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SERMONS |
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Protopriest
Leonid Kolchev
Sermon on the 4th Sunday of Great Lent
After mankind first sinned by violating the law of obedience, the
Lord, in meting out punishment, first turned to the one guilty of
seduction, the devil, to whom He said: Òand I will put enmity between
thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall
bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heelÓ (Gen. 3:15).
This enmity reached its peak during the coming of Christ to earth,
when the perception of Him as the Savior of the world was distorted
to the point of non-recognition. The devil himself had the knowledge,
for it was not hidden from him, that the Jesus born in Bethlehem
of the Virgin Mary is He Who is to Òbruise his head,Ó that is, Who
will destroy his dominion over mankind. As a result, all the forces
of hell were thrown into this battle. Moreover, by Divine allowance,
the devil dared to tempt the Lord HimselfÉ But suffering complete
defeat, he directed all of his wrath towards mankind, leading some
to the point of horrifying beastliness. That is why there have never
been so many victims of possession as during the earthly life of
Jesus Christ. One of these cases is described in today’s Gospel
reading: a youth who was possessed from childhood by the spirit
of muteness and deafness. The poor father brought him to Christ,
and, weeping, began to tell of the cruel, inhuman sufferings of
his son. ÒI spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out;
and they could not,Ó pleaded the father, Òbut if thou canst do any
thing, have compassion on us, and help us.Ó The Lord, of course,
is omnipotent, but for us to receive what is needed, we need to
have faith. So Jesus Christ wished first of all to strengthen the
feeble faith of the beseecher himself. ÒIf thou canst believe,Ó
replied Christ, Òall things are possible to him that believeth.Ó
The father understood this and, so, with all his heart he exclaimed,
ÒI believe; help thou mine unbelief!Ó This was sufficient, and the
youth, who had been dashed to the ground by the demon, was completely
healed.
The frustrated disciples later asked of Jesus Christ, why could
they not banish this devil? ÒThis kind can cast out by nothing,
but prayer and fasting.Ó Now, thank God, there are almost no such possessions among us, but we must always remember that the defeated devil is not destroyed, he has not humbled himself, but as before, like a terrible lion, is even now Òseeking whom he may devourÓ (I Peter 5:8), but he now operates in a more subtle fashion. The weak among us, though we now possess true weapons against the devil, rarely use them, and we are often ensnared like flies in cunningly-crafted webs. What are our weapons? Fasting and prayer, as Christ said. Of course, fasting does not only mean replacing one type of food with another, that is, it does not mean simply physical fasting, but mainly it is the denial of our passions and the distancing of ourselves from all that is sinful. Indeed, what are passions if not a form of possession? We are possessed by them; we are in complete control of the devil. So, the wicked Herod, possessed by the thirst for power, seeks to destroy Jesus and kills 14,000 utterly innocent infants; Judas, Òsuffering from the love of money,Ó infected by the devil, betrays Christ; the rich man, in pursuit of earthly pleasures, descends into hades to his evil mentor. But what are these temptations if not the demonic lure: Òall these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship meÓ (Matt. 4:9)?! Just as an unruly horse is tamed with a bridle thrown upon him, so should we, Christians, at least during the holy days of Great Lent, sensing our unrestrained wildness, say to ourselves: ÒHalt! Not one more step!Ó And then good will come to us. To be sure, it is difficult to stop short, it is frightening to run counter to the current, but Òthe things which are impossible with men are possible with GodÓ (Luke 18:27). Self-restraint will repel the catching claws of sin, and prayer will give you wings. The Russian poet spoke in truth: ÒDesert fathers and virgin women, in order to with their heart fly up to the invisible realms, to strengthen it among the lower storms and battles, have crafted many divine prayers." Prayer is the wall which protects the city from its enemies, prayer is air for the soul, prayer forms the wings lifting us to God. ÒHave compassion on us,Ó pleaded the father of the possessed youth, and he received that which he needed. ÒGod be merciful to me a sinner!Ó cried the publican, and was made righteous. ÒRemember me when thou comest into thy kingdom,Ó sighed the wise robber, and heard the words of joy: ÒToday shalt thou be with me in paradise.Ó What power prayer has!
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