78. Слово в неделю вторую по пятидесятнице 440

(Printed in the 1844 and 1848 collections). She is an abye, having left the ship and her father and gone after him. (Matthew 4:22). In the Gospel we now suddenly meet 441 four people who left everything that they had, on which they based their well-being, that they loved in the world, in order to follow Jesus Christ, who had nowhere to lay his head. An amazing example of the power at work in the word of Christ! For the one word of Christ: “He is coming after Me” (Matthew 4:19), drew Peter, Andrew, James, and John after Him, with an invisible but irresistible force, just as a magnet draws iron to itself with some hidden force. An amazing example and the faith with which the Apostles accepted the word of Christ, which, according to the explanation of another Apostle, would not have been used if it had remained only a “word of hearing” and had not been “dissolved in the faith of those who hear” (Heb. 4:2)! For although the Lord reinforced the requirement to follow Him with a majestic promise, to make fishermen “fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19): but this great promise was just as difficult for them to understand and accept as it was to leave a small wealth, apparently necessary, and a consolation, apparently inseparable from human nature itself. However, is this extraordinary spectacle presented to us in the Gospel only for surprise? Is it enough for us to remain reverent spectators of such determined followers of Christ, or should we follow in the same footsteps after Christ, Who is their only and our Teacher and Guide? Shouldn’t we also “leave” something in order to become true followers of Christ? – Let’s think about this, although not a lot. It is necessary to judge what the essential reason was that the holy Apostles so decisively left everything to follow Christ. Shall we say that this was the limitless power of the word of Christ? True, the word of Christ, like God, acts infinitely powerfully; however, it never acts excessively: so this proposed question is not resolved, but only turns into another question: why did the word of Christ act on the Apostles so strongly as to tear them away from everything to which they could be attached due to some need, and even by nature and law itself? Shall we say again that this was especially necessary for the Apostles, who were sent to preach the Gospel to all creation, so that no creature in particular would tie them to itself, hold back, or distract their attention, which embraces the salvation of the whole world? And this is true: however, will it be fair if we sentence these people, who through their service should gain God the whole world, to lose the whole world, and give ourselves even more the right to use the world, the less useful we are to the Kingdom of God? Will our conscience rebel against this reasoning? And doesn’t this draw us to the conclusion that if the elect, saints, neighbors, friends, brothers, co-thrones of Christ had to leave everything in the world, lose, reject, despise, hate, forget, in order to acquire the One Christ, and belong to Him alone, how much more are we, His unworthy servants, almost rejected, obliged to bring something similar, although less a complete and perfect sacrifice of faith in Him, love for Him, His word and His commandments? If there can be any doubt about whether this conclusion is correct: let us leave, as long as it is possible, the very thinking itself, along with everything else that should be left for Christ, and listen to the very word of Christ, which, of course, should not be abandoned in any case. This is how it says: “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, and also his own soul, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). So that you do not think that this strict saying refers to only the chosen disciples, or the Apostles, the holy Evangelist did not leave it clear to indicate to whom it was pronounced. “I went,” he says, “and many people were with Him; and turning, he spoke to them” (Luke 14:25). And so, not only for a select few, but for everyone without exception, this sentence extends that he cannot be a disciple of Christ who does not “forsake” or “hate” everything that is by nature dear, that is, who with strong love for God does not overcome and does not overcome love for everything that is loved outside of God. What, they may ask, are these sacrifices of deprivation for God, Who gains nothing through them? Truly God, as the all-satisfied and all-good, has no reason to deprive, because there is nothing to demand; He Himself gives everything and bestows upon everyone. But He does not require any deprivation for Himself: and man himself cannot do without them in order to acquire the best. This is clearly shown by the image presented in the Gospel. The Lord does not say to the Apostles: leave the land, leave the ship and your father: He only calls them; He only says: “He is coming after Me.” But when they want to fulfill this word, follow this proclamation, then it turns out that this must begin by leaving their homes, their ship and their father. If they had not left their mother, their ship, their father, they would not have followed Jesus. Whoever wants to swim must first untie, or, for haste, cut off the rope with which his boat is attached to the shore. Whoever really wants to be on the path to heaven must either gradually, with attention and effort, resolve, or, if he is afraid of becoming rigid, and if he feels enough strength in himself, cut off with a decisive blow all passionate, earthly attachments. We must free ourselves from the lusts of the flesh in order to surrender to the attractions of the spirit. It is necessary to trample underfoot earthly things in order to philosophize on what is above. It is necessary to throw out the world from the heart so that there is enough space in it for boundless love for the infinite God. Here, Christians, is one of the initial Gospel teachings, since it was offered to us almost at the beginning of the 443 Gospel life of the Apostles. Therefore, we will not demand much from you if we suggest that you test yourself before your own conscience to see how much success you have shown in this teaching. I do not dare ask how many of us, in the strict and full sense, have “left everything” (Matthew 19:27; Mark 10:28; Luke 18:28) for the sake of following Jesus Christ. Recognizing my imperfection and unworthiness, I do not recognize the right to experience what the Lord Himself requires only from some, under the condition of perfection: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and have treasure in heaven, and come after Me” (Matthew 19:21). If we have not left everything for Christ as a matter of fact, are we fulfilling this even partly with intention and desire? Does your heart sometimes say to you: how much more I have in the world, in comparison with what is necessary for temporary life! How burdened I am with worries! How I am having fun with pleasures! Lord, become poor for my sake! Grant me to partake of Thy holy and saving poverty, to leave behind thoughts of care, and to leave behind feelings of pleasure! How much, and how vividly, I still love in this transitory world, and how sometimes I am connected, sometimes with the iron bonds of sorrowful love, sometimes with the golden bonds of love satisfied by reciprocity and well-being, and how both of them sanctify me in the path of Divine love! Lord, you loved us so much that you laid down your soul for us! Help me, for the sake of love for You, to moderate natural love, to kill partial love, to hate my soul, which does not love You enough, so that the pure love of Your Holy Spirit “will give me a wing like a dove, and I will fly and rest” (Psalm 54:7) with You, and in You alone! But so that these very feelings do not seduce you with just a ghost, or an indecisive impulse of renunciation from creatures: look around and consider whether you have left at least something for God to do, and especially that by which your dominant inclination is most tempted. “Abraham was very rich” (Gen. 13:2); and he did not reject or squander his wealth: but when, for the love of God, he did not spare his beloved son, then there was no doubt left that he was ready to sacrifice everything he had for God, without the slightest remainder. If, on the contrary, you, with the delight of your desire to serve God, while expressing your readiness to sacrifice everything for Him, have not yet really sacrificed anything for Him, for which your love of property clings: 444 then your readiness and desire are very 445 doubtful. If you have not yet left anything in the world, then 446 you have not yet taken a single step in the footsteps of Christ, not a single step along the path to heaven. Call us, Lord, by Your all-effective word, to follow You, and breathe into us the unfeigned feeling of abandoning everything, for Your sake alone, so that we may find everything in You, and we ourselves will find ourselves in Your love. Amen. According to Jew. collection is listed as spoken in the Chudov Monastery on June 16, 1829. According to Jew. collection: The Gospel shows us... According to Jew. collection: rope, which... According to Jew. collection and collection 1844: at the beginning of the Gospel acts of Christ, and at the very beginning... According to Jew. collection: pleasant of your property... According to Jew. collection: too... According to Jew. collection: that's right... You might be interested in: