Chrysostom

Just before the beginning of Lent, 387, word reached the city of Antioch of a new tax the emperor was exacting on the empire. The citizens of Antioch began to riot, and in the heat of the moment, toppled two statues of the emperor and his wife. This was considered seditious behavior, punishable by whatever the emperor deemed necessary to maintain order and submission (my, how far we have come, politically, eh?)

The city was in shock as the magnitude of the actions began to sink in. Here's how John Chrysostom, pastor of the oldest church in Antioch, began his morning message:

What shall I say, or what shall I speak of? The present season is one for tears, and not for words; for lamentation, not for discourse; for prayer, not for preaching. Such is the magnitude of the deeds daringly done; so incurable is the wound, so deep the blow, even beyond the power of all treatment, and craving assistance from above.

I also like this line:

The Church is not a theatre, that we should listen for amusement.

That's all for today. I'm only 1/3 of the way through the sermon.

More Johnny Chrysostom

From Homily #1, Concerning the Statues:

Listen to this simile:

Just as in the contests of the outer world, the combatants that are vigorous, and in high condition of body, are not so well discerned, when they are enwrapt all around with the garment soaked in oil; but when casting this aside, they are brought forward unclothed into the arena; then above all they strike the
spectators on every side with astonishment at the proportion of their limbs,
there being no longer anything to conceal them; so also was it with Job. When he
was enveloped in all that wealth, it was not visible to the many, what a man he
was. But when, like the wrestler, that strips off his garment, he threw it
aside, and came naked to the conflicts of piety, thus unclothed, he astonished
all who saw him; so that the very theatre of angels shouted at beholding his
fortitude of soul, and applauded him as he won his crown!

Wow. What an amazing metaphor! To think of Job as a wrestler whose body is revealed as he strips off the outer garment of wealth...how vivid, how memorable.

I just like this quote:

Let us not then call Him to account for what He does; but let us give Him glory in all things. For it is not lightly and to no purpose that He often permits such events [as afflictions in the lives of the righteous].

Eight Reasons for Afflictions in the Lives of the Saints

In his first "Homily on the Statues," John Chrysostom preached on Paul's instruction to Timothy, "Drink a little wine for thy stomach's sake, and thy often infirmities." One of the issues he felt necessary to address was this: why would God let Timothy have such "infirmities" at all? So he answers this question with "eight reasons for afflictions."

A historical note: this sermon, preached to the people of Antioch, preceded the catastrophic riots in the city which resulted in the destruction of the statues of the emperor and his wife, which destruction was viewed in that day as tantamount to treason and punishable against the city by summary executions. This sermon was preached in the lull before that storm, in which the fate of the city lay in the hands of the emperor, Theodosius I (the Great). The date was Sunday, 21 of February, A.D. 387.

Here are his "Eight Reasons" why God permits afflictions in the lives of the saints:

1. "...that they may not too easily be exalted into presumption..." i.e., to humble them.

2. "...that others may not have a greater opinion of them than belongs to human nature, and take them to be gods and not men."

3. "...that the power of God may be made manifest..."

4. "...that the endurance of these themselves may become more striking, serving God, as they do, not for a reward; but showing even such right-mindedness as to give proof of their undiminished good will towards Him after so many evils." (Wow.)

5. "...that our minds may be wise concerning the doctrine of a resurrection." His point is that the suffering of the righteous demands that God be just by raising them from the dead and rewarding them.

6. "...that all who fall into adversity may have a sufficient consolation and alleviation, by looking at such persons, and remembering what sufferings have befallen them."

7. "...that when we exhort you to the virtue of such persons...you may not, on account of the surpassing character of their good works, slothfully shrink from such an imitation of them, as deeming them to have been partakers of a different nature."

8. "...that when it is necessary to call any blessed, or the reverse, we may learn whom we ought to account happy, and whom unhappy and wretched." I don't get this one.

Great Column!

OK, so Camille Paglia is no conservative (she's a lesbian libertarian, I believe), but, WOW, does she nail it in this column in her analysis of Obama's work on healthcare reform. Her analysis sounds cynical, but with power hungry Nazi liberals and scandalous conservatives abounding everywhere, I can understand. The first two pages of this column are fascinating and I think I agree with just about everything she says. On the last page (page 3) she discusses some weird stuff that just doesn't interest me. But in any case, I recommend her analysis.