Friday, January 28, 2005
Ven. Ephraim the Syrian; Isaac the Syrian, Bishop of Nineveh
2nd Vespers of Theologian: Wisdom 9:1-13 Epistle: James 2:1-13 Gospel: St. Mark 10:23-32
St. Mark 10:23-32, especially vs. 25: "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than
for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Long years before the Lord took flesh and dwelt among us, His Holy Prophet
David, being led by the Spirit of God to perceive grave danger in wealth, warned us: "if riches flow in, set not your hearts
thereon" (Ps. 61:10 LXX). Let us listen carefully, Beloved of the Lord. Where our heart is fixed, where it is "set," that
which delights it, whatever the primary goal it yearns for, that becomes the definition of a person's whole being. The Lord
Jesus Himself puts the matter quite simply: "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Mt. 6:21).
Why then does Christ our God especially focus on riches? See, He warns us three times that wealth makes it difficult "to
enter the kingdom of God" (Mk. 10:23,24,25). Is there something inherently wrong with wealth in and of itself? Not at all!
The issue lies in the heart, as the Lord makes clear throughout Holy Scripture, and for fickle-hearted mankind, riches are a
proven stumbling block, shoals upon which many have wrecked themselves, both in this life and for the age to come. As
St. Augustine of Hippo notes: "it is hard to be saved if we have them; and impossible if we love them; and scarcely can we
have them, but we shall love them inordinately." There is the problem: to love them inordinately, to set the heart upon
them.
The setting of the heart is the whole of the matter, for that upon which we set our heart determines the shape of our whole
life. If one's primary attention is on gaining wealth, he may well attain his goal, or, perhaps, he may not; but let us who
profess Christ as our Lord heed St. Augustine: riches "are gained with toil and kept with fear. They are enjoyed with
danger and lost with grief." Surely let us not be so foolish as to set our heart primarily on elusive riches. On the other
hand, the Prophet David teaches the proven way: "delight thyself in the Lord, and He will give thee the askings of thy
heart" (Ps. 36:4 LXX). We "delight" in the Lord when we set our heart on knowing Him and keeping His ways, for then
we shall ask only that which pleases Him and shall receive the askings of our hearts, "good measure, pressed down, shaken
together and running over" (Lk. 6:38). God, Who is rich Himself, Who owns everything, and places all that we have at our
disposal, is especially generous toward those who have set their hearts upon Him and seek "first the Kingdom of God and
His righteousness" (Mt. 6:33). It is not difficult to understand the astonishment of the Disciples recorded in today's
reading (Mk. 10:24,26). They heard the Lord well. They understood how quickly human hearts trust in all sorts of things,
causes, people and goals. The Master's declaration chilled them, made them afraid (vs. 32). Who possibly can be saved
then? Caesarios of Arles answers clearly: "Rich and poor, listen to Christ: I am speaking to God's people. Most of you are
poor, but you too must listen carefully to understand. And you had best listen even more intently if you glory in your
poverty. Beware of pride, lest the humble rich surpass you. Beware of wickedness, lest the pious rich confound you.
Beware of drunkenness, lest the sober excel you."
Given our sinful hearts and the fickleness of fallen human nature, how is it possible for us to be established in the Lord
above all else? It is Christ Himself Who is able to "establish [our] hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father"
(1 Thess. 3:13). From Him let us learn to leave anything and everything that stands between us and Him (Mk. 10:28) and
let us not be "wise in [our] own conceit, but fear God and depart from all evil" (Prov. 3:7 LXX).
O Christ God, Who willed to lie in the hands of the old man Simeon as Thou didst ride in the chariot of the cherubim,
deliver us from the woe of passions and save our souls.
