May 30
(A Story from the Paterikon.)
By Archpriest Victor Guryev
All of us, brethren, ought to be honest, that is, to act according to justice. How should this be understood?
Once, three brothers went out for the harvest and hired themselves out to reap sixty fields. On the very first day of labor, one of them became ill and returned to his hut. One of the remaining brothers said to the other:
“See, our brother has fallen sick. Let us stand in prayer and ask God to help us reap both our own share and the portion that fell to him.”
They stood in prayer, and the Lord helped them successfully complete not only their own work but also the work of their sick brother.
When the harvest was finished and they had received payment for their labor, they went to the sick brother and said:
“Receive your wages, brother.”
The sick brother replied:
“How can I receive wages? I did not reap.”
The brothers answered:
“Through your prayers, we were able to reap the portion that belonged to you as well.”
But even after hearing this, the sick brother would not accept the money from them. They began to argue, but the dispute remained unresolved. The sick brother refused to take the money, while the others insisted on giving it to him.
At last they went to one of the great elders to obtain a judgment. When they arrived, the brother who had been sick said:
“It is true that the three of us went out to the harvest, including myself. But on the first day I became ill and did not work. Yet these brothers are now insisting that I receive wages as though I had labored.”
The other two brothers replied:
“The three of us went out to the harvest and were hired to reap sixty fields. The work would have been difficult even for three men. Yet through the prayers of our sick brother, we completed the entire task both quickly and well. Therefore we offered him the share that should have belonged to him, but he refuses to accept it.”
When the elder heard this, he was astonished and said to one of the monks:
“Strike the semantron and gather all the brethren, that they may render a just judgment.”
The brethren assembled, and when they learned the circumstances of the case, they ruled that the brother who had been sick should receive the wages that belonged to his share. After the judgment, however, he left weeping and sorrowful.
So then, brethren, this is how honesty ought to be understood, at least in this case:
“I did not work; therefore I need nothing. I receive wages only for my labor.”
A beautiful lesson for us indeed. For what do we see around us today? In most cases we see idleness, deceit, falsehood, and laziness. We are eager only to seize the money, while giving little thought to whether we have done our work well — or even done it at all. This is not good, for the word of God says:
“An abomination unto the Lord your God is everyone that does injustice” (Deuteronomy 25:16). Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
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