June: Day 11: Teaching 1: Holy Apostle Barnabas

June: Day 11: Teaching 1:
Holy Apostle Barnabas

(On Friendship)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Apostle Barnabas, whose memory is celebrated today, is one of the Seventy Apostles of Christ. Saint Barnabas was sent by his parents to Jerusalem to the then famous teacher Gamaliel, and was educated by him together with the Holy Apostle Paul, then known as Saul. The young men: Joseph (as Barnabas was formerly called) and Saul, the best disciples of the first teacher of the law in his time, gifted with rich abilities, both zealously seeking enlightenment, studying together, could not help but unite with each other in close friendship. But after leaving school, God was pleased to lead them on different paths. Saul remained a zealot of the paternal traditions for a long time (Galatians 1:13, 14). On the contrary, Joseph had come to know the Lord much earlier and believed in Him. They say that the friendship of the two disciples continued even after leaving school. Saint Barnabas often saw Saul in Jerusalem and tried in every way to persuade him to turn to the gospel. When the Lord miraculously converted Saul, Barnabas brought him to the Apostles and presented him as a zealous preacher of the gospel.

II. Concerning the holy friendship of the Apostle Barnabas with the Apostle Paul, let us, brethren, discuss Christian friendship, which at present has become, to our deep regret, very rare.

a) Meanwhile, the benefits of true friendship are incalculable. Happy is the man who has a true friend. The son of Sirach says: “A faithful friend is a strong defense; whoever has found him has found a treasure. A faithful friend is priceless and his kindness is beyond measure. A faithful friend is a medicine for life” (Sir. 6:14-16). Similar sentiments are expressed in Russian proverbs: “Do not have a hundred rubles, but have a hundred friends." - "A good brotherhood is dearer than wealth." - "A friend is more precious than money.” Indeed, the services of a faithful friend are invaluable. So, do you fall into trouble and grief? A faithful friend will try to help you out of trouble, just as Jonathan helped his friend David; a faithful friend will not spare his peace of mind, health and property to ease your situation; a faithful friend, if not by deed, then by good advice, will help you: after all, good advice at a time is more precious than gold; a faithful friend “by his participation alone” will ease your grief. Grief is hard when there is no one to express it to, no one to cry it out to, but it is half as lightened, or disappears entirely, if there is a being close to us, to whom we can pour out our hearts and whose sympathy we do not doubt. (See the book “Essays on Christian Life,” by Archpriest Nechaev, now Vissarion, Bishop of Kostr.).

b) This is what friendship is, and yet examples of friendship that is true and not illusory – that lasts only until the first disagreement – are so rare.

What is the cause of this? – It is not caused by anything else but the decline of faith and piety within us. For, let us agree, – what loyalty can one expect from a person for whom nothing is sacred on earth? What respect can one anticipate for the sanctity of friendship from someone who is not accustomed to respecting anyone or anything in the world and who only stands by their own personal interests, – as is the case for the majority of people in our time? Friendship is the highest form of love. Yet, even ordinary love, which was commanded to all by Christ, is noticeably scarce among us! What is so surprising, then, if companionship still flourishes among us, and indeed how it thrives! – while friendship is absent, unseen, and unheard? Truly, many still call themselves friends today; however, they are either "table friends," who are with you in times of prosperity but turn against you in adversity, hastily seeking to "hide from your face," as the wise say (Sirach 6:10), or they are friends only in times of misfortune.

Those friends are not friends, but enemies. “A sincere friend,” says Venerable Maximus, “is he who in sorrow, need, and misfortune, and during the temptation of his neighbor, endures them with us as if they were his own, unfailingly and magnanimously” (“On Love”).

c) But if a true friend is so difficult to find, then how should one value a friend if one has already been found and someone has one! – "Seek a friend, and when you find one, cherish them," is the commandment of our forefathers. "Do not forsake an old friend," says the wise Sirach (Sir. 9). "Do not leave your friend or the friend of your father," teaches the Wise One (Prov. 27:10). However, it should also be noted: if anyone finds it necessary to break off a friendship, this should always be arranged so that the break occurs as amicably as possible, without quarrels, without insults, and in a friendly manner. For one must know: perhaps your friend would prefer to change rather than lose your friendship? – This time, our Venerable Maximus gives us splendid counsel: "Do not be swift in rejecting spiritual love. Those whom you regarded yesterday as spiritual brothers and virtuous, do not consider today as wicked and evil. But, with long-suffering love, remember your good judgments about them from yesterday and set aside today's hatred from your soul" (Moral teachings of the Most Revered Plato).

III. In every way, whether anyone has friends after his own heart or not, let us, brethren, remember that each of us has a “Friend in heaven,” a unique, incomparable and unchanging Friend, our Lord Jesus Christ. “You are My friends” (His own words), “if you do whatever I command you” (John 15:14).

By the way: here is a guide for you on whom to befriend and with whom not to. Those who are willing to please the Lord Jesus by fulfilling His commandments, befriend them. But those who lack the inclination or disposition towards it cannot be your friends. Amen. 

 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.