91. Слово в неделю вторуюнадесять по Пятидесятнице 463

(Printed in the 1844 and 1848 collections.) When the young man heard the word, he went away mourning, for he had much to gain. (Matthew 19:22) What an unfortunate man he is! I just came closer to Christ the Savior; and is already moving away from Him. Heard His Divine word; and leaves sadly. With sadness he departs from Him who is “the joy of Israel” (Luke 2:25), and the joy of heaven and earth. If he departs from Christ with sadness, then where will he find consolation? What kind of misfortune? What kind of strangeness is this? What is this from? The reason for this unfortunate oddity would not seem important to many if its consequences were not revealed, which cannot be considered unimportant. This is an addiction to earthly things. “Beau having a lot of acquisitions.” And so the Gospel wants to enlighten us about the harmful and dangerous consequences of addiction to earthly things. Let us accept this admonition with attention, and, if possible, enlighten ourselves by reflection. Addiction to earthly things occurs in people of more than one kind and more than one degree. We must especially distinguish between a gross, obviously disorderly and lawless passion for earthly things, and a subtle passion, not always noticeable, sometimes specious. Someone is addicted to wealth, and to satisfy this addiction he uses deception or theft; someone is addicted to the pleasures of the bodily senses, and in order to satisfy his addiction he indulges in overeating, or drunkenness, or even lower vices; he exhausts his wealth in order to fill his belly; extends its greed and intemperance to indecency, to ugliness, to illness, and even illness itself is not admonished to turn to abstinence: - such addictions, and their actions, are so obviously disorderly and lawless, and the consequences of these addictions are so obviously harmful in relation to temporary and eternal life, that this almost does not need to be proven and pointed out to a person whose mind is not clouded by such addictions, whose heart is not mired in the mire bestial pleasures. Would a kind and noble-minded owner wish for a predator to settle in his house, for an insatiable and unclean poison to sit at his table, for someone furious with wine to enter into his conversation? What can we say about the Most High Householder and the pure inhabitants of the heavenly abodes? Is it possible that souls with such inclinations and habits were allowed into their monastery, according to which, during their stay in bodies, for other, not yet completely purified, only less unclean people, they were disgusting and intolerable? “Outside are dogs, and sorcerers, and fornicators, and murderers, and idolaters, and everyone who loves and commits lies” (Rev. 22:15). “Neither the covetous, nor the thieves, nor the drunkards, nor the harassers, nor the predators will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:10). There are earthly passions that are not so gross, but harmful for those seeking the Kingdom of Heaven; and the more dangerous the less they are feared. This should be explained by the example shown to us in the Gospel of a person partial to property. He approached Jesus Christ with an important question: “What good will I do, so that the Imam will have eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16) Therefore, one can notice that this was not a frivolous person, and not just busy with vanity. This young man is not ashamed to place before the elders; This Israelite can be pointed out to Christians with respect. Are we all most of all, and most often, occupied by this important question: “What good will I do, so that the Imam will have eternal life?” Doesn’t someone spend their days worrying and their nights sleepless, pondering empty questions: how to become richer? Or, how to take a place in society higher and more prominent than others? Meanwhile, hardly any of us does not know that the Gospel announces woe to the rich, and threatens the former with the lot of the latter? If your soul is in this state, Christian, then I tell you that, besides the grace of holy baptism, it is in a lower spiritual state than the soul of this Israelite, whose pitiful state was revealed by a sudden departure from Christ. When Jesus Christ asked about the means to achieve eternal life, he answered that for this one must keep the commandments, not to kill, not to commit adultery, not to steal, not to bear false witness, to honor one’s father and mother, to love one’s neighbor as oneself; then, without hesitation, “the young man said to Him: I have kept all this from my youth.” At a time when a person is looking for instructions for eternal life, it is difficult to suspect him of deliberate hypocritical self-praise before his mentor: for in this case he would only be deceiving himself, and, by hiding from the mentor the true state of his soul, thereby depriving himself of instructions appropriate to this state. And so one should think that the Evangelical youth, not against his conscience, declared himself to have kept the commandments from his youth: although, however, one can and should notice that the mirror of his conscience, not cleansed and not enlightened by the grace of Christ, did not quite purely and correctly represent to him the spiritual appearance and dignity of his deeds. If one does not demand more from an Israelite than what should be demanded of him, according to the state of the Israelite, then this Israelite is again quite good; and again I fear that not each of us Christians can stand comparison with him in virtue. Have you, Christian, kept the commandments that this Israelite kept? And it was easier for you than for him to preserve it, and it was incomparably more possible and should have done good with the help of the grace of Christ given to you in holy baptism, generously multiplied, and conveniently renewed by other Christian sacraments. Let's listen to the Israeli again. - “I have kept all this from my youth; What have you not finished yet?” (Matthew 19:20) – What a prudent question again! As an ordinary student of the writing of the law, looking at his deeds from their external side, he considers himself to have fulfilled the commandments; however, for this reason he does not yet consider himself to have deserved eternal life; He does not think that avoiding gross sins and crimes can be placed at such a high price before God, but he assumes that in order to get closer to God, to achieve His Kingdom, some more sublime feat is needed, more worthy of the greatness of God. Don't you see that there is some humility here, and some presentiment of the spiritual law? These good dispositions of soul led this Israelite to Christ; they set him at the door of grace; opened before him the path not only of salvation from eternal death, but also the path of perfection, leading to eternal life and to the highest degrees of bliss: for the Lord definitely found him capable of teaching him the teaching of perfection: “if you want to be perfect” (Matthew 19:21). What did he really “not finish”? “I’ll ask him along with him.” Desire and active search for eternal life, fulfillment of the commandments, humility, striving for improvement in goodness: - how much good there is already! What is still missing? And if something is truly missing, then it seems that the rest is either not really needed; or it can conveniently grow by itself from such abundant seeds of good. We could have thought this way, and we would have made a lot of mistakes. Many seeds of goodness may remain without fruit, due only to one lack; Many exploits may fail to achieve their goal due to just one obstacle. The poor Israelite knew how to feel that he “didn’t finish”: but he didn’t know how to finish. “Go,” the good Teacher he had found told him, “sell what you have and give to the poor” (Matthew 19:21). From this teaching about perfection, everything suddenly changed in the fickle student. Where is the former trust in the good Teacher? Where is the desire for the eternal belly? Where is the skill acquired from youth to fulfill the learned commandments? Where is the zeal for completing the deeds required for eternal life? - Everything was hidden; everything disappeared; I see only sudden flight: “departure.” In vain, the truly good Teacher, having inflicted a healing and saving wound on the passion of the rich man with the word of truth, hastens to quench its pain with a word of consolation: “and have treasure in heaven” (Matthew 19:21); that is, I do not take away your property, but only transfer it to the safest place, to heaven; I do not ruin you, but I protect you from ruin, I change the corruptible treasure for the incorruptible, the lived treasure for the inexhaustible, the stolen and taken away for the non-stolen and inalienable: the soul, partial to earthly things, does not accept heavenly consolation: “I depart in sorrow.” The Lord, having foreseen this in vain, draws him directly to Himself: “and come after Me” (Matthew 19:21); that is, I offer you the same lot that I have chosen for myself; could this be a bad lot? If you, accustomed to consider yourself happy with property, do not know how to be content without property, you will conveniently learn this from example, word and experience, following Me. The power of the word and love of Christ noticeably penetrated the young man’s heart; It was hard for him to part with such a Teacher, not to follow such an instruction: however, he did not have enough determination to overcome his passion, and therefore it carried him away. “I went away mourning, for I had much to gain” (Matthew 19:22). He left Christ, perhaps, in order to never return to Him: for if, being at the very Source of grace, he did not taste it; then who knows whether grace, offended and neglected by him, will seek him in the distance? Look, brethren, and note with attention, with care and fear for your own salvation, note how one passion in a person can harm many virtues; how addiction to earthly things burdens the soul, darkens the mind, binds the will, extinguishes the already inflamed desire for heavenly blessings, removes one from the grace already acquired, destroys the hope of eternal life, apparently not founded without labor and prudence. For in the Gospel the matter is not just about some prince of the Jews, whose fate should not be decided now and not by us; no, the Gospel does not tell idle and useless stories; the matter is about the fate of a person partial to property; and if you are like that, then, although without your name, the Gospel story speaks about you, and threatens you, not with some unimportant danger, but with the fact that your passion can lead you to betray the teachings of Christ, and remove you from Christ. What to do, someone will say, should everyone really throw away their property and become beggars? - No, that’s not the point again. For Christ did not demand voluntary poverty from everyone. for example, this, apparently, was not required by Him from Joseph of Arimathea, “who himself studied with Jesus,” and without a doubt was faithful to His teaching when he decided to serve His burial, despite the danger from His enemies, and who, however, at that time still remained “a rich man” (Matt. 27:57). Whoever feels an inner calling to voluntary poverty, and especially whoever, through testing and conviction of this calling, has dedicated himself to it with a vow: let him hold on to this poverty as much as possible, as faithfully as possible, as sincerely as possible, as perfectly as possible. Have what necessity forces you to have, and the rule of your rank allows it. But beware of appropriating and retaining anything beyond this; and don't allow yourself to crave more. Do not seduce yourself with an imaginary condescension of judgment about this or that, saying: this is not too impermissible: Judas acted according to this seductive judgment when “he had an ark and a carried burden” (John 12:6). He thought that it was not too inappropriate to desire, with some thirst, an increase in money, so that the excess would make it more convenient to give to the poor; and did not notice how I completely forgot the rule of the Apostolic non-covetousness: “Do not acquire gold, nor silver, nor copper for your belts” (Matthew 10:9); and under the cover of love of poverty, he cultivated self-interest and malice: “the thief” (John 12:6). Do not provide yourself with the fact that you have not accumulated some great treasure: not pounds of gold are needed to plunge your boat into the abyss of hell; thirty pieces of silver were too heavy for this in the hands of a man who had betrayed the rule of non-covetousness. Whoever is not obliged by the rule of complete non-covetousness: when using wealth legally acquired, do not forget the rule proclaimed by the Psalmist to all the rich: “If wealth flows, do not apply your heart” (Psalm 61:11). Remind yourself often that sooner or slower, but in any case in a short time, either wealth will leave you, or you will leave wealth: and therefore treat it as a guest who must be honestly received and honestly seen off. “And those who buy, as if they do not contain, and those who demand this world, as if they do not require” (1 Cor. 7:30-31), the Apostle teaches. Finally, if, despite the desire to place yourself in this Christian indifference to earthly things, you do not achieve this impartiality, this freedom, this sublimity of the spirit; if earthly desires, against your will, like nets, entangle your soul and do not allow it to ascend to the heavenly; if the cares of love distract you from works of piety, or entertain your thoughts and cool the feelings of your heart in the very exercises of piety; if stinginess oppresses your heart and twists your hand when you should stretch it out for charity: then again in a special way I point you to the Gospel rich man. This is his illness; and now you have been shown how dangerous she is. So think about the medicine that the Physician of souls and bodies gave against her: “Sell what you have and give to the poor; - follow in the footsteps of Me." If you don’t know how to preserve your property and preserve your soul, then truly, isn’t it better to destroy your wealth than to have it destroy you? If you suddenly cannot, at least little by little disentangle your soul from the network of addictions, acting contrary to the addictions that bind it. Force yourself to do good to the poor, even if your heart does not bow to him with compassion. Detach yourself from the affairs of this life, and although with some compulsion, put yourself in the work of piety when duty and the order of life require it. God will see these, although not perfect, but well-intentioned sacrifices: and He will send down to you wisdom and strength to offer them in greater purity and perfection. Most importantly, if due to your weakness you have not yet reached the point of directly following Christ, at least carefully and unswervingly look in His footsteps; admonish yourself with His teaching; excite yourself by His example; draw His power by prayer; and behind this guiding Light, like Israel behind the pillar of fire, although little by little, stretch further and further from Egypt, closer and closer to the land of promise - further and further from enslavement to passions and lusts, closer and closer to the freedom of the children of God, and to life on heavenly earth, to which may He lead us all along the paths of His providence and grace, for our sake He who became poor, so that we through His poverty Let us be enriched, O Christ our God, rich in mercy, blessed forever. Amen We attribute this word to 1831, following the index in the General Readings. Love. Spirit. Enlightenment. You might be interested in: