Беседа 5

Spoken to the people in the Church of St. Andrew the Apostle on the day of his martyrdom. Reading the Holy Gospel: Matthew 4.18–22. Matthew 4.18–22. Passing near the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers: Simon, called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting nets into the sea, for they were fishermen, and he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they immediately left their nets and followed Him. From there, going further, He saw two other brothers, James Zebedee and John his brother, in a boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and called them. And they immediately left the boat and their father and followed Him. 1. Most beloved brethren, you have heard that at one word of command Peter and Andrew followed the Redeemer. But they did not see Him perform any miracles, they did not hear anything from Him about the reward of eternal recompense; and yet, at the sole command of the Lord, they forgot about what they seemed to own. Why is it that no matter how much we see miracles, no matter how much we are struck by scourges, no matter how much we are frightened by the cruelty of threats, we nevertheless neglect to follow the Caller. The One who calls us is already sitting in heaven; He has already bowed the necks of the tongues under the yoke of faith; has already destroyed the glory of the world; is already announcing the approaching day of His Last Judgment with its terrible ruins; and yet our proud soul does not want to voluntarily desire what it daily loses under duress. So, most beloved, what will we say at His Judgment, when we do not turn away from the love of the present age either by His commandments or by His threats? 2. But perhaps someone in their secret thoughts will say: these - one and the other - fishermen who had almost nothing, what or how much did they leave, according to the word of the Lord? “But in this matter, dearest brethren, we must value spiritual disposition more than possessions.” He leaves a lot who does not retain anything; he left a lot, who, no matter how little he had, abandoned everything. It is a well-known fact that we both possess with love what we have, and strongly desire what we do not have. Consequently, Peter and Andrew left a lot when both of them left the very desire to have. He left a lot who, with the thing he possessed, even renounced his desires. So, these followers left as much as they could want without following. Therefore, no one, when looking at others who have left much, should say to himself: “I want to imitate the despisers of this world, but I have nothing to leave.” You leave a lot, brothers, if you renounce earthly desires. For our externals, no matter how small they may be, are sufficient for the Lord; because He weighs the heart, not the substance; It does not matter how much His sacrifice is, but with what disposition it is offered. For, if we weigh the substance, then our holy merchants bought the Eternal Life of Angels with abandoned nets and boats. Truly, the Kingdom of God has no price by estimate; but, however, it is valued as much as you have. For for Zacchaeus it was worth half of the estate, because he kept the other half for the fourfold reward of what he had acquired unrighteously (Luke 19.8). For Peter and Andrew it was worth leaving behind the nets and the boat (Matthew 4.20); for a widow it was worth two mites (Luke 21.2); for another it was worth a cup of cold water (Matthew 10.42). So, the Kingdom of God, as we said, is worth as much as you have. 3. So, brothers, weigh what is cheaper to buy and what is more expensive to own. But perhaps there is no cup of cold water to give to the needy; and then the Word of God promises safety. For at the Birth of the Redeemer, the heavenly citizens appeared to sing: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2.14). For in the eyes of God a hand is never without a gift if the ark of the heart is filled with good disposition. That is why the Psalmist says: “I have vows to You, O God; I will give you praise” (Ps 55:13). He clearly says, as it were, like this: although I do not have external gifts for sacrifice, yet within myself I find that which I place on the altar of Your praise, because You do not feed on our offering, but are better pleased with the sacrifice of the heart. For for God there is no richer sacrifice than good will. Good will consists in fearing the misfortunes of another as well as one’s own; rejoice in the well-being of your neighbor as well as your own; recognize other people's losses as your own; look at other people's profits as if they were your own; to love a friend not for the world, but for God; endure the enemy with love; do not do to anyone what you do not want to endure yourself; do not deny to anyone what you rightly desire for yourself; to help your neighbor in need, not only within your strength, but also to want to be useful (for him) even beyond your strength. So, what is richer than this burnt offering, when the soul, through what is offered to God, sacrifices itself on the altar of the heart? 4. But this sacrifice of good will is never completely accomplished unless the desire for this world is completely abandoned. For what we desire in him, we undoubtedly envy our neighbors; because it seems that we lack what the other achieves. And since envy always contradicts good will, as soon as the latter captivates the mind, the first is immediately removed. Why did the holy preachers, in order to completely love their neighbors, try not to love anything in this century, never to desire anything, not to have anything with passion. Looking at them correctly, Isaiah says: “they are like clouds flying and like doves” to their windows (Isaiah 60.8). For he sees that they despise earthly things, approach heavenly things in spirit, rain with words, and shine with miracles. And those whom holy preaching and high life raised above earthly connections, he calls flying like clouds. Windows are our eyes, because through them the soul sees what it desires from the outside. But the dove is a simple and gentle animal. Therefore, like doves on their windows, they are those who do not strongly desire anything in this world, who look at everything simply and are not carried away by the desire for theft in relation to what they see. On the contrary, the kite, and not the dove on his windows, is the one who strongly desires to steal what he sees with his eyes. So, beloved brethren, since we celebrate the day of the martyrdom of the blessed Apostle Andrew, we must imitate what we venerate. May the triumph of the soul give the promise of our unchanging piety; let us despise earthly things; Leaving the temporary, we will buy the Eternal. If we still cannot leave our own, then at least we will not desire someone else’s. If our heart does not yet burn with the fire of love, then let it be curbed in its pursuit by fear, so that, encouraged in the march towards its perfection, it, restraining itself from the desire of others, will eventually reach the point of contempt for its own, with the help of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom belongs all glory, honor and power, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. You might be interested in: