Homily Three on the Sunday After the Nativity of Christ
By St. John of Kronstadt
By St. John of Kronstadt
"For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save
that which was lost" (Luke 19:10)
Finally, we have reached the feast of the Nativity of Christ and we have bowed down to the eternal Child with the Most Pure Ever-Virgin, His Mother, and we have sung with the Church of God's extreme compassion and condescension towards us, for the Son of God became the Son of man in order to save perishing man.
But we have not yet accomplished a great deed merely by bowing before the divine Infant, for many of us have worshiped only with our bodies, and worship with the body without worship of the spirit is a sacrifice far from pleasing to God; it is the Church, not us, that has truly sung of His ineffable goodness and condescension toward humanity: we have been only listeners. I want to ask you and myself: are we doing anything in response to such unspeakable condescension of the Son of God toward us? For such an extreme and astonishing self-emptying of the Son of God for the salvation of perishing humanity demands, my brothers, urgent and intensified efforts from us in the work of salvation.
The Incarnation of the Son of God, to use a comparison, is like a strong and reliable rope, given from heaven by the heavenly Father to us, perishing in the abyss of sin. Whoever grasps this rope with all his might and holds on to it throughout his earthly voyage, despite the mighty waves and gusts of wind, will not sink into the abyss of sin, but will reach the quiet haven of heaven. But whoever neglects this saving rope, whoever, fearing the winds and waves, grows faint in spirit and lets go of the frayed rope of faith, hope, and love, whoever falls away from the Church of Christ through schism, unbelief, heterodoxy, and a corrupt life — he will perish forever.
Therefore, I say with the Apostle: "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised eternal life is faithful. Let us be attentive to one another, stimulating one another to love and good works. Let us not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us exhort one another, and all the more as the Day of Judgment draws near. For if we all sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries. If he who rejected the law of Moses is punished without mercy with death under two or three witnesses, of how much sorer punishment, do you think, will he be thought worthy who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? We know him who said, 'Vengeance is mine; I will repay,' says the Lord. And again, 'The Lord will judge his people.' It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Heb. 10:23-31).
Note, my brethren, that the Incarnation of the Son of God, His coming to us on earth, or rather, the Christian faith, is, so to speak, the saving rope, which we must seize upon with all our might and hold on to from the beginning to the end of our lives. This means: each of us must believe with all our heart in Christ as our only Savior from the devil and from sin, "for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12); with all our hearts we must adhere to His Church, the only ship of salvation, and not be led astray into schism, for a schismatic, as one who disobeys the Church, is counted before God as a pagan and a publican; we must constantly study the word of God and the commandments of Christ, and govern our lives according to the commandments; we must strive by all means to correct the thoughts, aspirations, and inclinations of the heart; to be diligent in unceasing repentance before God; to attend God's temple tirelessly, to unite with the Lord in the Mystery of Communion for the cleansing of sins and for the acquisition of spiritual strength to fight sin, and to live in mutual love and in every virtue. This is what the incarnate God the Word requires of us!
Note, my brethren, that the Incarnation of the Son of God, His coming to us on earth, or rather, the Christian faith, is, so to speak, the saving rope, which we must seize upon with all our might and hold on to from the beginning to the end of our lives. This means: each of us must believe with all our heart in Christ as our only Savior from the devil and from sin, "for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12); with all our hearts we must adhere to His Church, the only ship of salvation, and not be led astray into schism, for a schismatic, as one who disobeys the Church, is counted before God as a pagan and a publican; we must constantly study the word of God and the commandments of Christ, and govern our lives according to the commandments; we must strive by all means to correct the thoughts, aspirations, and inclinations of the heart; to be diligent in unceasing repentance before God; to attend God's temple tirelessly, to unite with the Lord in the Mystery of Communion for the cleansing of sins and for the acquisition of spiritual strength to fight sin, and to live in mutual love and in every virtue. This is what the incarnate God the Word requires of us!
The Incarnation of the Son of God is the only extraordinary means which God in His eternal counsel determined for our salvation. And what does a dangerously ill man do on the brink of the grave when a skilled physician offers him the last and most powerful means for his salvation? The sick man accepts it joyfully, though with difficulty, and is thus often healed. But we are all dangerously ill spiritually, because we are all sick with sin, this terrible affliction that corrupts the entire being of man, soul and body. We are so ill that, like those sick with consumption, we often do not even recognize our dangerous illness and do not imagine the eternal destruction that follows it. We dream that we are healthy, and just as madmen imagine that they are not only healthy, but that they are kings, generals, princes, or something similar, so we, in all seriousness, often imagine ourselves to be something completely different from what we really are, and in one way or another we disguise ourselves - we imagine ourselves to be God knows what great people, while in fact we are great sinners.
