Беседа 35

Acts 16:13–14. On the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the river, where, as usual, there was a house of prayer, and, sitting down, we talked with the women who had gathered there. And a certain woman from the city of Thyatira, named Lydia, a merchant of purple, who worshiped God, listened; and the Lord opened her heart to listen to what Paul said. Paul is a Judaizer. – Lydia’s love of wisdom and humility. “There is nothing more useless than idleness.” - A luxurious table is reprehensible. 1. See how Paul acts as a Judaizer again, both in terms of time and custom. “Reading,” says (the writer), “God.” The Jews prayed not only where the synagogue was, but also outside it, designating a special place for this, like carnal people. “On the Sabbath day,” when the people usually gather. “And they sat down and talked with the women who had gathered there. And a certain woman from the city of Thyatira, named Lydia, a merchant of purple, who worshiped God, listened; and the Lord opened her heart to listen to what Paul said.” Look again how alien to pride he is. And she was a woman, and an humble one at that, as can be seen from her craft; but look what wisdom there is in her! First, it is said that she revered God; then - that she invited the apostles to her. “When she and her household were baptized, she asked us, saying: if you have recognized me as faithful to the Lord, then come into my house and live with me. And she convinced us” (Acts 16:15). “When she was baptized,” says (the writer), “she and her household.” Notice how she convinced everyone (at home), then look at her prudence, how she begs the apostles, what humility, what wisdom her words are filled with! “If you have recognized me,” he says, “faithful to the Lord.” Nothing could be more convincing. Who wouldn't be touched by these words? She did not simply ask and invite, did not allow them to do as they pleased, but strongly forced them; This is exactly what the words mean: “and she convinced us,” i.e. those words. See how she immediately bears fruit and considers this visit a great favor for herself. And that you (he says) recognized me as faithful is obvious from the fact that you entrusted me with such secrets that you would not have entrusted if you had not considered me such. And she did not dare to invite them before, but when she was already baptized, showing by this that she would not have convinced them otherwise. Why did those with Paul at first not want to go, but refused, so that they had to be forced? Either because they called her to greater zeal, or because Christ said: “Whatever city or village you enter, visit whoever is worthy in it, and stay there” (Matthew 10:11). They did everything so prudently. “It happened that when we were going to a house of prayer, we met a maid possessed by a spirit of divination, who through divination brought great income to her masters. Walking after Paul and after us, she shouted, saying: “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation” (Acts 16:16-17). Why did the demon say this and Paul rebuke him? He did it maliciously, but this one (acted) wisely: he wanted that they would not trust him. If Paul had accepted his testimony, then, as approved by him, he would have deceived many of the believers; That’s why he decided to proclaim their affairs in order to arrange his own, and to use the condescension (of Paul) himself for the destruction (of others). At first, Paul only did not accept and did not pay attention, not wanting to immediately resort to signs; but when he continued to do this “many days” and touched on their business, saying: “these men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation,” then he commanded him to “go out.” “She did this for many days. Paul, indignant, turned and said to the spirit: in the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her. And the spirit left at that same hour. Then her masters, seeing that the hope of their income had disappeared, seized Paul and Silas and dragged them to the square to the leaders. And, bringing them to the commanders, they said: These people, being Jews, are disturbing our city and preaching customs that we Romans should neither accept nor practice” (Acts 16:18-21). Selfishness causes evil everywhere. Oh, Hellenic inhumanity! They would like to leave the young woman possessed by a demon in order to enrich themselves. “And, bringing them to the governors,” says (the writer), “they said: these people, being Jews, are disturbing our city.” What did they do? Why didn't you take them before? “Being Jews,” they say: this name was so disgraceful! “And they preach customs which we Romans should neither accept nor practice.” They turned the case into a state crime. “The people also rose up against them” (Acts 16:22). Oh madness! They did not investigate the matter, did not allow them to be answered, whereas after such a miracle they should have been honored, they should have been accepted as saviors and benefactors. If you desired property, then why, having found such wealth, did you not resort to it? It is much more glorious to have the power to cast out demons than to obey them. These are the signs, but selfishness has overcome. “And the commanders, tearing off their clothes, ordered them to be beaten with sticks, and after giving them many blows, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep a tight watch on them” (Acts 16:22–23). Paul did everything, and performed miracles and taught, and Silas shared the dangers with him. What does it mean: “Paul was indignant”? This means: seeing the malicious intent of the demon, as he himself says in another place: “so that Satan does not harm us, for we are not unaware of his plans” (2 Cor. 2:11). Why didn’t they say that they cast out a demon, that they turned out to be ungodly towards God, but turned the matter into a state crime? Then they would harm themselves. So they said about Christ: “We have no king except Caesar. ...everyone who makes himself a king is adversary to Caesar” (John 19:12, 15). And “they threw them,” says (the writer), “into prison.” Great fury! “Having received such orders, he threw them into the inner prison and hammered their feet into stocks” (Acts 16:24). Look: he put them in the inner prison; and this is according to the dispensation (of God). Since a great miracle was about to happen, a convenient place was appointed for hearing it, outside the city, far from temptations and dangers. See how the writer of history is not ashamed to talk about the occupations (of the inhabitants). And when there was time free from studies, then they listened more to the teachings: the city of the Philippians was not large. Knowing this, we will not be ashamed of anyone. Peter lives with a tanner, Pavel with a porphyry seller: is there any pride here? Let us ask God to open our hearts; He opens the hearts that desire this; and there are also damaged hearts. But let's turn to the above. “And one woman,” says (the writer), “who was selling purple, honoring God, listened; and the Lord opened her heart to listen to what Paul said.” To open is the work of God, and to heed is her work: so this work was both Divine and human. “When I was baptized,” she says, “if you recognized me, then enter my house and live with me.” Look, he is baptized and receives the apostles with such humility, with greater submission than Abraham’s. She did not point out any other virtue of hers, but the one for which she was saved. She didn’t say: “if you recognized me” as a great or pious woman, but what? "Faithful to the Lord". If she is faithful to the Lord, then much more to you, unless you doubt. And she did not say: stay with me, but: “into my house,” to show that she did this with great zeal. Truly a faithful wife! Tell me, what kind of demon was it? The writer says: god Python, from the place so-called 25. Do you see that Apollo is also a demon? Wanting to expose (the apostles) to temptations and further irritate (the people), he encouraged (the young woman) to pronounce (the spoken words). 2. O crafty and evil one! If you knew that they were “proclaiming to us the way of salvation,” then why didn’t you come out voluntarily? But he wanted the same thing that Simon wanted when he said: “Give me this power, so that whoever I lay my hands on may receive the Holy Spirit” (Acts 8:19). That's what this one does. Seeing that they enjoy fame, he still pretends, hoping that in this way he will remain in the body (of the youth) when he also proclaims. But if from a person “praise in the mouth of a sinner is unpleasant” (Sir. 15:9), then even more so from a demon. If Christ does not accept testimony from people and even from John, then much less from the demon. After all, preaching is not from people, but from the Holy Spirit. So, (the accusers) shouted furiously, and, thinking to have an effect by shouting, they said: “These people are disturbing our city.” What are you saying? You believe the demon: why don’t you believe him now? He says that they are “slaves of the Most High God,” and you say: “they are disturbing our city”; he says: “they proclaim to us the way of salvation,” but you say: “they preach customs that we should not accept.” Look, they do not even listen to the demon, but have only covetousness in mind. “And they dragged them,” says (the writer), “to the square to the leaders: ... the people also rose up against them.” And they, look, do not answer anything and do not defend themselves in order to appear worthy of even greater surprise. “For,” says (Paul), “when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10); “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). So, they were amazing and meek. The stricter the conclusion, the more glorious the miracle. The bosses did this, perhaps, in order to stop the confusion; They saw that the people were worried, and, by subjecting (the apostles) to blows, they wanted to tame their fury, and by putting them in prison and ordering them to be tightly guarded, they wanted to hear the matter. And “scored,” says (the writer), “into the deck”; in other words: in shackles. What tears is worthy of what is being done now? (The Apostles) suffered so much, but we are in luxury, we are in spectacles. That is why we perish and are exposed to dangers, seeking pleasure everywhere and not wanting to endure the slightest insult for Christ, even with a word. Let us, I exhort you, constantly remember how much they suffered, how much they endured, and were not indignant, not tempted. They did God's work and endured so much; They didn’t say: we preach, why doesn’t God protect us? But even this brought them benefit, and without help the suffering itself made them firmer, stronger and more undaunted. “From tribulation,” says (Paul), “patience comes” (Rom. 5:3). Let us not seek a luxurious and pampered life. Just as there is a double good: they become strong and receive great rewards, so here there is a double evil: they become weak and unfit for anything, except evil. There is nothing more useless than a person who spends all his time in inactivity and luxury. An untried man, says (Scripture), unskilled (cf. Sir.37:30); inexperienced not only in these feats, but also in everything else. Inaction is useless, and pleasures themselves are the most difficult to enjoy, since they produce satiety. The pleasure from eating and from inactivity is not at all what it seems (as it seems), but all this is short-term and fleeting. Let's not worry about such a life. If we look at who spends his time more pleasantly, whether he works and lives in poverty, or indulges in luxury, we will find that he is the first. Firstly, the latter’s very body is pampered and relaxed; then, his bodily feelings are not in a healthy state, but weak and lifeless; and without this there is no pleasant feeling of health. Which horse is more useful, fattened by inactivity, or used for work? Which ship is floating or standing still? What type of water is flowing or standing? What kind of iron is used or not? This shines and is like silver, but this becomes covered with rust and remains useless and even loses part of its substance. Something similar happens in an idle soul: it is as if rust covers it and destroys its lordship and everything else. How can you destroy this rust? A touchstone of sorrows; they make the soul useful and capable of anything. Tell me, can it cut passions when its edge is dull and bends like tin? Can he wound the devil? And who can be pleased with a man who makes his flesh fat and moves like a seal? 3. I say this not about those who are such by nature, but about those who fatten their body with luxury, although they are not fat by nature. The sun rose, poured its bright rays everywhere, awakened everyone to their deeds; the farmer goes out, taking a spade, the coppersmith takes a hammer, each artisan takes his own tool, and everyone gets to work; the wife takes yarn or fabric; and he, like a pig, has been worrying about filling his belly since early morning, thinking about how to prepare a sumptuous meal. Truly, it is only common for dumb animals to be satisfied early in the morning, which are good for nothing but slaughter. But even among them those who are used to carrying heavy loads and capable of working after the night also get to work. And he, rising from his bed, when the sun has already illuminated the entire square and when everyone has already worked hard on their affairs, rises, stretching, truly like a fattened pig, having lost the best part of the day in darkness (sleep). Then he sits in bed for a long time, often unable to control himself from yesterday’s intoxication, and spends most of the morning doing so. Then he decorates himself and comes out - an embodied ugliness, having nothing human in himself, but a perfect beast in the form of a man: his eyes are swollen, his lips emit the stench of wine, and the poor soul, as if cast down on a bed of illness from the immoderately taken many dishes, drags the burden of the flesh like an elephant. After that, having reached the place, he sits down and begins to speak and act in such a way that it would be better for him to still sleep than to be awake. If they say something unpleasant to him, then he is more sensitive than any girl; if it is pleasant, then he is more frivolous than any child; Meanwhile, his face is constantly distorted by yawning. He is ready to submit to everyone who wants to do evil, if not to people, then to passions; he is easily overcome by anger, lust, envy, and everything. Everyone flatters him, everyone serves him, relaxing his soul even more; and every day he receives some increase in his illness. If he falls into difficult circumstances, he turns to dust and ashes, and silk clothes do him no good. We did not say this in vain, but with the goal of teaching that no one should live in idleness and inaction. Idleness and luxury are good for nothing, but only serve for vanity and pleasure. How can everyone not despise such a person, both family, friends, and relatives. Wouldn’t anyone rightly say that he was born into the world in vain and was born into the world in vain, or better yet, not in vain, but to his own head, to his own destruction and to the harm of others? And let's see what is pleasant in (such a life), where they strive for idleness and inactivity? What could be more unpleasant than a person who doesn’t know what to do? What is more shameful than him? What's more pitiful? Isn’t it worse than a thousand bonds to constantly call, sitting in the square and looking at those passing by? The soul by its nature has a need for movement and does not tolerate calm. God created her as an active being, and therefore activity is characteristic of her nature, and inaction is contrary to her nature. Let’s not point to the sick, but let’s take the experience itself as proof. There is nothing more shameful than idleness and inaction; That’s why God placed us in the need to work. Inaction harms everything and even bodily members. If the eye, or the mouth, or the stomach, or any other member does not do its job, then it falls into extreme illness; but nothing suffers from this as much as the soul. However, just as idleness is evil, so is improper activity. Just as if someone did not eat anything, he would damage his teeth, and if he began to eat improperly, he would set them on edge, so it is exactly the same here: if he does nothing or does what he should not do, he loses his strength. Therefore, let us try to avoid both, idleness and activities that are worse than idleness. What kind of activity is this? Covetousness, anger, envy and other passions. Regarding such, let us strive for inaction, so that we may receive the benefits promised to us, by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father with the Holy Spirit be glory, power, honor, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. These conversations were delivered by the saint in Constantinople in 400 or 401. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” Πυθὼ – proper name of the city, otherwise called Delphi and dedicated to Apollo You might be interested in: