Беседа 10

Phil.3:1–3. However, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. Writing to you about the same is not burdensome for me, but edifying for you. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of circumcision, for we who are circumcision are those who serve God in the spirit and boast in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Circumcision is carnal and spiritual. – The love of money is unprofitable. - Against luxury. - Poverty is the guarantee of the kingdom. 1. When sorrows and worries overly oppress the soul, they take away its strength. This is why Paul encourages the Philippians, who were in great sorrow. And they were sad because they did not know what Pavlov’s circumstances were; they were sad because they considered him dead, (they were sad) about the sermon, about Epaphroditus. So, giving them satisfactory news about all this, he adds: “However, my brothers, rejoice.” Now, he says, you have no reason to grieve: Epaphroditus, for whom you mourned, is with you, and Timothy is with you, and I go, the gospel prospers. What is it that you lack? "Rejoice". The Galatians (the apostle) calls them children (Gal. 4:19), and these brothers. When he wants to either correct something or show special love, he calls them children; and when he talks with great respect, he calls them brothers. “Nevertheless, my brethren,” he says, “rejoice in the Lord” (Phil. 3:1). Well said: “In the Lord,” and not worldly (joy), because the latter does not mean rejoice. The very sorrows for Christ, says (the apostle), contain joy. “Writing to you about the same is not burdensome for me, but edifying for you. Beware of dogs" (Phil. 3:1-2). You see how he offers advice not at the beginning, but when he has praised them a lot, when he has honored them, then he does it and praises them again. Since his speech seems cruel, he covers it up from everywhere. Who does he call dogs? (In Philippi) there were some to whom he alludes in all his epistles - vile and vile Jews, selfish and power-hungry, who, wanting to reject many of the believers, preached both Christianity and Judaism, distorting the Gospel. Since it was difficult to recognize them, (the apostle) says: “Beware of dogs.” The Jews are no longer children. Once upon a time the pagans were called (dogs), but now they are; Why? Because just as the pagans were alienated from God and Christ, so they are alienated now. This shows their shamelessness and arrogance, and their great distance from their children. And that the pagans were once called dogs - listen to how the Canaanite woman says: “So, Lord! but the dogs also eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table” (Matthew 15:27). And since dogs are also at the table, so that they (the Jews) would be deprived of this too, (the apostle) adds a reason, but with which he alienates them, saying: “Beware of evil workers” (Phil. 3:2). The words are worthy of surprise: “Beware of evil doers”: they act, he says, for evil, and their action is much worse than inaction itself - they upset the well-ordered. “Beware,” he says, “of circumcision.” Circumcision was considered important among the Jews; the law was inferior to it, and the Sabbath was inferior to it; to perform circumcision, the Sabbath was also broken, but to keep the Sabbath, the (law) of circumcision was never broken. Pay attention to the economy of God: circumcision is placed above the Sabbath; it was not abandoned at any time. So, if circumcision is abolished, then even more so the Sabbath. That is why Paul does not use the name (circumcision), and say: “Beware of circumcision” (κατατομή) He did not say that circumcision is bad, that circumcision is unnecessary, so as not to afflict these people; (the apostle) openly and with full authority uses the section (τομή): but he pleases the Philippians, who did nothing of the kind, with the expression. He refutes both of them, saying: “Beware of circumcision, for we are circumcision” (περιτομή) (Phil. 3:3). How? “Those who serve God in the spirit and boast in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” He did not say: let us examine this and that other circumcision, which is better, but he did not even mention the first by name; what does he say? Circumcision, that is, section. Why? Because those who commit it do nothing more than cut off the flesh. When this action ceases to be legal, then it is nothing more than a section and cutting off of the flesh. Consequently, he calls (circumcision) that either for this reason, or because they attempted to dissect the Church. And we use the word: section, speaking about those who do this unintentionally, carelessly and unskillfully. If you must seek true circumcision, says (the apostle), then you will find it among us, “those who serve God in spirit,” that is, we serve spiritually. 