Беседа 7. К обогащающимся

And this morning we talked about this young man (Matthew 19:16-22); The hardworking listener, of course, remembers our research at that time. And firstly, that this young man is not the same person as the lawyer mentioned in Luke (Luke 10:25-28). The latter was inquisitive, offering questions in mockery; and he asked sensibly, but only did not accept it humbly, for he would not have gone away from the Lord, grieving over such His answers, if he had asked the questions to Him contemptuously. Why did his character seem to us to be some kind of mixture: according to the instructions of Scripture, in part he is worthy of praise, but in part he is very pitiful and does not give any hope. What deserves praise in him is that he recognized the true Teacher, and, without stopping to pay attention to the pride of the Pharisees, to the conceit of the lawyers, to the crowd of scribes, he attributed this name to the only true and good Teacher. The good thing about him is that, apparently, he was preoccupied with how to inherit an eternal life. But the rest—precisely the fact that, having listened to the saving lessons of the true Teacher, he did not write them on his heart, and did not carry out His instructions, but departed with sorrow, darkened by the passion of the love of wealth—convicts the young man that his will was not entirely directed toward the true good, but had in mind what would please the greater number of people. This proves the unevenness and mutual disagreement of his morals. You call the Lord Teacher, but do not do what a student should! You confess Him to be good, but neglect what He gives you! Meanwhile, the Good One, without a doubt, gives blessings. You ask about eternal life, but in reality it turns out that you are all tied to the pleasure of this life. What difficult, heavy, unbearable word did the Teacher offer you? “Sell what you have and give to the poor” (Matthew 19:21). If he had entrusted you with agricultural labor, or dangerous trade enterprises, or anything else difficult for those seeking profit, then you should have been saddened, upset by this command. If in such a convenient way, requiring neither labor nor sweat, it promises to make you an heir to eternal life, why don’t you rejoice at the convenience of salvation, but withdraw with a painful and mourning soul and make all your previous labors useless for yourself? For if, as you say, you did not kill, did not commit adultery, did not steal, and did not bear false witness against anyone, then you make your effort about this useless for yourself - without adding the rest, through which alone you could enter the Kingdom of God. If a doctor promised to correct damage to your limbs that you have either by nature or by illness, wouldn’t you listen to it complacently? But when the great Physician of souls wants to make you perfect, who lacks the most essential, you do not accept mercy, but complain and become sad. It is obvious that you are far from this commandment and have falsely testified about yourself that you loved your neighbor as yourself. For what is commanded by the Lord completely exposes you that there is no true love in you. If it were true that you asserted that from your youth you kept the commandment of love and gave as much to everyone as you gave to yourself, then where did you get such a huge property? Caring for the needy is wasteful of wealth. Although everyone takes a little for the necessary maintenance, however, since everyone together receives a part of the estate, they spend it on themselves. Therefore, whoever loves his neighbor as himself has nothing in excess of his neighbor. But you find yourself having “great acquisitions” (Matthew 19:22). Where did you get this from? Isn’t it clear from this that you prefer your own pleasure to easing the lot of many? Therefore, the more wealth you have, the less love you have. You would have taken care to part with your money long ago if you loved your neighbor. And now property is more closely connected with you than bodily members; separation from him is as regrettable for you as the cutting off of the most necessary members. If you clothed the naked, if you gave your bread to the hungry, if your door were open to every stranger, if you were a father of orphans, if you gave to everyone who was weak, then what possessions would you grieve for now? Why should you be upset when you give away the rest, if you have long cared to share it with those in need? Moreover, no one grieves when he gives up his property in the marketplace and in return acquires what he needs; on the contrary, the lower the price he buys expensive things, the more he is glad that he succeeded in such a glorious exchange. And you grieve, giving away gold, silver and acquisitions, that is, giving up stones and dust in order to acquire a blessed life with them. But what will you use your wealth for? Will you clothe yourself with costly clothing? A tunic of two cubits will be enough for you; covering oneself with one garment will satisfy all clothing needs. But will you spend your wealth on a luxurious table? One piece of bread is enough to fill the belly. Why are you grieving? What are you missing out on? Is it the glory that comes from wealth? But if you begin to seek glory not on