18th Sunday after Pentecost

St John the Theologian / St Tikhon Patriarch of Moscow

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate two remarkable saints of the Church: the holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, who lived at the very beginning of Christian age, and the holy Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow and All Russia, who lived in our own times and even spent some years as Bishop in San Francisco.

Both of these great men were motivated by and were filled with the love of God. They boldly proclaimed the Gospel during times when that Gospel message was unwelcome and persecuted. The holy Apostle and Evangelist John was sent into exile for daring to preach the Gospel of Christ. And the holy Patriarch Tikhon was arrested - and most likely poisoned – certainly meeting an early death due to the persecutions he endured.

And what was this message of Christ that threatened the world so much? It was the proclamation of the preeminence of the Kingdom of Heaven, of the humble way of the Cross, of the virtue of the self-sacrificial love of Christ.

In a world which battles and wars for the Kingdom of the powerful, of the pride-filled way of asserting one’s plans and opinions, and of the relentless and unquenchable pursuit of self-satisfaction – this Gospel message presents a threat.

The holy Apostle and Evangelist John and the martyred Patriarch Tikhon stand before us as examples of a different way, of a different kind of heroism than what the world sets before us.

The holy Apostle was just a young man when he left everything in order to follow Christ. The youthful purity of his heart caused him to be known as the disciple ‘whom Jesus loved’. It was to the Apostle John that our Lord entrusted the care of His Most Pure Mother, the Holy Virgin Mary, when Christ was suffering upon the Cross. All of the other immediate disciples and Apostles of the Lord met martyrs deaths – but the Apostle and Evangelist John lived out his full life, though that life was not without persecution and sorrows.  

From ancient times the Gospel according to John was regarded with great reverence. In comparison with the other three Gospels, the Gospel of John focuses more on the mystical realities of the life and work of Christ. From the first words of the Gospel, John elevates the thoughts of the faithful to the heights and breadths of eternity: ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God’. Apostle John expresses the aim of his Gospel thus: ‘But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name’.

In addition to his Gospel and to the Book of the Apocalypse, the Apostle John also authored three epistles which were incorporated into the New Testament. The main thought in his epistles insists that Christians must learn to love: ‘Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love’.

And to emphasize again – this is not the self-gratifying love which the world considers love, this is the love of Christ… the way of self-giving, of self-sacrifice. Indeed, our Lord Himself has said: ‘No greater love hath a man than that he would lay down his life for his friend.’

Patriarch Tikhon was just such a self-sacrificing servant of Christ. While he rose to the demands of his role as a bishop, he was by nature a humble and quiet man. And it was this witness of Christian patience and steadiness which equipped him well to endure the sufferings he experienced when called to the lead the Church of Russia as Patriarch.

Having learned of his election as Patriarch, he responded: ‘Your news of my election to the patriarchate is for me that scroll on which was written, lamentations, and mourning, and woe, which the prophet Ezekiel had to eat. How many tears must I swallow and how much must I groan in my impending patriarchal ministry, and especially in these present difficult times!... From now on, the care of all the churches of Russia is laid upon me - and dying for them all my days awaits me. And who even among those stronger than I can have the strength for it? But may God’s will be done!’

What tremendous courage… to offer himself up to Christ no matter what the consequences may be. This strength of character is found in both St John the Theologian and in St Patriarch Tikhon who both offered up their lives for Christ their Lord.

I look upon them and upon their sacrifices and I am awe-struck with admiration and gratitude. And, I must admit, that I am also perplexed and humbled, because I see how far I am from this kind of courage and commitment.

What is the key to the character and courage of these great saints? Are they simply made of stronger and better stuff than you and me? Can you and I have any hope of following in their footsteps – even a little way?

The key to their character and courage is precisely the Christian love we have been speaking about. It is the love of Christ which eclipses everything and equips one to endure everything.

Our Lord speaks of the difference between the shepherd and the hireling. The hireling watches the sheep because he is being paid to do so. He has no investment of love for the sheep. And when the wolf comes, he flees. Whereas the shepherd, who does have love for his sheep and knows each one by name, he will stand against the wolves and anything which might threaten his beloved flock. It is love which makes the difference.

It is this self-sacrificing love which fuels the true Christian life. We pray, we fast, we strive to follow the commandments of Christ, we endure whatever may come our way – not out of servitude and duty, but as the pure expression of our love for our God Who first loved us.