Chrysostom
Beloved of All
You speak of your mother and of what words and deeds have caused, and you ask if there is a need for confession. Indeed, let us bring everything into the light of God, for He is the All-seeing, the Almighty, the All-knowing. Why do you transgress the commandment of God by your own reasoning? For God commanded, Honor your father and your mother. This is not a light thing, nor can it be set aside by any gift or excuse. Yet, know this also: the kinship of nature is not the kinship that saves. From one man all have sprung, as the stars of the sky, but not all are children of Abraham in spirit. The Scythian becomes a son of Abraham by faith, while a son of Abraham becomes an alien by unbelief. So it is not confidence in your ancestry or your mother's foundation that grants you a relationship with God. That relationship is of the Spirit, won by a life that glorifies Him.
You feel the weight of things caused in your family. I do not deny that Christ Himself said He came to set a man at variance against his father, and a daughter against her mother. Where the truth of the Gospel enters, even the dearest bonds may be strained. But do not let that be an excuse for failing to honor your mother. Rather, let your own life be ordered aright, that your character may show forth the kinship that endures unto eternity. What is greater than this? That we, being sinners, are cleansed by the blood of the Son of God. He did this by Himself, purging our sins. That is the great foundation of our confidence, not any work of ours or of our ancestors.
You cry out for correction and for an eternal connection with Jesus Christ, God, the Holy Spirit, and the angels. This is the very thing that the Son of God came to accomplish. He who was the true Son, heir of all things, suffered to be called the Son of David, so that you, a slave to sin, might become a son of God. Do you see the majesty of this exchange? He took on a slave's father, that He might make the Lord a Father to you. Now, if you wish to be a child of God, imitate His perfection. Be free from the passions that tear families apart. Show gentleness to those who have wronged you, for your heavenly Father makes His sun to rise on the evil and the good. This is the true confession, not only of the lips but of the life, that you are His.
Do not fix your eyes only on the earthly mother who bore you, though you must honor her. Look to the common mother of us all, the earth, from which we came, and see that we are all kin. But the only kinship worthy of honor is that of the same character. So Timothy was Paul's true son, though not by blood, because he displayed the same zeal. Let your "uskoutuminen", your opening up, be this: confess your sins to God, and then show the fruits of kinship with Christ by a heedful way of life. For the blood of the Lord is far greater than all the gifts of grace. Even now He intercedes for you, as if He had not yet suffered all there is to suffer for His body's sake.
Therefore, cease from vain confidence in human lineage, and cling to the kinship of the Spirit. Glorify God in all things, and you shall find the correction you seek. The relationship with God, to God, from God, is given in Jesus Christ. He is the way. Honor your mother, but love Christ above all. Then shall you be truly gathered into that eternal household where He is a Son over His own house, and you a partaker of that house through faith.
You feel the weight of things caused in your family. I do not deny that Christ Himself said He came to set a man at variance against his father, and a daughter against her mother. Where the truth of the Gospel enters, even the dearest bonds may be strained. But do not let that be an excuse for failing to honor your mother. Rather, let your own life be ordered aright, that your character may show forth the kinship that endures unto eternity. What is greater than this? That we, being sinners, are cleansed by the blood of the Son of God. He did this by Himself, purging our sins. That is the great foundation of our confidence, not any work of ours or of our ancestors.
You cry out for correction and for an eternal connection with Jesus Christ, God, the Holy Spirit, and the angels. This is the very thing that the Son of God came to accomplish. He who was the true Son, heir of all things, suffered to be called the Son of David, so that you, a slave to sin, might become a son of God. Do you see the majesty of this exchange? He took on a slave's father, that He might make the Lord a Father to you. Now, if you wish to be a child of God, imitate His perfection. Be free from the passions that tear families apart. Show gentleness to those who have wronged you, for your heavenly Father makes His sun to rise on the evil and the good. This is the true confession, not only of the lips but of the life, that you are His.
Do not fix your eyes only on the earthly mother who bore you, though you must honor her. Look to the common mother of us all, the earth, from which we came, and see that we are all kin. But the only kinship worthy of honor is that of the same character. So Timothy was Paul's true son, though not by blood, because he displayed the same zeal. Let your "uskoutuminen", your opening up, be this: confess your sins to God, and then show the fruits of kinship with Christ by a heedful way of life. For the blood of the Lord is far greater than all the gifts of grace. Even now He intercedes for you, as if He had not yet suffered all there is to suffer for His body's sake.
Therefore, cease from vain confidence in human lineage, and cling to the kinship of the Spirit. Glorify God in all things, and you shall find the correction you seek. The relationship with God, to God, from God, is given in Jesus Christ. He is the way. Honor your mother, but love Christ above all. Then shall you be truly gathered into that eternal household where He is a Son over His own house, and you a partaker of that house through faith.
