May: Day 8: Teaching 1: Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian

May: Day 8: Teaching 1:
Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian
 
(Christian Love is the Most Reliable Means to the Knowledge of God and the True Beginning of the Activity of a Christian)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. In honor of the individuals for whom celebrations are organized on designated days, it is customary to deliver encomiums that highlight their distinctive qualities, virtues, valor, and merits. What shall we say today in praise of the Holy Apostle John the Theologian, the beloved disciple and companion of Christ? Whatever eloquent and fruitful words one might express in commendation of his sacred and lofty qualities and actions, they will prove insufficient: "Who can recount your greatness, O virgin?" However, the inhabitants of heaven do not require human praise; what pleases them most is our adoption of the spirit and character by which they lived during their earthly existence. From our side, the best gift of gratitude to the Holy Apostle John the Theologian and the greatest expression of pious reverence towards him will be the assimilation of his spirit and his teachings.

II. What is the spirit and distinctive character of Saint John the Theologian? It is Christian, the most tender love for one’s neighbors; the spirit of love tangibly breathes and reflects in his Gospel and is particularly clearly expressed in his Epistles. "Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God" (1 John 4:7). "My little children, let us not love in word or in speech, but in deed and in truth" (3:18). "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren" (3:14). Here are some of the traits from his loving epistles! According to tradition, in the last years of his life, the aged Apostle only repeated: "Children! love one another." And when the disciples asked him: "Why do you, father, repeat the same thing to us often?" he replied: "To fulfill this one thing is enough for you."

This brief response contains a very important truth, namely that for a Christian, love for one’s neighbors is a) the most reliable means of achieving a living knowledge of God, and b) the primary principle of his proper pious activity.

a) Let us first say that for Christians, love for one’s neighbors is the best means of knowing God. From childhood, we acquire an understanding of God, an understanding of His attributes and actions, but this understanding, so to speak, intellectual, does not constitute proper knowledge unless it is translated into the heart and life. Dry, abstract concepts of God, by themselves, wihout application to action, are lifeless, just as faith without deeds is, which even evil spirits possess "and they tremble" (James 2:19). Living knowledge of God gives rise to love. The Apostle says: "He who does not love does not know God" (1 John 4:8). Why? Because God is love; His attributes and actions towards creation have been and continue to be expressed in love towards us. But who would say that "I love God, therefore I know Him," yet does not love his neighbors, his brethren by nature and by faith in Christ, deceives himself: "If anyone says, 'I love God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar: for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?" (1 John 4:20). Thus, brethren, we can love God only by loving the image of God in man and imitating the qualities and actions of God, which, as we have already noted, are primarily expressed in love. One holy man rightly compares a person who has an understanding of and reasons well about virtues, without personal experience, to someone who praises the sweetness of honey without ever having tasted it themselves. And we know from history that many Christian ascetics achieved the highest degree of knowledge of God through love, along with other virtues. The Venerable Anthony the Great astounded the learned philosophers of his time with his reflections on God.

b) Christian love for one's neighbors is, furthermore, the animating principle of action. "We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brethren." Therefore, according to the Apostle, the first sign of true life is love for one’s neighbors. The self-love of the first fallen man served as the root of sin, giving rise to pride, envy, hatred, and division among humankind, leading to spiritual death. The Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who came to restore fallen humanity, established love as the foundation of Christian actions through His own example and teachings. "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:15). And "love is patient, love is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth" (1 Corinthians 13:4-6) – this means bringing true life into the midst of people! And the powerful force of love! One of the teachers of the Church said: "Love and do what you will,"* meaning "all your actions will be good;" that is, let your actions be guided by the impulse of love for your neighbor, and then your deeds will align with the law of God and be beneficial to others. The voice of love has great power. Here is an example: The Holy Apostle John the Theologian, during his time in Ephesus, converted a young man to Christ and, upon departing for other lands, entrusted him to the local overseer of the church for guidance and establishment in his new life. The young man served God and the Church with fervent zeal for several years; however, he was later led astray by the example of immoral people, fell into depravity, abandoned his virtuous refuge, and ultimately became the leader of a band of robbers. When the Apostle John returned to Ephesus, he sorrowfully learned of what had transpired. What does he do? Despite his old age, he seeks out the place where the young man resides, faces dangers, and searches for him; upon seeing and recognizing the elder, the young man, filled with guilt and shame, runs away; but the elder, with his voice saying, "Stop, stop, my son," compels him to return, and, having calmed him with the forgiveness of sin from God, restores him to the same virtuous life. What selflessness in the Apostle, who risks his own life to save another's soul! Here is an example of Christian love! Saint Paul regards all virtues as worthless without love. "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to be burned, but do not have love, I gain nothing' (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).

Brethren, let us be sincere with one another, brotherly, of one mind, of one accord, and in all our actions towards our neighbors let us be guided by the spirit of Christian love. With such a disposition, we will attract to ourselves the love of God, and with it, great strength. Amen.

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos. 

Notes:

* St. Augustine of Hippo said this, referring to what he said in a sermon on 1 John 4:4-12.