The Gospel in Preaching and Teaching.

        The presentation of the Gospel in preaching and teaching is an immensely important ministry. The great of Mt 28:16-20 calls for making disciples not only by baptizing them but also by catechizing them regarding Jesus' commandments. Among the Church Fathers for example, St. Basil taught that the aim of preaching is to bring people under the lordship of Christ, to draw them into the life of the Church, and to build up their personal lives in the likeness of the new creation in Christ.  The ministry of evangelization applies not only to outsiders but also to Christians themselves. Evangelization lifts up and exalts the person of Christ heightening the awareness of hearers not only to the blessings but also the demands of the Gospel such as to repent of their sins, to seek first the kingdom and its righteousness, to practice self-denial and serve others in his name. Sound evangelization implies constant alertness regarding integrity and renewal in all expressions of the life of the Church, the primary antidote against the all-too-human tendency toward routine, professionalism and ritualism. Worship in spirit and truth cannot occur apart from evangelization through preaching and teaching. An integral part of the Liturgy itself is the reading of Holy Scripture, the preaching of God's word, and its practical application in the lives of God's people. The prayer for the lectionary lesson in the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom asks the Lord to grant not only understanding of the Gospel message but also obedience to his commandments with these words:

Shine within our hearts, loving Master, the pure light of Your divine knowledge

and open the eyes of our minds that we may comprehend the message of your gospel.

Instill in us also reverence for your blessed commandments, so that having conquered

sinful desires we may pursue a spiritual way of life, thinking and doing all those things

that are pleasing to You.

But what does it mean to present the Gospel in preaching and teaching? How is the Gospel understood, interpreted, and expounded? In Protestantism the main preoccupation is with Saint Paul's teaching concerning justification by faith and not by works of the Law. The Reformers took their stand on the principle of justification by faith as opposed to that of meritorious works. Justification by faith alone — the word “alone” being a considerable addition to the Pauline expression — became Protestantism's defining doctrinal position from which ensued the catch phrases “Scripture alone,” “Christ alone,” “Gospel alone,” and “me and God's word alone,” leading not infrequently to “my interpretation alone.” The strength of traditional Protestantism is the unremitting focus on Scripture, the Gospel, as well as personal faith concerning which Protestants have taught much to Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christians. The weakness lies in ecclesiology, doctrinal coherence, and a polemical overemphasis on the “alone” which, though justifiable as a corrective in the medieval context, appears reductionistic as an interpretive key to the witness of the whole Bible in its own historical and theological context.

        In whatever ways these matters are argued, the point is that the definition and presentation of the Gospel in preaching and teaching is inescapably influenced by one's confessional background and doctrinal position. Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as pure “grace alone,” “Scripture alone,” “Christ alone,” or “faith alone,” whether in antiquity or modern times. Revelation did not occur in a vacuum apart, as it were, from the receptivity of human subjects. Scripture as a canonical entity developed over many centuries, not without disputes of course, as well as decisions involving ecclesial tradition, doctrine, and councils. Christ and the Gospel were promoted by His followers, not by His enemies, nor by some other objective observers. And what is faith apart from reason and conduct? Truth itself, however it may be perceived, including that which is perceived from the perspective of the “alone” language, is grounded in community. Thus all Christians encounter one another as communities of faith. They are called by Christ and the Spirit to dialogue with mutual respect and faithful openness for the sake of the glory of Christ and the potential unity of the Church.

        The Orthodox bear testimony to their own stream of tradition that is largely unencumbered by the dichotomies of Scripture and tradition, word and sacrament, Gospel and law, grace and will, faith and works, as well as faith and reason.^[48] In the Orthodox tradition all these elements have been held together as parts of the same reality of truth in which unquestionably the revealed initiative and saving action belong to God, yet require the positive response of human beings. The sovereign efficacy of grace is confessed, while the active role of the receptive will is recognized. The primacy of faith is declared, while the necessity of works according to which believers, as well, will be judged is affirmed. The supreme authority of Scripture is unquestioned, but the obvious necessity of its discerning use and normative interpretation is acknowledged.

        For the Orthodox the authoritative witnesses to the presentation of the Gospel in preaching and teaching are the great Church Fathers who were preeminently preachers of God's word and biblical theologians. The most notable example is John Chrysostom (ca. 350-407), the man with the “golden mouth” (Chrysostomos), whose works glow with immense zeal for the Scriptures as well as with focus on their practical application. Chrysostom’s favorite apostle was Saint Paul in praise of whom he wrote several homilies^[49] and on whose entire corpus of letters he bequeathed to us valuable commentaries. Paul was his supreme example of a fearless preacher of the Gospel who, according to Chrysostom, took up the cross and proclaimed the good news in the face of the gates of hell itself. Saint John himself preached the message of Scripture with equal courage and died in exile on account of his uncompromising witness to the word of God.^[50]

        Although Chrysostom nowhere discusses the Gospel as a separate subject, for him the good news in its widest scope is associated with the entire Scriptures, Old and New Testaments, as the revelation of divine truth.^[51] But in particular the four canonical Gospels bear testimony to the supreme source of truth and heavenly blessings, including remission of sins, righteousness, sanctification, inheritance of heaven, and intimate closeness to the Son of God. These blessings are undeserved gifts on account of God's great love toward humanity. To quote him: “For [it is] not by laboring and sweating, not by fatigue and suffering, but merely as being beloved of God [that], we received what we have received.”^[52] While he is aware of certain apparent discrepancies among the Gospels, he grounds their veracity in their agreement on the essentials of Jesus's ministry, the basis of Christian life and proclamation (ten zoen kai to kerygma). What are these essentials? According to St. John, they are the incarnation, the miracles of Jesus, His death and resurrection, His ascension and glorious return as Judge, His ethical commandments, and that He is the true Son sharing the same essence with the Father.^[53]

        For Chrysostom, the very heart of the Gospel is the living Christ, His saving work, and the blessings He bestows upon those who receive Him. Along with an apostolic boldness about possessing the truth, one meets in Saint John a call to proclaim and teach the Gospel to all. While he hides the failings neither of individual Christians nor of the Church as an institution,^[54] he shines with the conviction that the success of the Christian faith is not the result of human talents or favorable historical circumstances but the achievement of divine grace at work in history. The power of the Gospel derives from the risen Christ and the pentecostal gift of the Spirit. And the victorious legacy of Christianity is linked to the proclamation of the Gospel. The model preacher is the Apostle Paul whose proclamation of the Gospel Saint John exalts as the rising of the sun dispelling the darkness from the world.^[55]

        Chrysostom has been erroneously accused of moralizing. It is true that he untiringly calls for the practical application of the demands of the gospel, with recurrent attention to the needs of the poor, and is routinely critical of the temptations of city life such as the chariot races and the theater. He is also the heir of classical education based on earnest will and disciplined effort toward character formation over against other philosophical and religious currents advocating blind fate and determinism. Nevertheless, it would be erroneous to see his moral emphasis as “righteousness by works.”  A contextual and holistic reading of Chrysostom prove him to be a preacher and pastor with a balanced biblical vision pertaining to family life, occupations, social relationships, and civic duties. After all, he could not forget that the Master commanded his followers to be doers, not merely hearers, of his words. He read the Gospel of Matthew as well as that of John, and the Book of James as well as that of Galatians. In fact a close reading of Galatians shows that the problem in the Galatian churches was not “moralizing” but “Judaizing,” as Chrysostom is quite aware. Thus Saint Paul's contrast between faith and works pertained to the ritual obligations of the Mosaic Law, notably circumcision (Gal. 2:3; 5:2-3,6,11-12; 6:12-13), not good works which Paul everywhere deems necessary for Christians under pain of God's judgment.^[56]

        The position of Chrysostom, as that of the Eastern Fathers generally, envisions a synergistic relationship between grace and will, faith and works, with the accent unerringly falling on grace and faith. In the Orthodox tradition the notion of synergy implies no more and no less than what the biblical idea of covenant permits. The initiative and saving activity belong to God, while the free and active response of human beings is also required, indeed demanded. For Chrysostom this response included a number of things such as faith, the hearing of the soul, firm resolve, regular reading of the Scriptures, inner cleansing, and right conduct. According to him, Christ has done his part — he has made the marriage, has prepared the table, and has sent messengers to call the guests. It falls to us, both before and after Baptism, to supply faith, and not only faith but also zeal and earnestness of a pure life.^[57]

        Saint John Chrysostom praises faith in numerous places. For him, living faith is a great blessing, the mother of all good things. Faith grasps the mysteries of revelation. Rational explanation of such mysteries as the incarnation, the virgin birth, the power of cross, the heavenly birth of which Jesus spoke to Nicodemus, and the like, invite derision; not because of the weakness of these truths themselves but because heavenly matters cannot be brought under the scrutiny of human reasoning.^[58] Faith has the capacity to receive God's gifts, such as the righteousness revealed through the preaching of the Gospel (Rom. 1:17. This righteousness, Chrysostom states, “is not your own, but that of God . . . for you do not achieve it by toilings and labors, but you receive it from above, contributing one thing only from your own choice, believing.”^[59] It is his confidence on the accomplished work of God and the blessings of the Gospel that leads Chrysostom to view the whole of life, despite its vast troubles, as a continuous festival despite inevitable sufferings.