Беседа 5

Phil.2:1–4. So, if there is any consolation in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any communion of the spirit, if there is any mercy and compassion, then complement my joy: have the same thoughts, have the same love, be unanimous and like-minded; Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vanity, but out of humility, consider each other better than yourselves. Not only does everyone take care of themselves, but everyone also takes care of others. About bearing grievances. “There is nothing more alien to the Christian soul than pride.” 1. There is nothing kinder, nothing more loving than a spiritual teacher: in benevolence he surpasses any natural father. Look, for example, how this blessed one begs the Philippians for something beneficial for them. What exactly does he say, convincing them to be like-minded, the cause of all good things? This is how impressively, how convincingly, with what strong feeling he says: “So, if there is any consolation in Christ,” that is, if you have any consolation in Christ. As if I would say this: if you are at all attentive to me, if you care about me, if you have ever received any benefit from me, then do it. We use this way of speech when we ask for an object that we prefer to everything else. If we do not prefer something to everything else, we will not want to receive it in return for everything, and we will not say that everything was done through it. We (in such a case) bring to mind carnal rights. For example, a father would say to his son: if you have any respect for your father, if you remember your upbringing at all, if you love me at all, if you value the honor received from me in any way, if you are in any way disposed towards me, then do not be an enemy of your brother, that is, in reward for everything I ask only this. But Paul says differently: he does not mention anything carnal, but everything spiritual. The meaning of his words is this: if you want to give me any consolation in temptations and encouragement in Christ, any consolation of love, show any communication in the spirit, if you have any mercy and compassion in your heart, then “complete my joy, if there is any mercy and compassion.” Paul calls the like-mindedness of his disciples generosity, showing by this the extreme danger in the case when they are not like-minded. If, he says, I can receive consolation from you, if I can receive some kind of joy from your love, if I can have fellowship with you in the spirit, and fellowship with you in the Lord, if I can hope for mercy and compassion from you, then repay all this with love. I got all this if you love each other. "Complete my joy". Look: so that it does not seem that he is convincing them as not fulfilling their duty, for this he does not say: do for me, but “complete”, i.e.: you began to plant in me, you have already calmed me down, but I want to reach the end. What do you want, tell me? Is it so that we save you from danger, so that we provide you with something? Nothing of the sort, he says, but “have the same thoughts, have the same love” with which you began, “of one mind and of one mind.” Oh, how often does (Paul) repeat the same thing out of great affection! “Have the same thoughts,” he says, or better yet, think the same thing. He further explains this with the word “of one mind,” which is stronger than the word “have the same thoughts.” “Have the same love,” that is, not just in faith only, but in everything else, because you can think the same thing and not have love. “have the same love,” that is, love as much as you are loved. When you receive great love from others, then show others no less, so that in this you do not be self-interested. Let some people allow this, but don’t allow it. “Unanimous,” he says, that is, let there be one soul in all bodies, not in relation to being - this is impossible - but in relation to desire and thought; let everything happen as if from one soul. What does “unanimous” mean? (The Apostle) explains this with the word “of one mind”: let (everyone) have one thought, like one soul. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition.” The Apostle then inspires and sets out the way to achieve this. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vanity.” This is what, as I always say, is the cause of all evil; This is where the fights and quarrels come from, where the slander and bickering come from, where the cooling of love comes from - when we become addicted to human glory, when we become slaves to the honor bestowed by the crowd. A servant of glory cannot be a true servant of God. So, they will say, how can we avoid vanity? You haven't shown us the way yet. Listen to the following: “but in humility of mind consider each other better than yourselves.” Oh, what a rule he proposed, full of all wisdom, and what a guide for our salvation! If you assume, he says that the other is better than you and you will be sure of it; and even more, if you are not only in words, but completely convinced of it and you give honor to him, then you will not feel displeasure when you see that another honors the one to whom you give honor. So, honor another not just as better than yourself, but also as superior - which means great superiority - and it will not be strange or painful for you to see (another) honored; even if he offends you, you will endure it generously, because you recognized him as better than yourself; If he scolds you, you will bear it; whether to cause any harm, you will endure it in silence. When you are once completely convinced in your soul that he is better than you, you will not be angry, no matter what evil he does to you, and you will not envy him. Nobody envies those who are much higher, because everyone thinks that everything belongs to the higher ones. 2. Here (the apostle) teaches to maintain such a state of mind. If, he says, another person who has received such an honor from you is in a similar disposition towards you, then imagine what a double wall of complacency it will be. As long as you consider the other person worthy of respect, and he also considers you, nothing unpleasant will happen. If such behavior on the part of one is enough to destroy all irritability, then with mutual behavior, who will destroy such a stronghold? Not even the devil himself, because there will be a triple fortification, a quadruple, and more. Humility is the cause of all good things. And to understand this, listen to the words of the prophet: “For you do not want sacrifice, I would give it; You do not favor burnt offerings. A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; You will not despise a broken and humble heart, O God” (Ps. 50:18, 19). God requires not just humility, but the desire for humility. Just as in bodies what is broken can never resist the solid, but with any shock it itself is destroyed before it collides with another, so in the soul: constantly oppressed by misfortune, it decides better to die than to attack and defend itself. How long will we be puffed up with pride worthy of ridicule? We laugh when we see children stretch out and act majestically; we laugh when they take the stone and then throw it again. Likewise, foolish human pride is the fruit of childish thinking and an imperfect mind. "What is the pride of earth and ashes?" ( Sir. 10:9 )? Man, are you being arrogant? For what? What profit do you have, tell me? Why do you become arrogant before those who are of the same kind as you? Are you not of the same nature? Don't you have the same soul? Are you not equally honored by God? But are you wise? Therefore, one should give thanks and not be arrogant. The first trait of ingratitude is pride, because it does not consider good deeds to be gifts. The arrogant person is arrogant because he considers himself perfect. And he who considers himself perfect is ungrateful to the One who bestowed honor. Do you have anything good? Give thanks to the Giver. Listen to what Joseph says and what Daniel says. When the king of Egypt called (Joseph) from prison, and in front of the whole assembly asked him about the matter from which all the Egyptians, the most skilled in it, had retreated, then he could have ascended in every possible way and shown himself wiser than the astrologers, soothsayers, sorcerers, magicians and all the philosophers of that time, although he was a slave, in captivity and slavery (and in this case his glory would have been even greater, because that it makes no difference whether one becomes famous after being already known, or unexpectedly - surprise would make him more worthy of surprise). However, what did he say when he appeared before Pharaoh? Yes, I know that? no, that’s not it – but what? Without being rebuked by anyone, out of great meekness, what does he say? “Are not interpretations from God?” (Gen. 40:8)? Look: first he glorified the Lord; for this he himself was glorified. And this is not unimportant in relation to glory: it is much more important when God discovers it than when you acquire it for yourself. On the other hand, through this his words acquired credibility, and very strong evidence of his closeness to God was obtained. And there is nothing better than being close to God. “If... he was justified by works,” it is said, “... he has praise, but not before God” (Rom. 4:2). He who is worthy of grace has praise from God, because (God) loves him and forgives him (sins); and whoever deserves it by works also has praise, but not with God, like the first. This is proof of your great weakness. And he who has received wisdom from God, how much more worthy of wonder! He glorified God, and he himself was glorified by Him: “For I will glorify those who glorify Me” (1 Samuel 2:30), says (God). The descendant (of Joseph) also acted, wiser than whom there was no one, as it is said: “Behold, you are wiser than Daniel” (Ezek. 28:3)? This Daniel, when all the wise men of Babylon, even the astrologers, soothsayers, magicians, sorcerers, all the philosophers, were not only put to shame, but also destroyed (and their destruction indicated that they had deceived before), - having appeared (before the king) to resolve the issue, does not boast, but in advance attributes everything to God, and says: “King! But this mystery was revealed to me not because I was wiser than all the living” (Dan. 2:30). “Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and worshiped Daniel, and ordered gifts and fragrant incense to be brought to him” (Dan. 2:46). Do you see humility? Do you see the gratitude? Do you see a disposition that is alien to pride? Listen also to the apostles. At one time they say: “Why do you look at us, as if we, through our strength or piety, made him walk?” ( Acts 3:12 )? At another time: “And we are men like you” (Acts 14:15). If they thus rejected the honors bestowed upon them, they are people who, through humility in Christ and by His power, have done greater works than Christ, as He himself says: “He who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will also do, and greater works than these will he do” (John 14:12), then how are they not poor, how are they not unhappy, who cannot drive away mosquitoes, not only demons, - those who are unable to bring benefit to one person, not only to the whole universe - and at the same time they dream as much as the devil himself does not dream? 