Preacher of the Word of God

St John Chrysostom, Preacher of the Word of God

Introduction

Your Excellencies, Fathers, brothers and sisters in Christ,

Tonight as we recall the sixteen hundredth anniversary of the death of St John Chrysostom, he speaks to us from such a different time for the Church and such a different social and political climate to our experience of being Christian here in Australia in the year of our Lord, 2007: what can he say to us?

I would like to consider the spirituality of St John Chrysostom from the aspect of his defining gift, that of being a preacher of the Word of God.

Background

We have already heard much of the life of St John of Antioch, but relevant to my considerations is the fact that he was ordained lector in the Church in Antioch in 371 by Bishop Miletius who had drawn him into the Christian faith.

St John had previously studied rhetoric under Libanius, a great orator of the day. Libanius was a man imbued with the paganism of Rome (which was now in decline) and was grounded in classical Greek scholarship.

It was the character of Miletius that attracted John to the Christian faith. He was baptised in 368. From 367 to 372 he studied in the Asceterium, a kind of seminary, where he and other young men were exposed to the Scriptural exegete, Diodorus of Tarsus, who taught the historico-literal approach to exegesis which had been developed in the Church in Antioch.

There began a lifelong engagement with the Word of God for St John Chrysostom.

1 As was so often the case in the Church of the day, St John, like many young Christian men inspired by the Christian faith, was drawn to the monastic life and he entered a monastery on nearby Mount Sipius where he engaged in a life of prayer and manual labour and, importantly, an ongoing study of the Sacred Scriptures, particularly the Gospels and St Paul’s letters.

Four years of conventual life was followed by two years as a hermit living in a cave near Antioch, under the direction of an elder. It was the breakdown in his health, caused by excessive watches and fasts in the frost and cold, which required him to return to Antioch. There he resumed his life in the Church and discovered his true vocation.

Vocation to Preaching

His calling, as he realised at this time and would later testify1, was not to be the monk but to devote his life to pastoral service to the people. He realised that his calling was, above all, to preach. Speaking of the role of the priest as preacher he later said,

It is necessary for the teacher to sow every day (so to speak), in order that by its frequency at least, the word of doctrine may be able to be grasped by those who hear2.

Preaching became his life’s work. During his years at Antioch firstly as lector, then later as deacon and finally as priest, he would have preached at least weekly, but also often during the week particularly on feast days. During the Lenten season he would have preached daily. The majority of his preaching material that comes down to us – some 700 texts – is from his eleven years of pastoral ministry in Antioch.

St John Chrysostom had great preaching skills, but he was deeply aware that his task was not to entertain but to be a servant of the Gospel.

In his great tract, On the Priesthood, in his artifice of a conversation with his friend, Basil, John reflects on the challenge faced by a preacher in his day:

1 On the Priesthood, 6,7 2 On the Priesthood, 6, 4

2 For to begin with, the majority of those who are under the preachers' charge are not minded to behave towards them as towards teachers, but disdaining the part of learners, they assume instead the attitude of those who sit and look on at the public games; and just as the multitude there is separated into parties, and some attach themselves to one, and some to another, so here also men are divided, and become the partisans now of this teacher, now of that, listening to them with a view to favour or spite.3

Preaching was an art form and people would come to listen to a preacher. However it was not for spiritual edification, but for entertainment. Listening to preachers was a popular pastime. A good preacher would be seen as an alternative to the theatre.

This created real challenges for the preacher. As St John said,

if on the other hand he is successful as a preacher, and is overcome by the thought of applause, harm is equally done in turn, both to himself and the multitude, because in his desire for praise he is careful to speak rather with a view to please than to profit4.

But St John Chrysostom was not one seeking popular acclaim at the cost of the message. His concern was the Christian growth of his hearers. He would seek to expound sacred doctrine given in the Scriptures and give application to everyday life. He would appeal to common sense and to the simple application of reason to urge his hearers to conform their lives more to Christian teaching.

He attracted large crowds. He could hold them spellbound. He liked to get close to his congregation and sometimes would set up a special chair or lectern closer to them. It was not beyond the people to break into loud applause, but he would rebuke them:

You praise what I have said and receive my exhortation with tumults of applause; but show your approbation by obedience; that is the only praise I seek5

3 On the Priesthood, 5, 1 4 On the Priesthood, 5, 2 5 On the Priesthood

3 Preaching the Word of God

What was the import of the preaching of John, the golden mouthed one? The liturgy was the setting of much of his preaching. When one looks at his output it is evident that he provided a continuous exegesis of Scriptural texts. There were, for instance, sixty seven homilies on the Book of Genesis and fifty nine homilies on the psalms. Ninety homilies were given on St Matthew and eighty eight homilies on St John.

He loved the writings of St Paul. “I like all the saints, he said, “but St Paul the most of all – that vessel of election, the trumpet of heaven”.6 He gave homilies on all the epistles of St Paul.

St John Chrysostom approached the Scriptures and responded to them in their immediate and obvious grammatical and historical sense. He immersed himself in the world and mind of the sacred author.

He sought to give direct application of the Word to the reality of the life of his hearers. He was able to engage with his hearers. He was intent on calling them forth into a stronger Christian life. His language was plain and simple. He was not given to theological or spiritual speculation, but to offer something with real application to the lives of his hearers.

John would expound on the passage of Scripture and explore its application. Then he would exhort his hearers to take the message to heart and apply it in their lives.

In preaching on the taking on oaths from St Matthew’s Gospel he gives an exhortation as he concludes his homily,

In order therefore that you may not destroy both us and your own selves with us, be persuaded, I entreat you; set very many to watch over you, and call you to account, and so free yourselves from the habit of oaths; that going on orderly from thence, you may both with all facility succeed in attaining unto all other virtue, and may enjoy the good things to come; which God grant that we may all win, by the grace and love towards man of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and might now and always, for ever and ever. Amen.7

6 Quoted in “The Archetypal Image: John Chrysostom's Portraits of Paul,” by Margaret M. Mitchell, The Journal of Religion, Vol. 75, No. 1 (Jan., 1995). 7 On Matthew sermon 17

4 As a preacher he was able to engage with his hearers. He was not distant or aloof. He was intent on communication with them and to engage them with his message.

One evening when it was getting dark the congregation was distracted by the sacristan lighting the lamps in the church so John quickly rebuked them for not paying attention to the more salutary light he was enkindling from the Word of God8!

His intent was on encouraging conversion in the hearts and lives of his hearers. This was no easy matter. Fallen human nature so often triumphed over higher spiritual and moral ideals.

Once speaking about the evils of horse racing, he commented,

My sermons are applauded merely from custom, then everyone runs off to [horse racing] again and give much more applause to the jockeys, showing indeed unrestrained passion for them.

St John Chrysostom persisted to the end. He would experience exile and much personal suffering because of his fearless preaching of the truth even when it stirred anger from the highest in the land.

St John for Today

What does St John Chrysostom say to us today?

He reminds us of the fact that preaching is the first duty of the clergy. It must be for a deacon, priest or bishop his life’s work.

Secondly, St John can remind us that the sacred text provides all the material we need for our preaching. The exposition of the Scriptures and the application of the Word of God to the concrete reality of the daily life of the hearer is the task of the preacher.

Thirdly, St John reminds us to be fearless in our exposition of the “Law of Christ”. We should not seek popularity by blunting the sharp edge of the Word.

St John, the Golden Mouthed, intercede for us that we may be faithful ministers of the Gospel in our time.

8 On Genesis 4, 3

5 Bishop Julian Porteous Wednesday, 17 October 2007