Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness ( Matthew 6:33 ).
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!
"Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness"—this commandment is given to us by the Divine Teacher, the Lord Jesus Christ, as you heard in the Gospel reading you just read. Seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness should be the fundamental goal of our earthly existence, that is, our entire earthly life. The merciful Lord created the world around us, He created us too, He made us partakers of worldly bliss. He called us from nothingness into existence, He gave us life, which each of us cherishes. But why do we live? Is it merely to worry about what to eat and drink, what to wear? No, not for that.
Don’t worry about this, the Lord tells us in today’s Gospel reading: “Is not the life more than food and the body more than clothing?
Do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?”
For the pagans seek all these things, and for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." With these words, the Lord does not forbid us to labor, for He loves and blesses our labors, for He has commanded: "In the sweat of your brow you shall eat your bread." But our labors, our concerns for physical needs, should not exceed our concerns and labors for the salvation of our souls, for the pursuit of the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. If we must labor in the sweat of our brow for a piece of daily bread, then we must labor no less to attain the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.
We must endure many tribulations to enter the Kingdom of God. But how should we endure them? Here's how. In today's Epistle Reading, Apostle Paul says, "We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces endurance, and endurance, character, and character, hope, and hope does not disappoint…" ( Romans 5:3-5 ).
We should not fear sorrows, not be terrified by them, not be disturbed by them, but, in the words of the Apostle, glory in them—rejoice. And these are not simply the words of the Apostle, spoken on behalf of the other Apostles. No. Such were the holy Apostles in word, and such were they in life. Let the lives of the chief Apostles Peter and Paul, now glorified by the Holy Church, serve as the best proof of this.
Let us recall their earthly life in our memory and draw a lesson for ourselves.
Before his call to apostolic ministry, Apostle Peter was a simple Galilean fisherman. He and his brother Andrew were peacefully working at catching fish. On the shores of Sea of Galilee, they heard a divine voice calling them:
“Follow Me” ( John 1:43 ). And immediately, leaving everything, they followed Christ.
If we follow the Gospel history, we will see that the Apostle Peter was a witness to the most important Gospel events.
The sea is raging. The waves are surging. The wind tosses the boat in which Christ's disciples and apostles are floating. It seems their death amidst the turbulent sea is inevitable. But then, perhaps at the last minute, they see their Divine Teacher walking toward them on the waves. Fear grips them. Their eyes cannot believe that it is He, their Teacher and Lord, coming to save them from drowning. And they cry out in fear. But Jesus... said, "Be of good cheer; it is I..." "Lord! If it is You, bid me come to You on the water," exclaims the Apostle Peter.
"Go," he hears the answer from the most pure lips of the Savior. And Peter, getting out of the boat, walked on the water to come to Jesus, but seeing the strong wind, he became afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Jesus immediately stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" ( Matthew 14:27-31 ).
Apostle Peter, along with other chosen disciples, John and James, was present when the Lord resurrected Jairus's daughter ( Mark 5:22 ; Luke 8:41 ). He, along with the same Apostles, was with the Lord on Mount Tabor during the moments of His glorious Transfiguration.
Throughout His earthly ministry, the Divine Teacher prepared His disciples to meet His coming sufferings on the cross.
Shortly before His Transfiguration, He asked the Apostles, as today's second Gospel reading tells us: "Who do people say that I, the Son of Man, am?" Simon Peter was the first to answer, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Then Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I say to you, You are Peter (the rock), and on this rock (your confession) I will build My Church , and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it" ( Matthew 16:13, 16-18 ).
But now the time of the Savior's suffering on the cross has approached. He celebrates the last Last Supper with His disciples...
The Lord approaches Simon Peter to wash his feet. Simon Peter is perplexed as to how the Lord can wash his feet. "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus meekly replies, "What I am doing you do not know now, but you will understand later." No. Peter cannot reconcile himself to the Lord washing his feet: "You will never wash my feet." Again the quiet voice of the Teacher is heard: "Unless I wash you, you have no part with Me." Love and obedience overcome Peter's perplexity, and He cries out loudly, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head" ( John 13:6-9 ).
In His farewell discourse, Christ said: “Behold, the hour is coming, and now is, that you will be scattered, each to his own side, and will leave Me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. All of you will be offended because of Me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered’” ( John 16:32 ; Matthew 26:31 ). In a burst of love and devotion, Peter exclaims: “Even though I must die with You, I will not deny You. Lord, I am ready to go with You both into prison and to death. I will lay down my life for You” ( Matthew 26:35 ; Luke 22:33 ; John 13:37 ).
So sincerely, so sincerely, so touchingly did the Apostle Peter profess his unwavering fidelity to Him. But, alas! We know what happened to him when Christ, already betrayed into the hands of man, as a sinner, bound and mocked, was in the high priest's courtyard. That same Peter who assured Christ of his readiness to lay down his life for Him, to follow Him into prison and to death—that same Peter who, in the Garden of Gethsemane, raised his sword to defend Christ—here, in the high priest's courtyard, when Christ needed Peter's love, shamefully denied Him three times. With Peter's third denial, the rooster crowed. Then, as the holy Evangelist notes, the Lord turned and looked at Peter. How much love and forgiveness Peter saw in that gaze of his Teacher! This gaze penetrated the most hidden recesses of the rejected disciple's soul... Noticing no one, not feeling the ground beneath him, Peter left the bishop's courtyard and wept bitterly. Peter's repentance was intense and sincere, and the Lord accepted it. "Simon, son of Jonah, love you Me?"—with this threefold question and the response: "Even so, Lord! You know all things; You know that I love You" ( John 21:15-17 )—Peter was restored to his apostolic dignity, and after the call: "Follow Me," he went and never, never again abandoned His Teacher and Lord. And Apostle Peter testified to this devotion to Him, his love and faithfulness, by his martyrdom, being crucified on the cross, and even—at his own request—upside down, for he considered himself unworthy to be crucified as his Divine Teacher was crucified.
The same devotion, love and fidelity to Christ was testified by the holy Apostle Paul through his apostolic works, his whole life and his martyrdom.
The Apostle Paul, or Saul before his conversion to Christ, was a cruel and vicious persecutor of Christians. A strict adherent of the traditions of the Fathers, a Pharisee in doctrine, a disciple of the renowned teacher Gamaliel, and at the same time a man of lofty spiritual qualities, he, in a fit of spiritual blindness, cruelly persecuted Christians. He hated the name of Christ; he persecuted Him, he hated His followers. He often broke into their homes and dragged them to trial and torture. But on his way to Damascus, something happened to him that neither he nor anyone who knew him could have expected. Here in Damascus, by God's grace, he was baptized by the holy Apostle Ananias. Having gained his sight physically and spiritually, he went from being a cruel persecutor of Christ to being His meek disciple... Now he took the Holy Gospel in his hands and carried it into the world, not fearing the powers that be, courageously overcoming all obstacles on this path, neglecting his earthly well-being and life itself.
In his apostolic preaching, Apostle Paul labored more than all the Apostles, as he himself testifies: “By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace that was in me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than all of them” ( 1 Cor. 15:10 ).
Through his preaching, Apostle Paul converted entire nations to Christ, establishing the Church of God and planting the faith. Apostle Paul wrote fourteen apostolic epistles, which are read during the Divine Liturgy.
This preaching was not easy for the Apostle Paul. It was accompanied by many sorrows. By his own admission, he endured troubles in rivers, troubles from robbers, troubles from relatives, troubles from the Gentiles, troubles in cities, troubles in the desert, troubles at sea, troubles among false brethren. "I was in labors far more than the other apostles, in wounds beyond measure, in prisons more often, and often close to death. Five times I received from the Jews forty stripes minus one; three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, and I spent a night and a day in the deep" ( 2 Cor. 11:26, 23-25 ). By such a sorrowful, narrow, and thorny path did the great Apostle Paul seek the Kingdom of God on earth.
And while still in the flesh, I truly found him: “I know a man in Christ…” ( 2 Cor. 12:2-5 ).
The great Paul, with all the height of his apostolic dignity, did not hide his weaknesses, saying: “And lest I exalt myself above all else…”
In the gloomy dungeon of a Roman prison, Apostle Paul spent the last days of his earthly life... On the cold prison floor lay the great toiler of the Gospel. Throughout his arduous life, he had saved nothing for himself. His cloak and the leather books, which his disciple, Saint Timothy, had delivered to the prison at his request, were all he possessed. And now, spending a long time in prison, he covered his already ailing body, exhausted and emaciated, with the cloak, and nourished his soul with the words of this "leather book." "All have forsaken me!" Saint Paul wrote with a heavy heart to his disciple Timothy from a Roman prison. "Only Luke is with me" ( 2 Timothy 4:16, 10 ). Only Saint Luke, author of the Acts of the Apostles and one of the Gospels, shared the days and hours before Paul's death with the Apostle to the Gentiles. The Apostle Luke was both a painter and a physician. As a physician, he perhaps alleviated the physical ailments of his friend and teacher, who was dying in prison. And as a friend, he alleviated his spiritual sorrows, which undoubtedly weighed heavily on the soul of the great Paul, who awaited his sentence. The holy prisoner faced this sentence courageously, with his characteristic calm.
Even before his imprisonment, this tireless preacher of the Gospel truth courageously testified: "I not only desire to be bound for Christ, but also to die for Him" ( 1 Corinthians 9:15 ). Now his wish was fulfilled. As a Roman citizen, the holy Apostle Paul was condemned to beheading. Brought to the place of execution, he courageously looked death in the eye. For the last time, he bowed his aching knees, raised his farewell gaze to Heaven, poured out a dying prayer to God for himself and for the world, and bowed his holy head beneath the sword. One blow of the executioner—and the life of a great man, a great teacher, a great preacher—the great Paul—was extinguished! His arduous, sorrowful life ended, and he peacefully passed into eternity—into the Kingdom of God, which he sought above all else here on earth.
Such was the life of the holy, chief Apostles Peter and Paul, now glorified by the Holy Church. The Church of Christ calls them chief for their preeminent labors in spreading the Christian faith. Centuries have passed since they lived here on earth, but their memory lives on. From the depths of these centuries, they look upon us and call us to follow them, to imitate their faith, love, and devotion to the Lord. "O mighty ones!" let us cry out to our heavenly patrons, the holy Apostles Peter and Paul. "Bear our infirmities. We are weak, we are feeble, we are not capable of the labors you endured while living on earth, for the sake of Christ and His Holy Church." But hear the sighs of your children, help us in our search for the Kingdom of God, so that we may overcome all the difficulties of this search and, having achieved the desired goal, together with you we will be participants in the marriage of the Lamb of God, to whom be honor and worship forever and ever. Amen."
Source: https://azbyka.org/propovedi/propovedi-arximandrita-serafima-tyapochkina.shtml#ch_0_6