Preaching to the Preachers

A "Temperance Tree" from the Mid 1800's

A Sermon for Septuagesima Sunday - 70 Days Before Easter

By Bp. Joseph Boyd (Ancient Church of the West)

The Epistle - 1 Corinthians ix. 24. 

“KNOW ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” 

The Greco-Roman Background 

Socrates is quoted saying, “Everything in moderation, nothing in excess.” This is an expanded philosophy based on the inscription at Delphi, “Meden Agan”, “Nothing in Access.” This saying undergirded the Stoic philosophy in the pre-Christian world, which attempted to develop a life of harmony based upon the cultivation of virtues that exceeded even the pagan gods. This virtue was pictured as resting upon a foundation of temperance (Sophrosyne), followed by prudence, justice, and fortitude. These categories were taken up in Early Christian writings, but their entire inner characteristics were changed, because the point of self-control was no longer self-mastery, but a true submission to God as the Creator of all life, whose will for us and whose moral commandments hold preeminence over human desires, fallen passions, and lusts. In the Patristic worldview temperance was Christian obedience. 

The Christian Use of Temperance 

In the Christian tradition, temperance is a central virtue, imparted by the life of the Holy Spirit, shared in Baptism. The Old Testament emphasizes temperance as a quality of Jewish culture, as evidenced in both Solomon's Book of Proverbs and in the Ten Commandments, with its admonitions against covetousness and adultery. The New Testament does so as well, with forgiveness being central to theology and self-control being one of the Fruits of the Spirit. The word “Temperance” is used by the King James Version for the Greek word “Enkrateia” (ἐγκρατεία), which means self-control or discipline (Strong's Concordance, 1466). 

Within the Christian Tradition, Temperance is a virtue akin to self-control. It is applied to all areas of life, but especially to food, alcohol and sex. This definition, with the exclusion of sexuality, can especially be viewed in practice among monastic traditions like the Benedictine Order, Basilian monks, and Hesychasts. In Orthodox Christianity, temperance is a virtue that moderates attraction and desire for pleasure and "provides balance in the use of created goods". St. Thomas Aquinas calls temperance a "disposition of the mind which binds the passions” in his famous “Summa.” Temperance combats the sin of “gluttony,” which is the loss of self-control in relationship to the physical world, not just in our relationship with food. 

More recently, in “Positive Psychology", which is founded upon Judeo-Christian cultural categories, temperance is defined to include four main character strengths. In his book, Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification, Martin Seligman describes forgiveness, humility, prudence, and self-regulation as attributes of classically temperate behavior. There can be no real, transformative, permanent maturity and growth in the personality without temperance. 

The Biblical View of Temperance  

Galatians 5:22-24 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 

2 Peter 1:5-6 - And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness. 

Titus 2:12 - Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world… 

Proverbs 25:28 - He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls. (Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.) 

Philippians 4:5 - Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. 

Proverbs 25:16 - Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it. 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 - What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. 

Romans 12:1-2 - I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 

Romans 13:14 - But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. 

Colossians 3:10 - And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.

1 Peter 5:8 - Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. 

1 Timothy 3:8-9 - Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.

1 Thessalonians 5:6-8 - So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 

Ephesians 5:18 - And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit. 

Galatians 5:19-21 - Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 

Romans 8:9, 26 - But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 

Acts 24:25 - And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee. 

Proverbs 31:4-5 - It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.. 

The Fathers on Temperance 

St. John Damascene says in his “On the Virtues and the Vices” from “The Philokalia: The Complete Text (Vol. 2)” - “These eight passions should be destroyed as follows: gluttony by self-control; unchastity by desire for God and longing for the blessings held in store; avarice by compassion for the poor; anger by goodwill and love for all men; worldly dejection by spiritual joy; listlessness by patience, perseverance and offering thanks to God; self-esteem by doing good in secret and by praying constantly with a contrite heart; and pride by not judging or despising anyone in the manner of the boastful Pharisee (cf. Luke 18 : 11–12), and by considering oneself the least of all men. When the intellect has been freed in this way from the passions we have described and been raised up to God, it will henceforth live the life of blessedness, receiving the pledge of the Holy Spirit (cf. 2 Cor. 1 : 22). And when it departs this life, dispassionate and full of true knowledge, it will stand before the light of the Holy Trinity and with the divine angels will shine in glory through all eternity.” 