2. Really, tell me which is better, the soul or the body? Obviously the soul. Therefore, even that (carnal) circumcision is not better, but this one (spiritual) is circumcision. As long as the prototype remained, the comparison was justly applied. “Remove the foreskin from your heart” (Jer. 4:4). So in the letter to the Romans (the apostle) rejects circumcision, saying: “For he is not a Jew outwardly, nor is circumcision made outwardly in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and that circumcision which is in the heart is in the Spirit, and not in the letter” (Rom. 2:28–29). Here he even deprives him of his name: he does not eat circumcision, he says. The type is called so until the truth comes; when the truth has come, it is no longer called. My likeness happens in painting: if someone has sketched a sketch of a king, then until the colors are applied, they are not called a king; when they are superimposed, then the type is covered by the truth and is not visible - then we say: here is the king. Moreover, (the apostle) did not say: circumcision is in us, but “circumcision is we,” and rightly so: this circumcision, consisting of virtue, is man, it is truly man. He didn’t say that about them (the Jews), but “beware of circumcision,” because they perished and were wicked. Then, showing that circumcision is not done in the body, but in the heart, he says: “Those who do not trust in the flesh, although I can have hope in the flesh” (Phil. 3:4). What does he express here with the words: “hope” and “on the flesh”? Self-praise, boldness, importance. And he added it well. If he, being one of the pagans, condemned circumcision, and not only circumcision, but also those who no longer accept it at the right time, then it would seem that he was attacking it because he was deprived of the noble origin of the Jews, did not know its great advantages, and had no participation in them; but when he has participation and deceives, he degrades not because he does not have participation, but because he does not recognize - not out of ignorance, but as a result of perfect knowledge. Look what he says in the Epistle to the Galatians, being forced to express his merits, (see) how at the same time he shows humility: “You have heard,” he says, “about my former way of life in Judaism” (Gal. 1:13); and here again: “If anyone else thinks to trust in the flesh, then I have more” (Phil. 3:4), and immediately adds: “Jew of Jews.” He did not say this before, but only after the words: “If someone else,” showing by this the necessity, showing that he said for them. If you hope, he says, “then more so do I.” I say this now; otherwise I would have kept silent. Notice the ease of denunciation: by denouncing impersonally, it gives them the opportunity to evade denunciation. “If anyone else thinks of hoping.” He said well: “thinks,” either because they did not have such a hope, or because their hope was not a true hope, since everything was a matter of necessity, and not of free will. “circumcised on the eighth day” (Phil. 3:5). First, he exposes what they especially boasted about - circumcision, then - “from the family of Israel.” Both showed that he was neither an alien nor from aliens; from the words - “circumcised on the eighth day” it is clear that he is not an alien, and from the words - “from the family of Israel” it is clear that he is not from alien parents. But lest you think that “from the family of Israel” means from ten tribes, he says: “the tribe of Benjamin”: therefore from the most honorable, because in the inheritance of this tribe there were areas of priests. "Jew from Jews". By this he shows that he is not a stranger, but from ancient times from the venerable Jews. It was possible to be from Israel, but not a Jew from the Jews, since many had already brought their family into decline and forgotten their language, mixing with other peoples. Thus, he shows here either this very thing (purity), or the special nobility of his origin. "According to the teaching of the Pharisee". Then he moves on to what was a matter of his free will. All of the above was involuntary, it was not up to him to be circumcised, to be from the family of Israel and from the tribe of Benjamin. However, in this regard, he had more advantages, although many participated in them. What is “more”? Of course, the fact is that he is not an alien, that he is from the most honorable tribe, and from ancient times from such ancestors as not many had. But since all this was involuntary, he moves on to works of will, in which this is evident “more: according to the teaching of the Pharisee, through zeal he was a persecutor of the Church of God” (Phil. 3:6). He speaks the last words because those previously spoken do not sufficiently explain the word: “more.” You can be a Pharisee, but not a great zealot “for righteousness”; you can venture into danger and do it out of love for power, and not out of zeal for the law, as the high priests did; but he was not like that, “in lawful truth - blameless.” So, if I, he says, surpassed everyone in noble birth, zeal, character, and life, then why did I leave these high advantages, if not in order to acquire Christ’s greater, and much greater? That is why he adds: “But whatever things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ’s sake” (Phil. 3:7). 3. Paul rejected the way of life that he had so carefully cultivated, starting from the first age - such a noble birth, so many dangers, so many intrigues, labors, jealousy - and what was previously profitable, he considered a loss, in order to gain Christ; And we, in order to gain Christ, do not despise money, but are ready to lose the future life rather than the things of the present, although they are nothing more than a loss. Indeed, if we examine all the objects of wealth separately, then tell me, are they not a loss, requiring extreme labor, and not bringing any benefit? Tell me, what is the use of many and expensive clothes? What profit do we make when we wear them? Nothing, except just a loss. Why? Because a beggar in poor and worn-out clothes, being in the heat, endures the heat no more difficult than you, even much easier, since worn-out clothes, and at that one, give the body more freedom than newly sewn ones, even if they were thinner than a spider’s web. In addition, due to excessive vanity, you wear two or three clothes, often also a cloak, a belt, and an underdress (άναξορίδας); and no one condemns him even in only clothes, meanwhile he can more easily endure the heat. This, as we see, is why the rich sweat, but the poor do not tolerate anything like that. So, if poor and worthless clothing brings the same or even greater benefit to the beggar, and they achieve the same by spending more money, then isn’t this a great excess of loss? In relation to the benefits and use, you did not gain anything from them, but more money was spent; they are used and serve in the same way. You, the rich man, bought (the clothes) for maybe a hundred gold coins, or even more, and the poor man - for a small silver coin. Do you see the loss? But vanity does not allow you to see him. Do you want to talk about the gold jewelry that is used to decorate horses and wives? Above all, wealth produces this stupidity in people. The same honor is given to both wives and horses; both have the same decoration; and the wives want to shine in the same way as the harness and leather curtains behind which they are carried. Tell me, what is the profit from decorating a mule or horse with gold? And what special does your wife get, burdened with such a weight of gold and stones? But they say that gold things do not spoil. On the contrary, and this happens very often, as experts in these things say, because in baths and in many places both stones and gold things lose a lot of value. But let it be so, let them not be damaged at all: what profit is there from them, tell me? Well, if they fall out and get lost, isn't that a loss? Well, if they arouse envy and malice, won't it be a loss? Isn’t it a loss when they do not bring any benefit to the dressed-up woman, and yet they inflame the eyes of envious people, and even excite robbers? Tell me, is it not a loss when a husband, having the right to use them for a business that brings profit, cannot do this due to the great expenses of his wife, and is forced to endure hunger and extreme need, and see her in gold? Money is called useful things (χρήματα) for this reason, so that we use them not as signs of goldsmiths, but so that we can make something good out of them. So, if your addiction to gold does not allow you to do this, then isn’t everything a loss? He who does not dare to use them, as if they were strangers, does not use them, and there is no benefit from them at all. What is the use when we build bright and huge houses, decorate them with columns, marble, galleries and balconies, and place idols and statues everywhere? Many conjure up idols and demons from these; but we won't touch on that. Why the golden roof? Doesn't it bring the same benefit as to someone who has a modest home? But, they will say, it’s great pleasure. Yes, but only for a day or two, no more. If the sun does not strike us, out of habit, then even more so are works of art: we deal with them as much as with clay. What, tell me, gives the grace of the house to the many columns, the beauty of the statues, and the gilding of the walls? Nothing; this is only a matter of stupidity, pride, excessive vanity and madness. Of everything that is useful, we should have what is necessary, not what is superfluous. 4. Do you see that this (decoration) is a loss? Do you see that it is unnecessary and useless? If it does not provide greater benefit or pleasure, since over time it produces satiety, then it is nothing more than a loss. But vanity prevents us from seeing this. So Paul left even what he considered a gain, but we will not leave a loss for Christ? How long will we continue to be tied to the earth? Until when will we not fix our gaze on the sky? Don't you see that old people don't feel the past at all? Don't you see that they die both in old age and in youth? Don't you see that people are deprived of their property during their lifetime? Why do we cling to the impermanent? Why do we become attached to the fragile? Until when will we not care about the eternal? What would old people not give if they could get rid of old age? Therefore, isn’t it extreme madness that we want to return our past youth, and are ready to give everything to become younger, and when we can get a youth that never wears out, and youth with its great wealth, the most spiritual, we don’t want to sacrifice even a little, but we also regret what is completely useless at the present time? Wealth cannot save you from death, not greatly drive away illness and prevent old age and everything that is necessary and done according to the law of nature, and are you still attached to it? What is the benefit, tell me? Isn’t this where drunkenness, overeating, indecent and various pleasures exhaust you more than cruel masters? This is the only benefit you can get from wealth, and no other benefit - because we don’t want it: and if we wanted it, then through wealth we would inherit heaven itself. So wealth is a good thing, they tell me? It does not depend on wealth, but on the free will of the person who owns it. And that this depends on the will, you will see from this: heaven can be inherited by the poor. God, as I have often said, does not look at the measure of what is given, but at the intention of the givers. And being poor and giving a little, you can get everything, because God requires what is within your power; and neither wealth leads to heaven, nor poverty to hell, but good or evil will leads to one or the other. So, let's fix it, restore it, arrange it, and everything will be convenient for us. Just as a carpenter, whether he has an iron ax or a gold one, cuts logs equally, and even better than an iron one, so it is here: virtue is much more easily accomplished in poverty. After all, Christ says about