And we can perform dozens of such feats every day, constantly overcoming the strife of this age, constantly overcoming ill-will and malice. You spat in my face – well, okay, I'll wipe it off, I forgive you. If you feel like it, spit again, just calm down. That's all, and I'll be patient. And if we always do this, then gradually we will begin to worry more not about ourselves – that someone has pinched us, pressed us, said something wrong to us – but about the person who is experiencing sorrow. After all, when a person is angry with us, swears at us, presses us, he suffers even more from this, because we irritate him; So, you need to feel sorry for him and try to correct your behavior so as not to irritate him. This is a vast field of activity for the manifestation of a new quality of the soul. And even if there is no such quality, we must still try to do it for the sake of God, overcoming that sin, that laziness, pride, vanity, malice, envy that are present in our hearts.

In this overcoming of the sinful self lies the value of our efforts before God, Who sees that we are trying, not just living with the flow, but working hard in order to sail into the Kingdom of God. And only in this way, with diligence, can it be achieved, because salvation depends on two factors. The first, the most important and important, is the will of God, which is aimed at our salvation. The Son of God Himself came, died on the Cross, in order to save us. The second factor is the human will. That is why the Lord said: "If anyone has faith and is baptized, he will be saved." If you believe the words of Christ and are baptized – these two factors are combined. "But whoever does not believe will be condemned." The Lord desires our salvation, but if we do not believe the words of Christ, if we constantly deny these words, then we will be condemned.

It is very easy to understand. Orthodoxy is a global worldview, the most perfect of all existing in the world. This is the strictest, most comprehensive view of the world. Any philosophical current of thought, any harmonious system is shattered in its inconsistency against the stronghold of Orthodoxy. It has an answer to absolutely all the questions of existence, and at the same time it has amazing simplicity. But this is all theory; And any theory without practice is nothing, an abstraction. And we lack this practice, the desire to act, our will is too relaxed. We are like, "It would be nice, of course" – but we don't lift a finger ourselves. We are all lying down, but we must first force ourselves to sit down, and then, having swayed, at least stand on our weak legs and begin to take a step at a time – the first step, then the second, the third, so that every day will be a step towards the Kingdom of Heaven. Then this procession will be our path of the cross to Golgotha, the path to salvation, to purification, to liberation from the burden of sin.

Spiritual life consists only in inner work. The Christian life is the renunciation of oneself. We, being sinners, must constantly renounce our sin. But we have grown so close to sin, we are so addicted to sin, that when we renounce it, it hurts us. And we don't want pain; We only want to sit in our shells, so that everyone feels sorry for us, pleases us, praises us, so that we are fed, and nothing hurts us yet, and we have a lot of time, and everything in general. And this is not what life consists of. Life is a constant blow, because the Lord is trying to stir us up, to allow us sorrows, which seem to inspire us with the idea that this existence that we are trying to arrange for ourselves is very shaky. Well, you lie down in comfort for ten or fifteen minutes - and already your side is lying down, you have to turn over to the other, again inconvenience. That is, the Lord constantly forces us to move, to move, even when lying on the bed. And we must try to gather our soul, our heart, all our will, and compel ourselves. The Lord said so: "From the days of John the Baptist the Kingdom of God is needed, and only those who use force take it away." Amen.

Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, September 27, 1986, evening

6th Sunday after Pentecost

Today the Holy Church offers us a reading from the Gospel of Matthew about how the Lord healed a paralytic who was brought and laid before Him. "And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, 'Be of good cheer, child! thy sins are forgiven thee. And some of the scribes said to themselves, He blasphemes. And Jesus, seeing their thoughts, said, Why do you think evil in your hearts? For what is easier to say, Thy sins are forgiven, or to say, Arise and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, then saith unto the paralytic, Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house. And he arose, and took up his bed, and went to his house."

This Gospel is very comforting for us, because we are all paralyzed, we all live in such a time of universal illness and fatigue. The twentieth century is the century of relaxation, when humanity has become softened and is no longer capable of podvig, even the smallest one. Each of us tries to pray, tries to do something with himself, somehow manages himself, but he sees that nothing works, and because of this he falls into despair. And not only we suffer from this, but all of humanity from north to south and from west to east. There are almost no ascetics left, the land has become impoverished by Christian podvig. Therefore, when we read the lives of the saints, it seems to us that it is impossible for people to fast like this, for people to pray like this, to do such good deeds and miracles. It seems impossible to us, because it is impossible for us.

But in Christianity, everything rests on podvig. Man is a sinner, and in order to live righteously, he needs to perform a feat: he must not allow sin to act in himself, but, on the contrary, strive for virtue. But a person does not have the strength, and therefore he is nervous, angry, despairing – and this should not be done. Our time is a time of small deeds, small feats. And in today's Gospel reading, we are given an example. He was a paralytic man, and he could not prove his faithfulness to God in any way: he could not bow down, read the Scriptures, go to holy places, or venerate the holy relics. But he could believe. Faith is a constant striving into the Kingdom of God. And so, when this paralytic man walked the path of life assigned to him by God and endured on it, the Lord, seeing his faith, raised him from his bed of sickness.

This Gospel gives us hope, it says that even the floundering that we do in the spiritual field is not in vain, because it shows God our aspiration. And in no case should we lose heart because we are so paralyzed, because the Lord does not demand much from us, knowing that we, in fact, are not capable of anything great. And how should we live? In what ways should our faith be manifested? Well, here's a simple example: it's raining, and we don't have an umbrella, no raincoat, and no tree nearby to hide under. It remains to go and endure. And this is also part of our task. We can do nothing: neither govern ourselves, nor protect ourselves from sin; All kinds of evil are at work in our souls, and we are not able to correct it, purify it, or somehow work on ourselves, we do not have the spiritual strength for this. Therefore, we need to endure both external circumstances and ourselves. And by this patience we will "acquire our souls," that is, gradually acquire them for the Kingdom of Heaven.

We must follow the Christian path no matter what. Let us constantly strive for the Kingdom of Heaven, constantly desire it, constantly believe that the time will come when the Lord will raise us up in a way known only to Him. Because the Lord desires this, but He also waits for our striving. As St. John Chrysostom said: "The Lord kisses the intention," that is, He greets us. And it is for this intention, for where our soul is directed, and for our patience, that the Lord will raise us up.

The Apostle Paul says: "As according to the grace given to us, we have different gifts (that is, each of us has been given some gift from God, and with this gift we must serve God; the Apostle here enumerates mainly church services, but if our entire life is churched, then whatever we do, we will serve God, our work will be church service), then if you have prophecy, prophesy according to the measure of faith; if you have service, continue in service; whether the teacher is in learning; if you are a warner, exhort; if you are a dispenser, distribute in simplicity; if you are a ruler, rule with diligence; if you are a benefactor, do good with cordiality. Let love be unfeigned; turn away from evil, cleave to good; be brotherly to one another with tenderness; warn one another in respect; do not faint in diligence; burn with the Spirit; Serve the Lord; be comforted in hope; be patient in tribulation, constant in prayer; take part in the needs of the saints; be zealous for the hospitality of strangers. Bless your persecutors; bless, not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of one mind with one another; do not be arrogant, but follow the humble; do not dream about yourself; Do not return evil for evil to anyone, but take care of what is good before all men. If possible on your part, be at peace with all people. Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to the wrath of God. For it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him to drink: for in doing this you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

The Apostle Paul gives us a whole program, but he does not say: make a thousand prostrations a day, or: do not eat any kind of food, fast for weeks. And what is required of us? To be normal people. Now, in our times, there are very few reliable and faithful people left on whom you can rely, to whom you say – and they will do as you asked, they will not invent something, they will not deviate somewhere, they will not do something of themselves. And at this moment, in these years of the twentieth century, in which we have found ourselves to live according to God's providence, we only need to try to be normal people, and this will be, against the background of general relaxation and the general impossibility of doing something, a podvig.