The power of Christ’s disciples’ sermon was present in their very lives, stated His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry, Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, in his sermon during the Divine Liturgy at the Synaxis of the Holy Apostles Church in Kiev on July 13, 2020, reports Information and Education Department of the UOC.
“The holy apostles taught people the secrets of eternal life, the secrets of salvation. They were not only teachers of the word, but they lived by these laws. Their word was strong, because not only did it come from their mouth, it came from their complete nature. Their heart spoke, and their body acted. That is, they practiced what they preached,” said His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry.
Only the word that a person himself fulfills has great power. If you say one thing and do another, then such a word is “as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal” (1 Cor. 13: 1), the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church emphasized.
“Each person must be, in a sense, an apostle. We cannot all walk and preach with words, like the apostles, but we must preach with our lives,” His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry continued.
The archpastor explained that in order to preach with life people should live according to the commandments of Christ.
“The Lord, having come to earth, announced these commandments to the world, and the apostles once again reminded people of them. There are commandments about love, patience, mercy, fasting, prayer, and repentance. Blessed is the man who forces himself to live according to the commandments of God. Maybe today it is considered not popular. Some people may laugh and mock it, but we should not look at what other people say about it. The sensible person will not laugh and mock. And if a person has darkened his mind with his sins and vices, then we should not be guided by him, be afraid of him or feel ashamed. We should live peacefully, loving God and our neighbor,” His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry concluded.
