Беседа 13

Spoken to the people in the church of blessed Felix the Confessor on the day of his suffering. Reading the Holy Gospel: Luke 12.35–40. Luke 12.35–40. During this time, Jesus spoke to His disciples: Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning. And you be like people who wait for their master to return from marriage, so that when he comes and knocks, they will immediately open the door for him. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, finds awake; Truly I tell you, he will gird himself and make them sit down, and he will come and serve them. And if he comes in the second watch, and in the third watch, and finds them like this, then blessed are those servants. You know that if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief would come, he would have been awake and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. Be ready, too, for at an hour you do not think, the Son of Man will come. 1. To you, beloved brethren, the reading of the Holy Gospel has been revealed to you. But so that its very content does not seem too high to anyone, for this we will briefly review it, since its interpretation for those who do not know should be clear so that it does not become a burden for those who know. That in men lust lies in the loins, and in women in the navel, this is evidenced by the Lord, who speaks of the devil to blessed Job, saying: “Behold, his strength is in his loins and his strength in the muscles of his belly” (Job 40.11). So, in the case of the main sex, the name loins means intemperate living, when the Lord says: “Let your loins be girded.” For we gird our loins when we bridle the lust of the flesh through self-control. But since it does not mean much to move away from “evil,” if at the same time everyone does not desire feats of good deeds, then immediately it is added: “and burning lamps” (in your hands). We hold burning lamps in our hands when through good deeds we show examples of light to our neighbors. It is about these very deeds that the Lord says: “Let your light so shine before people, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5.16). But two commandments were given: to gird the loins and to hold lamps, so that there would be purity of chastity in the body and true light in activity. For our Redeemer cannot please one without the other, if either the one who does good does not yet abandon the filth of lust, or the one who is famous for chastity does not still practice good deeds. Therefore, just as chastity is of no importance without good activity, so good activity is insignificant without chastity. 2. But if both are accomplished, it still remains that each such (person) strives with hope towards the Higher Fatherland and refrains from vices not only for the sake of the honor of this world. At least sometimes someone begins something good for the sake of honor, however, he should not remain in this intention forever, should not seek the glory of the present world through good deeds, but base all hope on the coming of his Redeemer. Why is it immediately added: “And you be like people waiting for their master to return from marriage.” Because the Lord departed for the wedding, when, having risen from the dead, he ascended into heaven, the new man united with Himself the highest multitude of Angels. He returns when he appears to us at the judgment seat. 3. But it is well added about the waiting servants: “so that when he comes and knocks, it will immediately open to Him.” For the Lord returns when He hastens to judgment, but He grows tired when, with the severity of the illness, He predicts imminent death. We open to Him immediately if we accept Him with love. For he does not want to open (the doors) to the Judge who strikes them, who is afraid of leaving the body and seeing Him Whom he trembles as the Judge, because he remembers that he despised Him. But he who is secure in his hope and activity immediately opens (the doors) to him who strikes them, because he joyfully endures the test of the Judge; and when he recognizes the time of imminent death, then he rejoices in the glory of retribution. Why is it immediately added: “Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, finds awake.” He is vigilant who has open eyes of mind to see the true light; He who actually does what he believes is vigilant; he who drives away the darkness of laziness and negligence is vigilant. This is why Paul says: “Be sober as you ought, and do not sin” (1 Cor 15.34). Therefore, he says again: “The hour has come for us to awaken from sleep” (Rom 13.11). 4. But let us listen to what the Lord who has come does for the watchful servants: “Truly I say to you, he will gird himself and make them sit down, and he will come and serve them.” “He will gird himself,” prepare for retribution, and “plant them,” that is, in Eternal Peace for bliss. Because to sit means to “rest in the Kingdom.” Why does the Lord say again: “They will come... and lie down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob” (Matthew 8.11). The passing Lord serves because He satisfies us with the illumination of His light. But it is said that he “passes away” when he returns from judgment to reign. Or will the Lord truly pass us by after the judgment, because He lifts us up from the human image of the state to the contemplation of His Divinity. And His passing means leading us to a vision of His glory, when we see Him Whom we see in humanity at the judgment, after the judgment, in the Divinity. For going to judgment, He will appear to everyone in the form of a slave, that is, human, as it is written: “They will look at Him whom they have pierced” (Zechariah 12.10; John 19.37). But when the wicked are tortured, then the righteous are translated into the glory of His light, as it is written: “Let the wicked be lifted up, so that he may not see the glory of the Lord” (Isaiah 26.10). 5. But what if the slaves are careless during the first watch? – For the first guard is the guarding of the first age. But there is no need to despair and stop doing good. For the Lord, instilling in us about his long-suffering, adds: “And if he comes in the second watch, and in the third watch, and finds them in this way, then blessed are those servants.” For the first watch is the time of the first age, that is, childhood. The second is youth, or youth, which, on the basis of the sacred saying, are identical, as Solomon says: “rejoice, young man, in your youth” (Eccl. 11.9). The third is taken for old age. So, whoever did not want to stay awake during the first watch, let him stay alert at least during the second, so that whoever neglected to turn from his sins in adolescence will perk up on the path of life, at least during his youth. And whoever did not want to stay awake during the second watch, let him not omit the means of reward during the third watch, so that whoever does not stand in the way of life in youth will at least come to his senses in old age. “Weigh, beloved brethren, that the love of God has blocked our stubbornness from everywhere. There is no longer anything in which a person can find an excuse. God does not see attention to Himself - and waits; He sees that they despise Him and invites Him to Himself; accepts the insult of contempt - and yet at one time even promises rewards to those who turn to Him. - But no one should neglect this long-suffering of Him, because at the trial He will demand the strictest justice, the more He endured before the trial. That is why Paul says: “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and revelation of righteous judgment from God” (Rom 2.5). Therefore, the Psalmist says: “God is a righteous judge, [mighty and long-suffering]” (Ps 7.12). For, intending to say “long-suffering,” he first called Him “righteous,” so that you would know that He whom you see long-suffering the sins of the wicked will never judge righteously. Therefore, through a certain wise man it is said: “a higher one watches over the high, and a higher one over them” (Eccl. 5.7). He is called a warden because he tolerates the sins of people and avenges them. For those who are lenient longer in anticipation of their conversion, he will punish more severely if they do not convert. To shock the laziness of our spirit, even external harm is exposed through similarity, in order to arouse the spirit to guard itself. For it is said: “You know that if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.” From this preliminary similarity another admonition is deduced when it is said: “Be ready, too, for at an hour when you do not think, the Son of Man will come.” For, out of ignorance of the owner, the thief breaks into the house, because when the spirit falls asleep on guard over itself, then unforeseen death, coming, breaks into the dwelling of our flesh and kills the owner whom it finds sleeping, because when the spirit does not foresee future harm, then death kidnaps it, ignorant, to punishment. But he would have resisted the thief if he had been awake, because, fearing the coming of the Judge, Who secretly steals the soul, he would have met Him with repentance, so as not to perish in unrepentance. 6. Our Lord deigned to hide the last hour from us so that we could always expect it, so that when we cannot foresee it, then we oblige ourselves to be urgently prepared for it. “Then, my brothers, fix the eyes of your mind on the condition of mortality, prepare yourself for the coming Judge with daily weeping and sobbing. And when certain death threatens everyone, then do not think about the uncertain providence of temporary life. Let not worry about earthly things weigh you down. For the flesh, no matter how it is decorated with heaps of gold and silver, no matter what precious clothes it is dressed in, what else is it like flesh? So, do not pay attention to what you have, but to what you are. Do you want to hear that you exist? The Prophet shows this when he says: “all flesh is grass” (Isaiah 40.6). For, if the people are not “hay,” then where are those who, with us, the year before, celebrated the day of the suffering of Blessed Felix, which we still celebrate today? - Oh, how much and what prudent things they thought about real life, but when the hour of death arrived, they were suddenly caught in something they did not want to foresee, and together they lost everything temporary, the collection of which, apparently, they were constantly holding on to! So, if, having outlived its life, the multitude of the human race became green in the flesh through birth, and withered in dust through death, then it was precisely hay. Since the hours run by their minutes, then, most beloved brethren, ensure that they are supported by the reward of good activity. Listen to what the Wise Solomon says: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your strength; for in the grave, where you will go, there is no work, no reflection, no knowledge, no wisdom” (Eccl. 9.10). Since we do not know the time of coming death, and we cannot act after death, it remains for us to take advantage of favorable times before death. For in this way death itself, when it comes, will be defeated if, before its coming, we always fear it. You might be interested in: