Like the guests who cannot attend the rich man’s feast because they are too busy with occupational and family matters, people become distracted by the concerns of mortal life, and deprive themselves of true life. Whoever does not renounce all the cares and fears of mortal life cannot fulfill the father’s will since it is impossible to serve yourself partially and the father partially. One must consider, is there any benefit to serving my own flesh, can I arrange my life the way that I want it? One must do the same as the man who is building a house or preparing for war. He calculates whether he can complete construction or whether he can conquer his enemy. And if he sees that he can’t, then of course he does not waste his labors or his soldiers pointlessly. One must calculate the benefits of serving mortal life and one’s own will versus the benefits of fulfilling the father’s will. Whoever calculates this will not resent forgoing the supposed blessedness and supposed life of mortality in order to receive true blessedness and true life. Since it is impossible to arrange life according to your desires, it is better to leave all flesh behind and serve the spirit. Otherwise you will have neither one nor the other. You will not be able to manage mortal life and you will lose the life of the spirit.
Like the estate manager who is aware that his master may dismiss him at any time, and so does good to other people while still in charge of the master’s riches, ensuring that when he is eventually dismissed he will be taken in and cared for, people should remember that mortal life is wealth that belongs to someone else, and that they manage it only temporarily. If they wisely use this other person’s wealth, then they’ll receive their own true wealth. If we do not give up our false property, then true property will never belong to us. The rich man is already guilty because he eats his fill and does so extravagantly while poor people are going hungry at his doors. Possessions which are not shared with others are nothing but the unfulfilled will of the father.
An orthodox believer, a wealthy leader of men, comes to Jesus, boasting that he has fulfilled all the commandments in the law. Jesus reminds him that there is a commandment to love all people as yourself, and that this is what the father’s will is based on. This leader says that he has done that as well. Jesus responds, “That is not true. If you wanted to fulfill the father’s will, you would have no possessions. It is impossible to fulfill the father’s will if you have your own belongings…People assume that without possessions it would be impossible to live; but I say to you that true life consists of giving what is yours to others.”
One man, Zacchaeus, hears Jesus’s teaching and comes to believe in it. He invites Jesus to his home, and says to him, “I am giving half of my estate to the poor and am repaying four times over everyone that I have ever offended.” And Jesus says, “Here is a man fulfilling the will of the father. Our whole life must be a sustained act of fulfilling the father’s will.”
A woman cries to Jesus and fervently pours three hundred rubles’ worth of oil on his feet. Judas says that she has done a stupid thing, that she could have fed many people with this money. But Judas was thinking about the benefits of the flesh, not thinking of the poor. Utility is not vital, neither is quantity, but fulfilling, every minute, the father’s will, that is what is vital. It is impossible to measure goodness. The widow who gives away her last mite gives more than the rich man who gives thousands. It is also impossible to measure goodness by what is useful and what is not useful.
And once, Jesus’s mother and brothers came to him but they could not make contact with Jesus because there were so many people surrounding him.
One man observed them and approached Jesus and said, “Your family members, mother and brothers are standing outside and they want to see you.”
And Jesus said, “My mother and brothers are those who have understood the father’s will and are fulfilling it.”
And a certain woman said, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the nipples that you sucked.”
To this, Jesus said, “Blessed only are those who have understood the knowledge of the father and are keeping it.”
And a certain man said to Jesus, “I will follow you no matter where you go.”
At this, Jesus said to him, “There is nowhere to follow me. I have no home, no place where I could live. Only animals have lairs and dens, but man is at home anywhere that he can live by the spirit.”
And it happened once that Jesus needed to travel by boat with his students.
He said, “We’ll go across to the other side.”
A storm arose on the lake and began to fill their boat with water so that soon it was on the verge of sinking. And he lay on the deck and slept.
They woke him and said, “Teacher! Do you really not care that we are going to perish?”
And when the storm had grown quiet, he said, “How is it that you are so timid? You have no faith in the life of the spirit within you.”
Jesus said to a certain man, “Follow me.” And the man said, “I have an elderly father; allow me first to bury him, then I will follow you.”
And Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury the dead, but you, if you want to be alive, fulfill the father’s will and proclaim it.”
Yet another man said, “I want to be your student and I will fulfill the father’s will, as you command, but let me first arrange matters at home.”
And Jesus said to him, “If a plowman looks backward, then he cannot plow. No matter how much you look backward, you cannot plow while doing so. One must forget about everything, except for the furrow he is digging. Only then can he plow. If you are pondering how it will affect your mortal life, then you haven’t understood the true life and so you cannot live it.”
After this, it happened once that Jesus and his students stopped by a certain village. And a certain woman, Martha, invited him into her home. And Martha had a sister named Mary who sat at Jesus’s feet and listened to his teaching, while Martha was bustling about making sure that there would be good refreshments.
And Martha approached Jesus and said, “Why don’t you do anything about the fact that my sister has left me all alone to do the serving? Tell her to give me some help.”
And in answer, Jesus said, “Martha, Martha, you trouble yourself and are bustling about over many tasks, but there is only one real task required here, and Mary has chosen that required task, one which no one will take from her. Only spiritual food is necessary for life.”
And Jesus said to all, “Whoever wants to follow after me, let him renounce his own will and let him be prepared for all types of deprivations and suffering in the flesh, at every hour; only then can he follow after me. Because whoever wants to trouble themselves over their mortal lives will destroy their true life. And if it happens that someone destroys their mortal life while fulfilling the father’s will, they will preserve their true life. But what benefit is it to a person if they acquire the whole world but destroy or damage their own life?”
And Jesus said, “Beware of wealth because your life does not hinge on whether you may possess more than others.
“There was a rich man and he was blessed with an abundance of grain.
“And he thought to himself, ‘Let me build up the granaries. I will build some big ones and gather all of my wealth there. And I will say to my souclass="underline" There you are, soul, there is plenty—rest, eat, drink and live in pleasure.’
“And God said to him, ‘You fool, tonight your soul will be taken, and all that you have stored up will be left to someone else.’
“It will be the same with everyone who makes preparations for mortal life and does not live within God.”