Tag Archives: John Chrysostom

Stewards of the Mysteries of God

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Detail of mediaeval fresco of St. Clement celebrating the Eucharist in the Lower church of San Clemente (Rome) and a Russian icon of St. John Chrysostom, vested as a bishop to celebrate the Eucharist and preach the Gospel.


Look upon us as stewards of the mysteries of God. In this regard it is expected of stewards that each one be found trustworthy. To me it matters little that I be judged by you or some other tribunal…. The one who judges me is the Lord…. who will shed light on things hidden in darkness and will make manifest the intentions of hearts…. (1 Cor. 4:1-2, 4-5)

A steward is a person who administers someone else’s property, house, finances, etc. This is an important role and was especially important in the ancient world. Stewards often know more about their employer’s business than the employer does; usually an employer has only one steward, not several.

St. Paul tells the Corinthians that he is one of the many stewards of the mysteries of God. What does it mean to be responsible for the mysteries of God? What are the mysteries of God? How is it that there are several such stewards?

The “mysteries of God” are the Greek term for what Latin theologians call the “sacraments” of God. To be a steward of the mysteries is to be a steward of the sacraments–i.e. the clergy who are responsible for leading the celebration of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, and for making them available to the faithful. As the stewards of the mysteries, the clergy are responsible for the liturgical life of the parish and leading the people into deeper fellowship with God.

The “mysteries of God” are also the teaching of the Church–i.e. the preaching of the Gospel. The clergy are responsible for teaching and preaching, often in the context of the Eucharist. They are ordained to proclaim the Good News that is enacted in the celebration of the Eucharist. Teaching and celebrating are two sides of one coin: making the life of God available to the people. A life of teaching-preaching-sacramental celebration depends on the steward’s trustworthiness and efforts to live up to these privileges/responsibilities.

The people themselves are also stewards of the mysteries. They are charged and empowered by their baptism and reception of Holy Communion to invite others to share the life of the Resurrected Christ and lead them to closer fellowship with God as well.

Each parish is the entire church. There are many stewards because there are many parishes but within each parish the whole life of God is available to be lived out by everyone there, following the leadership of the clergy/steward(s) of that parish.

Does each steward occasionally fail in some way? Yes. Does each parish occasionally fail the steward in some way? Yes. But each steward and each parish will be judged by the Lord. Until that judgement comes, the parish and the steward work together to proclaim the Good News of the Lord and to live the life of the Kingdom here and now.

Many Faces of Antichrist

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The figure of the Antichrist appears in several places in the New Testament before he appears in the Apocalypse (Book of Revelation). In the first epistle of St. John, we read Children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come; therefore we know that it is the last hour.” (1 John 2:18) The antichrists are those who oppose the apostle’s teaching. They are the heretics (lit. “the choosers”) who choose a different teaching and place themselves in opposition to the Church.

In the 2nd epistle to the Thessalonians, the antichrist is the “man of lawlessness” (2 Thess. 2:3-10) who opposes peace, order, and harmony–both civil and ecclesiastical. The seven-headed, ten-crowned dragon of the Apocalypse is typically identified with this “man of lawlessness,” the Antichrist. The dragon deceives and destroys, confusing and laying waste to the Church and the known world.

St. Paul makes the cryptic remark: “… the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.” (2 Thess. 2:7) Who restrains the Antichrist? St. Paul seems to presume that his readers know but later readers have had to surmise. Even St. Augustine threw up his hands and exclaimed, “I admit that the meaning of this completely escapes me.” (City of God, Book 20, chapter 19)

St. John Chrysostom considered the Antichrist to be the personification of chaos and destruction. It was the power of Rome (even in her pagan days) that kept complete anarchy and destruction at bay. Chrysostom thought of himself as a “Roman” living in the “New Rome” of the ongoing Roman Empire that continued to constrain the Antichrist. Many early fathers and preachers agreed with him and would probably say that “that which restrains the Antichrist” continued to do so until 1917-1918, when Austro-Hungary and imperial Russia–the last two governments to see themselves as the continuation of the Roman Empire–finally collapsed or were overthrown.

The idea that imperial rule kept the world safe from evil is ancient. In the Old Testament, it seems that the ancient Israelites thought the kings of Israel were the “first line of defense” against the evil angels. (For more about this, see Margaret Barker‘s book, The Last Prophet.)