Thus, if we are able to gratefully endure the calamities that befall us, then we will blot out not a small part of our sins.

Amen.

CONVERSATION

against those who did not come to the assembly, and on the words of the Apostle: "If thy enemy is hungry, feed him" (Rom. 12:20), and on rancor

1. It seems that we have had no success in offering you recently a lengthy discourse on zeal for the assemblies (of the church); The Church is again left without children. Therefore, again I am forced to be strict and heavy, to reproach those who are present, to condemn those who are absent; the latter because they do not abandon their laziness, and you because you do not care about the salvation of the brethren. I am compelled to be heavy and severe, not for myself and my own gain, but for you and your salvation, which is dearer to me than anything else. Whoever will, let him be grieved and call me heavy and shameless; but I will not cease to repeat the same thing over and over again, because for me there is nothing better than such shamelessness. Perhaps, indeed, it may be that you, being ashamed if not of something else, then at least of this, so that you do not constantly hear reminders of one and the same thing, will one day have care for your brethren. What profit shall praise be to me, if I do not see you progressing in virtue? And what harm is it to me from the silence of the hearers, if I see your piety growing? The praise of the preacher is not applause, but the zeal of the hearers for godliness, not noise during hearing, but diligence at all times. Noisy approval, as soon as it comes out of the mouth, disappears into thin air, and the correction of the hearers gives an inexhaustible and immortal reward to both the speaker and the listeners. The cry of your approval makes the speaker glorious here, and the piety of your soul gives the teacher boldness before the throne of Christ. Therefore, if any of the speakers desires anything, let him not desire applause, but the benefit of the hearers. Negligence towards the brethren is no small evil, but it is worthy of extreme torment and inevitable punishment. This was shown by the example of the one who buried the talent in the ground. He was not subjected to any condemnation for his own life, nor did anything wrong in hiding his talent, because he returned it whole; And yet, he turned out to be guilty of the way in which money was used. He did not double what was entrusted to him, and for this he was punished. From this it is evident that even if we are diligent and attentive, even if we have a great desire to hear the divine Scriptures, this is not enough for our salvation. The entrusted pledge must be doubled; it is doubled when, together with our own salvation, we take upon ourselves the care of others. He said: "Here is yours for you" whole; but this was not enough to justify him.

"It behooved thee," says the Lord, "to give" what was entrusted to "those who trade" (Matt. 25:25-27). And notice how easy are the commandments of the Lord. People make those who lend the master's money responsible for its return; thou hast gave, they say, thou shalt demand it back; I don't care who took it. But God does not do so; He commands only to give, and no longer makes us responsible for returning. It is in the power of the speaker to advise, not to persuade. Therefore, He says, I make you responsible for giving, not for returning. What is easier than this? Meanwhile, the servant called the Lord cruel, so meek and loving to mankind. Such are the habits of ungrateful and negligent slaves: they always lay the blame for their sins on their masters. For this he was punished and bound into utter darkness. In order that we may not be subjected to the same thing, let us pass on the teaching to the brethren, even if they obey, even if they do not. If they obey, they will benefit both themselves and us, but if they do not, they will bring upon themselves the inevitable punishment, but they cannot do us the slightest harm. We did our part by giving advice; but if they do not obey, then we cannot be harmed by it. It is not reprehensible when we have not produced persuasion, but when we have not given advice; after counsel and exhortation, frequent and unceasing, God will no longer demand an account from us, but from them. I would like to know exactly what you are trying to persuade them, and whether they remain constantly in negligence: then I would not trouble you; but now I am afraid that it is not because of your negligence and carelessness that they remain incorrigible. In fact, it is impossible that a person who constantly listens to exhortations and instructions does not become better and more diligent. The proverb I am about to say is vulgar, but it confirms the same thing. A drop of water, it is said, breaks the stone with its incessant fall. What is softer than water? And what is harder than stone? However, constancy defeats nature. If constancy conquers nature, then much more can it overcome the will. Christianity is not a joke, beloved, and it is no small matter. We constantly say this, and we have no success.

2.

But, it will be said, what does it matter to us? This applies especially to you, to you who do not care for them, who do not persuade and advise them, to you who do not force them, do not force them, and do not divert them from great negligence. It should be useful not only for oneself, but also for many, as Christ showed when He called us salt, leaven, and light (Matt. 5:13,14). These items are useful and beneficial to others. Thus the lamp shines not for itself, but for those who are in darkness; and you are a lamp, not that you alone may use the light, but that you may guide the erring. What is the use of a lamp if it does not shine to him who is in darkness? What is the use of a Christian if he benefits no one, if he does not lead anyone to virtue? Also, salt not only supports itself, but also strengthens rotting bodies, does not allow them to deteriorate and die. So it is with you: if God has made you spiritual salt, then support and strengthen the decaying members, i.e. the careless and negligent of the brethren, and having delivered them from carelessness, as if from a certain rottenness, unite them with the rest of the body of the Church. For this reason He also called you leaven (Matt. 13:33): leaven does not leaven itself, but other mixture, great and immeasurable, although it itself is small and insignificant. So also you are: although you are small in number, yet be great and strong in faith and diligence in God. Just as leaven, in spite of its smallness, is not powerless, but acts because of the warmth contained in it and the power inherent in it, so you can arouse much greater to the same zeal as you, if you wish. But they can refer to the heat, because I hear them say: now there is a strong stuffiness, an unbearable heat, we cannot endure the difficulties and crowding in the crowd, drenched in sweat and exhausted from heat and crowding. I am ashamed of such people, believe me; These are the excuses of women, or, better, excuses that are not enough to justify them, whose bodies are more delicate and their nature is weaker. Although it is shameful to refute such an excuse, it is nevertheless necessary. If they are not ashamed to present such excuses, how much more should we not be ashamed to refute them. What shall I say to those who represent such excuses? I want to remind them of the three youths who were in the furnace and the flame, who, seeing the fire that surrounded them on all sides, embracing their body, their eyes, and their very breath, did not cease to sing with the creatures a sacred and mysterious song to God, but then standing in the midst of the flames, more zealously than those in the meadow, they offered up praise to the Lord common to all; and together with these three youths also about the lions of Babylon, about Daniel and his den (Dan. 6:24). And not only about this I ask them to remember, but also about the other pit and the prophet, about Jeremiah, who sank in the mud up to his neck (Jeremiah 38:6). Coming out of the pits, I would bring those who plead the heat into prison and show there Paul and Silas, bound with a stock, burdened with wounds and sores, struck all over their bodies with many blows, and at midnight singing praises to God and performing this sacred all-night vigil (Acts 16:25). Is it not foolish, while these saints, being in the furnace, in the fire, in the pit, in the midst of the beasts, in the mud, in the prison, in the stock, in the wounds, in the guards, and in the midst of intolerable calamities, never referred to anything of the kind, but with great readiness and ardent zeal constantly continued in prayer and sacred songs, we, having suffered not a little, nor do we neglect our own salvation because of the heat, little warmth, and sweat, and, leaving the congregations here, we wander outside, corrupting ourselves in the congregations that have nothing sound? Such is the dew of divine utterances, and you refer to the heat? "The water," says Christ, "which I will give him, shall become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life" (John 4:14), and again: "Whosoever believes in Me, as it is said in the Scriptures, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38). Tell me, having spiritual springs and rivers, are you afraid of the heat of the senses? And in the marketplace, where there is such noise, crowding, and great heat, tell me, why do you not complain about the stuffiness and heat? You cannot say that there you can enjoy the coolest air, but here we have all the suffocating heat; quite the opposite, here, from the slabs lying on the floor and from the other conveniences in the construction of the church, because it rises to a great height, the air is lighter and cooler, and there are everywhere strong rays of the sun, great crowding, smoke and dust, and other much greater troubles. From this it can be seen that these reckless excuses come from carelessness, from a soul that is negligent and devoid of the flame of the Spirit.

