Since tomorrow, and in some cases tonight, we will hear a sermon I thought I would share a few words from Chrysostom on listening to the sermon. I above anyone else need help listening, since I’m not preaching anywhere right now while my heart has a chance to heal.
The praise that pleases
“Are you in praise of what I have said? For my part I care not for I need neither your applause nor your noisy praise. (It was common to applaud the preacher in the late 4th century.) This only I ask of you that with quiet and wisdom you listen to me and do what I say. Such is the applause that I ask of you. This is the panegyric (elaborate praise) that pleases me. But if you praise simply what I say, but do not do what I say, great will be your punishment.”
The next quote shows that a summer drop off in church attendance is nothing new.
“I have no idea what I shall say to you today. I see that since the Feast of Pentecost the attendance at divine service has fallen off, the Prophets are neglected, the Apostles are little valued, the Fathers are set aside…There is divine service once a week, and even this day you cannot spend without the cares of business. Some say they are p.oor and must take care of making their living, while others have urgent business. As a matter of fact the whole city is at the circus…No poverty stands in the way there, no urgent work, no illness, no weakness of the feet, nothing of all these is able to hold back the unruly passion. The old men run with the youths to the betting in order to find a place, and expose their gray hairs to shame and ridicule. And if they occasionally come here to the Church, they experience seizures, and listening to the sermon gives them fainting spells.”
See you in church listening to the sermon.
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