Homily for the Epistle Reading on the Ninth Sunday After Pentecost
Be the Living Stones of the Building of Your Life
1 Corinthians 3:1-15
By St. Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol and All Crimea
(Delivered on August 26, 1945)
1 Corinthians 3:1-15
By St. Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol and All Crimea
(Delivered on August 26, 1945)
“You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent!” (Isa. 62:6). This is how the holy prophet Isaiah called upon the prophets and priests of the Israelite people, so that they would not remain silent until the Lord glorifies Jerusalem.
We, who make mention of the Lord, must never remain silent until He restores all that was destroyed in our country and creates our country as Holy Russia. I will not be silent as long as I live.
The Holy Apostle Paul addressed the Corinthian Christians: “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal” (1 Cor. 3:1-3).
I have repeatedly, contrary to what the apostle said, fed you with “solid” spiritual “food”, and expounded on the great mysteries of theology with the faith that this food is useful to you. I will continue to offer “solid food” in hopes of your spiritual growth. It is important that you are worthy of it, and that I cannot say like the Apostle Paul: “For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?” (1 Cor. 3:3). There are still many sins among you, and you can rather be called carnal.
Regarding the disagreements between Christians, the apostle continued: “For when one says, 'I am of Paul,' and another, 'I am of Apollos,' are you not carnal?” (1 Cor. 3:4). Is there not enough division among you? And among my flock there are those who reject us all and have chosen a crazy monk-philosopher as their teacher, and they say: “I am of the philosophers.”
“Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase” (1 Cor. 3:5–6).
And many of my predecessors, Archbishops Cyril, Innocent, Zinovy, Cassian, planted in your hearts, and now the Lord has commanded me, and I am trying to make the harvest grow from my sowing.
The farmer plows the earth and throws seeds into it, but only God grows the harvest. So we too - I and all my predecessors and co-workers: deacons and readers and singers - are all trying, plowing the soil of your hearts, throwing the seeds of God’s words into them, watering them and waiting for the Lord to grow them. When we collect ripe ears of grain, we rejoice beyond words.
The Lord gives me great joy to hear repeatedly that many of you, who came to the temple of God with a cold heart, who lost faith or never had it, left it, carrying in their hearts the seeds of God’s truth.
You are God's building. The Lord built His temple in your hearts. “According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:10–11).
You need to firmly grasp what the Apostle Paul said, for you know that there are many people who choose a completely different foundation as the cornerstone of their lives. The priests only lay the foundation, and you yourself must be the builders, as the Apostle Peter says: “And you yourselves, like living stones, are being built up into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:5). Saint Peter calls not only bishops and priests, but all of you Christians the holy priesthood, calling for you, like those who offer the Bloodless Sacrifice daily, to offer spiritual sacrifices favorable to God. You should all be builders. The Apostle Paul continues about this construction: “Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is” (1 Cor. 3:12–13).
There were great people who built the building of their Christian life from precious stones, just as our Venerable and God-bearing Father Seraphim of Sarov, Saints Pitirim of Tambov and Tikhon of Voronezh built it. There were those who built from gold and silver.
But there are many people who consider themselves Christians, who build the building of their lives from wood, hay, and straw. What does it mean? They also build on the foundation laid by the Apostle Paul, on the Foundation which is Jesus Christ, but they create worthless, pitiful shacks - wooden thatched ones, sometimes even just looking like a pile of hay, for they rarely do godly deeds, but more often they sin. They think little about spiritual sacrifices, but are more concerned about building a building for a carefree life in this age.
There are some people whose buildings are like a web, and they weave this web all their lives, waiting for their brothers and sisters to become entangled in it. There is nothing more to say about such people.
When the great, terrible Day of Christ comes, when everyone appears before the Lord as before the Judge, then the buildings that each of us built will be tested by fire. Buildings built from precious stones, from gold and silver, even from iron, will not burn, they will stand; gold and silver, burned by fire, will shine even brighter.
And the miserable shacks on the Last Day of Christ will burn, just as hay, straw and wood burn. Only small particles of durable material will survive - stone, iron, copper, sometimes even silver and gold, for even such builders have some good things. “If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire” (1 Cor. 3:14–15).
How will they be saved? Why will the Lord protect them from burning in the eternal flame, that burning to which the villains, the blasphemers of Christ, who all weaved a web in their lives, are subject to? The Lord will have mercy on them only because they, although poorly, still built the building of their lives on the right foundation. For their little faith, for their little good deeds, for their little love and mercy, they will be saved, but they will be seriously burned on the path of terrible ordeals from evil spirits.
Fear this fire, which will burn the structure of your entire life. Always keep before your mind's eye the Lord Jesus Christ, crucified on the Cross for you, always remember that you have been redeemed from your vain life by His priceless Blood.
