Homily for the Sunday of Pentecost
On the Gift of Speaking in Tongues
By St. Cleopa of Sihastria
"Tongues will cease" (1 Corinthians 13:8)
On the Gift of Speaking in Tongues
By St. Cleopa of Sihastria
"Tongues will cease" (1 Corinthians 13:8)
As much as the mercy and compassion of God will help us today, we shall speak about the cessation of the gift of speaking in tongues in the Church of Christ.
The gift of speaking in tongues was given by God to the Holy Apostles on the Sunday of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, but only for a time, with the purpose of helping the pagan nations more easily convert to Christianity.
Indeed, at the Descent of the Holy Spirit, God spoke to the Jews through the mouths of foreigners. For the Jews from foreign lands, hearing the Apostles speaking in their own languages about the wonderful works of God, believed (Acts 2:11). Concerning the gift of speaking in tongues, the Apostle Paul prophesied that it would cease in the Church (1 Corinthians 13:8), because it was a gift and a sign only for the beginning of Christianity, in order to convert unbelievers more easily (1 Corinthians 14:22–28).
Concerning the cessation of the gift of speaking in tongues in the Church, the great teacher and enlightener of the whole world, Saint John Chrysostom, clearly teaches:
"For what reason was the gift of speaking in tongues given and then taken away from men? Not because God dishonors us, but because He honors us greatly. And this is how. Men at that time were less prepared, having only recently been delivered from idols, and their minds were still dull and less perceptive. They were attracted to and delighted by bodily things; they had not yet acquired any understanding of spiritual gifts and did not know what spiritual grace is, which is perceived only through faith. Therefore signs were performed then. Some spiritual gifts are invisible and are understood only through faith. Others are manifested through visible signs for the assurance of unbelievers. Therefore I now have no need of signs. The unbeliever needs a pledge. But I, who have no need of either a pledge or signs, know that I have been cleansed of my sins even if I do not speak in tongues. Those people, however, would not believe unless they had a sign as proof of the truth in which they believed. Therefore signs were given to them not as believers, but as unbelievers, so that they might become believers."
In this sense the great Apostle Paul says:
"Tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe, but to unbelievers" (1 Corinthians 14:22).
Beloved faithful,
Up to this point I have shown you, not with my own words but with those of Holy Scripture itself, that the gift of speaking in tongues has ceased in the Church of Christ, and I have also shown you the reason why it ceased, so that you may know and be able to explain it to those who have strayed from the true faith and boast that they possess the gift of speaking in tongues.
But does their speaking in tongues resemble the genuine speaking in tongues that existed at the beginning of Christianity? By no means. These supposed speakers in tongues utter unintelligible babblings, and no one understands what they are saying. In this way they deceive those who do not know what Scripture teaches about true speaking in tongues.
We know that glossolalia means speaking in languages, while the pronunciation of a strange mixture of sounds cannot be called speech but only babbling. Holy Scripture speaks of a "language" or "languages." A strange mixture of sounds cannot be called speech, and confused, stammering noises cannot be called "languages" so long as they remain unintelligible and without any order.
Through the gift of speaking in tongues, God reveals His wonderful mysteries (Acts 2:11; 1 Corinthians 14:2), but it is inconceivable that He would ever reveal anything through meaningless babbling. God has given each of us our native language, which is the best and most suitable means for helping us understand whatever He reveals to us. Through babbling, God would only confuse us rather than enlighten us.
These people say that they are not understood when they speak in tongues because they are not speaking to men but to God, and that in the spirit they speak mysteries (1 Corinthians 14:2). We, however, teach that those who were inspired spoke clearly, intelligibly, both to men and to God, sometimes being understood and sometimes not, depending on the nature of their listeners, whether foreigners or locals.
In Jerusalem the Apostles spoke to people and were understood because the listeners were foreigners who spoke other languages (Acts 2:1–12).
In Corinth, however, those who were inspired were not speaking to men but to God, because they had before them only local people who knew no foreign languages; therefore no one could understand them. In such cases it can rightly be said that the one who speaks in tongues (1 Corinthians 14:2) does not speak to men but to God, because to the listeners his words are mysteries that cannot be understood without interpretation.
Every Christian should demonstrate the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit within himself. But the presence of the Holy Spirit is not proven only through speaking in tongues. The great Apostle Paul says that the fruits of the Holy Spirit are: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control, and purity (Galatians 5:22–23).
Yet among the fruits of the Spirit, speaking in tongues is not mentioned, because it was a gift given to the Church only for a certain period of time, unlike those listed above, which every Christian of every age must possess. Whoever is shown to possess these fruits of the Holy Spirit also possesses the Holy Spirit Himself.
Do we Orthodox have no gift of speaking in tongues at all? Or do we possess it less than other Christians? To say such things would be to condemn others out of pride and to judge very unfairly. The gift of speaking in tongues is not an ordinary gift but an extraordinary one, and it is not given to everyone (1 Corinthians 12:10).
Why then have some sectarians considered it a condition of salvation? The Apostle says: "Do all speak with tongues?" (1 Corinthians 12:30).
Therefore those who do not speak in tongues can still be good Christians within the community of true Christians, since not all Christians possess the same gifts.
How then can it be demanded that everyone have the gift of speaking in tongues? The Apostles did not require it; indeed, they showed that among local people it was of no benefit. Even they themselves used the gift of speaking in tongues only in extraordinary circumstances when it served a specific purpose, such as at the Descent of the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem. Otherwise they would have commanded all of us to seek it.
Now let us see the principal conditions by which genuine glossolalia, or speaking in tongues, may be recognized:
1. The person speaking in an inspired language must be understood by all the foreigners present (Acts 2:1–13).
2. When someone speaks in an inspired language among local people who know no foreign languages, as happened in Corinth, another gift is necessary — the gift of interpretation. Without it, speaking in tongues is merely speaking into the air and amounts to madness (1 Corinthians 14:23).
3. The gift of speaking in tongues was not given to the Church forever, as we have shown, but only at the beginning of Christianity in order to awaken pagans and Jews to believe in Christ. Therefore the great Apostle Paul declared that the gift of speaking in tongues would cease in the Church (1 Corinthians 13:8).
4. After we have believed that Christ is the true God, we no longer need speaking in tongues, because tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers (1 Corinthians 14:22).
5. Even at the beginning of Christianity, the gift of speaking in tongues was one of the lesser gifts in the Church compared with prophecy, interpretation, love, and other gifts that were superior. Concerning this, Saint Paul says: "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal" (1 Corinthians 13:1).
It is entirely impossible to believe that speaking in tongues by the gift of the Holy Spirit means babbling words in a nonexistent language or in a merely imagined language, because then it could no longer be called speaking in tongues (Mark 16:17). Above all, this would create an unavoidable contradiction with Acts chapter 2.
The babblings, inarticulate sounds, and confused words that we hear today from those who claim to speak in tongues closely resemble the pagan manifestations before the god Dionysus and those of the Montanist, Gnostic, and later Quaker heretics, whom the true Orthodox Church of Christ has anathematized forever.
Therefore, brethren, know that the speaking in tongues of those who imagine they possess it today is entirely foreign to the Spirit of God. Without God they dare to distort the true glossolalia, which was indeed a charismatic gift at the beginning of Christianity.
Beloved faithful,
Today is Pentecost Sunday, also called the Sunday of the Holy Spirit, Whitsunday, or Great Sunday.
Today, fifty days after the Resurrection and ten days after the Lord's Ascension into Heaven, the Holy Spirit the Comforter, the third Person of the Most Holy Trinity, "Who proceeds from the Father," as we confess in the Creed, was sent down upon the earth in the form of tongues of fire. He was sent by Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in order to bring to completion the work of the redemption and salvation of the human race through His sacrifice on the Cross.
Before His Passion, the Savior said to His disciples:
"If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray to the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He dwells with you and shall be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you..." (John 14:15–18).
In another place the Savior again promises the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, and through them to all who would believe in Him, saying:
"But when the Comforter has come, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father, He shall bear witness concerning Me" (John 15:26).
And the purpose of the sending of the Holy Spirit into the world is revealed to us by our Lord Jesus Christ when He says:
"But when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He shall not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He shall speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive from what is Mine and shall declare it to you" (John 16:13–14).
So what must we know about the Holy Spirit?
We must know that He is the third Person of the Most Holy Trinity, that He proceeds from the Father, and that He was sent into the world through the Son after His Ascension into Heaven.
But why did He come to earth ten days after the Ascension of the Lord?
Because when the Son of God ascended into Heaven, He remained one day with each of the nine orders of angels in order to renew and gladden them through His Resurrection. On the tenth day, some of the Holy Fathers say, after the Son had seated Himself at the right hand of the Father upon the throne of His glory, He sent the Holy Spirit into the world.
Why is the Holy Spirit called the "Comforter" and the "Spirit of Truth"?
Because the Holy Spirit comforts Christians while they are on earth. He comforts mothers who give birth to and raise children; He comforts orphans, the poor, the disabled, widows, the sick, and the elderly. The Holy Spirit also comforts and strengthens in faith and patience the martyrs who endure terrible torments and give their lives for Christ.
