Ὁμιλία στὸ Γαλ. 2,16-20

 

Anthony Bloom (Metropolitan of Sourozh (1914- 2003))

28 Ὀκτωβρίου, 1990

Εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς και τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος.

Ἡ σημερινὴ ἐπιστολὴ δὲν εἶναι σαφὴς ἀπὸ κάθε ἄποψη, καὶ νομίζω ὅτι ἀξίζει τὸν κόπο νὰ προβληματιστοῦμε πάνω σ’αὐτήν. Τὸ πρῶτο πράγμα ποὺ ὁ Ἀπόστολος Παῦλος, ποὺ ὑπῆρξε ἕνας ζηλωτὴς τοῦ νόμου, πολὺ αὐστηρός μαθητὴς τῆς Συναγωγῆς, ὑπογραμμίζει εἶναι ὅτι κάνοντας ἁπλὰ τὰ πράγματα ποὺ προστάζει ὁ νόμος δὲν σωζόμαστε, ἐπειδὴ σωτηρία δὲν σημαίνει να εἶναι κάποιος δίκαιος, νὰ εἶναι σὲ θέση νὰ πεῖ ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ· «ἔκανα ὅ,τι πρόσταξες», ἀλλὰ σωτηρία σημαίνει νὰ ἔλθουμε σὲ τέτοια σχέση μὲ τὸ Θεὸ ὥστε, γιὰ νὰ χρησιμοποιήσουμε ξανὰ τὰ λόγια τοῦ Ἀποστόλου Παύλου, ὁ Νόμος θὰ πρέπει να βρίσκεται στὴν καρδιά μας, μέσα μας, νὰ εἶναι ἡ ἴδια μας ἡ φύση. Ἁπλά τὸ νὰ τηροῦμε τὸν νόμο μπορεῖ νὰ μᾶς κάνει δίκαιους ὑπὸ τὴν ἔννοια ὅτι θὰ ἔχουμε κάνει ὅ,τι μᾶς ἔχει δοθεῖ σὰν ἐντολή, καὶ θὰ μᾶς ἔχει φέρει στα σύνορα τῆς ζωῆς.

Αὐτὸ εἶναι ποὺ ἐννοοῦσε ὅταν σὲ ἄλλο σημεῖο ὁ Ἀπόστολος Παῦλος λέει ὅτι ὁ Νόμος εἶναι ὅπως ἕνας δάσκαλος. Γνωρίζουμε τὶ εἶναι ὁ δάσκαλος ἀπὸ τὴν συνηθισμένη μας ἐμπειρία· εἶναι κάποιος ποὺ, ὅταν εἴμαστε μικροί μᾶς παίρνει, μᾶς διδάσκει βῆμα βῆμα μέχρι να γίνουμε ἀρκετὰ ὥριμοι γιὰ νὰ κάνουμε χωρὶς ἐκεῖνον καὶ νὰ γίνουμε ἱκανοὶ, μὲ ὥριμο καὶ ὑπεύθυνο τρόπο, νὰ μποῦμε στὴν ζωὴ ποὺ ἀνοίγεται μπροστά μας. Τέτοιος ἦταν ὁ Νόμος τῆς Παλαιᾶς Διαθήκης· βάζοντας σὲ πειθαρχία τοὺς Ἱσραηλῖτες, καὶ ὅλους ἐκείνους ποὺ ἔμπαιναν κάτω ἀπὸ τὸν Νόμο, τοὺς προετοίμασε ὅλους νὰ ἔλθουν στὸ σημεῖο ν’ ἀναλάβουν πλήρη τὴν εὐθύνη γιὰ τὴν ζωή.

Καὶ τότε, ἔρχεται ὁ Χριστὸς. Ὁ Χριστὸς μᾶς δίνει ἐπίσης ἐντολὲς, ἀλλὰ ἔχουν ἄλλη ποιότητα. Ὁ ἴδιος λέει ὅτι ὅταν θὰ ἔχετε φέρει εἰς πέρας ὅ,τι σᾶς ἔχω πεῖ, ν’ ἀναγνωρίσετε, νὰ ὁμολογήσετε ὅτι παραμένετε ἀκόμη ἀνάξιοι ὑπηρέτες. Ἐπειδὴ τὸ μυστήριο τῆς σωτηρίας, τὸ μυστήριο τῆς ἐλευθερίας δὲν βρίσκεται στὸ «πράττειν» ἀλλὰ στὸ «γίγνεσθαι».

