Sermon 211A
SERMON 211/A
In Lent
Fragment
Let us endure the present, let us hope for the future.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, commended to us in His passion the labors and afflictions of the present age; in His resurrection, He commended eternal life and the blessedness of the future age. Let us endure the present, hope for the future. Hence, in these days, we observe days signifying the labors of the present age, fasting and mortifying our souls; but in the coming days, we signify the days of the future age. We are not there yet. I said "we signify," not "we hold." Until the passion, indeed, there is affliction; after the resurrection, there is praise.
Our business in the next life.
In that life, our very occupation will be in the kingdom of God: to see, to love, to praise. What, then, shall we do there? In this age, there are works of necessity, others of iniquity. What are the works of necessity? Sowing, plowing, planting, sailing, grinding, cooking, weaving, and similar such necessities; and those good works of ours are necessary. Breaking bread for the hungry is not your necessity; but he who receives the bread has the necessity. Receiving the stranger, clothing the naked, ransoming the captive, visiting the sick, giving counsel to those deliberating, liberating the oppressed, all these pertain to almsgiving; these are works of necessity. What are the works of iniquity? Stealing, robbing, drunkenness, gambling, usury; and who can count all the deeds of iniquity? In that kingdom, there will be no works of necessity, for there will be no misery; no works of iniquity, for there will be no trouble. Where there is no misery, there are no works of necessity; where there is no malice, there are no works of iniquity. What will you do to eat when no one is hungry? How will you perform those very works of almsgiving? To whom will you break bread when no one is in need? Whom will you visit sick when eternal health persists? Whom will you bury dead when immortality never dies? The works of necessity perish; if you do works of iniquity here, you will not come there. What shall we do there, tell me? Sleep? Here, indeed, men who have nothing to do sleep; there, sleep does not exist, for there is no fatigue. Therefore, not performing works of necessity, not sleeping, what shall we do? Let no one fear weariness; let no one think there will be weariness there. Are you now weary of being healthy? All things in this world create weariness; health does not create weariness. If health does not create weariness, will immortality create weariness? What, then, will our activity be? Amen, and Alleluia. Here, indeed, we do one thing, there another, not by day and night, but by day without end: what now the powers of heaven, the Seraphim, say without weariness: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts. They say this without weariness. Are the pulses of your veins now fatigued? As long as you live, your vein has pulsation. You work, and by tiring you become tired, and rest, and return to work, and your vein is not tired. Just as your vein is not tired in your health, so your tongue and heart will not be tired in the praises of God, in your immortality. Hear the testimony of your occupation. What is "your occupation"? This occupation is leisure. A leisurely occupation, what is it? To praise the Lord. Hear the verdict from there: Blessed are those who dwell in your house. The Psalm says this: Blessed are those who dwell in your house. And as if we asked how they are blessed: "Will they have much gold?" Those who have much gold are very miserable. These are blessed, who dwell in your house. From what source blessed? This is their blessedness: they will praise you forever and ever.