NOTES for Luk 12:21

What does it mean to "be rich toward God"? We can reflect on the words of the apostle Paul: "To me, the least of all the saints, this grace was given: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Eph 3:8). "The unsearchable riches of Christ." What are they? But they are called unsearchable precisely so that we would not understand this fully, and therefore would not fully understand what it means to be rich toward God.

Our holy teachers say that this means doing works of mercy, giving away one's material possessions and one's labor, and that is understandable and beautiful. But, truly, this is not quite enough. It is possible to fall into such an abyss on this path if you are not now "the one to whom it has been given from above" to do such works. We have all witnessed such sad stories in life. A person appears to have everything: kindness, self-denial, and the desire to give everything away; yet after several years of "holy" life, he falls into the abyss. Why? Because the things we have listed, summing up, let us say, St. Philaret's teaching on the words "be rich toward God," are still not enough. After all, this wealth toward God, wealth for God, wealth of God remains unsearchable. It is deeply symbolic that in our language these words have the same root.

But let us listen to what the apostle says next. "And to bring to light for everyone what is the stewardship of the mystery hidden from eternity in God, who created all things, so that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known through the Church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens, according to the eternal purpose that He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him." (Eph 3:9-12) In fact, here the description of what this wealth is has been revealed in full measure. It is hard to retell, hard to try to convey these words in our own words, to bring them closer and make them more understandable. But the main point appears to be that this "manifold wisdom in the heavens" is acquired, which, as we see it, is this wealth, only through "boldness and faith in Him."