Беседа 9

Spoken to the people in the Church of St. Sylvester on the day of his martyrdom. Reading the Holy Gospel Matthew 25.14–30. Matthew 25.14–30. For He will act like a man who, going to a foreign country, called his servants and entrusted them with his property: and to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his strength; and immediately set off. He who received five talents went and put them to work and acquired another five talents; in the same way, the one who received two talents acquired the other two; He who received one talent went and buried it in the ground and hid his master’s money. After a long time, the master of those slaves comes and demands an account from them. And the one who had received five talents came and brought another five talents and said: Master! you gave me five talents; Behold, I acquired another five talents with them. His master said to him: Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful in small things, I will put you over many things; enter into the joy of your master. The one who had received two talents also came up and said: Master! you gave me two talents; behold, I acquired the other two talents with them. The one who had received one talent came up and said: Master! I knew you that you were a cruel man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter, and, being afraid, you went and hid your talent in the ground; here's yours. His master answered him: “You wicked and lazy servant!” You knew that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter; Therefore, you should have given my silver to the merchants, and when I came, I would have received mine with profit; So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents, For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will have an abundance, but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away; and throw the worthless slave into outer darkness: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 1. Reading the Holy Gospel exhorts us, beloved brethren, to carefully consider, so that we, who have received something more than others from the Creator of the world in this world, may not be subjected to the most severe condemnation. For when gifts increase, then the responsibility for the gifts also increases. Consequently, the more humble and helpful everyone should be, the more they see themselves as obligated to give an account. Here is a certain person, going away, calling his slaves and dividing them with talents in order to gain profit. But after a long time he returns to demand a report; He rewards those who have done well for the profit they have made, but he punishes the slave who is lazy in doing good. So, who is this departing man, if not our Redeemer, Who went to heaven in the flesh He received? For the proper place of the flesh is the earth, and it departs, as it were, into a foreign land when it is placed in heaven by our Redeemer. But this man, going on a journey, passed on his benefits to his servants, because (the Redeemer) communicated spiritual gifts to His believers. - And precisely: to one he gave five talents, to another two, to the third one. For the five (talents) are bodily senses, namely: sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. Consequently, the five talents designate the gift of the five senses, that is, knowledge of external things. And two signify understanding and activity. The name of a single talent signifies only understanding. But the one who received five talents acquired another five, because there are people who, although they do not know how to penetrate into the internal and mysterious, nevertheless, out of attention to the Higher Fatherland, they correctly teach those who can about the most external, which they successively know; and when they protect themselves from the insolence of the flesh and the pursuit of earthly goods, then they restrain others from the same with admonition. And there are people who, having, as it were, two talents, accept understanding and activity; they understand the inner subtly, and perform marvelous things in the outer; and when they preach to others with both understanding and activity, then they gain a double profit, so to speak, from bargaining. But well the other five, or the other two, are related to aggravation, because when the preaching extends to both sexes, then the accepted talents seem to be aggravated. “The one who receives one talent, leaving, buries it in the ground and hides his master’s money. To bury a talent in the ground means to confuse the received talent in earthly affairs, not to desire the acquisition of spiritual things, and never to lift the heart from earthly thoughts. For there are people who have received the gift of understanding, but they only think about the things of the flesh. It is said about them through the Prophet: “They are clever in evil, but do not know how to do good” (Jer 4.22). But the master who gave the talents returns demanding an account, because the One who now imparts spiritual talents tests the merits exactly at the trial, discusses what everyone received, and weighs what profit he brought from what he received. 2. A slave who returns double talents is approved by the master and transferred to eternal reward when the master’s voice says to him: “Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful in small things, I will put you over many things; enter into the joy of your master." For all the blessings of this life, no matter how many they may seem, are small in comparison with the eternal reward. But a faithful servant is placed above many when, having overcome all the burden of damage, he is glorified on the Heavenly Throne in Eternal Joys. He enters completely into the joy of his Lord when, having been accepted into that Eternal Fatherland and numbered among the hosts of Angels, he inwardly rejoices at the gift so that outwardly he no longer laments the damage. 3. The slave, who did not want to work on his talent, approaches the master with an apology, saying: “Master! I knew you that you were a cruel man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter, and, being afraid, I went and hid your talent in the ground; here's yours." “It is remarkable that the indecent slave calls his master cruel, but, despite this, pretends that he serves him profitably, and says that he was afraid to use his talent for an increase, when he should have been afraid only so as not to return it to his master without an increase. For in the Holy Church there are many people of whom this servant serves as an image; they are afraid to enter the path of a better life and yet are not afraid to lie in the laziness of their body; and when they recognize themselves as sinners, then they are afraid to enter the path of holiness, and are not afraid to remain in their impurities. These people are well represented by Peter, who was still subject to weakness, when, having seen the miracle of (catching) fish, he said: “Depart from me, Lord! because I am a sinful man" (Luke 5.8). Yes, if you admit that you are a sinner, then you should not send the Lord away from you. But those who do not want to enter the path of a better way of life and the church of correction because they consider themselves weak, although they recognize themselves as sinners, nevertheless send away the Lord and run away from Him whom they should sanctify within themselves, and, as if in confusion, have no reason; they die and are afraid of life. Therefore, this slave is immediately given the answer: “You wicked and lazy slave! You knew that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter; Therefore, you should have given my silver to the merchants, and when I came, I would have received mine with profit.” The slave is convicted by his words when the master says: “I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter.” He clearly says, as it were: “If, in your opinion, I demand what I did not give, then all the more I demand from you what I gave for increase; therefore, you should have given my money to the traders: and when I came, I would have received it as my own property with an increase.” - Giving money to traders means imparting the skill of preaching to those who can engage in it. 4. But when you see our danger, if we withhold the Lord's money, then, most beloved brethren, think carefully about your own, since what you listen to is required of you with profit. Because money, even if not given, is accepted as profit. For when what is received is returned, what is not received is also added. So, imagine, beloved brethren, that you make a temporary use of words from this money received and try from what you hear to understand other things that you do not hear, because by deducing one from the other, you will learn from yourself to do what you were not taught from the mouth of the preacher. But let us listen to the definition pronounced against the lazy slave. “Take his talent and give it to him who has ten talents.” 5. It would seem much more decent to give one talent taken from an evil servant to someone who received two talents than to someone who received five. For it is necessary to add more to the one who had less than to the one who had more. But, as we said above, the five talents mean precisely the five senses, that is, knowledge of external things, and two express understanding and activity. Consequently, the one who received two talents had more than the one who received five, because he deserved external control with five talents, but did not yet have internal understanding. Consequently, one talent, which, as we said, means understanding, was to be given to the one who managed the external things well. We see this every day in the Holy Church, because many, when they manage well the external things they receive, are brought by increased grace to the understanding of the mysterious, so that those who correctly manage the external things shine with their inner understanding. 6. After this, a general thought is pronounced when it is said: “For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance, but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.” For to him who has it will be given and he will have it in abundance, because whoever has love also receives other gifts. Therefore it is necessary, my brethren, that in all that you do you should be watchful of love. True love consists in loving a friend in God and loving an enemy for God's sake. Whoever does not have this love loses every good thing he has, is deprived of the talent he received and, according to the Lord’s definition, is sent into utter darkness. For as punishment he falls into outer darkness who, through his guilt, voluntarily fell into inner darkness; and there he is forced to endure the darkness of vengeance, who here freely endured the darkness of voluptuousness. 7. But you need to know that not a single lazy person is free from this acquisition of talent. For there is no one who could truly say: “I did not receive the talent, therefore, there is nothing to force me to submit an account for.” For every poor person will be counted as a talent the very thing that he received, even in the smallest amount. “For one has received understanding,” and with this talent he commits himself to the ministry of preaching. Another received earthly wealth - and is obliged to give material alms of talent. The third received neither inner understanding nor wealth, but nevertheless learned the art from which he feeds, and to him this very art is credited with the acceptance of talent. The fourth did not achieve any of this, however, perhaps he earned a place of friendship with the rich, and he truly received the talent of friendship. Consequently, if he does not say anything to him (the rich man) for those in need of help, he is condemned for hiding his talent. - So, he who has understanding must try in every possible way not to remain silent; he who has wealth must watch, lest he become sluggish in works of mercy; he who has the art by which he is supported must try in every possible way to share the use and benefit of it with his neighbor; he who has a place with a rich man must fear condemnation for hiding his talent if he does not stand up for the poor when he can. For from each of us the coming Judge will demand as much as he gave. So, in order for everyone to be safe in accounting for his talent at the coming of the Lord, he must daily weigh with fear what he has received. For the time is already near when He who departed to another country will return. Since He, as it were, left His land, He who ascended high from this land on which He was born, but He truly returns in order to demand reports of talents, because if we are lazy about good deeds, He will judge for the very talents that He reported. So, let us think about what we have received and be active in distributing it. Let no earthly concern hinder us in spiritual work, so that the Lord of talent does not become angry if this talent is hidden in the earth. For the lazy slave snatches talent out of the ground when the Judge feels guilty, because there are many who distract themselves from earthly desires or affairs, when, by the verdict of the Judge, they are already drawn to eternal punishment. So, let us be ready in advance to present an account of our talent, so that when the Judge threatens to strike at the door, He will justify us for the profit that we have made, which may God, who lives forever, grant us. Amen. You might be interested in: