Fr. Athanasios Mitilinaios: “If someone should speak out and protest about things he ought to, but does not, well then, he is … spineless.”

(Excerpt from a transcribed homily on the Acts of the Apostles, delivered at the Church of Saint Charalambos of Larissa on March 10, 1991.)

 

 

[…] Furthermore, as Paul and Barnabas engaged in a lively discussion with these Jewish Christians [i.e., Judaizers], they were undoubtedly speaking in a high tone. It was not out of a disposition to speak loudly. But I only have to remind you of Paul in Paphos, before Sergius Paulus, when he spoke vehemently to that magician, Elymas. And he spoke harshly. Let me just tell you that Paul called those Jewish Christians “false brethren.” He even called them “dogs,” hounds. He also called them “evil workers,” and so on—those who continually created problems for the work of the evangelization of souls.

So, we might say: but shouldn’t a person be meek, calm? Does not the Apostle himself write, after all: “The servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men”? In the Second Epistle to Timothy? That “the servant of the Lord,” he says, “must not strive but be gentle, mild, gentle, his behavior toward all in mild tones.” Is this not contradictory when it comes to speaking about matters of the faith? Of course, we should not discard politeness, but neither should we take away liveliness. It is not a matter of the manner in which a worldly man fights, one who is far from God. Certainly, in such situations one must be gentle. But here we are speaking of persistence and lively demonstrations for the understanding of the truth. Then how shall we speak? Shall we speak gently-gently, when the other is creating issues and problems? We shall speak with liveliness. And we shall cry out! This does not damage, does not destroy our gentleness.

Let me give you some examples. Moses is considered a meek man. The meek Moses. And yet, how many times did Moses not become angry against the people! What shall I remind you of? Shall I remind you of when he broke the tablets of the Law, saying in anger that such a people, who so readily fall into idolatry, do not deserve a God-written Law? What shall I tell you? When he struck the rock twice with his staff and said: “What do you want at last, for me to bring water out of this rock for you?” And this indeed became the cause—because Moses crossed a certain limit here—that he was not permitted to enter the Promised Land? And many other such instances. And yet Moses is the meek, the gentle one. Of course, his overall behavior was one of gentleness. But there were moments when he had to cry out.

Or shall I tell you about Saint Nicholas, who is called “a rule of faith and an icon of meekness,” when at the First Ecumenical Council he raises his hand and slaps Arius—a slap that Arius still remembers… We have a wall painting in the chapel of the so-called “Saint Demetrios” in our Catholicon, which perhaps is the chapel of Saint Nicholas, because all the scenes are from the life of Saint Nicholas, from the time he went to school and was learning his letters. It even has that image, wall paintings high up. And it also includes the First Ecumenical Council in one corner. Saint Nicholas raises his hand and slaps Arius. And yet, he is called a rule of meekness.

I want you to understand, my beloved, that meekness is one thing, and lively discussion—or even raising one’s voice—is another thing. It does not offend gentleness, meekness. In fact, if someone ought to speak out and protest and speak out again about things he ought to, but does not speak out, well then, he is… spineless. Then he is spineless. Without a doubt. In such a way that he creates a bad image, a bad impression. And do not forget, my beloved, that the nerve of anger was placed within us by God, as Saint Basil the Great says, precisely so that we may become angry against evil.

The Lord said to Satan: “Get behind Me, Satan,” with anger. The Lord took a whip, overturned the tables of the moneychangers. He opened the cages of the doves so they could come out. Did He do all this gently-gently, perhaps? How do you imagine it? Does the sacred text, as it narrates it to us, give us that kind of image? And Saint Basil the Great says: God placed within us the nerve of anger—but for good things. Not against our brother in the sense… because we want, out of egotism, to have our own way. If even the first-created had said to the devil exactly what Christ said: “Get away”—forgive me—“Get away, get lost from before our eyes,” that “Get behind Me” in modern Greek means exactly this: “Get lost. Be gone!” Why? When the Lord says to the devil “Go behind Me,” it means “I don’t want to see you.” Because someone who is behind us is not visible to us. In modern Greek, then, this is how it should be rendered: “Get lost.” If the first-created had said it like this, they would still be in Paradise… You see then how exactly we must act.

There are other cases in which we must speak with meekness to someone who is opposed, when we see that he is of good disposition, is ignorant, and is ready to listen to us. For this very reason, the Apostle himself writes in 2 Timothy 2:24 the following: “…but be gentle” (he says—meaning that the one who preaches the word of God must be gentle) “unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” (Explanation: “in meekness to instruct those who resist, who react,” in case “God might grant them repentance unto the knowledge of the truth,” and that they may “recover themselves from the devil’s snare,”—that is, be freed, come out of the devil’s trap—“being taken captive by him at his will,” meaning they are entangled, caught, that is, they have fallen into the net of the devil, so that they might be able to be delivered.)

Thus, of course, we shall raise our voice if needed—I return to this—but we shall not beat, we shall not kill those who oppose. Why do I say this? You’ll tell me it’s “an exaggeration.” If you read Church History, you will see this. That even murders occurred. Or, so as not to go too far back, how many times did the Jews, in the name of the Law, have feet swift to shed blood. I remind you of those forty men, zealots, who swore not to eat unless they killed Paul within 24 hours. God does not will such things. And just as the Lord spoke of this perversion of spiritual zeal—it is indeed a perversion—He said: “The hour cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.” That they offer worship to God by killing you. This is a perversion.

 

Greek source: https://enromiosini.gr/arthrografia/p-athanasios-mytilinaios-an/