earth, then you will find that true and bright glory that brings you into the Kingdom of Heaven. “But the very possession of wealth is desirable, even if there is no benefit from it.” Everyone knows that worrying about something useless is unwise. But perhaps it will seem strange to you what I intend to say; however, this is most fair. Wealth, if spent as the Lord commands, remains in possession; and if you keep it, it moves away from the owner. If you take care of it, it will not be yours; if you waste it, you won’t lose it. For “spread, give to the needy: his righteousness endures forever” (Ps. 111:9). But wealth is not desired by many for the sake of clothing or food; on the contrary, the devil came up with some cunning way of causing thousands of expenses to the rich; Therefore, they strive for the superfluous and useless, as if it were something necessary - and everything is not enough for them for the expenses they come up with. They divide wealth into present needs and future needs: they set aside part for themselves and part for children; then this is divided to cover various expenses. Listen to what their orders are: this part, they say, will be used, and this part will be put aside in reserve; and let the portion allocated to cover needs exceed the limits of necessity; this will be used for household expenses, and this will be used to show off to people; this will make for pomp on the road, and this will ensure that, even while sitting at home, you can live a bright and noble life. And I can only marvel at such an invention of excess. They have thousands of chariots; Some of them carry all sorts of junk, others, covered with gold and silver, they ride on themselves. They have many horses, and they, like people, trace their genealogies according to the birth of their fathers: some carry them while walking around the city, others take part in hunting with them, others are ridden for the road. Bridles, girths, collars - all silver, all sprinkled with gold; scarlet blankets adorn the horses as grooms. They have many mules, divided according to color; Their charioteers replace each other, some in front, others behind. They have an innumerable number of other household servants, so that there is pomp of all kinds: stewards, housekeepers, cultivators, trained in every craft, both necessary and invented for pleasure and luxury; cooks, bakers, butlers, hunters, sculptors, painters, founders of pleasures of all kinds. They have herds of camels, sometimes carrying loads, sometimes grazing, herds of horses, herds of bulls, sheep and pigs; they have their shepherds with them; They have their own land, sufficient to feed all this (livestock) and also increasing their wealth with the income received from it. They have baths in the city, baths in their dachas. The houses shine with marbles of all kinds - one of Phrygian stone, another of Lacedaemonian or Thessalian slab; and some houses are warm in winter, others are cool in summer; the floors are dotted with multi-colored stones, the ceilings are gilded; Where there is no marble on the walls, it is decorated with picturesque flowers. And when, after being divided into countless expenses, wealth still remains in abundance, it is put in the ground, stored in secret places, because the future is unknown, lest some unexpected needs befall us. It is not known for sure whether you will need the buried gold, but the punishment for inhumane morals is not known. When, despite countless inventions, you could not squander your wealth, then you hid it in the ground. It is terrible madness to dig into the earth while the gold is still in the mine; and when it’s taken out of there, hide it in the ground again! And then, I think, it also happens that when you bury wealth, you bury your heart along with it. For it is said: “where... your treasure is there... and your heart” (Matthew 6:21). That is why the commandments are difficult (for such people); for they make their own lives miserable by being busy with useless expenses. And it seems to me that the passion of this young man and others like him is similar to what would happen if a traveler, with a strong desire to see the city, tirelessly reached this city itself, then stopped at some hotel under the city walls, out of laziness, made a short transition, turning the previous work into nothing and depriving himself of the opportunity to see the beauty of the city. Such are also those who, it is true, undertake to do something different, but do not agree to give up their property. I know many who fast, pray, sigh, and show all kinds of unprofitable reverence, but do not give a single gift to those who are pressed by need. What benefit do other virtues have for them? The Kingdom of God does not accept them. That is why it is said: “It is more convenient... I will let you pass through the ears of a needle, so that I am rich into the Kingdom” of Heaven (Luke 18:25). But although the verdict is so clear and the One who spoke is not deceitful, there are few who are convinced. They say: “How will we live, leaving everything behind? What form will life take if everyone starts selling, everyone gives up their property?” Do not ask me for the understanding of the Lord’s commandments; The legislator knows how to bring the possibility (of its execution) into conformity with the law. And your heart is tested, as if on a scale, where it is inclined, whether towards true life or towards real pleasures. Those who think sensibly should adhere to the idea that we can use wealth as a shareholder, and not as those who have the right to enjoy it. And those who refuse it should rejoice, like those who give up someone else’s property, and not be upset, like those who are deprived of property. Why are you grieving? Why do you complain in your soul when you hear: “Sell your property”? If it followed you even into the future life, then you would not have to be so attached to it, because it is overshadowed by the honors there. And if he needs to stay here, then why not sell it and take the profit from it with him? But you, giving gold and acquiring a horse, do not lose heart; and when you give up what is perishable and receive in return the Kingdom of Heaven, you shed tears, refuse the one who asks, renounce alms, inventing thousands of excuses for expenses. What will you answer to the Judge - you, who clothe walls with fabrics, but do not clothe a person; you remove the horses, but look indifferently at your brother, dressed disgustingly; you let the wheat rot and do not feed the hungry; Do you bury gold in the ground and ignore the oppressed? And if your partner is a rich woman, then it is a double disease. And she inflames whims, and increases voluptuousness, and irritates vain desires, inventing some kind of stones - pearls, emeralds, yachts, using gold, sometimes forged, sometimes woven, and intensifying the disease with nonsense of all kinds, because women do not do this casually, but spend days and nights worrying about this. And thousands of some kind of caresses, catering to their wishes, bring dyers, silversmiths, world makers, weavers, printmakers. She doesn’t let her husband breathe for a minute, tormenting him with her incessant orders. No wealth will be used to satisfy women's wishes, even if it flows in rivers; when they want to have myrrh brought from the barbarians, like oil from the market, sea flowers, shells, sea feathers, and in greater quantities than sheep’s wool. And gold, serving as a setting for precious stones, forms a decoration on their foreheads, then on their necks, then in their belts, or binds their arms and legs. For gold-loving women are pleased to wear shackles on their hands, as long as they are bound by gold. Therefore, when should a man who serves women’s wishes take care of the soul? Just as fragile ships sink from storms and bad weather, so the weak souls of their cohabitants perish from the evil inclinations of wives. And wealth, squandered on so many items by both husband and wife, who surpass each other in inventing vain expenses, naturally no longer has any opportunity to pass on to strangers. If you hear: “Sell your property and give it to the poor, so that you can have a path to eternal bliss,” you go away mourning. If they say: give the money to luxurious women, give it to stonemasons, carpenters, mosaics, painters, you rejoice as one who acquires something more precious than money. Do you not see these walls, destroyed by time, and the remains of which, like some kind of mounds, rise throughout the city? When they were erected, how many poor people were there in the city, whom the rich people of that time despised while caring for these buildings? Where are these magnificent buildings? Where is the one who aroused competition with such splendor? Isn’t everything turned into a heap and destroyed, like what children make out of sand for fun? Isn’t the builder in hell repenting that he cared about vain things? Try to have a great soul; and the walls, whether small or large, perform the same service. When I accidentally enter the house of a stupid and inopportunely rich man, and see that the house is covered with all kinds of flowers, then I find out that this man has no other jewelry than visible ones, that he decorates soulless things, but his soul is not decorated. Tell me, to what most advantageous use are silver beds and silver tables, beds and ivory seats, while for their sake wealth does not pass to the poor, although they stand in thousands at the doors and announce them with every plaintive voice? But you refuse alms, saying that it is impossible to satisfy those who ask. Your tongue confirms this with an oath, but your hand denies otherwise; she silently reveals your lies, shining with an expensive stone in her ring. How many people can be freed from debt with just one of your rings? how much to fix falling houses? One chest of yours with clothes can clothe an entire people, numb from the cold. But you, with bitterness, send away the poor man with nothing, not fearing righteous reward from the Judge: you have not had mercy, and you will not be allowed into the Kingdom; If you did not give bread, you will not receive eternal life. But you call yourself poor, and I agree. He is exactly the poor who needs a lot. And what makes us needy in many ways is the insatiability of desires. To the ten talents you try to add another ten; and when it became twenty, you ask for another twenty; and the constant effort does not stop the desire, but only inflames the desire. Just as for those who get drunk, more wine serves as an incentive to