wealth: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:24). He didn’t say anything similar about poverty, but he even says the opposite: “Sell everything that you have and give to the poor... and follow Me” (Mark 10:21), since following Him depends on free will. 5. So, let us not run away from poverty, as if it were evil, because it is the guarantee of the kingdom; let us also not pursue wealth, as if it were good, because it destroys the unwise; but in every state, lifting our gaze to God, we will, as we should, use the blessings given to us from Him, and bodily strength, and wealth, and everything else. It is indecent for us, created by God, to use these benefits for something else, and not for our Creator. Did he give you eyes? Use them for Him, and not for the devil. How to use it for Him? Consider His creations, and glorify Him, and do not turn your eyes to women. Did he give you his hands? Use them for Him, and not for the devil; not for theft and covetousness, but for fulfilling the commandments and doing good; extend them in long prayers and to help the fallen. Did he give you ears? Use them for Him, and not for listening to noisy songs and shameful stories: “And all your conversation,” it is said, “let it be in the law of the Most High” (Sir. 9:20); and again: “Be in the assembly of the elders, and whoever is wise, cleave to him” (Sir.6:35). Did he give you his mouth? Let them not utter anything displeasing to Him, but sing psalms, hymns, spiritual songs: “That it may give grace to those who hear” (Eph. 4:29), for creation, and not for destruction, for praise, and not for slander, not for slander, but for everything contrary. He gave you legs so that you would hasten not towards evil, but towards good. He gave you a stomach not so that you would fill it too much, but so that you could live abstinently. He put in lust for procreation, not for fornication and adultery. He gave you a mind not so that you would blaspheme, not so that you would revile Him, but so that you would glorify Him. He also gave us money so that we could use it as we should; gave strength so that it could be used as it should be. He gave the arts to support life, and not so that we shy away from spiritual pursuits; in order to study arts that are not empty, but necessary; in order to serve each other, and not plot against each other. He gave shelter, but so that it would protect only from the rain, and not so that it would be decorated with gold, and the poor man would die of hunger. He gave us clothes so that we could cover ourselves with them and not be vain; not so that there would be a lot of gold on them, and Christ would die naked. He gave the house not so that you could live in it alone, but so that you could receive others. He gave the land not so that you, having separated most of it for yourself, would spend the blessings of God on harlots, dancers, actors, flute players and harpists, but on the hungry and needy. He gave you the sea so that you could swim, so that you would not be bothered by the journey, and not so that you would explore its depths and extract stones from there, etc., not so that you would do this. So, what do you say the stones are for? Tell me better, what are the stones for and why are they so precious? Is it by inner dignity or benefit? But non-precious ones are more useful. They are at least fit for a building, but those are good for nothing; at the same time they are stronger. But, you say, precious things constitute adornment. How? This is a prejudice. Are they whiter? No, not whiter than the whitest marble, not even equal to it. Is it stronger? Hardly anyone will say this. Perhaps more useful, more? And this is not the case. Why are they admired? For no other reason than prejudice. If they are not more beautiful - since we will find lighter and whiter ones - if they are not healthier, not stronger, then why are they so admired? Is it not due to one prejudice? Why did God give them? It was not He who gave it, but you who considered them to be something great. Why, you say, does Scripture present them as important? It speaks in accordance with your concept, just as a teacher, when talking to a child, often presents as important what he wants to persuade and attract him to. What do you look for beauty in clothes? Put on clothes and shoes, decorate yourself with this, be content with this. “The judgments of the Lord...,” says David, “are more desirable than gold and even much fine gold” (Ps. 19:11); Did he say anything about beautiful clothes? They are not useful, beloved! If they were useful, then God would not have commanded them to be neglected. But the Divine Scripture speaks in an adaptive way to our concept - and this is a matter of God’s love for mankind. Why, you say, did God give purple, and the like? This is a work of God's greatness. He was pleased to show His wealth in other things: so, He gave you one wheat; and you cook a lot - pies, various and varied pies, very tasty. However, vanity also invented all this: it seemed to you that this would be the most excellent thing. And if some stranger or villager who did not use them, seeing that you admire them, asked you why you admire them, what would you answer? What looks good? No. So, let’s leave such a prejudice behind and love what is immutably true, and not what does not exist, but only passes by like a flowing river. Therefore, I ask, let us set ourselves on the rock in order to avoid what is conveniently perverted, and to receive future blessings, through the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory, power, honor, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. You might be interested in: