501. Слово в день обретения мощей Преподобного Сергия

(Said in the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius on July 5). Brethren, I do not think that I have attained to myself: but one thing, forgetting what is behind, but reaching out to what is before, to flow intentionally for the honor of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:13-14). For a long time, teachers of life, in order to give their instructions clarity and strength, represented life under the image of the path. “Blessed are the blameless on the way” (Ps. 119:1), says the Psalm. That is: blessed are those who are blameless in their lifestyle, who do not go astray, who do not fall into vices, thus being likened to a traveler who does not go astray and does not fall. It is not entirely easy, brothers, to direct a person’s path of life so that it is blameless and leads steadily to bliss. There is a well-known good and saving path: and who would not want to go, especially to reach it? There is a well-known evil and destructive path: and who, it seems, would not want to deviate from it? But here is the difficulty and danger: “there is a way that a man thinks is right, but his last path ends in the depths of hell” (Prov. 14:12). It is impossible not to believe the experienced wisdom of Solomon in this threatening remark. Let us think, travelers of life, about the importance for us of the news that the far-sighted Solomon sends us from the end of the different paths of life. There is, he says, a path that seems right to a person, but whose end leads to the bottom of hell. Which way is this? Where is he? Whose is it? Solomon does not say this; but only lets you know that such a path exists in the world. One might think that this is not quite humane; say: there is danger, and not say where it is? But we will not pay with reproach for a good deed. Solomon did not define the deceptive path, perhaps because it is very diverse, and not even one: but nevertheless, he did a universal good, because, having made known the danger threatening everyone without exception, he gave the strongest incentive to caution to everyone without exception. If there is a path at the beginning or in the continuation that is plausible, but at the end it is disastrous, and if it is so deceptive that it seems right: then might it not end up under your and my feet? What should we do? Each of us, brothers, must often and diligently test our moral and spiritual path, whether it is truly right, or whether it only seems right to be; to notice the right path according to a deeply peaceful and serene conscience, but according to a confused and not peaceful conscience - not the right one, or at least doubtful; carefully, if possible, consider the instructions of the truly right path in the word of God and the words of our saints and reverend fathers; not to direct your path by your own wisdom and your own will, but by the will of God and, if possible, the guidance and example of mentors experienced in the spiritual path, called by God for this and gifted with spiritual reasoning; finally, as in the legend of Solomon, the deceptive path is decisively exposed by its disastrous end, and also, on the contrary, the truly righteous path is decisively justified by its blessed end; then it is useful and necessary for us to “look” with special attention at the end of the path, or, in the words of the Apostle, “at the end of life” (Heb. 13:7), the right of those who walked and the right of our guiding mentors, to whom the grace of God in incorruption, miracles and healings gave undoubted evidence that their path led to heaven and bliss, and, therefore, is undoubtedly right and, turning from the blessed end of their path to its beginning and continuation, with their traces, that is, with their examples and rules of life, to correct our ignorant or sinful deviations from the right and saving path. Therefore, the universal leader, the Holy Church, often with special solemnity, as on this day, commemorates our God-pleasing and God-glorified mentors, and not only righteously honors their death, but also proclaims their life and teaching before us, and shows us their exploits and virtues. That is why, out of the duty of my service, it occurred to me to show you now, in part, the venerable path of St. Ap. Paul, described by himself in his frank and heartfelt conversation with his beloved Philippians. “Brotherhood, I do not think that I have attained to myself, but forgetting what is behind, but reaching out to what is before, to the honor of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” In this allegorical depiction of spiritual life, the Apostle likens it not just to a path, but to running on a list, where the most skillful and fastest in running, and therefore the one who reaches the mark placed at the end of the race before others, receives, according to ancient custom, a wreath or other established reward. “Brotherhood,” he says, “I don’t think I have achieved it.” That is: I do not yet dare to liken myself to that happy short-lived runner who ran the entire assigned course, reached the allotted goal, and is ready to receive the reward for excellence; more clearly, I do not yet dare to think about myself that I have achieved the perfection of Christian deeds and virtues, and have already earned a heavenly reward. Those who heard this, no doubt, could understand that the wise and at the same time meek mentor, under the image of a humble confession about himself, modestly teaches everyone that no one should consider themselves to have achieved complete Christian perfection. For if the Apostle, who labored so much in preaching the Gospel, suffered so much for Christ, performed so many miracles in the name of Jesus, so many churches, in so many cities and tribes, founded and enriched with spiritual gifts, caught up to the third heaven, does not dare to think that he has achieved perfection: then who can dare to do this? It is necessary, in dreaming about oneself, to reach complete madness in order to consider oneself to have reached a higher degree of spiritual ascent than Ap. Paul. But those who heard and