Word at the commemoration of the opening of the Moscow Theological Academy

Pronounced, in academic. church in 1872 at the end of the school year “He is coming after Me, and I will make you a fisher of man” (Matthew 4:19). Have you, disciples of Christ, who are preparing to go out to the work of God, have you heard in the Gospel read today what is required of those who are called to serve the word of Christ and what is promised to them? Do not let your ears pass by the parting instructions of the One Who allowed Himself to be called the Teacher and Mentor of all people. He now, as then, teaches the nations from the boat of the Church; and now, as then, I am ready to say to new fishermen: go to the depths and cast your line; He is now, as then, ready to create worthy people as fishers. Who are these worthy ones? – Of course, no one will doubt that only those who in spirit approach the first disciples of Christ, who received the promise to become fishers of men, can be worthy. The Gospel story introduces us to the disposition and spirit of especially one of the four apostles called at that time, namely the apostle. Petra. Let us try to reveal to ourselves the features of the then state of his spirit in order to learn for ourselves what is required in order to be fishers of men. The Lord taught then on the shore of the Sea of ​​Galilee. He had just arrived from Nazareth, where he encountered hostile feelings among his compatriots. To make it more convenient to talk to everyone, the Lord, seeing Simon, demanded a boat from him in order to continue his teaching from it. Simon, already at his first appearance to the Lord Jesus, awarded a distinctive name in the kingdom of the Messiah, reverently received the Divine Teacher and did not depart from Him. All the previous night he had worked at sea fishing, and without success. Of course it left him with a bad feeling; Of course, nature also demanded calm. But Simon was one of the first attentive listeners of sweet instructions about the kingdom of God. And the Nazareth insults of the Lord Jesus in no way diminished in Peter either the consciousness of His greatness or the attention to His word. The lesson is over. The Lord, in the first experiences of the zeal of the people of Galilee, foreseeing the entire breadth of the spread of the preaching of the Gospel, and in the decisive gaze of an attentive listener, foreseeing the complete devotion of a zealous worker in favor of the kingdom of God, recognized the present time as the most convenient to attract them from now on forever for his great work. At the same time, for Peter and for others like him, wanting to imagine what abundant fruits their activities can be accompanied by, as long as they are guided by His word and instructions, in a small visible experience He gives a guarantee of the fulfillment of great hopes in the future. - Having finished the instructions, He commands Peter to go to the depths of the sea and cast down the net with which he operated so unsuccessfully last night. And, to Peter’s surprise, this time the net captured so many fish that it was necessary to invite two more comrades from the shore to remove all the sinking - and two whole ships were filled with this fish so that they sank. “Such an abundance of catches could not help but be considered miraculous. And Peter, in reverence for the Divine Wonderworker, never so deeply imbued with the consciousness of his unworthiness, turns to Him with a prayer: come from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord (Luke 5:8). - Strange contradiction! – The heart is drawn to Him, the heart thirsts for His word: and the same heart, imbued with fear and humility, makes us ask for His removal! “No, He will not move away from you, Petre, but He will bring you even closer to Himself in order to cleanse all your impurities, in order to make you an instrument for the salvation of other sinners!” “Then the Lord said to him: Do not be afraid, from now on you will be fishing for men (v. 10). And Peter, grateful Peter for such a promise, leaves the abundant catch, and his boat, and the nets, and everything, in order from now on to follow Jesus everywhere and be the first servant of His kingdom. So what do we see in Peter? - An attentive listener to the word of Christ, - an unquestioning executor of His command, humbly aware of his unworthiness, - and sacrificing everything to his calling as an apostle. Attentiveness to the word of Christ is the first quality of a faithful fisher of men. – How can we catch souls if not with this Divine instrument? – When I want to talk about attentiveness to the word of the Eternal Wisdom, I involuntarily recall the saying often heard from Her lips: have ears to hear, let him hear. Not always, but on special occasions it was heard, precisely when the Lord wanted to draw the special attention of His listeners to His words. This was most often evoked by a parable, or parable speech, although this saying itself has a parable character: if you have ears to hear, let him hear. In the Old Testament, Moses and the prophets often denounced their people that, having eyes, they do not see, and having ears, they do not hear; that is, they do not want to recognize the works of God as the works of God; they do not want to accept the commandments, commands, reproofs, prophecies of the Spirit of God as the words of God, do not obey them, and do not correct themselves in their lives. It is not this stern, reproachful tone that is heard from the lips of the meek and humble-hearted Teacher, but nevertheless, His word deeply arouses attention. Really: who doesn't have ears? And what are ears given by God for if not to hear? And what should be listened to with great attention if not the word of God - the word of grace and salvation - for us and our neighbors? And how inexcusable is inattention to the words of God? – What would we think about a person who, having good eyesight, voluntarily closes his eyes and starts walking through the streets of a city unknown to him, stumbling, falling, hitting pillars and fences? A voluntary blind person puts his own life in danger. – Isn’t it just as unreasonable, isn’t it just as disastrous to close your eyes and close the ears of your heart to the instructions of the Savior of men? – If a prophetic word, according to the saying of the Apostle, is like a shining light in a dark place (2 Peter 1:19); What kind of light will the word of the Son of God fill the soul of those who sincerely listen to Him? The verbs of Eternal Wisdom are deep for our shallow understanding, but by listening to them, putting them in our hearts, often thinking about them, so to speak, getting used to them, tuning and directing our thoughts according to them, we will gradually enter deeper and deeper into their understanding. So to the Apostle Peter, from the many acts and instructions heard from the Lord, it finally became completely clear that this was not some prophet, but Christ himself, the Son of the living God. He gave no place in his soul to the suggestions of flesh and blood, to the suggestions of the carnal Jews; by the Spirit he knew and understood the words of the Spirit; in the word of the prophets I heard the voice of the Father, and therefore in the word of Jesus I understood the word of Christ, the Son of the living God. – Thus, truth and life, with which the words of the Son of God are filled, are always strong to take possession of the soul and disperse the darkness of lies and sin in it. We can say with greater right about His word than about His flesh: all power came from Him and healed (Luke 6:19). - Give this word entry into your heart, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly (Colossians 3:16), do not drown it out. Attention must correspond to unquestioning obedience to the word of Divine truth, complete devotion to the leadership of the Teacher of truth. We do not know well either our needs or our situation. Often, working all night, we achieve nothing (Luke 5:5). We are chasing something that does not bring us any benefit. In our work, which the Lord has entrusted to us, we grasp at extraneous things. - Simon, even at his first appearance to the Lord Jesus Christ, when he was brought to him by brother Andrew, had already received his predestination for an honorary title in the kingdom of the Messiah; But for some reason he moved away from Him and turned back to his fishing. Now, from experience, he saw that it was in vain that he did not listen to the first calling voice. The sea denies him its gifts. – Isn’t it just as often that the Lord admonishes us when we are distracted from our calling, in order to direct us to the real path? And doesn’t it happen to us the same as with Peter: a matter that was not controversial in our hands and did not promise any success turns out to be successful when we approach it with God’s blessing, or with complete devotion to His will. The holy work, the work of Christian teaching especially, must always be done with the thought of Christ, the only teacher of all people. First of all, let your own heart be caught in the midst of the Gospel, so that you can become a fisher of men. Step into the depths (Luke 5:4). Separate yourself from the shore on which the world stands with all its attachments; You, a man of God, have been called to the work of God. Go deeper and deeper into your duties in teaching and life. Go into the depths: through the Gospel life you will come to know the Lord more closely than through science. With your mind you can partially comprehend His wisdom, but with your heart you know His highest bliss, with your will - His holiness, and by devotion to His omnipotence - His all-effective power. And all this will not be learned, but learned from one’s own experience. “Whoever is completely united with God through his feelings,” says the great Christian leader along the ladder of virtues, “is secretly guided by Him in the understanding of His words. Without this unity it is difficult to talk about God. “He who has not known God speaks by guess.” Integrity makes a student a theologian, and he himself comprehends the dogma of the Trinity” (John Lestvich. Sl. 30, saying 21. 23. 24). When the Lord blesses your work with success, do not forget Petrov’s humility, fall at the feet of Christ and say to Him: Lord, get away from me, for I am a sinful man. Without Your guidance, I would not know how to take the first step towards my calling; I would not know how and from where to approach this diverse and varied crowd, sometimes sleepy and careless, sometimes unreasonably demanding, sometimes incomprehensible and immersed in sensual interests, accustomed to looking at faith with contempt, - I would not know how to cope with their various inclinations and demands, how to satisfy both simple souls, hungry and thirsty for righteousness, not having righteousness themselves, - and exalted souls demanding solid food - how can I support the weak and go with the strong not only alongside, but also ahead of him. – By the secret movement of his providence, the Lord disposes the hearts of people to accept the word of salvation, and publicans and sinners flock to his call. One sermon by Petrova is enough – and thousands turn to the Gospel. The book of Acts tells how the apostle began his preaching. Paul in the city of Philippi, where. Through his labors, the church was founded, which most pleased his heart. One woman who was engaged in trade listened to his words, and the Lord opened her heart to listen to the words of Paul (Acts 16:14), and after her many more believed, and a church was formed. And the Apostle himself repeatedly uses this expression about the action of his sermon: open the door for me... You see, those standing outside the Church seem to be enclosed in some kind of fence; you need to open it first in order to extract those being rescued from there. Shouldn’t the same be said about those who entered the Church, who have already become Christians, but have again withdrawn from close communion with her, through an unworthy life, through destructive errors? - And if the Lord gives success in their conversion, if he sends strength to our powerless word, does not allow our sins to overcome the sacred action of our dignity, our calling, then what remains for us but to exclaim with the prophet: Glory to you, Lord, but shame on our faces. By thus approaching in our feelings the dispositions of the supreme apostle and with him being ready to leave everything for the sake of the Gospel, we will approach the dignity of the high calling of being fishers of men. Friends and brothers, do not separate knowledge from life; look for points of contact with life in science itself, and strengthen everything in Christ. Who knows how deeply the kind word of a beloved mentor can sink into a tender soul. The words of the wise, says the ancient sage, are like the bones of an ox, and like a nail pierced, that is, the words of the wise are like needles and pierced like nails (Eccl. 12:11). They do not allow one to doze off, or they soon wake up both the one who has dozed off and the one who has fallen asleep. Trust in the power of the word of truth: it is not dying. Believe the One who said: even if rain or snow falls from heaven and does not return, until it waters the earth, and gives birth, and vegetates, and gives seed to the sower, and bread for food: so will My word be, even if it comes out of My mouth, it will not return to Me empty, until all His desires are fulfilled, and I will hasten in My ways and My commandments (Isa. 55:10, 11). - Don’t tell me what my weak word means, my insignificant efforts! – You are not weak, as soon as the truth is for you. The whole earth calls for the truth, and heaven blesses it, and all things shake and tremble at it, and there is not a single offense against it (2 Ezra 4:36). - Look what efforts the opponents of truth and piety use; how they, under the pretext of development, corrupt minds and hearts with their charms. They do not sleep, they do not miss any opportunity to put their destructive principles into practice; and in society, and in literature, and in science - they are looking for means to shake the foundations of truth. – Look, on the other hand, at the defenseless position of the victims they capture. They are flattered, they are pleased, they are promised to open their eyes... What will happen if the ministers of the Church, who own the lamp of truth in the word of God, put it under a bushel? - Look at the pitiful situation of our ordinary brothers. What have the daily pages of our society become if not a chronicle of atrocities, deception, and all kinds of vices? And who will be responsible for this moral disgrace? First of all, the shepherds of the church, teachers of future shepherds, who did not bother to invest in them the spirit of zeal, who looked at their duties only from a formal point of view. Ap. Paul, having worked in Corinth for about three months, and having encountered stubborn resistance there from the Jews, and on the other hand, seeing the pagan population drowning in debauchery, in the empty, petty interests of life, was already thinking of leaving the city and finding other more willing listeners. But the Lord Jesus Christ, appearing to him at night, said to him: do not be afraid, but speak and do not keep silent; Because I am with you, and no one will try to embitter you: because people are many in this city (Acts 18:9.10). - And the consequence of this command was that the apostle spent as much time in Corinth as nowhere else before, about a year and a half, and with his preaching not so much among the noble, rich and wise, but among the simple, poor and uneducated, he founded a great church here. – Here is an example, here is encouragement for those called to act with words in favor of the kingdom of Christ. Do not be afraid of obstacles: they are overcome by the power of the One who promised to be with his disciples until the end of the age. I am with you, says the apostle. Paul doesn’t care, just like with Peter and John. Speak up and don’t be silent! Don't despair after your first bad experience. You don’t know, but I see that in this city, despite all its depravity, there will be many people for me, no, and not only will there be, but there are already. Your intensified preaching, your persistence, your zeal should awaken these hidden servants of God so that they openly declare themselves followers of Christ. – What beneficial acquisitions would our church be enriched if not one, but suddenly several dozen with lively participation from the heart, following the example of Pavlov, - not in the wisdom of the word, but in the spirit of simple apostolic preaching, according to a living conviction in the truths of salvation, in the simple language of the heart, began to act on the still unspoiled young generation entrusted to them. The seed will grow, just plant it and water it. - What, apparently, was expected for the church in the cities of Lycaon after the apostle, in one of them, was stoned and dragged dead outside the city. But here the Apostle found the young man Timothy, his faithful disciple, his beloved child, the most zealous co-worker in the work of the Gospel. May the Lord grant future leaders of the church the diligence to seek and happiness to find among their listeners, who have been studying the Scriptures from childhood, Timothys who are ardent for the work of God, who would not seek their own people, but even Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:21). - Amen.