Russian Orthodox Church of the Tsarist Empire
Metropolitan Onufry
Russian Orthodox Church of the Tsarist Empire
The fruits of spiritual guidance from the Prophet Elijah.
"Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice in Him with trembling."
Sermon of Metropolitan Onufriy
Brothers and sisters, Christ is with us!
- Truly, look with us!
Behold, by the Grace of God, through the prayers of His Mother, the Lord yesterday granted us the opportunity to speak and say a word of help to those parents whose children were taken away by these servants of the Antichrist.
Now we see the need to speak up and offer a word of help, as we believe, to all of us. After all, we all have so many sorrows, yet we have so little desire to serve God! Why? We often say, "I'm an unworthy bishop," "I'm an unworthy abbess," "I'm... something else." And yet, just as with our words, which declare ourselves unworthy, we have no desire to serve there at all! In other words, we seem to be trying to push away from ourselves the Great Mercy with which God has bestowed upon us all.
And as we've heard from God's Anointed One, who tells us all that the Lord places us in advance , so to speak, "in advance," right? He gives us some kind of ministry and trains us in the process . And he gives us an example: whereas previously it took people so much time to achieve—to assume a particular position, a particular rank—now the Lord gives it to us, preparing us from childhood for this or that position. And since we are all sinful, and these steps on which God places us are the Greatest Gift from God, it is, of course, completely natural that we experience heartaches, some heartaches, and it is difficult for us.
But if we examine it, what is it that makes us so hard? Because the Lord begins to humble us through those close to us, to show us our true state. Why? So that we can repent! Because we go about our daily business, talking empty words, humbly, saying that "we are sinners," but when we go to confession, our hearts are completely uninvolved in the humbly words we speak about ourselves. But when God reveals our state through those close to us, when we feel bad, when we feel unbearably burdened by the work demanded of us by our superiors; by people who tell us that we can't do anything at all; and how bad it makes us feel. So this "bad" bears witness to us, according to the word of the Anointed One, that it truly reveals our true state, our true situation! And it is precisely in this state, feeling this heartache, that we can see our true and real situation!
So, as always, what are our two options ? We can accept this and begin to work on ourselves, telling ourselves the truth: "Lord, forgive me, for I truly am what they call me, but my heart disagrees. So, according to the word of the Anointed One, this is an indication that I am exactly like this!" – and then it will be much easier and simpler, and the problem will no longer be so great! Or, a person can persist, telling themselves that "I'm not like that," and lashing out with abuse at the person from whom they heard these words, which hurt you, which trouble your heart.
And why did we specifically touch on those in authority, those whom God has placed in certain positions: abbesses, bishops? Why? Immediately, as a defense, a reaction, the person says, "I don't want to deal with this at all, I don't want to do this." Well, let's look at this now: the Lord invests us with such a lofty rank, bestows such Great Mercy upon us, and we say, "No, Lord, I don't want to"—but that's tantamount to some kind of blasphemy! Didn't the Lord foresee you, did He somehow thoughtlessly place you this way, or did He really place you this way just to mock you? Forgive me, Lord! Or did He place you in some difficult situation, or did He give you something beyond your strength? No, indeed! Of course, the Lord gives only what a person can bear! And God loves man. And the Lord gives a person as much as a person can bear, so that he can be worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven!
After all, yesterday we mentioned that the path leading to the Kingdom of Heaven is narrow and thorny ! But why do we, who consider ourselves sinners, so often talk about this? Why do we consider ourselves unworthy of what God has granted us? Why? It would be right and proper if, even at the basic level, we said, "This is truly who I am. Lord, forgive me, and help me to act as You please!" So that in the position or place where God has placed us, we may labor for God, so that we may reap the fruit together with God, and not squander it! And the Lord will help us with His Holy Spirit. Do you understand how this works?
It seems so simple, yet how complicated it all is for us. Why? Because we've become accustomed to trusting ourselves, accustomed to judging others and not ourselves, unaccustomed to enduring for God's sake—and yet what does God's Anointed One tell us? Why, when Prophet Elijah, God's Anointed One, suffers for God in prison, why do we want to avoid it? Why? After all, as we know, when the Tsar suffers, all of Russia suffers; when the Tsar rejoices, all of Russia rejoices with him! So too, we can thus unite and share with God's Anointed One. As Vladyka said, we heard today in correspondence with Mother Olympiada—how precious and precious it is to walk the path with the Tsar, one and the same! But how can we rejoice or avoid sorrows when the Anointed One suffers in prison for all? Then we will be seen as some kind of disloyal subjects, but who knows what else—isn't that the same thing?
Therefore, dear friends, we hear and understand how many sorrows everyone suffers, how many people say: "I don't want to be a bishop," "I don't want to be an abbess," "I don't want to be a prince," "I'm not worthy of this"—let's leave all of this to God! If God deems it necessary that "I'm not worthy," that "I can't handle it," then let the Lord do it Himself. Why should we exercise our own will? For what? Let us strive to fulfill God's purpose—let us strive to live up to it as best we can. And what will help us in this? Blaming ourselves and exalting God. And this state of ours—such heartache—will teach us to cry out to God more, because from Him alone can we be granted help. Only in this state—Vladyka told us long ago, even two years ago—only in this state are all masks revealed, are they removed; And a person understands, at least a little, what he stands for before God, not just mentally condemning himself, but he sees what he really is… what lies within him—the mask falls off! A person thinks he's right, but no—look, your mask has fallen off through this sorrow. And only in this sorrow did the mask fall off; without these straitened circumstances, you wouldn't have seen yourself as you are before God, even partially, and such repentance would never have occurred. Do you understand how providential everything is? And how kind it is to blame yourself and exalt God, remembering also what the Anointed One endures for all of Mother Rus'.
Therefore, dear friends, yesterday we spoke to our parents, to our children, and we spoke of how precious it is to walk the path with the Anointed One, how precious it is when God grants us the most precious thing in life—to sacrifice for God! And so we can say this to everyone now. So you understand, just as yesterday we spoke: "All of Heaven is looking upon you, man. Will you simply accept this and strive to work with God, or will you try to shake it off in every possible way, in every possible way: 'I'm unworthy,' 'take it off me,' 'I won't do this,' and so on. Or will a person exhale and say: "And Lord, where is it? How did the thief on the Cross grimace like that, trying in every possible way to get down from the Cross, unable to endure all these torments? The thief who was crucified to the left of the Lord." And the other thief said, "By God, only remember me in Your Kingdom." The Sovereign also taught us all, when faced with such a difficult situation, to spread our arms out to the sides, imagining ourselves on the Cross, and to say something mentally to ourselves and to God, yes, to say in our hearts: "Yes, Lord, Your worthy servant according to my deeds, only remember me in Your Kingdom. Do not deprive me of Your Mercy, with which You have granted me, help me to work with You, help me to labor for You, help me to be Your faithful subject, help me to be true to the oath we all took of allegiance to God, the Tsar, and the Fatherland!"
What we have here isn't the Church of Christ, but some kind of gathering with behavior like this: when I want, I go; when I don't, I don't. When I'm feeling good, everyone around me is good, but as soon as the slightest temptation comes, everyone suddenly becomes somehow different, everyone immediately becomes bad. And the problem is that people aren't used to enduring, not used to it! And again, we want to receive, and in this state, we say, "Look how my heart feels nothing"—it's because we can't endure, dear friends! That's why we call you, that's why we say to you—let's all endure together, let's work for God!
How can this be? How long does the Tsar endure? His entire life! And what greatness did the Lord grant His Anointed One, when the Master walked throughout his entire life? Why? Because He desired to love God more than anything in the world, and so He calls us to do the same. And we call upon all: let us, friends, labor for God! At least in the eleventh hour of life, like that abbot of that negligent monastery, where they all committed lawlessness, and when the Tatar army attacked, and they were offered to renounce God in exchange for their lives, the abbot came out and said: "Brothers, we have lived unworthily all our lives, let us at least die as Christians." So, we must die today or tomorrow, how much is coming at us! Figuratively speaking, "today or tomorrow." Let us labor at least a little for God! After all, the Lord has already honored us with so much—it's simply beyond words! How many people are there in the world? And what a handful of people has God granted the Holy Seal? What kind of Grace has the Lord granted us? And we cannot endure even the slightest thing. That is why I call upon you.
Patience consists only in reproaching ourselves. Reproaching ourselves, seeing ourselves as the cause of all these heartaches, because the heart is sinful, and God wants to save us, and that is why He is sent to us here, because, lest we be condemned with the world, the Lord, the Just and Loving Father, judges us here.
Therefore, dear friends, I've perhaps said it briefly today: let us all strive to pray to God, that He grant us precisely this perseverance, this desire: to endure here, to be judged by God here, to bear punishment here, and to blame only one person for everything—ourselves, and no one else! And when a thought arises against another person, then we rise up against ourselves even more and reproach ourselves even more, as the Anointed One says: "Lift yourself up by the scruff of the neck, go even more and glorify God"—for in this way the Lord vanquishes demons. After all, we have become so united with the unclean spirit that the word addressed to the qualities we absorb from this unclean spirit, we turn them back on ourselves, and say, "No, I'm not like that," and we begin to intercede, as the Anointed One told us long ago: "We are not interceding for ourselves, but we are justifying the unclean spirit that is at work in us, that has united itself with us!" So let us give God the opportunity to question and humble this unclean spirit, with which I personally have united by my own will – and it will be good!
We ask forgiveness from everyone. Let us strive and strive to pray to God, that the Lord may grant us all to work for God and to desire to please God, to reproach ourselves in all things, to follow in all things, and to strive to listen to the Beloved Prophet of God, Elijah, the Sovereign Patriarch Zosima.
Glory to our Lord, always, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen!