understood this negative instruction of the Apostle might come to the thought: what, however, does St. think positively about himself? Paul? What does he consider himself to have achieved? And what should we generally think about the successes that we acquire in spiritual life by the grace of God? To someone who has succeeded, the thought naturally comes to him about the success he has acquired: what to do with this thought? – Foreseeing these and similar questions, the Apostle proactively resolves them with one answer: “one thing.” I have, he says, one thought, in which no other entertains me, one concern, which is not diminished by any other affairs or concerns: “one thing.” What is the only thought and concern that worthy and sufficiently occupies the Apostle, and with which he wants to occupy all Christians? “One thing, forgetting what is behind, but reaching out to what is before; to the intentional flow, to the honor of the high calling in Christ Jesus.” That is: just as a runner in a disgraceful field does not look back either at the space he ran through or at the other runners whom he left behind him, because this would harm the fidelity and speed of running: so I, says the Apostle, “rear... I forget,” I do not look with the eye of self-satisfaction at the feats achieved before and the successes achieved, but I keep my thoughts in such a position as one who has not yet managed to do anything for God, for my neighbors and for my soul; I also do not look with the eye of judgment on those who are sluggish or stumble on the path to salvation, because in relation to the spiritual path, as well as in relation to visible space, it is true that whoever looks back or to the sides cannot go forward well. Like a runner, throughout his entire race, he constantly strives forward, because, no matter how fast his initial run was, if he stopped before the end of the race, he would not receive a reward; So I, the Apostle continues, “to the front... I stretch” to the very end of the ascetic and probationary field, that is, to the very end of temporary life, I constantly rush forward, to new spiritual exercises, to new exploits, to the glory of God, to new deeds of serving the good and salvation of others. Just as a runner in the field has one thought, one concern, one direction of all movements, one object of exertion of all forces, how to successfully reach the final goal of the field, and receive the reward that awaits there, so I, the Apostle says, have one dominant thought and concern, governing the movement of abilities and forces, filling activity, is that I “towards an intentional flow” - I strive for goal and life, “for the honor of the highest calling God in Christ Jesus” - to the heavenly reward to which from the height of His glory God calls in Christ Jesus. It is not difficult to guess that through the unity of striving for the honor of the highest calling, on the contrary, the Apostle makes clear both the duty and at the same time the means not to be partial to any earthly honor, or benefit, or pleasure, and not to be too sensitive to earthly unrighteous dishonor, or loss, or sorrow and suffering. It is necessary to take into account another saying, which St. Paul, in the same letter to the Philippians, depicts the goal of his striving: “if I may attain to the resurrection of the dead” (Phil. 3:11), how can I achieve that resurrection of the dead, which is called the resurrection of the life and which is promised to those who believe and are saved. From this it is clear that, and speaking “about the honor of the exalted calling of God,” he is not thinking about the special and highest heavenly reward, which, without a doubt, the righteous God has prepared for His chosen ascetics, the Apostles, but simply about the blessed life of the future century, which can be the lot of every true Christian. And thus, in the very thought of St. Paul's speech about the reward reveals his deep humility, according to which, with all his apostolic gifts and exploits, he does not dare to have a claim to a reward preferential from God, but considers himself satisfied with the achievement of that which even the last of the Christians can achieve. You see, Brothers, the path of the chosen ascetic of Christ, and at the same time the true indication for us of the path to salvation. For although this is the way of the Apostle, the St. Paul, in his humility, or better, the Spirit of God living in him according to His providence for our salvation, depicted his path in such a way as it can be traversed by each of us. Let's take a closer look at the clean traces of red feet. Let us be jealous of the right current for an undoubted reward. I don’t know whether I need to insist on caution from the opinion of our own perfection. Our obvious imperfections may still be quite an obstacle to the dream of our imaginary perfection; and therefore, in this case, perhaps, there is still no great need for the assistance of the spiritual law. Allowing everyone to take and assimilate from the apostolic order various features of leadership that seem to have already been discovered by us, I cannot help but draw your attention, following the example of the slightly demanding Apostle, to at least one thing: “once.” Let us accept from him this time, and confirm it in our hearts, and - oh, if God would grant us to fulfill this very deed - although this is a general and quite simple, but very important rule: not to stop on the path of salvation, but to constantly strive to improve ourselves in Christian life - “in the foreground... reaching out, to the intentional mother-in-law, to the honor of the highest calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Perhaps someone will think that it was easy for the Apostle Paul, and especially characteristic, to speak of the unremitting continuation of the path of salvation, when he was set and moved along this path by a strong hand and a high arm, by the miraculous appearance of Christ from heaven. To this I will say that it was not only this Apostle who was placed by God on the path of salvation; although with others this does not happen with