We Don't Recognize How Much Pride We Have Because Pride Blinds Us. Sermon by Metropolitan Demetrius
Summary
TLDRThe video explores the teachings of the 'watchful fathers' on how to think normally, avoiding the delusions of the mind. It emphasizes the importance of recognizing and overcoming these delusions to achieve holiness and accept Jesus Christ. Through examples of deluded thinking, the script highlights the need for self-examination and reliance on God's mercy for salvation. The message encourages humility, repentance, and the rejection of pride, urging believers to open their hearts to divine grace for true spiritual growth and salvation.
Takeaways
- 🧘♂️ The writings of the attentive fathers teach us how to think normally, avoiding delusions.
- 🧠 We often create non-existent scenarios in our minds, leading to delusions and false assumptions.
- 🙏 The fathers emphasize the importance of recognizing and addressing these mental delusions.
- 📖 The gospel teaches us to seek holiness by thinking realistically and avoiding lies.
- 🚫 Lying can become a habit, leading to a life filled with deception and self-delusion.
- 💡 We must examine ourselves and avoid blaming others or God for our problems.
- 🏆 Richness in passions and avarice can prevent us from achieving eternal life unless addressed.
- 🪜 Spiritual growth requires humility, self-examination, and acknowledging our unworthiness.
- 🌟 The saints teach us the importance of crushing pride to avoid being blinded by it.
- 💖 Salvation comes from God's love and mercy, not from our deeds, and requires us to open our hearts to Him.
Q & A
Who are the 'watchful fathers' mentioned in the script?
-The 'watchful fathers' are spiritual guides in the Christian monastic tradition who teach how to think normally and avoid delusions.
What is one example of a delusion of the mind described in the script?
-One example is when someone creates imaginary scenarios in their mind, such as thinking about telling someone something and imagining a whole scenario that never actually happened.
What does the script say about assuming others' thoughts?
-The script mentions that assuming what others are thinking and creating scenarios based on those assumptions is another form of delusion.
According to the script, how do the fathers help in overcoming delusions?
-The fathers point out these delusions and teach how to recognize and correct them, understanding them as a form of mental sickness.
What does the script say about lies and their levels?
-The script describes three levels of lies: simple lies, compulsive lying where one starts believing their own lies, and living a life that is entirely a lie.
How does the script explain the interaction between Jesus and the rich man in the gospel?
-Jesus tells the rich man that he lacks one thing: to sell all his possessions and give to the poor to inherit eternal life. The man is very rich and avaricious, and he fails the test.
What is the significance of the phrase 'it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle'?
-It illustrates the difficulty for a rich person, particularly those who are very possessive and avaricious, to enter the kingdom of heaven.
What does the script suggest about the relationship between pride and spiritual blindness?
-The script suggests that pride blinds individuals to their own faults and that recognizing and fighting against pride is crucial for spiritual growth.
How should Christians approach God, according to the script?
-Christians should approach God with humility, recognizing their limitations and relying on God's mercy and grace.
What is the ultimate message of hope conveyed in the script?
-The ultimate message is that salvation is possible through God's grace and mercy, not because of our own worthiness, but because of God's love for us.
Outlines
🧘♂️ Understanding the Delusions of the Mind
This paragraph explores the teachings of the watchful fathers who emphasize the importance of normal thinking and the dangers of delusions. It discusses how the mind can create non-existent scenarios and assumptions leading to mental warfare. The fathers highlight the need to recognize and address these delusions to achieve holiness and think realistically. The paragraph also touches on the different levels of lying and the importance of truth in spiritual life.
💸 The Rich Man and Spiritual Poverty
This paragraph reflects on the gospel story of a rich man who approached Jesus seeking eternal life. Jesus instructs him to sell his possessions and give to the poor, revealing his deep attachment to wealth and avarice. The narrative discusses the dangers of blaming others and God for one's problems and the need for self-examination. It emphasizes that true wealth in spiritual terms is found in humility, generosity, and a relationship with God.
🙏 The Path to True Humility and Grace
This paragraph delves into the necessity of humility and repentance for salvation. It quotes saints who express their deep sense of unworthiness and the pervasive nature of pride, which blinds individuals to their faults. The paragraph calls for an open heart to receive God's grace, stressing that understanding and crushing pride is essential for spiritual growth. It encourages listeners to genuinely open their hearts to God and become vessels of the Holy Spirit.
🌟 Embracing Divine Mercy and Salvation
In the concluding paragraph, the speaker summarizes the lesson of renouncing avarice and other passions. It emphasizes the hope in God's mercy and love as the foundation of salvation. The paragraph encourages faith in the possibility of salvation through God's grace rather than personal worthiness. It ends with a call to be receptive to Jesus Christ's love and to glorify the Holy Trinity eternally.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Watchful Fathers
💡Delusions
💡Therapy
💡Levels of Lies
💡Rich in Passions
💡Humility
💡Avarice
💡Divine Liturgy
💡Grace and Mercy
💡Pride
Highlights
Monastics and laypeople alike strive towards the same goal of spiritual growth.
The writings of the watchful fathers teach us how to think normally and avoid delusions.
Delusional thinking includes creating non-existent scenarios and making false assumptions about others.
Spiritual therapy helps us recognize and correct delusional thoughts.
The goal is to achieve holiness and think realistically, accepting Jesus Christ as the truth.
Abaddos identifies three levels of lying, culminating in a life consumed by lies.
The importance of self-examination and recognizing one's spiritual state.
Jesus’ conversation with the rich man highlights the challenges of spiritual wealth and avarice.
Understanding the gradual steps of spiritual growth and the need for personal accountability.
The story of Judas emphasizes the dangers of avarice and the importance of personal responsibility.
The rich man’s failure to give up his wealth demonstrates the difficulty of entering the kingdom of heaven with attachments.
Jesus teaches that salvation is possible with God’s help, even for those burdened by wealth.
Self-awareness and humility are essential for spiritual growth and salvation.
Pride is a major obstacle to spiritual progress, blinding individuals to their own faults.
True repentance and humility are key to overcoming pride and achieving salvation.
Transcripts
[Music]
those of us who are
monastics
but also
many lay people
since as i've said many times we're all
working towards the same goal
have come across the writings of the
watchful fathers
the attentive fathers
who try to teach us how to think
normally
they teach us
that
if we go with the flow so to speak
of the world
our mind
will have
adapted and learned many delusions
deluded ways
and so they give us the therapy
and the means by which we can actually
think normally
for example
many of you may notice in your own
thinking process
that we think of
or we may have a tendency to think up
scenarios which are actually
non-existent
and far from the truth
for example
perhaps
someone is bothered by someone else
and he starts thinking in his mind well
if i should tell him this and that
and then a whole scenario happens as if
it actually happened in the mind this is
an example of delusion the delusion of
the mind it never happened it's not real
and of course we can find many such
examples
other times
we assume that somebody is thinking
something
and we conclude that that person is
thinking something based upon our
assumptions
and a whole scenario starts up when we
have warfare
this is another example of delusions
and so this is why the fathers teach us
and they point it out to us because if
it's not pointed out
chances are we won't really notice it
especially
if we're deeply into it
by the help of god however we can slowly
start to understand how actually this is
a sickness
and so these are the things which the
fathers try to teach us
so that we can achieve holiness and so
that we can think realistically so that
we can
accept jesus christ our savior who is
the truth
our lord doesn't want any lies
and abaddos
has a chapter on lies and he says that
there are three levels
first is when somebody just simply lies
or what one might call a white lie
or perhaps a lie which is not a white
lie
the second level is where somebody
starts
lies so much rather and he
because he lies so much he starts
believing his own lies
in modern language you will call this
a compulsive liar
and the third level is when somebody's
whole life is one big lie
you see that there are levels just as
there are spiritual levels there are
also
levels of darkness
and each person needs to examine himself
and so today in the gospel we heard
again concerning somebody who approaches
our savior
and says good master what shall i do to
inherit eternal life
and our savior says why cause thou me
good there is only one good god because
this person did not recognize
god in our lord jesus christ
and again we hear our savior enumerating
the commandments
and so the man justifying himself says
but i have accomplished all these things
and our savior says to him speaking to
him at the level that he's at
you lack one thing of course the man
lacked a lot more than one thing
but our savior as we said is speaking to
him now at the level that he is at and
with great discernment being the god of
all knowing the hearts of all men only
god knows the hearts of all men
oftentimes we even think that the saints
can read the hearts but saint sarah from
azeroth said very clearly only god can
read can see
every single detail in the heart
sometimes he reveals things to saints
sometimes he doesn't as saint seraphim
continues he says when i've done things
on my my own i've made mistakes but when
i have a revelation from god when i pray
to god then i don't
and so
our savior knowing the heart
asks
tells him rather that he lacks one thing
he needs to sell all that he has and
give to the poor so that he may inherit
eternal life and this man
was rich
very rich in passions
he was very avaricious
like judas
one may ask
well if judas was so avaricious
why did our lord entrust the money back
to him
was it not god's fault
that's what an insane person would say
because people who are dark have a
tendency to blame
others and god
for all their problems
or rather as we said certain things are
done incrementally and in steps if a
person becomes
content and used to blaming everyone
else for all their problems
and not taking the opportunity to
examine themselves to see what it is
that they have done wrong or what it is
that they can correct in themselves so
they can grow as human beings and as
christians
and the person continues
to the next step where he starts to
blame god
god
has given us freedom
and that freedom is going to be tested
and so this free man
was very grieved he was tested
and he failed the test
and our savior says how hardly shall
rich people enter into the kingdom of
the heavens again
people need to understand the language
of our savior and understand the mind of
christ the spirit it doesn't mean that
every single rich person is not going to
make it to heaven obviously
there were many rich saints
but those
who are avaricious
and who were avaricious to such a degree
that they
lived here
as if this was it as if they were going
to be living here forever and they were
very possessive
and inquisitive
they would put they were
lovers of their own possessions
and our lord gives these people also
that is those people who are rich means
by which they can redeem themselves
and he gives to them
alms giving
giving to the poor giving to the
monasteries giving to the churches
giving to the right purpose
so this person
just turned away
didn't accept
so our savior says it would be easier
for a camel to go through the eye
of a needle than for a rich man to enter
into the kingdom of the heavens
which meant a rope
you can't put a rope through a needle
and the apostles of our savior were
surprised
because they knew of many rich people
and so they thought who then can be
saved
so our savior gives
the answer
our savior gives
the answer
with men
this is impossible but with god all
things are possible
and every single one of us here today my
beloved orthodox christians
has to come to this point
where he
admits to our lord
lord
if i'm judged according to my deeds
i may be
doomed but because of thy love and
kindness because of thy mercy
receive me even as we read in the
prayers
before holy communion
it's the prayer i think of saint basil
great where he says i know o lord
that i commune unworthily not discerning
the body and blood of thee
but trusting in my compassions and
trusting in thy mercy
i take courage
and come forward
in other words
we are saved
because god wants to save us and he
wants from us
the reality
the ability to come to truth the ability
to understand that we need a physician
the ability to understand that we can't
do this without him
the ability to understand that every
single one of us once again has to fall
on his knees
and admit and confess before the lord of
all
my lord i am not worthy
the christians
should say
i have not
kept my baptismal vows
the way i should have
the monastics should say i have not kept
the vows of my monastic schema
and the tantra of my head the way i
should
the clergy should say
i have sullied my garments i am not
worthy
this is the language of the saints
this is the language of the saints and
even more extreme
to our ears
like saint simon theologian i've sinned
more than the harlot he says
this sounds very extreme
and yet the saints
understood things
and it's so hard for us to understand
them
because we are still too far
and the closer a person comes to god the
more he sees
our lord
teaches us that
and the saints
continue to teach us that he'd rather
accept
a repentant sinner into the heavenly
kingdom
than a so-called righteous man who is
full of pride
pride is our enemy but pride is the
biggest
sickness and contagion
that has entered into the race of
mankind
and pride is what blinds us
and so
pride
is oftentimes not even recognizable to
us
yes we may understand
to a certain degree that we have pride
but since pride by its nature blinds us
we don't even recognize how much pride
we have
but the saints did
and they fought it
and they understood that if we do not
crush our pride it will crush us
and they were fervent
and they were adamant in their purpose
and they were of set purpose
so when we come here and we hear the
gospel passages
open your hearts
open your ears
and pray the master
even as we pray in the sanctuary that
the lord will open the eyes of our
understanding to comprehend the
proclamations of the holy gospel
and that he will implant in us the fear
of his blessed commandments the fear of
him
for if we do not have these things we
become indifferent and dark and we don't
understand
where we are and what state we've come
to
so this man this rich man didn't
understand what he had right in front of
him the king of glory god before the
ages
and remember now i've mentioned so many
times that it depends on us how will we
approach god the right way or the wrong
way
so we must all approach him
with humility of heart
and understanding how limited we are how
finite we are in comparison to the
limitless and infinite god
but
here we are now
here we are now again we don't
understand this unbelievable
unbelievable grace
and blessing that our lord gives to us
the fullness of the grace the holy
spirit the sentence
this man didn't know what he had in
front of him do we know what we have in
front of us do we know what we have here
in this divine liturgy
god
yes god himself
why
because it is by his love that we shall
be saved by his grace
if things depend on us
we're not going to make it
and we hear this every single day in the
vesper services if thou should spark
iniquities o lord o lord who shall stand
for with thee there is forgiveness
and so forgiveness comes forth
from this holy altar
from the sanctuary
if
we
only understood
and if we can
just
open our hearts to the master
it's something that we hear oftentimes
and it's even used
by the heterodox oftentimes you hear
this by protestants
but the holy fathers
have enumerated
in such detail
what it actually means to open your
heart we're not talking about some type
of a form of speech
we're talking about a reality
and we must open our hearts
to the master jesus christ
to be receptive of
him and so that we can
become
vessels of grace vessels of the holy
spirit
so in today's lesson we learned to put
aside
not just avarice but all those other
passions that we are rich in
and we come to our lord
bringing forth him
his own words
with man
it is impossible but with god all things
are possible
and this is why we have great hope
that in him
and through him
we shall all be saved
that is our hope
we shall all be saved not because we
have done any good thing
not because we are worthy
but because
of how great his mercy is upon us and
because of how much he loves us
may we be
receptive to that love of jesus christ
our master
and may he help us
to understand these things
so that we may be able
to glorify father son and holy spirit
unto the ages of ages amen
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
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