Беседа XXXIII

“Abram was rich in cattle and silver and gold. And when he had come from nowhere, he went into the wilderness as far as Bethel, to the place where its first tabernacle was, between Bethel and Hagge, to the place of the altar, where thou hadst made it first” (Gen. 13:2-4). 1. Seeing your diligent gathering here today and your disposition to listen, I want to repay to you the debt that I owe to your love. I know that you may have already forgotten (about this debt), because many days have passed between (the previous and the current conversation) and our conversation was distracted by other subjects 278. The onset of the holy holiday interrupted our order (of teaching). It was indecent that at the time when we were celebrating the Cross of the Lord, teaching about other subjects was taught among us; it was necessary to offer you a meal corresponding to it every day. Therefore, when the day of betrayal (of Christ by Judas) arrived, we, interrupting the order of teachings and considering the time, turned our word to the traitor and then offered you (the teaching) about the Cross. Then, when the day of the Resurrection arrived, it was necessary to teach your love about the Resurrection of the Lord, and in the following days to present to you the evidence of the Resurrection (of Christ) in the miracles that happened after it, which we did when, taking up the Acts of the Apostles, we prepared a constant feast for you from there, and offered abundant admonitions to those newly worthy of grace (baptism) every day. Now we need to remind you of your duty and immediately make satisfaction. If you, because you are distracted by many worries, do not know what this duty is, because you care about your wife, take care of your children, earn your daily bread, and amuse yourself with many other everyday worries, then we, not embarrassed by anything like that, remind you of the debt and are ready to repay (it). And don’t be surprised that we show such willingness (to pay off the debt). The property of this debt is opposite to sensory wealth. There, the debtor will not show such readiness so quickly, knowing that paying the debt will reduce his estate, and increase the wealth of the recipient. But there is nothing like this in this spiritual duty; on the contrary, here the debtor, having paid (the debt), becomes much richer, and the wealth of those who receive increases. Therefore, those have a lot of displeasure (when paying a debt); and here there is a great profit for both - both for the one paying and for those receiving. Blessed Paul also instills this in relation to love when he says: “We owe nothing to anyone, but to love one another” (Rom. 13:8), showing that this debt, although always paid, never ceases. However, you should not be careless when you are about to receive (a debt), because your diligence will make us, who pay the debt, richer, and will bring you more benefit. So, if the nature of this debt is such that the more we pay (it), the more we will increase our own wealth, then we will finally show you what our debt consists of, so that you too will accept our words with great zeal and, appreciating our readiness, reward us with careful attention to what we say. What is debt? You know and remember that we outlined the following circumstances in the life of the patriarch (Abraham): his journey to Egypt due to famine, the kidnapping of Sarah by Pharaoh and the indignation that God, providing for the righteous man, showed both over Pharaoh himself and over his entire house, and thus prepared for the patriarch a very glorious return from Egypt: “The commandment for the patriarch,” it is said, “is that Pharaoh commanded the husband about Abram, to send him and his wife, and all that was him, and Lot with him. And Abram went out of Egypt, he and his wife and all his fir, and Lot with him, into the wilderness” (Gen. 12:20, 13:1). Having stopped the word here, we turned it, in all subsequent days, to the teaching of objects corresponding to that time. Therefore, today it is necessary to restore order and, as if into one body, to combine what will be said with what has already been said: in this way, our teaching will be understandable to you. But in order for our words to be all the clearer for you, we should offer your love the very beginning of this reading. “But Abram,” it is said, “was rich in cattle, silver and gold. And when he had come from nowhere, he went into the wilderness as far as Bethel, to the place where his first tabernacle was, between Bethel and between Haghe, to the place of the altar, where he had made it first: and there Abram called upon the name of the Lord God.” Let us not pass this reading without attention, but let us try to clearly see the accuracy of Divine Scripture, how it does not tell us anything unnecessary. “Abram,” it is said, “was very rich.” Notice, firstly, that it did not just point out, it is not in vain and not without reason that it now calls him (the patriarch) rich. In fact, nowhere else did it mention that he was rich, but only now for the first time. Why is this and what is it for? In order for you to know the inventiveness of God’s wisdom and the extraordinary and boundless power of providence that He showed in relation to the righteous. The one who, due to severe famine, was no longer able to live in Hanan, had to go to Egypt, suddenly became rich, and not just rich, but “very rich,” and not “cattle” only, but “both in silver and gold.” 2. Do you see what God’s providence is? (Abraham) went to seek relief from hunger, and returned, not only having been saved from hunger, but also having acquired great wealth and unspeakable glory, showing everyone who he was. Now the Canaanite inhabitants knew better the virtue of the righteous man when they saw what a sudden change had occurred and what wealth this wanderer possessed, who went to Egypt as a fugitive and a wanderer. Note, however, that from great happiness and from excess wealth he did not become more arrogant and careless, but again hurries to the very place where he was before, before leaving for Egypt. “Go,” it says, “into the wilderness to the place where the first tabernacle was, to the place of the altar, where you had made it first: and called... the name of the Lord God.” Judge how he loved peace and tranquility and was constantly devoted to serving God. He reached, it is said, to the place where he had previously created an altar and called on the name of God, and (thus) long before and in advance he fulfilled what was said by David: “I was willing to sneak into the house of my God rather than live in the villages of sinners” (Ps. 83:11). The desert, for the sake of calling on the name of God in it, was dearer to him than cities. He knew, he knew that the greatness of cities lies not in the beauty of the buildings or the number of inhabitants, but in the virtue of the inhabitants. That is why the desert, adorned with the virtue of the righteous, became better than cities and more famous than the inhabited earth. “And Lot,” it is said, “walked with Abram, and had sheep, and oxen, and cattle... and the land was not strong enough for them to live together, for their possessions were plentiful, and they could not live together” (Gen. 13:5-6). Not only did the patriarch himself increase his property, but “Lot also gave birth to sheep, oxen, and cattle.” Perhaps the patriarch himself, being generous, gave some to his nephew, and others gave him some out of respect for the patriarch. “And the earth could not contain them,” it is said, “for their possessions were abundant” (Gen. 13:6). See how excess wealth immediately becomes the cause of division, creates a rupture, violates harmony, dissolves ties of kinship: “And there was strife between the shepherds of Abraham's cattle and between the shepherds... Lot. And the Canaanite and Perizzite then lived on the earth” (Gen. 13:7). See how the servants start discord; This is where evil always arises - from the bad character of the servants: “There came to be,” it is said, “a discord among the shepherds.” They give rise to division, violate agreement, and show strong hostility (towards each other). “Then the Canaanites and the Perizzites will live on the earth.” Why did Divine Scripture notice this to us? Since it said that “the earth cannot accommodate them to live together,” it wants to show us the reason (for this) - because i.e. “cannot contain them” (the land) that was still occupied by these peoples. But let's look at the God-loving disposition of the patriarch's soul, how with his meekness he extinguishes the flame that is already ready to flare up. “Abram said to Lot: Let there be no strife between me and you, and between my shepherds 279 and your shepherds, for 280 ... we are brothers” (Gen. 13:8). Pay attention to the depth of humility and the height of wisdom: an old man, a man of advanced years, calls a young man, his nephew, brother, puts him on an equal footing with himself and does not assume any advantage over him, but says: “let there be no discord between me and you, and between my shepherds and your shepherds”; It is indecent, he says, for this to happen, because “we are brothers.” You see how he fulfills the apostolic commandment, which says: “There is no shame for you, because you have litigation among yourself. Why don't we offend you more? Why are there nothing worse than deprivation? But you offend and deprive yourselves, and even your brethren” (1 Cor. 6:7-8). Fulfilling all this in practice, the patriarch says: “Let there be no strife between my shepherds and your shepherds, for we are brethren and men.” What could be more peaceful than this soul? Thus, it was not in vain and not without reason that I said above that (Abraham), out of love for peace and serenity, placed the desert above the inhabited earth. Look, just like now, having learned for sure that the shepherds are quarreling (among themselves), he immediately, at the very beginning, tries to extinguish the flame that is ready to flare up and stops the discord. Indeed, he, called to be a teacher of philosophy for everyone living in Palestine, should not have given (them) any temptation or bad example, on the contrary, with the meekness of his disposition, stronger than the trumpet, he should have taught them all and made them imitators of his virtue. “Let there be no discord,” he says, “between me and you, and between my shepherds and your shepherds, for we are human brethren.” There is a lot of modesty in these words: “between me and you”! 3. Look, he speaks to him as to his equal, while the whole quarrel arose, it seems to me, because of nothing other than the fact that the patriarch’s shepherds did not allow those (Lot’s shepherds) to enjoy the same freedom as them. But the righteous man does everything with meekness, wanting to show the height of his wisdom and teach not only his contemporaries, but also all subsequent generations - never (to allow) those who serve us to quarrel with their neighbors, because their quarrels cause great dishonor to us, and what happens between them is not imputed to them, but turns into a reproach for us. So, is it proper that those who are brothers among themselves, have not only the same nature, but also a common kinship, and are destined to live here as strangers, that these people 281 should fall into this kind of quarrel, while they should be teachers of meekness and humility, and all wisdom for their servants? Let those who consider themselves free from reproach hear this when, out of affection for them, they allow their household to be rapacious, extort, do countless insults to their neighbors both in cities and in the fields, take away one’s field, another’s house, and even for this they show even more favor to them. Let the injustice be the work of another, but you also became a participant in it, not only because you rejoiced at it and thought that this would increase your property and more wealth, but also because you did not prevent this injustice from happening at the very beginning. Whoever could have stopped the offender and did not do so will be punished no less than the offender. Let us not, I beg you, deceive ourselves, but just as we ourselves will avoid theft and covetousness and increase our wealth by such (means), we will also instruct our household not to do anything like that. Their crimes do not free us from guilt; on the contrary, they expose us to even greater condemnation, since they dare to offend us to please us, and, ruining their own salvation, drag us along with them into destruction. And if we decide to be attentive, then we ourselves will get rid of such destruction, and we will keep them from this evil enterprise. And don’t tell me these empty words: what need do I have? I didn't steal it, did I? I don’t know anything: someone else did it, I didn’t participate in the offense. This is just an excuse and an empty excuse. If you want to prove that you were not an accomplice in the offense and did not assist, were not the culprit of the theft, then correct what was done, calm the offended person, return the stolen property. In this way, you will free yourself from reproach, and you will correct the offender by proving that it was not according to your wishes that he did the evil, and by comforting the poor person, you will not allow him to perish from the sadness that he would have suffered due to the loss. “Let there be no discord,” said Abraham, “between me and you, and between my shepherds and your shepherds, for we are brethren of men.” Do you see meekness? Do you see humility (of Abraham)? Listen to what follows further in order to learn all the greatness of his wisdom. How did he resolve the dispute and end the feud? “Sit down,” he says, “is the whole earth before you? Separate yourself from Me: whether you are on the left, or on the right; If you are on your right hand, then you are on your left” (Gen. 13:9). See here the wisdom and deep humility of the righteous. And before that, think, beloved, what harm (comes) from wealth and what disorder from great excess. The herds multiplied, great wealth flowed in, and immediately the harmony was stopped, and where there was peace and union of love, quarrels and enmity appeared. Truly, where “mine” and “yours” are, there are all kinds of enmity and the source of quarrels, and where this is not the case, harmony and peace dwell safely. And to be convinced of this, listen to what blessed Luke says about those who at the very beginning turned to faith. “Be,” he says, “all have one heart and soul” (Acts 4:32): this does not mean that they all have only one soul (how is it possible for one soul to exist in different bodies?), but shows us a firm agreement (between them). If the righteous man (Abraham) had not been very generous and wise, he would have been angry and said to Lot: What kind of insolence is this? How did your household dare to open their mouth against my household? And they didn’t think, what is the distance between you? Where did you get such wealth? Is it because of my caring? Who brought you into the public? Isn’t it me who replaced everyone for you and showed fatherly care for you in everything? Is this the reward you give me for my many services to you? Is this what I hoped for when I took you everywhere with me? But even if you didn’t take into account anything I did to you: shouldn’t you at least have been ashamed of my old age and respected my gray hair? But you allowed your shepherds to insult my shepherds, not thinking that just as the insult inflicted on them falls on me, so the insolence of your shepherds falls on you. 4. But the righteous man did not want to think anything like that, but, having rejected any such thought, he tried only one thing, how to stop the quarrel that was about to break out and, having come up with a harmless way of separation, to rid his home of all anxiety. “Sit down 282,” he says, “the whole earth is before you, separate from Me: if you are on your right hand 283, if you are on your left; If you're on the left, you're on the right." Look at the meekness of the righteous. Showing Lot in practice that he does this not of his own free will and not out of a desire to separate from him, but as a result of a quarrel and so that there is no constant warfare in the house, see how he (Abraham) with his words tames Lot’s ardor, gives him complete freedom of choice and offers the whole earth, saying: “Does not the whole earth sit before you?” Whichever one you want, take it for yourself; and with great pleasure I will take the one you leave for me. Great is the wisdom of the righteous! He does not want to be a burden to his nephew in any way. Since, he says, something is happening that I did not want, and since in order to end the quarrel we need to separate, I leave you free to choose and give you complete freedom - to take for yourself the land that you consider best, and leave the rest to me. Would anyone do for a brother of equal age what the patriarch did for his nephew? Even if he himself had made a choice in advance, and had taken the best part for himself, and given only the rest to Lot, then, in this case, wouldn’t he have done a great deed? But he, wanting to both show the greatness of his virtue and fulfill the desire of the young man, so that no reason for displeasure would arise from their separation, gives Lot complete freedom and says: “Behold, the whole earth is before you, if you are separated from Me,” and take whatever (land) you want. Having experienced such meekness (on the part of Abraham), the nephew should, on his part, have shown respect to the patriarch, and given him, and not himself, the right of free choice. This is the custom among all of us, people, that when we see that our opponents want to enter into an argument with us over something and are trying to take first place, we do not agree to suffer humiliation and do not yield to them; and when we see that they are compliant and with affectionate words they give us complete freedom, then, as if ashamed of their great meekness, we stop arguing, and, on the contrary, we give them all the power, even though our opponent, apparently, was inferior (to us). Lot should have done the same in relation to the patriarch; but, like a young man, carried away by the desire for more, he hurries to take the best, as it seemed to him, place and makes his own choice. “And he lifted up his eyes,” it is said, “and saw the whole surrounding country of Jordan, as if it were all watered with water, before God would bring down Sodom and Gomorrah, like the Paradise of God and like the land of Egypt, even come to Zogor. And Lot chose for himself all the surrounding country of Jordan, and Lot departed from the east, and separated each from his brother” (Gen. 13:10-11). Do you see the unusually great virtue of the righteous man, how he did not allow the root of evil to sprout, but at that very moment he uprooted and destroyed what was ready to arise, using great meekness, revealing, out of love for virtue, the greatest contempt for everything else and showing everyone that peace and freedom from strife are dearer to him than any wealth? So that no one accuses the righteous man of injustice towards Lot, i.e., that, having taken him away from his (father’s) house, bringing him to a foreign direction, he now drives him away from himself, so that no one would also think that (Abraham) is doing this out of enmity towards him (Lot), so that, on the contrary, we all know that he does this out of love for the world - for this he gave Lot a choice, and when he took the best place for himself, he did not saddened; from here we can all see how the heart of the righteous man was disposed towards good and what his peace-loving soul strove for. However, (in this event) some other secret was also arranged, so that i.e. as a result of it, a lot happened, namely: so that Lot would learn in practice that he had made an illegal choice, and the inhabitants of Sodom would know Lot’s virtue, and, after separation, the promise of God given to the patriarch would come true: “To you and to your seed I will give this land”; We will see all this, little by little stretching forward, according to the instructions of Divine Scripture. “And Abram,” it is said, “settled in the lands of Canaan: and Lot settled in the city of 284 surrounding countries and dwelt in Sodom. But men who were in Sodom were evil and sinners before God” (Gen. 13:12–13). Do you see that Lot pays attention only to the quality of the land, and