such a solemn miracle as with Saul. Isn’t it the same effective grace that, through the ordination of Ananias, gave Saul epiphany both physically and spiritually, and through baptism reborn Saul into Paul—isn’t that the same grace that God sends even now in the Sacraments? – “God wants all men to be saved and to come into the understanding of truth” (1 Tim. 2:4), not with an idle, but with a powerfully active will. “No one,” says the Savior, “will come to Me unless My Father draws him to Himself” (John 6:44); Consequently, everyone who is saved is drawn by the Heavenly Father to salvation. To each person, more often or less often, depending on his readiness to accept, God sends moments in life in which the path of salvation shines before his eyes, and the attraction of the Heavenly Father tangibly moves him along this path. To apply to this on the part of man, Paul’s “one” rule, is to follow the attraction of God unceasingly, unhesitatingly: and man will run the path of salvation, like a short-lived man, like Paul himself, to the desired destination, to the promised honor of the highest calling. But if a person does not, or eventually stops, applying his free desire to the grace-filled attraction of God: without a doubt, God will not drag him to heaven, like a slave in prison, because this would be unworthy of both God and heaven, and useless for an uncleaned person who, having brought earth or hell with him to heaven, could not resist in unrelated communion with pure blessed forces; therefore, in this case, nothing else can follow than that the gracious attraction will be hidden; to the arbitrary laziness of man will be added the infirmity of a damaged nature that cannot be alleviated by grace; What hope is there for successfully completing the path to salvation? Let's take a closer look at the paths and paths of our lives. God, who draws us to salvation, sometimes, especially when entering a new rank or a new degree of service, coupled with special moral and spiritual responsibilities, arouses in us a tangible zeal and zeal to walk worthy of our rank, and to sacrifice the often performed service to God and His law. Well? Doesn't time cool our initial zeal? Doesn’t the habit of performing the same service weaken attention and zeal for performing it in purity worthy of the One who searches the heart and womb? Are we not being dragged heavily and forcefully, like burdened travelers, along the path along which we were at first ready to run, like light transients? Is it true to hope to achieve the honor of a high rank by doing something for which our own conscience probably does not give us honor? God, who is kind in His punishments, puts some on the path to heaven and salvation through earthly troubles and hardships, when the path of the world and vanity seems to have failed before them, and they have no place left to seek consolation and hope, except in God and piety. The decisive experience of the impermanence and insignificance of the goods of the world gives them a decisive incentive to renounce the vanities of the world. But what then? With the decrease in the power of troubles, which tore them away from the world, does not the determination to renounce the vanities of the world also decrease? Sometimes God’s special blessings or miraculous deliverance from the evils that have befallen us excites us to gratitude before God, and through this, to piety in general; sometimes the word of truth falls deep into the heart and gives birth to good intentions; a good example strongly encourages goodness, but most often, I think, the conscience, cleansed and lightened by repentance, in moments of grace, calls to everyone from its mysterious depths: correct your path from now on and walk the right path of the Lord. But what about time? Are not the blessings of God simply remembered as past events, and the dispositions aroused by them remain without action and fruit? The word of truth, sunk into the heart, is not suppressed by a pile of passionate and vain thoughts? Do not good intentions die before good deeds are born from them? Following with a sophisticated gaze the edifying example that has passed by us, do we not remain carefree in our place? Having come from repentance with purification and the desire to correct our ways, don’t we approach it again, just as unclean as before, just as before we repented on both knees? Does all this mean mother-in-law to the honor of a higher calling, as a fleeter flows in his field, or, on the contrary, to stagnate, stop, and even turn back? Often we try to excuse our sluggishness and laziness on the good path as human weakness. Let's be careful. There is no dispute that man is weak. But there is for him the grace of God, healing infirmities and replenishing the depletion of strength. And therefore, weakness alone would not stop a person on a good path, if the cunning of the enemy of souls were not mixed in with this. When he notes that a person cannot be completely led away from the path of good and salvation onto the path of evil and destruction, such as, for example, onto the path of murderers, thieves, adulterers, which a not too blinded and embittered person would be horrified by: then he inspires a person that his poverty in goodness can be excused by weakness; that even if he does not succeed, he is nevertheless on the good path, and with such seductive suggestions he is disposed to become sluggish and lazy, and thereby feeds his malicious hope that if a person does not “follow” diligently and unremittingly towards what he intends, then he will not achieve “the honor of the highest calling of God”; and thus the path that seemed right to be will finally descend to the bottom of hell. Let us take notice, brethren, of the tricks of the enemy of souls, and let us dissolve his evilly woven networks. May we not become sluggish on the path of salvation, may we not be lazy, may we encourage ourselves to continually stretch into what lies before us, to improve ourselves in faith, in the knowledge of the truth and in doing good. “Try this way, that you may comprehend” (1 Cor. 9:24). Amen. You might be interested in: