Беседа 11

You should not judge your neighbors. – Human judgment is wrong. – Adultery darkens the soul. – The addiction to money gives rise to great evil. 1 Cor.4:3–4. It means very little to me how you or other people judge me; I don’t judge myself. For although I do not know anything about myself, I am not justified by this; the Lord is my judge 1. I don’t know how, among other types of evil, the evil of testing and inappropriate condemnation of one’s neighbors entered into human nature, which Christ also denounced when he said: “Judge not, lest ye be judged” (Matthew 7:1). It does not even give any pleasure, like other sins, but only leads to troubles and punishment. Meanwhile, we ourselves, being guilty of countless sins and having something like a beam in our eyes, carefully examine the sins of our neighbor, which are no more than a branch (Matthew 7:3). So it was with the Corinthians. They ridiculed and rejected men who were pious and pleasing to God for their lack of learning, and they respected those guilty of countless vices for their eloquence. Taking on the role of judges, they boldly pronounced sentences: so-and-so is worthy, so-and-so is better than so-and-so, this one is higher than that, and that one is lower than that; instead of mourning their own sins, they judged others, and thus aroused a great controversy. To cure this disease, Paul, see how wisely he admonishes them. Having said: “It is required of the stewards that everyone be found faithful” (1 Cor. 4:2), and with these words, apparently allowing them to judge and examine the life of everyone - which is why the confusion occurred - he wants to free them from such passion and says: “It means very little to me how you judge me,” again focusing the speech on his own face. What does it mean: “it means very little to me how you or other people judge me.” It is unworthy for me, he says, to be judged by you; what am I saying: by you? - and anyone else. Do not think that Paul, out of pride, says that no man is worthy to pronounce judgment on him. Firstly, he does not say this for himself, but in order to heal others from their illness; secondly, he did not stop at the Corinthians, but did not attribute to himself the right of judgment, saying that such a judgment is above his own understanding: but “I myself,” he adds, “I do not judge myself.” Moreover, you need to look at the disposition with which he said this; he often used high expressions, but not out of pride or vanity, but with wise forethought; so, even now, in these words, he does not extol himself, but humbles others and tries to show the dignity of the saints. And that he was one of the very humble, listen to what he says, presenting the testimony of his enemies about himself: “in personal presence he is weak, and his speech is insignificant” (2 Cor. 10:10); and in another place: “And after all he appeared to me also, as to a certain monster” (1 Cor. 15:8). And yet this humble one, in case of need, look at the height to which he raised the concepts of his disciples, not teaching them pride, but instilling in them sanity. Talking with the same Corinthians, he says: “If the world is judged by you, are you really unworthy to judge unimportant matters?” (1 Cor. 6:2). A Christian should avoid both pride and flattery and ignoble thoughts. Whoever says, for example, that he does not value property as anything and considers everything present to be a shadow, a dream and children’s toys, we do not accuse him of pride, otherwise we would have to accuse Solomon of pride, who, philosophizing about this, says: “vanity of vanities, all is vanity” (Eccl. 1:2). But let us not call wisdom by the name of pride. To despise real blessings is not pride, but generosity, although kings, rulers, and nobles do not reject them. The poor in wisdom often despises them; but we will not call him proud for this; just as we will not call a person who is too attached to them moderate and humble-wise, but weak, cowardly and partial. We would not call a son who did not think about the things that belonged to his father, but were busy with the things that belong to a slave, we would not call him humble, but would condemn him as a person with ignoble and slavish feelings; and we would extol the one who despised the things of slavery and valued the things of his father with praise. Considering yourself better than people like yourself is pride, and making a true judgment about things is not pride, but wisdom. 2. Thus Paul does not exalt himself, but humbles others, admonishes those who exalt themselves and teaches them humility when he says: “It matters very little to me how you or other people judge me.” Do you see how he heals them? Hearing that he did not pay attention to everyone (the trial) and considered everyone unworthy to judge him, none of them could grieve and say that he was the only one rejected. If he had said: only from you, and stopped, then they could have been upset, like outcasts, and by adding: “or other people,” he lightened the blow, recognizing others as unworthy along with them. He further softens this by adding: “I don’t judge myself.” You see how his words do not come from pride: I myself, he says, am not able to pronounce judgment. And since these words could also be attributed to excessive pride, to reject such an opinion he says: “but this does not justify me.” How, really, shouldn’t we condemn ourselves for our sins? It is necessary and even very important when we sin; but that is not what Paul is talking about. “For I don’t know anything about myself,” he says. What sin would he condemn himself for if he knows nothing about himself? And despite that, he says, “I don’t make excuses for that.” What shall we say, who have a conscience struck by countless wounds, and who do not know anything good in ourselves, but everything contrary to it? Why isn’t he justified if he doesn’t know anything about himself? Because he also happened to commit some sins, without his own awareness of these sins. From this you can conclude how thorough the future judgment will be. Thus, he considered others unworthy to judge him, not because he recognized himself as impeccable, but wanting to stop the mouths of those who recklessly did this. Elsewhere, when circumstances required, he forbids judging one’s neighbors even in the case of obvious sins. “Why are you judging your brother? Or are you also why you humiliate your brother?” (Rom.14:10). You, man, are commanded not to judge others, but to look after yourself: why are you appropriating the work of the Master? Judging is His business, not yours. That’s why he continues: “Therefore, do not judge in any way before the time, until the Lord comes, who will illuminate what is hidden in darkness and reveal the intentions of the heart, and then everyone will have praise from God” (1 Cor. 4:5). Why shouldn't teachers do this too? They must, in the case of obvious sins, during confession, at the appropriate time, and, moreover, with sorrow and contrition, and not with pride and vanity, as the Corinthians did. The Apostle is not talking here about confessed sins, but about preferring such and such to such and such and about comparing their lives. Only He can judge this unmistakably, who will judge our innermost thoughts and determine which of them deserve more, which deserve less punishment or reward; and we judge by appearance. If I, he says, cannot know exactly what I myself have sinned about, then how can I consider myself worthy of pronouncing judgment on others? Without knowing my own affairs with certainty, how can I judge the affairs of others? If such was Paul, then how much more so are we. And he said this not to show his impeccability, but to show that even if there were someone among them who was not involved in any sin, he would not be worthy to judge the lives of others, and that if he, who knows nothing about himself, does not consider himself innocent, then even more so they cannot consider themselves so, knowing many sins behind them. Having stopped the lips of those who made such judgments, he then, with regret, turns his anger towards the incestuous man. Just as when a storm approaches, dark clouds appear in advance, then, when thunder roars and the whole sky becomes as if one cloud, rain suddenly falls to the earth, so it does here. He could, with great indignation, directly turn to the incestuous man, but he does not do this, but first brings down his arrogance with terrifying words, because he committed a grave sin, adultery and, what is even worse than adultery, unrepentance for sin. He grieves not so much for the sin as for the unrepentance of the sinner: “lest I should mourn for many who sinned before and did not repent of the uncleanness, fornication and lasciviousness that they did” (2 Cor. 12:21). He who has repented after sin is worthy not of sorrow, but of satisfaction, as one who has entered the ranks of the righteous. “Speak,” says the prophet, “your iniquities first 16 so that you may be justified” (Is. 43:26). And whoever is not ashamed after sin is worthy of pity not so much because he fell, but because he lies down having fallen. 3. If it is difficult not to repent of sins, then to be proud of what sins is worthy of punishment? If he who exalts himself in his virtues is unclean, then what kind of forgiveness will he receive who exalts himself in his vices? Such was the incestuous man - so his soul became coarse and hardened in sin; therefore (the apostle) found it necessary to bring down his pride first, and denounces him not before everyone, so that he does not become even more shameless, as he is convicted before others, and not after everyone, so that he does not consider (his crime) unimportant, but, having first instilled great fear in him by admonishing others and shaking his soul with a reproof directed against others, then he turns to him. These very words: “I know nothing about myself, but I am not justified by this”, also: “The Lord judges me... who will illuminate the hidden things in darkness and reveal the intentions of the heart” (1 Cor. 4: 4-5) - were not said by chance, but relate to him and his accomplices who humiliated the saints. What does it matter, he says, if some in appearance seem virtuous and amazing? This Judge does not judge only by appearance, but also reveals what is hidden. Thus, for two or, better, for three reasons, our judgment is not right: firstly, because, even if we did not know anything about ourselves, we are nevertheless guilty before the court of Him who convicts our sins with precision; secondly, because most of the cases remain undiscovered and unknown to us; thirdly, because many