!6th Sunday After Pentecost: A Sermon on Luke 6:31-6

Beloved of God, today I would like to concentrate upon the last two verses of the Gospel reading.  Our Lord said: “Love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”

Let us first consider that last verse and the very last word, “merciful”.  If we were to translate this back into Greek we would immediately render it “eleos” which is the usual word in Greek for mercy.  This is what is used in response to petitions in the litanies which is “Kyrie eleison” and we render as “Lord have mercy”.  However the Greek word here is not a form of eleos rather it is “Oiktermon” which comes from the lamenting cry “oi” used in the Greek tragedies for deep pain which could be translated as feeling pity upon.  So this term “Oiktermon” can actually be thought of as a superlative of mercy.  That is how our Lord asks us to be.  We should feel deep pain for or feel pity upon all others, all of our fellow men and really all creation.  This “pain” or “pity” should proceed from the heart, so then, what we really need is to develop tenderheartedness as a primary state of being.  For if the heart is tender the aforementioned would be natural, yet, I am sure we all realize that this is far from easy to acquire. 

So now, let us move on to the words of our Lord just before this and the great command, that is, to love our enemies.  On a human level, with our own human powers can we acquire love of enemies?  Humanly speaking it is impossible even if we seem to be nice, kind, merciful and tenderhearted, adverse circumstances in life have proved that many such people cannot live up to the commandment of “love your enemies”.  However, what is impossible for men, is possible for God.  So if anyone desires to fulfill this commandment he must seek help from God.  He must seek to acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit, through the action of the Holy Spirit within a person this is possible.  It is not something that someone does of himself but it is something that one participates in.    

Archimandrite Zacharias of the Monastery of St. John the Baptist in Essex has written wonderfully about this as follows:  

“Love for enemies, which is active in the heart through the Holy Spirit, is well-pleasing to God as it embraces the whole Adam, the entire creation, even hell.  For this reason, only love for enemies can open the way for man to know and bear within himself the whole created being, as well as Divine Being according to grace.”

“Saint Silouan did not preach love for enemies naively.  He knew that save for the grace of the Holy Spirit it is unattainable.  He also knew that the fulfillment of the double commandment of love, of which the highest degree is love for enemies, attracts the grace of God.  For this reason, whoever loves his enemies will come to know the Lord in a perfect way through the Holy Spirit.  Saint Silouan teaches that love for enemies banishes all pride from the soul and brings into the heart the humility of Christ, which “passes description and is sweet”.  He determines that where there is love for enemies, there is also the Holy Spirit at work.  He discerns the authenticity of spiritual experiences according to the measure in which they are followed by prayer for the whole world and love for enemies. ‘And if…you yourself have compassion on all creation, and love your enemies, counting yourself the vilest of all, it is a sign of abundant grace of the Holy Spirit in you.’  Thus, for Saint Silouan, the criterion of the presence of the Holy Spirit and of true communion with God is prayer and love for enemies. Through love for enemies the believer acquires much grace from God and through prayer for enemies he is able to preserve it.” (The Engraving of Christ in Man’s Heart, Archimandrite Zacharias (Zacharou), pp 54-5)

This is the “kingdom of God within us” (cf. Luke 17:21), let us strive to enter it. Amen! 

The Eulogy at the burial of Hieromonk Hilarion, the Confessor of the Sarov Hermitage^[1]

So then, sojourner on the earth, you have completed your journey; you have crossed the sea of temptations and afflictions, you have acquired peace for yourself! Yet, what crowds surround you? Look, our father and mentor! These are your children, who have come not to see your departure, but listen to the words of eternal life from your sweet lips; but, you are asleep, having closed both your eyes and your lips. Rise up! Give us a blessing! Alas, he is lifeless. Father, your friendly words, with which you greeted and saw everyone off, are no longer heard. Three days ago, you used to say – forgive me, brother, goodbye, and now you have left the world yourself. Alas, what a pitiful loss! Where is our spiritual father? Where is our mentor? What have we lost? Father! Father! Wake up and listen! An unfortunate pauper is asking for alms, a traveler is waiting for your comforting word by the gates, an ill person, who is barely breathing, is waiting for your visit, prayers and absolution. Another one, who having fallen into temptation is waiting for comfort in his misfortune, the bell ring is calling you to the Cathedral to singing and prayer, the sons of the Church are waiting for you there with the offering of the bloodless sacrifice. Yet, no, indeed, neither the ring of the bell, nor my voice, nor the voices of all of us have the power to wake you up from such a deep sleep! Be at rest until the sound of the Archangel’s trumpet!

Oh, God! See our sorrow, hear the cries of our hearts, see the torrents of the tears running in our eyes, we dare to ask, where will we get a mentor and advisor for our salvation? Where will we find comfort in sorrows and afflictions? If, according to Thy word, Thou “desirest all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” [1 Tim. 2:4], and if the salvation is received through much counsel, then why didst Thou take this wise mentor, leader and teacher away? We do not dare to say any more. Thine is the truth, truth for all ages and Thy word is truth – brother, “dust art thou, and unto dust shalt thou return [Gen 3:19], whither we mortals all shall go^[2].

 For this with a prostration we pray to Thou, merciful Lord! Have mercy on this Thy servant, who hath departed from us, do not bring him into judgement [cf. Psalm 142:2]; “if Thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, who shall stand” [Psalm 129:3], even if his life on the earth be but one day [cf. Job 14:5]. As for us, who have become orphaned in teaching of the word of Thy truth, take us into the hands of Thine Almighty protection and be Thyself for us the leader and superior on the path of our salvation, and bring us to Thyself, the source of our salvation, our life and light! As for us, we will kiss for the last time our father and wise mentor, shed tears on his remains with the offering of warm prayers for his repose in Abraham’s bosom. As for you, our father! We ask you with our last request, if the Lord vouchsafes you the boldness before the throne of His majesty, do not forget us, as you have promised, visiting our souls and hearts interceding for the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.  May our hearts and lips never be silent and without ceasing to utter the phrase: Memory Eternal!  Forgive us, peace be with you, go with peace into the heavenly cloister, prepared for you from the creation of the world. Amen.

The special qualities of Father Hilarion were love and meekness. No matter who was the person who came to him, he never reproved him reproachfully, he never expressed strong reprimands and never put difficult burdens on anyone, carrying himself the cross of Christ with its afflictions. If he reprimanded someone, he did it always quietly, gently, mixing exhortations with humility and love, and trying to arouse the action of conscience through showing the ways of salvation. Neither the rich, nor the poor, nor the common folk, nor nobility went away from him without an admonition. There was enough living water from the lips of the humble elder, everyone felt the meek power of his love.  That is why while strengthening them with instructions and advice, he always pointed out to them the dangers on the way to salvation and inspired towards love to God with his own love. He taught those from the brethren who came to him, “In a spiritual cell, humility is the base, the foundation; patience is the wall, enclosure; love is the cover, the roof. A temptation is temporary, but the reward is eternal. Whatever you condemn a person of, you will suffer from yourself; if you see a person committing a sin, do not judge him, but pray for him to God—the One Lover of mankind God, that the Lord God may correct him, and save you from a fall into sin. Consider everyone to be your father and a benefactor, and yourself to be a footrest for all. Do not make known any of brothers’ temptations – this irritates God quite a bit. The duties of a Christian: 1) prayer; 2) reading and listening to the Gospel; 3) occupying himself with handiwork as an obedience. Warfare for a soldier is temporary and short-term, as for a monk – it is until his departure to God. If you want to be a monk, engage in it and endure steadfastly. Oh, our heavenly peace! Where shall we go, where can we find it? Go anywhere, live anywhere you want, and no matter where you live, you will not escape the cross of patience. Keep the thought within yourself that every person is better than you; without this thought even if someone performs miracles, yet he will be far away from God. Consider yourself to be unworthy to be among the brethren, this is the sum of the holy books [Matt. 7:12].

 Elder Hilarion often cited these wonderful words of St. John Chrysostom, especially to those who lived in the world and needed his edification, “Almsgiving’s wings are great. She cleaves the air, surpasses the moon, and goes beyond the sun’s rays. She rises up to the very vaults of the heavens. She does not stop there; rather, she surmounts heaven and overtakes the multitudes of angels, the choirs of archangels, and all the higher powers, and she stands next to the royal throne.”

^[1] This eulogy is believed to be delivered by Igumen Niphont of the Sarov Monastery.

^[2] From the Orthodox Cannon for the Soul of a Deceased Person, Kontakion, Tone 8.e