Hebrews 13:17-21, Judges 1-5, Psalm 1, St. John Chrysostom’s Sermon 34 on Hebrews
This Sunday we read the conclusion of that rich letter to the Hebrews, the authorship of which was debated even by some fathers. Whether the letter is indeed by St. Paul, or by another master of theology, rhetoric, and pastorship from those early years of the Church, it speaks strongly to us today. In Hebrews 13:17-21, which are given a picture of the symbiotic relationship between pastor and people that shows the glory of God, and that commends itself to us in this age. The pastor here persuades rather than abruptly commanding his flock, and indeed reminds them (and us!) that it is not he who is the great Shepherd, but Jesus himself, to Whom he must give account, and by Whom he, too, is led. Here is the passage:
Trust your leaders and place yourselves under them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you all the sooner. Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, make you complete in everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen!
Let’s look at the main moves in this passage, and see how they may be illumined by Old Testament passages and by St. John Chrysostom. First, the passage tackles the matter of attitude and stance: “Trust your leaders and place yourselves under them.” Next, the mutual actions of prayer and pastoral activity are featured. Finally, God’s ongoing action for His people and for their leaders is detailed.
We begin with the most difficult item, the attitude of trust and stance of submission. We have particular difficulty in responding to this word in our skeptical and independent age, but our balkiness is not unique. Nor were the ancients blind to the problems entailed in a call for obedience. St John Chrysostom, as usual, is especially astute and realistic when he comments upon this passage in Hebrews. He begins by speaking about the evils of anarchy, when there is no leader; he goes on to speak about when there are leaders who are recognized, but disobeyed; finally. he talks about what we should do when faced with evil leaders in the Church.
Clearly he is not assuming that things are always rosy or easy to navigate. Anarchy, he says, is an “evil” that causes “many calamities,” as can be seen when we consider a choir without a director, an army without a commander, a ship without a helmsman, or a flock without a shepherd. In the final metaphor, the Golden-mouthed takes our imaginations to the OT, where we remember David, the shepherd, who gathered God’s people, though they wanted a king just to be like everybody else. We might reflect upon how difficult it was during the time of the Judges, when there was “no king in Israel,” and tribes, families, and individuals did “what was right in [their] own eyes” (Judges 17:16). Prior to this epic of the Judges, the clans had followed Moses and Joshua, under the guidance of God. Then there emerged a time much like our “wild west,” in which God had to raise up charismatic leaders like Gideon, Sampson and Deborah to set the people back on track. The book of Judges reads rather like a series of vicious circles: First, the people turn away from true worship; next, God seems to have abandoned sinful Israel, but never really forgets His love for them; then, in desperation, the people call out for help to Him; finally, men like Sampson and women like Deborah remind the people of His care, and they turn back to Him while each judge’s ministry is active. Then the sad story starts all over again! (We read about this pattern in Judges 2:13-23).
During this time of lawlessness, the people were influenced towards pagan ways, and all but forgot what God had done for them at Sinai. As the book of Joshua puts it, after the death of Joshua and that generation, “another generation arose …who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel” (Joshua 2:10). Without a leader to point them to God, they “did evil in the sight of the LORD,” serving the gods of Canaan, no longer enjoying God’s favor, and so falling under the influence and even rule of the nations around them. Yet, whenever the Lord raised up judges, they would, for a time, return to Him, and find a period of deliverance —often obtained through violence and war—from enemies. Deborah celebrates these good times in a song, when she and Barak sing, “When leaders lead in Israel, when the people willingly offer themselves, Bless the LORD!” (Judges 5:2).
The book of Judges, then, gives vivid illustrations of a time when leadership was unsettled, and when the people of God nearly forgot their chief Shepherd. Overall, it was a time of anarchy such as Chrysostom describes, with no one to gather them or direct them to the Lord for any length of time. (Of course, the later time of the monarchy was also troublesome, because the kings did not always do God’s will!) St John Chrysostom also speaks about the difficulty of times in which lawful leaders are not heeded, which is in his words “an equal evil” to anarchy. But what do we do when leaders do not earn respect, when we cannot in good conscience, “trust” or “be persuaded” by them? Should we still “place ourselves under them?” Here the preacher is surprising. He says bluntly, “it is better to be led by no one than by one who is evil.” The logic is clear: an evil man can lead those under him to ruin, and should not be followed to destruction.
However, he carefully qualifies this statement regarding resistance, by referring to Jesus’ words regarding the scribes and the Pharisees, who “sit in Moses’ seat:” they should be heeded when they speak, but not imitated in their actions. That is, if a leader in the Church teaches something other than the faith, he should not be obeyed. “If in regard to faith, flee and avoid him, whether he is a man or an angel come down from heaven.” But then St. John goes on: “But if in regard to life, be not overcurious …. Attend not to [his] life, but to [his] words.” For this is what Jesus taught regarding the Jewish leaders of his day. Moreover, St. John reasons, how evil rulers live can be seen by everybody, and will eventually be exposed, but perverted teaching is more insidious, and must therefore be actively resisted.
Of course, we still have to determine what is a serious enough difference from the faith that it should be verbally and actively resisted. Orthodox Christians may differ about the particulars. Currently there are some who believe that liturgical accommodations to Covid 19 restrictions is a failure of faith; others think that requiring masks and avoiding the common spoon are similar to what St. Paul recommended regarding abstention from idol meat for the consciences of those who were weak (1 Cor 8). Whatever our opinions, our general stance and attitude towards our pastors should be marked, in the first place, by this word from Hebrews. We should normatively “trust” and “place ourselves under” our leaders—it is only with great sadness and reluctance that we might conclude that we cannot do this in one particular or another.
The letter to the Hebrews, of course, does not summarily command such obedience. Rather, it gives its own reasons for our positive response to leaders— “because it is to God that your leaders must give an account” and “they care for your soul.” We never want to so trouble our pastors that they “groan” when they speak to God about our situation. Always we should remember their responsibility for us, and turn to prayer, especially if our relations with a father in the Church is troubled. And so we come to the second move that the passage makes— Hebrews calls on us to pray for our leaders, knowing that they seek to have clear consciences regarding their actions for God among us. “Pray for us,” we read, “for we desire to act honorably in all things.” Our prayers strengthen our leaders: even in the divine Liturgy we pray constantly that our hierarchs may live for God, and “rightly divide the Word” among us for many years. Indeed, the letter goes on to be more specific about the pastor’s situation: he seems to allude to some sort of imprisonment or confinement, for he seeks to be “restored” to the community, and begs them to pray earnestly for this. We can apply this to our pastor’s situation and pray specifically for his needs. There are, then, two things that come together– prayer on the part of the congregation, and the pastor’s desire to serve them in person with an open heart. These two things act in symbiosis.
Finally, the letter speaks about God’s ongoing work in the Church. There is the “blood of the eternal covenant,” effective in Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension—all of which the letter to the Hebrews has taught in great detail. God has done all this for us. But this is still being worked out in our lives. And so now we hear that God will make us, His sheep, complete in everything good so that we can do His will. The metaphor used here is that of the work of an artisan, creating, perfecting, completing his artistry. In this hope, St. John Chrysostom rejoices: that Hebrews “bears high testimony to [the congregation], for that is made ‘complete’ which, having a beginning, is afterwards finished.” God has begun a good work in us, and will complete it! At the same time, “God is working in us”—that is, in the leaders themselves—that which is pleasing in his sight. TOGETHER the congregation and the leader are being forged by God’s own hand into what he wants us to be—and all of this “through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.”
What does it mean to be “complete” in God? We see a picture of this in the LORD Jesus, who was himself the perfect fulfillment of that man sung about in Psalm 1: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked…who is like a tree planted by the rivers…whose leaf flourishes, and does not wither.” We, too, want to flourish, in Christ, and together with each other, so that we resemble that wonderful scene in the final chapter of our Bible. There in the book of Revelation we hear of a tree of life which grows, blossoms, and bears fruit all year round, for the healing of the nations. That is, of course, our destiny. Israel was to be a pleasant vine or tree planted for the good of all around her, but as the prophet Isaiah warned, “God expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced only worthless ones” (Is 5:2). When Jesus came to Jerusalem, He was dismayed to find something like a barren fig tree. For God’s plan is that she should be fruitful and beneficial, in echo of Him. That is now our destiny as the Church, to become “complete” or “perfect” in Christ, and to see our leaders also doing the work of God. Again, this is something that we do together—our leaders caring for the cure of souls, and responsible before God for us, we praying for their strengthening and their ministry. All of us, together, are meant to reflect more and more the likeness of Christ. This happens in our attitude towards each other, in our prayers for each other, in the work of transformation that God the Holy Spirit effects among us. It is God’s work, but it does not happen automatically—if it did, there would have been no need for the book of Hebrews to be written!
Edith M. Humphrey 