"And they straightway left their
nets"
In the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today, on
the Second Sunday after Pentecost, we celebrate the memory of all the saints of
Russia who have enlightened that land and shown their light on top of the hill
instead of under a bushel. What is it
that makes a saint? We've talked about
this last week. We read part of the same
reading today as we read last week also.
When
Jesus called His disciples, they left immediately, left their nets, and they
didn't look back. They left with many weaknesses. We can see them. Their warts
are shown in the scriptures: they argued with one another, they jousted with
one another to see who would be the greatest, they had lack of faith, they even
denied our Lord, and not just Peter, by the way; all of them were afraid, even
St. John, who followed from a distance.
They all had human frailties. But
they did as the good farmer that our Lord speaks about in a parable: you put
your hand to the plow. And no man who
wants to plow a field looks back, because then the furrows will be not
straight, and you will not get as much fruit from the ground.
This is
the key, brothers and sisters. Have you
left your nets? Our Lord called James
and John, the sons of Zebedee, and straightway they left their nets. The "nets" are the
"world", in this context. The
spiritual, the inner meaning, of the nets is this: all the things which
entangle us. Have you left your
nets? Or do you still keep nets around?
I'm not
talking about whether or not you fall into sin.
We are sinners. We should not be
surprised when we sin. I'm not talking
about if you have weaknesses, passions.
I'm talking about your priorities.
Have you left your nets? Do you
understand? Do you live your life in
accordance with the fact that Christianity must be a continual ascent, away
from the earth, into heaven? A continual change, a continual changing of one's
mind. Warfare till the last breath. This is what Christianity is. You must
leave your nets.
If you
set your face towards Jerusalem, as the Lord did, meaning, if you don't let the
world get in the way of what your life is for, and then God will strengthen you
and will help you. You'll have many
problems. You might have many sins. In fact, you might sin wretchedly and
continually, but God will help you if you have the right priorities, and if you
beg Him to help you.
Christianity
is not what we believe; it's how we act, it's what we become. It's not possible without belief, but belief
is only the beginning, just like when the grain of mustard seed is put into the
ground. That is only the beginning. That is only the start. Then the seedling starts to grow. Many things endanger the seedling, but
eventually, with care, it becomes a great tree. This is what we must do. We must have the priority to grow, to
change. This is Christianity. This is the essence.
Our Lord
called His disciples; they straightway left their nets. They'd been waiting for the Messiah. At this point they didn't really understand. He was a charismatic man, and there was
something about Him. Those with sensitive souls would see such a thing. They might not understand it, but they saw it
and they desired to follow it. They gave
up everything in order to follow it.
Everything. And they didn't look
backwards. Now they still brought along
their baggage, and their sins, and their passions, and their pride, and …
everything else. But their desire was to
change.
And look
what God has done, with twelve men! He
didn't come to twelve kings, twelve princes, twelve great ones, twelve
scholars, but twelve simple men, uneducated for the most part. Simple.
Men of the sea, men of the earth.
And look what happened. Because
they desired to follow Christ, they left their nets. And anything that was imperfect in them would
be, eventually, healed because of their desire.
It is so
important to understand the purpose of the Christian life. We can talk about it, but to really
understand it is to live it.
Perfection. Self-amendment. Change according to the One Whom we say we
love. Leaving behind those things that
shackle us. As St. Paul says, "We
are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses." Let's leave behind sin
which so easily entangles us. But the
first step to leaving behind sin which entangles is to leave your nets.
The sin
may still come with. We see that from
the apostles. The sin may still come
with. The weakness still comes with. But if God sees a man who wants to change, He
will help him. Grace will descend upon
him and will warm him. This is the
key. You must desire to change. You must desire to become like Christ. You must desire to be all fire. And all these imperfections, they'll just be
a memory some day. All the things that
are wrong with us, they'll burn away, and all that will be left, if we live
according to desire for Christ, will be the pearl, all burnished and shining
because of our efforts, because of God's grace which has descended upon us.
Don't
lament so much out of proportion about your sins that you commit and your
difficulties with passions; don't lament about those more than you lament about
your attitude and your desire. A lack of
desire, a lack of proper priorities, a lack of faith and belief in the
resurrection is what really makes those sins which entangle you still hang
around. They will be burned away by the
grace of God, but you must leave them.
You must struggle with all of your might to leave them.
Now after
having been a priest for I think over five years now, I am well aware of the
great grace of God and the great weakness of men. Unfortunately, I've learned it
autobiographically, but also by observing my flock whom I love. But mostly by observing my own weakness and
seeing how God takes an imperfect vessel and bestows grace upon it. Most of the grace is wasted, and is not made
fruitful, like the water that flows into the ditch and into the sewer and is
not retained in the orchard. But some of
it is retained. And I've learned, and I
wish you to know: God desires your heart, and not so much today that you don't
sin but that you desire to not sin, and that you order your priorities
according to what God has done, and the grace the God-man gives us. If you leave your nets, everything else will
follow.
Certainly,
God who has created us for a good work will complete it in the day of Christ
Jesus. Of course He will. But He will
complete it for those who endure to the end.
Not for those who make a beginning, but for those who endure to the end.
He will not leave those who struggle with their sins. And I tell you boldly; He will not leave
those who fail when they struggle against their sins, who continue to sin. He will not leave them, if they struggle, if
they desire.
This is
the key. This is the pearl. This is the inner knowledge a Christian must
possess. God will not abandon you, but
you must not abandon Him. You must
struggle to abandon all that is not of Him.
Whether you are successful or not, in this life, in this world, in being
free of every sin is not as important as if you are successful in ordering your
priorities and your desires. Leave your
nets.
There are
many of them in the world today.
Sometimes we think that some of these things, the vices and passions and
difficulties, have been invented by our generation. They've been around a long time. But now we have a terrible affliction in our
society: lukewarmness of belief. It
affects us, makes us make excuses, and makes us to have false priorities, to
arrange for our retirement, but not for the keeping of the church. To take care of this, or that, but to not say
our prayers.
Don't be
entangled by the world. The world offers
you nothing. The world pushes you to the
abyss, and then you fall off. Leave your
nets. And then you'll be like the
saints.
We can
share in something that they have obtained.
We all, I tell you boldly -- every one of us, no matter how sinful, are
capable of becoming as the saints. And
that is an arrogant statement; that is the truth. We are made of the same stuff, and the same
grace is shed upon us.
But the
reason why we are moribund in our sins, and why there is little fruit in our
lives, is because we have not left behind our nets. We still have the wrong priorities. Then let us obey the apostle Paul,
"seeing that we are compassed about by so great a cloud of witnesses, let
us lay aside sin, which so easily encumbers us." Let's strive for the
goal. Let's struggle. Let's desire.
Let us leave our nets. God will
not abandon us. God will help us.
This is
glorious news. The saints, you know, are
the resurrection in action. The saints
are living examples of the resurrection, and even in our life we should
experience living examples of the resurrection, if we are able to turn aside
from the sins that once beset us, if we are able to make the right choice,
instead of the wrong one that we've been making for so long. This is the resurrection at work in a
man. And it is a glorious thing. It is a privilege, and an honor to be a
creature of God, for He dwells within us, an amazing thing. Let us leave our nets, and let's truly
experience what God desires for us.
Amen.
Source: http://www.orthodox.net/sermons/pentecost-sunday-02_1999+all-saints-of-russia.html
CONVERSATION