I Have Not Come To Bring Peace, But A Sword - Archbishop Averky of Jordanville

Archbishop Averky speaks to our times in the context of a frequently neglected saying of Christ. His peace is not the peace of the world, His truth both unites and divides. As he said to His disciples after his tough sayings led many to leave Him: “Do you also want to go away?” Let us respond like the Apostle Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

Archbishop Averky: “All of these frequent, unnaturally flowery speeches, and until now, hysterical cries about peace for the world are for the most part from people who are either far from true Christianity or openly hostile towards the Church. These speeches come from people who themselves do not live in peace with God and their consciences. Their relations with their neighbors are filled with malice. Can we believe the sincerity of the words pronounced by people who reject faith in God and love for their neighbor, and do not recognize the voice of conscience? Can we believe that those who audaciously and arrogantly blaspheme, declaring war on God Himself and His Holy Church, are truly striving for peace? These are the same people who not long ago did not conceal the fact that their plan was "to kindle a worldwide fire" [Communism], and who openly preached "class hatred" as the basis for their ideology. They are not at all troubled over shedding rivers of blood and exterminating millions of people simply on the suspicion that they may not be in agreement with their ideology. Can we truly believe the sincerity of peace lovers who speak sweetly of "Christian love" and "universal forgiveness," yet at the same time sow conflict and dissension, spreading lies and slander which incite enmity and division, setting people against one another.”

“Surely one understands that when our Lord Jesus Christ said, Resist not evil (Matt. 5:39) he was only replacing the previous Old Testament law of personal revenge, forbidding us to take revenge on those Who personally offend us. There is no way that one should understand this saying to refer to no resistance to evil in general, as Leo Tolstoy and his followers understood it. On the contrary, our Lord taught very clearly that His true followers must be completely uncompromising towards evil, even in those most difficult circumstances which involve our conscience, in those circumstances where evil becomes incarnate in people close and dear to us. Let us recall for example the following words of our Savior which so disturb those who view Christian love as something sweet, sentimental, nice: If any man come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple (Luke 14:26).”

This text is from “The Modern World in the Light of the Word of God, vol. I, 1951-1960,” pp. 404-409.   This channel is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ!