April: Day 9: Teaching 2: Holy Martyr Eupsychios of Caesarea

April: Day 9: Teaching 2:
Holy Martyr Eupsychios of Caesarea
 
(Serving God Should Be Put Above All Else)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. Today the Holy Church celebrates the memory of the Holy Martyr Eupsychios. He was from Caesarea in Cappadocia, a rich and noble man, brought up from childhood in the rules of the Christian faith. Having reached adolescence, he entered into marriage. It happened that on the very day of his marriage there was a pagan celebration. During the wedding feast, Eupsychios saw crowds of pagans going to the temple to offer sacrifice. Indignation and holy zeal flared up in his heart. He took several Christians with him and, going to the temple, smashed the idol and destroyed the temple.

They did not delay in reporting this act to the Emperor Julian. Eupsychios knew what awaited him; he began to distribute his property to the poor and to prepare himself by prayer for holy martyrdom. Indeed, Julian, having learned of his deed and the zeal of the Caesareans for the Christian faith in general, fell into a terrible rage. He imposed an excessive tax on the inhabitants of Caesarea, deprived the city of the privileges it enjoyed as the capital of the region, and persistently demanded the restoration of the ruined temple. Eupsychios was subjected to terrible tortures, but an angel of God strengthened him in the midst of his torments, and he patiently endured both prolonged torture and imprisonment, and was finally beheaded with the sword. The idol temple was not restored, because Julian himself soon perished in the war with the Persians.

II. The Holy Martyr Eupsychios, who on the very day of his wedding feast did not hesitate to go and destroy a pagan temple, teaches us, brethren, that service to God must be placed above all earthly things.

a) Today's Christians, according to their way of life, can be divided into three parts.

One part, though unfortunately very small, is completely and undividedly devoted to God, always thinking about serving Him, diligently and calmly, to the best of their ability, fulfilling their holy duties before God. They once and for all gave themselves over to God's grace and are always concerned to please God. Without a doubt, they, like people, sometimes fall into sins, for as long as a person lives on earth in the flesh, he is not able to be completely free from sins, but constantly repent of them and serve God even more zealously. Such people constitute the heritage of God. Holy Scripture calls them the salt of the earth, the light of the world, the holy seed, the chosen of God, the sons of the kingdom and other comforting names.

A second part of Christians has a completely different, opposite direction in life. Some Christians are called Christians only in name, but in their deeds they do not follow Christ. They think only about this earthly life, they revere mammon and serve it diligently. Their heart is completely cold to serve God, for their God is the belly. Only for such people can we pray to God to soften their hearts and direct them to the path of truth.

Finally, the third and more numerous part of Christians are those who waver between two masters: God and mammon, and who, although they wish to serve God, cannot throw off the yoke of mammon. To them the Lord says: “You cannot serve two masters.”

b) This inconstancy, this hesitation is the greatest shortcoming of today's numerous Christians. At one time in the Old Testament, idolatry began to spread and intensify among the Jews. The wicked King Ahab of Israel erected the idol of Baal and began to serve it himself and attracted all his subjects to it. Strong hesitation and doubt began among the Jews. They did not know whom to serve or what to do; out of fear of the king, they worshiped Baal, but secretly many did not stop serving the living God. At this time, God raised up the great prophet Elijah. He gathered the entire people of Israel and said to them: “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him” (3 Kings 18:21). This should also be declared to those Christians who want to serve both God and mammon. If you, my brother, know the Lord Jesus Christ, believe that He is the true God, the Redeemer and Savior of the world, then serve and obey Him alone. Why are you a slave to the world? Why do you think that you can serve both God and mammon?

c) To this, perhaps, you will answer me: "I certainly wish to obey and work for God and, as far as possible, I obey Him; but what should I do, how can I throw off the yoke of this world? Physical needs force me to think about this earthly life, to submit to the customs of the world, to care about acquiring the means for physical life." But, my brother, the Lord does not require you to leave the world with all its cares; it is one thing to think and care about physical life and another to be a slave to the world. The Lord requires that you do not enslave yourself to the world and mammon as much as you do God. God alone should be your master, and your worship and honor should belong to God alone.

God does not require that a Christian withdraw completely from the world and all worldly cares. One can remain in the world, perform all necessary worldly affairs, but not enslave oneself to mammon, and even remain a good, true Christian. I will tell you something even more, and perhaps something surprising for you: if you want and are wise, then you can turn all worldly affairs and cares into, as it were, service to God. What could be more comforting than this? No matter how small or great the work and business you are engaged in, your occupation will be service to God if, before starting work, you call upon God for help, work diligently and willingly, and at the end of your work thank God. Any trade, for example, apparently cannot be considered service to God, and in fact, very often, unfortunately, it turns into service to mammon; but if a man trades honestly and truthfully, is not proud of his wealth, is not faint-hearted in poverty, and devotes his profits to good deeds diligently and as much as possible, then by this he sanctifies his occupation. Every good mother of a family works day and night for the good and happiness of her family, she follows her heart's desire, and at the same time fulfills her sacred duty and, according to the word of the Apostle, "will be saved through childbearing, if she abides in faith and love and in holiness with chastity" (1 Timothy 2:15). A worthy servant serves his master for a reward, but if he serves diligently, honestly, and is in the faith of Christ, then his service will be considered a Christian virtue. In the same way, every truly believing Christian serves God in all his deeds: "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through Him" (Col. 3:17). Or, as the same Apostle Paul writes: "And whatever you do, do it heartily, as for the Lord, and not for men" (Col. 3:23). In a word, whoever acts truthfully, sincerely, remembers God, has a conscience, he is a servant of God. But whoever is unjust, evil, lazy, quarrelsome, envious, he is a slave of mammon, and not of God.

III. May God deliver us from the slavery of mammon and the lot of its slaves, granting us to serve the Lord all the days of our life. Amen. 

 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.