drink, so those who have become rich again, having acquired a lot, desire even more, feeding their illness with a constant increase in wealth. And this jealousy leads them to the opposite, because it is not so much what is in their hands, no matter how great it is, that makes them happy, but what saddens them is what they do not yet have, and what, in their opinion, they lack; That’s why their soul is always consumed by worries, yearning for more and more. They should rejoice and give thanks that they are more sufficient than many others, but they are dissatisfied and tormented because they have not compared with one or another who is richer than them. When they stand next to this rich man, they immediately try to compare themselves with the richer one; and if they achieve that, then they make another rich man the object of their competition. Just as those who enter the stairs constantly raise their feet to the highest step and do not stop until they reach the top, so these people do not calm down in their desire for possession until, having ascended high, they are broken from falling from above. The Creator of the universe arranged for the benefit of people that the Seleucid bird 39 is insatiable; and you, to the detriment of many, have made your soul insatiable. Whatever the eye sees, the covetous desires; “The eye of seeing will not be satisfied” (Eccl. 1:8), and the lover of money will not be satisfied with what he receives. Hell will not say: “It is sufficient” (Proverbs 30:16), and the covetous never says: “It is enough.” When will you make use of what you have? When will you begin to enjoy this, you who constantly devote yourself to the labors of acquisition? “Woe to those who join together house to house and village to village, so that they may take away something from their neighbor” (Isa. 5:8). What are you doing? Do you not invent thousands of pretexts to seize what belongs to your neighbor? He says: the neighbor’s house blocks my light, bothers me with noise, and receives tramps; or complaining about everything for which there is a chance, he drives, oppresses, constantly drags, torments, and does not calm down until he reaches the need to move. What brought the Israeli Naboth to death (1 Kings 21:1-16)? Isn't it Achaab's desire to have his vineyard? A covetous person is a bad neighbor in the city, a bad neighbor in the field. The sea knows its limits; the night does not transgress the boundaries set for it since ancient times; but the covetous does not respect time: he knows no limit, does not yield to the order of succession, but imitates the swiftness of fire; captures everything, devours everything. And just as rivers, at first coming out with small sources, then from gradual increments increasing to an irresistible force, with their desire carry away everything that blocks the way, so those who have achieved great power in the very fact that they have already oppressed some, acquiring the strength to do even greater harm, like those previously oppressed, enslave the rest; and with increasing power, wickedness also increases. For those who previously suffered evil from them provide them with involuntary help, assist in causing harm and offense to others. Which of the neighbors, of those who live together and of those who deal with them, does not get carried away? Nothing resists the power of wealth - everything bows before its autocracy, everything trembles at its dominion, because each of the offended thinks more about how not to suffer some kind of evil than about how to avenge what has been suffered. The rich man brings a pair of oxen, plows, sows, and reaps on land that does not belong to him. If you contradict, you will get blows. If you complain, they accuse you of insulting you; if you sue, you will go to jail; slanderers are ready who will bring you to the danger of losing your life. You will be glad to give something else, just to be freed from litigation. I would like you to rest a little from the deeds of unrighteousness, to give your mind time to think about the end to which care about this tends. You have such and such a number of acres of arable land under gardens, the same amount of some other land, mountains, fields, forests, rivers, meadows. What after this? Are not only three cubits of earth waiting for you? Wouldn't the weight of a few stones be enough to protect a pitiful body? Why are you working? Why are you acting unlawfully? Why do you gather with your own hands the barren and, oh, if only the barren, and not food for the eternal fire! Will you ever sober up from this rapture? Will you have common sense? Will you come to your senses? Will you imagine the judgment seat of Christ before your eyes? How will you be justified when the offended stand around you and cry out to the righteous Judge against you? What will you do then? What kind of intercessors will you hire for yourself? What witnesses will you present? How can you convince the Judge, who is not susceptible to any deception? There are no flourishes, no convincing eloquence that could hide the truth before the Judge. Neither flatterers, nor money, nor the greatness of dignity accompany you there. You will be left alone without friends, without helpers, defenseless, unrequited, ashamed, sad, despondent, abandoned, not daring to open your mouth. Wherever you turn your gaze, everywhere you see clear images of evil deeds: here the tears of an orphan, there the lamentations of a widow, there the poor you beat, the servants you tormented, the neighbors you irritated. Everything will rise up against you; the evil host of your evil deeds will surround you. For just as a shadow follows the body, so sins follow the soul, clearly depicting its deeds. Therefore, there is no place for denial, but even the most shameless lips are stopped; because everyone’s deeds testify to themselves, not by uttering a voice, but by appearing as they were done by us. How can I depict this horror before your eyes? If you only listen to me, if only you take this to heart, then remember that day on which “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven” (Rom. 1, 18); remember that day on which the glorious coming of Christ is revealed, when those who have done good will rise for the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil for the resurrection of judgment (John 5:29). Then there will be eternal shame for sinners and “jealousy will burn down those who resist” (Heb. 10:27). Let this grieve you, but do not let the commandment grieve you. How can I influence you? What should I tell you? You do not desire the kingdom, you are not afraid of Gehenna. Where can you find healing for your soul? If the terrible does not frighten, the joyful does not attract, then I speak to the stony heart. Look, man, at the nature of wealth. What surprises you so much about gold? Gold is a stone, silver is a stone, pearl is a stone, stone and any of the stones: chrysolite, beryl, agate, yakhont, amethyst, jasper. These are flowers of wealth, some of them you put in secrecy, covering the most transparent stones with darkness, and some you wear on yourself, vainly boasting of the brilliance of these jewels. Tell me: what is the use for you to twirl your hand, shining with stones? Are you not ashamed, like women during pregnancy, to whimsically desire stones? Just as they gnaw at stones, so you are greedy for these colored stones, looking for sardonics, jasper, and amethysts. What dress lover could add at least one day to his life? Has death spared anyone for the sake of wealth? Has anyone escaped illness for the sake of money? How long will gold be a snare for souls, a fishing rod for death, a bait for sin? How long can wealth serve as a pretext for wars, for which weapons are forged and swords are sharpened? For his sake, relatives do not know natural ties, brothers look at each other with murder. For the sake of wealth, the desert harbors murderers, the sea harbors robbers, and cities breed sneakers. Who is the father of lies? Who is the culprit behind false signatures? Who gave birth to perjury? Isn't it wealth? Is it not striving for wealth? What's happening to you people? Who turned your property into a means to catch you? The property was given to you as an aid to life, and not as a path to evil, for the redemption of the soul, and not as a reason for death. “But wealth is necessary for children.” This is a plausible excuse for covetousness; You refer to children, but satisfy your own heart. Don't blame the innocent; he has his own Lord, his own House-Builder; from another he received life, from Him he expects the means of life. Aren't the Gospels written for married people? “If you want to be perfect... sell what you have and give to the poor” (Matthew 19:21). Was it possible that when you asked the Lord for good fortune, when you prayed to be the father of children, you added this in your prayers: give me children to obey Your commandments; give me children so as not to reach the Kingdom of Heaven? Who will be the guarantor for the will of the son, that he will use this as it should? Wealth has led many to debauchery. Don’t you hear what Ecclesiastes says: I saw a great and terrible illness, “wealth is kept from the acquisitive for his harm” (Eccl. 5:12); also: “I leave it to a person who will follow me; and who knows whether he will be wise or foolish” (Eccl. 2:18–19)? So, take care that you, having collected wealth with much labor, do not prepare for others the means for sins and then suffer double punishment: both for the fact that you yourself committed a lie, and for the fact that you provided another with the means to do so. Isn't your soul closer to all children? Isn't it closer to you than everything else? Give her the best part of the inheritance first, provide her with rich means of living, and then distribute the estate to the children. Children, without inheriting anything from their parents, often made their own homes; but who will take pity on a soul if it is abandoned by you? What has been said so far was said to the fathers. What plausible reason for frugality does the childless present to us? “I don’t sell my property, I don’t give to the poor because of the necessary needs in life!” Consequently, the Lord is not your Teacher; The Gospel is not the rule for your life. But you give yourself laws. Look at the danger you are running into by reasoning like this! If the Lord has prescribed this to us as necessary, but you reject it as impossible, then you are not asserting anything else, but that you are more intelligent than the Lawgiver. “But having enjoyed wealth throughout my life, after death I will make the poor heirs of my estate, declaring them in writing and in wills the owners of all mine.” When you are no longer among people, then you will become philanthropic. When I see you dead, then I will call you a brotherly lover. Great gratitude to you for your generosity, that, lying in the tomb and resolved into the ground, you became generous with expenses and magnanimous! Tell me, for what time will you demand a reward? During life or after death? But while you were alive, spending your life on pleasure, immersing yourself in luxury, you couldn’t bear to even look at the poor; What kind of activity does the deceased have? To what reward are his actions entitled? Show your deeds and demand retribution. Nobody trades when the bargaining is over; no one is crowned if he came after the end of the struggle; no one shows his courage after battle. Therefore, as is obvious, it is impossible to become pious even after life. You promise to do charity in ink and writing. And who will tell you the time of departure? Who can guarantee what kind of death will be? How many people were snatched from life in violent fits, so that they could not utter a single word from suffering? How many have fever made them without control of their minds? Why are you waiting for a time when, as often happens, you will not be the master of your thoughts? It’s late at night, there’s a serious illness, and there’s no helper; he who plans an inheritance is ready, has arranged everything in his favor, and makes your intentions unfulfillable. Then, having looked here and there, and seeing the emptiness surrounding you, you will finally feel your recklessness, then you will sigh about your foolishness, that until such a time you put off fulfilling the commandment, when your tongue weakens, and your trembling hand is already shaking from the dying tremors, and you cannot declare your will either in words or in writing. Yes, even if everything is clearly written and every word is spoken separately, one inserted letter is enough to change your order; one false seal, two or three unrighteous witnesses can transfer the entire inheritance to others. Why are you deceiving yourself? Now you mismanage your wealth for carnal pleasures, and later you promise something over which you will no longer be master. Bad, as the word showed, is your intention. While I am alive, I will enjoy pleasures, and when I die I will fulfill what is commanded. And Abraham will say to you: “You have received your goodness in your belly” (Luke 16:25). The narrow and cramped path does not accept you, who have not laid aside the burden of wealth; you went, carrying it on yourself, and not throwing it off, as you were commanded. During your life, you preferred yourself to the commandments, but after death and destruction you preferred the commandment to your enemies; You say, so that so and so doesn’t get it, let the Lord take it. What should we call this: vengeance on enemies or love for one’s neighbor? Read your will. “I wish I could live a little longer and enjoy my property.” Gratitude is to death, not to you: if you were immortal, you would not remember the commandments. “Do not be flattered: God is not mocked” (Gal. 6:7). The dead are not brought to the altar: offer a living sacrifice. Whoever brings excess is not accepted; and you bring what is left in abundance after your whole life to the Benefactor. If you don’t dare treat famous people with the leftovers of a meal, then how dare you appease God with the leftovers? You see, rich people, the end of the love of wealth and stop being addicted to possessions. The more you love wealth, the more do not leave anything of your property. Make everything your own; Take everything with you, do not leave wealth to strangers. It may be that your family will not clothe you with the latest decoration, but will refuse burial, showing their favor to your heirs. Or they will then begin to speculate to your disadvantage and say: it is stupid to dress up a dead person and at great expense to bury someone who no longer feels anything. Isn’t it better for those who remain to dress up in expensive and brilliant clothes, rather than let valuable clothes rot with the dead? What is the use of a magnificent monument, a rich burial, or fruitless expense? The rest must be used for the necessities of life. This is what they will say in order to take revenge on you for your intolerable actions and to serve your heirs with your estate. Therefore, first perform a burial over yourself; and a beautiful burial - piety. Depart from here, having put on everything; turn wealth into your own decoration, have it with you. Trust the wonderful Counselor, Christ, who loved you, who became poor for our sake, “that through His poverty we might be rich” (2 Cor. 8:9), who gave Himself redemption for us (1 Tim. 2:6). Either we will believe Him as wise and knowing what is good for us, or we will tolerate Him as the One who loved us, or we will pay tribute to Him as our Benefactor. Let us certainly fulfill what is commanded to us, in order to become heirs of eternal life, in Christ Himself, to Whom be glory and dominion forever and ever! Amen. This bird, according to the ancients, destroys locusts. You might be interested in: