Acts 5:27-32
27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, 28 saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”
Saint John Chrysostom (349-407), whose feast we celebrate today, is struck here by the calm, respectful and yet firm response the apostles give to their interrogators: “We must obey God rather than men.” This is a clear picture of the apostles’ own diligence, and not just God’s grace, he says.
The apostles, before they had breathing time from their former dangers, were again led into others….There is no arrogance, no conceit; how great and good it is! To converse with mildness, what a gain it is! For not all they did was the immediate work of grace, but these were many marks of their own zeal as well. That the gifts of grace shine forth in them, this was from their own diligence. See for instance from the very beginning, how careful Peter is; how sober and vigilant: how they that believed cast away their riches, had no private property, continued in prayer, showed that they were of one mind, passed their time in fastings. What grace, I ask (alone) did all this? (On Acts, Homily XIII).
Saint John draws the lesson that we don’t need to wait for some special gift of grace in order to do God’s will.
Metropolitan Tikhon’s Anniversary of Election
Today marks two years since His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon was elected primate of the Orthodox Church in America, at the 17th All-American Council in Parma, Ohio. May our Lord give him many years of “peace, safety, honor, health, and length of days, rightly dividing the word of Thy truth.” Eis polla eti despota!
This morning His Beatitude celebrated the Divine Liturgy (feast of Saint John Chrysostom). Both of us will drive later this morning to Saint Vladimir’s Seminary for the Fall meeting of the Board of Trustees. Tonight the Board will join in the SVS community Thanksgiving dinner (before the Christmas fast starts on Saturday and students disperse for the holiday next week.) Before dinner there will be a memorial service for the newly departed Dr Constance Tarasar, long-time professor of Christian education at Saint Vladimir’s. May her memory be eternal!