Homily Two on the Fourth Sunday of Luke
By St. John of Kronstadt
By St. John of Kronstadt
In today's Gospel, beloved brethren, a very instructive parable of the Savior about the sower and the seed was read. In this parable, as in all the teaching of Christ the Savior, you clearly see, brethren, God, who sees through the heart of each person, or, as the Holy Scripture says, "searching our hearts and reins" (Ps. 7:10), everything that is hidden in them, sometimes even unknown to us, all their spiritual convolutions and nooks, all their untruths or truths. This parable of God the Savior condemns some of us and plunges us into shame and disgrace, while it praises others and brings peace and God's blessing into their hearts. This is about listening to the word of God, brethren. So listen, beloved! The one who knows hearts looks at you and expects fruit from His word, preached to you through me, a humble and sinful one. Your own benefit requires that you receive this word with all your heart and hold it there forever - for your future guidance in hearing the word of God in the church.
“A sower went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed, some fell by the way side and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on a rock; and when it had sprung up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it. But other fell on good ground, and when it had sprung up, it yielded fruit an hundredfold. And when he had spoken these things, he cried out, ‘Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear!’” (Luke 8:5–8)
The sower, beloved brethren, is Jesus Christ; the seed is the word of God, and the soil is the human heart. A good heart is good soil; but an evil, impure heart, crushed by passions, is bad soil. Behold, some are inattentive listeners, absent-minded, who do not revere the word of God, as they should revere it; and to such listeners Satan secretly comes into their hearts at the very time they are listening, and, like a thief from careless housekeepers, carries away the word of God from their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. This is the word of God sown by the wayside. Learn from this with what deep attention, with what undoubting faith one must listen to the saving and living word of God. The enemy is constantly looking out to see if it is possible to somehow make someone inattentive to the word of God, to destroy faith in it in someone's heart, so that through faith in the word of God they will not repent of their sins and be saved. Fix your whole mind on your heart during the reading or preaching of the word of God and with open, believing hearts, listen to it with humility for the salvation of your souls, and drive away thoughts of doubt, or other restless and impure thoughts and feelings, like the devil's seed.
Others listen to the word of God willingly and attentively, but here is the trouble: they are frivolous, impatient, selfish, fickle; they believe in favorable circumstances, but in unfavorable ones they betray their faith - these are people who have not rooted faith in themselves, they are the seed that fell on the rock. But faith preaches that only “he who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt. 10:22); and “the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and all liars, their part will be in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone” (Rev. 21:8). And according to the general human consciousness, is it not fair, beloved brethren, to demand that a person be faithful to the end to the one to whom he has given an oath of allegiance - to be faithful until death, especially if the oath of allegiance was given to a person who is worthy of our complete love and perfect respect? If we swear by oath to an earthly king to serve him to the last drop of blood, and consider it dishonorable not to keep our vow, and remain faithful to him to the death, how can we not be faithful to the death to God the Savior, who, having taken upon Himself our nature, shed every drop of His blood for us, and to whom we gave a debt of fidelity at baptism? Oh, let us not fall away from our Lord the Redeemer, no matter what misfortune may befall us! For where can we hide from Him? What will we find without Him? He “has the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).
But there are also such hearers of the word of God, whose hearts are burdened with the cares of this life, with a passion for wealth, and given over to the pleasures of life: they will hear the word of God, understand it, and, as it were, take it to heart; but when they leave the church, they are immediately attacked by worldly cares or the allurements of wealth, or they are tempted by worldly pleasures: and behold, the word of God, having hardly received a small space in the heart, is suppressed by this, as if by a leaden oppression of worldly cares, passion for wealth and the pleasures of temporary life: and alas - there is no fruit again for eternal life; because man strives to gather fruits for temporary life. Alas, beloved brethren, such listeners to the word of God in our churches are most numerous. Agree that many of you come to church with worldly distractions, with concerns about satisfying your everyday needs - if only needs, but often about satisfying your passions and lusts; - and behold, when the sermon begins , you begin, apparently, to listen; the sermon is over - and your favorite thoughts and desires take possession of you, and you are left without fruit from the word of God. It also happens that passions and lusts drive you out of the temple during the very preaching of the word of God and you flee from the words of eternal life. Oh, if only this had never happened!
Finally, glory to God, there have always been, and there are now, such listeners who listen to the word of God with a good and kind heart, who are completely devoted to God and His holy word, who live without attaching their hearts to earthly things, without being oppressed by worldly cares, because they do not consider it necessary to kill the time given for preparation for the heavenly homeland on deadly and petty concerns about clothing, food and drink. These listeners, having listened attentively to the word of God, keep it in their hearts and patiently strive in life, awaiting the future Kingdom of God, until finally death opens the door to it for them. I know that such listeners are among you, beloved brethren. May the peace and blessing of God rest upon you, and may the Lord make you worthy of His Heavenly Kingdom.
Beloved brethren! During the reading or preaching of the word of God, be extremely careful not to be distracted, and never sow among thorns, i.e., on hearts overgrown with passions and lusts. Hear the whole word of God with a good and kind heart, i.e., with a heart of living faith with good and holy thoughts. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.