By Father Andrew Lemeshonok
I would like to
congratulate all of you with the feast day of our church in honor of the Reigning icon of the
Mother of God! The Mother of God takes a scepter in her arms, which is exactly
what a queen is supposed to do. The earthly kingdoms fall, and She offers us to
come to the Kingdom which Her Son has told us about: “My kingdom is not of this
world” (John, 18:36). No matter how good and fair are the laws of the earthly kingdoms,
they are still imperfect, and this is why these kingdoms are temporary. And we
all hope that we will manage to enter the Kingdom, which is not based on fair or unfair laws, but on love. Blessed Augustine talks about this love: “Love God, and do whatever you want”.
However, we
really need laws, for we are used to this temporary kingdom. We are used to be
pushed, watched and guarded… We need to feel this human fear, without which we just
cannot live in this world. However, "perfect love casteth out fear” (1 John, 4:18). And
we all did not come to church in order to set up our life in this temporary world,
but to prevail over it and to enter a new world. The world, where the King
becomes a servant; where He is not surrounded by an entourage of his subjects
and warriors, but instead with love and grace. Who will discover this path of love, the path
of service? We see that in this Kingdom of Heaven the last ones become first,
and the one who is great should serve others. The laws and the rules of living are
completely different there. We always try to conciliate the Church with this
world, but they would not conciliate: “Render therefore unto Caesar the things
which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's” (Matthew, 22:21).
It is important
that we recall at least sometimes that our homeland is in Heaven, but not on
earth.
Do not look for
earthly justice, for love is above it. And we learn through this love, that Christ
is bringing us up with it. He believes that we will manage to defeat our flesh
and blood, which do not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. The Spirit of God will
enter us and we will become the church of the Holy Spirit. “Ye are the temple
of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you” (1 Corinthians, 3:16) –
this is what Apostle Paul says about the life of a Christian, about the Kingdom
which begins inside a person. These words may sound unclear to us, while God gave
us an opportunity to build the very church we are standing in now. And this
church is beautiful, because Orthodox Christians believe that nothing is too
good for God. Just look how great the Holy Rus’ was! It was really holy,
because people lived humbly in small houses, but at the same great churches
were built in villages. How could that be? The reason is that people gave their best to
God. And today people want to make Church equal to this world. But it is not
about wealth: gold symbolizes the light of God’s love. The murals, the icons
painted with the paints made from real precious stones – all these things are
to inspire a person. To direct his mind and heart up high, but not to the
ground.
March 15, 2017
St. Elisabeth Convent
CONVERSATION