Homily on the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the Fourth Ecumenical Synod: The Struggle on Behalf of the Orthodox Phronema (Fr. Athanasios Mitilinaios)

 

Homily on the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the Fourth Ecumenical Synod: 
The Struggle on Behalf of the Orthodox Phronema 

By Archimandrite Fr. Athanasios Mitilinaios

(Delivered at the Monastery of Komnenion in Larisa on July 19, 1981)

"Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:19).

There exists, my beloved, a tendency among humans, precisely because of their fallen state, to always distort the truth. Many have the inclination to insert their own subjective views into the objective reality; as a result, a distortion and corruption ensues. Naturally, this is a consequence of human selfishness, which is the core of the sin that exists in every descendant of Adam, who is fallen. I need not mention that this is also present in the devil. The devil, particularly proud, would never wish to accept God's truth as it is offered, but would rather insert his own subjective views and distort God's truth.

Thus, as you perceive, the integrity of the word of God is a matter of utmost importance, which every believer must heed if they truly wish to be saved. The Lord, being fully aware that He is being heard by people, not merely fallen individuals but also those quite corrupted, like the rulers of the people, the priests, the clergy, the Pharisees, the Scribes, and the lawyers — those who were leaders of the people — these individuals possessed great arrogance and thus always sought to distort the word of God. My beloved, if one considers their rabbinic output known as the Talmud, which contains six thousand commandments, this alone is sufficient for you to understand… the majority of which are a distortion, a perversion of the truth, you can grasp from this how these individuals operated.

The Lord said precisely in this instance that all these constructs are commandments of men. They become so burdensome that even those who impose them cannot lift them even with their little finger. In fact, they cannot uphold any of these, not even the slightest. Yet these individuals demanded that all these matters be imposed upon the people. Moreover, the Holy Scriptures, the New Testament, contain several such cases. It states that if they did not wash their hands – ultimately, this is a matter of cleanliness, not a religious issue – then it was a sin, for by eating with unwashed hands, they became sinners... And many more. Therefore, having before Him a multitude of people who could distort the truth and exhibit selectivity towards the word of God, the Lord proclaimed this significant statement: "Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven."

Why did the Lord call it "one of the least of these commandments"? What are these commandments? "These." Which ones are these? Those which the Lord teaches. And why does He refer to them as "least"? Because they were considered least by people, making a choice. They would say: "this commandment is important," "that one is not important, it's in the wastebasket, we are not interested in it." Note that this always exists within the Church. The faithful always do this. Take a look. At what? At the environment? My beloved, let us take a look at ourselves, we see that we too choose the word of God. When we read the Scripture or when we hear a sermon, we hold onto what is not painful in its application; the painless. And we set aside the painful and put it aside. And we say, "Well, these are for some others." In this way, we underestimate the word of God and have a distinction regarding the major and minor commandments of God. In the face of this very phenomenon, the Lord said - He ironically remarks, as if saying: "Do you consider the commandments to be of little importance? Well then, I tell you, if you break, that is, disregard, if you do not apply, if you underestimate one of these commandments that you think is insignificant, you will be called least in the Kingdom of God." In other words, you will be insignificant. This means you will not enter the Kingdom of God.

Therefore, beloved, you see that the issue of adhering to the commandments is very significant and that we must diligently observe the word of God and not distort it; nor must we select portions of it, but we should apply it in its entirety. Why? Because you are not saved, my brethren, if you keep the whole law and stumble at one point. Does not the Brother of God James tell us this? If you stumble at one law, if you do not handle one commandment properly, then you are a transgressor of the whole law. To understand this, consider that you may be a good citizen, yet if you violate one law, you are imprisoned. Can you argue in court that you are a good citizen? The court does not dispute your status as a good citizen; however, it observes the transgressed command in front of it. And it sends you to prison. This is precisely what the word of God means.

But the important thing is not only this. The important thing, my beloved, is that if we distort the truth of the gospel, then we do not have Orthodoxy. We do not have the Orthodox faith as it is offered to us by God, pure and unblemished. This is what it means to be Orthodox. To believe in the word of God exactly as it is presented, without additions or omissions, and without alterations. And even more importantly: from Orthodoxy arises Orthopraxy. Therefore, if I have a precise understanding of the word of God, I must correctly apply the word of God. If I have distorted the truth, will my experiences not be distorted as well? Certainly they will. As you can understand, this is a very significant matter that we must take great care of.

Let us see then what we must do. We must first understand the content of our faith, as it is interpreted by the Church and within the Church. Let us not forget that heresies arose from the attempt to interpret the word of God according to one's own understanding, as one thought or wished. The Church interprets the gospel and is the steward of the correct interpretation. When heresies arose, as today our Church commemorates the memory of the 630 God-bearing Fathers of the Fourth Ecumenical Synod, which convened in Chalcedon to affirm the dogma of the two natures of Christ, essentially to counter Monophysitism, that Jesus is perfect God and perfect man. Because in relation to the Arian issue, the divinity of Christ was attacked by Arianism, and the First Ecumenical Synod emphasized the perfection of the divine nature of Jesus. The Fourth Ecumenical Synod - Christological was the First and Christological was the Fourth - as well comes to affirm the perfect human nature of Christ. That is to say, exactly the opposite of what Arius proclaimed is now being expressed by new heretics, such as Eutyches, Dioscorus, etc.

As you can understand, all these were established within the Church. Many believe that the Church acquired new dogmas due to the Synods. There is no greater deception. My beloved, these dogmas were already laid down in the Church. The Church has always believed, for example, that Jesus Christ is perfect man and perfect God, that is to say, perfect God-man. When an issue arose, the Church was compelled to affirm this truth in a Synod. This truth, this belief, is not new; it does not come to light with the presence of a Synod. It simply exists and has been established in the Church. It is the faith of the Church. And now a Synod comes to define and affirm what the Church has always believed. Therefore, these are not new matters. How is it that some say, "Dogmas and doctrines and Synods...' and reject them outright? How dreadful a thing this is! And they believe that they are immovable things. They are immovable because the truth is immovable. And if you take the philosophers, my beloved, this is what they believe. That the truth is immovable, unchanging. It cannot be altered. How, then, would you want the truth not to change while considering the dogmas, my brethren, as rusty, outdated, and useless? And yet it is supposedly an obstacle to the expansion of your Christian life and faith in the modern world?

But, my beloved, I would tell you, two things have given birth to heresy: ignorance and egoism. And if someone is an egoist with a demonic egoism, they will become heretical and insist on their heresy. However, the many, the very many, our faithful, are motivated by ignorance. They do not know the content of the faith. Saint John Chrysostom says that "the ignorance of the Scriptures has introduced the plague of heresies and has corrupted life, turning everything upside down." Why? Because there is ignorance of the Scriptures. We do not sufficiently study the word of God. We do not know the content of our faith. It is tragic. It is tragic to call ourselves Christians and to be unaware of the content of our faith.

I would like to give you an example. Please tell me, today especially, when professions are emerging, so to speak, from educational institutions, more or less. Even the smaller and easier professions are coming out of schools. Don't we sometimes learn the history of our profession? Or wouldn't we be curious to learn about the history of our profession? The history of science is always taught in the university. The history of each science. The history of Medicine. The history of Physics, and so on. You, my brethren, do you not have the curiosity to learn the history of Christianity? Nowadays, no one can live and be a good scientist, to earn money and have a reputation, if they do not know their work well, if they do not update their knowledge, because knowledge continuously renews itself in every profession. My brethren, do you not have the curiosity to know the content of your faith? Have you never asked, my brethren,... Where do I come from and where am I going? Who am I? What does it mean to be human? Why do I exist? Where am I going? What is my destination? What is my purpose? To marry? To have children? Then I will die. And after that, my children will also have children, and then they will die as well. But this does not concern my individual self; it concerns the lineage. It does not pertain to me, it pertains to the generation. But what will I become as a person? Will I cease to exist? That is, I am ceasing to exist, and I am certain that I am ceasing to exist? Therefore, do I not have the curiosity to know this? The Scriptures will help me. The study of the word of God. The Fathers are the key; because they are the interpretation of the Holy Scripture within and with the Church. For if I do not have this key to study the Scripture and I begin to study and understand it as I wish, then you understand, my beloved, that quickly I will become heretical, I will be distorted, I will deviate.

But, what can I say? Should I provide an example? Let me say that we go to a funeral, we see a person who has died, a relative or a friend, we grieve, we leave and say: "Well, this is life. We will all die. The grave is our final resting place." My brethren, is the grave your final resting place? Is it true that we will all die? Is this truly our destiny, to die? Did the words "Christ is Risen... and to those in the tombs bestowing life" not resonate in your ears, my brethren? Have these words never echoed in your ears? How do you listen to the Liturgy? How do you hear the services and the feasts of the year? How do you read the Scriptures? The Lord says: "Take heed how you listen." And if you wish, this very knowledge is the touchstone for every heresy. It is not necessary for us to study the heresies. It is superfluous. Allow me to say, it is superfluous. Do you know the truth? Whenever something counterfeit, whatever is false comes to you, then you will test the false against the true that you possess and say: "This is false." Have you learned to recognize gold? True gold? If brass comes to you, mixed with gold, you will say: "This is not gold." Thus, my beloved, the knowledge of Scripture is also the touchstone of truth.

But we must not only recognize the truth; we must also comprehend its content and live the essence of that truth. Otherwise, we merely create intellectual individuals. Let us not forget that there are people who engage with the profound knowledge of Scripture yet fail to experience what they ought to. We must remember that the word of God does not come to satisfy the intellect. Rather, it comes to save the whole person. It should become our blood, it should become our body. This is the word of God. The word of God must nourish us, and we must live. Yet, we should not simply observe God's commandments in a moralistic manner. No. We must pursue something more. We must achieve what the Apostle Paul speaks of: to be transformed. "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God." "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." And elsewhere it says: "We have the mind of Christ, and we understand the thoughts of Satan." What is this "mind of Christ"? It means to become a small Christ. To think as Christ thinks. Have any of you ever been told, my beloved, that you think like someone specific and that you are very similar in mentality? Have you ever been told this? If you have, it is the same as what we are saying now. It is to recognize that the other sees that I think as Christ thinks. That is what it means to "have the mind of Christ." I do not think differently. I act as Christ would act. These are not distant things. Let us not say that... "I will compare myself to Christ; I will compare myself to Christ?"

My beloved, this is not a matter of comparison. It is a matter of striving to become like Christ. As much as I can, as far as I can reach. Continuously, perpetually. For what reason do you think the Word of God became incarnate? May I say this simple phrase: "for the black eyes"? Just for appearances? Just for the sake of enjoyment? The Son of God took on flesh for two reasons. First, to show us His life so that we may imitate Him. To bring the gospel to the earth; which means to bring the way of life of heaven to earth and to demonstrate that it is possible to apply the gospel on earth. The second is ontological. Through His incarnation, He saves our entire existence from death and decay, allowing us to be resurrected and find ourselves in the Kingdom of God and in His blessedness. This is the reason. So, what do you say? Should we remain with a superficial knowledge? With mere naked knowledge? Simply to satisfy our minds? To merely say that we study? And not apply what the word of God commands? 

But there is something more. I mentioned to you earlier that today our Church commemorates the memory of the 630 God-bearing Fathers who participated in the Fourth Ecumenical Synod in Chalcedon, across from Asia Minor, opposite Constantinople. Please know that the Fathers did not only think correctly, nor did they only live correctly, but they also proclaimed the faith correctly. And they declared it. This means that we must now present to others the content of our faith. Because new people continually come into the world. And it is necessary not only for the new people - your children, that is - to learn the truth, but I must also correct those who have not gained a proper understanding of the content of our faith. Therefore, I must constantly become a missionary. To always speak the truth everywhere. Have you ever entered a taxi? Certainly, you have. Have you seen next to the cross, which is hung in front of the driver's windshield, a horseshoe with a blue bead? Have you seen this? This is a distorted belief. This person does not know exactly what he believes. He believes that a power emanates from the cross. But a certain power also emanates from the blue bead and the horseshoe; well, whether one works or the other works, it doesn’t matter, let us have both and whichever catches... Have you ever told the driver, my beloved, when you noticed this phenomenon, that what he is doing is not correct? Have you said this to him? And there are countless other things, to avoid being too verbose, countless others; which we must always correct. However, let us be careful not to speak like prosecutors, as if we are prosecutors and public accusers, saying: "Look at this and that, and woe unto you…" No, my beloved. With much love and brotherhood, we will correct one another without causing offense. We will correct him. Furthermore, we should ask for his forgiveness for mentioning this something that he may have overlooked. He may know many things, yet this escaped his attention. And now we come to tell him this, so he can also correct it. When we communicate it to him with love, then, what do you think, one brother will be correcting another.

And then we will have a Christian society, that is, the Church of Christ, which will be orthodox but also will live rightly (orthbios). And we will not have this dreadful phenomenon within the Church, where each person lives or believes as they see fit. Do we not say in the Divine Liturgy that the Lord should grant us "the unity of the faith and the communion of the Holy Spirit"? What is this? Here, my beloved, lies the entire offering of the Church. The unity of faith is that which I believe and that which the other believes as well. It is the faith of the Church. And what is the communion of the Holy Spirit? It is our ultimate purpose. To become partakers of the Holy Spirit. To receive the Holy Spirit. To have God. So that we may live from this present life within the Kingdom of God. To make the Kingdom of God firstly a reality of our existence. We shall enclose the Kingdom of God within ourselves. And when we go there, to the Kingdom of God, then It will encompass us within itself.

So, you see, my beloved, today, the Church presents the 630 God-bearing Fathers as examples for us to emulate. It is not merely an event that belongs to the past. Last night, I was reading the dogmatic definition from the Fourth Ecumenical Synod. It is not very extensive; it consists of merely 5 or 6 pages of a book, which is quite little. And there is crystallized the entire decision regarding the person of Jesus Christ. Thus, if we gradually come to understand all of this... in fact, if you wish to know, when I began to read, for a moment I did not realize that it was the ancient language. I was not proficient in Ancient Greek. To clarify, do not think that I was adept in literature and therefore I know it well. No. When I encountered the word "τοίνυν," or "therefore," I thought, ah, this is ancient language. That is to say, in other words, I want to tell you, if we had completed a little of the old high school, we would understand this language. Believe me, we understand it. It is unfortunate, however, that our children no longer know Ancient Greek, and thus do not truly grasp the Greek language. This is a different matter. Yet I believe we must always have a desire for knowledge, to continue reading, to ask questions, and to listen to the word of God, the divine word which will elevate us to the level of preaching, to the level of contribution, encompassing all that has been imparted by the Church. We should not just talk and say... – you may tell me this is our own matter; we should not always just speak and say: "Let us be good people." We must understand the content of our faith in order to know our path and our journey.

Thus, the commemoration of the 630 God-bearing Fathers is not merely a remembrance, a memory belonging to the past, nor a museum-like memory. It is a living memory. The Fathers of our Church exist and will always exist. They exist in the Kingdom of God. They exist through their sermons. They exist through their decrees and doctrines. They are present in our lives, guiding us on a difficult path, in a challenging time when everything is collapsing, when everything is being shattered, and we must remain steadfast. Therefore, the Fathers are the illuminators, they are the pillars. They are the staff upon which we will rely to profess the true faith and a virtuous life, so that one day we may behold the face of God.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.