By Fr. Andrew Lemeshonok
The
Gospel invites us to examine ourselves, scrutinize our own sins, and notice the
beams sticking out of our own eyes. Elder Ambrose of Optina said, “Know
yourself, and that’s enough”. Of course, you can see a whole lot of bad things
and turn away from them in disgust but that’s the reality: we live in a world
that isn’t sterile—in a world that lost its original beauty. The whole world
lieth in wickedness (cf. 1 John 5:19), and in the world ye shall have
tribulation (cf. John 16:33). That is why our struggle against judgement,
against the sinful attitude to others, when we look at them superficially and
venture to tag them without love in our hearts, is the struggle for our souls, for
our future because if our souls remain judgemental, embittered, and feel
disgust of our neighbours, they will not be able to enter the Heavenly Kingdom.
Our souls need to be purified. That is the reason why the Church exists: it is
the place where one’s soul melts down in the Sacraments of Repentance and
Communion and where one learns to understand and accept his neighbours, feel
sympathetic and compassionate, and refrain from judging them (which is so
common among people who live as they please). God is our only Judge, and we all
shall be judged by him sooner or later.
I think
both parties are to blame. Who is more at fault… is probably the person who
bears the grudge longer, or the one who provokes the other. In fact, we are all
guilty, and whoever is more aware of that fact, that person is closer to the
truth. Of course, we must call a spade a spade: we mustn’t say that everything
is all right if someone commits a sin. How do we separate the sin from the
sinner? How do we hate the sin and sympathise with the person? The Holy Spirit
has answers to these dilemmas. The closer to God you are, the more guilty you
feel. That’s the unmistakable criterion of who’s to blame.
There are
cases when someone’s actions literally border on crimes, and you’ve got to stop
them. You are supposed to do everything you can to prevent the other person’s
sin. However, as long as you feel your own guilt and don’t insulate yourself
from that person, you will manage to retain the godly, the genuinely Christian
attitude. We often say the right words, stop other people, look down on them
with contempt, and put some unfavourable labels on them — that’s what happens
when we don’t inspect our own hearts. For instance, there is a person who spent
his entire life in jail. He has never seen his mum or dad: he stayed in an
orphanage, and then a camp for juvenile delinquents, and on and on… How can we
judge that person and claim that we’re any better? What if you didn’t have what
you happen to have? What if you didn’t have your family, your parents? What if
you didn’t feel loved, ever? Could you guarantee that you’d still be better? No
way. We can’t see the full picture of what’s going on inside and outside in
that person’s life. We don’t see his hesitations and struggles. Therefore, we
are defendants, just like all other people. Jesus Christ is our only Judge.
If you
can stop the sin, if you can help that person to see that his actions are bad,
you shouldn’t miss that opportunity. If we miss it, we will be guilty of
indifference and passivity in the face of the sin. Narrow is the way, which
leadeth unto the Kingdom of Heaven (cf. Matthew 7:14). If you diverge from that
way just a little, you’ll eventually find yourself in the wrong place. That’s
how our life goes on.
Friends
sometimes come together to gossip about someone else but they feel that they’re
right because they gossip together. That’s what usually happens when good but
spiritually weak people meet. They start talking and discussing various topics,
and they often end up judging others. If there was someone who would have the
guts to say, “Our discussion has taken the wrong direction. Who are we to pass
judgement?” that discussion would break up. Unfortunately, people are often too
shy or too scared to do anything that might threaten their relationships, and
they keep quiet and nod, “Yes-yes-yes, that’s right, that person is bad.”
That’s a collective sin, which affects us all.
What’s
especially bad is that in the meantime we tend to repeat the sins that we used
to condemn so fiercely. If you pay attention, you’ll notice it and learn from
it. If you don’t care, you’ll ignore it. That’s how our life goes on: we
condemn and rebuke others, then fall into the same trap and justify ourselves
by finding faults with others. The merry-go-round of sin keeps turning…
September 26, 2018
St.
Elisabeth Convent
CONVERSATION