Беседа 10

Paul's method of denouncing the incestuous man. – Condemnation of external wisdom. —Censure of the pride of priests. - How to use wealth. 1 Corinthians 3:18–19. No one should deceive himself. If any of you thinks to be wise in this age, let him be foolish in order to be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. 1. Having begun to denounce the incestuous man in advance, as I said above, having done this covertly and in brief words, and having awakened his conscience, the apostle again turns to the refutation of external (pagan) wisdom and to the denunciation of those who, proud of it, divided the Church, so that, having added what still remained to be said, and completely finishing this subject, with all his strength he directed his speech against the incestuous man whom he touched upon and before. The words: “let no one deceive himself” are directed especially against him in order to admonish and frighten him; it is also especially hinted at in the word: “reed”, and in the words: “Do you not know that you are the church of God, and the Spirit of God lives in you?” Usually two motives most of all keep us from sin: when we imagine the punishment that follows sin, and when we reflect on our own dignity. So the apostle, with his speech about hay and reeds, frightens, and by pointing out our dignity he shames, correcting first the more insensitive, and last the more meek. “No one should deceive himself. If any of you thinks to be wise in this age, let him be foolish.” Just as he commands to be dead to the world (Col. 2:20), and this deadness not only does not harm, but also brings benefit, becoming a source of life, so now he commands to be foolish to the world, showing us true wisdom in this. The one who despises external wisdom and is convinced that it does not in the least contribute to his acceptance of faith is the one who is mad for the world. Therefore, just as poverty according to God leads to wealth, humility to greatness, contempt for (earthly) glory to glory, so this madness makes a person wiser than everyone else, because with us everything happens the other way around. And why did he not say: let him leave wisdom, but: “may it happen”? In order to humiliate external scholarship as much as possible. It’s not the same thing to say: abandon your wisdom, or be crazy. On the other hand, he teaches us not to be ashamed of our ignorance, presenting everything external as worthy of ridicule. He is not ashamed of names, because he relies on the power of deeds. Just as the cross, an apparently blasphemous thing, became the source of countless blessings, the cause and culprit of ineffable glory, so apparent madness becomes for us the guilt of wisdom. Just as someone who has learned something badly, unless he forsakes everything, erases it from his soul and presents it pure to those who wish to teach him again, does not clearly recognize sound teaching, so with external wisdom, unless you forsake everything, purify your mind and devote yourself to faith, like a commoner, then you will not know anything good in the proper way. Likewise, those with weak eyesight, if, having closed their eyes, do not entrust themselves to others, but are guided by their damaged vision, they will wander much more than those who see absolutely nothing. How can you say, you can leave external wisdom? Not accepting her teachings. Having thus commanded to abandon this wisdom, the apostle also gives the following reason: “for the wisdom of this world is violence with God.” Not only does it not help, but it also serves as an obstacle; therefore, it must be left as harmful. Do you see how victoriously he refuted it, proving that it was not only useless, but also harmful to us? However, he is not content with his own evidence, but provides further evidence: “it is written,” he says, “that catches the wise in their wickedness” (1 Cor. 3:19). In deceit, i.e. catching them with their own weapons. Since they used their wisdom to do without God, through it He proved to them that they had a great need of God. How and in what way? Through her they became insane; therefore they are caught through it. Thinking of doing without God, they came to such a disastrous state that they turned out to be worse than fishermen and unlearned people, and they began to be needed. That is why he says: I caught them in their deceit. The words: I will destroy wisdom - express its complete uselessness; and the words: “stay the wise in their wickedness” - show the power of God. 2. Further, the apostle shows the way in which God caught them, adding another testimony: “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vanity” (1 Cor. 3:20). And when the infinite Wisdom pronounces such a judgment about them and presents them as such, then what else can one demand proof of their extreme madness? Human judgment often errs, but God's judgment is always righteous and impartial. Having thus given glory to the judgment of God, he turns with great force to those being taught and says: “Therefore let no one boast about men, for all is yours” (1 Cor. 3:21). Again he repeats the same and shows that they should not be proud of spiritual gifts, because they have nothing of themselves. So, if external wisdom is harmful, and your spiritual gifts do not come from you, then what can you boast about? Regarding external wisdom, he says: “let no one deceive himself,” because it served them to their detriment; and here, where the matter is about a useful subject, he says: “Let no one boast,” and softens his speech with the following words: “for all is yours: whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or the present, or the future, - all is yours; But you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s” (1 Cor. 3:21–23). Since he touched them greatly, he encourages them again. And above he said: “For we are fellow workers with God” (1 Cor. 3:9), and he consoled them with many others; and here he says: “all is yours” in order to overthrow the pride of the teachers and show that they not only did not oblige their students to anything, but they themselves owe them gratitude, because they became teachers for them and received grace. And since the disciples could boast, he also healed their illness with the words: “since the Lord has given to everyone,” and: “God has increased” (1 Cor. 3:5-6), so that they would not be proud, like givers, and these would not be proud when they heard: “all... your essence.” After all, although everything is