Беседа 2

1 Thessalonians 1:8–10. For the word of the Lord spread from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place [the glory] of your faith in God spread, so that we do not need to talk about anything. For they themselves tell about us what kind of entrance we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols, [to] serve the living and true God and look for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come. About Alexander the Great. - The feat of a preacher. – Signs of a true friend. – An example of Christian friendship. 1. Just as fragrant myrrh does not retain the fragrance in itself, but spreads it far and, dissolving the air with it, delights the feelings of those standing nearby, so noble and venerable men cannot hide their virtues in themselves, but through the fame spreading about them they benefit many, making them better. The same thing happened then (with the Thessalonians). Therefore (the apostle) said: “You have become a model for all believers in Macedonia and Achaia. For the word of the Lord has spread from you not only to Macedonia and Achaia, but also to every place the glory of your faith in God has spread” (1 Thessalonians 1:7-8). You, he says, presented an instructive example for everyone living near you, and filled the entire universe with amazement: the words: “in every place” have exactly this meaning. And he did not say: “your faith has spread,” but “it has swept through,” suggesting that just as the voice of a sounding trumpet fills all surrounding places, so the glory of your valor, loud as the sound of a trumpet, filled the entire universe and reached everyone everywhere with equal force. Great deeds where they are performed are loudly glorified, but in the distance, although they are glorified, they are not so much so. But with you it’s different: your fame spread with equal force throughout the whole earth. And let no one think that these words are an exaggeration. This people, the Macedonian people, were famous even before the coming of Christ and were more famous everywhere than the Romans. The Romans themselves are famous for having conquered it. What the Macedonian king did is beyond words: having set out on a campaign from an insignificant state, he took possession of the entire universe. That is why the prophet sees him under the image of a flying leopard, thereby depicting speed, strength, ardor and the speed with which he rushed through the entire universe with his trophies and victory. They say that he, having heard from a certain philosopher about the existence of an innumerable number of worlds, bitterly regretted that, despite their innumerability, he had not conquered even one. He was so enterprising and great-hearted, and he was so famous throughout the whole earth! But the glory of the people was also combined with the glory of the king: after all, Alexander was called a Macedonian. Therefore, along with the fame of himself, the fame of the events of his kingdom naturally spread everywhere, since nothing famous can remain unknown. So, the deeds of the Macedonians were no less glorious than the deeds of the Romans. “In every place,” he says, “the glory of your faith in God has passed away.” See that he speaks as if about something animate, using the word: “passed away.” And this image of expression is inspired, of course, by the power of their (faith). Then, wanting to show that they definitely discovered a strong and effective faith, he adds further: “so we don’t need to tell you anything. For they themselves speak about us, what kind of entrance we had to you.” That is, nowhere are they waiting to hear our story about you, but people who have not visited you and have not seen anything precede with their stories about you those who visited you and saw your exploits. Thus, your faith became known everywhere through rumors! So, we do not need to talk about your affairs in order to arouse similar competition in others, because what they should hear from us, they themselves tell us about, warning us. Although in such cases envy often acts in people, your superiority overcame it too, and they became the heralds of your exploits. Despite the fact that they are behind you, they still do not remain silent, but even before others they talk about you. If they do this, then we cannot but trust our words. What does it mean: “what entrance did we have to you?” The fact that it was associated with dangers, with a thousand deaths, and yet nothing outraged you; on the contrary, you treated us as if nothing had happened, you received us after that as if you had not suffered any evil, but had enjoyed countless blessings. The entrance mentioned here was a secondary one. Namely, (the apostle and his companions) went (from Thessalonica) to Verria, being persecuted, and subsequently, coming again (to the Thessalonians), they were so received by them that they themselves (the Thessalonians) were honored (by the apostles), so that these latter were ready to lay down their souls for them. Consequently, the meaning of the expression: “what entrance we had to you” is mutual: it contains praise both to the apostle and his companions and to the Thessalonians, but the apostle turned it into praise to the Thessalonians. “How,” he says, “you turned to God from idols in order to serve the living and true God,” that is, “you turned very easily, with great readiness, and did not feel the need for special effort in order to decide to serve the living and true God. To this (the apostle) added an exhortation, making his speech less difficult through this. “And expect,” he says, “from heaven His Son, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus, delivering us from the wrath to come." “And to wait for His Son from heaven” - the One who was crucified, who was buried, therefore, explaining what was said, he adds: “Whom He raised from the dead.” Do you see everything together: the resurrection, the ascension, the second coming, the judgment, the reward of the righteous and the punishment of the wicked? “Jesus,” he says, “who delivers us from the wrath to come.” Here is encouragement, consolation, and instruction for them. If (God) raised Him from the dead, if He is in heaven and will come from there (and you believed that this was really so, because if you did not believe, you would not have endured such suffering), then this is already sufficient encouragement. And if the persecutors will certainly be punished, as (the apostle) speaks about in the second epistle (2 Thess. 1:8, 9), then you have another, also no small encouragement. On the other hand, he spoke about waiting for His Son from heaven and in order to show that disasters are present, but blessings are in the future, when Christ comes from heaven. Look how much hope you need to have - hope that the Crucified One has risen, that He has ascended into heaven, that He will come to judge the living and the dead. “You yourselves know, brethren, about our entrance to you, that it was not inactive; But having first suffered and been mocked in Philippi, as you know, we dared in our God to preach to you the gospel of God with great effort” (1 Thess. 2:1, 2). 2. Great are your exploits; but we also preached a non-human word. Here (the apostle) wants to express what he said above, namely, that the properties of preaching are revealed on both sides - both on the part of the miracles and determination of the preachers, and on the side of the zeal and zeal of those who receive. “You yourself know, brethren,” he says, “about our entrance to you, that it was not inactive,” that is, not ordinary, not accidental. Having barely escaped great dangers, deaths, defeats; we immediately fell into new dangers. But “having first suffered,” he says, “and being mocked in Philippi, as you know, we dared to preach in our God.” Do you see how he again attributes everything to God? “To preach the gospel of God to you with great effort.” It is impossible, he says, to say that we are exposed to dangers there, but not here. You also know what this danger is and what a feat it was necessary to be with you. (The Apostle) says this to the Corinthians in his letter to them: “And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in great trembling” (1 Cor. 2:3). “For in our teaching there is no error, no unclean motives, no guile; but just as God has deigned to entrust us with the gospel, so we speak, pleasing not men, but God, who tests our hearts” (1 Thess. 2:3-4). Do you see that, as I have already said, the proof of the Divinity of their preaching is taken from the firmness of preachers? If, therefore, our preaching were not like this, if it were a deception, then we would not expose ourselves to such disasters that do not allow us to breathe freely. What follows from this? If we were not animated by something expected in the future, if we were not sure that our hope was undoubted, then we would not remain so cheerful in the midst of suffering. In fact, who would dare, for the sake of local blessings, to endure so many disasters and lead a life of suffering and full of dangers? And who would be convinced by such a preacher? Wouldn't it be enough to intimidate the students just because they saw their teachers constantly in danger? But this did not happen to you. “For in our teaching there is no error, no unclean motives, no guile.” Our work, he says, is not deception, not seduction, into which we would fall, not of the kind of dark affairs, such as the works of sorcerers and wizards are - this is expressed by the word: “from unclean motives” - not malicious, not some kind of rebellion, like the work of Theudas: “But, as God has deigned to entrust us with the gospel, so we speak, pleasing not men, but God, who searches our hearts." Do you see that this is not vanity? “But to God,” he says, “who tests our hearts.” We do nothing, he says, to please people; and why would we do anything like that? Having thus praised ourselves, in the words: not because we wanted to please people, or sought honor from people, the apostle continues: “But how God has made us worthy to entrust the gospel to us.” If God had not known, how could he say that we If we had completely renounced everything worldly, then He would not have chosen us. Just as He tempted us, so we remain. “To him,” he says, “our hearts are tested,” that is, (God) tempted us and entrusted us with the gospel. So, just as we turned out to be blameless before God, we remain so. The proof of this dignity of ours is that we have been entrusted with the gospel. If there was anything bad in us, God would not have tempted us. The word - tempted (.....) is used here in the sense - found worthy of trust (.....) and trusted, and not in the sense - tried, because we only act as a result of testing, and God has no need for testing. Thus we speak as is characteristic of those who have been tested by God and found worthy of the gospel. “And we speak not to please men,” that is, we do not do all this for your sake. Since he had previously praised them, so as not to attract suspicion to his words, he continues: “For we have never had before you any words of endearment, as you know, or any form of self-interest: God is my witness! We do not seek human glory either from you or from others. We could appear with importance as the Apostles of Christ” (1 Thess. 2:5-7). “We never had,” he says, “we had words of endearment before you,” that is, we did not flatter, as deceivers do, people seeking self-interest or power. It cannot be said that we flattered in order to achieve power or that we decided to do it for the money. As a witness to this, although it was obvious, he finally calls them themselves. Whether we flattered, he says, you know. He calls God himself as a witness to what was not obvious, that is, whether he preached for the sake of covetousness. “We do not seek human glory either from you or from others. We could appear with importance, like the apostles of Christ,” that is, without demanding honors, without being vain and without surrounding ourselves with spearmen, although if we did this, we would not do anything strange. If the king's envoys are honored, so much the more so can we. And he did not say: we endured dishonor, or: we did not enjoy honor, which would mean reproaching (the Thessalonians), but: we did not seek. So, if we did not seek glory, although it was possible to seek it, and the sermon itself demanded it, then how do we do anything for glory? Meanwhile, even if we were looking, then even that could not be blamed on us, because those who are sent to people from God, in all fairness, should, like the messengers who have now appeared from heaven, enjoy great honor. And despite all this, we do nothing of the kind to stop the mouths of our opponents. 3. And it cannot be said that we acted this way with you and differently with others. In fact, (the apostle) said the same thing in his letter to the Corinthians: “You endure when someone enslaves you, when someone devours you, when someone robs you, when someone is arrogant, when someone hits you in the face” (2 Cor. 11:20). And again: “in personal presence he is weak, and his speech is insignificant” (2 Cor. 10:10). And again: “Forgive me for this guilt” (2 Cor. 12:13). Thus, there he shows that he was very humble, because he suffered many (disasters). And here he also speaks about money: “We could appear with importance, like the Apostles of Christ, but we were quiet among you, like a nurse tenderly treats her children. So, out of zeal for you, we wanted to convey to you not only the gospel of God, but also our souls, because you became kind to us” (1 Thessalonians 2:7,8) “But we were,” he says, “quiet,” that is, we did not reveal any rudeness, no oppression, no arrogance, no boasting; and the words: “among you” mean the same as if someone said: we are the same as you, and have not received any higher lot. «Как кормилица , – говорит, – нежно обходится с детьми своими» . This is how a teacher should be. Льстит ли кормилица дитяти, чтобы заслужить у него славу? Ищет ли она денег от малюток? Бывает ли высокомерна с ними и сурова? Напротив, не бывает ли она нежнее самих матерей? Здесь (апостол) обнаруживает в себе нежную любовь. “So,” he says, “out of zeal for you,” that is, zeal for you; we, he says, are devoted to you to such an extent that not only do we not take anything from you, but, if necessary, we would not refuse to give you our souls. So, is this a human calculation, tell me? But who would be so reckless as to say this? “We wanted to convey to you,” he says, “not only the gospel of God, but also our souls.” The latter, therefore, more difficult than the first. And what brings more benefit? From the gospel there is real benefit for them; but to betray the soul is a greater feat in its difficulty. In fact, it is not the same - to preach only, and the first in itself is more honorable, the latter is much more difficult. We were ready, he says, if it were necessary, to exhaust our souls for you. Since (the apostle) previously praised and now praises (the Thessalonians), he therefore says: we are not doing this to beg for money, not out of flattery, not to gain fame from you. Pay attention though! Since (the Thessalonians) performed many deeds, and they should have been praised and admired immensely so that they would show themselves even more inflexible, praise of this kind could seem suspicious. Therefore, eliminating all suspicion, he speaks of his misfortunes. On the other hand, fearing that they would think that he was talking about disasters in order to show how he worked for them and what, therefore, honor he should enjoy from them, he, having spoken about disasters, added: “because you have become kind to us,” thus showing that we would even willingly give you our souls, because we were completely devoted to you. So we proclaim the gospel to you because God commanded us to do so; but, for our part, we love you so much that, if necessary, we would even give you our souls. This is how a true lover should love. He will not refuse even his soul if it were demanded of him and if it were possible. But what am I saying: they demanded it? He himself will volunteer for such a donation. Nothing, truly nothing can be sweeter than such love. For her, nothing seems regrettable. A true friend is truly the joy of life. A true friend is truly a solid cover. What really wouldn't a sincere friend do? What pleasure would it not give? What's the use? What security? Point out countless treasures, and all this is nothing in comparison with a sincere friend. But let's say first how much pleasure friendship contains in itself. He who looks at his friend is enlightened with joy, melts with pleasure, and is united with his soul by some special union that contains inexplicable pleasure. He comes alive in spirit and is inspired even by the mere memory of him. I'm talking about sincere, unanimous friends, ready to die for each other, who passionately love each other. Don’t think of refute my words by imagining for yourself ordinary friends, table accomplices, friends by the same name. Whoever has such a friend as I am talking about will understand my words. Even if he sees him every day, he will not be fed up; he wishes for him the same as for himself. I knew one person who, calling upon the holy men of God in prayer for a friend, begged them to intercede first for him, and then for themselves. A friend is so sweet that even places and times become kind from him. Just as bright bodies shed light on surrounding objects, so friends impart their pleasantness to the very places they happen to be. And it often happens that, having visited these places without friends, we cry, remembering those days in which we were here together, and weep. It is impossible, however, to express in words how much pleasure the presence of friends gives; Only those who have experienced it understand this. You can ask for favors and accept favors from a friend without hesitation. When they order us, we are grateful to them, and we mourn when they are embarrassed. We have nothing that does not belong to them. Often, despising everything here, we nevertheless do not want to part with our life here just for them. They are more desirable to us than the light itself. 4. And indeed, a friend is more desirable than the light itself. I'm talking about a sincere friend. And don't be surprised by this. Indeed, it is better for us that the sun should darken than that we should lose our friends; It is better to live in darkness than to live without friends. And I'll tell you why. Many who look at the sun are in darkness, but those who are rich in friends are never sorrowful. I'm talking about spiritual friends who prefer nothing to friendship. Such was Paul, who, willingly giving (to his friends) his soul, although they did not ask him to do so, would willingly throw himself into Gehenna for them. So one must love with fiery love! I want to present an example of friendship. Friends are dearer than fathers and sons - friends in Christ. Don’t tell me about your current friends, because along with many other things, this blessing has now been lost; but remember that under the apostles - I’m not talking about the leaders, but even about those who believed - everyone, as it is said: “there was one heart and one soul; and no one called anything of his property his own, but they had everything in common.” And “everyone was given whatever he needed” (Acts 4:32, 35). Then there was no mine and yours. This is friendship when someone does not consider what is his own, but belongs to his neighbor, and considers his neighbor’s property alien to himself - when one protects the life of another as much as his own, and he reciprocates with the same affection. But where, they will say, can one find such a friend now? Precisely, nowhere is it possible, because we don’t want to be like that, but if we wanted to, it would be even very possible. If this were truly impossible, then Christ would not have commanded this and would not have spoken so much about love. Friendship is a great thing, and to what extent it is great, no one can understand, not even a single word can express it, unless someone learns from their own experience. Misunderstanding of it produced heresies; it forces the Hellenes to still remain Hellenes. The lover does not want to command or be in charge; but I’m glad it’s better to be under command and take orders myself. He wishes better to do good than to receive good deeds, because he loves and, therefore, is always in the state of a person who seems to have not satisfied his desire. He rejoices not so much in accepting a good deed as in doing a good deed, because he wants to oblige another rather than be obliged to him, or better yet, he wants to both be obliged to him and have him as his debtor. He wants to do good and does not want to show that he is doing good, but presents himself as a debtor to another. I think that many of you may not understand what was said; Therefore, I consider it necessary to repeat the same thing again. He wants to begin a good deed and not seem like a beginner, but only as if paying for a favor. This is what God did with people. He wanted to give His Son for us; however, in order not to show that (solely by grace) he bestows Him, but, as it were, repays us a debt, He commanded Abraham to give (Himself) his son, so that it would seem that He, while doing something great, does nothing great. When there is no friendship, we reproach others for our good deeds, extolling them even in all their insignificance. And when there is friendship, we hide them, and we want to pass off the great ones as small ones, so as not to show that our friend is in debt to us, but that we ourselves are indebted to him because he allowed us to borrow him. I know that many people do not understand what I am talking about; the reason for this is that I am talking about a thing that now takes place only in heaven. If I were to talk about some plant growing in India, which no one here knows from experience, then no matter how much I speak, the word would not be able to fully depict it: so in the present case, no matter how much I speak, I will speak in vain, because no one will be able to understand. This plant is planted in the sky; its branches are not burdened with pearls, but with a much more pleasant fruit - a virtuous life. Whatever pleasure you want, imagine the pleasure - whether base or noble - the sweetness of friendship will be higher than all of them. Even point out the sweetness of honey, but honey also becomes cloying; and a friend never, as long as he remains a friend, on the contrary, love for him increases more and more, while the pleasure resulting from it never produces satiety. A friend is dearer than this temporary life. That is why many, after the death of their friends, did not want to live anymore. Some people can happily live with a friend even in exile; but I wouldn’t want to live without a friend and a home. With a friend, poverty is not hard, but without him, health and wealth are a burden. He who has a friend has another self. I regret that I cannot explain this with an example, since I am aware that everything said will be much less than what should be said. This is what friendship means for this life. And God has such a great reward in store for her that it is impossible to express. He gives us a reward so that we love one another. Love, he says, and accept the reward for it, while we should give a reward for it. Pray, he says, and receive a reward for it, whereas we should bring reward, because we ask Him for good. For what you ask, he says; get a reward. Fast and receive your reward. Be virtuous and receive a reward, although you yourself should be rewarded. Truly, just as fathers, when they make their children good, then give them rewards, because they consider themselves debtors for the fact that (the children) gave them pleasure, so does God. Receive, he says, a reward if you are virtuous, because you please the Father, and I must reward you for this. And if you are angry, there is nothing for you, because you insult the One who gave birth to you. Let us not offend God, but let us try to please Him, so that we may be worthy of the kingdom of heaven in Christ Jesus our Lord (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 Constantinople in 399. You might be interested in: