The relaxed will not inherit the Kingdom of God
A Sunday sermon on the Week of the Paralytic.
Relaxation is that desired state to which every soul aspires when it does not think about its salvation. People want to live “relaxed”. If given a choice and we were offered to live as we please, it would probably be in a small villa somewhere on the azure shores of the Mediterranean. Beaches, green forests, picturesque mountains, a balcony with a beautiful view, a cup of coffee on the table, birds singing, full prosperity, health and confidence in tomorrow. I would like that too.
There is nothing wrong with this, except for one thing – if we live our earthly life like this, our soul will not develop. It will perish. All this or something similar, only much better, may happen but not now.
Now the soul must undergo a meltdown. Hard, painful, suffering, to gain a shape suitable for life in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Every time I read the story of how Christ raised a paralyzed man, I think about the paralysis that has bound my own soul. It is burdened with thoughts of bodily ailments, it has many doubts, sadness and even despair due to everything that is happening around it.
Thus, the world deceives us again and again. It exhausts us with meaningless activities, chaotic thinking, and lures us to dirty pleasures. In prayer, the lax soul is like a person carrying water with a sieve. Its mind is scattered. Instead of words of prayer, it clings to any news, external information, to everything that distracts it from the most important – God. Everything that distracts us from Salvation is the devil, who has caught us on the hook of a scattered life. Everything we have become attached to, forgetting God, is a diabolical deception.
Rather than spending your whole life reading and preaching about God as He is, it is better to know Him truly once. Laxity and weakness will make us seek "comfort" in entertainment. If you do not pay attention to this and do not fight such a disposition, it will only get worse. First, there will be growing dislike, then dissatisfaction, followed by aggression. And we will have quite "objective" reasons for all this. In everything that happens, someone will surely be to blame.
A lax soul is incapable of doing acts of mercy. It loves to be served. Because its centre of the universe is within itself, and the whole world revolves around this center.
Someone might say, no, this is not about me, I am not like that.. Maybe... But there is one simple test that easily determines the state of our soul.
Just look at whether you can calmly perceive people and the current events of your life, whatever they may be. If not, then there is restlessness in you, hence slackness.
Egoism makes our mind wander through the boundless mirages of life, where only the winds of longing and hopelessness roam. If the relaxed person finds the strength to overcome the fear of their inner dictator – egoism, they will attain great self-sacrifice and determination to end his vices forever.
All our bitter fuss in the world is rooted in pride, which does not allow us to see God directly. Despondency and despair are inseparable companions of the lax soul, and unbelief becomes its personal demon.
Only when the lax man understands that grace is the foundation of Salvation, he will find support in Christ. When he realizes that the root of his weakness lies in unbelief, he will be strengthened in prayer.
When it becomes clear to him that unbelief is overcome by courage, he will find the way to spiritual freedom. The relaxed person needs to hate his weakness. Weakness is nothing but the captivity of thoughts about weakness. The lax person needs to find the strength to desire salvation for all, to rejoice in the success of others not to lose his presence of mind in temptations, not to be discouraged in falls, and to draw grace from all situations. To begin with, he must accustom himself to have an even attitude towards all people and place prayer first.
Dreams are a treacherous demon enslaving the relaxed soul. Scatterbrainedness is a clever trickster poisoning it with its thoughts. Tempting thoughts are wolves in sheep's clothing. These are all our killers pretending to be our friends. Our only friend and Saviour is Christ. These killers make us live in the past or fear the future, while salvation must be sought here and now. Because the Lord looks at you with love at this very moment to give you eternity.
No matter how much you refine a restless mind, it will never be able to see the Living God. Because only a pure, simple heart, free of all guile and hypocrisy, sees Him directly.
For such a heart, the commandments of the Gospel are more precious than the apple of one's eye, and angerlessness and love are more precious than one's own life.
Most people believe in God, but only a few of them have been strengthened in this faith, and of these only the most resolute have been able to make faith their life. To such children, God gives the opportunity to know Him and unite with Him. These people are like candles that have lit the lamp of their hearts from the Divine fire. They shine in the darkness of this world, and the darkness cannot engulf them.
People-candles walk the earth freely because they do not cling to it. Having found Christ, they have gained wings and soar between Heaven and earth, looking down on all the bottomless vanity of our world. By trampling on their own self-love, the sons and daughters of God are filled to the brim with the sweetness of God’s Truth.
More than anyone else, they know well that God does not disappear or appear; it is the purity of the heart in which God lives that appears and disappears.
There are many calm and peaceful people on earth, but this calm still belongs to the earthly world. However, those who have gained peace of mind have entered the uncreated light of grace, having ended all worldly thoughts and ideas. The light of Christ enlightens our hearts. If you keep it pure, wherever you live, wherever you go, God will always be with you even when you embark on the path of death.
One can be rich and healthy and hold hell in his heart, or one can be poor and destitute and carry heaven in the heart. Both have the same heart, but only what fills it gives meaning to everything else.
Blessed is the one who fears nothing to lose, because how can he lose God, who "is everywhere and fills all things". The one who knows God and unites with Him will not threaten people and unite with hypocrisy. If everything that comes from our hearts is filled with peace and love, it means that Christ Himself has called you a child of God.
The Week of the Paralytic teaches us that we must not relax. Especially now, when "your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8). Time is shortening, the night is passing, and dawn is not far off. Therefore, “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light” (Ephesians 5:14).