for you, everything is from God. Notice how he still continues to put his name and the name of Peter. What does it mean: or death? Teachers, even if they died, die for you, exposing themselves to dangers for your salvation. Do you see how he again destroys the pride of the disciples and exalts the teachers? He talks with them, as if with noble children who have mentors and should inherit everything. It can also be said that for us both the death of Adam is for us to come to our senses, and the death of Christ is for us to be saved. You are Christ's, but Christ is God's: Otherwise we are Christ's, otherwise Christ is God's, and otherwise the world is ours. We are Christ's, as His creation; Christ is God’s, as His true Son, and not as a creation and not as the world is ours. Thus, here, although the expression is the same, the meaning is different. The world is ours, as if it was created for us; Christ is God’s because He has God as His Father as His author; and we are Christ’s, as created by Him. If, he says, the teachers are yours, then why do you do the opposite, calling yourself by their names, and not by Christ and God? “Therefore everyone should understand us as ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God” (1 Cor. 4:1). Having laid down their pride, see how he again encourages them with the words: “as servants of Christ.” Therefore, do not be called by the name of executors and ministers, leaving the Lord. He called (teachers) builders in order to show that not everyone should be given this job, but who should and who is worthy to be a steward. “And everything else is sought among the builders, that the faithful may be found” (1 Cor. 4:2), i.e. so that he does not appropriate to himself what belongs to the Lord, and does not ascribe to himself instead of the Lord, but acts as a steward. The job of a steward is to manage well what is entrusted to him, not to call what belongs to the Lord his own, but, on the contrary, to attribute what is his to the Lord. Everyone who has the gift of speech or property, representing it, i.e. that this was entrusted to him by the Lord, and not his property, let him not retain or appropriate it to himself, but attribute it to God, who has given everything. Do you want to see faithful stewards? Listen to what Peter says: “Why do you look at us as if we had done by our own strength or piety that he walks?” (Acts 3:12). He also said to Cornelius: “I, too, am a man” (Acts 10:26); and to Christ: “Behold, we have left everything and followed You” (Matthew 19:27). Likewise, Paul said: “I have labored more than all of them: not I, however, but the grace of God which is with me” (1 Cor. 15:10). And in another place, turning to them, he said: “What do you have that you did not receive?” (1 Cor. 4:7). You have nothing of your own, no wealth, no gift of speech, no soul itself - and it is from the Lord. 3. Therefore, when need demands, give your soul too. If you love it and do not want to give it when you are commanded, then you are already an unfaithful steward. Is it possible to resist when God commands? I’ll say this: this is why I am especially amazed at God’s love for mankind, because God, having the opportunity to take everything from you against your will, does not want to do this without your will, so that you deserve a reward. For example, He can take your soul without your will, but wants you to give it up of your own free will, saying to Paul: “I die every day” (1 Cor. 15:31). He can deprive you of honors without your will and make you humiliated, but He wants it to be according to your will, so that you receive reward. He can make you poor against your will, but He wants you to become so voluntarily in order to give you crowns. Do you see God's love for mankind and our blindness? Have you achieved a high degree of dignity and received ecclesiastical authority? Don't be arrogant; It was not you who achieved this honor, but God who clothed you with it; take care of her like someone else's; do not abuse it and do not use it for things you shouldn’t; do not be proud and do not arrogate to yourself, but consider yourself poor and inglorious. If you were entrusted with keeping the royal purple, then, of course, you would not abuse this clothing and spoil it, but with great care you would preserve it for the person who entrusted it to you. Have you received the gift of speech? Do not be proud or arrogant: this is not your gift; do not be unappreciative of the gifts of the Lord, but share them with slaves like you, do not exalt them as if they were your own, and do not regret sharing them with others. Do you have children? You received them from God; If you think this way, then when you have you will give thanks, and when you lose you will not grieve. Such was Job, who said: “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away” (Job 1:21). We have received everything from Christ; From Him we have our very being, and life, and breath, and light, and air, and earth. If He deprived us of any of this, we would perish and decay, since we are strangers and strangers. The expression: mine and yours are just empty words, but in reality it is not the same. For example, if you call your house yours, this is an empty word that does not correspond to the object, since the Creator owns the air, the earth, the matter, and you yourself, who built it, and everything else. If it is in your use, then this is not true, not only because of the threat of death, but also, before death, because of the impermanence of things. Imagining this constantly, let us be wise and make two very important acquisitions: we will be grateful both when we receive and when we lose, and we will not be servile to transitory objects that do not belong to us. Whether God deprives us of our property, He takes His own; whether he deprives you of honor, glory, body, soul, or your son, He takes not your son, but His servant - it was not you, but He who created him; you only contributed to its appearance, but God did everything. Let us be grateful that we are worthy to contribute to His cause. But what? Would you like to keep it forever? This is characteristic of an ungrateful person who does not know that everything he has is someone else’s and not his own. Just as those who separate complacently know that what they have does not belong to them, so those who mourn (when deprived) appropriate for themselves what belongs to the King. If we ourselves are not ours, then how is everything else ours? We belong to God in two respects - both by creation and by faith. So David says: “My composition came from You” (Ps. 39:8). Also Paul: “For in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28); and, discussing faith, he says: “and you are not your own... for you were bought with a price” (1 Cor. 6:19-20). Everything is God's. Therefore, when He demands and wants to take it back, let us not contradict, like ungrateful slaves, and appropriate for ourselves what belongs to the Master. Your soul is not yours: what about your property? And how do you spend what isn’t yours on things you shouldn’t? Don't you know that we will be condemned because we misused what was given to us? What is not ours, but the Master’s, we should use on slaves like us. For this reason the rich man was condemned because he did not do this, as were those who did not feed the Lord. Do not say: I spend what is mine and enjoy what is mine; It’s not yours, it’s someone else’s. I say: someone else’s, because you yourself want it; God desires that what was entrusted to you for the brethren becomes yours; what belongs to others becomes yours when you use it on others; and when you use it incontinently on yourself, then what is yours becomes someone else’s. You have no compassion and say that you rightfully use yours only for your own pleasure; That’s why I say that it is alien. Everything that is yours is common - for you and your neighbor, just as the sun, and the air, and the earth, and everything else is common. Just as in a body there is activity of the whole body and each member separately, and when any member acts separately, it loses its own activity, so it happens with property. 4. I will say more clearly: bodily food, prescribed in general for all members, if it goes to one member, then it becomes alien to him too. She cannot cook and nourish, and that is why she becomes alien to him too. And having become common, it becomes the property of both him and all members. It’s the same with property: if you use it alone, you too will suffer harm, because you will not receive a reward; if you share it with others, then it will be more yours, and then you will receive benefit from it. Don't you see how the hands serve, the mouth chews, and the stomach receives food; and the stomach does not say: I took it, therefore I must keep everything to myself? Don't say the same about property. He who receives must also give. Just as it would be a vice for the stomach to keep food to itself and not distribute it, because this would harm the whole body, so it would be a vice for the rich to keep their property to themselves, because it ruins both themselves and others. Also, the eye alone receives light, but does not retain it, but illuminates the whole body, because it is unnatural for it to retain it while it remains an eye. The nostrils sense the incense, but do not retain it, but transmit it to the brain, communicate the incense to the stomach, and deliver pleasure to the whole person. The legs alone walk, but they not only move themselves, but also carry the whole body. Likewise, do not hold back alone what is entrusted to you, because in this way you will harm everyone, and most of all yourself. And not only on the (physical) members you can see this. A blacksmith, if he does not want to share his art with anyone, will harm himself and other arts. Also, a shoemaker, a farmer, a baker and anyone engaged in any necessary craft, if he does not want to communicate to others the works of his art, will harm not only others, but together with others, himself. And what am I talking about the rich? Even the poor, if they began to imitate your vice, the covetous and the rich, would cause you great harm, they would soon make you poor too, or, better said, they would destroy you if they did not want to share theirs with those in need, for example, a farmer - the products of his hands, a navigator - the gains from navigation, a warrior - military valor. Be ashamed, if not of something else, then at least of this, and imitate their wisdom. You don't want to give any of your wealth to anyone? Don’t take anything from others yourself. And if this happens, then everything will fall into disorder, because giving and receiving is the source of many benefits, both in sowing, and in learning, and in the arts. If anyone wanted to keep his art, he would ruin himself and distort his whole life. A farmer, if he began to store seeds at home by burying them, would cause a terrible famine. Likewise, if a rich man does the same with his property, he will destroy himself before the poor and will bring the terrible flames of Gehenna upon his own head. Teachers, even if they have many students, impart their knowledge to everyone: so you, too, try to gain many who are blessed. Let everyone talk about you: he delivered such and such from poverty, such and such from danger, such and such would have died if, by the grace of God, he had not received his help, he healed such and such from an illness, he freed another from slander, he accepted a stranger into his home, he clothed the naked. Such reviews are better than countless riches and many treasures; they attract everyone much more than golden clothes, horses and slaves. The latter seems intolerable and makes a person hated as a common enemy; and the first proclaims him to be the common father and benefactor, and, what is most important, such benefits are always accompanied by the favor of God. Let one speak about you: he helped me marry off my daughter; another: he tried to bring my son into the people; third: he saved from misfortune; fourth: he delivered from dangers. Such words are better than golden crowns, they are like countless preachers of your love for mankind in the city; Such words are much more pleasant and sweeter than the voices of the messengers who precede the rulers, namely the words: savior, benefactor, patron, which names are characteristic of God, and not: selfish, proud, insatiable, miser. Let us, I exhort you, strive not for these last names, but for the opposite ones. After all, if such reviews on earth make a person so glorious and famous, then when they are written in heaven and God proclaims them on the future day, imagine what honor you will enjoy, what glory - which may we all be worthy of, by the grace and love 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. These conversations were delivered by the saint in Antioch around 390. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: