Monday, October 11, 2004
Apostle Philip the Deacon, of the Seventy
Kellia: Jeremiah 40:13-41:10 Epistle: Philippians 2:12-16 Gospel: St. Luke 6:24-30
Jeremiah 40:14-41:10, especially vs.
41:1,2: "As they ate bread together there at Mizpah, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten
men with him rose up and struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with the
sword, and killed him, whom the king of Babylon had appointed governor in the land." Listen to
St. Isaiah the Solitary who counsels us to guard well our conscience: "In the fear of God let us
keep our attention fixed within ourselves, until our conscience achieves its freedom. Then there
will be a union between it and us, and thereafter it will be our guardian, showing us each thing
that we must uproot. But if we do not obey our conscience, it will abandon us and we shall fall
into the hands of our enemies, who will never let us go."
In today's reading, Jeremiah provides a record of two men: Gedaliah, a trustworthy servant of
God who guarded well his conscience, and, Ishmael who disdained all fear of God, disobeyed the
promptings of his conscience, and thereby surely fell into the hands of Satan, becoming a master
of treachery under eternal darkness. The lives of these two men warn us of the importance of
heeding our conscience; for, as Abbot Nazarius reminds us, there shall "come a time when we
shall be judged not according to the book of knowledge and understanding, but according to the
book of conscience." We shall stand before the dread judgment Seat of Christ. The Babylonians
placed a great trust in Gedaliah as governor of Judah, committing "to him men, women, and
children, those of the poorest of the land who had not been taken into exile" (Jer. 40:7), a
confidence he consistently fulfilled. Jeremiah, who was free to go where he would in the land of
Judah (Jer. 40:4), without hesitation chose to live at Mizpah under Gedaliah's oversight (Jer.
40:6). So greatly was this man trusted that "all the captains of the forces in the open country and
their men" came to him confidently, and he swore to them that he would "stand for [them] before
the Chaldeans" (Jer. 40:7-10). These were officers from the army of Judah, whose units ranged
freely over the country as guerrillas during the time the Chaldeans tried to subdue the land. Even
Jews who had fled for refuge into neighboring kingdoms during the war so trusted Gedaliah that
they returned to Judah and their farming (Jer. 40:11,12).
People do not extend great trust to every man they meet in life. To receive trust, one must show
that he is worthy of trust from others, that he is a man of conscience, that his word is reliable, and
that his moral judgment balanced and fair. All the evidence reveals that Gedaliah's conscience
led him to keep the commandments scrupulously. Notice: although he was warned of Ishmael's
plan to murder him, still he could only forbid preemptive murder (Jer. 40:16). Being of a pure
conscience himself, how could he imagine treachery on the part of a brother in faith? Rather, he
extended hospitality to his neighbor (vs. 41:1). In the words of St. Maximos the Confessor, "a
clear conscience cannot be charged with the breaking of a commandment."
Ishmael, on the other hand, reveals a complete lack of conscience. Without compunction he
violated the sacred covenant of hospitality, murdering his host (vs. 41:2). He slew all others
present at the same dinner (vs. 41:3). He feigned grief at the loss of the Temple in welcoming
pilgrims in the name of the murdered Gedaliah (vs. 41:6). He slaughtered seventy pilgrims (vs.
41:7) while allowing ten of their fellows to live out of sheer greed, to gain their supplies (vs.
41:8). He took captives, including Jeremiah, apparently to sell them all into slavery (vs. 41:10).
When intercepted, he ran from justice (vs. 41:15). God save us from such death of soul!
O Christ our Savior, help us always to guard our conscience while we are in the world, that we
may live worthily with all men, never despising nor trampling upon ourselves or others.