After
a large number of people had gathered around our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Lord spoke these words: "What does it profit a man if he gains the
whole world and loses his own soul?" In addition, He spoke these
words: "What can a man give in exchange for his soul?"
This
means that a man's soul has more value than the whole visible world. And
if a man loses his soul, with what can he make payment, with what can he
buy it back again? With nothing in the world. Not even if he gives the
whole world can he buy his lost soul.
Blessed
is he who knows this, and who guards his soul as his greatest treasure.
Blessed is he who stands guard over his soul every day and does not
permit his soul to suffer harm in any way. For he who saves his soul
will save everything, and he who loses his soul will lose everything.
In
a small town there once lived a very rich man. He lived in a small
dilapidated house. He did not want to renovate his house, but saved and
guarded his wealth.
Now
this one night his house happened to catch fire and burn down. The man,
however, jumped out of bed undressed, searched out his saved-up
treasure, and leapt out of the house. His whole house was reduced to
ashes, but he did not feel sorry about it at all. Rather, with his
wealth he moved to a large city, and in this large city he built a
beautiful palace, and there he continued to live cheerfully and free
from worry.
What
does this story symbolize? The small town represents this world, in
which men live as guests for a short time. The small dilapidated house
represents man's body, the home of man's spirit. The rich man represents
a sensible Christian, who has heard, understood, and laid up in his
heart the words of Christ: "What does it help a man if he gains the
whole world and loses his own soul?"
The
great wealth of the rich man represents the rich soul of a sensible
Christian, who labored for a whole lifetime to live according to the law
of Christ and amass into his soul all those good works which shine more
brightly than gold or silver or precious gems. That spiritual gold and
silver, that great spiritual treasure is: faith and hope in God, love
for God, prayerfulness, mercy, goodness, peace, brotherly love, humility
and purity.
What
does the burning down of the house represent? It represents bodily
death. The unexpected fire in the night represents unexpected bodily
death, of which no mortal knows the day or the hour. The awakening of
the rich man from sleep at the moment of the fire and the moving to the
large city represent the freeing of the soul from the body at the hour
of death and the moving to the other world.
The
large city represents the eternal kingdom of Christ, in which only the
angels and the righteous live. The beautiful palace in the large city
represents the dwelling place of every righteous soul in that world, in
the eternal and everlasting kingdom.
This
story is clear and the moral is beautiful. Whoever has ears to hear, let
him hear. Let no one place his hope in this transitory life, which
passes as quickly as a cloud driven by the wind from Perister to Oblakov.
Let no one take pride in his body, for every human body is a dilapidated
house, which death will soon reduce to ashes.
But
let every Christian man and woman ceaselessly take thought for their
souls, for that unique treasure, which can save them from death and
destruction. Whoever takes
thought for his soul, listens to Christ's words and carries out His holy
commandments--the meek Christ helps such a man and helps him without
ceasing. He watches over him as a mother over a child in a cradle. And
He nourishes him and waters him day and night with His Holy Spirit. And
He gives him a guardian angel to protect him in all the paths of life
and to take away his soul at the hour of death and lead it into the
Heavenly Kingdom.
To our God be glory and praise. Amen.