Sermon on the 12th Sunday after Pentecost
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
In the Gospel reading we heard today (Matt. 19) a young man asked Jesus Christ the question, which is the most important for all of us:
“Good Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”
Jesus said: “If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments…You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honour your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”
These commandments of the Old Testament our Lord Jesus Christ expanded in His Gospel teaching. If the Law of Moses says: ‘You shall not murder’, the Gospel doesn’t permit us to be angry with our neighbour. If the Law of Moses says: ‘You shall not commit adultery’, the Gospel says: ‘everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart’.
The commandments of the Gospel aim at purity of the heart. Our actions, deeds and words, have their origin in the heart. “Out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, jealousy, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man” – the Lord says. (Mark 7)
“If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” (Matt. 19)
When we strive to keep the commandments, we realize that this is not easy. We meet resistance to the commandments in our soul, in our dispositions and habits; these are the sinful passions dwelling in the heart.
When we struggle to keep the commandments and fight with the passions, we come to understand our weakness, and the vital need for God’s help.
We realize that without His help we cannot resist our passions. On the other hand, we learn how close the Lord is to us, how quickly He comes to our aid if we call on Him.
Such is the way of the Christian life: keeping God’s commandments guides a man into a struggle with the passions, through which he learns his weakness, and grows in humility. And the more one grows in humility, the more he receives God’s grace.
“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1Peter 5)
Humility is manifest when a Christian ascribes all his good deeds to God’s grace given him in the mystery of Baptism, while in himself he sees only weaknesses and failings. But if he forgets this, and starts to attribute his success to his own effort, then the Lord takes away His help, leaving him alone with his weakness.
The Lord wants us to have a humble and contrite heart. And such disposition may be found only in those who wage warfare with their passions.
As the Holy Fathers say, progress in the Christian life is nothing other than progress in humility.
There is a great difference between the Christian life in God’s commandments and the keeping of the commandments by the Pharisee from the Gospel parable:
The Pharisee keeps the commandments outwardly, in visible actions. The state of his heart is totally outside of his attention. For the Pharisee keeping the commandments is an object of vainglory. Believing himself to be righteous, he looks down at others. Thus, keeping the commandments leads him to pride, self-importance and judging others.
On the contrary, a Christian through keeping the commandments comes to understand his weakness, and grows in humility. Since he always remembers his own weakness, he is forgiving and patient towards others, and judges no one for his shortcomings.
It is most vital: to learn the Gospel commandments and strive to keep them according to our strength. There is no other way to eternal life.
Amen