Looking at the Cross of Christ, fulfill what was bequeathed to us by the Apostle Peter. Remember that you are living stones, that you yourself are builders, that you were created by God in order to be perfect, just as your Heavenly Father is perfect. Remember the Lord Jesus Christ, to Him be glory and power with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
We, who make mention of the Lord, must never remain silent until He restores all that was destroyed in our country and creates our country as Holy Russia. I will not be silent as long as I live.
The Holy Apostle Paul addressed the Corinthian Christians: “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal” (1 Cor. 3:1-3).
I have repeatedly, contrary to what the apostle said, fed you with “solid” spiritual “food”, and expounded on the great mysteries of theology with the faith that this food is useful to you. I will continue to offer “solid food” in hopes of your spiritual growth. It is important that you are worthy of it, and that I cannot say like the Apostle Paul: “For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?” (1 Cor. 3:3). There are still many sins among you, and you can rather be called carnal.
Regarding the disagreements between Christians, the apostle continued: “For when one says, 'I am of Paul,' and another, 'I am of Apollos,' are you not carnal?” (1 Cor. 3:4). Is there not enough division among you? And among my flock there are those who reject us all and have chosen a crazy monk-philosopher as their teacher, and they say: “I am of the philosophers.”
“Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase” (1 Cor. 3:5–6).
And many of my predecessors, Archbishops Cyril, Innocent, Zinovy, Cassian, planted in your hearts, and now the Lord has commanded me, and I am trying to make the harvest grow from my sowing.
The farmer plows the earth and throws seeds into it, but only God grows the harvest. So we too - I and all my predecessors and co-workers: deacons and readers and singers - are all trying, plowing the soil of your hearts, throwing the seeds of God’s words into them, watering them and waiting for the Lord to grow them. When we collect ripe ears of grain, we rejoice beyond words.
The Lord gives me great joy to hear repeatedly that many of you, who came to the temple of God with a cold heart, who lost faith or never had it, left it, carrying in their hearts the seeds of God’s truth.
You are God's building. The Lord built His temple in your hearts. “According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:10–11).
You need to firmly grasp what the Apostle Paul said, for you know that there are many people who choose a completely different foundation as the cornerstone of their lives. The priests only lay the foundation, and you yourself must be the builders, as the Apostle Peter says: “And you yourselves, like living stones, are being built up into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:5). Saint Peter calls not only bishops and priests, but all of you Christians the holy priesthood, calling for you, like those who offer the Bloodless Sacrifice daily, to offer spiritual sacrifices favorable to God. You should all be builders. The Apostle Paul continues about this construction: “Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is” (1 Cor. 3:12–13).
There were great people who built the building of their Christian life from precious stones, just as our Venerable and God-bearing Father Seraphim of Sarov, Saints Pitirim of Tambov and Tikhon of Voronezh built it. There were those who built from gold and silver.
But there are many people who consider themselves Christians, who build the building of their lives from wood, hay, and straw. What does it mean? They also build on the foundation laid by the Apostle Paul, on the Foundation which is Jesus Christ, but they create worthless, pitiful shacks - wooden thatched ones, sometimes even just looking like a pile of hay, for they rarely do godly deeds, but more often they sin. They think little about spiritual sacrifices, but are more concerned about building a building for a carefree life in this age.
There are some people whose buildings are like a web, and they weave this web all their lives, waiting for their brothers and sisters to become entangled in it. There is nothing more to say about such people.
When the great, terrible Day of Christ comes, when everyone appears before the Lord as before the Judge, then the buildings that each of us built will be tested by fire. Buildings built from precious stones, from gold and silver, even from iron, will not burn, they will stand; gold and silver, burned by fire, will shine even brighter.
And the miserable shacks on the Last Day of Christ will burn, just as hay, straw and wood burn. Only small particles of durable material will survive - stone, iron, copper, sometimes even silver and gold, for even such builders have some good things. “If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire” (1 Cor. 3:14–15).
How will they be saved? Why will the Lord protect them from burning in the eternal flame, that burning to which the villains, the blasphemers of Christ, who all weaved a web in their lives, are subject to? The Lord will have mercy on them only because they, although poorly, still built the building of their lives on the right foundation. For their little faith, for their little good deeds, for their little love and mercy, they will be saved, but they will be seriously burned on the path of terrible ordeals from evil spirits.
Fear this fire, which will burn the structure of your entire life. Always keep before your mind's eye the Lord Jesus Christ, crucified on the Cross for you, always remember that you have been redeemed from your vain life by His priceless Blood.
Looking at the Cross of Christ, fulfill what was bequeathed to us by the Apostle Peter. Remember that you are living stones, that you yourself are builders, that you were created by God in order to be perfect, just as your Heavenly Father is perfect. Remember the Lord Jesus Christ, to Him be glory and power with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.