Homily on the Day of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke
It The holy apostle Paul bequeathed to all of us: Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. And if we are to imitate him, then, of course, we must also imitate all the apostles, for they all walked the same path of Christ.
And I have the good fortune to bear the name of the great apostle and evangelist Luke. Therefore, shouldn’t I first of all emulate him in his great labors? In what way can I emulate him? In what way do I in fact emulate him? In what way do I not emulate him; how am I guilty before him?
Apostle Luke was the traveling companion of the apostle Paul for many years. They walked together throughout Asia Minor, covering many kilometers. Why? In order to preach Christ anywhere and everywhere, convert the pagans and unbelieving Jews to Christianity, to establish the Church of Christ everywhere, to appoint bishops, and order dioceses.
This was the apostle’s main work after his greatest work—the writing of the Holy Gospel. Of course, I cannot emulate him in the writing of the Gospel. But can I emulate him in preaching? Yes, yes! I can and must, and I consider it my main episcopal duty to preach Christ anywhere and everywhere.
The Lord God said to the prophet Ezekiel: Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me (Ez. 3:17).
He placed the prophet as the watchman over the entire house of Israel. I am also placed as a watchman—the watchman over the Crimean Church, for the apostolic duty lies with me for all the residents of the Crimea. I must preach the Gospel anywhere and everywhere.
In Simferopol, I do this according to my strength and even beyond my strength. I have preached very much to you. But how have people heard my sermons? Ought I not also apply to myself those other terrible words of God addressed to the prophet Ezekiel: When I say to the wicked, “Thou shalt surely die,” and thou dost not admonish him, nor speak to turn the wicked from his wicked way, that he may live; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity. And I will require his blood at thine hand.
Won’t the Lord say this to me, and reproach me for those to whom I have not preached, who did not and do not hear my sermons? Do you see how terrifying this is, what a heavy responsibility lies upon me?
But if thou hast admonished the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, then shall he die in his iniquity; but thou shalt have delivered thy own soul.
This is my comfort, this is the boundary of my tears: The Lord will not hold me responsible for those who did not listen and do not want to do what I say—and continued in their iniquity.
And I am not guilty for this, for I warned the iniquitous; and if they did not listen to me then they will answer for themselves. But I saved my soul.
But is that such a great consolation to me? Can I be at peace as I strive to emulate the great evangelist Luke? No, there is little peace in my soul, for I see and I know that out of all the citizens of Simferopol, where I preach the most, only a few hear me, while all the rest have nothing to do with me and do not want to listen to me.
And I pour out many bitter tears for the perishing, but I can do nothing. All of you, both near and far, must remember Christ’s words, which you heard today in the Gospel: He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me (Luke 10:16).
Are these not terrible words? Don’t they obligate all of you to listen to me—and not only to me, but also to all those whom God has placed as pastors over you, to hear and fulfil what they teach you?
Why is it necessary, imperative to listen to us? Because we are not preaching our own teachings, but we preach the Law of Christ. And if you reject us, you reject Christ Himself. And in rejecting Him, you reject His Father Who sent Him.
Remember these terrible words: God will reject those who reject us.
Besides all else, as I said to you, the great work of the holy Apostle was the establishment and frequent visitation of the Churches. I too must emulate him in this.
He, the blessed one, traveled on foot, even barefoot, over thousands of kilometers.
But I, the wretch, travel by automobile and am lazy about travelling; and I rarely visit the towns and villages of my diocese, for I don’t find the time and strength, and external circumstances don’t favor it. And the Lord will hold me accountable for this. But the circumstances of my activity are not what they were during apostolic times, and I can only in small measure preach outside the boundaries of Simferopol.
There is, however, consolation in what I see and know—that our churches are being filled, that the little flock of Christ is growing.
I know that by my preaching I have converted to the way of Christ no few people who were weak in the faith. For this little bit at least, Christ will reward me.
How I wish that our churches would be filled more and more; how I would wish to hear that more and more people have turned to Christ from my preaching!
On my name day, people wish me health and many year—but that is not what you should wish. What “many years,” if I am living my seventy-sixth year in this world!
You need only wish that the Lord would grant me to see the fruits of my preaching; to see people’s conversion to Christ; to see that that not in vain did I abandon everything in order to lead you to Christ.
Wish also that the Lord would preserve my fading vision. Pray for this; for the prayer of the Church is powerful before God.
Great and powerful before Him also is the prayer of the great God-pleaser, apostle and evangelist Luke, to whom we call out for help and intercession in our prayerful hymns to him.
Amen.
St. Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky), Archbishop of Crimea
Translation by Nun Cornelia (Rees)
Source:
https://orthochristian.com/173648.html
10/31/2025
