Homily Two on the Sunday After the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord
By St. John of Kronstadt
By St. John of Kronstadt
"Whoever wants to come after Me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me" (Mark 8:34).
Thus, the Lord also designates that each of us must bear our own cross. He says, "Whoever wants to come after Me... let him take up his cross," referring to the cross of various hardships and sufferings, "and follow Me." Indeed, to attain the Kingdom of God, the cross is necessary for everyone, and without the cross, or in other words, without afflictions, without tribulations, no one can enter the Heavenly Kingdom. The Lord has paved the way to heaven for us with the cross, and by that very cross, we must journey there. "Through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22), says the Apostle. "For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life" (Matthew 7:14), says the Lord. But why not, one might ask, widen the path to the Heavenly Kingdom, why not make it easier, why not remove various sufferings from it? How many would then be on their way to heaven! The wide path would then seem to be filled with people hastening to the Heavenly Jerusalem, just as it is currently full of those heading to hell. Yet to speak thus is to be ignorant of the essence of the matter, to be ignorant of oneself, to be unaware of what the Kingdom of Heaven truly is. It is an impossible endeavor, brethren, for there to be a wide and smooth path to our heavenly homeland.
I shall now explain to you, beloved brothers and sisters, why a wide and smooth way cannot lead to the Kingdom of Heaven, but rather it must be narrow, constrained, or – what is also fitting – a way of the cross, a path of sorrow, based on the word of God. The narrow path to the Kingdom, or – to say the same – the cross-bearing path lies toward the Heavenly Kingdom because we are sinners, and exceedingly sinful: sin is inherent to us from our mother’s womb; we live in sin; we are, so to speak, permeated by sin, we are driven by sin, we breathe in sin, we eat and drink with sin, we are awake with sin, we sleep with sin, we converse with one another in sin, we carry sins even into God’s temples, we think of sin even in God’s house, and everything within us is sin, while purity and holiness are either completely absent from us or are known only to a few among us who, by the grace of God, begin to attain it through careful observation of their own hearts, as well as through fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. And God, brethren, is infinite holiness, and He created us righteous and holy in the beginning; man, however, volitionally fell into the filth of sin, just as we, too, volitionally defile ourselves with various sins; and God, being righteous and holy, cannot but disdain all sin, all lawlessness: "To Him, even a single unrighteous thought is an abomination" (Proverbs 15:26). "The deceitful shall not dwell with you," says the Holy Scripture, "nor shall the lawless stand before Your eyes" (Psalms 5:5,6), nothing unclean or impure shall enter the Kingdom of Christ God (Ephesians 5:5), states the Scripture; but to be accepted into the Heavenly Kingdom means the same as to be admitted into communion with God and with His saints, as the Holy Apostle John the Theologian says: "And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ" (1 John 1:3).
In order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven or to be received into communion with God, it is necessary to be cleansed of sins, and for this, one must purify oneself gradually throughout one's earthly life. Is it an easy task, brethren, to cleanse one's heart from the filth of sins? Is it easy to allow sin to not take root in our hearts, when it seems, so to speak, to have become embedded in us, as if it were a second nature, when we (often) love sin as we do our own child, as a part of ourselves? And even if we do not love it, sin torments us, and our hearts are afflicted by passions; how long after repentance do we not return to it? Only until the next opportunity arises. Thus, the experience of each bears witness to all this. It is here, brethren, that the essence of the arduous journey to the Kingdom lies.
Yes, sin has deeply and widely rooted its deadly roots within us, and it is necessary to employ much pious labor, many efforts to resist the sins that defile our souls; we must endure many tribulations, shed many tears of heartfelt repentance and sincere contrition, suffer many unjust persecutions from the people of this age, as well as from the wicked spirits of the air that oppose all that is good. We must bear many sorrows willingly and unwillingly, fast and pray greatly, endure heavy blows to the heart in order to drive sin from its nest. And what then shall we do? After all, sin is not foreign, but our own offspring, the product of our will, which is inclined to evil. If we lacked our own free will, there would be no sin, and thus no such difficulties in achieving our heavenly homeland. But then, we would also not have paradise, nor eternal blessedness. How can anyone revel in blessedness without dedicating any attention, effort, work, or patience to the preservation of the Creator's commandments and to remaining faithful to Him? It is shameful to enjoy bread that is given freely and undeservedly, while bread earned through labor is pleasant and wholesome. Is it truly eternal blessedness to indulge without the toil of self-examination, self-purification, and pleasing the All-Holy, All-Perfect, and All-Loving Creator and our Heavenly Father?
Therefore, do not blame the Creator, brethren; you are dust and ashes. Do not say to the Creator, you who are mere clay: "Why have you created me thus?" (Romans 9:20). Why have you given us free will? He has given you free will in order to provide you the opportunity to earn unending blessedness through your free choice. And how great will our blessedness be when we realize that it is not only the mercy of the Master, but also something we have earned ourselves? Imagine how the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, righteous ones, and all saints rejoice – having reached the Heavenly Kingdom through the way of the cross, through toil and suffering. Do not be lazy, but strive each one of you to purify yourself from every defilement of flesh and spirit and to create holiness in the fear of God; do not despair when, due to your sins, you encounter various sorrows, but pray and thank God for everything, saying: "I have encountered sorrow and illness; and I called upon the name of the Lord" (Psalms 114:3, 4). "Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be afflicted and mourn and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up" (James 4:7–10). "Do not give any foothold to sin in yourself, but strive and chase it away as forcefully as possible from your heart; resist it, if necessary, even to the point of bloodshed, crucifying your flesh along with its passions and desires" (Galatians 5:24): and this will signify that you have taken up your cross and followed the Savior. And the Savior will, in His time, seat the cross-bearers upon the throne of His Kingdom, as He promised: "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne" (Revelation 3:21).
Let none of us, brethren, be afraid to take up our cross, to deny ourselves, that is, all that is sinful and corrupt, and to follow the Savior. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
