Instruction for the Second Sunday After Pentecost (10)

Today, beloved brothers and sisters, we heard read from the Gospel of Matthew of Jesus Christ’s calling to the apostleship of the Galilean fishermen brothers Peter and Andrew, and likewise of the brothers James and John, sons of Zebedee; of Jesus Christ’s going about all Galilee preaching the Kingdom of Heaven, and of His healing every sickness and every infirmity among the people.

The Evangelist notes that Peter and Andrew at once left their nets and followed Christ, while James and John at once left their boat and their father and followed Him. Thus the Apostles left everything for Christ, for the sake of the life and the Kingdom to come: parents, kinsfolk, homes, an innocent, beloved occupation such as the trade of fishing, the tools by which they earned their living, their own habits and the attachments of their hearts. They give us, too, a fine lesson by their obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. They left everything for God. But have we, beloved brothers and sisters, left behind even a single sinful habit, or passion, or beloved sin—have we left it for Christ’s sake, for the sake of Christian piety, for the sake of our own soul’s salvation? Do we willingly sacrifice for Christ even some small portion of our goods, to show mercy to the poor? Do we sacrifice for God and for our own salvation even a little time, to pray earnestly at home and in church, to pour out our soul before God in repentance, thanksgiving, and praise? Do we bring Him our heart as a sacrifice, for it is said (Prov 23:26): son, give Me your heart — that is, faith, hope, and love for God and neighbor. The Lord calls all of us too, like the Apostles, though not in the same way as them, to follow after Him, to imitate Him. In what are we to imitate Him? — In simplicity, freedom from possessions, self-restraint, meekness, humility, obedience, in holiness, in love, freedom from malice, mercy, patience for the sake of righteousness, and longsuffering. Do we imitate Him, according to our own strength, in these virtues? He came to deliver us from sin, the curse, and death, to sanctify us, to renew us, to make us His own sons and daughters (2Cor 6:18) and citizens of His eternal, heavenly Kingdom: are we zealous for righteousness and holiness, for the obtaining of His eternal blessing — come, it is said, you blessed of My Father (Mt 25:34)—of our adoption as sons: do we strive earnestly for eternal life, not loving this present, brief life too much, and looking upon it only as a preparation for the life to come, seeking the true fatherland?

How will you answer this? How would you answer, if Christ the Lord Himself, appearing today in person, were to ask you about it? I leave it to each of you to answer these questions secretly to the Lord Himself, who knows the secrets of hearts (Ps 43:22). Remember how the martyrs, the women martyrs, and the hieromartyrs, for the sake of Christ’s Gospel, for the sake of the Christian faith and righteousness, and for the sake of eternal life, spared not only their material goods, but their very life, and went with joy to fierce torments. Remember how the venerable fathers and venerable women left behind every indulgence of the flesh, all the beauty and glory of the world, for the sake of fulfilling the Gospel of Christ, and walked the laborious path of continual fasting, vigil, and prayer, and progress in every virtue—and were not disappointed in their hope, but attained the eternal, longed-for rest and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Further—the Gospel tells us that Jesus Christ went about all Galilee, teaching in the synagogues of the Jews and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing every sickness and every infirmity among the people. What condescension! what patience! what labor, what zeal, and, in the end as at the beginning, what love for sinful mankind, perishing in its sins! Do we care as earnestly for our own salvation as Christ cared, and cares still, for ours? Do we care as much for one another’s salvation? With such zeal and love? Oh no, no! We all slumber and sleep, taken up with vanity in our sinful life; we have folded our hands, laid down our weapons, thinking that salvation will come to us of itself, forgetting our Savior’s teaching about walking the narrow path—about sorrows and patience, unceasing prayer, constant repentance—the parable of the talents, of the laborers in the Lord’s vineyard. Let us awaken, then, and imitate the apostles, the martyrs, the venerable fathers, and all the saints, and above all Jesus Christ Himself, our Lord, who has given us an example, that we might follow in His footsteps, and who thirsts for our correction, our enlightenment, our sanctification, our renewal, and our salvation. Amen.