Беседа 36

Spoken to the people in the Church of the Holy Apostles Philip and James in the second week after Pentecost. Reading the Holy Gospel: Luke 14.16–24. Luke 14.16–24. He said to him, “One man made a big supper and invited many, and when the time for supper came, he sent his servant to say to those invited: go, for everything is already ready. And everyone, as if by agreement, began to apologize. The first one said to him: I bought land and I need to go and look at it; please forgive me. Another said: I bought five pairs of oxen and am going to test them; please forgive me. The third said: I got married and therefore cannot come. And, returning, that servant reported this to his master. Then, angry, the owner of the house said to his servant: go quickly through the streets and alleys of the city and bring here the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. And the servant said: Master! done as you ordered, and there is still room. The master said to the servant: go along the roads and hedges and persuade them to come, so that my house may be filled. For I tell you that none of those who are called will taste my supper, for many are called, but few are chosen. 1. Most beloved brethren, the difference between the pleasures of the flesh and the soul is that bodily pleasures arouse a strong desire for themselves when they are not there, and when they are tasted, immediately upon satisfaction they become disgusting to the taster. On the contrary, spiritual pleasures are disgusting when you don’t have them, but when you have them, then they are desirable; and the more they excite thirst in the one who enjoys them, the more they delight the thirsty one. In those, the appetite feasts, but the experience does not please; in these, the appetite is small, but the experience is very tasty. In those, appetite gives rise to satiety, and satiety gives rise to disgust; and in these, appetite gives rise to satiety, and saturation gives birth to appetite. For spiritual pleasures increase desire in the soul when they satisfy it, because the more their taste is felt, the more is that which should be greedily loved recognized. Therefore, if they are not tasted, they cannot be loved, because the taste is unknown. For who can love what he does not know? That is why the Psalmist exhorts us, saying: “Taste and see how good the Lord is!” (Ps 33.9). Clearly he seems to say this: “You do not know His goodness, because you do not taste it. But add the food of life to the taste of your heart, so that you may love its sweetness after tasting it.” Man lost these pleasures when he sinned in paradise (Gen. 3.6); he came out when he closed his mouth from the food of Eternal Sweetness. Therefore, we, born in the misfortune of this journey, came here with disgust for them, and do not know what we should desire, and the sickness of our disgust increases the more the more our soul moves away from tasting this sweetness; and the more she no longer desires inner pleasures, the longer she has become unaccustomed to tasting them. So, we grow thin from our disgust and become tired from the long illness of not eating. And since we do not want to taste the ready-made sweetness within us, we, unfortunate ones, love our hunger outside. But Supreme Love does not leave us even when we leave it. 2. For He reminds us of these pleasures that we despise and offers them to us; the promise shakes rigidity and encourages us to abandon our disgust. For he says: “one man made a big supper and invited many.” Who is this man if not the One about whom it is said through the Prophet: “The heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who will recognize him? (Jer 17.9)? He created a “great supper” because He prepared for us the contentment of inner pleasure. He called many, but few come, because even those who are devoted to Him by faith often contradict His Eternal Supper with a bad life. Then it follows: “and when the time for supper came, he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited: go, for everything is ready.” What is this year of the supper if not the end of the world? It is at this very end that we find ourselves, as Paul testified long ago, saying: “But it is written for our instruction, having reached the last ages” (1 Cor 10.11). So, if the time for supper has already come when we are called, then the less we should refuse the Supper of God, the closer we see the end of the age. For the more clearly we understand that there is nothing left, the more we must fear, lest we destroy the present time of grace. But this feast of God is not called dinner, but suppers, because after dinner there remains supper, and after supper there remains no feast. And since God’s Eternal Feast will be prepared for us after the end of the world, it was fair to call it not lunch, but supper. But who is signified by this slave, who is sent by the owner to be called, if not the rank of preachers? It is to this rank that we, unworthy, belong, although we are burdened with the weight of our sins, but despite that, we are slaves these days. And when I say something for your edification, then I do the work of a slave sent from the Supreme Master. If I exhort you to despise the world, then I come to invite you to the Supper of God. In this place no one should despise me for my sake. But if I am by no means worthy to be summoned, nevertheless, the pleasures that I promise are great. Often, my brethren, what I say usually happens, namely, that a powerful person has a despised slave; and when through him it gives any answer to its own or to strangers, then they do not despise the face of the speaking slave, because they retain respect in their hearts for the sending master. Those who listen do not think about through whom, but what or from whom they hear. Therefore, brothers, you do the same, and if, perhaps, you despise us with dignity, then retain in your soul respect for the calling Lord. Be willing to be guests of the Supreme Host. Shake your hearts and throw out of them the deadening disgust. For everything is ready for the destruction of your disgust. But if you are still carnal people, then perhaps you desire carnal feasts. The most carnal feasts have been turned into spiritual nourishment for you. For to destroy disgust in your soul, at the Lord’s Supper this One and Only Lamb was slain for you. 3. But what do we do, who see from the experience of many who do the same thing, which is added: “and they all began, as if by agreement, to apologize.” God offers what should have been asked of Him; without asking he wants to give what could hardly be hoped for; and, despite this, they despise the One who generously gives; He announces the ready pleasures of eternal peace, and yet everyone refuses together. Let us mentally imagine the smaller in order to be able to adequately judge the larger. If one of the mighty (of this world) sent to invite some poor man to himself, then what, brethren, I ask, what would this poor man do, if not that he would rejoice at this invitation, humbly make a promise, change his clothes and hasten to go quickly, so that another would not warn him by the arrival of a strong man at the feast? So, the rich man invites, and the poor man hurries to go to him; but we are invited to the feast of God, and we refuse. But I can think that your hearts should answer themselves. For they, perhaps, in their innermost thoughts say to themselves: “We do not want to refuse, because we rejoice at the invitation to this feast of the great renewal, and we go to it.” 4. In saying this to you, your souls are speaking the truth, if they do not love earthly things more than heavenly things, if they are not more concerned with physical things than spiritual ones. And therefore, the very reason for those refusing is added here, when it is immediately said: “The first said to him: I bought the land and I need to go see it; Please forgive me." What does "village" mean if not an earthly creature? So, one who thinks only about the external in essence came out to inspect the village. “Another said: I bought five pairs of oxen and am going to test them; Please forgive me." What do we take for five pairs of oxen, if not the five bodily senses? And they are correctly called pairs, because there are two of them for both sexes. They are called bodily senses precisely because they cannot understand the internal, but cognize only the external, and, leaving the internal, touch only the external; through them curiosity is correctly indicated. This (curiosity), wanting to find out about someone else’s life, never knowing its own inner life, wants to think about the external. For curiosity is an important vice; it externally disposes the mind of everyone to examine the life of his neighbor and always hides his inner life from him, so that he, knowing about others, does not know himself; and the more knowledgeable the mind of the curious is in the merits of others, the less knowledgeable it will be in its own. That is why it is said about the same five pairs of oxen: “I am going to test them; Please forgive me." For the very words of the one who refuses do not differ from the meaning of his vice when he says “I am coming to tempt them,” precisely because the test usually belongs to curiosity. But it is remarkable that both the one who refuses the supper of his inviter because of the purchase of the village, and the one who refuses because of the need to test pairs of oxen, add words of humility, saying: “I beg you, forgive me.” For when one and the other says “I pray you,” and yet despises the invitation, then humility is expressed in language, but in reality pride. And let every wicked person think about this when he listens and yet does not stop doing what he condemns. For when we say to every sinner, “turn, follow God, leave the world,” then where do we invite him, if not to the Lord’s supper? And when he answers: “pray for me, because I am a sinner and cannot do this,” then what else is he doing if he does not ask and refuses? For saying: “I am a sinner,” shows humility, but adding: “I cannot convert,” reveals pride. So, when asking, the one who shows humility in words, but in deeds expresses pride, refuses. 5. “The third said: I got married and therefore cannot come.” What is meant by wife if not carnal pleasure? For although marriage is honest and established by Divine Providence for the multiplication of offspring, yet some seek through it not the multiplication of children, but the satisfaction of the desires of the flesh, and therefore a righteous deed can be decently signified by an unjust deed. So, the supreme Master of the House invites you to the supper of the Eternal Feast, but since one is devoted to covetousness, another to curiosity, the third to the pleasures of the flesh, then it is the wicked who are all denied. When one is occupied by earthly cares, another is haunted by thinking about other people's affairs, a third defiles the soul with the pleasures of the flesh, then each, having an aversion, does not rush to the feasts of Eternal Life. 6. It follows: “And when that servant returned, he reported this to his master. Then, angry, the owner of the house said to his servant: go quickly through the streets and alleys of the city and bring here the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind.” The one who is more attached to the earthly essence refuses to go to the Lord’s Supper; the one who indulges in the sweaty labor of curiosity has an aversion to the prepared dishes of life; the one who satisfies carnal desires rejects the feasts of the spiritual supper. So, since the proud refuse to go, the poor are chosen. Why is this so? Because, according to Paul, “God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the strong things” (1 Cor 1.27). But it is remarkable how those who are called and come to the supper are described: “both the poor and the needy.” Those who, by their own judgment, are weak before themselves are called beggars and poor. For the poor, and the seemingly strong, are those who are proud in poverty itself. The blind are those who do not have the light of wisdom. And the lame are those who cannot walk upright in their work. But when the vices of morals are signified by the weakness of the members, then it is obvious that just like those sinners who did not want to come when invited, so are those who are invited and come. But proud sinners are rejected so that humble sinners can be chosen. 7. So, God chooses those whom the world despises, because for the most part contempt itself brings a person to his senses. For the one who left his father and lived fornicately on part of the property he received, after he began to starve, came to his senses and said: “How many of my father’s hired servants have bread to spare” (Luke 15.17)? For he went far from himself when he sinned. And if he had not been hungry, he would not have come to his senses, because he began to think about the loss of spiritual objects after suffering extreme need for earthly needs. So, the poor and needy, the blind and the lame are called and come because they are helpless and despicable in this world, and for the most part, the sooner they hear the voice of God, the less joy they have in this world. This is well depicted by the Egyptian, the slave of the Amalekites (1 Samuel 30.11 et seq.), who was thrown sick on the road by the robbers and fleeing Amalekites, and was dying of hunger and thirst. However, David found him, fed him and gave him something to drink; Therefore, he immediately recovered and became David’s guide. He discovered the feasting Amalekites and with great courage struck down those who had left him weak. For the Amalekite people are called “lickers.” And what is meant by the people “licking” if not the souls of the people of this age? They, bypassing everything earthly, seem to lick it, enjoying only the temporary. For it is as if a licking people acquires spoils when lovers of earthly things increase their profits at the expense of the harm of others. But the sick Egyptian youth was left on the road, because every sinner, when he begins to weaken from the state of this world, is immediately subjected to contempt from the souls of this age. But David finds him, gives him food and drink, because with the hand of the brave the Lord does not despise those abandoned by the world, and for the most part those who, not having the strength to follow the world, remain, as it were, on the road, he turns to the grace of His love and provides us with the food and drink of His word; and chooses, as it were, to be His guides on the way, when He even makes them His preachers. For they, bringing Christ to the hearts of sinners, bring, as it were, David to their enemies. They, like David, slay the feasting Amalekites with the sword, because by the power of the Lord they overthrow all the proud who despised them in the world. So, the Egyptian youth, left on the road, destroys the Amalekites; because for the most part, through preaching, the souls of the people of this age are conquered by the very ones who previously did not have the strength to walk in this world along with the people of this age. 8. But let us listen to what the servant says after bringing the poor to the supper: “Master! fulfilled as you ordered, and there is still room." For the Lord's Supper many of those from Judea were gathered, but the multitude of those who believed from the people of Israel did not fill the place of the High Feast. Many Jews have already ascended, but there is still a place in the Kingdom into which a certain number of pagans must be accepted. That is why it is said to the same servant: “Go along the roads and hedges and persuade them to come, so that my house may be filled.” When the Lord invites some to supper from the streets and squares, then He designates precisely such a people who knew the fulfillment of the law in civil cohabitation; and when he commands to call to Himself interlocutors from the roads and from the cities, then He wants to gather precisely the nomadic people, that is, the pagans, about the commemoration of which through the Psalmist it is said: “then all the trees of the grove will rejoice at the presence of the Lord, because He is coming” (Ps. 95:12-13). For the pagans are called “trees of oak” because they have always been lost in their unbelief and unfruitful. Therefore, those who were converted from this life in the field came to the supper as if from the cities. 