does not look at the evil nature of the inhabitants? What is the use, tell me, of a rich and fruitful land when its inhabitants are evil? And what harm is there from the desert and from the barren land itself, when those who live on it are well-behaved? The most important good is the good behavior of the inhabitants. But Lot looked at only one thing - the fertility of the earth. That is why Scripture, wanting to make known to us the evil nature of the inhabitants there, says: “But the men who were in Sodom were evil and sinners before God”; not only, he says, “evil,” but also “sinners,” and not just “sinners,” but also “before God”; those. Their sins were very numerous, and their wickedness was excessive - which is why Scripture added: “It is evil before God.” Do you see the greatness of wickedness? Do you see how evil it is to chase first places and not look at the true benefit? Do you see what meekness, evasion of primacy and humility mean? In the next teaching we will see that the one who chose the best places did not receive any benefit from it, but the one who took the worst became more famous from day to day - and his wealth increased on all sides, and (he himself) became famous among everyone. 5. But in order not to continue the teaching too much, we will stop the word here, and leave the rest until the next day, asking you to imitate the patriarch, and never admire the primacy, but follow the blessed Paul, who says: “Doing one another great honor to yourself” (Rom. 12:10), - and try to humiliate yourself in everything. This (self-abasement) gives (us) primacy, just as Christ said: “He who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11). So, what can be compared with that behavior when we, yielding primacy to others, through this ourselves achieve greater honor and, by showing preference to others, through this we elevate ourselves to the highest honor? About this, I beg you, we will try so that i.e. to imitate the humility of the patriarch and for us, who exist under grace, to follow in the footsteps of him who, even before the law, showed such wisdom. This wonderful man showed truly true humility in relation to a man who was much lower than him not only in virtue, but also in age, and in everything else. Just think that the old man gave in to the young man, the uncle gave in to his nephew, (a man) who had earned such favor from God - to the one who had not yet done anything great, the patriarch gave to the young man what he, as a young man, should have shown to the old man and his uncle. Likewise, we will show respect not only to those superior to us or equal to us: this would not be humility, because when someone does what is necessary, it is no longer humility, but duty. True humility is when we yield to those who are apparently inferior to us, and give preference to those who are considered inferior to us. However, if we are reasonable, we will not consider anyone inferior to us, but we will give all people priority over ourselves. And I am not saying this about those of us who are immersed in (the abyss of) countless sins; no, let someone recognize in himself countless perfections, but unless he thinks of himself as the last among everyone, his perfections will not bring him any benefit. This is precisely what humility consists of, when someone, having something to boast about, humiliates, humbles and behaves modestly. Then he ascends to the true height according to the promise of the Lord, who says: “He who humbles himself will be exalted.” Let us all strive, I pray, to ascend to the heights of humility in order to earn the same favor as the righteous from the Master and to be rewarded with the ineffable blessings, grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honor, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. Zlat.: σχηνὴ αὐτοῦ, according to the usual reading among the 70. St. Chrysostom, having spoken in continuation of the Holy Pentecost, before Holy Week, 32 conversations on the book of Genesis, during Holy Week, the week of Easter and the following days of Pentecost, he spoke teachings on other subjects, adapting to the time itself. Zlat.: ποιμένων μου καὶ ποιμένων σου according to Lucian. Cottonian. sp. and ev. t. and contrary to Alex. sp. and some etc., where it reads: ποιμένων σου καὶ ποιμένων μου - “your shepherds and my shepherds” (Slav. B.). ῎Ανθρωποι – “people” in Zlat. here it is not readable due, one must think, to typos, since further, when repeating these biblical words, the word ἀδελφοὶ - “brothers” is usually preceded by ἄνθρωποι, as in Hebrew. text; According to this, in the 3rd part of this conversation, the saint points not only to kinship, but also to “one nature.” Οὐκ ἰδοὺ according to Lucian., Cottonian., and Bodleian. sp., contrary to Alex. and others, as well as Heb. t., where καὶ ἰδοὺ – “and behold.” Εἰ σὺ εἰς δεξιὰ, ἐγὼ εἰς ἀριστερὰ contrary to Lucian., where, according to Heb. t., reads: εἰ σὺ εἰς ἀριστερὰ, ἐγὼ εἰς δεξιὰ, according to which in the Slavs. Bible: “If you are on the left, you are on the right.” Zlat.: ἐν πόλει; in Lucian. sp. ἐν γῇ – “in the ground.” You might be interested in: