Homily for the 19th Sunday After Pentecost
By Metropolitan Korniliy (Titov) of Moscow
Dear brothers and sisters!
Today’s Gospel from Luke gives us a vivid and clear example of what a Christian should be, and it is beneficial for us to reflect more often on this teaching. If we desire to be children of the Living God, whom we call "Our Father" in prayer, we must learn from Him perhaps the most challenging lesson — to love and do good to our neighbors without expecting anything in return.
Who among us can truly say that we approach God selflessly, asking nothing for ourselves? Who can claim that they give wholeheartedly to those in need, without hoping for something in return?
Let us remember, brothers, that God gives to us generously and freely, expecting nothing in return, except that we use these gifts for our own good and share them freely with our neighbors.
In today’s Gospel, the Lord gives us a simple and wise rule through His mercy: “As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. Love your enemies, and be merciful, as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:31).
These words of Christ, in their simplicity, provide a profound moral teaching on how to live according to God’s law. Our Lord Jesus Christ, instructing His disciples as He sent them forth to preach—where they often faced hostility, persecution, and suffering—taught them not to seek revenge on their oppressors and persecutors.
“As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.” This command requires no special explanation. Whatever you desire for yourself, desire for others; and conversely, whatever you do not desire for yourself, do not desire for others. Even in the Old Testament, a wise man says, “He who digs a pit for another will fall into it himself, and he who sets a trap will be caught by it” (Sirach 27:29).
If you want others to treat you well, treat everyone well. If you do not wish to be harmed, do no harm to anyone. If you want others to help you, be willing to help them as well.
Often, in life, we forget these simple and vital truths that the Lord teaches us: “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged; condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned; forgive, and ye shall be forgiven; give, and it shall be given unto you; for with the same measure that ye mete, it shall be measured to you again” (Luke 6:37). All of this is understandable and entirely possible with God’s help.
If we strive to do good to others, we must understand that not everyone will respond in kind, for not everyone lives by this rule. Yet, if we seek the Kingdom of Heaven, we must consistently act in this way; otherwise, we will sin, violating God’s will. Many say: “I am a good person and never harm anyone, and those who harm me, I ignore or despise.” But this is not yet Christian behavior, for the Lord says that if you wish to be a Christian, you must do good even to those who do not do good to you. We must do good to all, expecting nothing in return, and be merciful to all, as our Heavenly Father, who tolerates us sinners who break His commandments, also gives us many blessings. We must act toward others as God acts toward us. Regardless of whether a person treats us well or poorly, we must not withhold love and mercy from them.
The evangelist Luke conveys the words of Christ: “And if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? For sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? For sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? For sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again” (Luke 6:32).
If a person strives in life not to do to others what they do not want done to themselves, to live according to God’s commandments, and to conquer the evil that sometimes resides within — the desire for revenge, irritation — then their soul gradually becomes freed from wickedness, grows purer, aligns with God’s will, receives heavenly grace, and can thereby attain the Kingdom of Heaven, for “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21).
The Lord, in His love and mercy, has placed within human nature the awareness of how we should act to save our souls. St. Gregory Palamas writes: “The desire to be loved by all and to see good from all, as we ourselves should return the same to others, naturally arises in all of us; therefore, the desire to do good and to bear goodwill toward all, as we wish for ourselves, is an innate feeling within us because we are created in the image of the Good God.” But sin has diminished and corrupted our love for others. Thus, the Lord, renewing our nature, calls us again to grace and love, to be like Him. He therefore speaks His prophetic word: “As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.”
As members of Christ’s Church, we must first strive to show love and mercy toward one another. All Christians are members of one body in Christ, and if the members of our body do not wish to help each other, it would surely perish. So too, our relationship can only be called Christian when it is based on love and mutual aid.
Christian love must far surpass ordinary human love. We are all children of the Heavenly Father, redeemed by the priceless blood of the Savior, endowed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, all members of one family — the Church of Christ, guiding us to the Heavenly Kingdom. In this family, there should be no place for hostility and hatred, envy and discord, or even unkind behavior. We should emulate the early Christians, who, as the Apostle says, “had one heart and one soul” (Acts 4:32).
Every good deed will be rewarded, the Lord promises. St. Gregory Palamas writes: “When you do good to those who harm you and give to those who do not return what they owe, do not think that your wealth is wasted: for now is the time to sow good deeds, and the time of reaping belongs to the age to come. Therefore, he who sows here will reap there, with the greatest increase.”
If our good deeds are done only for show, not to please the Lord, they bring us no spiritual benefit. For those who receive rewards for good deeds in this life forfeit the eternal heavenly reward from God. The Gospel also says that those who give alms, pray, or fast to be seen by others already have their reward from people in the form of approval or admiration, and will not receive a reward from the Lord. And if you want this to be for God alone, then when giving alms, let not your left hand know what your right hand is doing (Matt. 6:6). Remember the life of St. Nicholas, who, seeking no praise from men but only from God, crept at night to leave a bundle of gold for those in need.
Brothers and sisters, let us turn our attention to the commandment of loving our enemies. First, we must know who our true enemies are. The holy fathers teach that we have only spiritual enemies, not physical ones. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places,” says the Apostle (Eph. 6:12). We must boldly engage in spiritual warfare against our enemies — the demonic forces — strengthening ourselves with God’s help, and relying on His might against the devil’s schemes.
But we sometimes consider as enemies those who have offended us in worldly matters, those with whom we argue and quarrel. We turn away from these people with disdain, do not do good to them, and respond to insult with insult. But if we do not do good to all and are not merciful to all, we cannot call ourselves disciples of the Lord, who “is kind to the unthankful and to the evil” (Luke 6:35).
Brothers and sisters! As we look back on the post-schismatic path of the ancient Orthodox Church, we can see that the Old Believers, persecuted for over three hundred years, fulfilled Christ’s command, repaying no evil with evil and bearing the heavy persecutions of those in power with humility. Despite all persecutions, the Old Believers did not prove their righteousness by force but only prayed for those who hated and harmed them.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, even on the Cross, prayed for His persecutors, saying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Therefore, let us hate and despise only sin and its sower, the devil, and let us correct our offenders with the spirit of meekness, humility, patience, and mercy, for the Lord has promised, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Matt. 5:7).
In essence, our Christian life on earth is a school of love and mercy, preparing us for eternal life. It is impossible to live so that everyone loves us, for not all can love those who strive to live by God’s commandments. But we must strive to love everyone.
Some might say that there are people who are impossible to love, but to say so is also to say that it is impossible to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, for there is no room for enmity there. It is a great task, brothers and sisters, to give no place to hatred or evil in our hearts, to constantly overcome evil with good, for it is foolish and destructive to intensify evil with further evil, as if pouring oil onto a fire. Evil and hatred are among the greatest misfortunes of humanity, bringing sorrow and ruin, which we must combat with goodness, love, acts of charity, and prayers for those who offend us.
As Christians, we are children of God and have an incomparable advantage in the grace and strength that Christ has bestowed upon us for every good work. However, good deeds worthy of God’s children are also expected of us. As the Apostle writes, we must be holy, as the Lord our God is holy (1 Peter 1:16). Let us earnestly pray that the Lord helps us fulfill the great commandment to love those who hate and offend us, striving consistently to be worthy, at least in part, of Christ’s reciprocal love.