9. But it should be noted that in this invitation the words “invite” are not used, but: “convince to come.” For some are invited and do not want to come, others are invited and come; about the third it is absolutely impossible to say that they are called upon, but are forced to attend. Those who are invited, but do not want to come, are those who, although they receive the gift of understanding, do not correspond in deeds to this very understanding; those who express the received grace of understanding in deeds are invited and come, and some are invited so much that they are even forced. For there are some who understand that they should do good works, but do not want to do them; they see what they should do, but they do not follow it with desire. What happens to these (people), as we said above, is that they are struck by misfortune in their carnal desires, they try to acquire temporary glory and cannot; and when they propose to sail on the surface of the sea, as if to the greatest things of this world, they are always driven by contrary winds to the shores of their rejection. And when they see that everything goes against their desires for the resistance of the world, then they remember what they should be for their Creator, so that those who, proud of the love of the world, leave Him, return to Him with shame. For often some, desiring to achieve temporary glory, either languish from a long illness, or fall from injury, or are grieved by suffering important losses, and in the sorrow of the world they see that they should not have expected anything from its pleasantness, and, reproaching themselves for their desires, they turn their hearts to God. It is about them that the Lord speaks through the Prophet: “Therefore, behold, I will block her path with thorns and surround her with a fence, and she will not find her paths, and will pursue her lovers, but will not overtake them, and will seek them, but will not find them, and will say: I will go and return to my first husband; for then it was better for me than now” (Hosea 2.6, 7). For the soul of every believer, the husband is God, because it is precisely united with Him through faith. But this soul, which was united with God, follows its lusts, when the mind, already a believer, submits through action to unclean spirits; seeks worldly glory, feeds on bodily pleasure, enjoys exquisite pleasures. But Almighty God for the most part looks mercifully on such a soul and mixes bitterness with its pleasures. Therefore he says: “I will block her path with thorns.” For our paths are blocked with thorns when we feel painful ulcerations in the evil that we desire. “I will block her path with thorns and surround her with a fence, and she will not find her paths.” Our crossroads are rewarded when our desires in this world are opposed by strong obstacles. And we do not find our paths, because they do not allow us to receive what we desire with bad disposition. “And he will pursue his lovers, but will not overtake them, and he will seek them, but will not find them” ; because the soul, in order to satisfy its desires, does not find those evil spirits to which it surrendered in its desires. But he adds what benefit comes from this saving trouble, saying further: “And he will say: I will go and return to my first husband; for then it was better for me than now.” So, after she finds her paths blocked by thorns, after she cannot find her lusts, she returns to the love of her first husband, because for the most part, after we cannot get in this world what we want, after we are exhausted from the impossibility of satisfying our desires, we turn our minds to God, we begin to like the One who did not like; and He whose commandments were bitter to us suddenly becomes sweet in remembrance; and the sinful soul, which tried to be an adulterer, but clearly could not be such, decides to be a faithful wife. So, my brethren, what can we say about those who return to love, being forced by the failures of this world, and are corrected in the desires of this life, if not what they are forced to understand? 10. But the thought that immediately follows is very scary. Listen to it with intense attention, my brothers and masters: sinners are my brothers; and the righteous are my lords. Listen to it with intense attention, so that you will feel it less in court than you listen to it with more fear in a sermon. For he says: “For I tell you that none of those invited will taste my supper.” Here He calls personally, calls through Angels, calls through Fathers, calls through Prophets, calls through Apostles, calls through Shepherds, calls even through us, calls mostly through miracles, calls many times through admonitions, sometimes calls through the happiness of this world, sometimes calls through misfortunes. No one should despise (the call), so that, by refusing when called, he would not be deprived of the opportunity to enter when he wants. Listen to what Wisdom says through Solomon: “Then they will call me, and I will not hear; They will seek me in the morning and will not find me” (Proverbs 1.28). That is why the foolish virgins, who arrived late, cry out, saying: “Lord, Lord, open to us” (Matthew 25.11). But then those seeking entry are told: “Truly, truly, I say to you, I do not know you” (Matthew 25.12). What should we, beloved brethren, do if we do not abandon everything - put aside worldly concerns and deal only with eternal desires? – But this is given to few. 11. I want to convince you to leave everything, but I don’t hope for success in advance. So, if you cannot leave everything in the world, then possess the goods of this world so that they do not keep you in the world, so that an earthly thing belongs to you, but does not possess you; so that what you have is under the control of your soul, so that your soul, overcome by love for earthly things, does not itself fall into the possession of its own things. So, let there be a temporary thing in use, and an eternal thing in desire; let there be a temporary thing on the way, and let an eternal thing be the object of desire upon arrival (in the fatherland). We must look at what is happening in this world, as if from the outside. And the eyes of the soul look directly at us when they examine with full attention what we are approaching. Vices must be exterminated to the ground, they must be eradicated not only from activity, but even from the thoughts of the heart. For us, neither the pleasure of the flesh, nor vain curiosity, nor strong ambition should serve as an obstacle to the procession to the Lord’s Supper, but we should, as if with some side of the soul, touch even the very thing that we honestly do in the world, so that the earthly blessings that please our body serve it in such a way that they do not pose an obstacle to the heart. So, brothers, we do not dare tell you to leave everything, but, however, if you want, you leave everything, even if you possess it, if you use the temporary in such a way that at the same time you strive for the eternal with all your thoughts. 12. That is why the Apostle Paul says: “I tell you, brethren: the time is now short, so that those who have wives must be as if they had not; and those who weep as if they were not weeping; and those who rejoice, as if they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as if they did not acquire; and those who use this world as if they do not use it; for the image of this world is passing away” (1 Cor 7.29–31). For he who “has a wife,” and as it were “has not,” is one who so knows how to give his due to the flesh that through it he is not forced to be tied to the world with his whole soul. When the same glorious preacher says: “But a married man cares about the things of the world, how to please his wife. There is a difference between a married woman and a virgin” (1 Cor 7.33); then he who has a wife and, as it were, does not have one, is the one who tries to please his wife in such a way that at the same time he pleases the Creator. And the “crying”, but as if “not crying”, is the one who is so amazed by temporary losses that he is always consoled by Eternal Profits. And the “rejoicing”, but as if “not rejoicing”, is the one who becomes cheerful from temporary blessings so that he always remembers the incessant torment; and in that which disposes the soul to joy, it is constrained by the weight of prudent fear. Those who “buy,” but who do not seem to own, are those who prepare earthly things for use; and yet, with careful reflection, he foresees that he will soon leave it. And “he who demands peace,” but who, as it were, “does not demand,” is the one who acquires everything necessary to support his life, and yet does not allow it to prevail over his soul, so that external objects serve him, but never interrupt the attention of the soul, striving for the heavenly. So, for those who are such, everything earthly exists decidedly not for desire, but for use, because although they use what is necessary, they do not want anything to do with sin. They receive rewards every day for their very possessions, and rejoice more in a good deed than in a rich possession. 13. But lest anyone find this difficult, I will tell you about an event involving a person that was known to many of you; I learned about this particular event from reliable people three years before this, in the city of Centumcellens. For in this city recently lived Count Theophan, a man devoted to works of mercy, constantly busy with good deeds, especially distinguished by his hospitality. Busy with affairs according to his rank, he did earthly and temporary things, but, as is clearly seen from his death, more out of obligation than out of desire. For when, at the time of his death, there was terrible bad weather, so that it was not possible to bury him, and when his wife asked him with bitter tears, saying: “What should I do? How will I bury you when I cannot leave the door of this house due to extreme bad weather? Then he answered: “Don’t cry, my friend; because as soon as I die, the weather will become good.” His words were followed by death, and death by good weather. His hands and feet were swollen from gout, all were covered in wounds and exuded ichor. But when his body, according to custom, was opened for washing, then his arms and legs turned out to be intact, as if they had never had any wounds. So, he was escorted out and buried, and his wife thought that on the fourth day it was necessary to change the marble laid on his grave. When exactly the marble that was placed over his body was removed, then such a fragrance came from the body of the deceased, as if aromas for worms were prepared in abundance from his rotting body. So, I said this so that from the nearest example it could be shown that some lead a secular life and do not have a secular mood. For such people are connected with the world by necessity, so that they cannot completely renounce the world; therefore, they must contain the worldly in such a way as to be able to not obey it with the mood of the soul. So, think about this, and when you cannot leave everything that belongs to the world, then dispose of external things wisely, but internally hasten with zeal towards the Eternal. There should be nothing that would slow down the striving of your soul; no attachment to any thing should bind you in this world. If one loves good things, then the soul should enjoy the best goods, i.e. heavenly. If they are afraid of evil, then eternal disasters must be imagined for the soul so that, imagining itself there, it will love what is there more and fear what is there more, so as not to cleave to what is here. For such activity we have the Mediator of God and men, our Helper, through whom we will soon receive everything if we burn with true love for Him who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen. You might be interested in: