Homily on the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
By St. Justin Popovich
(Delivered in 1974 at the Ćelije Monastery)
By St. Justin Popovich
(Delivered in 1974 at the Ćelije Monastery)
There is no more important event in the history of the human race, nor in our history—my history and yours, the Serbian and the Orthodox history, and the history of the whole human race—than the descent of God from Heaven to earth. There is no greater event that could happen in this world. And it did happen. The King of Heaven descended! How could the Kingdom of Heaven not descend with Him into this world! God descended! How could the Angels of Heaven not descend with Him and come to dwell upon the earth!
Behold, the earth is in truth a piece of Heaven. The earth was created to be a part of Heaven, but we human beings, through sin, have moved the earth away from God and placed a terrible darkness between ourselves and God, for sin is darkness. And thus the earth fell away from Heaven. The Lord has come into this world, the Parable of the Wedding Feast of the Son of God tells us today. It is an enigmatic and mysterious word: the wedding of the Son of God. That is, the greatest celebration on this earth when God came upon it. The greatest joy and the richest feast.
Behold, the Lord came into this world and brought Eternal Life for me and for you. Is there anything greater than that! Truly, you and I are in Heaven, living on this piece of earth. The Lord Christ came into this world and, as God, brought us all the truth of Heaven. Can man not rejoice! Has the earth not become the Kingdom of Heaven! Without a doubt, where the Lord Christ is, where the King of Heaven is, there is the Kingdom of Heaven. And the Lord descended into our muddy earthly body and into this muddy earthly world, in order to raise it above all the Heavens. And truly, He raised the earth that had fallen away from God above all the Cherubim and Seraphim, by exalting the Most Holy Mother of God above all the Heavens. And first of all, He raised Himself, His human body. No one has been glorified as man has been glorified by the coming of the Lord Christ into this world.
People, what are they doing for the Kingdom of Heaven in this world? We heard today from the Holy Gospel. The Lord Christ came into this world and set before the earth, before the whole world, the Eternal Truth, the Eternal Righteousness, the Eternal Life — that we may be nourished by them, that we may live by them (Lk. 14:16).
And behold, when the Lord Christ, as God in the flesh, sends His Apostles throughout the world to preach the Kingdom of Heaven, sends His Martyrs, sends the Saints — what do the husbandmen, what do those who are invited do? The Lord sends and calls them to the table: “Come, everything is ready; behold, the table is set, the oxen, the fatlings, all are at the table. Come, you too” (Mt. 22:4). And the Savior says with sorrow, “they did not want to come” (Mt. 22:5). What did those who were invited do? They did not respond. The Father, the Master of Heaven and earth, the King of Heaven and earth, sent His new servants. And they treated them in the same way; they did not heed them either. And they “reviled and killed them” (Mt. 22:6). Did the people on earth not kill all the Apostles? Did they not kill countless Martyrs who proclaimed the Lord Christ? Is not our history, Serbian history in particular, full of Holy Martyrs for the Lord Christ, Martyrs who laid down their lives for the Honorable Cross and Golden Freedom? People do not respond to the call of the Lord Christ.
And what did He bring us? He brought what no one before Him had brought. He brought victory over death, He brought resurrection from the dead, He brought heavenly life. Who could have brought this to mankind? Who? Therefore, brothers, the Church of Christ even today passes through all the places of torment, through all this earthly hell, and carries the risen Lord Christ. No one can overthrow her — not hell, not the godless, no persecutors today, or yesterday, or tomorrow, and forever. The Church of Christ will carry off the victory as long as there are human souls, as long as there is faith in Him, because He alone gives true joy to the human being. If death is the final station in my life and yours, and in the life of every human being, then what is life for? He would have mocked us when He created man as such a being. No! The Lord came into this world to say why He created man. He created him for Eternal Life, He created him for resurrection from the dead. And the body too was created for Eternal Life, not only the soul, but the body as well. It is written in the Holy Gospel, “and the body is for the Lord” (1 Cor. 6:13), and it will rise on the day of the Dread Judgment. Every soul and every body will then be united and enter the Kingdom of Heaven, if it has merited it. Or, God forbid, into the kingdom of evil, if through its sins it has killed itself.
Today the Holy Gospel, as though with some great measure, encompasses you and me as well. What are we doing with the messengers of the Savior? What are we doing with His servants, whom He continually sends to us and warns us? “John, take heed! You are immortal! Take heed how you live, take heed what you do with your body, what you do with your soul.” “Peter, behold, you hate so-and-so. And what awaits you because of sin, what?” In every sin the devil is hidden! Do you know that every sin, in reality, is not ours, but bowing down before the devil? Through sins we bow down before the devil, every one of us. What are we doing with the servants of God? What are we doing with the Saints of God?
Behold, in the Church of Christ many Saints are celebrated every day. Today as well: Saints Adrian and Natalia, and Saint James, and many others. What are they doing with us? They call us: “Come into the Kingdom of Heaven! Come after the Lord Christ!” For He gives immortal Eternal Life. He alone conquers death for you, that greatest torment. He conquers the devil as well — that eternal torment, the eternal hell. Take heed what you do with the Saints of God! Take heed: if you do not follow them, but follow sins, all the paths of sin lead to hell. And we have received from the Lord Christ everything that we need in life, both in this life and the other. The Lord has given man and mankind all the divine powers. He gave Himself to man, and continually gives Himself to me and to you through Holy Communion.
Behold, how little, or not at all, people will have to say in their defense on the day of the Dread Judgment: “Why did they not fulfill the gospel of the Lord Christ? Why did they not fulfill His holy commandments concerning love, concerning prayer, concerning fasting?” Then there will be no excuses. No, for, O man, who are you and I? Mosquitoes, little insects. Behold, for your sake and mine the Lord came. For your sake and for mine. He gives Himself, God, to you and to me! For what purpose? That we may cleanse ourselves from every sin, from every evil, that we may serve the Lord throughout this whole life, led and guided by the Saints of God, by the countless Saints of God headed by the Most Holy Mother of God. Let us take heed: do we respond each day to the will of God and of the Lord Christ to enter His Kingdom of Heaven? He does everything each day, each night, through His Saints; through His mercy He does it continually for all of us, because this is the calling into the Kingdom of God: to serve Him, to conquer every death, every sin, every devil.
May the Saints of God lead and guide us, and today's Saints, Saints Adrian and Natalia, the Martyrs, and the others, so that, following them, following them in faith, in love, in fasting, in prayer, we may enter the Kingdom of Heaven. And there may we glorify the Wonderful Lord Christ, who delivered us from every torment, from every tribulation by coming into this world, giving us victory over death, resurrection from the dead, giving Eternal Life, Eternal Truth, Eternal Righteousness. To Him, in this world and in the world to come, throughout all the ages and all eternity, may our boundless glory be given throughout all the ages. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
