The Lord's Place in Your Life — H.E. Metropolitan Arsenius of Minya

A sermon of His Eminence Metropolitan Arsenius of Minya and Abu Qurqas, delivered at a general meeting on July 4, 2014.

In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit — One God. Amen. 

Today, by the grace of Christ, we will approach a subject that is very important in the life of every person. And if we place our Lord first in our hearts always, we will find comfort. But if every person feels within himself that he has his place, position, and circumstance, a time will come when he will have difficulty, and at the end, he will not be able to reach the goal he desires to reach. 

So we must put our Lord first always, as He Himself said: “I am the first and the last,” in Isaiah 44:6. The Lord also said these very words in Revelation 1:8 and 17: “I am the first and the last. The Alpha and the Omega. The beginning and the end.” And yet again He repeated it in Revelation 21:6 and 22:13. 

He is not [the first] temporally, but He is before all ages; He is the first, and He is the beginning, and He is the Alpha, meaning the eternal and not the temporal. 

In the birth of the Lord Christ, He was the first, the firstborn, and only-begotten, as was mentioned in Luke 2:7, and Paul called him the firstborn: “He [is] the firstborn among many brethren” [Romans 8:29].

And in His Resurrection, He was the first, “the firstborn from the dead,” as is found in Colossians 1:18. He is the beginning, He is the first-fruits [] of those who have slept. He is the first to rise a resurrection in His glory — there is no death after this resurrection.

As God was the first, He was concerned for the first things, and requested them. For this reason, he set for us a law, the Law of the Firstborn, in its offering and blessing. He said: “Consecrate to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb…it is Mine” as is found in Exodus [13:2]. “Sanctify for Me all the first-fruits, whatever opens the womb…it is Mine.”

He also sought the firstborn of the cattle and sheep, as is found in Exodus 13:12 and 15, and also the first-fruits of the crops and fruits. And the first sheaf of the harvest was offered to God, and in addition, the first fruits of the year were offered to the Lord. But even the first-fruits of the shearing also, “when you shear the wool of the flock,” and so on with all the first-fruits. 

God does not seek the firstborn only, but he blessed them as well. Everything for him is blessed, because he is holy. This is why He said: “Consecrate to me all the firstborn.” God would bless the firstborn — to him is the blessing and to him is the [preeminence] and to him is the portion of two of his siblings, and to him is the leadership of the family after his father, and to him is the priesthood also before the system of the Aaronic priesthood. 

The feeling of every person offering the first-fruits was that God is the first — all the good things on earth, the yield of the sheep and the cattle. The first-fruit, all of it, is for God. It is not for him. He was happy that God is the first to receive these things.

For this reason, if we consider the first commandment, we find that it is for the Lord. And not only the first commandment, but all of the commandments on the first tablet were regarding the Lord. As for the laws of the second tablet, they were concerned with human affairs, for God is first. 

Thus, love is directed to God first, then to the people afterwards. The first and most important commandment is this: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment,” as is mentioned [also] in the Gospel of Matthew 10:37.[1] “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” This was the first commandment. 

Even the self should not be first, but God must be first. This is why it is said that for the sake of God, you should deny your own self and follow Him. And more than this, He said: “whoever saves his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it” [Matthew 16:25]. I wish that all of us, my beloved ones, would memorize this verse: “Whoever saves his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it.” 

Even in the days, the New Testament blessed the beginning of the week. In the Old Testament, it was the day of the Sabbath — that was the last day — on which man would rest after all his efforts throughout the week, as God rested on the seventh day after he had finished His creative work. As for the New Testament, my beloved, God blessed the beginning of the week, which is the day of Sunday, because He rose at dawn of the beginning of the first week, as our teacher, Matthew the Evangelist, mentioned in chapter 28, verse 1, and this became a symbol for the first new covenant between God and the people. This became a symbol for the first new covenant between God and the people.

Perhaps one of the beautiful symbols in the blessing of the first-fruits — there are two stories. One is the story of the healing of the sick man who was paralyzed for 38 years, awaiting the one who would cast him into the water of the Pool of Bethesda — healing was the lot of the first person who would be cast into the water after its moving. 

Likewise we find another concern as to the first-fruits in the story of the crossing of the Red Sea, where the Lord said: “This month will be to you the beginning of the months. It will be for you the first of the months” [Exodus 12:2]. “It will be the first month for you.” It will be the first month of the year, because it was the month in which they crossed the Red Sea — they crossed from slavery to freedom in which they would live under the leadership of God. 

After all this discussion about the importance of the beginning, I wish to ask: is God first in your life? You also, ask yourself this question: is God first in your life? 

In order to understand this question, let us place before us the story of our father Abraham, who was granted by God a son in his old age, and when he rejoiced in him, He said to him: “Take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and offer him to me as a burnt offering” [See Genesis 22:2]. What a wonder! When will each one put in his heart that God must be the first in our lives? 

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What did our father Abraham do? He did not think at all, but he placed God first, and his own feelings, as a father to Isaac, last. So also were the feelings of Sarah, the mother of the child — God is the first, we love and obey Him, and then the love of Isaac comes after this. No one comes before God whatsoever. God desires him to be a burnt offering. So, let the command of God be fulfilled, and let us fulfill it speedily for Him and with acceptance from within the heart.

Another story, my beloved ones, is the story of Hannah, the mother of Samuel, who was granted him after her judgment of many years and after prayers and weeping. But she placed God first and offered this child, Samuel, to the service of the Lord in the Temple. This is a lesson for every mother who is stingy with God in offering her son to serve Him, whether he is sought by God for monasticism or for the priesthood. God is first, and the feelings of motherhood are second or third. But it is obligatory to offer this son in joy. And this is also a lesson for every wife whose husband is sought for the priesthood. It is not right for her to say that the service will distract him from me and the house. But she ought to offer him to the Lord and say “God first.” 

I wish, my beloved, that each one of you would place this principle before himself, in his life and in his relationship with God: God first. 

It is obligatory to place God first in obedience, and to say with the apostle: “We ought to obey God rather than men” [Acts 5:29]. “We ought to obey God rather than men.” The commandments of God are first, and after that whatever the people desire, and after that all of our longings and all of our special requests.  

All of our obedience to the people should be within our obedience to God. We should all remember this principle. All of our obedience to the people should be within our obedience to God. But if it is opposed to it, God should be obeyed first. 

And in making God first, we make the self last. Look, for example, at the story of John the Baptist, who, when the Lord Christ appeared, John gave up all of his services and his glory and his preaching, and his disciples as well, and presented the bride to the groom, and stood far away rejoicing as a friend of the groom, saying: “He must increase and I must decrease” [John 3:30]. Let us all remember this principle: “He must increase, and I must decrease.” And he said: “He who comes after me…for He was before me,” and “I am not worthy to stoop down and loose the strap of His sandal” [See Mark 1:7; John 1:27]. See, my beloved ones, this great humility: “I am not worthy to stoop down and loose the strap of His sandal.”

So also is each of us when he places God before himself in all things. 

In rest, for example, do not prefer your bodily rest to your spiritual work with God, whether in prayer or in service. Do not surrender to sleep or carelessness, but you should sacrifice your comfort for the sake of God. 

Likewise, in fasting, do not say: “my health cannot tolerate [it].” Do not say: “I need proteins and primary amino acids.” But say: “God first.” 

Likewise, my beloved ones, let God be first in the subject of giving and the subject of tithing.

Do not care about all of your agreements with others and place God last in priority, [so that] if there is anything left for Him, so be it, and if nothing is left, we apologize or neglect what is rightfully His, for God is not the first. 

Let God be first in every deed, and first in every day — the first person you speak to every day is God, and in every deed you do, place God first. Pray within yourself, in your comings in and goings out, and in your eating and drinking and work, speak to God first. Let the first person you speak to every day be God. In every deed you do, place God first, and pray in your comings in and goings out, and in your eating and drinking and work, speak to God first. 

If you place God in the first place, you will not sin against the Lord. This is because you [thereby] place Him above your worldly desires and above every earthly pleasure, and God will be before you at all times and the whole world behind you. My beloved, man sins because he does not place God before him, and does not remember Him before every fall, and does not consider His feelings. 

Place God first with respect to time, and with respect to importance, and with respect to desires, and with respect to love, and with respect to longings, and with respect to obedience also, let God in all things be first. 

When the Lord says “My son, give me your heart” [Proverbs 23:26], He means to have this priority in your life and in your feelings and in your concerns, so that even if another thing contradicts Him, you say within yourself: “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?” [Mark 8:36]. What is the loss of one’s soul but its deprivation of God? 

At the beginning of the new year, I do not wish to place before you many pieces of advice, but it is one piece of advice which I say to you, and it is: place God first in everything. Place God first in everything. And if you accomplish this, you will accomplish everything. 

Beware lest you forget God or place Him at the end of everything. Do not live your life independent of God or estranged from Him, and do not forget God in any work, but remember Him before every work. 

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May our Lord bless our lives and strengthen us and confirm us in Himself and grant us all to truly recognize this grave responsibility, that God must be first in the life of every person, and after [Him] the other cares with which all people are concerned. 

To our God is due all glory and honor, from now and forever. Amen. 

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[1] “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:37).

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To hear the sermon by His Eminence in its original Arabic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQdVDXYbQ8w

His Eminence Metropolitan Arsenius of Minya and Abu Qurqas was born on August 21, 1928. He obtained a bachelor's degree in Engineering in 1951 and completed his theological studies at the Clerical College in 1954, before entering the monastic life on April 14, 1958 at Deir al-Souryan (the Syrian Monastery), where he received the name Fr. Daniel. He spent approximately 15 years serving in Minya, Egypt, where he established pastoral and educational services and used his training and background in Engineering to build 12 churches in the region, participating in their construction personally. On June 13, 1976, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III ordained Fr. Daniel as Bishop Arsenius to oversee the diocese of Minya and Abu Qurqas; he would later receive the rank of Metropolitan on November 14, 2006. His Eminence authored a number of books in Arabic and was involved in the Holy Synod's Faith and Teaching Committee, Rites Committee, and Monasticism and Monasteries Committee. Metropolitan Arsenius was characterized by a remarkable spirituality, concern for the poor, and deep love for the Church's hymnology and liturgical prayers. On August 11, 2018, His Eminence departed after a long struggle with illness, and was succeeded by his faithful disciple, His Grace Bishop Macarius.

Cover Image: Metropolitan Arsenius (left) celebrating the Divine Liturgy with Metropolitan Kyrillos of Milan (right).