"What Gifts Should We Ask of God?" Priest Daniel Sysoev

Priest

Daniel SYSOEV Talks on The First and Second Epistles of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians

VI WHAT GIFTS SHOULD ME ASK OF GOD? Daniel Sysoev Inc.

New Jersey, 2016

Approved for publication by the Publications Board of the Russian Orthodox Church PB Р15-505-0293

Priest Daniel Sysoev. What Gifts Should We Ask of God? Talks on the First and Second Epistles of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians. In 12 books. Book 6. — New Jersey, Daniel Sysoev Inc, 2016. — 224 pp.

ISBN 978-5-4279-0066-1

This edition is dedicated to the five-year anniversary of the author's martyric death.

In society it is customary to enthuse over people's talents and to discuss the achievements of the gifted. But what are spiritual gifts, and how many of these gifts can a person possess? Why strive for spiritual gifts, and which gift is the most important? In these talks by Priest Daniel Sysoev you will learn about the Giver of gifts and the perfection to which God summons a person.

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© Daniel Sysoev Inc, 2016 © Yulia Sysoeva, 2016

CONTENTS What Are False Spiritual Gifts and How Can We Test Them? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 The Source and Purpose of Spiritual Gifts . . . . . . . . . 24 Discerning Spiritual Gifts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Inequality of the Members of the Church—the One Body of Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 The Three Ministries Established

by God Himself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 The Superiority of Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 The Qualities of Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 The Eternity of Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 The Proper Place of the Gift of Tongues . . . . . . . . . . 152 What Is the Purpose of the Gift of Tongues? . . . . . . . 162 How Is the Gift of Prophecy Used? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 The Mind and the Heart Praying Together . . . . . . . . 183 Simplicity or Foolishness? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 Our God Is a God of Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220

Give your blood and receive the Spirit.

WHAT ARE FALSE SPIRITUAL GIFTS AND HOW CAN WE TEST THEM?

The apostle Paul did not give theological lectures, nor did he write textbooks on dogmatic theology. He wrote letters to the Churches regarding contemporary problems of church life. Our Lord did the same in the Gospel. The Bible as a whole is not a compilation of systematic theology or a collection of textbooks on morality, but rather God’s answers to specific situations in life—answers of timeless significance. God does this because systematic thinking is by no means common to all. It is a special talent that is given to a few people. If God were to provide everything cut and dried, many would simply be unable to find their bearings. If you tell the average person that he should not do this or that, and should do such and such instead, he will agree and then promptly forget—in one ear and out the other. For example, if told that he should not be proud he will reply that he has no pride; he has only a healthy selfrespect or a sense of his own dignity. We have invented all kinds of euphemisms to hide what is inappropriate. Hence, to explain in layman’s 5

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terms what happens to the proud, God uses the example of Nebuchadnezzar or Pharaoh. You tell a person, “Do not be sacrilegious.” “Oh, no, of course not,” he replies, and the next minute he says or does something sacrilegious. But if he reads a specific real-life example from the Bible everything becomes clear to him. Our God is a living God, and His business is to guide us in life.

One writer rightly observed that God’s words are not like a trickling brook. His words are like thick, dark, viscous blood, without which life is impossible. Hence, God’s words are words of life, living words. They answer our most pressing questions. In reading any ancient commentator we may observe that he constantly cites specific real-life situations. Take for example the sermon of John Chrysostom on the epistles of the apostle Paul, on the books of Genesis or Isaiah, or of anyone else. He explains a passage, then says, “And why are there so few of you here today? Apparently everyone has gone to the theater.” And he begins speaking against the theater. Or he explains a certain psalm, then applies it to the behavior of the people in the church. Thus, all the homilies of Chrysostom and the other holy fathers are 6

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associated with specific real-life situations. This is no coincidence, since the holy fathers used the biblical principle for responding to various contemporary issues. I also try to employ this principle. An academic explanation may be interesting, but it quickly grows old. But when we see that God’s word is applicable to our life today, the ancient events of the time of Isaiah or the apostle Paul come to life before our eyes.

Let us commence the topic of the next three chapters—chapters twelve through fourteen—of the first epistle to the Corinthians.

They are dedicated to a single topic of great importance: spiritual gifts. What exactly are these gifts? When the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles His manifestation was not something experienced internally. It was a clearly visible phenomenon, not only for the apostles themselves but also for all those around them.

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem 7

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Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.

Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? (Acts 2:2—8).

Thus, the Spirit prepared the apostles to preach Christ throughout the world. In addition the Holy Spirit gave them numerous other gifts. In the apostles nearly all the gifts were combined, so the apostolic service is in a sense unique. Though we say that the bishop is the successor of the apostles, he is not their successor in all fullness. He is their successor because he looks after the purity of the faith in the Church, ensuring apostolic succession.

There are successors of the apostles in miracleworking, successors in missionary work, and so on, for each kind of the gifts of the Spirit. When the apostles came to a place they would begin their preaching by healing one who was ill.

A crowd would gather around the person who had been healed, and the apostles would preach to the crowd of the greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who heals by a word alone. In other 8

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words, the apostle would perform miracles, showing signs and powers and prophesying, and these gifts were very numerous. They were present not only in the apostles but also in the early Christians. Among ordinary Christians there were prophets who spoke in foreign tongues, there were healers, there were people with the gift of consolation, people with the gift of ruling, and others. All these gifts were at work in the Church.

However, two problems arose. The first was the problem of envying the spiritual gifts of one’s neighbor. This same situation arose between Cain and Abel. Cain became envious when the Lord did not receive his gifts, but was pleased with the gifts of Abel. The second problem lay in disorderly use of the gift of tongues. The gift of foreign languages was given to the Church so that the preaching of the gospel might reach all the peoples of the earth. But instead of using this gift as it was intended people began to boast of it. This caused disorder in the Church of Corinth, and this will be the subject of the fourteenth chapter. Worst of all, people began to think that a person’s sanctity was measured by the number of spiritual gifts he possessed.

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This perception is common among people to this day. One hears that this or that person is especially holy because he healed someone.

But the Gospel says explicitly, Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity (Mt. 7:22—23).

Consequently, all these things are secondary. People have forgotten the most important spiritual gift of all that the Holy Spirit bestows: the gift of love. This gift is the subject of chapter 13.

Many ask why these spiritual gifts no longer exist. They do. The Lord’s gifts are preserved in the Church to this day. However, since the faith is now widespread the need for visible gifts is frequently not so obvious. The gifts of God are not at work as often as in the ancient Church, for there is no need to prove the truth of the faith to unbelievers by working miracles. The content of the faith is known to many; they understand that this faith is from God, and they believe that Christianity is one of the true religions, one of the paths to God. Or they say that they understand it all, but that they will start living 10

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spiritually when they retire or something of the sort. In other words, their logic is not the logic of the pagans, who would say, “That is your God; we know nothing about Him whatsoever.� This is why the gifts are at work for unbelievers, but less so than in the ancient Church. Though even today in places where the gospel is preached among the pagans these gifts are as strongly at work as in ancient times.

Let me give you an example: the mission on Mount Kilimanjaro, where an entire village converted to Christianity after a missionary struck the parched earth with his staff and a spring gushed forth. To this day mass conversions to Christianity occur in Africa and Indonesia through a missionary driving out evil spirits or healing someone who is sick. Where Christ is completely unknown, spiritual gifts are at work just as they were in the ancient Church.

In the Church itself today these gifts are at work when needed by Christians themselves, but since we must live not for miracles, but for God, the Lord often works miracles in hidden ways. Yet the Church is filled with miracles, and we know that thousands of healings take place to this day. In Moscow, for example, hundreds of healings occur every year. Furthermore, it 11

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pleases God to do this not through Christians living today, but through those who have departed to the other world, through holy icons or relics. It may be supposed that here God’s intent is to avoid destroying contemporary people, who are inclined toward pride, through gifts beyond their strength.

Thus, the gifts remain. The only gift that has been practically absent since the 12th century is the gift of tongues. I have heard that there was one instance in the 18th century, as well. A person went as a missionary to far-off countries, and he was given the gift of a foreign language. But wide-scale manifestation of this gift had disappeared from the Church by the early 3rd century. It was abuses of this gift that the apostle Paul opposed, since the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given for the good of the Church, not to its detriment.

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of 12

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administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will (1 Cor. 12:1—11).

The apostle says of the gentiles that they had long been acquainted with spiritual gifts.

He writes, Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant (1 Cor. 12:1).

As Anthony the Great said, “In addition to all that I have said above, one must pray to receive the gift of discerning spirits, to believe not every spirit, as it is written� [16]. This is necessary so that we might not fall into the temptation of spiritual delusion. Spiritual delusion is a state of supreme deception, when a person deceives both others and himself.

This state is the chief weapon of Satan. In it a person has a false perception of himself: he 13

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thinks himself righteous when he is actually a sinner; he thinks himself a saint, yet does foul deeds, and all the while he thinks he is perfectly justified. Spiritual delusion must be cured by right faith.

Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led (1 Cor. 12:2).

In other words, the apostle is saying that when they were unbelievers they were pulled toward idols as though by a rope. Their pagan state was a state of slavery and bondage. They were enslaved by evil, unclean forces. Firstly, they were drawn toward idols by their tradition.

Folk tradition draws a person even to things that he realizes to be senseless, yet he continues to live by the example of his forebears. In addition, in the explanation of the epistle to the Romans it was noted that idol-worship could not have occurred without the devil. A sane person cannot be so mindless as to think a wooden statue he himself has carved is in fact God. Rather, it was the forces of evil that drew men toward idols. Evil spirits would dwell in the idols and draw people to themselves, beckoning, deceiving, and bewitching.

I can cite a well-known example from the life of Abramius of Rostov. Saint Abramius came 14

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to Rostov and discovered that in the region where the Finno-Ugorsk tribe was living there was an enormous idol of Veles. All the people were drawn to it, and when people went by it they experienced a sense of spine-chilling horror that emanated from the demon living there. This horror moved the inhabitants to come and offer sacrifices to the idol. Saint Abramius took a reed he had received from John the Theologian and struck the stone idol, and it crumbled. Another example of the pull generated by idols is the occult stones in Kolomensky, the so-called Blue Stone (SinKamen’) in Pereslavl-Zalesskiy, and others. Many are drawn to them, thinking that the stones are somehow magic or holy and that power dwells in them. People render honor not to Almighty God but to a stone, because evil power is drawing them.

Saint Theophan the Recluse rightly noted, “The pagans were entangled by darkening of the mind, and were so deceived that while seeing they did not see that before them stood a lifeless, voiceless idol, made by their own hands, in which there was no power, yet they hoped to receive all things from it. The enemy had thus entangled them, holding them in delusion and 15

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preventing them from taking a sensible view of the matter. By luring them with false hopes he drew them to him like an adder. Life-long habit and social aspects lent considerable force to this delusion and rendered impenetrable the gloom enshrouding it. The Corinthians emerged from this diabolical net and went from the realm of Satan to that of God. Their eyes had now been opened, and they saw how foolish their former attraction to idols had been. And so the apostle says to them, ‘Ye know.’ This refers to wrong faith, leading to sinfulness. Sin likewise entangles, with the result that the sinner is led as a captive, yet sees neither his spiritual delusion nor his bondage. Only later, when he turns to virtue, does he clearly behold the full ugliness of his sinful state, and how it binds him, not giving him the freedom to disentangle himself from it. Both in pagan beliefs and in a life of sin the delusion of the adversary is the same” [2].

Chrysostom makes an interesting observation: “In the idol-temples, says he, if any were at any time possessed by an unclean spirit and began to divine, even as one dragged away, so was he drawn by that spirit in chains: knowing nothing of the things which he utters. For this is peculiar to the soothsayer, to be beside 16

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himself, to be under compulsion, to be pushed, to be dragged, to be haled as a demoniac. But the prophet not so, but with sober mind and composed temper and knowing what he is saying, he utters all things. Therefore even before the event do thou from this distinguish the soothsayer and the prophet. …

“For whereas by certain mystical rites and witchcrafts a certain person had imprisoned a demon in a man, and the man divined, and in his divination was thrown down and torn, and was unable to endure the violence of the demon, but was on the point of perishing in that convulsion; he says to the persons who were practicing such mystical arts, ‘Loose me, I pray you: / The mighty God no longer mortal flesh / Can hold.’ And again, ‘Unbind my wreaths, and bathe my feet in drops / From the pure stream; erase these mystic lines, / And let me go.’

“For these and such like things (for one might mention many more) point out to us both of these facts which follow; the compulsion which holds down the demons and makes them slaves; and the violence to which they submit who have once given themselves up to them, so as to swerve even from their natural reason. Paul was bringing forward when he said, ‘You know 17

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that when you were Gentiles, you were led away unto those dumb idols, howsoever ye might be led.’ And because he was discoursing with those who knew well, he states not all things with exact care, not wishing to be troublesome to them, but … reminded them only. … He did not however state ours, I mean the prophesyings.

For it was well known to them all, and prophecy was exercised among them, as was meet for their condition, with understanding and with entire freedom. Therefore, you see, they had power either to speak or to refrain from speaking. …

This then is the first difference between a soothsayer and a prophet” [1, Homily 29].

Thus, someone who claims to be a prophet, yet goes into a trance and is forcibly made to prophesy is clearly not of God. A vivid example of this is Vanga. She was caught up by a black whirlwind, went blind, and began to prophesy.

It is no accident that the biographies of all sorcerers, psychics, and faith healers share a very important characteristic: before they began to conjure and enchant there was a time when they lost consciousness and self control.

The person will say, “I was clinically dead, and after that my gift was revealed.” Or, for example, “I became drunk, lost consciousness, and my 18

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gift was revealed.� At some point there is always a loss of self-control. A person loses his last defense—control of his mind—and that is when the evil spirit invades him.

God, however, does precisely the opposite.

For example, when the prophet Daniel saw an angel he fainted, but the angel did not seize him and begin forcing something upon him. He touched Daniel, strengthened him, and only then began to converse with him. In other words, in order to converse with people angels first strengthen them. When speaking with a person God gives him understanding.

Of course, the person is terrified, for great and terrible is the manifestation of God, and it appears unbearable. But God gives him the power to bear this, for He has no need of beings with no will of their own. One who speaks on behalf of God must be in his right mind and in full possession of his senses. The Spirit of wisdom and understanding does not weaken the understanding, and the Spirit of power does not render a person powerless. But prophets that are of the devil are made impotent and are broken by him.

This is the general principle of fellowship with demons. When a person cannot live without 19

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vodka or cannot help committing fornication, when his willpower fails, these are all different instances of this same pull, indications that the person is being broken. The demons do this because they are entering foreign territory, not their own. Why does God have no need to break a person? He is the Creator, Who has no reason to ruin His creation. But the demon hates God and all of God’s creation, and so he breaks it.

There is a very clear distinction: one who hates God destroys everything, while one who loves God also loves His creation.

Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost (1 Cor. 12:3).

If the first sign is a weak will, the second is that no person who speaks by the Holy Spirit can begin cursing Jesus Christ or teaching wrongly about Christ. If a person says that he is in the Holy Spirit, but claims that Christ is simply one of the great initiates, a prophet, or even a false prophet, i.e., if he begins to degrade Christ, then he is not speaking by the Holy Spirit but by the spirit of the demons. Why, from the standpoint of Holy Scripture, is it completely pointless to argue with blasphemers? Because it 20

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is the devil who is speaking within them. These are people who are inspired by Satan. The best way to talk with a possessed person is to sprinkle him with holy water.

No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost (1 Cor. 12:3).

This means that if a person is in a particular spiritual state he cannot sincerely call Jesus his Lord except in the Holy Spirit. This is the criterion that shows that confession of faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who became Man, established His Church, and is our Savior and Judge, is only possible by the Holy Spirit. That is, one may come into the Church only if called by the Holy Spirit.

Theophan the Recluse likewise comments on these words of the apostle: “True faith that the Lord Jesus Christ is God in the flesh and our Savior is impressed on the heart by the Spirit of God. There are various ways of calling Jesus ‘Lord.’ Sometimes the tongue alone calls Him this, sometimes the memory, and sometimes the thoughts; but when the heart calls Him thus it is altogether different from this. The demons also said to the Lord, ‘We know Thee Who Thou art, the Son of God’ (cf. Mk. 1:24, Lk. 8:28). But there was nothing sincere in this, 21

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but rather veiled cunning and the intent to turn people from the Lord in another way by this means. In our own time similar veiled cunning was encountered among spiritualists. At first they spoke well of the Lord, then they forbade speaking of Him, and now some openly defame Him, while others declare that He is one of their own party” [2].

As it was in the time of Theophan, so it is today. A person may say that he believes in the Lord Jesus, but that He is only a messenger; or that He established His Church, but that later it collapsed, or some such. No one can acknowledge the lordship of Jesus Christ except by the Holy Spirit. It should be remembered that there are deeds we are incapable of doing: a person does not acknowledge Jesus Christ’s lordship over him without the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit reveals to us that Jesus Christ is Lord—our own Lord and Master. People formally acknowledge the lordship of Jesus Christ, but without the Holy Spirit it is impossible to come under His lordship.

Some claim that since Protestants call Jesus Christ Lord they must be in the Spirit. But they do not acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus 22

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Christ, for they do not enter into His Kingdom: they do not enter into His Church. They have effectively made Christ into a Teacher Who gave us a textbook. They say, “We believe in the Bible.” Well, we believe in God. The Protestants deny that God maintains unbroken fellowship with us to this day. Huldrych Zwingli1 said that he believes in the actual absence of Christ in the Chalice. A very precise and honest phrase.

We believe in the actual presence of Christ in the Chalice, whereas they believe in the actual absence of Christ. Zwingli likewise declared that the water in the font is no different from water in a washtub. This may be true of the water in their font, but we believe that the water is abundantly filled with the Holy Spirit.

God is acting here, and He is with us. Jesus Christ is our Lord in the sense that He rules over us directly. Observe the Protestants’ favorite confession of faith. They say, “Do you accept Jesus as your personal Savior?” But this 1

Huldrych Zwingli (January 1, 1484—October 11, 1531). Swiss reformer and philosopher. influenced by the philosophy of the Stoics and of Renaissanceera Platonism. Perished in the Kappel Wars. (Editor's note.).

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means that they reject Jesus’ lordship over His Kingdom. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that Jesus is one’s personal Savior. It says there, Christ is the head of the Church: and He is the Saviour of the body (Eph. 5:23). Nowhere does it say that He saves people singly. Christ bound us by a union of love, so that we might be saved together as in one body.

THE SOURCE AND PURPOSE OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS

Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit (1 Cor. 12:4).

There are all different kinds of gifts, but it is the same Spirit that bestows them. If you have received one gift and someone else another, that is no reason to envy him. You would be disagreeing with Him Who gave you your gift.

We do not receive gifts through a middleman, but directly from the Holy Spirit Who dwells in the Church. This is very important to remember.

Who serves the Liturgy? The Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit, by the will of the Heavenly Father, through the priest. No person has the power to change bread into the Lord’s Body and wine into the Lord’s Blood. There is the power 24

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of God, which acts through an instrument, i.e., the priest, but it is always the Most Holy Trinity Who acts. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord (1 Cor. 12:5).

There are various ministries in the Church, but one and the same Lord Jesus Christ. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all (1 Cor. 12:6).

There are different energies that act in people, but one and the same God Who distributes them and acts in all men. In other words, the Trinity as a whole acts the same way in every instance—in the gifts given by the Spirit, in the ministries the Lord has assigned to the Church, and in all the power with which the Church is filled. The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power (1 Cor. 4:20). The Church is not just an assembly of people; it is a place filled with the Holy Spirit, and it is people who are acting by the power of God. If we do not experience this power in the Church we are foreign to it, as the apostle Paul says: Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His (Rom. 8:9). Hence, to be with Christ one must live amid these gifts, energies, and actions. It is not enough to know the Bible: one must also live that life. The life itself is what 25

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matters, not words about the life. One could say that the Bible is instructions for living, but that life itself is bestowed by God in baptism, chrismation, repentance, Communion, unction, and the other sacraments of God. In all of this it is the same Spirit, the Lord and God, Who is acting—the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, and God the Father.

Note that here the Persons of the Holy Trinity are listed in reverse order. In another place it is written, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (Mt. 28:19). And in a third, The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all (2 Cor. 13:13).

That is, the order in which the Persons of the Holy Trinity are listed is no indication of Their inequality. Frequently one hears Jehovah’s Witnesses and other false teachers say that the Father is superior, the Son inferior, and the Holy Spirit more inferior still. This is a false teaching, common to the Arians, the Pneumatomachists, and others, and it contradicts Holy Scripture. All three Persons are equal, of one essence, and Their action is identical, though They distribute this action in various ways. God the Father commands that 26

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a given energy or power be bestowed, the Son appoints the ministry, and the Spirit distributes the gifts. One will is manifested through three Persons.

Theodoret of Cyrus explains, “For the apostle did not say, as certain unreasoning heretics supposed, that some things are set in motion by the Spirit and others by the God of all. On the contrary, he showed that the Holy Trinity is the bestower of all these gifts alike.

By this he consoles those who have received seemingly lesser gifts, teaching them that gifts of both kinds are bestowed from the same source” [9].

And Saint John Chrysostom says, “And first he attends on him that had the lesser gift, and was grieved on this account. ‘For wherefore,’ says he, ‘are you dejected? Because you have not received as much as another? Still, consider that it is a free gift and not a debt, and you will be able to soothe your pain.’ For this cause he spoke thus in the very beginning: ‘but there are diversities of gifts.’ And he said not ‘of signs,’ nor ‘of wonders,’ but ‘of gifts,’ by the name of free gifts prevailing on them not only not to grieve but even to be thankful” [1, Homily 29].

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There is an interesting point worth noting.

Many people say, “That is unfair! One person is given this, another person that. How is that fair?” But these are gifts! What does fairness have to do with it?! God gives this or that gift to whomever He pleases, as He sees fit. A striking example of offending the worldly sense of “fairness” may be found in the parable of the workers hired in the vineyard. You sometimes meet Christians who have read the Gospel for the first time, who come to you and ask, “But why? One person worked from morning until evening, while another worked only an hour, and they were paid equally. On what grounds?”

Here the Lord clearly shows that He was fair, since He paid what was earned, and chose to give the others a gift. It simply pleased Him to do so. In this parable the Lord says specifically, “I just want to.” Yes, we can attempt to find various grounds for why He wants this, for He has His reasons for doing so, but I will note that Holy Scripture does not provide us with these reasons. The Bible does not customarily explain God’s wishes. This is not because they cannot be explained, but because the word of God desires to emphasize a very important point: God does as He pleases, and you, a creation, are not to 28

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speak out against the Creator. Have you been given a gift? Do not compare it with the gift of another. Do not spend your time reasoning whose gift is better than whose. Remember your place and who you are.

This is mentioned in the epistle to the Romans: in answer to questions of why God hardens the hearts of some and pardons others, before answering the apostle Paul says, Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? (Rom. 9:20).

The Bible regularly puts a person in his place, which is very beneficial indeed. All too often a person attempts to decide everything as though he were in charge. God gives to whom He wills; be so good as to thank Him for your gift. In actuality, it is envy speaking in the indignant man, under the guise of social injustice.

John Chrysostom notes the following: “‘And withal consider this also,’ says he, that even if you are made inferior in the measure of what is given; in that it has been vouchsafed you to receive from the same source as the other who has received more, you have equal honor. For certainly you cannot say that the Spirit bestowed 29

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the gift on him, but an angel on you: since the Spirit bestowed it both on you and him.

Wherefore he added, ‘but the same Spirit.’ So that even if there be a difference in the gift, yet is there no difference in the Giver. For from the same Fountain you are drawing, both thou and he. And there are diversities of ministrations, but the same Lord. Thus, enriching the consolation, he adds mention of the Son also, and of the Father. And again, he calls these gifts by another name, designing by this also an increase of consolation. Wherefore also he thus said: There are diversities of ministrations, but the same Lord. For he that hears of a gift, and has received a less share, perhaps might grieve; but when we speak of a ministration, the case is different. For the thing implies labor and sweat [i.e., gifts unto service]. ‘Why do you grieve then,’ says he, ‘if he has bidden another labor more, sparing you?’”

[1, Homily 29].

The greater the gifts, the greater the labor.

The greater the talent, the greater the work.

But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal (1 Cor. 12:7).

The goal of all gifts is always the benefit of the person and the Church. God never does anything that benefits a person but is of no 30

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benefit to the Church, and vice versa. In God’s wisdom all things are intertwined in such a way that each person who does something of benefit to the Church also benefits himself. God does not require that a person crush his personality “for the common good.” God gives everyone a place in the Church and a ministry that benefits both.

Why is the word “manifestation” emphasized here? Modern man is given the same grace in baptism that was given to the ancient Christians, but at that time this occurred visibly for all. A person would be baptized and receive chrismation, and immediately he would begin working miracles, speaking in foreign tongues or prophesying.

DIFFERENT KINDS OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS

Chrysostom says, “Now after this, he comforts [one who is vexed] also in another kind of way; by the consideration that the measure vouchsafed is profitable to him, even though it be not so large. … For lest one should say, ‘What if there be the same Lord, the same Spirit, the same God? Yet I have received less,’ 31

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he says that thus it was profitable. But he calls miracles a manifestation of the Spirit, with evident reason. For to me who am a believer, he that has the Spirit is manifest from his having been baptized: but to the unbeliever this will in no way be manifest, except from the miracles: so that hence also again there is no small consolation. For though there be a difference of gifts, yet the evidence is one: since whether you have much or little, you are equally manifest. So that if you desire to show this, that you have the Spirit, you have a sufficient demonstration. Wherefore, now that both the Giver is one and the thing given a pure favor, and the manifestation takes place thereby, and this is more profitable for you; grieve not as if despised. For not to dishonor you has God done it, nor to declare you inferior to another, but to spare you and with a view to your welfare. To receive more than one has ability to bear, this rather is unprofitable, and injurious, and a fit cause of dejection� [1, Homily 29].

For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit (1 Cor. 12:8).

The apostle Paul lists the gifts that were given to people and are still given to this day.

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The “word of wisdom” is the name he gives not to eloquence, but to true teaching and knowledge of the mysteries of spiritual life.

There is knowledge of the mysteries of spiritual life. Many have only a formal knowledge of the Symbol of Faith, but a few know the intricacies of spiritual life. God is able to reveal divine dogmas, and can explain understandably and in detail the mysteries of the Holy Trinity, the mysteries of life in Christ and of Holy Scripture. This is the “word of wisdom” that is given by the Holy Spirit for the benefit of the Church.

To another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit (1 Cor. 12:8).

The “word of knowledge” means not the mysteries of life, not how God acts in the world, but practical mysteries that show how to act in this or that instance. This gift, which differs from the preceding gift, is the gift of practical experience.

Theodoret of Cyrus explains: “The ‘word of wisdom’ is the name the apostle gives not to eloquence, but to true teaching, the grace of which was received by the divine apostle himself, the divinely-wise evangelist John, the most divine chief of the apostles Peter, and the 33

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blessed first martyr Stephen. For fishermen who live by the work of their hands, who are unlearned, could not have ventured to speak and write publically, and even fulfilling their own words and writings with the greatest possible power, if they had not received true wisdom from the divine Spirit. Others of those who believed, though they had knowledge, did not have the power to speak to the people as they did. And this was the gift of knowledge, by the grace of the Holy Spirit� [9].

To another faith by the same Spirit (1 Cor. 12:9).

This refers not to faith in the dogmas, but to trust in God, which leads to miracles.

The apostles prayed the Lord: Increase our faith (Lk. 17:5).

Faith is the mother of miracles. Complete trust in God, placing oneself in God’s hands, is also a gift of the Holy Spirit. To believe in the dogmas is our affair. We believe or do not believe in them as we please, but the ability to completely entrust ourselves to God and thereby perform great miracles is bestowed by the Holy Spirit. Faith is fortified by miracles and signs, and a person depends completely upon God and lives in Him. Here the miraculous significance of faith is emphasized.

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The Lord promised, And these signs shall follow them that believe; In My name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover (Mk. 16:17—18).

All this is a manifestation of great faith.

By way of example take the troparion to the prophet Daniel and the three youths: “Great are the accomplishments of faith! In the fountain of flame as in refreshing water the three holy children rejoiced, and the prophet Daniel proved a shepherd of lions as of sheep.

By their prayers, O Christ God, save Thou our souls.”

This is referring to the great victory of faith.

In the fountain of flame (the fiery furnace), as in quiet waters, the holy youths rejoiced, and the prophet Daniel was a shepherd of lions.

All this is a manifestation of the faith of which the apostle Paul is speaking: trust in God so complete that miracles abound.

To another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit (1 Cor. 12:9).

The same Spirit gives the gift of healings.

Not all receive the same gift of healings. It is known from the life of John Chrysostom that in 35

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his lifetime he performed only three healings.

But can we say that he was less great than, say, John of Kronstadt, who worked thousands of healings? No, he simply had a different talent, a different gift of the Holy Spirit. John Chrysostom or Basil the Great had a different gift: the gift of unimaginable eloquence, wisdom, and ability to explain the divine dogmas. Different gifts are given to different people. Some are glorified by miracles, others by words, but all these are gifts of the Holy Spirit. One must not neglect one gift in favor of another. One must not seek only miracles and ignore wisdom, nor should one seek only wisdom and not desire miracles. Blessed Matrona, for example, did not teach, but she worked miracles, while Chrysostom did the opposite. I will also note that in the Church the gift of wisdom can be superior, since it converts many to Christ.

In this passage the apostle is referring to deliverance from lameness, healing of the sick, restoration of sight to the blind, and others. All this was done then and happens to this day. Paul himself possessed so great a gift of healing that even the cloth with which he wiped the sweat from his face brought relief to the sick.

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To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues (1 Cor. 12:10).

This verse in Church Slavonic begins with the words, “To another the action of powers.”

This refers not so much to miracles of healings, which have been mentioned separately, but to other miraculous powers with which God has invested the Church. For example, there are miracles that bring punishment instead of healing. By a word the same apostle Paul deprived Elymas the Sorcerer of his sight.

Through prayer the apostles Peter, Paul, and John the Theologian took the life of Simon Magus, who fell to his death after rising up into the sky. Then there is the example of how the apostle Paul gave the committer of incest over to Satan. The terrible powers of God’s justice, which were revealed through the apostles and are at work to this day, are also a gift of the Holy Spirit.

A more recent example can also be cited: that of the 8th-century saint Leo of Catania.

While Leo of Catania was serving the Liturgy the sorcerer Heliodorus entered and began casting a spell. Inattentive parishioners began 37

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to bark and to meow. The sorcerer even attempted to cast a spell on Leo of Catania himself, but the latter came out of the altar, bound Heliadorus with his omophorion, and led him out to the square. At the saint’s command the sorcerer was cast onto a bonfire.

After he had burned to ashes Leo of Catania removed his omophorion from the debris and finished the Liturgy.

Each of these examples describes how God’s enemies received their just deserts through the powers bestowed by the Holy Spirit. I emphasize this because today the rise of “dewy-eyed Christianity” has led people to think that such actions are impermissible for a Christian. “How dare he do such a thing?” they ask concerning Leo of Catania. “God never punishes anyone like that.” But we see that one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is the gift of punishing evildoers.

To another prophecy (1 Cor. 12:10).

Biblical prophecy is the gift of foreseeing the future, on the one hand, and on the other hand the gift of seeing the secrets of the heart.

The prophet Ahab foretold the chains of Paul, and the daughters of the apostle Philip were prophetesses. There were many such prophets.

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The gift of prophecy also has not left the Church, but it should be remembered that the gift of prophecy today differs from that of the Old Testament. Prior to Christ’s Nativity prophecy added to Revelation. Revelation increased over time, since people arose who were capable of receiving it. This form of prophecy ended with John the Baptist.

It is said that all the prophets and the law prophesied until John (Mt. 11:13). He marked the end of the prophets in the ancient sense, i.e., of those who were constantly revealing new mysteries of the Kingdom of God. These mysteries have now been revealed in their fullness in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the greatest of the prophets, the Messenger of the Heavenly Father, the Incarnate God. However, prophecy in the Church in the form of revealing the future and the mysteries of the heart will continue to the end of the world, since this is of tremendous benefit. This gift of the Holy Spirit is also called clairvoyance.

To another discerning of spirits (1 Cor. 12:10).

Theodoret writes, “Inasmuch as at that time there were soothsayers (at the instigation of the demons) who deceived the people, upon 39

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some the Divine Spirit bestowed a certain grace so as to rebuke those possessed by the adverse spirit” [9].

And John Chrysostom echoes, “What is ‘discernings of spirits’? The knowing who is spiritual [filled with the Holy Spirit], and who is not [speaking only on his own authority]: who is a prophet, and who a deceiver. … For great was at that time the rush of the false prophets, the devil striving underhand to substitute falsehood for the truth” [1, Homily 29].

This refers to the gift of pointing out what is falsehood and what is truth. The ability to discern a counterfeit from the truth is the true gift of “discerning of spirits.” it is absolutely essential for the Church and for each of us. This gift is extremely important today, when false prophets appear in the guise of prophets. Even in the Church false teachers arise, who conceal their false teachings beneath their monastic or priestly robes.

The apostle Paul warned, Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them (Acts 20:30).

The gift of discerning of spirits is given in order to recognize these.

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To another divers kinds of tongues (1 Cor. 12:10).

Different people are given different kinds of foreign languages. This does not mean a natural ability to learn languages. In the ancient Church when a person received this gift he would immediately begin speaking freely in a foreign language. This gift was one of the most badly abused in those days, and so the Lord soon took it away.

To another the interpretation of tongues (1 Cor. 12:10).

This means that one person in the church would speak in a foreign language while another interpreted into a language those around him could understand.

But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will (1 Cor. 12:11).

In all this it is the same Spirit acting, distributing the gifts as He sees fit. Here it is directly stated that the Holy Spirit has desires.

He is a Person, and He bestows the gifts as He desires—one to one person, another to another.

John Chrysostom says this: “The universal medicine in which his consolation consists 41

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is that out of the same root, out of the same treasures, out of the same streams, they all receive. And accordingly, from time to time dwelling on this expression, he levels the apparent inequality, and consoles them. And above indeed he points out both the Spirit, and the Son, and the Father, as supplying the gifts, but here he was content to make the Spirit, that even hence again you may understand their dignity to be the same. … And he not only gives consolation but also stops the mouth of the gainsayer, saying here, ‘dividing to each one severally even as He will.’ For it was necessary to bind up also, not to heal only, as he does also in the Epistle to the Romans, when he says, But who are you that repliest against God? (Rom. 9:20).

So likewise here, ‘dividing to each one severally as He will.’ And that which was of the Father, this he signifies to be of the Spirit also. For as concerning the Father, he says, ‘but it is the same God who works all things in all,’ so also concerning the Spirit, ‘but all these things works one and the same Spirit.’ But, it will be said, ‘He does it, actuated by God.’ Nay, he nowhere said this, but you feign it. For when he says, ‘who actuates all things in all,’ he says this concerning men: you will hardly say that among 42

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those men he numbers also the Spirit, though you should be ever so manifold in your doting and madness” [1, Homily 29].

At that time there were the Pneumatomachists, who placed the Holy Spirit on a level with creation. But Saint John shows that here the same qualities are ascribed to the Spirit as the Father. Like the Father, the Spirit distributes the gifts as He pleases.

And John Chrysostom continues: “For as concerning the Father, the Son says that ‘He raises up the dead and quickens,’ in like manner also, concerning Himself, that He quickens whom He will (Jn. 5:21), thus also of the Spirit, in another place, that He does all things with authority and that there is nothing that hinders Him; (for the expression, blows where it lists [Jn. 3:8], though it be spoken of the wind is apt to establish this) but here, that ‘He works all things as He will.’ And from another place to learn that He is not one of the things actuated, but of those that actuate. …

Now that the spirit of a man, i.e., the soul, requires not to be actuated that it may know the things of itself, is, I suppose, evident to everyone. Therefore neither does the Holy Ghost, that he may know the things of God. 43

What Gifts Should We Ask of God?

For his meaning is like this: the secret things of God are known to the Holy Spirit as to the soul of man the secret things of herself. But if this be not actuated for that end, much less would That which knows the depths of God and needs no actuation for that knowledge, require any actuating Power in order to give gifts to the apostles. ‘Let us not, I pray you, be at a loss,’ says he; ‘neither let us grieve, saying, “Why have I received this and not received that?” neither let us demand an account of the Holy Spirit. For if you know that he vouchsafed it from providential care, consider that from the same care he has given also the measure of it, and be content and rejoice in what you have received: but murmur not at what you have not received; yea, rather confess God’s favor that you have not received things beyond your power’” [1, Homily 29].

Let us also train ourselves in unquestioning obedience to the will of God when we feel someone has been given something that we have not. Obedience is worth far more than a hundred attempts to explain. We must develop this reflex: when God speaks, we say, “His wish is my command! Who am I to argue with Him?” 44

Inequality of the members of the church—the one Body of Christ

INEQUALITY OF THE MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH—THE ONE BODY OF CHRIST

For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing?

If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased Him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: and those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, 45

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having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked. That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way (1 Cor. 12:12—31).

In this passage the apostle Paul describes how the Church is arranged. In it, as in the world, equality does not and should not exist.

We should remember that the ultimate attempt at equality leads to the grave. The communists attempted to wage war for equality, and it ended in horrific terrorism. Nor could it have been otherwise. Ideal communism is achieved in either a grave or a concentration camp.

For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ (1 Cor. 12:12).

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The apostle says that in our body there are various members that comprise a single whole.

The same is true of Christ. Why does the apostle Paul speak here not of the Church, but of Christ? For him, as for the other apostles, the Church is inseparable from Christ. When certain people say, “I believe in Christ, but I’m not a member of the Church,” this is mere self-delusion. Christ did not come to give us a book or to tell us the best and worst ways to live. He came to give His life, to unite us to Him, and through Him to bring us to the Father. This is precisely why He established the Church, against which the gates of hell shall not prevail (Mt. 16:18). Outside the Church there is no salvation, and the apostle Paul does not differentiate between Christ and the Church.

The apostle goes on to say that as all the members of the body are necessary, so also the Church needs each person and his particular gift. In the view of the apostle Paul it is absolutely impermissible to say, “So what if some people left the Church? Not many left, so what’s the difference?” The loss of even one Christian hurts the Church, just as the loss of one finger hurts the whole body.

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John Chrysostom explains the apostle’s words as follows: “None of them by itself can make a body, but each is alike deficient in the making a body, and there is need of a coming together since when the many become one, then and not till then is there one body.

Wherefore also covertly intimating this very thing, he said, ‘And all the members of the one body, being many, are one body.’ And he said not ‘the superior and the inferior,’ but ‘being many,’ which is common to all. And how is it possible that they should be one? When throwing out the difference of the members, you consider the body. For the same thing which the eye is, this also is the foot in regard of its being a member and constituting a body. For there is no difference in this respect. Nor can you say that one of the members makes a body of itself, but another does not. For they are all equal in this, for the very reason that they are all one body” [1, Homily 30].

There is a very important point that has disappeared from our laymen’s consciousness.

People say, for example, “The Church wants this,” or, “That’s something that the priests need.” But does the Church really consist solely of priests? The Church is all Orthodox 48

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Christians who preserve the faith and participate in the sacraments. These people are members of the Body of Christ. The hierarchy is only a part of the Body, a part that is just as necessary as the laity. Each has his place, and no one can say that this priest is needed but that layman is not. In the Church each is needed in his own place. This is very important to remember, since we often hear people say, “That is no concern of mine! Let the Church decide that.

Let the bishops work it out among themselves.�

Indeed, there are things that the bishops decide. Electing the patriarch is the affair of the bishops and delegates of the local council.

But what to believe, for example, is the affair of all. Indeed, any Orthodox bishop is our father, and it does not matter what his name is or what his character traits are. What matters is that he preserve right faith and teach the right commandments. If even an excellent ascetic bishop begins preaching heresy, this is a matter that concerns everyone. This is precisely why there have been instances in the Church when the laity rose up against the errors of bishops or emperors. Saint Maximus the Confessor, for example, took a stand against the delusions of bishops and emperors. Or there have been 49

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instances when bishops spoke out against the crimes of emperors.

Thus, each in his own place is responsible for what unites us all. The Church consists of oneness of faith, oneness of the sacraments, oneness of God’s commandments, and oneness of the hierarchy. All this manifests the oneness of Christ, Who lives in the Church by the Holy Spirit. And the whole Church, every Christian, is responsible for these four kinds of oneness. And this pertains to very simple things. For example, a person comes to visit the marvelous, unacquisitive country of Ukraine. And the question arises: which church should he attend? We must maintain the oneness of the hierarchy, and so that person may go to any lawful church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.

If he should go to any other church, which is outwardly the same but has an unlawful hierarchy, he will receive no sacraments there.

It is the same with the commandments of God. It is one thing if the bishop personally commits various sins. That is what the ecclesiastical court is for. If a bishop has sinned against you, complain to the ecclesiastical court.

If his sin does not concern you, God is his 50

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judge. But if a person teaches you to break the commandments, this concerns you directly. Or if he teaches you to confess a false teaching, this too concerns you. This is the boundary that must be observed.

Chrysostom emphasizes why the apostle said that so also is Christ (1 Cor. 12:12), and not “the Church.” “His meaning is this: ‘So also is the body of Christ, which is the Church.’ For as the body and the head are one man, so he said that the Church and Christ are one. Wherefore also he placed Christ instead of the Church, giving that name to His body. ‘As then,’ says he, ‘our body is one thing though it be composed of many: so also in the Church we all are one thing. For though the Church be composed of many members, yet these many form one body’” [1, Homily 30].

For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13).

One and the same Holy Spirit baptizes us in one body. When a person receives baptism he is not merely united with God, but becomes a single whole with the people of God. By baptism he enters into the Orthodox Church.

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The Holy Spirit baptizes him into the one body of the Church. A person is united with Christ and becomes a member of His Body, in the literal sense of the word. This does not happen through human efforts, but by the power of the Holy Spirit.

For this reason baptism is called a birth of water and of the Spirit (Jn. 3:5). The Holy Spirit makes a sinful descendant of Adam into a son or a daughter of God. So it does not matter who is baptized—Jew or Greek, slave or free.

All enter equally into the Body of Christ. When a person is baptized, that is when his life begins.

For this reason at the tonsure during baptism the Church prays, “Bless, O Lord, this infant,” though the “infant” may already be going grey.

I have been asked: Can a murderer become a priest if he was baptized after the murder?

Yes, he can. Or a lecher who has ceased his lechery and been baptized? He also can. The sin has been washed away by the Holy Spirit in the waters of the sacrament of baptism. The person begins life with a completely clean slate. This is an unimaginable gift, given to people by the power of God. We … have been all made to drink into one Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13).

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One and the same Spirit begat us all in baptism, and the same Spirit made us to drink in chrismation. This refers specifically to chrismation, in which various personal gifts of the Holy Spirit are bestowed for one’s ministry. John Chrysostom explains, “And he said, ‘We were made to drink,’ because this metaphorical speech suited him extremely well for his proposed subject: as if he had said respecting plants and a garden, that by the same fountain all the trees are watered, or by the same water; so also here, ‘we all drank the same Spirit, we enjoyed the same grace,’ says he.

If now one Spirit both formed us and gathered us all together into one body; for this is the meaning of, ‘we were baptized into one body,’ and vouchsafed us one table, and gave us all the same watering (for this is the meaning of ‘we were made to drink into one Spirit’), and united persons so widely separated; and if many things then become a body when they are made one: why, I pray, are you continually tossing to and from their difference? But if you say, ‘Because there are many members and diverse,’ know that this very thing is the wonder and the peculiar excellency of the body, when the things which are many and diverse make one. But if 53

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they were not many, it were not so wonderful and incredible that they should be one body; nay, rather they would not be a body at all” [1, Homily 30].

We all comprise one Body. Wherever we were born, whether in Moscow or Africa, all Orthodox Christians comprise one Body of Christ. We have all drunk of the same Spirit, hence the expression, “chrismated with the same chrism” [cf. “tarred with the same brush”— Trans.]. We are in fact literally chrismated with the same chrism. According to age-old Orthodox tradition, when the patriarch prepares the special fragrant oil in the Church through which the Holy Spirit is bestowed, when it is blessed some of the previous chrism is added to it. Thus, for many centuries chrism that, according to tradition, has been handed down from the apostles unites us all together.

We are literally chrismated with the same chrism by the same Holy Spirit. If this custom is not observed the Holy Spirit will still descend, on the condition that the chrism is blessed by a lawful bishop, but this is an excellent outward manifestation of the oneness of the Church.

The essence of oneness is that we have been all made to drink into one Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13).

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Hence, it cannot be said that we are chrismated with the same chrism as schismatics or heretics.

The Holy Spirit does not descend upon them, and hence they have no chrism.

For the body is not one member, but many.

If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

(1 Cor. 12:14—15).

There are times when a person would prefer to occupy a different place in the Church. He says, “Why am I not there? I want to be there!”

Does this really cause a person to cease being a member of the Church, or is there no longer a need for him to be where he is?

And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

(1 Cor. 12:16). Chrysostom makes an interesting observation: “And see how he kept to the rule of having nothing superfluous; not working out his argument on all the members, but on two only and these the extremes; having specified both the most honorable of all, the eye, and the meanest of all, the feet. And he does not make the foot to discourse with the eye, but with the hand which is mounted a little above it; and the ear with the eyes. For because we are wont to envy not those who are very far above us, but 55

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those who are a little higher, therefore he also conducts his comparison thus” [1, Homily 30].

This is very aptly noted. We are not upset about the inequality between ourselves and the president, but inequality in the workplace upsets us. This is why the apostle says that inequality in the Church does not matter, since in the Body of Christ each is needed in his proper place.

If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased Him. And if they were all one member, where were the body?

But now are they many members, yet but one body (1 Cor. 12:17—20). Paul teaches that if the desire for equality prevailed and all became as though a single member, the body itself would not exist.

Imagine: no hands, no feet—just an eye or an ear lying there. This would be more a mutilation than a body. Feelings of social injustice arise: “How come he can do that and I can’t?” These kinds of questions destroy the oneness of the body. But such is not God’s pleasure, and each is in the place where the Lord has placed him. God places a person as He wills, and not as the person wills, and so there are no grounds for complaints 56

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against another person. Indeed, look around at what goes on in the Church: one person elbows his way through yet accomplishes nothing, while another may appear to do nothing, yet achieves his goal. At other times a person achieves his goal through hard work. In other words, if it pleases God you will occupy a given place, and if it does not please Him you will not. The body of Christ, the Church, is governed by God. But now are they many members, yet but one body.

And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you (1 Cor. 12:20—21). As in an ordinary body one member does not say to another, “I do not need you,” so also in the Church this should not happen. No one can ever say, “Nobody needs me.” It is a big mistake to think, “If I can just pull this off, I will never need anyone else again!” A commander cannot exist without his regiment, and a bishop without a diocese is no longer a bishop, nor a priest without a parish.

John Chrysostom writes this about these words of the apostle: “Having checked the envy of those in lower rank, and having taken off the dejection which it was likely that they would feel from greater gifts having been vouchsafed to others…” [1, Homily 31].

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Through the mouth of the apostle the Lord is combating envy. He knows that envy is one of the most terrible misfortunes for the Church.

Envy is one of the most terrible sins in general, the more so when people begin to tear apart the Body of Christ, fighting with one another.

The malice and hatred that arise from envy are terrible scourges, and the apostle Paul is battling against them to prevent divisions in the churches. Chrysostom continues: “For from the body in what follows, and from the unity thence arising, he proceeds to the actual comparison of the members, a thing on which they were especially seeking to be instructed. Since there was not so much power to console them in the circumstance of their being all one body, as in the conviction that in the very things wherewith they were endowed, they were not left greatly behind. … For though the gift be less, yet is it necessary: and as when the one is absent, many functions are impeded, so also without the other there is a maim in the fullness of the Church.

And he said not, ‘will not say,’ but, ‘cannot say.’

So that even though it wish it, though it should actually say so, it is out of the question, nor is the thing consistent with nature. For this cause having taken the two extremes, he makes trial 58

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of his argument in them, first in respect of the hand and the eye, and secondly, in respect of the head and feet, adding force to the example.

For what is meaner than the foot? Or what more honorable and more necessary than the head?

For this, the head, more than anything, is the man. Nevertheless, it is not of itself sufficient nor could it alone perform all things; since if this were so, our feet would be a superfluous addition� [1, Homily 31].

Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: and those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked. That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another (1 Cor. 12:22—25).

God has deliberately made it so that the more feeble members require greater support.

Greater strength is given to the strongest members of the body, and greater care is given to those that are weaker. When a person has just come into the Church, people talk with him and fuss over him more. This is logical: 59

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that person is simply weaker. When a person is stronger the priest gradually lets him go, so that he will start learning to walk on his own. The same is true of physical growth. An infant is given a great deal of attention: people swaddle him, change his diapers, feed him, and bathe him. But when he becomes older people are less careful of him and he is allowed to go outside on his own. In the Body of Christ likewise a weak person is cared for attentively, while a strong person is looked after less.

This is as it ought to be. God arranged this deliberately to avoid ruptures in the Body, and so that this difference might give rise to love.

Furthermore, the apostle Paul presupposes that this care must be shown not only by the clergy, but also by ordinary Christians. Those who are more advanced must care for those who are less so. What matters to the apostle is not just that there be order among the hierarchy: he expects that the parishioners likewise maintain the friendship of brotherly fellowship among themselves, caring for each other. If, for example, a person is sick, people help support him; if he is sorrowing they console him. All the members of the Church must help one another as needed.

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But God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked. That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another (1 Cor. 12:24—25).

In Church Slavonic the expression is literally “God has mingled the body.” As water is mingled with wine, so God has mingled and mixed communities, so that no community is made up of identically advanced people. There is no parish where everyone is at the same level of advancement. And this is because new people are constantly coming into it. Today in Russia people come into churches straight out of the world, but even in countries where the majority of the population is Orthodox there are children being born who need to grow spiritually. God has deliberately arranged things thus, mixing the strong with the weak, for the sake of mutual support and the love resulting from this.

This is so there will not be schism in the body (1 Cor. 12:25).

A schism is a rupture. Ruptures can cause schisms in the Church. Whether schism or rupture, this is a terrible mortal sin, a monstrous crime against God and the Church, 61

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a revolt against Christ. This is why it is said that schismatics tear apart the seamless vesture of the Body of Christ.

And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it (1 Cor. 12:26).

If even one Christian suffers, misfortune befalls the whole Body. Suppose a person has a splinter in his finger, or gets pancreatitis, but the rest of his body is perfectly healthy. The head will not say, “What’s the difference? I’m not a pancreas!” The pain will affect the head as well. So also the apostle says that the Church does not remain indifferent when one person sins. If one person is afflicted with sin, it hurts everyone around him and the Church as a whole. This is food for thought for those who intend to commit some sin. If you commit the sin, you are doing evil to the whole Church, and it will hurt everyone.

And vice versa: Or [if] one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it (1 Cor. 12:26).

When one member is glad, all the members of the body are glad with it. Why does the Church have feasts of the saints? Because if a saint rejoices with God we too are joyful with him, and we participate in his joy.

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John Chrysostom likewise explains: “‘Yea, with no other view,’ says he, ‘did He make the care He requires common, establishing unity in so great diversity, but that of all events there might be complete communion. Because, if our care for our neighbor be the common safety, it follows also that our glory and our sadness must be common.’ Three things therefore [the apostle] here demands: the not being divided but united in perfection; the having like care for another; and the considering all that happens common. … And not from hence only, but also by all that befalls them, good and painful, are the members bound to one another. Thus often when a thorn is fixed in the heel, the whole body feels it and cares for it: both the back is bent and the belly and thighs are contracted, and the hands coming forth as guards and servants draw out what was so fixed, and the head stoops over it, and the eyes observe it with much care. …

Again if anything is the matter with the eyes, all complain and all are idle: and neither do the feet walk nor the hands work, nor does the stomach enjoy its accustomed food; and yet the affection is of the eyes. “… Let us all then, considering these things, imitate the love of these members; let us 63

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not in any wise do the contrary. … The head is crowned, and the whole man is honored. … So likewise it happens in the Church. I mean, if there be any celebrated persons, the community reaps the good report of it. … And if any be brilliant in speech, they do not praise him alone but likewise the whole Church. For they do not say only, ‘Such a one is a wonderful man,’ but what? ‘The Christians have a wonderful teacher,’ and so they make the possession common. And now let me ask: do heathens bind together, and do you divide and war with your own body, and withstand your own members? Do you not know that this overturns all? ‘For even a kingdom,’ says the Lord, ‘divided against itself shall not stand’ (Mt. 12:25)” [1, Homily 31].

This is indeed the case. For example, some Christians quarrel amongst themselves, and people end up saying, “There they go again, those religious nuts—fighting as usual! Drunks and lazy bums, the lot of them.” Or vice versa: if a Christian does something glorious people say, “My, what a saintly person!” This is observed on the part of the world, because people outside the Church perceive it as a single whole. In other words, even those outside the Body of Christ see plainly that it exists. For this reason 64

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the apostle says that we must be united, that we must not allow divisions, and that we must care for each other. Experience the joy of one person as the joy of all, and the grief of one as the grief of all. Let no one say, “Oh, he’s just an alcoholic—a comical old drunk.” Rather, we must take pity on him and try to extricate him from his wretched state. This is extremely important, for otherwise this disdain for the person will make a mockery of the Body of Christ, and for this the Lord will demand a reckoning. We must help those around us. If even after being admonished a person does not wish to change, he is cut off from the Church by the invisible judgment of God or the visible judgment of the Church. When a person accepts the admonishment of the Church he is restored to health.

Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular (1 Cor. 12:27).

Some may ask: “The apostle was talking about the Body of Christ. What does that have to do with us?” But the apostle replies that you are the Body of Christ, and members in particular. What does “in particular” mean?

The apostle Paul is emphasizing that together we all comprise the Body of Christ. Not in 65

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an individual parish or city, but rather all Christians throughout the world comprise the Body of Christ. The Church is not confined to territories or national borders, but extends to all the Orthodox of the planet. This is why our Church is a Church in particular. We cannot say that the church of Moscow or the whole Russian Church is self-sufficient. There is no self-sufficient church in all the world, for if any church considers itself self-sufficient it is committing a crime against the love of Christ, and it falls away from the Ecumenical Church.

We have already seen an example of this: the Roman Catholic Church considered itself selfsufficient, and it fell away from the Ecumenical Orthodox Church, though it had been the first among all the churches of the world. The same occurred with the Armenian Gregorian Church, which was once Orthodox, but fell away from the unity of the Orthodox Church, considering itself to be self-sufficient and falling into heresy.

For this reason the apostle said, Ye are ‌ members in particular (1 Cor. 12:27).

Chrysostom says, “The Church among you is a part of the Church that exists everywhere, and of the body which is made up of all the Churches: so that not only with yourselves alone, 66

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but also with the whole Church throughout the world, you ought to be at peace, if at least ye be members of the whole body” [1, Homily 32].

This is a very important principle, since frequently when contemplating the differences in the rituals of the various churches people say, “You are doing it all wrong. Your worship is the wrong kind; this is wrong, that is wrong. We do everything completely differently.” And so they create divisions among the churches of God. But the apostle Paul teaches that it is wrong to act like this. As long as there is oneness of faith, which begets oneness of the Church and the sacraments, we must perceive ourselves as members of one Universal Church, and we must maintain that oneness. At baptisms I always emphasize that the person is not entering the Russian Church, but the Universal Church.

A certain venerable metropolitan once visited London, and there he met George Florovsky, the great 20th-century theologian.

The metropolitan asked, “Father George, isn’t it hard for you not to be in the Church in which you were baptized?” (Father George Florovsky belonged to the Patriarchate of Constantinople.) To this Florovsky replied, “Why, I never imagined I was baptized into the 67

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Russian Church. I always thought I was baptized into the Universal Church.”

This kind of warped perception exists even in the circles of ecclesiastical politicians, to say nothing of the common folk, who sometimes live outside the country and see all different religious rites. Muscovites do not even have to go that far to see this. If you take the subway to Kitai Gorod or Tretyakovskaya station you will see churches of the American and Alexandrian Orthodox Churches, where the service is also conducted differently. For example, in both churches Nativity is celebrated twice—on the old and the new calendars—but this in no way destroys the unity of the Church. On the contrary, we see that despite different rituals people preserve one love and one unity of the world.

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In this lies the unity of love. And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers (1 Cor. 12:28). In other words, in the Church God Himself has established His own order.

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What exists in the Church was not established by men. People often attempt to bring their own way of doing things into the churches. There are neutral, indifferent things: you may have a Christmas tree or you may not. In Bethlehem you will see cypress trees decorated, while in Australia people trim palm trees and then traditionally go for a swim after Liturgy, it being very hot there. All these are things of no import: you can decorate any way you like. But the organization of the Church itself, the Body of the Lord, was not created by men. It is not men who established that there are bishops, presbyters, and deacons, or that there are various gifts that act and dwell in the Church of God. God has placed them in the churches. All the chief things in the Church are arranged according to a hierarchy. But not only the hierarchy is established by God: all the rules that exist in the Church also originate from the Lord. God Almighty Himself gave us the dogmas, revealed to us His will and the knowledge concerning Him that must exist in the Church, and on the basis of all this the Church has specific rules for Christian living, which no man has the authority to change.

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It is very important to remember that God is everything in the Church. In conversations with a person who believes only a little or not at all I never say, “The Church teaches this or that,” because for an ordinary person the Church is the clergy who are greedily doing their utmost to line their pockets. In secular society this is unfortunately how the clergy have come to be perceived. But in actuality the Church does not have its own opinion: it lives entirely by the Word of God. Some say, “Why is there no salvation without the Church?

Does our salvation really have to depend on the Church?” We reply that salvation in the Church is given not by men, but by the Creator Himself, Who created us, brought each to life, gives salvation, and determines how it is to be obtained. We have but one road to heaven, and whose fault is it when a person refuses to take it?

And God hath set some in the church, first apostles (1 Cor. 12:28). The first and most important rank that exists in the Church is the rank of the apostles. In it are combined all the spiritual gifts that exist in this world. The apostles possessed the gift of prophecy, they were at once both bishops and missionaries, they possessed the gift 70

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of foreign languages and of teaching, the gift of healings and of great signs. The fullness of the gifts was entrusted to the apostles, and from them it spread throughout the Church. For this reason God “set apostles first.” “He set the apostles first who had all the gifts in themselves,” explains Saint John Chrysostom. According to Ecumenius, they are “the commanders in chief of the faith,” and Theophylact of Bulgaria says that the apostles are “conductors of all spiritual gifts and treasures.” This refers not only to the twelve apostles, but also to the seventy who were chosen by the Lord, as well as the apostles Paul and Barnabus. All those whom the Lord named apostles were set at the head of the Church of God. The grace of the apostles is so great that they will even become the foundation of the Heavenly Jerusalem: And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (Rev. 21:14).

Secondarily prophets (1 Cor. 12:28).

The Lord gave the second place in the Church to the prophets. This refers not to the ancient prophets of the Old Testament, but to the prophets who today reveal the secrets of men’s hearts and the mysteries of the future, and who reveal the will of God for specific 71

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people. John Chrysostom explains: “If Christ says, The Law and the Prophets prophesied until John (Mt. 11:13), He says it of those prophets who before proclaimed His coming” [1, Homily 32].

The ancient prophets made Revelation more perfect. But prophets appointed by the Lord today cannot add anything new to Revelation. Rather, they expound on the ultimate Revelation, which has already been given in the appearance of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, as it pertains to men. There can be no revelation, no Third Testament, from any source that would be greater than the appearance of the Lord in the flesh.

To those who say that a Third Testament is needed we may reply that then Christ would not have kept His promise: He would have abandoned us, though He promised, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world (Mt. 28:20).

But we know that Christ did not lie. We feel in our hearts that He is among us, and we live and breathe the Lord’s presence. Hence, a Third Testament is neither necessary nor possible.

Of the New Testament prophets John Chrysostom says, “For they used to prophesy, 72

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as the daughters of Philip, as Agabus, as these very persons among the Corinthians, of whom he says, Let the prophets speak, two or three (1 Cor. 14:29)” [1, Homily 32]. In general there were then far more prophets than in the Old Testament, since this gift was sent down not upon ten, twenty, fifty, or a hundred people, but rather this grace was poured out in abundance, and every church had many prophets.

This is how it was when Christ’s Church began. Incidentally, the gift of prophecy is encountered to this day. Whereas the gift of apostleship went away and is manifested in various other gifts, the gift of prophecy continues to be poured out into the world from the Holy Spirit to the degree that we require this. The gift of prophecy is manifested through elders and righteous people. For example, Saint John of Kronstadt and other prophets who have revealed God’s will for this world may be called prophets in the literal sense of the word.

Thirdly teachers (1 Cor. 12:28).

Teachers—this is the third ministry that exists in the Church. Whereas apostles are to establish the hierarchy and proclaim the gospel to new nations, teachers teach existing communities. Teachers, or didaskaloi in Greek, 73

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are people whose work it is to teach the Church of God. This primarily pertains to bishops and presbyters who have a particular talent from God. Their gift is lesser than the gift of prophecy, since the prophets expound on the mysteries of the future or the secrets of men’s hearts, while teachers expound on the wondrous mysteries of the divine life that is hidden in Divine Revelation, yet at the same time they employ their own intellect for this.

Of this Saint Chrysostom says, “He that prophesies speaks all things from the Spirit; but he that teaches sometimes discourses also out of his own mind. Wherefore also he said, Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and in teaching (1 Tim. 5:17), whereas he that speaks all things by the Spirit does not labor. This accordingly is the reason why he set him after the prophet, because the one is wholly a gift but the other is also man’s labor. For he speaks many things of his own mind, agreeing however with the sacred Scriptures” [1, Homily 32].

The gift of teaching also remains in the Church to this day. It is interesting to note that it comes in waves. God gives this gift as it is needed. For example, in the Russian Church 74

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there was a period, beginning with Metropolitan Daniel in the 16th century and lasting up to Patriarch Nikon, when there were no preachers whatsoever. For a hundred years Russian priests contented themselves with the teachings of the holy fathers. Only Patriarch Nikon undertook to restore preaching in the churches, but this too was limited by the decrees of Peter. In the 19th century there lived great preachers, such as Saint Philaret of Moscow, Saint Theophan the Recluse, Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov), and Saint John of Kronstadt. All of them had to write down their texts, submit them to consistory officials for approval, and only then read the approved text as a sermon—hence the expression “to read a sermon.” We retain only the remnants of this custom, e.g., in the form of the patriarch’s Nativity missive. In the 20th century, as persecutions began, preaching also began to flourish. All theological institutions and schools were closed, and the only way left to teach people the Holy Scriptures was by preaching in the churches. Great preachers began to appear. I recall Fr. Vsevolod Shpiller, who preached in the church of the NikoloKuznetsk quarter. There is also the example of Archbishop Cyprian in the church on Ordynka.

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They created cycles of sermons, and the people who came to the service could learn the fundamentals of the faith. Bishop Cyprian even joked that his sermons were what “the bishop said to the Jews that came unto him.” These sermons had to do with the fact that when “By the Rivers of Babylon” was sung there would be a great many Jews in church, who would come to hear this particular hymn because they were not being allowed to leave the country to go to the Holy Land. Hence, Bishop Cyprian would give sermons specifically for the Jews. This concludes our brief detour through the history of sermonizing.

After that miracles (1 Cor. 12:28).

As has already been said, these powers are different from the gift of healings. They refer to the ability to perform all kinds of miracles. As John Chrysostom says, “Do you see how he again divides the healings from the power, which also he did before? For the power is more than the healing: since he that has power both punishes and heals, but he that has the gift of healings does cures only” [1, Homily 32]. For example, the apostle John, who possessed the gift of power, took the life of Cynops. Attempting to mock the apostle, Cynops went into the water 76

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and promised to emerge again after three days as a demonstration of his power. The apostle however made the sign of the cross over the water and spread his cassock over it, and Cynops emerged from the water no more. There are many examples of such powers in Scripture, as well, including the power to punish.

We could recall the story of how the sorcerer Elymas opposed the apostle Paul, but Paul said, And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season (Acts 13:11). Ananius and Sapphira lost their lives for lying to God. Then gifts of healings (1 Cor. 12:28).

Naturally, the gift of healings is the ability to deliver people from illnesses by prayer.

This gift was richly manifested in the Church and continues to be to this day. People are healed not only by the prayers of priests; for example, we all remember Blessed Matrona.

Of all the gifts that are set lower than teaching, Theodoret of Cyrus says this: “The apostle set teaching before these gifts not without reason, but thereby to teach that these gifts are for the sake of the teaching, and not the teaching for their sake. For teaching was an aid to salvation. But inasmuch as people did not 77

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accept it without signs, miracles were worked as necessary for those who came, as a kind of security” [9].

In other words, the gift of teaching is more important than the gift of healing. Ordinarily things happen differently in our lives. We say, “How I wish I could find a miracle worker!” But according to the apostle, working miracles is inferior to teaching. Miracles are for the sake of teaching, not teaching for the sake of miracles.

Basil the Great worked hardly any miracles, yet he is called an ecumenical teacher of the Church. The Church glorified his gift more than the gift of working miracles. We have the great saint, the great martyr and healer Panteleimon, but the Church celebrates his memory less than the memory of Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom, though all three did not work many miracles.

Next follows the gift of helps (1 Cor. 12:28).

This may be rendered as the gift of intercession or support. This gift is not examined in detail by scriptural commentators, but Theophan the Recluse writes this: “People intercede for one who suffers hurt and violence. If we expand this definition and consider all that an infirm person may suffer, due to which he may require 78

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intercession, this gift may be understood to include a great deal. People suffer from the injustices of men, they suffer from poverty and sicknesses, they suffer violence and the assaults of the demons. Accordingly, there will be a gift of intercessions or a gift of courage and wisdom in defense of those oppressed by the authorities, or a gift of caring for the poor and the sick, or a gift of power over demons. But the closest is intercession in defense from evil men and demons� [2].

This is not a human gift, but one of the wondrous gifts of the Holy Spirit that is bestowed to the Church. We pray to Saints Cyprian and Justina, for example, to defend ourselves from attacks of evil spirits, or people pray to Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker to keep evil men from devouring a person. All this is a manifestation of the gift of intercession.

The next gift is the gift of governments (1 Cor. 12:28).

This means government of local churches, dioceses, and parishes. Without this gift of the Holy Spirit people would be unable to cope with anything. It can happen that a person is a good person, but if he is placed in charge everything falls to pieces. This special gift is 79

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entrusted to preserve the churches in order, including economic order. Hence, those who attempt to achieve something in the Church through political schemes usually fail, since the Holy Spirit does not give them the gift of government. As a result, everything falls apart for them. Many do not understand this, but everything in the Church occurs of the Holy Spirit.

Theophylact of Bulgaria links the gifts of helps and governments: “Helps, governments, i.e., in order to intercede for the infirm and to govern or arrange the affairs of the brethren.

Although this depends on our own zeal, the apostle calls these gifts of God, teaching us to be grateful to God for them and to look to Him, and not to exalt ourselves” [17].

The last of the gifts that the apostle names is diversities of tongues (1 Cor. 12:28). This is the gift of various foreign languages that the Holy Spirit has given to the Church in order to spread the holy gospel among the nations.

Christians could speak in foreign languages and proclaim the great miracles of God. It is not for nothing that in the Church Slavonic text rodi yazykov literally means “kinds of tongues.” This emphasizes that there are all different varieties 80

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of foreign languages that the Lord entrusted to various people individually. We find an example of this gift in Ephraim the Syrian, who at the prayer of Basil the Great acquired the ability to speak Greek, in order to speak with the Greek brethren. For the most part this gift disappeared from the Church after the abuses of the 2nd century.

Theodoret of Cyrus makes this observation: “The apostle gives the gift the last place not by chance, but because the Corinthians thought highly of it and exploited it inordinately for show, rather than according to need. For to this end the apostle laid out the order of the gifts, and said which of them is first, which second, and which third, so as that care might be given to what was most needed� [9].

In chapter 14 the apostle Paul explains in detail what kind of gift this is and why it should not be considered too great. This he does not by chance, since to this day there are sectarians within the Church and outside it who attempt to abuse a parody of this gift.

They babble meaningless nonsense and think that they possess the gift of the apostles. Paul is speaking not of a counterfeit, of babbling, and still less of the kind of shamanistic rituals that 81

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the Pentecostals have, but of the gift of speaking normal human languages in order to preach the gospel.

The apostle Paul consoles them: Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way (1 Cor. 12:29—31).

Paul is saying, “Here you are, indignant because you say your gift is a small one. But does everyone have all the gifts? Are all in the Church apostles and prophets, speaking in tongues, able to interpret tongues, capable of working miracles and signs? No, not all. Such was God’s good pleasure, so why are you indignant?” Once again the apostle is teaching Christians not to envy with the terrible envy of Cain, since all things are from God, not from men.

Theodoret of Cyrus wrote, “By this the apostle again consoled those who had received gifts that they deemed to be lesser, and clearly taught that it is impossible for all to have the same gifts, and that they have need of one another, as the members of the body have need of mutual assistance” [9]. In other words, the apostle is saying that all gifts are needed. John 82

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Chrysostom adds, “And this He did, procuring thereby abundant harmony and love, that each one standing in need of the other might be brought close to his brother. This economy He established also in the arts, this also in the elements, this also in the plants, and in our members, and absolutely in all things” [1, Homily 32].

It pleased God to separate the gifts, so that by supporting each other by different spiritual and ordinary gifts Christians might learn better to love. The Lord deliberately created inequality and will never give equality, so that love might arise from this difference. God established wealth and poverty and created more talented and less talented people, so that each might help the other and might learn to love through this mutual aid. This is necessary so that people might not abide in a state of pride: “I can do anything; I have no need to go looking for anyone else.” It is well known that the spirit who at the time of creation received all gifts from God grew proud and decided he could manage even without God. He decided not to serve the other beings of the universe with these gifts, but rather that others should serve him. For this very reason God no longer 83

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creates beings that would possess all things at once, that all might experience a need for one another.

But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way (1 Cor. 12:31).

The apostle Paul is saying that if you wish to receive great gifts, this is indeed possible: you must demonstrate zeal, and if it proceeds from love the Lord will give you these gifts. But this is not what matters most. All the gifts we have been given are given not just for man, but for the Church. For example, if a person possesses the gift of healing this is given to him so that he can heal other people. One who possesses the gift of teaching does not teach for himself, but serves the Church. He himself cannot benefit from the gift. For this reason Paul teaches us to strive earnestly to obtain the best gifts, and he will show us “a more excellent way.” What way is this? There are the ways of various gifts, but the greatest and most excellent way is the way of the gift of love. It is greater than prophecy, teaching, apostleship—greater than anything at all. Many are delighted with various lesser gifts, but ignore the most excellent way, forgetting the simple fact that without love all other ways will not help us. Note, the apostle emphasizes, that 84

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this greatest of the ways is also a gift of the Holy Spirit.

In the epistle to the Romans Paul says that the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us (Rom. 5:5).

In other words, the love of which the apostle is speaking is not the natural feeling of man, but the greatest of the gifts of God, which is given to those who strive for it. When people say, “That is a loving person because he has a terrific love life,” this means one thing. The word “love” is befouled in every way possible. Or people say that such and such a person is loved by all simply because he is a good person. But true love is a gift of the Holy Spirit. It is already given to us potentially in baptism and chrismation, but it must be developed with the cooperation of the mind, the will, and the heart. The seed of love is placed in us, and it enables us to live a Christian life. But if we do not follow this path we will never reach our destination. For this reason the apostle specifically emphasizes that love is not a state, but a way of life—the most excellent way, that leads beyond all things.

Saint Photius says this: “I show you a way upon which, having no need of any of the gifts indicated, you will nevertheless find yourselves 85

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better and more perfect than all others” [2].

You may not be a prophet, you may not speak in foreign tongues, you may not possess the gift of teaching, you may have none of the gifts that the apostle has listed, but you will be above all others if you have this one gift.

“What gift can this be? It is a thing most simple, easy, and achieved with the greatest possible ease—namely, love. One who has acquired pure love has risen higher than all others and surpassed all others. But one who does not have it has fallen below all others, and is desolate besides [of all spiritual good things].

Once you have acquired love you will no longer gaze enviously and with faintness of heart upon the exalted gifts of others” [2].

Here the apostle carefully, gently, as is his custom, points out the reason for the envy that was reigning among Christians, the reason why people were discontented with what they had.

The chief reason, according to the apostle, is a lack of desire to obtain love, to search for love.

To be sure, it is impossible to leap straight to the top of the ladder, but the foundation of love is laid at baptism, and so a person who is unbaptized can always begin there. If you do not take this path you will not ascend very far.

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The Superiority of Love

THE SUPERIORITY OF LOVE

The apostle describes this most exalted way: Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal (1 Cor. 13:1).

The apostle begins with the gift which, he will later say, was particularly popular in the Corinthian Church: “Even if I should speak every language there is on the planet, and even if I should know the languages of the angels, but I do not have love, all this will be useless to me.”

This raises the question: what are the “tongues of angels”? Sometimes we hear Pentecostals and charismatics say that the tongues of the angels are the senseless nonsense that they babble. No, the tongues of the angels are a special form of mental communication that the angels have among themselves.

We know that the prophets saw how the angels replied to one another. The seraphim sing, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of Thy glory.” This we remember from the sixth chapter of the book of the prophet Isaiah. Above [the Lord’s throne] stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered 87

What Gifts Should We Ask of God?

his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory (Is. 6:2—3).

We also recall the description in Revelation of the cherubim standing round about the throne of God. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come (Rev. 4:8).

But in relaying the revelation to one another they do not employ human speech, since being fleshless spirits they simply exchange thoughts.

In crude terms, they communicate by telepathy.

“And even if a person is able to communicate by telepathy, but does not have love, this is of no benefit to him,” says the apostle Paul. Even if a person is able to communicate like the angels, it is useless to him if he does not know how to love.

Here Theophan the Recluse says this: “Love is the inner power of life. Immersing itself in God and filling itself with Him, love supplies the things of itself and all the things of God to the brethren, in whom it likewise dwells not in thought, but in the heart, and perceives all things that concern them as concerning itself.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Translator’s note: This bibliography has been revised to reflect the English sources used in producing this translation. Scriptural texts are from the King James Version, with rare exceptions when another version better matched the original Russian, and with the exception of the psalms, taken from The Psalter According to the Seventy, Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA. All texts here listed from Christian Literature Publishing Co. are taken from www.NewAdvent.org, revised for that site by Kevin Knight and used with permission, with occasional minor revisions by Dcn. Nathan Wiliams.

1. Saint John Chrysostom. Homilies on First Corinthians. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 12. Translated by Talbot W. Chambers.

Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1889.

2. Saint Theophan the Recluse. Collected Works, vol. 6 of 31. Moscow, 2008 [Russian].

3. Saint Gregory Palamas. The Triads in Defense of the Holy Hesychasts. Academic Project, 2011 [Russian].

4. Saint Cyprian of Carthage. On the Unity of the Church. From Anti-Nicene Fathers, vol. 5. Translated

by Robert Ernest Wallis. Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886.

5. Saint Basil the Great. Nine Homilies on the Hexaemeron. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series. Translated by Blomfield Jackson. Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1895.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

Saint Basil the Great, archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia. The Great Asceticon, vol. 2. Moscow, 2008 [Russian].

Saint John Chrysostom. The Sacrament of the Cup of Christ. Moscow, 2009 [Russian].

Saint John of the Ladder. The Ladder, revised second edition. Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA, 1991.

Blessed Theodoret of Cyrus. Works. Moscow, 2005 [Russian].

Prayer Book, fourth edition revised, second printing, with corrections. Jordanville, NY: St. Job of Pochaev Printing Shop, 1996 Saint Cyril of Alexandria. Explanation of the Gospel of John. Moscow, 2011 [Russian].

Saint Cyril of Alexandria. Catechetical Lectures.

Translated by Edwin Hamilton Gifford. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 7.

Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1894.

Saint Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain, Macarius of Corinth. A Most Edifying Book on Unceasing Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

Akhtyr Monastery, 2004 [Russian].

Saint John Chrysostom. Homilies on Ephesians.

Translated by Alexander Gross. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 13. Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1889.

Saint John Cassian. Conferences. Translated by C.S. Gibson. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 221

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16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

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Second Series, Vol. 11. Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1894.

Athanasius the Great. Life of Saint Anthony.

Translated by H. Ellershaw. From Nicene and PostNicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 4. Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1892.

Saint Theophylact of Bulgaria. Commentaries on the Acts and Epistles of the Holy Apostles. Moscow, 2014 [Russian].

Saint Symeon the New Theologian. Sermon on the Three Forms of Attention and Prayer. From The Philokalia (Russian edition), vol. 5, pp. 463–464.

Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra, 1992.

Blessed Augustine. City of God. Translated by Marcus Dods. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 2. Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1887.

Works of our Holy Father John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, vol. 2, book 1. Kiev, 2012 [Russian].

Works of our Holy Father John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, vol. 10, book 2. Kiev, 2012 [Russian].

Saint Theophan the Recluse. Collected Works, vol. 7 of 31. Moscow, 2008 [Russian].

The Order of Confession: priest’s prayer of absolution at the sacrament of confession. From The Book of Needs. Moscow, 2013 [Russian].

Saint Theophan the Recluse. Collected Works, vol. 22 of 31. Moscow, 2008 [Russian].

BIBLIOGRAPHY

25. Saint Basil the Great. Ascetic Sermons. Moscow, 2001 [Russian].

26. Saint Vincent of Lerins. Commonitory for the Antiquity and Universality of the Catholic Faith Against the Profane Novelties of All Heresies, 53. Translated

by E.A. Heurtley. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 11. Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1894.

27. Saint Philaret (Drozdov). Sermons and Talks, vol. 3.

Moscow, 2012 [Russian].

28. Saint Joseph of Volokolamsk. The Enlightener, sermon 12. Joseph of Volokolamsk Monastery, 2006.

29. Saint John Chrysostom. Discourses Against Judaizing Christians. From The Fathers of the Church, vol.

68. CUA Press, Washington D.C., 2010.

30. Saint Theophan the Recluse. Commentary on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians of the Holy Apostle Paul. From Compiled Works, in 25 volumes. Moscow: Pravilo Very, 2004–2010 [Russian].

Priest Daniel Sysoev

What Gifts Should We Ask of God?

Talks on the First and Second Epistles of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians In 12 books Book 6

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