Homily Two on the Second Sunday of Luke
19th Sunday after Pentecost
By St. John of Kronstadt
19th Sunday after Pentecost
By St. John of Kronstadt
“And as you would that men should do to you, do you also to them likewise” (Luke 6:31).
The God-speaking Evangelist Luke, in the Gospel read today, conveys to us the teaching and commandment of our Lord Jesus Christ concerning how we should conduct ourselves toward people in our common life, so that we may please both God and people, acquire for ourselves a good name and a blameless conscience, and be deemed worthy of the promised, incorruptible heavenly homeland because of our prudent conduct in our earthly homeland (Luke 6:31–36).
What wise, exalted, saving, truly divine teachings and commandments these are! Yet how contrary to them our daily, ordinary life proves to be! The Lord teaches us to deal with people as we would wish people to deal with us, that is, simply, benevolently, sympathetically, and patiently. He has made ourselves the measure of our relations with others, and this measure, this standard, is love: “for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it” (Ephesians 5:29). Yet in our common life it is often the opposite. The relations of people toward one another are very often improper and distorted, lacking the spirit of simplicity and sincerity, love and goodwill, peaceableness, gentleness and forbearance, purity and holiness, sympathy and mercy, and Christian patience. They are often characterized by a spirit of insincerity and duplicity, coldness and arrogance, cunning and ill will, or impurity and sensuality, base selfishness and self-interest. The root, or cause, the source of one kind of conduct or another among people is found in the human heart, for “a good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth what is evil” (Matthew 12:35). This arises either from his natural qualities, or from a fortunate or distorted upbringing, from various passions, inclinations, and habits—for example, habits connected with certain pleasures—from good or bad examples, from the circumstances of life, from a greater or lesser degree of material depersonalization, or from the environment in which a person lives, from his position in society, from various lessons or temptations of life, and finally from the degree to which a person has, or has not, become imbued with the spirit of Christ, of the gospel, and of the Church.
Thus, for some people, the measure of their relations with others is simplicity and sincerity, goodwill, and love for everyone; this is the best aspect of human relations. But often the character of these relations is marked by cunning, suspicion, hostility, harshness, envy, extreme self-love, self-interest, partiality, frivolity, vainglory, ambition, sensuality, or extreme pride, that is, a high opinion of oneself that seeks to humiliate others. This is another kind of human relations, the opposite of the first. Generally speaking, among people one can observe more insincere relations with one another than sincere ones, because all hearts are more or less infected with the impurity of sin and covered by the corruption of the passions. For who, says Scripture, “can say, I have made my heart clean; I am pure from my sin?” (Proverbs 20:9). Thus, some people's words are soft as oil, and yet they are wounding arrows.
Therefore, according to the teaching of our Savior, the measure of our relations with others should be our proper love for ourselves: as we desire people to treat us, so let us treat them, that is, simply, sincerely, gently, lovingly, without suspicion, with forbearance, sympathy, and patience. The Lord Himself offers Himself to us as the example upon which we must continually gaze and, gazing upon Him, always learn: “Learn from Me,” He says, “for I am gentle and humble in heart” (Matthew 11:29). The Apostle Paul says: “Pursue peace with all people and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). Again he teaches: “Let love be without hypocrisy. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; in honor give preference to one another; share in the needs of the Saints, that is, of the Christian brethren; pursue hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless, and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of one mind with one another; do not be high-minded, but associate with the humble; do not think highly of yourselves. Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is good in the sight of all people. If it is possible on your part, live at peace with all people. Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to the wrath of God. For it is written: ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. Therefore, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities” (Romans 12:9–21; 13:1). These, then, are the rules for how Christians should relate to one another that the Apostle Paul set down in his Epistle to the Romans. They are binding upon all of us.
Where is the highest motivation for us to conduct ourselves toward one another in this way? It is found in the image and likeness of God, according to which man was created, and in the fact that we are children of one heavenly Father, members of Christ, branches of Christ, the one Vine, sheep of His one rational flock; we partake of the one life-giving Bread of Christ, we drink from one Cup His divine Blood, we have all been given to drink of the one Holy Spirit, and we await one incorruptible, eternal inheritance. Here is the motivation for mutual, sincere, loving conduct! “If you love those who love you,” the Lord says in today’s Gospel, “what credit is that to you? For even sinners,” that is, idolaters, “love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same,” that is, so long as they receive benefits; and this means loving only oneself, because in benefactors they love only the benefits or the advantage they receive for themselves. “And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back as much,” and in this case you love only yourself and your own interests, not the good of your neighbor—you do not fully meet his need.
If Christians do not practice even these natural virtues, then they are much worse than the pagans, who “by nature do the things contained in the law” (Romans 2:14), without possessing the powers of grace. Christians, however, as we know, have received from God “all things that pertain to life and godliness,” the supernatural powers necessary for the fulfillment of all Christ’s commandments (2 Peter 1:3).
Look into this mirror of the divine commandments, Christian, and learn what you are like. Do you love even those who love you, or do you sometimes not even love them? Do you do good to those who do good to you? Do you lend to those who repay their debts? Do you not withdraw from doing so because of self-interest and distrust? Many want to be content merely with loving those who love them and do not want to compel themselves to love those who hate them or are hostile toward them. With such pagan love, Christian, you will remain in shame at the fearful Judgment.
“But love your enemies,” the Lord continues, “do good and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and evil” (Luke 6:35). Our Savior, it seems, commands us to do something difficult by commanding us to love our enemies and do good to them. The corrupted human heart will say: This is impossible; it is contrary to nature and common sense! Difficult indeed—but only for the corrupted heart, which has not been renewed and strengthened by grace. For a heart that has been regenerated by grace, it is an easy thing, because the Lord helps the believer in all things; and in the lives of the Saints we see many examples of this.
But to whom are we to lend, expecting nothing in return? To poor and insolvent people, for whom repaying a debt is extremely difficult and often impossible. Well-to-do people, however, should certainly repay their debts, and creditors do not sin in the least if they seek to recover what is owed to them through honest means or through the courts. Otherwise, it would be a harmful indulgence toward unscrupulous people who imagine that they can easily enrich themselves at the expense of others.
“Therefore, be merciful,” said the Lord, “just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36). From Christians, His children by grace, the Lord requires mercy like the mercy of the heavenly Father. And indeed, if Christians are children of the heavenly Father, redeemed by the blood of His Son, and if incorruptible, boundless blessings have been promised them in their heavenly homeland, then in this life they must show their brethren a love and mercy corresponding to the greatness of God’s love and mercy toward them and to the boundless greatness of the incorruptible blessings promised to them, the greatest heavenly honors and crowns.
“Beloved! If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11), says the Holy Apostle John the Theologian. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
