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The Epistle reading on the 7th Sunday after Pentecost is an exhortation from Saint Paul to the Romans in the 15th chapter of his epistle, verses 1–7. It is an exhortation addressed to the strong, but it also applies to us. “We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves.” This is the criterion of a Christian. Certainly, we are weak, especially in comparison to the saints. But we are strong compared to those who come after us, those younger—just as, naturally, parents, even if weak, are strong in comparison to their children. It is a duty of Christians to bear the weaknesses of the helpless, and not seek our own pleasure. This is a basic rule, to not seek your own interest. “Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written: ‘The reproaches of those who reproached You have fallen on Me.’”

We are presented with an “unpleasant” portrait of the Christian: in the sense that personal pleasure is removed from that portrait. Personal satisfaction does not appear in the portrait of a Christian or in his or her conscious goals. But this does not mean joy disappears from the life of a Christian! In our faith, in Christianity, it is our part to go down, and God’s part to lift us up. It is our part to humble ourselves, and God’s part to honor us: just as He did with the saints. Abba Pambo prayed for many years that God would not honor him on earth. And yet God gave him such glory that his face shone like Moses’ when he prayed. A Christian must not seek his own pleasure. The word comfort also appears, but it appears later, and we do not classify it in the sense of personal pleasure. Pleasure is one thing, and the comfort that comes from God is another. Therefore, we have a portrait that is not exactly pleasing. But this is the Christian, one who removes himself from the equation and puts the other and God in his place.

“For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” These two terms appear, “patience” and “comfort,” which Saint Paul says come from Scripture. In the following verse, he emphasizes this further: “Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Jesus Christ.” We see how he names God: “the God of patience and comfort.” This shows how important these two are: patience and comfort! And he says this to balance what he said in the first part, where we are called to sacrifice ourselves for the good of our neighbor, following the model of Christ.

The epistle concludes with this: “Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.” So, this mutual receiving of one another is to be done after the model of Christ. In order to receive us, Christ endures all our shortcomings, our weaknesses, our whims, our unpleasant odor, everything that is ours. And still, He receives us. That is why Saint Paul urges us to receive one another just as Christ received us. Christ does not say, “Sinner, what are you doing here?”

This is the Christian. That is why Saint Paul says, “we then who are strong.” It is a call to maturity, to understanding that this is “solid food” (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:2; Hebrews 5:12). When we receive milk, abundant grace, and the embrace of a mother, it is a stage. But it is one that must be surpassed. And, to balance this “solid food,” the epistle speaks of the “God of patience and comfort.” Saint Paul tells us that through patience we will encounter the comfort of God, which is better than anything.

Therefore, by letting go of our own pleasure, we encounter the incorruptible comfort of God. God’s comfort is not like these worldly, corruptible pleasures. He does His work (as the Comforter), but we must also do ours (not to seek our own pleasure).

When Saint Paul called Him the “God of patience and comfort,” he made a statement that we must continually put into practice. As Father Zacharias Zacharou used to say, “our faith is an experimental one.” That means we must carry out experiments in our lives and prove true the things the Lord said in the Gospel. So, when Saint Paul says “the God of patience and comfort,” he is stating a law and we must see whether it applies in our lives. Do we feel God’s comfort? Have we been strengthened by His patience? Have we “accessed” God in this way? This is what we must make tangible and visible in our lives: to taste the comfort of God and to be strengthened by the patience that comes from Him.

If I don’t believe that God is the God of comfort, I will be left wounded. Because then there will be no one to heal the wounds caused by the enemy, the devil, or by people, or the evil one working through people. If I don’t believe that God is the “God of patience and comfort,” it is a serious matter for my Christian identity. I will not be able to recover. If I don’t believe that the Lord can raise me from any death, that He can heal any wound, I cannot move forward on the path of salvation. As the Fathers said: “Whoever has learned to pray never rises from prayer without comfort.”

We must experience the God of comfort in our own lives. “Do you believe that I am the God of comfort?” “According to your faith, let it be to you.” Then we will see how we rise from prayer, or how we leave the Liturgy… But the level of faith asked of us is not trivial, just how the victories of God, the way He works, are not according to our expectations. He always surprises us—therefore strong faith is needed. Having gained trust in His goodness at certain points in our lives, we will trust Him even in the less pleasant moments, when we are in distress. In a way, this is the test of faith. I prove my faith in unpleasant things, not in pleasant or easy ones. Everyone is faithful to God “at the poolside,” but here, “in the trenches,” with a pickaxe in hand and slaps across the face—this is when we’ll see whether I still believe that God is the God of comfort…

Our God is the “God of patience and comfort,” and He can bring us out of any death. We just need to believe. And He will show us who He really is.