3. Of this I now speak, not so much for them as for you, who do not attract them, do not divert them from carelessness, and do not lead them to this saving table. And the servants, intending to perform the common service, call their fellow servants, but you, intending to perform this spiritual service, do not care about your fellow servants, who are deprived of use. And what, you say, if they don't want to? Make them will, by unceasing perseverance; If they see our persistence, they will certainly want to. But this is a pretext and an excuse. How many fathers are there with whom their sons do not stand together? Was it really difficult for you to bring your children with you? From this it is evident that the others also remain outside (the church) not only because of their own carelessness, but also because of your neglect. If not before, then at least now reform yourselves, and let each one come to church with his own member, and let the father of the son, the son of the father, the husbands of wives, the wives of husbands, the lord of the slave, the brother of the brother, each other, be urged and drawn into this assembly; or, better yet, let us call not only friends, but also enemies into this common treasury of blessings. When the enemy sees your concern for him, he will certainly cease enmity.

Say to him, "Are you not ashamed of the Jews, who observe the Sabbath with such exactness, and cease all work from the very evening?" As soon as they see on Friday that the sun is inclined to the west, they cease their contracts and end their trade; And if a man, having bought anything from them before the evening, comes in the evening and brings the payment, they do not allow themselves to receive it and receive the money. But what do I say about payment for what is sold and about contracts? If they were to get the treasure, they would rather forfeit the profits than break the law.

Do you not know that if you come and pray to God and take part in this meeting, then the things that lie ahead of you will be much more successful? Do you have worldly concerns? Come here for them, so that you may gain God's favor by being here, you have come out with safety, so that you may have God as your helper, so that you may become invincible to demons with the help of the Right Hand on high. If you make use of the prayers of the fathers, take part in common prayer, listen to the divine sayings, gain God's help, and thus come out of here protected by this weapon, then the devil himself will not dare to look at you, not only evil people who try to slander and slander. But if you go out of the house to the market place without this weapon, you will be easily caught by all enemies. That is why many things in public and private affairs do not proceed according to our wishes, because we do not care about spiritual things in advance, and then about worldly things, but have perverted the order. As a result, the correct course of affairs was perverted, and everything was filled with great confusion. Do you think I am grieved and grieved when I think that at the beginning of the celebration and the feast the whole city flocks together, even if no one invites me, and after the celebration and feast are over, even if we spend the whole day straining and inviting you, no one listens? Often imagining this in my mind, I sighed heavily, and said to myself, Why should you offer exhortation or counsel, when you do everything simply and out of habit, and do not in the least become more diligent from our instruction? If at the feasts you have no need of our exhortation, and after them you do not make any use of our instruction, do you not make our words superfluous, how much does it depend on you?

4. Perhaps many of those who hear this are indignant. But this is not what the careless think; otherwise they would have given up their negligence, like us, who take care of you every day. Do you profit as much from external affairs as you harm yourself? It is impossible to leave another assembly or society with such benefit as being here – whether you point to the judgment seat, or to the place of meetings, or to the royal palace itself. It is not the government of nations and cities, nor the command of armies that we give to those who come here, but another authority that is more important than the reign itself, or, better, we do not teach, but the grace of the Spirit.

What kind of power is this more important than the reign that those who come here receive? Here they learn to rule over shameful passions, to reign over vicious lust, to restrain anger, to suppress envy, to enslave vanity. Not so important is the king who sits on the royal throne and is clothed with a diadem, but the man who has raised his common sense within himself to the throne of power over the slavish passions and has clothed his head with dominion over them, as if with a kind of brilliant diadem.

In order that this may not be the case, prophets and apostles from everywhere flock to tame our passions, to expel from us all ferocious folly, and to give us power more important than kingship. For this reason I have said that those who deprive themselves of such care receive a mortal wound, suffering such harm as is not experienced by anything else; on the contrary, those who come here receive such benefits as they could not get from anything else, as was proved in our discourse. Yes, "Let them not come before me empty-handed," said the law (Exodus 23:15), i.e. do not come without sacrifices. But if one should not enter the house of God without sacrifices, how much more should one not enter the congregations of the brethren; the best sacrifice and offering is when you enter here with your soul. Do you not see how learned pigeons, flying out, drag others with them? So will we.