Any evil force acting on the person, nothing to do with the visitation of God has not. Why should man be punished, he will punish himself, your Savior. Sermon of Archpriest Alexander Abramov in the 21st week after Pentecost, memory of the Holy fathers of the seventh Ecumenical Council.
Photo: Sergey Petrov
- How to begin to live well — from grief
- The disease is a punishment for sins?
- Love and punishment
- How to accept sorrow?
- Don’t let sorrows get you down
After this Jesus went into a city called Nain; and with Him went many of His disciples and a great multitude. When He approached the town gate, then carried the dead, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and much people went with her out of town. Seeing her, the Lord had compassion on her and said to her: weep not. And he came and touched the bier; the procession stopped, and He said, young man! I say to you, arise. The dead man sat up and began to speak; and Jesus gave him back to his mother. And all has grasped fear, and glorified God, saying, a great prophet is risen up among us and God has visited His people.
LK. 7: 11-16
This Sunday the Lord through the gospel to talk to us about what He does not what He is. We hear today the story of the only son of the widow of Nain.
And here are some important words that relate to the action of the Savior in relation to the deceased young man. The Lord approaches the limits of Naina sees the deceased. And the first thing they say about feeling the Savior in this moment: “And He had compassion on the woman, pamelasextape about it.” He says to the widow: weep not. And without any delay, following the action of the Savior. He comes to the bier and addresses the young man, I say to you, arise. And the young man rises. And Christ gives his mother. And now the testimony of other people: “Rose of the great prophets, and God has visited His people”.
So: pamelasextape, don’t cry, rise up, God has visited His people.
Unlike our modern, very distorted and unhealthy views about the visit of God as visiting the tribulations and punishment, the gospel understands him absolutely without vagaries. A visit from God — forgiveness, healing, resurrection and salvation.
We say: behold, the Lord has visited — sick with the flu last week. Any evil force acting on the person, nothing to do with the visitation of God has not. Liars are those who want to take us in the old Testament and tell us that a visit from God is a punishment. Why should man be punished when he himself through the totality of their sins and the loss of reason itself will be punished? He has even no Satan it is not necessary. He will punish himself, not seeing the point in my life, worshipping other gods, moving away from the Savior.
A visit from God is always the coming of God to help people. When a person got on from the visitation of God. When a person sings soul is the visitation of God. If the opposite happens, it’s not a visit from God, and God’s care. Can we imagine that after our house visit our dear man, we will throw ourselves to count the silverware or start to wash everything he’s touched? On the contrary, we will be warmly remembered: we had people sat and talked. We felt his joy is our joy. This is the visitation of God.
SVT. John Chrysostom says: the sins of the worst person in the world — nothing compared with the mercy of God[1]. They are like a grain of sand against the ocean. We can turn away from the grace of God is our choice. But then will visit us, not God, but someone else.
The lesson of today’s gospel is that relationship with God should and can be built as relationship happy and joyful. And what to do with all of our hurts and troubles? We can’t get rid of them, to leave? We can’t leave, because we have not formed the habit of looking at the situation through the eyes of Christ. We look through dozens of lenses that distort what we could see clean and clear. We act on the basis of this distorted lens of the eye. And we are in trouble. Because the valid — and effective — conversion to Christ we are then not obtained.
Ask God that through His visit He is these points that we do not fit, those of glass, which we have been put on, muddy and dirty, and quite a different sight would have broken. And would allow us to see Ourselves as He is. And we would have seen that, as the Apostle says, He is the light[2].
We will be hurt. It won’t be easy. Sometimes, perhaps, it will be very hard. But in the depths of their own hearts, we will be peaceful, because Christ will give the feeling of being in Itself. And to be with God, God, God — it means to be human happy. I want to take you back to child way — “to live as Christ’s bosom”. It’s not necessarily happily ever after, not always very richly and successfully. But always solid in the sense that Christ will not forsake you.
From the book “whosoever will may come. Conversations on Sundays and feast the gospel reading,” published in the publishing house “Nikea”
[1] “do Not think of the multitude of your sins, but look at the infinite goodness of God. Disease is great, but the Doctor is more, storm is strong but the Helmsman — wise; souls are desperate, but the medications are ready and after the despair. There is nothing that could defeat and conquer His mercy … What’s worse than the robber? However, through one word, in the blink of an eye he went to heaven before many of the saints” (St. Basil the great. John Chrysostom. Creations. Vol. 6. KN. 6).
[2] God is light and in Him is no darkness (Jn. 1: 5).