The Holy Spirit comforts the faithful, monks, and ministers of the Church during prayer and during the severe temptations that come upon them from the devil, from evil people, and from their own nature inclined toward sin. The Holy Spirit comforts the hearts of the humble and zealous followers of Christ and reproves through the conscience those sinners who do not repent.
The Holy Spirit is called the "Spirit of Truth" because through Him the true faith is confessed and defended on earth; the Orthodox dogmas are strengthened; the holy gospel is proclaimed throughout the world; and the saints, prophets, hierarchs, priests, and monastics who shepherd the Church of Christ are inspired, those who foretell future things and guide souls on the path of salvation.
The Holy Spirit sanctifies all things, corrects all things, and guides all things "into all truth." He remains with us "forever," that is, both on earth and in Heaven after our departure to eternal life. The Holy Spirit "will bear witness" that Christ is the Son of God, the Savior and Judge of the world, and He "will declare," that is, reveal to His chosen ones His future mysteries.
The Holy Spirit will also expose and rebuke the unbelief of those rejected by God, the heresy and false belief of sects separated from the bosom of the Church, as well as the wickedness of sinners enslaved by sin and unwilling to repent.
But why did the Holy Spirit come on Sunday, and why did He rest in the form of tongues of fire upon the heads of the Holy Apostles gathered in the Upper Room of the Secret Supper in Jerusalem?
The Lord rose on Sunday, on the first day of the week, and likewise on Sunday, around the third hour of the day (about nine in the morning), the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles, in order to sanctify this day as the day of eternal rest for Christians in place of the Sabbath of the Old Law, and to urge us, especially on Sunday mornings, to go to church to hear the Divine Liturgy and the word of instruction from the Gospel.
The tongues of fire that rested upon the Apostles, accompanied by a sound and a rushing mighty wind (Acts 2:1–4), symbolized the fire of the Holy Spirit that was to burn away all unbelief, every heresy, and all sin throughout the world.
Through the fiery tongues of the Holy Spirit, the twelve Apostles were sanctified, the Church was established in the world, and deacons, priests, and bishops were thereafter to be ordained.
Through this divine fire the seven Mysteries of the Church were to be celebrated, and through it the saving grace of the Holy Spirit was to be poured out upon Christians.
Beloved faithful,
See how great today's feast is!
Christ ascended into Heaven and sat at the right hand of the Father, yet the Holy Spirit the Comforter came to us in order to sanctify us, guide us, and work out the salvation of our souls.
All of us who worship the Most Holy Trinity in the true faith partake of the grace of the Holy Spirit through the seven Holy Mysteries established by Christ. Through Baptism we become sons of God by grace and children of the Orthodox Church. Through the Mystery of Chrismation we receive the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Through Confession we are washed clean and absolved of the sins committed after Baptism, also by the power of divine grace, which together with Baptism and Chrismation bestows upon us most abundantly the saving grace of the Holy Spirit. Likewise the remaining Mysteries, and especially the Priesthood, communicate to us throughout life the grace of salvation, by which we are purified, enlightened, and sanctified in Christ.
Our principal duty is not to grieve the Holy Spirit who has dwelt within us since Baptism through our sins. Nor should we drive away the Holy Spirit through unbelief, pride, fornication, murder, and especially by falling into the snares of sects. Have we sinned? Let us repent immediately so that the Holy Spirit may not abandon us.
Confession and Holy Communion help us more than anything else in life toward salvation. Let us not postpone them until old age, lest we die in such a state, for we cannot be saved without the forgiveness of sins and without the Body and Blood of Christ.
Let us flee from sin, because sin drives the Holy Spirit away from us.
Let us avoid sectarian gatherings and teachings, because they possess neither the Church nor the grace of the Holy Spirit.
Do we wish to know the mysteries of the faith? Let us read holy books and seek the counsel of priests.
Do we wish to speak the language of the angels, which is the most beautiful of all languages? Let us pray from the heart with humility and tears, and let us praise God both at home and in church.
Through prayer we speak with God, with the Mother of God, with the Apostles, with the saints in Heaven, and with people on earth. Prayer is the most precious spiritual speech in the language of the Holy Spirit.
Do we wish to overcome the wickedness of the world and of the devil? Let us love all people sincerely, forgive them, and help everyone according to our ability.
Do we wish to praise the Holy Spirit? Let us recite daily the prayer: "O Heavenly King, Comforter..."
Do we wish to glorify the Most Holy Trinity together with all the angels and all the saints? Let us often sing: "Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us," glorifying the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
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