What then can we do, brother sinners, when the heavenly Physician, with such love and self-sacrifice, offers us such a powerful and extraordinary cure for our salvation — His incarnation, His becoming man, His humiliation, His teaching and miracles, His cross and His death? Nothing more than to urgently and with all diligence avail ourselves of this cure and to live according to the instructions of this heavenly Physician, and not to live as carelessly in this world as we have been living, and especially not to spend these holy days in dissoluteness. For some, like the wicked, dressed in various costumes unbecoming to their faces, wander like ghosts from house to house, indulge in obscene laughter, and turn such a great and holy feast into sinful idleness and the service of Satan. When will we celebrate the Lord's feasts with order and holiness, as befits Christians? When will these immodest amusements cease? When shall we remember to keep holy the Sabbath day or day of rest (see Ex. 20:8), to rest from the works of sin with the rest of the Lord: for every Christian feast must be a Sabbath to the Lord. When shall the Lord rest in us, Who has nowhere to lay His head in our hearts, because of our incessant slavery to sin? Oh, how we continually humiliate our human dignity, which the Son of God so exalted and deified by His incarnation! At least we would be ashamed, at least we would be horrified to do such shameful deeds and to humiliate our nature on such days on which we celebrate the Incarnation of the Son of God! In the presence of the earthly king, we are ashamed and afraid to indulge in immodest amusements, much less vices, or to stain or deface his portraits. And now, in the presence of the heavenly King, who has taken on our image, we shamelessly and fearlessly distort and defile with the filth of passions His living image — our souls. Many indulge in drunkenness, gluttony, uncleanliness, and inappropriate amusements; they put painted masks on their living faces, women dress in men's clothing, and men in women's, contrary to the words of Scripture: "A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment" (Deut. 22:5). If only these people would be ashamed, if only they would blush for their deeds! And there is no shame! O shameless faces! O images of the enemy! I entreat all present here, as one praying to God through me – to admonish the unruly and not to admit them into your homes, to frighten them with the Dread Judgment of God. I beg all the unruly to observe these holy days of God – with reverence, for among us is God incarnate. "God is with us: understand, you nations, and submit, for God is with us" (Isaiah 8:8–10). Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
What then can we do, brother sinners, when the heavenly Physician, with such love and self-sacrifice, offers us such a powerful and extraordinary cure for our salvation — His incarnation, His becoming man, His humiliation, His teaching and miracles, His cross and His death? Nothing more than to urgently and with all diligence avail ourselves of this cure and to live according to the instructions of this heavenly Physician, and not to live as carelessly in this world as we have been living, and especially not to spend these holy days in dissoluteness. For some, like the wicked, dressed in various costumes unbecoming to their faces, wander like ghosts from house to house, indulge in obscene laughter, and turn such a great and holy feast into sinful idleness and the service of Satan. When will we celebrate the Lord's feasts with order and holiness, as befits Christians? When will these immodest amusements cease? When shall we remember to keep holy the Sabbath day or day of rest (see Ex. 20:8), to rest from the works of sin with the rest of the Lord: for every Christian feast must be a Sabbath to the Lord. When shall the Lord rest in us, Who has nowhere to lay His head in our hearts, because of our incessant slavery to sin? Oh, how we continually humiliate our human dignity, which the Son of God so exalted and deified by His incarnation! At least we would be ashamed, at least we would be horrified to do such shameful deeds and to humiliate our nature on such days on which we celebrate the Incarnation of the Son of God! In the presence of the earthly king, we are ashamed and afraid to indulge in immodest amusements, much less vices, or to stain or deface his portraits. And now, in the presence of the heavenly King, who has taken on our image, we shamelessly and fearlessly distort and defile with the filth of passions His living image — our souls. Many indulge in drunkenness, gluttony, uncleanliness, and inappropriate amusements; they put painted masks on their living faces, women dress in men's clothing, and men in women's, contrary to the words of Scripture: "A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment" (Deut. 22:5). If only these people would be ashamed, if only they would blush for their deeds! And there is no shame! O shameless faces! O images of the enemy! I entreat all present here, as one praying to God through me – to admonish the unruly and not to admit them into your homes, to frighten them with the Dread Judgment of God. I beg all the unruly to observe these holy days of God – with reverence, for among us is God incarnate. "God is with us: understand, you nations, and submit, for God is with us" (Isaiah 8:8–10). Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
