Беседа 1

Pronounced to the people in the Church of St. Apostle. Peter in the second week after the Nativity of Christ. Reading the Holy Gospel: Luke 21.25–32. Jesus said to his disciples: Luke 21.25–32. and there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on earth there will be despondency of the nations and bewilderment; and the sea will roar and be troubled; people will die of fear and anticipation of the disasters coming to the world, for the powers of heaven will be shaken, and then they will see the Son of Man coming on a cloud with power and great glory. When this begins to come true, then look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. And he told them a parable: Look at the fig tree and at all the trees: when they are already blooming, then, seeing this, you know for yourself that summer is already close. So, when you see these things coming true, know that the Kingdom of God is at hand. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things happen; 1. Our Lord and Redeemer, beloved brethren, desiring to find us ready, foretells those disasters that must follow in a world that is dying out in order to turn us away from love for it. He lets us know in advance what shocks must precede his approaching death, so that we, if we do not want to fear God in peace, at least fear His imminent judgment, struck by such shocks. A little higher, ahead of the present reading of the Holy Gospel, which your brotherly love has now only heard, the Lord says: “nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom”; “Language will rise against tongue, and kingdom against kingdom.” “There will be great earthquakes in places, and famines, and pestilences, and terrible phenomena, and great signs from heaven.” (Luke 21.10–11). And through a few intermediary thoughts he added what you just heard: “And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth there will be despondency of the nations and bewilderment; and the sea will roar and be troubled; people will die from fear and anticipation of the disasters coming to the universe, for the powers of heaven will be shaken." Of all these events, we see some as having already actually happened, while we fear others as soon to happen. For “nation will rise against nation” and their battle on earth we see in our times more than we read in books. That an earthquake destroys countless cities, you know how often we hear from other parts of the world. We endure pestilence constantly. But we still do not clearly see the signs in the sun, moon and stars; and that they are not far away, we conclude this from the very changes in the air. However, before Italy was given over to the pagan sword for devastation, we saw fiery points in the sky, shining with the very blood of the human race, which was later shed. Sea noise and disturbances are by no means new. But if many predictions have already been fulfilled, then there is no doubt that those few that remain unfulfilled will also be fulfilled; because the certainty of subsequent events is guaranteed by the fulfillment of past ones. 2. We say this, beloved brethren, in order to awaken your souls to increased caution, so that you do not indulge in carelessness, so that you do not relax from ignorance, but so that fear will always disturb you and concern for good will strengthen you, especially if you think about what our Redeemer says for this: “people will die from fear and expectation of disasters coming to the world, for the powers of heaven will waver." What does the Lord call the powers of heaven, if not Angels, Archangels, Thrones, Dominions, Principalities and Powers, which, during the coming of the Righteous Judge, will visibly appear to our eyes in order to demand from us an accurate account of what the invisible Creator is now graciously allowing us. Here it is added: “and then they will see the Son of Man coming on a cloud with power and great glory.” It can be said more clearly: in power and glory they will see Him whom they did not want to listen to in humiliation, so that the more strongly they then feel His power, the more reluctantly they now bend the neck of their hearts to obey Him. 3. But this is spoken against the wicked; and after this the speech immediately turns to the consolation of the elect. For immediately it is said: “When these things begin to come true, then look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” The truth exhorts its chosen ones, telling them, as it were, directly: when the misfortunes of the world increase, when, at the movement of the Powers, the terrible Judge appears, then “raise up your heads,” that is, rejoice, because when the world that you did not love ends, then the redemption that you desired is at hand. For in Holy Scripture the head is often taken to be the mind: just as the head governs the members, so the mind governs the thoughts. So, to erect heads means to raise minds to the joys of the Heavenly Fatherland. Consequently, those who love God are commanded to rejoice and be glad at the end of the world, because they immediately find the One they love when the one they did not love comes (goes away). It is impossible for a faithful person who wants to see God to grieve over the upheavals of the world, knowing that during these upheavals he will die. But it is written: “Whoever desires to be a friend of the world, he becomes an enemy of God” (James 4.4). Consequently, whoever does not rejoice at the approaching end of the world discovers that he is a friend of this latter, and through this very thing he is an enemy of God. But keep this thought away from the minds of believers, away from those who by faith know that there is another life, but by deeds love it. For to grieve over the destruction of the world is characteristic of those who have planted the roots of their hearts in love for it, who do not desire a future life, who do not even believe in its existence. We, knowing about the eternal joys of the Heavenly Fatherland, must rush to them as soon as possible. We should want to go faster and take the shortest route to get there. For what misfortunes is this world not subject to? What sorrow, what vicissitude does not oppress us? – What is this mortal life if not a path? “And think, my brothers, what it means: to be tired of the difficulties of this path, and yet not want it to ever end.” But that this world must be rejected and despised, our Redeemer explains this with a prudent comparison, when he adds: “Look at the fig tree and at all the trees: when they are already in blossom, then, seeing this, you yourself know that summer is already near.” . Obviously, His thought is the following: just as the nearness of summer is known by the fruits of the trees, so the nearness of the Kingdom of God is known by the destruction of the world. These words clearly show that the fruit of the world is destruction. He rises in order to fall, he grows in order to destroy everything that grows with death. But the Kingdom of God is well compared to summer, because when it opens, the clouds of our sorrow pass away, and the days of life are illuminated by the light of the eternal Sun. 4. All this is affirmed as an undoubted truth when the following thought is added: “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things happen; heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away” (Luke 21:32–33). In the nature of sensual things there is nothing more solid than heaven and earth, and nothing in nature passes so quickly as the word. For words, until they are spoken, are not words, and when they are spoken, then they no longer exist; because they can only be pronounced in a sequential order, one after the other. So, (the Savior) says: “heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” The meaning of His words is as follows: everything that is firm with you is not solid for eternity without change, but everything that seems to pass with Me is decidedly firm and holds without change; because My apparently passing word expresses thoughts that constantly remain without change. 5. Behold, my brethren, we already see what we heard. Every day the world is exposed to new, more and more multiplying disasters. Look around how many of you are left from the countless people; and despite the fact that scourges still befall us every day, unexpected events oppress us, new and unforeseen blows strike us. Just as in youth the body blossoms, the chest is strong and unharmed, the neck is muscular, the veins are full, but in the years of old age the frame becomes crooked, the withered neck bends, the chest is constrained by rapid breathing, the strength weakens, and the words of the speaker are interrupted by shortness of breath, and even though there is no fatigue, but for the feelings, for the most part, health itself is already a disease - so the world in its first years, as if in of his youth, he was powerful, strong for the spread of the offspring of the human race, flourishing in physical health, abundantly fat in everything, but now he is burdened by his very old age and, as it were, is forced to near death hour by hour by multiplying disasters. “So, my brothers, do not love someone whom you see unable to stand for long.” Imprint on your soul the instructions of the Apostle, which he gives to us, saying: “Do not love the world, nor the things in the world: if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2.15). Three days ago, brothers, you learned that a sudden storm had devastated the many-year-old vineyards, destroyed houses, and overthrown churches to their foundations. How many people, healthy and unharmed, thought in the evening that tomorrow they would do this and that, and that very night they died an unexpected death under the ruins! 6. But we, beloved ones, must consider that to accomplish this, the invisible Judge stirred up the breath of the subtlest wind, aroused a storm from one cloud and shook the earth, shaking the foundations of so many buildings. What will this Judge do when He personally comes, and His anger flares up to take vengeance on sinners, if even that is unbearable, when He hits us with the thinnest cloud? What flesh can resist His wrath if He raised only the wind - and shook the earth, gave only movement to the air - and overthrew so many buildings? – Speaking about such power, Paul says: “It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God!” (Heb 10.31). The Psalmist expresses this same power when he says: “Our God is coming, and not in silence: before Him is a consuming fire, and around Him is a mighty storm” (Ps 49.3). The direction of this Last Judgment is accompanied by a storm and fire, since the storm suffocates those whom the fire burns. So, beloved brethren, keep that day constantly before your eyes, and what seems difficult to believe is made easier by comparison. For the Prophet said about this day: “The great day of the Lord is near, close, and hastening greatly: the voice of the day of the Lord is already heard; Then even the bravest will cry out bitterly!” (Zeph 1.14). The Lord also speaks about this day through the Prophet: “And I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms, and I will destroy the power of the kingdoms of the heathen, I will overturn the chariots and those who sit on them, and the horses and their riders will be thrown down, one by the sword of the other” (Hag 2.22). So, if He, as we said before, shook the air - and the earth did not stand - who will stand when He shakes the sky? – But what do we call those monsters that we see, if not harbingers of coming wrath? That is why we need to think that the current monsters differ as much from the last fear as the face of the forerunner differs from the power of the Judge. So, beloved brethren, think about that day with full attention, correct your life, change your habits, overcome temptations to evil by resistance, and cleanse committed sins with tears. For the safer you will one day behold the Coming of the eternal Judge, the more fear you now precede His aspiration. 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