Patristic Wisdom: Looking to Sunday

Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one be moved by these afflictions.  For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.  For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.  For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.  (1 Thess 3:1-5)

Whenever anything happens to the helmsman, either the officer in command at the bows, or the seaman of highest rank, takes his place, not because he becomes a self-appointed helmsman, but because he looks out for the safety of the ship.  So again in war, when the commander falls, the chief tribune assumes the command, not in the attempt to lay violent hands on the place of power, but because he cares for his men.  So too the thrice blessed Timothy when sent by the divine Paul took his place.  It is therefore becoming to your piety to accept the responsibilities of helmsman, of captain, of shepherd, gladly to run all risk for the sake of the sheep of Christ, and not to leave His creatures abandoned and alone.

Theodoret of Cyrus, Letter to Eusebius

Love for Christ Manifest in Tender Care for the Flock

For the pastor of sheep has his flock following him, wherever he may lead them: and if any should stray out of the straight path, and, deserting the good pasture, feed in unproductive or rugged places, a loud shout suffices to collect them and bring back to the fold those who have been parted from it.  But if a human being wanders away from the right faith, great exertion, perseverance and patience are required; for he cannot be dragged back by force, nor constrained by fear, but must be led back by persuasion to the truth from which he originally swerved.  The pastor therefore ought to be of a noble spirit, so as not to despond, or to despair of the salvation of wanderers from the fold, but continually to reason with himself and say, “Perhaps God will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil.”* … Rightly therefore did the Lord say that zeal for the flock was a token of love for Himself.

John Chrysostom, On the Priesthood, II.4

* 2 Timothy 2:25

Pogo Was Correct: We Have Met the Enemy, and He Is Us

But in our case, human prudence and selfishness, and the lack of training and inclination to yield ready submission are a very great obstacle to advance in virtue, amounting almost to an armed resistance to those who are wishful to help us.  And the very eagerness with which we should lay bare our sickness to our spiritual physicians, we employ in avoiding this treatment, and show our bravery by struggling against what is for our own interest, our skill in shunning what is for our health.

For we either hide away our sin, cloaking it over in the depth of our soul, like some festering and malignant disease, as if by escaping the notice of men we could escape the mighty eye of God and justice.  Or else we allege excuses in our sins,* by devising pleas in defense of our falls, or tightly closing our ears, like the deaf adder that stops her ears, we are obstinate in refusing to hear the voice of the charmer, and be treated with the medicines of wisdom,† by which spiritual sickness is healed.  Or, lastly, those of us who are most daring and self-willed shamelessly brazen out our sin before those who would heal it, marching with bared head, as the saying is, into all kinds of transgression.  O what madness, if there be no term more fitting for this state of mind!  Those whom we ought to love as our benefactors we keep off, as if they were our enemies, hating those who reprove in the gates, and abhorring the righteous word;‡ and we think that we shall succeed in the war that we are waging against those who are well disposed to us by doing ourselves all the harm we can, like men who imagine they are consuming the flesh of others when they are really fastening upon their own.

Gregory Nazianzen, In Defense of His Flight to Pontus, 19-20

* Psalm 141:4
† Psalm 58:5-6
‡ Amos 5:10

Understanding the Burden of Pastoral Care

Against the backdrop of many men and women who project and esteem themselves as somehow deserving of their pastorates and droves of doting followers, Gregory Nazianzen's confession of inadequacy after his ordination stands as a stark contrast.  May those who have care over your soul be like-minded.

I did not, nor do I now, think myself qualified to rule a flock or herd, or to have authority over the souls of men.  For in their case it is sufficient to render the herd or flock as stout and fat as possible; and with this object the neatherd* and shepherd will look for well watered and rich pastures, and will drive his charge from pasture to pasture, and allow them to rest, or arouse, or recall them, sometimes with his staff, most often with his pipe; and with the exception of occasional struggles with wolves, or attention to the sickly, most of his time will be devoted to the oak and the shade and his pipes, while he reclines on the beautiful grass, and beside the cool water, and shakes down his couch in a breezy spot, and ever and anon sings a love ditty, with his cup by his side, and talks to his bullocks or his flock, the fattest of which supply his banquets or his pay.  But no one ever has thought of the virtue of flocks or herds; for indeed of what virtue are they capable?  Or who has regarded their advantage as more important than his own pleasure?

But in the case of man, hard as it is for him to learn how to submit to rule, it seems far harder to know how to rule over men, and hardest of all, with this rule of ours, which leads them by the divine law, and to God, for its risk is, in the eyes of a thoughtful man, proportionate to its height and dignity.  For, first of all, he must, like silver or gold, though in general circulation in all kinds of seasons and affairs, never ring false or alloyed, or give token of any inferior matter, needing further refinement in the fire;† or else, the wider his rule, the greater evil he will be.  Since the injury which extends to many is greater than that which is confined to a single individual.

In the second place, although a man has kept himself pure from sin, even in a very high degree; I do not know that even this is sufficient for one who is to instruct others in virtue.  For he who has received this charge, not only needs to be free from evil, for evil is, in the eyes of most of those under his care, most disgraceful, but also to be eminent in good, according to the command, "Depart from evil and do good."‡  And he must not only wipe out the traces of vice from his soul, but also inscribe better ones, so as to outstrip men further in virtue than he is superior to them in dignity.  He should know no limits in goodness or spiritual progress, and should dwell upon the loss of what is still beyond him, rather than the gain of what he has attained, and consider that which is beneath his feet a step to that which comes next: and not think it a great gain to excel ordinary people, but a loss to fall short of what we ought to be: and to measure his success by the commandment and not by his neighbors, whether they be evil, or to some extent proficient in virtue: and to weigh virtue in no small scales, inasmuch as it is due to the Most High, "from Whom are all things, and to Whom are all things."§

Gregory Nazianzen, In Defense of His Flight to Pontus, 9-10, 14

* A person who has the care of cattle.
† Cf. 1 Corinthians 3:12
‡ Psalm 37:27
§ Romans 11:35

Abandoning the Care of Souls

Lucas Woodford at thisweconfess [sic] has a post addressing an unsettling trend in the church by those in spiritual authority.  The opening sentence establishes his thesis.

Within the North America church, the role of pastor has morphed from the biblical and historic role of Seelsorger (one who gives care of souls) and giver of God’s gifts, to that of a CEO, administrator, and/or therapist.

He is writing as a pastor within the LCMS, so he has his own denomination in view, but the extracts cited from those in other denominations shows that the problem is wider spread.

If you should balk at his broad brushstrokes, I understand.  We can each point out individual men faithfully caring for those in the local church.  But what he is illuminating is very real and becoming more so as church groups become loosened from the moors of Scripture and take up the next thrust of relevance.  What!  Isn't the cross relevant?  When did Christ become insufficient?

I pray that those who the Lord has overseeing your assembly are being faithful to Holy Writ rather than Wholly Rotten.

Pastoral Care by Overseers

The following is nothing new but is an excellent understanding of the pastoral care to be performed by overseers/elders in the local church.

But like a compassionate shepherd, and a diligent feeder of the flock, search out, and keep an account of your flock.  Seek that which is wanting (Matt 18:12), as the Lord God our gracious Father has sent His own Son, the good Shepherd and Savior, our master Jesus, and has commanded Him to “leave the ninety-nine upon the mountains, and to go in search after that which was lost, and when He had found it, to take it upon His shoulders, and to carry it into the flock, rejoicing that He had found that which was lost” (Luke 15:4-6).  In like manner, be obedient, O overseer, and seek that which was lost, guide that which has wandered out of the right way, bring back that which is gone astray: for you have authority to bring them back, and to deliver those who are brokenhearted by remission.  For by you does our Savior say to him who is discouraged under the sense of his sins, “Your sins are forgiven you: your faith has saved you; go in peace” (Luke 5:20; Matt 9:2; Mark 5:34).  But this peace and haven of tranquility is the church of Christ, into which you, when you have loosed them from their sins, restore them, as being now sound and unblamable, of good hope, diligent, laborious in good works.  As a skillful and compassionate physician, heal all such as have wandered in the ways of sin; for “they that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick.  For the Son of Man came to save and to seek that which was lost” (Matt. 9:12; Luke 19:10).  Since you are therefore a physician of the Lord’s church, provide remedies suitable to every patient’s case.  Cure them, heal them by all means possible; restore them sound to the church.  Feed the flock, “not with force and harshness, as lording it over them” (Ezek 34:4), but as a gentle shepherd, “gathering the lambs into your bosom, and gently leading those which are with young” (Matt 20:25; Isa 40:11).

Apostolic Constitutions, II.20