Memorial of Saint John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Lectionary: 442

This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance:
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
Of these I am the foremost.
But for that reason I was mercifully treated,
so that in me, as the foremost,
Christ Jesus might display all his patience as an example
for those who would come to believe in him for everlasting life.

 I nvariably, it is the modesty of the speaker that attracts people to hear what he has to say. He does not speak down to them as if they were his moral and intellectual inferiors. Rather, despite his obviously superior training and knowledge, he works with his audience, leading them step by step toward a shared understanding. He knows, and they know that he knows, they are capable of understanding him and working with him. 

The self-important, boastful, arrogant speaker repels us. If his listeners must respect his knowledge and gain something from his speech, they have to swallow their pride, resentment, and suspicion against him. It's not easy to overcome that rebellious spirit and say to oneself, "Yes, he is obnoxious but I need to get this stuff!" 

When Saint Paul, the well-educated Pharisee and brilliant apostle, arrived in the Jewish quarters of major cities, he came with a backpack and a few tent-making tools. If he had written documents, they were only a few; and they were probably letters of endorsement from one Christian community to another. Books in those days were scrolls, and not useful for reading on the road or in a crowded hostel. The Word of God he carried in his mind and heart. 

Trained in rhetoric -- that is, the art of persuasion -- he found it better not to use that elevated style in speaking of Christ and his crucifixion. As he reminded the Corinthians: 

When I came to you, brothers, proclaiming the mystery of God, I did not come with sublimity of words or of wisdom.

For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling,

and my message and my proclamation were not with persuasive (words of) wisdom, but with a demonstration of spirit and power,

so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.

The Apostle knew himself simply as a steward (or administrator) of the mysteries of God, and a humble one at that! An ordinary vessel of clay, not a priceless Grecian Urn! 

The Gospel had to sell itself. It did better with a modest speaker than a pretentious one: and with healings and kindness, rather than clever arguments and a battery of Bible quotes. He could let the Holy Spirit work with his congregation at whatever pace the Spirit and they could work. He might even move onto other cities while the process continued, rather than wait till they attained whatever standard of maturity he thought they should have. If God was not yet finished with him, he also had work to do with others. It would be a long while before the mustard seed of the Gospel would become the Kingdom of God on earth. 

The Lord's disciples of the twenty-first century must take a lesson from the Apostle Paul. True, we live in apocalyptic times when it seems "OMG, The End is Near!" But it seemed close to that first generation of Christians too; and to every generation of Christians since then. We've always had our backs to the wall; or felt that way anyway. And we still find it better to let the Gospel sell itself to others while it penetrates our penitent hearts with piercing, persistent roots.