wisdom herself, are wiser in their way than the sons of this age, think that they also have their own justification against this judgment of the sons of wisdom. Not everyone, they say, can leave the world and go into the desert. And the world was created for people: why not use the world? Our ranks in earthly society necessarily force us to care about earthly things. And God Himself, Who gave us foresight, skill, strength, would it be acceptable if we, leaving all this unused, decided to wait carelessly for food to come into our mouths and clothing for our shoulders, and for a dwelling to be created for us without us around us and above our heads? But what does heavenly Wisdom say about these and similar earthly wisdom? This is what the Word says through His voice crying in the wilderness: “He is from the earth, he is from the earth, and he speaks from the earth” (John 3:31). And also through the Prophet: “Be wise to do evil, but to do good without knowing it” (Jer. 4:22). That is: whoever lives only by earthly birth, in a carnal and spiritual man, and not by heavenly birth from the Spirit of God, in him only earthly things are revealed and active; and therefore, if he defends and justifies earthly deeds, then this turns out to be only his earthly property, and the dignity of the deeds themselves is not proven. Those who are wise about earthly things can wittily give plausibility even to evil deeds that they love and do not want to abandon; while true good, for which they do not make any effort, although it is close and accessible, remains above their knowledge and feeling, they have no conviction in it, because they did not try to find taste in it. Let us not forget, disciples of the Heavenly Teacher, that “he who comes from heaven is above all” (John 3:31), that just as by His being He is above every other being, so His teaching is above all wisdom 951. To rebel against heavenly teachings with doubts and contradictions means to throw arrows at heaven: heaven is not afraid of wounds from them and has no need to reflect them; they are dangerous for those who let them fly over their heads. Success in heavenly teaching is achieved not by testing and competition, but by faith and obedience: “if you believe, you will see” (John 11:40), this is the order of divine enlightenment! The dark is explained, the difficult is simplified, the incomprehensible is brought into agreement, the impossible becomes possible when we decide once, forever, not to apply the commandment of Christ to our will, but to betray our will to Christ and His commandments. “If anyone wants to do the will of God, he understands the teaching” (John 7:17). Why do many people think? Why vain speculation about vanity? Why bother about the same thing, how to leave caring? Nail your mind to the word of Christ; do not divide your heart, deeds and whole life with your mind; do not allow your imagination to wander between the kingdom of God, to which Christ calls, and between the kingdoms of the world, which Satan shows; do not dream what Satan desires, but act what Christ requires. “Seek... the kingdom of God.” If with such a disposition we delve even a little into the teaching about the search for the kingdom of God, preferably before any earthly search, we will immediately see that heavenly wisdom leaves no room for those bewilderments that earthly wisdom tries to oppose to it. “Seek,” she says, “first the kingdom of God.” Before, and therefore after the kingdom of God, it is not forbidden to seek what is necessary for our earthly stay; Consequently, the search for the kingdom of God does not necessarily force one to flee from the world into the desert, does not prohibit the use in the world of what was created to serve man, does not prevent one from carrying out the legitimate affairs of the worldly profession, or acquiring food, clothing and housing. There are people who, without exception, left everything for the kingdom of God, such as the Apostles, who without hesitation said to their Teacher: “We have left all of us, and become dead after You” (Mark 10:28). For this preeminent feat they received the preeminent promise that they would sit on twelve thrones as judges of the people of God; and to their followers in this complete abandonment of everything, it is especially promised that they will receive a hundredfold in this century, as a pledge of future reward, everything that they left for Christ and His Gospel. If you want, be jealous and join the chosen army of the Heavenly King, and do not oblige yourself with any worldly purchases, so that the commander will please you; but if you do not have the spirit to leave everything for Him without a trace, at least do not prefer anyone or anything in the world to Him and His kingdom, put the thought of the kingdom of God above all your thoughts, the desire for the kingdom of God above all desires, works for the kingdom of God above all works - rejoice when there is something, but do not rejoice about anything as much as about God, be sad when sad things happen, but do not be sad about anything as much as about sins before God; seek what you need, but seek without care, and seek the kingdom of God by force. “Seek... first the kingdom of God.” “And His righteousness,” the Divine Leader adds to the kingdom of God. An important word, on which some do not want to establish themselves and therefore destroy the whole thing! The Son of Adam, as he is now, wants to go and reign with Christ; but the son of Adam is flesh and blood; but “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 15:50). Just as a fish cannot live in the air, so the flesh with its passions and lusts cannot live in the kingdom of God. The son of Adam must be born again in order to become the son of God. “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). They will say: we have already been reborn in baptism. Fair enough, but if this new generation remains intact in you, lives and grows, as is characteristic of every living generation: then show in yourself the life of the spirit in its movements and actions, pure, holy: “If we live by the Spirit, let us walk by the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25). Show “fruit... spiritual”, which “is in all goodness and righteousness and truth” (Eph. 5:9), show the works of righteousness worthy of the kingdom of God, which is “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17). Whoever, after the grace of baptism, does not bear these living fruits of the spirit: in him the life of the spirit is cramped and suppressed like the life of the flesh, and one must be careful lest it completely fade away. Do you want to awaken spiritual life in yourself, which alone can inherit the kingdom of God? Arouse in yourself the actions characteristic of it, this and increase the fruit of truth. Don’t worry about making arrangements with the world and the flesh about what you can use from them, and what they can use from you; think that every unrighteous acquisition, unrighteous use, unrighteous pleasure damages the royal life of the new, spiritual man in you, and casts you back into the condemned life of the old man, smoldering in delightful lusts - and therefore, as you run away from poison, so run away from every thing in the world that feeds unrighteous desire, or lust; As you desire life, so desire truth; Just as you constantly protect life, so constantly observe the truth. “Seek... the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” I must admit that it is not an easy quest, but what an acquisition! “Everything will be added.” By faithfully seeking one thing, everything, heavenly and earthly, will be acquired. Do not make it difficult for yourself to think that this promise is too great and wonderful; Do not shake your faith. He who “spared not His own Son, but gave Him up for us all; Why shouldn’t He give us everything?” (Rom.8:32). He who in the beginning created everything for man - I remember this too, but not at all for the conclusion that is drawn from this child of the world - He who put everything in subjection to the blameless man, subjected everything to vanity for man who sinned, will it be difficult to turn all that has been created into the service of man, recreated in Christ, the heir and partaker of the kingdom of God? Or, let us turn directly to the word of our Divine Teacher - He Who feeds the birds of the air, who neither sow nor reap, Who clothes the villagers more richly than Solomon dressed, whether He will allow His children to perish with hunger, or thirst, or nakedness, who for Him and in hope of Him, hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and wander? If in the whole kingdom of the earth there is no bread, and there is no man who could feed the son of the kingdom of God, God will command the vermin to be his baker. True, this happened to the Prophet; But are those whom Jesus Christ has appointed kings and priests to His God and Father worthy of less care? Do not be afraid, Christians, to put aside care for earthly things to care for heavenly things; nothing will be lost; “all yours, if you... belong to Christ” (1 Cor. 3:22–23). “Seek” only “first of all the kingdom of God, ... and all these things will be added to you.” Amen. In Reading: He is above all, and above all wisdom. You might be interested in: