Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Augustine of Canterbury, Evangelizer of England
Kellia: Deuteronomy 10:1-5 Apostle: Acts 23:1-11 Gospel: St. John 15:16-23
Deuteronomy 10:1-5, especially vs. 4: "And He wrote on the tables, as at the first writing, the ten
commandments which the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly;
and the Lord gave them to me." In today's reading, as throughout Deuteronomy, Moses speaks of the Lord's
Commandments. He reminds us constantly how blessed we are to be God's People and to possess the "statutes and
judgments so righteous as all this law" (Deut. 4:8); he urges each of us: "take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently"
by obeying all this law and teaching it to "thy sons, and thy sons' sons" (Deut. 4:9). How blessed we are, for God places His
Commandments before us physically in writing, as on tables of stone - but more so, as Moses says, in "speaking" to us,
which God does through "the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart" (2 Cor. 3:3).
Note: the Commandments of God come not as an alien, external authority to enslave us, but, as St. Peter of Damaskos says,
they are "natural knowledge given us by God, whether this come through the Scriptures by human agency, or by means of
the angel that is given in divine Baptism to guard the soul of every believer, to act as his conscience and to remind him of
the divine commandments of Christ," which "if the Baptized person keeps...the grace of the Holy Spirit is preserved in
him." The whole purpose of the commandments, in St. Maximos the Confessor's words, is "to free the mind [the nous, the
deep center of the heart] from incontinence [akrasia, indulgence] and hate, and to bring it to the love of [God] Himself, and
of its neighbor."
Loving God is not simply "the first and great commandment" (Deut. 6:5; Mt. 22:36, 37) - it is the life-giving response of
the believing heart which transforms the Commandments from burdens into grace from the Lord. Hence, as St. Makarios
of Egypt says, the "highest elements of our constitution - the intellect [the nous], the conscience, the loving power of the
soul - must initially be offered to God as a holy sacrifice." For, as the Lord Himself says, "If a man love Me, he will keep
My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him" (Jn. 14:23). Loving
God is less a command and much more an opportunity.
When we love God above all else, His Commandments become weapons and aids in the unseen warfare that is being
fought in and for the soul of every Christian. They are lifelines from the Lord. Our merciful God foresees the demons'
intentions and the weakness of our flesh, and He gives us, His embattled children, commandments for defeating the demons
and for overcoming our passions. St. Philotheos of Sinai assures us that the commandments are powerful weapons: "If
with the Lord's help through careful watchfulness you guard your intellect [nous] from error and observe the attacks of the
demons and their snares woven in fantasy, you will see from experience that this is the case."
Most important is to realize the link between the Commandments and our passions. Each of the Commandments is
matched by a cluster of passions against which the corresponding commandment offers defense and victory. The first four
Commandments clearly are arrayed against self-esteem, vainglory, and pride that we may take up our cross and be buried
with Christ. The commandment against murder restrains anger (Mt. 5:21-24), against adultery cools lust (Mt. 5:27-29),
against stealing or covetousness checks avarice (Mt. 7:24-34) and against false-witness defeats lying and the other evil
impulses of the tongue (Mt. 5:37). Like Moses (Deut. 1:5), let us take the Sacred Commandments and put them in the holy
ark of our heart with the fear of God.
Blessed art Thou, O Lord; teach me Thy statutes. Blessed art Thou, O Master; make me to understand Thy
commandments. Blessed art Thou, O Holy One; enlighten me with Thy precepts.
