Good deeds are a confession of God before people
Summer has passed, and everything passes.
And life passes.
And what is the task of a believer?
To fill the passing time with the proper eternal content.
Even the ancients—before Christ—expressed interesting thoughts.
One of them said: "The day is lost in which I have not served anyone."
All days must be filled with good deeds.
Because they pass, are sealed, and accompany a person into eternity.
And they are understood in the present eternal light.
Therefore, the Holy Church, through the Holy Fathers, in particular John Chrysostom,
tells us that one of the ways of repentance is the performance of good deeds. A person does
good deeds, sacrifices their self-love, their time, their material resources, and thereby shows that they want to repent, even though they lack the strength to do so.
And when a person does good deeds, they do them for God's sake, and thereby
professes God. Therefore, the main task of passing time is to imprint itself
in its eternal image.
Today, for example, is Sunday, and we are in church. We did well to
come here—to God—and to imprint this Sunday in eternity with prayer to God,
a repentant disposition of our souls, a desire for our eternal and present perfection.
Here it awakens. Here it is satisfied by God's grace. Therefore, the highest good deed we can do for Christ's sake is to pray to God, to pray to God together
with everyone, because where the Church is, there the Grace of the All-Holy Spirit abounds, Who invisibly
inaudibly, invisibly to us, shapes within us the eternal, true human being. And when we touch
this true, eternal work of ours, only then will we feel in our hearts
the true joy of human existence. The Holy Church and the Lord, through their commandments, lead us to make us happy and joyful forever.
But vanity also brings us joy. And everything external also brings us joy. But this is not the joy; it is all a substitution of the devil, who wants to replace the eternal and present with the temporary and everlasting.
So the summer has passed, and only those who have accomplished something, some external and internal imprint of it, are satisfied. But if it was spent in relaxation, and in entertainment,
and in all sorts of other sinful deeds, then it is lost to us forever. And not simply lost, but
as a rebuke of our folly, for God gave us time, gave us reason, gave us strength of soul, and
waits results from us. And none came. This is the punishment, this is the
eternal fire of regret for wasted time, for the foolish, indecent deeds we committed. Thus, time itself will expose our wretchedness at the Second Coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ, which will quickly pass.
Time is a mysterious thing. Some think it will last forever—those who are just beginning
to live or in middle age. But those who have already lived their lives wonder: where did it go?
How quickly it flew by! Life has passed, but there are no deeds or impressions from it, because
only the spiritual and the present remain in a person's memory and consciousness. This is what we must strive for.
The Lord divided time into separate days so that, having wasted one day
in vain and meaningless, another day can transform it into something more wise, more necessary,
more meaningful. Therefore, the Holy Church calls us to seal the passing time
with good deeds. The Holy Church teaches that good deeds are so varied, and each person has their own individual inclination, their own "coloring," so to speak.
This could be good thoughts about people, it could be prayer for them, it could be their
non-judgment, it could be a generous covering of their sins. It could also be direct giving from one's
wealth. There is great diversity; one only needs to utilize it. And each person, according to the dictates of their heart,
must seal it with good deeds every day. Then life will delight us with its highest, true meanings, in which lies hope for our eternal salvation.
In today's Gospel reading, we heard how the Lord speaks to the disciples
and those around Him: "Whoever confesses me before men, him will I also confess before
the angels of God, but whoever denies me before men, him will I also denounce in due time
before the angels of God." And it is precisely this that compels us to confess God with our good deeds, so that people can see that we believe in God, because we sacrifice our wealth, we sacrifice our time, we sacrifice our self-love, we show patience to God for His sake, and we humble ourselves for His sake. And it is precisely these good deeds that shape our souls.
Good deeds are the very confession of God before people.
They are also the guarantee of our eternal salvation.
So, summer has passed, and glory to God! I congratulate you all on the coming school year!
We are always God's students, we are always learning, and we imagine ourselves as adults, but in reality, we are always children, and to the extent that we are children, we are so intelligent. Let us pray that we too
spend these remaining wretched days in good spirits.