Did you heed, brethren, what was
read at the end of today’s Epistle? There the holy Apostle Paul says to the
Corinthians: “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema
Maranatha” (1 Corinthians 16:22).
At first, I wished to invite you
to dwell in thought upon this fearful sentence and to give thanks to the Lord
with joy that this sentence should pass us by—that it should not apply to us,
as Christians. For we are Christians because we belong to Christ; and if we
belong to Christ, then surely we abide in His love, just as He abides in ours.
Nor does the Apostle suppose that Christians are devoid of love for the Lord;
rather, by this dreadful judgment he strikes only those who remain outside
communion with Christ. Let the pagans and unbelievers, therefore, I thought,
fear this sentence—those who are strangers to Christ and deprive themselves of
all the blessings bestowed upon us in the Lord—and not we, who have been called
to become partakers of the divine nature in Christ. But then troubling thoughts
arose concerning both myself and others. What if there is no love in us either?
Love ought to be present in us, yet it may also be absent—and by its absence
expose us to the condemnation pronounced by the Apostle.
Let us, then, examine ourselves,
that we may determine whether love is present within us; and if it should prove
to be absent or weak, let us take care to kindle it, lest we be condemned
together with those who do not love the Lord.
Whether we have love for the
Lord, our heart will tell us. Just as, when we love someone among men, a warm
feeling toward that person makes us aware of this love, so also love for the
Lord makes itself known through the warm turning and striving of our thoughts
and heart toward Him. He who loves another keeps him continually in his
thoughts. He who loves another strives to please him in all things, to discern
his wishes and anticipate their fulfillment. He who loves another places his
trust in him in all things and is confident that he will not be forsaken by
him. He who loves another regards himself as belonging to the beloved, and the
beloved as belonging to himself. He who loves another stands up for him and
will permit no one either to do or even to say anything against him. He who
loves another takes an interest in his affairs and endeavors to avert any harm
that might befall them. He who loves another praises him and rejoices when his
name is glorified everywhere. By these manifestations of the love commonly
found among us, judge also of your love for the Lord.
If you keep the Lord continually
in your thoughts, then you love Him; but if you do not keep Him in your
thoughts, or do so only seldom, then you do not love Him, or love Him but
little. If you are zealous to please the Lord in all things through the exact
fulfillment of His will, as expressed in His holy commandments, then you love
Him; but if you have no zeal for this, or only little zeal, then you do not
love Him, or love Him but little. If you have a warm feeling toward the Lord,
so that the mere mention of His name fills your heart with spiritual sweetness,
then you love Him; but if you have no such feeling, or possess it only to a
small degree, then you do not love Him, or love Him but little. If you bear
within your heart a profound conviction that the Lord is your Lord and that you
are His, and that He will never forsake you, either in this life or in the life
to come—a conviction that is the fruit and evidence of love—then you love Him;
but if this conviction is absent from you, or present only to a small degree,
then you do not love Him, or love Him but little. If you are ready to stand for
the Lord even unto the laying down of your life, and cannot bear that anyone
should not only do or say, but even think anything against Him; if you are
zealous for the affairs of the Lord—for the Holy Church and for all that has
been established within her for the sake of our salvation—and strive to avert
every harm that might befall them; if you rejoice at the increase of the glory
of Christ’s name throughout the face of the earth, through the spreading and
strengthening of the true faith in Him, while grieving, sorrowing, and being
torn in soul over everything contrary to this—then you love Him. But if these
things are absent from you, or present only to a small degree, then you do not
love Him, or love Him but little.
These are the signs! By them
judge whether love is present within you or not. And if it is present, rejoice
and be zealous to make it yet stronger; but if it is absent, or present only to
a small degree, grieve and be filled with fear, and hasten to kindle it within
yourselves. For how can we fail to love our Lord and Saviour? He Himself came
down to us upon the earth and accomplished our salvation in the form of a
servant. He established the Holy Church and filled her with the Spirit of
grace. He has called each one of us into communion with His saving gifts; He
has forgiven and continues to forgive the sins of each; He bestows upon each
the gift of the Holy Spirit; He nourishes each with His most pure Body and
Blood; He watches over each as a mother watches over her child; He cares for
each and observes and orders every step of his life; He draws near to each and
bears each, as it were, in His own arms. How can we fail to love such a Lord?
He is not merely the Saviour of all in general, but my Saviour and yours, and
the Saviour of each one personally. He receives the soul of each, implants good
thoughts in the soul of each, and grants each soul strength and fortitude to
accomplish good works and to proceed unswervingly along the straight path
toward Him, however thorny that path may be. How, then, can we fail to love
such a Lord? We love men who are our benefactors; how can we fail to love God,
the Benefactor of all? We love men who care for us; how can we fail to love
God, Who cares for all? We love men who protect us; how can we fail to love
God, the Protector of all? He loved us before we loved Him, that He might teach
us to love and leave us without excuse for our lack of love toward Him. Receive
into your heart, with feeling, the testimonies of God's love for you, and you
will see how culpable is your lack of love toward Him, and how just is the
severe condemnation pronounced against it.
On hearing this, one person may
perhaps remain indifferent, while another may give himself over to excessive
despair. Both indifference and despair are culpable and deserving of
condemnation. It was not without reason that this fearful pronouncement was uttered
through the Apostle by the Holy Spirit! And it certainly shall not pass away.
Awaken, O sleeper, and be filled with fear. But not that you may surrender
yourself to despair; rather, that you may begin to work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling. Behold, the Lord still grants us life. For what
purpose? That we may correct what is amiss. How are we to correct it? This He
makes known to us in His word. Have you heard the word? Learn from it, and act
according to its instruction. Now this word teaches; but after death it will
judge. Therefore, while life remains, hasten to escape from beneath this
fearful sentence. Yet again, we must not give ourselves over to excessive fear.
Fear is necessary, but only insofar as it inspires us to activity pleasing to
God, rather than paralyzing our strength. Let him who is excessively fearful
draw from that very fear the assurance that the beginnings of a saving
disposition already exist within him—the beginnings of love. Love has its
degrees, and at every degree it is still love. It does not deserve the judgment
pronounced against the absence of love, but, on the contrary, averts that
judgment.
Love for the Lord embraces all
our relations with Him. This is what we must have toward the Lord: to believe
that He is our Lord and that we are His; to be assured that He will not forsake
us either in this life or in the life to come; and to have our heart cleave
unto Him. Herein lie the seed and root of a holy and God-pleasing life. In
these dispositions love also finds its expression; and to whatever degree these
dispositions are present, to that same degree love is present. By kindling and
strengthening them, you will also kindle and strengthen love. Establish
yourself, then, in these dispositions and nourish them.
I shall add one more thought. He
who is born naturally loves the one who begot him. We have all been born in the
Lord Jesus unto a new life. We are not merely reckoned to have been born anew,
but have actually been regenerated in Him. Therefore, we cannot but love Him. If
we ourselves do not perceive this love, and others do not perceive it in us, it
is only because we do not exercise our Christian faculties. Let us begin to
exercise them, and we shall awaken love. Once awakened, love will, in turn,
more effectively stir the Christian faculties into activity, and through their
activity will itself grow and become stronger. The Christian faculties are
these: the knowledge of God and of divine things, zeal for the fulfillment of
the commandments, and prayer, together with reverent participation in all the
rites and sacred services of the Church. Set these faculties in motion, and
each of them will lead you directly into the realm of love for the Lord. How
this happens, experience itself will show; only make a beginning. I shall say
only that this active path toward love, being founded upon regeneration by
grace, is the surest, swiftest, and most self-facilitating path.
May the merciful Lord send down
upon us His Spirit, that by His power He may fill us with love for Him alone!
And on our part, let us promise that we shall neither lull to sleep nor stifle
what He bestows and inspires within us, but shall kindle it, cultivate it, and
act in accordance with it. Then, surely, we shall soon become vessels of
love—blessed and bestowing blessedness upon all. Amen.
September 6, 1864.
On the Thirteenth Sunday after
Pentecost.
Russian source:
https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Feofan_Zatvornik/bogougodnaja-zhizn-voobshhe/13
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