One of my favorite parts of teaching church history to high school students is assigning primary sources and hearing or reading their reactions. Works like Athanasius’s On the Incarnation, Augustine’s Confessions, or Eusebius’s Church History often intimidate students initially. But there’s nothing like the moment when a student opens a presentation, sometimes with a hint of surprise in their own eyes, with “I found this incredibly relatable.” I can never hide my smile.
Yes, despite being written 1400 years ago, these writings resonate. Two things in life are unchanging—God’s truth and the human condition. One of the early church fathers my students find most accessible and enjoyable to read is John Chrysostom. This is no great surprise, as he was known even in his day for his eloquence and beauty in preaching. Within the first century after his death, this skill earned him the name “Chrysostom,” which means “golden-mouthed.”
John Chrysostom lived from AD 347 to 407. His feast day is January 27, and he is remembered for his preaching skills, his liturgy (The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, still in use in some Eastern Orthodox churches today), his compassion for the poor, and his willingness to stand up to those in power who refused to keep God’s Law.
John was born in Antioch and raised in a Christian home. In school, he was trained by a famous orator before becoming a catechumen and receiving Baptism in his early twenties. At that time, the process for adults to join the church took three years. When his three years of catechetical training were complete, he was baptized. His mother, Anthusa, a devout Christian woman, rejoiced. She was less thrilled when he told her his plans to leave home and become a monk. John wanted to lead a life of quiet contemplation, study, and prayer in an isolated place. But his mother made him promise he would not leave her as long as she lived. John honored his mother’s wishes and stayed with her, turning their home into a “mini-monastery,” where he and some of his friends spent their days studying Scripture and praying. When his mother died, John moved out to the monastic communities in the Syrian mountains.
Eventually, however, John returned to Antioch and was ordained into the pastoral ministry. His preaching was excellent, and he became well-known. People from all over the Greek-speaking world would come to hear him preach. When the bishop of Constantinople died, John was taken by force from the smaller town of Antioch to the capital city and made bishop.
Fifty-seven years before John came to Constantinople, Emperor Constantine had begun work on his new capitol, meant to inspire the empire with its brilliance and opulence. As one may imagine, this city was full of wealthy merchants, powerful politicians, and extravagant parties—far from the model of Christian behavior. The new bishop was unimpressed, but he simply stepped into his pulpit and began to preach the truth. He called out pastors and politicians alike for their adultery, for living in luxury while the poor starved, and for not offering church services at a time when the working class of the city could attend. As John attempted reform, he made many powerful people angry. When he refused to change the content of his preaching at the request of the emperor’s wives and other powerful individuals, he found himself in exile. There, he died. But about thirty years later, his bones were returned to Constantinople and buried. His legacy was built not on the favor of emperors but on the enduring Word, which he preached with such skill and care.
Last month, I wrote about Ambrose of Milan, a contemporary of John Chrysostom. While John lived and pastored in Constantinople, Ambrose’s ministry took place in the Latin-speaking Western empire. Ambrose is remembered for standing up to Emperor Theodosius, calling him out for his sin of killing thousands of his subjects in cold blood. In Ambrose’s case, the emperor in question publicly repented, submitting to the authority of the church to bind and loose sins. John Chrysostom faced an analogous situation in Constantinople when he challenged Eudoxia, the wife of the emperor, over erecting a silver statue of herself in the city. Eudoxia tried to bribe the bishop by donating large amounts of money to the church, but John was not dissuaded. He continued to preach and call her to repentance, ultimately leading to his exile.
These two stories, taken in contrast, show us not only the different relationships evolving between the church and the state in the East and West but also remind us that God calls us to be faithful, no matter the outcome. Ambrose and John Chrysostom both acted in accordance with their calling—preaching the truth and calling their leaders to repentance. Sometimes, people heed the call to repentance, and other times, they do not. The results are in God’s hands, not ours. Yet, we are called to speak the truth in love faithfully, regardless of the outcome or our own abilities. Jesus takes responsibility for the final outcome. He is the one who builds His church.
Blog adapted from Gathered by Christ: The Overlooked Gift of Church © 2023 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved.
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