Homily for the First Sunday Evening of Great Lent
By Holy Hieromartyr Sergius Mechev
By Holy Hieromartyr Sergius Mechev
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!
The Holy Abba Isaiah was asked: “What is repentance?” He answered: “There are two paths. One is the path of life, the other is the path of death. He who walks on one does not step on the other. But the one who walks on both has not yet been accounted for on either — neither on the one that leads to the Kingdom, nor on the one that descends into hades.”
Indeed, in our life, my dear ones, there are two paths. One is the path of sin, of death; the other is the path of life. And we are all sinners, walking sometimes on one, sometimes on the other path. Yet we must correct our life and strive to walk more and more on the path of life, so that we may fulfill our covenant with God. Yesterday I said that God makes a covenant with all. When we served the Liturgy today, and the priest pronounced the words of the Secret Supper: “Take, eat" and "drink of it all of you,” this means that God’s covenant with man is given for all, but on the other hand — each must individually, personally enter into this covenant with God. Without this condition, the covenant of God with man is not fulfilled.
In worldly terms, people simply say: “Let us sign up for this or that group, or union, and immediately receive all rights.” But spiritually, it is otherwise. There all are “invited,” but only those who have individually entered into a covenant with God are “chosen.” It turns out that from God’s side we are all called into His covenant — He has opened it for all. But from the human side, only the one who has offered to Him tears and repentance on the altar of his soul and entered into the hidden covenant with God may enter. We are all united to one another by the New Covenant; we are “faithful,” and, most importantly, each of us individually is united with God. Then it follows that we can truly bear one another’s burdens, and our relationships with each other change. For the one who lives in repentance will desire to be freed from death — the path of sin — and all his thoughts, all his will, will be directed toward fulfilling the covenant.
If I face certain afflictions, mockery, etc., I will endure them as the Prophet David endured them, in the manner of repentance. He believed that the Lord sent people who humbled him because of his sins. This means he truly knew how to endure hardships. There is a huge difference between God’s judgment and human judgment. We start thinking: “Here is this person, that person, etc.,” but we do not know in what relation this person stands with God. The Prophet Jonah, for example, was shown that he should go to Nineveh and tell the people of its destruction, but he apparently felt that the Ninevites would repent and did not go, so that afterward they would not mock him: “Prophet, you were wrong.” He fled from the Lord to Tarshish and for this was thrown into the sea during a storm. After being saved, the Lord sent him again to Nineveh.
It was a large city, three days’ walk across. Jonah walked through the city as much as could be traversed in a day and said: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed.” These were not the words of the Prophet himself, but the words of God, and the Ninevites believed him, dressed in sackcloth, and proclaimed a fast. These words even reached the king. He rose from his throne, dressed in sackcloth, and began to repent, calling all his people to repentance and fasting, even imposing it on the animals, so that the Lord would spare Nineveh. And all cried to the Lord for salvation. The Lord did not bring disaster upon them; He forgave them when He saw that the people, realizing the corruption of their life, had with great contrition begun to perform the mystery of repentance and entered into a hidden covenant with God.
Jonah, however, was greatly distressed and angry, for he knew what lawlessness the city had reached, knew that it could no longer be endured — and suddenly the covenant made by the Ninevites prevailed, and God canceled His decision. Jonah began to pray to the Lord: “O Lord, is this not what I said? That is why I fled to Tarshish, for I knew You are good and merciful. And now take my soul, Lord — it is better for me to die.” This is an example of human judgment. Jonah says: “Why did You send me if You knew this would happen?” And all self-exalting righteous people become distressed if they do not see the punishment of the sinner. They feel they have done something for the Lord. The father felt pity for the prodigal son, and the brother was distressed by this. Here, my dear ones, are the judgments of God and the judgments of men.
And we often act like Jonah, and even worse, since Jonah was righteous and fulfilled God’s law, while we do not have his righteousness. Jonah left the city and waited to see what would happen to the city. He hoped perhaps it would go as he wished. But the Lord instructed Jonah. Jonah suffered greatly from the heat, and the Lord caused a plant to grow over his head overnight to provide shade. Jonah was very glad, and the Lord arranged that the next day the plant withered, and the sun continued to scorch Jonah’s head. He was distressed, regretted the plant, and asked God for death. Then the Lord asked him: “Do you feel so distressed over the plant? You did not labor for it or make it grow. Shall I not pity Nineveh, the great city?” Thus the Lord humbled Jonah.
Here, my dear ones, are the judgments of God and of men. That is why we cannot judge anyone, because we do not know in what relation each person stands in his covenant with God. It does not matter that we are faithful and externally participate in the mysteries. Let us recall Hophni and Phinehas, let us recall Judas. The Lord, at the very last moment at the Secret Supper, fed him with His Body and Blood, and he had entered into a covenant with the devil. Let us consider: have we entered into our covenant with God? And who knows what kind of life each person leads with God in secret?
We must not judge anyone, but remember that there are two paths: the path of life and the path of death. Whoever walks both paths — it is unknown how he will end. Nineveh was said to be doomed, yet it repented, and the Lord spared it. We, therefore, must reject sin and strive to walk the path of life. In life, there are two types of people. Some live in sin and only sometimes step onto the path of life. They may occasionally come to church, occasionally pray at home — this, my dear ones, is insufficient. But there are people who walk the path of life yet stumble. And if they repent, they are not far from the Kingdom of Heaven.
We, in most cases, do not discern our own deeds and walk immediately on both paths. But let us recall the words of Abba Isaiah: “The one who walks on both (paths) has not yet been accounted for on either.” This means: it cannot be said whether he is in hades or in Paradise; the judgment belongs to the Lord. If such a person dies, in terms of condemnation, it is God’s matter.
Thus, God’s covenant is given for all, but only those who have established an altar in their soul, on which they constantly — not at some moment — perform the service of repentance, benefit from it. This is the way of the Christian, and if we walk this path, all the mysteries will truly be revealed to us. We have not used the Mystery of Baptism received in infancy, for it presupposes repentance. Likewise, we have not used other mysteries. It would be very good if we each day thought and remembered: “How do we fulfill our covenant with God?” Then we will not be far from the Kingdom of God. But if we judge others, the judgments of God will seem unjust to us. Pay attention, my dear ones, to this. And may the Lord grant that if any of you ever truly enters into a covenant with the Lord Jesus Christ, to Him alone be glory, honor, and worship forever and ever. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.