3. There is nothing more alien to the Christian soul than pride, - I say - pride, and not boldness, not courage, which, although close to each other, are nevertheless not the same thing, so one is humility, and the other is baseness, flattery and groveling. And if you want, I will provide you with examples of everything. It is known that opposite things exist somehow together, such as: tares with wheat, thorns with roses. But children can be easily deceived; and perfect men, experienced in spiritual work, know how to distinguish truly good from bad. Perhaps we will give you examples of that from the Scriptures. What is flattery, baseness and groveling? Ziba untimely flattered David and slandered his master; Ahithophel flattered Absalom even more (2 Samuel 16). But David was not like that, but humbly wise. Flatterers can be crafty. So, for example, the Magi once said: “King! live forever!” (Dan. 2:4). About Paul in the Acts of the Apostles we will find a lot of this, when he, talking with the Jews, did not flatter, but was humble, because he knew how to speak with boldness. So, he said: “Men and brethren! Having done nothing against the people or the customs of my fathers, I was delivered from Jerusalem in chains” (Acts 28:17). And that these words came from humility, then listen to how he reproaches them further, saying: “Well said the Holy Spirit...: You will hear with your ears, but will not understand, and with your eyes you will look, but will not see” (Acts 28:26). Do you see courage? Look also at the courage of John the Baptist, which he showed before Herod, saying: “You must not have your brother’s wife” (Mark 6:18). Here is boldness, here is courage! And the words of Shimei: “Go away, murderer” (2 Samuel 16:7) do not express that, although he speaks boldly. This is not courage, but impudence, arrogance and unbridled language. Jezebel cursed Jehu, calling him “the murderer of his sovereign” (2 Kings 9:31); but this is impudence, not daring. Elijah also spoke reproachfully, but it was boldness and courage: “It is not I who trouble Israel, but you and your father’s house” (1 Kings 18:18). Even before the whole people, Elijah spoke boldly: “How long will you limp on both knees?” (1 Kings 18:21). To reprove in this way, as the prophets did, is boldness and courage; but that was insolence. Do you want to hear words of humility and nobility? Listen to Paul, who says: “It matters very little to me how you judge me or how other people judge me; I don’t judge myself. For although I know nothing about myself, I am not justified by this” (1 Cor. 4:3, 4). This is a judgment befitting a Christian! And again (the apostle says): “How dare anyone among you, when dealing with another, go to law with the wicked, and not with the saints?” (1 Cor. 6:1). Do you want to see the flattery of foolish Jews? Listen to how they say: “We have no king except Caesar” (John 19:15). Do you want to see humility? Listen again to Paul, who says: “For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and we are your servants for Jesus” (2 Cor. 4:5). Do you want to see flattery and insolence: the insolence of Nabal, and the flattery of Ziphees? How did he revile David, and these deliberately betrayed him? Do you want to see David's wisdom and not flattery? How did he capture Saul and spare him? Do you want to see the flattery of the murderers of Mephibosheth, whom David put to death? Simply put, in general and briefly, insolence is when someone gets angry and scolds another without any reason, either in revenge for himself, or being overly irritated; Boldness and courage are when someone dares to risk danger and death, despises both friendship and enmity to please God. Flattery and baseness is when someone serves others not for the sake of something necessary, but in order to catch something worldly; and humility - when someone does this to please God and humbles himself in order to accomplish something great and worthy of praise. Blessed are we if we know this and if we do it, because it is not enough to know: “They are not hearers of the law...,” it is said, “but those who do the law will be justified” (Rom. 2:13); Moreover, knowledge without activity and virtues is condemned. So, let us be active in order to avoid condemnation, and receive the promised benefits, by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ (with whom to the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory, power, honor, now and ever, and forever Amen). You might be interested in: