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Christ also said to the rich young man: “Sell what you have and give to the poor... and come and follow Me. When the young man heard this word, he went away sad, because he had great possessions” (Matthew 19:21–22). O womb! Insatiable womb! Isn't it better for you to have God in you than to have a lot of wealth? But for the belly, wealth is better than God. The troubles and cares of life are sweeter to him than the sweetest Jesus (1). Numerous people, simple people, come to Christ and follow Him. Where are their bosses? The scribes, Pharisees, and princes of the people remained in their homes in Jerusalem. The princes do not believe in Christ, as is written about in the Gospel: “Did any of the rulers believe in Him?” (John 7:48). The scribes and Pharisees “devise in vain” (Ps. 2:1), and the rich exercise themselves in their crafts: one destroys his barns and builds greater ones (see Luke 12:16-20), another hoards from covetousness and unrighteousness and fills his chests, and another rejoices joyfully every day. All such people have no time to go to Christ and listen to His teaching. Only the poor follow Him and listen to Him with pleasure. That is why entry into the Kingdom of Heaven is difficult for the rich: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:24) (1). A man who serves the lust of his eyes, overcome by the attraction of earthly goods and immeasurably and insatiably seeking riches, what will produce: grapes or thorns? Truly, not grapes, but sharp thorns, pricking God, his neighbor and himself. He stabs God, because he touches holy things, and he appropriates God, and he suppresses the word of God that fell among his thorns, as the Holy Gospel speaks about this in the parable of the sown seed: “some fell among the thorns, and thorns grew and choked them” (Luke 8:7), - the interpretation of which is there: “and those who fell among the thorns are those who listen to the word, but, when they depart, they are overwhelmed by cares, wealth and the pleasures of this life and do not bear fruit” (Luke 8:14). He also stabs his neighbor, according to the words of the holy Apostle James: “Do not the rich oppress you, and do they not drag you into court? Are they not the ones who dishonor the good name by which you are called?” (James 2:6–7). After all, those who insatiably enrich themselves rob other people’s property, kidnap it, take it away through unjust justice, and sometimes even exterminate from among those living on earth those from whom they want to take something. Did not Ahab, the king of Israel, destroy the innocent Israelite Naboth because of the vineyard that he wanted to take away from him? Anyone who wishes can read about this in the Third Book of Kings, in chapter 21. He also stabs himself, for, in the words of the Apostle Paul: “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and into a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts that plunge people into disaster and destruction; for the love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Tim. 6:9–10). Therefore, the holy Apostle James cries out: “Listen, you rich: weep and howl for your misfortunes that are coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are rusty” (James 5:1–3). So, it is not useful for the mental grape-man to plant himself in a good place, that is, to deepen his heart and mind in an insatiable search for earthly goods and possessions, riches and delicacies (1). “There was a certain rich man... there was also a certain poor man named Lazarus” (Luke 16:19–20). Two people are remembered in the current Gospel parable - one is rich and the other is poor. Both of them clearly depict their lives, both present and future, and it is clearly shown that one is the bliss of the present life, and the other is the future; also distress: some are of the present life, others of the future; and just as the bliss of the present life does not turn into the bliss of the future life, but changes into misery, so the misery of the present life in the future life will no longer be misfortune, but will change into bliss. To put it more clearly, the present wealth there will be poverty, but the present poverty there will be wealth (1). A virtuous and merciful rich man buys himself the Kingdom of Heaven by giving alms, building churches of God and extending a helping hand to the needy: such a one finds salvation for himself, as it is written: “A man’s salvation is his wealth” (see Proverbs 13:8). The merciless and evil rich man does not care about his salvation and neglects the Kingdom of Heaven: as long as it is good for him on earth, but he places the Kingdom of Heaven at nothing. He doesn’t even think about death, he expects to live a long life, like the rich man whose fields failed and who said: “I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and I will gather there all my bread and all my goods, and I will say to my soul: soul! you have a lot of goods laid up for many years: rest, eat, drink, be merry” (Luke 12:18–19) (1). All the bliss of the unrighteous rich came from the bloody sweat of wretched people. The rich get richer, and the poor become poor; the rich increases, and the poor decreases; the rich man spreads, but the poor man is shy; the rich man grows fat and fat from much food and luxury, and the poor man withers from hunger and sadness; the rich man boasts, but the poor man sighs. But wait a little, rich, unmerciful, offenders of wretched people, give time: the hour of death will come to you, and at that time you will see what bliss and happiness will be like (1). Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, saw a wondrous dream on his bed: he saw an oak tree standing in the middle of the earth; its top reached to heaven, and its roots were in the ends of the whole earth; its leaves were beautiful, and its fruits were plentiful. Then he saw someone descending from heaven and loudly commanding: cut the oak, cut off its branches, tear off its leaves and scatter its fruit (see Dan. 4). When no one could interpret this dream, the holy prophet Daniel was called, a skilled interpreter of dream visions, who said to the king: the great oak tree that you saw is you, king, for your majesty has been exalted and your power has spread to the ends of the earth, but the hour of God’s judgment will come to you, and you will be driven out from people, and your life will be among wild animals... The rich in this world are like some great oak tree, high with pride, wide in wealth, beautiful in honor, prolific in profits. But suddenly the judgment of God comes and cuts this oak tree with a mortal ax, and in one hour that oak tree that has been growing for a long time falls into the grave. He is expelled from people, from those living on earth, and dwells among the dead, as if with wild animals; His life passes with worms that will eat his body, which fed on sweets. Tell me, oak tree, where is the height of your pride, where is the expanse of your branches, your estates, where is the beauty of your leaves, your glory, where are the fruits of your profits and self-interest? Wasn't it all destroyed and gone missing? And who are David’s words talking about? “I saw the wicked, exalted and high as the cedars of Lebanon: and I passed by, and behold he was not, and I sought him, and his place was not found” (Ps. 37:35-36). Everything went away, died with a noise, where is the soul, we will see this after (1). Let it be known that not all the rich will be condemned to torment, nor will all the poor and poor be sent to heaven. There will be many rich people in the Kingdom of Heaven, and many poor people will be in fiery hell. Those rich who acquire wealth for themselves from sinless providences, from their own labors, from fair collections, who, in addition, are merciful and gracious - such ... buy themselves great salvation. Do we not hear that many who were rich in this life are now in the Kingdom of Heaven? King David was rich, and the holy forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were not poor, and they were all saved. Also in the new grace there were many kings, nobles, rich and glorious, about whom we know that they were saved, and some of them are even considered among the saints in the calendar. The poor, the wretched, who are lazy to work and toil, and feed on theft, steal or go to robbery, or do something else bad, or seek food only from alms, from human giving, and climb into people’s eyes like tar, although others could work and earn their own bread - such people will not only not receive the mercy of God and the Kingdom of Heaven in their future life, but will even be sent to torment eternal and will be tormented by demons forever. Thus, the righteous and virtuous rich are rich in this life, and in the next life they will inherit heavenly riches. Poor thieves, lazy people and parasites are poor here and will be poor there, and moreover, they will be condemned to eternal torment, from which may Christ God deliver us with His mercy (1). The Kingdom of Heaven was received by Zacchaeus, who was rich, and not only rich, but also the chief of tax collectors, despite the fact that the gates to the Kingdom of Heaven are narrow. How could the rich Zacchaeus enter them? Was he able to enter because he was short and it was easy for him to enter? But I don’t think so, for although this camel was small, it had a great hump, he was very rich, and until he threw off this hump, that is, wealth, until then the gates of heaven were narrow for him. Only by refusing it with just one word: “Lord! I will give half of my property to the poor, and if I have offended anyone in any way, I will repay him fourfold,” he was immediately able to pass (Luke 19:8). If even now any of the rich say: “Lord! I will give half of my property to the poor, and if I have offended anyone, I will repay him fourfold,” then it will be said to him: “Today salvation has come to this house” (Luke 19:9). Let no one doubt the words that “it is difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 19:23) (1). Isn't there peace and quiet in wealth and possessions? No, for wealth soon disappears and perishes, and is usually associated with great care and vanity, and never gives a person peace and quiet. The more wealth, the more fuss and care. Even if someone acquires all the wealth of the world, he will never get rid of vanity and desire, will not be satisfied with it, but will demand even more; he does not trust himself, he is always in anxiety and fear, lest he fall short of something. He is surrounded by envy and competition from everywhere, and never leaves his soul in peace, neither day nor night (3). “If wealth flows in, do not put your heart (on it),” says the prophet (Ps. 61:11). It is great madness to set your heart on gold and trust in perishing covetousness. So, do not trust in perishable wealth and do not go after gold, for, as it is said, “he who loves gold will not be right” (Sir. 31:5), but place your trust in the living God (1 Tim. 4:10), who endures forever and created all things. “Silver and gold are the works of human hands” (Ps. 135:15), they would sooner perish than you gather them (3). Don't chase after much, but be grateful for little. For everyone is chasing a lot, everyone is looking for a lot, everyone is concerned about everything, however, having left everything down to the smallest, they will not be able to take anything from here with them. It is better to be grateful for little than to foolishly pursue much; “Better is the small wealth of a righteous man than the great wealth of sinners,” says the prophet (Ps. 37:16). For everything that you get here and everything you acquire will remain on earth, but you, having left everything, will move into the tomb and go there naked with your soul (3). You might be interested in: