Word VII

Archpriest John Ilyich Sergiev celebrated the Liturgy in his – Ioannovsky – monastery, with the participation of the priest A. M. Kosukhin of St. Simeon’s church and of the monastery clergy, and for the edification of the sisters of the monastery and the worshippers he delivered approximately the following instruction on the Gospel of the day (Lk 9:44-50).

The Lord said to His disciples: put into your ears these words: the Son of Man will be given into the hands of men. But they did not understand this word; it was concealed from them so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask Him about this word. (Christ’s disciples at that time were still imperfect and did not understand the mystery of our salvation through the sufferings of the Son of God). There came to them a thought: which of them would be greater? But Jesus, seeing the thought of their heart, took a child and set him before Himself, and said to them: whoever receives this child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for whoever of you is least of all will be great; that is, whoever humbles himself most of all is great before the Lord, and, on the contrary, he who exalts himself will be brought low. Pride is the beginning of every sin. The sin of Adam and Eve, who did not obey their Lord, who disobeyed His saving and beneficent commandment, is the reason why the human race, to this very day, remains entangled in every kind of sin; from pride come all calamities, and the present bitter war too comes from pride. — Therefore we must guard against pride, we must humble ourselves, count ourselves lower than others. The example of humility is the Lord Jesus Christ. He, being God, all-perfect, humbled Himself, having become obedient even to death, even the death of the cross (Phil 2:8). Not in vain did the Son of God humble Himself to such a degree. His sufferings were necessary for our salvation from pride and from all other sins. If the Son of God had not suffered for us, no one could have been saved, Satan would have swallowed everyone in his jaws and made them partakers of eternal torment; and even now, all who live in sin and do not repent of it will go into eternal torment. Remember this firmly, and humble yourselves before others, as the Apostle Paul teaches: in honor making one another greater (Rom 12:10).

Further on in the Gospel it is said that the Apostle John said to Jesus Christ: Master! we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him, because he does not follow with us. Jesus said to him: do not forbid him, for whoever is not against you is for you. By these words the Lord shows that He values faith in Him in every man, not in the apostles only. Therefore we too must be lenient toward those who work certain signs in the name of God.

In conclusion I wish to draw your attention once more to the madness, the absurdity, the ugliness, the corruption and ruin of sin. To save us from sin, the Son of God had to humble Himself to the utmost degree. He was pleased to be born in a shepherds’ manger, since no house could be found with room for His Nativity; He endured persecution from Herod and from the Jews; He lived in poverty, not having anywhere to lay His head (Mt 8:20); He went from city to city, from village to village; He taught, preaching to all the Gospel of the kingdom of God; He did good to all, healed the sick of various infirmities, sympathized with all; He wished to save all, and, having taken upon Himself the curse for the sins of all men, was pleased to endure the most fearsome, most shameful and tormenting execution upon the cross. See, then, how hateful sin is to God! See what a great sacrifice the justice of God required for the sins of men! It is impossible for a sinner to be reconciled to God without faith and repentance. Only faith in the Redeemer and sincere repentance can reconcile us to God for the sake of the sufferings of the Son of God. Otherwise we would all be cast off from God, and in friendship with, and in the power of, the devil. What follows from this? We must guard against every sin, must hate sin, however sweet it may be. We must remember that it is sweet only for a moment, and afterward, what bitterness follows? That we might wash away this bitterness of sin, the Lord has granted us communion of the Holy Mysteries. Only for the sake of the Blood of His Son does the Lord God become reconciled to us, forgive, cleanse, sanctify, and unite Himself with us.

Strive, then, to be pleasing to God, repent sincerely of your sins, flee from every sin, and be saved by faith and repentance. Amen.