of the actions of others seem good to us, but are not done with good intentions. Why do you say that such and such did not commit any sin, or that such and such is better than such and such? This cannot even be said about someone who knows nothing about himself; He who sees the hidden only pronounces right judgment. So I “don’t know anything about myself, but that’s not an excuse,” i.e. not free from guilt and condemnation. He does not say: I am not among the righteous, but: I am not clean from sin. And in another place he says: “he who died was justified 17 from sin,” i.e. freed (Rom.6:7). We do many good deeds, but not with good intentions. So we praise many, but not in order to show their perfection, but in order to humiliate others through them. The deed in itself is good, because a virtuous person boasts; but the intention is bad, because it comes from a satanic disposition; They often do this not out of sympathy for their brother, but out of a desire to harm another. Also: another will commit a grave sin, and another, wanting to destroy him, claims that he has not done anything bad, and encourages the sinner, pointing to the general (property) of nature; but often he does this not in order to forgive, but with the intention of making him more careless. And often he denounces, but not in order to admonish and correct, but in order to reveal and ridicule his sin. People do not know such intentions, but “He who searches the hearts” (Ps. 3:10) knows them exactly and will reveal all this in due time. That is why (the apostle) says: “Who will illuminate what is hidden in darkness and reveal the intentions of the heart.” If even then, when we do not know anything about ourselves, we cannot be free from condemnation, and for the best deeds, when we do them not with good intentions, we are subject to punishment, then imagine how wrong human courts are. People can't see everything; this is possible only for one watchful Eye; We can deceive people, but never Him. Therefore do not say: darkness and walls surround me: who sees me? “He who formed our hearts one by one” (Ps. 32:15) knows everything, because “even darkness will not obscure” Him (Ps. 139:12). However, the sinner rightly says that darkness and walls surround him. If there had been no darkness in his soul, he would not have rejected the fear of God and would not have indulged in shamelessness, since before the dominant part (the soul) is darkened, sin does not dare to enter. Therefore do not say: who sees me? There is One who “pierces to... the soul and the spirit, the joints and the marrow” (Heb. 4:12), although you yourself do not see yourself, cannot dispel the clouds and, as if surrounded on all sides by a wall, are not able to look up to heaven. 4. We will present to you any sin you like, and you will see that this really happens. Just as thieves and wall diggers, intending to steal something precious, do so by extinguishing a lamp, so a vicious thought does to sinners. We have a mental lamp within us that is constantly burning. If the spirit of adultery, rushing with great power, extinguishes its light, it immediately darkens and overcomes the soul and immediately plunders everything that is in it. When a vicious desire takes possession of the soul, then its rational eye, darkened, just as the bodily eyes are darkened by clouds and darkness, cannot see anything, neither the abyss, nor hell, nor fear, and it, finally being unable to resist the power of desire, becomes receptive to sin; It’s as if an impenetrable wall is erected before her eyes, which does not allow a ray of truth to enlighten her mind, because vicious thoughts generated by desire surround her on all sides. Then a harlot appears to a person, constantly appearing before his eyes, in his mind and thoughts; and just as the blind, even if they stood in the open air in the middle of the day, cannot see the light because their eyes are closed, so he, even if countless saving dogmas were heard from all sides, being initially overwhelmed in his soul by this passion, blocks his ears to all suggestions. Those who have experienced this know this well. But you don't have to learn this from experience. And not only this sin, but every vicious passion produces the same thing. Let us, if you please, turn our speech from the harlot to money; here we will see thick and impenetrable darkness. Where there is one mistress confined in one place, the passion is not so strong; and when money is presented everywhere, in silver and gold workshops, in hotels, in rich houses, then passion acts strongly. When someone sick with this passion sees children walking in the marketplace, horses decorated with gold, people dressed in precious clothes, then a great darkness spreads in his soul. But what about houses and workshops? Such people, I think, when they see the wealth depicted in the picture, and then they become indignant, annoyed and furious: so darkness surrounds them everywhere! If they turn their gaze to the image of the king, they are not surprised by the beauty of the stones, nor by the gold and purple clothes, but are tormented by passion; and just as an unhappy lover, seeing the image of his beloved woman, cannot tear himself away from the soulless picture, so they, seeing the soulless image of wealth, suffer in the same way, and even more so the more they are devoted to the strongest passion; They can either sit at home, or, going out to the marketplace, receive thousands of wounds and return home with them, because there are too many objects that strike their eyes. Just as he does not see anything else except a woman, so they do not see either the poor or anything else on the way from which they could receive consolation, but fix their eyes only on the rich and, looking at them, gather a great and strong fire into their soul. Truly, this is a fire that cruelly consumes those exposed to it; and if there were no Gehenna or future punishment, then in this very life it would be punishment to constantly suffer and see no end to one’s suffering. This alone could keep one from such a disease; and there is nothing worse than insane passion, which makes you cling even to things that bring only bitterness and no benefit. Therefore, I exhort you to destroy passion at its very beginning. Just as a fever that occurs at first does not arouse thirst in the sick too much, but when its fire grows and intensifies, then it produces an unquenchable thirst, and if someone gives them a drink, it does not quench, but intensifies the flame even more - so it happens with this passion: if at first, when it invades our soul, we do not stop it and do not close the door, then when it enters it causes an incurable illness in those who accept it. After all, everything, both good and evil, the longer it remains in us, the stronger it becomes. 5. The same can be seen in everything else. A tree recently planted in the ground is easily uprooted, but one rooted for a long time is not easy, but with great difficulty; a building that has been recently built is easily destroyed if someone begins to destroy it, but a building that has stood for a long time presents many difficulties for those who want to destroy it; and an animal that has lived in a place for a long time is not easily driven out of there. Therefore, I admonish those who have not yet been overcome by passion not to indulge in it, because it is easier to abstain than, having indulged, to free yourself from it; and to those in whom it has settled and caused harm, I promise the hope of perfect healing by the grace of God, if they want to accept healing. If they imagine people who have fallen into the disease of passion and then freed themselves from it, they will receive good hope of healing from the disease. Who fell into this disease and was soon freed from it? Zacchaeus (mentioned in the Gospel). Who is more addicted to money than the tax collector? But he suddenly became wise and extinguished all the fire (of passion) in himself (Luke 19:8). Also the Apostle Matthew: and he was a publican and constantly spent his life in matters of greed; but he suddenly abandoned this destructive occupation, destroyed his thirst (for self-interest) and turned to spiritual acquisition (Matthew 9:9). When imagining them and people like them, do not give in to despair. If you want, you too can be healed soon. If you like, we, following the example of doctors, will prescribe you detailed rules on how to act. First of all, you must not lose heart and not despair of your salvation; then - look not only at examples of people who have reformed, but also those who died from passions. Remembering Zacchaeus and Matthew, one must imagine Judas, and Gehazi, and Achar, and Achaab, and Ananias, and Sapphira, in order to protect oneself from despair by the examples of the former, and by the examples of the latter to destroy negligence in oneself and not allow the soul to remain inattentive to the admonitions offered, but to position oneself - to say the same thing that the Jews who approached Peter said: that let us do that we may be saved (Acts 2:37), and hear what needs to be done. What should be done? You need to know that things are insignificant, that wealth is a runaway and ungrateful slave, that it exposes those who own it to countless disasters, and constantly repeat similar truths to yourself. Just as doctors, to console the sick who demand a cold drink, assure them that it will be served, mention the source, the vessel, what is needed for that time and much more - because if you suddenly refuse, they can become angry and furious - so we will do with the self-seeking people. If they say: we want to get rich, we will not immediately say that wealth is evil, but we will agree and say that we wish them the same thing, but we want it at the appropriate time - true wealth that brings eternal joy, collected for themselves, and not for others and often for enemies: let us draw their attention to the rules of wisdom and say that we forbid not getting rich, but getting rich in bad ways; You can get rich, but without greed, without robbery and violence, without bad rumors. Having won them over with such words, we will not yet tell them about Gehenna, because at first the sick person cannot bear these reminders; but in our reasonings let us touch more on real subjects and say: why do you want to enrich yourself unjustly? Is it so that others can collect gold and silver, and countless reproaches and curses for themselves? Is it so that the one robbed by you should be tormented and tormented, having a need for the necessary things, reproach you everywhere and, when night falls, walk through the squares and all the alleys, perplexed and not knowing how to spend the night? And can he sleep when he suffers from anxiety from his stomach, suffers from insomnia, is tormented by hunger, and often suffers from cold and rain? Having washed in the bathhouse, you put on soft clothes and return with joy and fun, hurrying to the luxurious dinner that has been prepared; and he, constantly driven by cold and hunger, walks through all the squares with his head bowed, holding out his hands, and even out of fear, not daring to remind the well-fed and resting of the necessary food, and often leaves, showered with reproaches. Therefore, when you return home, when you lie down on your bed, when brilliant lighting is arranged in your house and a sumptuous meal is prepared, remember this poor and unfortunate one, who, like dogs, walks along the alleys in darkness and dirt, and often returns from there not home, not to his wife, not on his bed, but to a heap of hay, like dogs barking all night long. If you see one small drop falling from the roof, you lift the whole house, drive the servants, set everything in motion; and he, lying in rags on the hay and in the dirt, endures a terrible cold. 6. What animal will not be amazed by these circumstances? Who is so cruel and inhuman that he will not bow to mercy? But there are people who have reached such cruelty that they say: they suffer with dignity. Instead of feeling sorry, crying and alleviating misfortunes, they mercilessly and inhumanly blame them. I would like to ask: why, tell me, do they suffer with dignity? Is it because they want to eat and not starve? No, you will say, but because they spend their lives in idleness. Don't you spend your time in idleness and fun? Or do you often not indulge in activities that are worse than any inaction, engaging in robbery, violence and covetousness? It would be better if you indulged in the same idleness, because such idleness is much better than covetousness. Meanwhile, you attack other people's misfortunes; Not only do you spend your time in idleness, not only do you indulge in activities that are worse than inaction, but you also blame the unfortunate. Let us tell them about other people's misfortunes, about premature orphans, about those imprisoned, wronged in courts, about those who endanger their lives, about the unexpected widowhood of wives and the sudden poverty of the rich, and with these terrible events we will touch their souls. By telling stories about others, we will inspire them to fear the same for themselves. When they hear that the son of such and such a greedy man and robber and the wife of such and such, who committed many injustices, suffered thousands of disasters after his death, because those offended by him approached his wife and children and made a general attack on his house from all sides, then each of them, even the most insensitive, expecting the same disasters for themselves, fearing the same for their household, will become more prudent. Our life is full of such cases, and we will not lack ways of such admonition. However, in communicating all this, we will speak not in the form of exhortation or advice, so that our words do not seem unpleasant, but in the form of a story; from other subjects we will always incline our conversation also to this subject and offer such stories as often as possible, not allowing us to dwell on anything other than the following: how the house of so-and-so, which was formerly rich and noble, fell; how it became so desolate that everything that was in it passed into the hands of others; how many judicial investigations, how many cases are opened daily regarding his property; how many of his slaves some became beggars, others died in prison. We will tell all this, expressing regret for the deceased and our contempt for present blessings, so as to strike their cruel soul with fear and regret. When we see that they are touched by these stories, then we will finally talk to them about Gehenna: however, not as if wanting to frighten them, but expressing regret for others, we will say: what to talk about the present? – our life does not end here; in the future such people will suffer even more severe punishment, a river of fire, a poisonous worm, endless darkness, eternal torment. By admonishing them with such stories, we will correct both them and ourselves, we will soon heal them from their illness and we ourselves will earn praise from God on the day of future judgment, as Paul says: and “then everyone will have praise from God” (1 Cor. 4:5). Praise from people is unreliable and often does not come from good intentions; and praise from God remains forever and shines brightly, because when the leader of everything before fulfillment and not involved in any passion gives praise, then virtue is revealed with certainty. Knowing this, let us act in such a way as to earn praise from God and receive the greatest blessings, of which we may all be worthy, 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 unto ages of ages. Amen. These conversations were delivered by the saint in Antioch around 390. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” Gr. “τας ανομιας σου πρωτος” - in the synod.translation. these words are missing. I.I. In Russian translation that’s how it reads: “freed” – I.I. You might be interested in: