Prologue in Sermons: January 15

Careful Reflection on the Things We See in the World Can Give Us Lessons That Are Saving For Us

January 15

(Instruction on the Heavenly Kingdom and on Eternal Punishment)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

The Holy Fathers teach that the whole visible world which we see is, as it were, a book from which we may learn how to build the salvation of our soul. “Just as the author of a book,” teaches Saint Tikhon of Voronezh, “brings forth words from his own mind and writes them on paper, and in this way composes a book, and as it were makes something out of nothing; so the wise and almighty Creator created everything that He had in His divine mind and that He willed, and composed, as it were, a book consisting of two pages, that is, heaven and earth” (Spiritual Treasury, part 1, “The World”). “Every thing and all the creations of God,” writes Saint Basil the Great, “are the same as letters by which we read.” Thus, brethren, the Holy Fathers teach. Let us attend to this teaching and try to understand: how does the world serve as a book for us? How are we to read this book, and how are we to draw from it lessons for our salvation? To resolve these questions, let us turn directly to the matter.

Behold, says the word of the Church, we enter a great and beautiful city, and as we pass through it we admire the beauty of its arrangement, its streets and palaces, and we would wish to remain there forever. For a Christian, however, another thought inevitably arises: what happiness will those enjoy who will one day be deemed worthy to enter that great city of the Lord, the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven, whose beauty is inexpressible? And from this latter thought there flows for us the first lesson from the visible world — and indeed a saving lesson. But let us go further.

We enter the palaces of an earthly king and see in them splendid halls adorned with marble, gold, and silver. We see also the king himself, clothed in purple and fine linen, and wearing a crown of precious stones, surrounded by nobles. We rejoice at seeing all this, and at the same time, as Christians, we naturally think of what great joy will fill the heart of the righteous when he beholds the face of the Heavenly Father and is filled with His everlasting glory! And such reflection on what we see in the world clearly gives us another lesson, also saving for us.

Again: when we enter a garden adorned with various flowers and are filled with delight in it, and at the same time think of the garden of God, the heavenly Paradise, where the righteous rejoice in the glory of God, then from the visible world we take a third lesson, likewise beneficial for the work of building our salvation.

But finally we also see in the world something entirely opposite to what we have seen so far — and yet this opposite, too, can be instructive for us. Here, in this world, even insects often arm themselves against us. Here we are often unable to endure even the bites of mosquitoes and flies and suffer from them. Let us then think of what sufferings we shall endure from the eternal fire. Here again, in this world, we cannot bear the heat of the sun and withdraw from it under a roof or into a shelter; let us think here of how we shall endure the heat of Gehenna. Here, in a house completely shut in on all sides, we struggle and are distressed, longing as soon as possible to see the light of day; let us also think, finally, of what will happen to us in the outer darkness, where only weeping and gnashing of teeth will be heard.

All these and similar reflections, when we compare the visible world with the invisible, if only we reproduce them in our soul, will always give us saving lessons as well. Thus the word of the Holy Fathers is true when they say that the world is a book from which we may always draw lessons that should lead us to our salvation. As you have just seen, both the beauty of this world and everything that appears sorrowful in it — all leads us, or can lead us, we repeat, to our salvation, to our blessedness.

Let us therefore remember in conclusion the words of Job: “Ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will instruct you, and the fish of the sea will declare to you” (Job 12:8), “that the hand of the Lord has done this” (v. 9), “that with the Lord are wisdom and strength; His are counsel and understanding” (Job 12:13). Amen.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.