Ἕνας ἀπὸ τοὺς ἀρχαίους συγγραφεῖς τῆς Χριστιανοσύνης γράφει ὅτι ὑπάρχουν τρεῖς τρόποι γιὰ νὰ εἴμαστε ὑπάκουοι στὸν Θεὸ: κάποιος μπορεῖ νὰ ὑποτάσσει τὸ θέλημα του ἐξαιτίας τοῦ φόβου τῆς τιμωρίας, ἄλλος μπορεῖ νὰ ὑπακούει ἐπειδὴ ἐλπίζει νὰ ἀνταμοιφθεῖ, κάποιος μπορεῖ νὰ εἶναι δοῦλος ἤ μισθωτός. Ἀλλὰ καμιά ἀπὸ αὐτὲς τὶς καταστάσεις δὲν μᾶς φέρνει κοντὰ στὸν Διδάσκαλο μας. Ὑπάρχει μονάχα ἕνας τρόπος ποὺ κάνοντας τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ εἶναι ὁ τρόπος γιὰ νὰ ἐπικοινωνήσεις μαζί Του: εἶναι ἡ συμπεριφορὰ ἑνὸς γιοῦ ποὺ τόσο ἀγαπάει, τόσο τιμᾶ τὸν Πατέρα του ὥστε κάθε λόγος Του, κάθε συμβουλή, κάθε ἐντολὴ, κάθε παράδειγμα εἶναι γι’ αὐτὸν δρόμος πρὸς τὴν ὡριμότητα, ἕνας τρόπος γιὰ νὰ εἶναι ἀληθινὰ ὁ ἑαυτός του, μὲ τὸ νὰ γίνεται κάτι περισσότερο ἀπὸ αὐτὸ ποὺ εἶναι ὁποιαδήποτε δεδομένη στιγμή.
Αὐτὸς εἶναι ὁ δρόμος τῶν ἐντολῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ.

Ἔφερε σ’ ἐμᾶς τὸν νόμο τῆς ἐλευθερίας· ποὺ σημαίνει ὅτι δὲν εἴμαστε πιὰ δοῦλοι μισθωτοί, καλούμαστε νὰ γίνουμε υἱοὶ καὶ θυγατέρες τοῦ Ὑψίστου. Αὐτὸ θέλει να πεῖ ὁ Παῦλος ὅταν λέει ὅτι ὁ Χριστὸς κατὰ κάποιο τρόπο καταργεῖ τὶς ἐντολὲς, τὸν Νόμο τῆς Παλαιᾶς Διαθήκης. Ἀλλὰ δὲν καταλύει τὸν Νόμο, δὲν ἁμαρτάνει ἀπέναντί του – τὸν ὑπερβαίνει μὲ τὸ νὰ εἶναι ἡ Ὁδός, ἡ Ἀλήθεια, ἡ Ζωὴ ποὺ ἀνοίγεται μπροστά μας ὅταν ἔχουμε φτάσει στὸ σημεῖο ποὺ ἕνας ὁδηγὸς, ἕνας ἀνθρώπινος ὁδηγὸς, ἕνας ὁδηγὸς ποὺ ὑπόκειται στὴν ἁμαρτία δὲν εἶναι πλέον ἀρκετός.

Τί ἐννοεῖ ὁ Παῦλος ὅταν λέει ὅτι δὲν ζεῖ πλέον ἐκεῖνος - ὅτι εἶναι ὁ Χριστὸς που ζεῖ μέσα του; Ὅλοι μας γνωρίζουμε κάτι πάνω σ’ αὐτό: ὅταν σεβόμαστε πολὺ κάποιον, ὅταν ἀγαπᾶμε κάποιον, ταυτιζόμαστε μὲ τὸ ἄλλο πρόσωπο στὴν σκέψη, στὴν καρδιά, στὴν θέληση, στοὺς τρόπους του - ὄχι ὅτι μιμούμαστε τὸ ἄλλο πρόσωπο, ἀλλὰ προσπαθοῦμε νὰ τὸ συναγωνιστοῦμε, νὰ γίνουμε ἄξιοί του. Καὶ αὐτὸ ἐννοεῖ ὁ Παῦλος. Ἀνακάλυψε τὸν Χριστὸ σὰν τὸν Θεό του· τὸν ἀνακάλυψε σὰν τὸν δάσκαλο τῆς ζωῆς, τῆς αἰώνιας ζωῆς ποὺ ἔχει ξεκινήσει στὴν γῆ στὶς καρδιές ἐκείνων ποὺ ἀνακαλύπτουν ποιὸς εἶναι πραγματικὰ ὁ Χριστός, καὶ ἐκεἰνων ποὺ γίνονται ἀγγελιοφόροι Του, ἡ ἐμπροσθοφυλακὴ τῆς Οὐράνιας Βασιλείας, ἄνθρωποι ποὺ τοὺς στέλνει στὸν κόσμο γιὰ νὰ φέρουν μήνυμα ἀπελευθέρωσης.

Τὸ γνωρίζουμε ἐπίσης κατὰ περιόδους ἀπὸ παραδείγματα τῆς ζωῆς μας καὶ τῆς ζωῆς τῶν ἄλλων. Θυμᾶμαι ἕναν ἄνθρωπο ποὺ εἶχε βγεῖ ἀπὸ ἕνα στρατόπεδο συγκέντρωσης ὅπου ὁ κίνδυνος τοῦ θανάτου και τοῦ συνεχιζόμενων δεινῶν ἦταν τὸ μερτικὸ του και μοῦ εἶπε· «τὴν στιγμὴ ποὺ ἀπελευθερώθηκα, συνειδητοποίησα ὅτι ξαναγεννήθηκα· ὅ,τι εἴμουν εἶχε πεθάνει στὸ στρατόπεδο· ἡ καινούργια ζωὴ ποὺ μοῦ δόθηκε ἦταν ἕνα δῶρο, καὶ δὲν ἦταν δική μου, ἦταν τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ἔπρεπε νὰ ζήσω ἔτσι ποὺ ὁ Θεὸς θὰ ζοῦσε μέσα μου, θὰ ἐνεργοῦσε μέσα ἀπὸ μένα, ὅτι θὰ ἔπρεπε νὰ εἶμαι τὰ μάτια Του, και τ’ αὐτιά Του, ἡ συμπόνοια, ἡ ἀγάπη καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια Του». Συμβαίνει ἐπίσης σὲ ἀνθρώπους ποὺ ἔρχονται στὸ χεῖλος τοῦ θανάτου, γνωρίζοντας ὅτι πρόκειται νὰ πεθάνουν καὶ γιὰ κάποιο ἀνθρώπινα ἀκατανόητο λόγο, θεραπεύονται. Μερικοὶ τὸ ξεχνοῦν, ἀλλὰ μερικοὶ συνειδητοποιοῦν ὅτι ἄν τώρα εἶναι ζωντανοί, δὲν εἶναι ἐξαιτίας τῆς δύναμης τῆς δικῆς τους ζωῆς, δὲν πρόκειται γιὰ τὴν συνέχεια τῆς προηγούμενης ζωῆς τους – εἶναι μιὰ νέα ζωὴ ποὺ τοὺς προσφέρεται, καὶ αὐτὴ τὴ νέα ζωὴ πρέπει νὰ τὴ ζήσουν μὲ νέους ὅρους, μὲ τοὺς ὁποίους δὲν θὰ μποροῦσαν νὰ τὴν ἔχουν ζήσει.

Ἄς προβληματιστοῦμε πάνω σ’ αὐτὸ, ἐπειδὴ ὅλοι μας συνεχῶς ἐπαναλαμβάνουμε στὶς λιτανείες μας· «ἄς παραδόσουμε τον ἑαυτὸ μας, καὶ ὁ ἕνας τὸν ἄλλον, καὶ ὅλη τὴ ζωή μας στὸν Χριστὸ, τὸν Θεό μας». Συχνὰ τὸ σκεφτόμαστε αὐτὸ σὰν νὰ λέγαμε· «ἄς στραφοῦμε σὲ Ἐκεῖνον γιὰ νὰ ἔχουμε ἀσφάλεια, ἄς θέσουμε τὴ ζωή μας στὴν φροντίδα Του, ἄς ἐγκαταλείψουμε τοὺς ἑαυτούς μας σ’ Ἐκεῖνον ὑπολογίζοντας νὰ μᾶς σώσει ἀπὸ κάθε ἀντιξοότητα». Δὲν ἔχει ὅμως αὐτὴ τὴ σημασία· σημαίνει ὅτι γενναιόδωρα, μὲ θάρρος, μὲ ὅλη τὴν καρδιά, μὲ μιὰ θέληση ποὺ ξεπερνᾶ τὸ θέλημα μας νὰ κάνουμε τὸ καλὸ καὶ τὴν ροπή μας πρὸς τὸ κακό, λέμε στὸν Χριστό· «δὲν θέλω νὰ ζήσω τὴ ζωή μου – θέλω νὰ ζήσω τὴ δική Σου ζωή! Δὲν θέλω νὰ ζήσω σύμφωνα μὲ τοὺς δικοὺς μου κανόνες – θέλω νὰ ζήσω σύμφωνα μὲ τὸ θέλημα Σου!»

Αὐτὸ ἦταν ποὺ ὁ Παῦλος ἀντιλήφθηκε ὅταν συνάντησε τὸν Χριστὸ καὶ ἀνακάλυψε ὅτι Αὐτὸς ποὺ ἐπρόκειτο νὰ καταδιώξει, νὰ καταστρέψει, ἦταν στὴν πραγματικότητα ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ ποὺ ἔγινε Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου. Ὁ καθένας μας θὰ ἔπρεπε νὰ τὸ ἔχει κατανοήσει καιρὸ πρίν, ἐπειδὴ ὅλοι μας ἔχουμε βαπτιστεῖ στὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Χριστοῦ· ἐπάνω στὸν καθένα μας διαβάστηκε ἡ Ἐπιστολὴ τοῦ Ἀποστόλου ποὺ λέει ὅτι πεθαίνουμε στὸν δικὸ Του θάνατο, καὶ στὴν δική Του ἀνάσταση θὰ ἐγερθοῦμε ξανὰ, ὅτι πεθαίνουμε γιὰ ὅ,τι δὲν εἶναι ἄξιο τῆς θείας κλήσης μας. Καὶ τώρα, μὲ μιὰ πράξη θέλησης καὶ πίστης ποὺ εἶναι πράξη ὑποταγῆς καὶ ἐμπιστοσύνης, σκοπεύουμε νὰ ζήσουμε τὴ ζωὴ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἔτσι ποὺ ἡ ζωὴ Του θὰ πρέπει νὰ μᾶς διαποτίσει, νὰ μᾶς πληρώσει, νὰ μᾶς ἀποκαλύψει ὅ,τι θὰ πρέπει νὰ γίνουμε, ζώντας μέ πίστη, μὲ θάρρος, τὴν παρουσία καὶ τὴν ἀποκάλυψή Του στὸν κόσμο.

Ἄς σκεφτοῦμε ξανὰ και ξανὰ αὐτὸ τὸ μπερδεμένο κείμενο τῆς Ἐπιστολῆς πρὸς τοὺς Γαλάτες, γιὰ νὰ δοῦμε ποῦ ἀνήκουμε· καὶ ἄν δὲν ἀνήκουμε ἐκεῖ ὅπου ἡ θεία μας κλίση μᾶς καλεῖ νὰ εἴμαστε, ἄς πάρουμε τὴν ἀπόφαση, ν’ ἀναλάβουμε τὸν ἑαυτό μας, καὶ νὰ τὸν θέσουμε στὰ χέρια τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἀμήν.


Ἀπόδοση κειμένου: www.agiazoni.gr





Πρωτότυπο Κείμενο


Sermon on Galatians 2:16-20
28th October, 1990

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

To-day's Epistle is not clear in every respect, and I think it is worth giving some thought to it. The first thing which Paul the Apostle, who had been a law-abiding, very strict disciple of the Synagogue, underlines is that simply doing the things which the Law commands does not save us, because salvation does not consist of being righteous, being able to say before God, 'I have done all that Thou commandest, but in entering into such communion with God that, again to use St. Paul's own words, the Law should be within our hearts, within us, be our very nature. Just being the doers of the Law may make us righteous in the sense that we will have done all that was commanded, and yet it will only have brought us to the frontier of life.

This is what he meant when in another place St. Paul says that the Law is like a teacher. We know what the teacher is in our ordinary experience, it is someone who takes us when we are small, who teaches us step by step until we are mature enough to do without him and able to enter, in a mature and responsible way, into life which is before us. Such was the Law of the Old Testament; by disciplining the people of Israel, and beyond them all those who entered under the Law, it prepared all of them to come to the threshold where they would take full responsibility for life.

And then, Christ comes. Christ also gives us commandments, but they have another quality. He Himself says that when you will have fulfilled all that I have told - recognise, confess that you are still unworthy servants. Because it is not in the doing but in the becoming, that lies the mystery of salvation, the mystery of freedom and of the Gospel.

One of the ancient writers of Christendom says that there are three ways of being obedient to God: one can obey His will for fear of punishment, one can obey Him because one hopes for a reward, one may be a slave or a hireling. But neither of these conditions makes us close to our Master. There is only one way in which doing the will of God is a manner of communing with Him: it is the attitude of a son who so loves, so reveres his Father that every word of His, every bit of advice, every command, every example is for him a road to maturity, a way of becoming truly himself, by becoming more than he is at any given moment.

That is the way of the commands of Christ. He has brought us the law of freedom; that is, we are no longer slaves or hirelings, we are called to be sons and daughters of the Most-High. This is what Paul means when he says that Christ in a sense does away with the commandments, the Law of the Old Testament. But He is not a breaker of the Law, He does not sin against it - He transcends it by being the Way, the Truth, the Life which opens before us when we have reached the point when a guide, a human guide, a fallen guide is no longer enough.

What does Paul mean when he says that he does not live himself anymore - that it is Christ Who lives in him? We all know something of it: when we revere someone, when we love someone, we identify with the other person in thought, in heart, in will, in his ways - not that we ape the other person, but we try to emulate him, to be worthy of being like the other person. And this is what he means. He discovered Christ as his God; he discovered Him as the teacher of life, of eternal life that begins already on earth in those who discover Who Christ really is, and who become His messengers on earth, a vanguard of the Kingdom, people whom He sends to bring a message of liberation.

We know it also at times from examples in our life and in the life of others. I remember a person who had come out of a concentration camp where danger of death and continuous suffering was his lot, and he said to me The moment I was freed, I realised that I was born again, that all I had been had died out in the camp, that the new life I was given was a gift, and was not mine, it was God's, and I had to live in such a way that God should live in me, act through me, that I should be His eyes, and His ears, His compassion and His love, His truth’. It happens also to people who come to the brink of death, knowing that they are about to die, for some inconceivable, humanly speaking reason, are healed. Some forget it, but some realise that if they are alive now, it is not by the power of their natural life, it is not the continuation of their life of the past - it is a new life which is given them, and that this new life must be lived on new terms, on terms on which the previous one could not, or would not be lived.

Let us reflect on this, because we all repeat constantly in our litanies, 'Let us commend ourselves, and one another, and all our life to Christ, our God. Usually we think of it as though we were saying, 'Let us look to Him for safety, let us put our lives in His care, let us abandon ourselves to Him counting on Him to save us from all adversity'. This is not what it means; it means that generously, courageously, whole-heartedly, by an act of will that transcends our very will to do good and our proclivity towards evil, we say to Christ, 'I don't want to live my life - I want to live Yours! I do not want to live according to my own standards - I want to live according to Yours!

This is what Paul perceived when he first met Christ and discovered that the One he was out to persecute, to destroy, was in reality the Son of God become the Son of man. Each of us should have realised this long ago, because we all were baptised into Christ; over each of us was read the passage of the Epistle that said that in Him we die, and in Him we rise again, that we die for everything which is not worthy of our divine vocation. And now, in an act of will and faith that is of surrender and faithfulness, we intend to live the life of Christ so that Christ's life should pervade us, fill us, unfold itself in us, that we should be, within the limits of our faith, of our faithfulness and courage, His presence and a revelation of Him.

Let us reflect again and again on this confusing passage of the Epistle to the Galatians, to see where we belong; and if we do not belong where our Christian vocation calls us to be - let us make a decision, take ourselves in hand, and put our whole selves into the hands of God. Amen.