In the Saying of the Desert Fathers there is a place that says - “BROTHER: Is there any man who fasteth that shall not be redeemed? OLD MAN: There is one kind of fasting which is from habit, and another from desire, and another from compulsion, and another from sight, and another from the love of vainglory, and another from affliction, and another from repentance, and another from spiritual affection; for although each of these seems to be the same as the other in the mind externally, yet in the word of knowledge they are distinct. Now the way in which each is performed by the body is the same, and the way in which each is to be undertaken is wholly the same by him who travelleth straightly on the path of love, and who beareth his burden with patient endurance spiritually, and who doth not rejoice in his honor.” E. A. Wallis Budge, "The Paradise of the Holy Fathers," Seattle, St. Nectarios Press, 1984, pp. 263-264 

St. Basil, in his homilies on the Holy Spirit, wrote - “Beware of limiting the good of fasting to mere abstinence from meats. Real fasting is alienation from evil. ‘Loose the bands of wickedness.’ For give your neighbor the mischief he has done you. Forgive him his trespasses against you. Do not ‘fast for strife and debate.’ You do not devour flesh, but you devour your brother. You abstain from wine, but you indulge in outrages. You wait for evening before you take food, but you spend the day in the law courts. Woe to those who are ‘drunken, but not with wine.’ Anger is the intoxication of the soul, and makes it out of its wits like wine.” 

Fr. Dimitru Staniloae said in his spiritual reflections - “Self-control from gluttony is what makes restraint from the others possible… Fasting is the antidote against this pathological extension of our appetites and or our egoism. It is the humble return of the ego to itself, but by its transparence it sees God and is filled with a life consistent with God. This is the growth of spirit in man, from divine sprit....Because man's egoism wants to grow without God, without loving relationships with his fellow creatures, it grows only in appearance and for a little while.” 

Loss of Christian Credibility 

Today’s Epistle Reading deals with an issue that is difficult for Christian leaders, and acknowledged as such by the Apostle Paul. In an era defined by the failure of Christian leadership, typified by affairs, adultery, pornography, addiction, abuse, and alcoholism, it is almost expected amongst the faithful that their leadership will not only struggle with the same moral issues that they struggle with, but they are, more often then not, living as hypocrites. Respect for Christian clergy is at an all-time low in America. In the 2018 Gallup Poll showing 37% and the 2019 NORC/AP Poll at 42%, respectively, they show an overall low rating of the honesty and trustworthiness of Christian clergy. Our clerical difficulty stems from a lack of temperance rooted in radical individualism, that gives us privacy in almost every area where we need accountability, and freedom in all matters that should be upheld by the responsibility that social covenants should regulate. Anonymity, unlimited access to all kinds of information, and a general lack of cultural structures that tie together personal meaning with social function, all lead to an environment that assumes our moral failure. We have come to view Christian virtue as unattainable and idealistic, a fairytale told to inspire children to good behavior, and not as a foundational reality of our Christian experience. 

Temperance as a Positive Cycle 

In the ancient and apostolic teaching, temperance is necessary because our action needs to be predictably moral and good, and this predictably humble, self-effacing, community-serving mentality leads to the stability of the Church. In this way, personal sacrifice leads to stability in that temperance underlies loyalty, and loyalty breeds fidelity of an Orthodox teaching and praxis. This stability of our beliefs and practices, in turn, leads to credibility in the wider community. One of the reasons why our credibility has suffered so much is that these deep groves of fidelity, upon which our wheels of leadership should always turn and be guided, have been displaced by our culture’s embrace of the Protestant values of individual conscience over all else, and the eventual transformation of this category into the secular assumption of the triumph of personal identity over the community. One can give complete mental assent to “Orthodoxy” and believe all the right things, but still be depending on personal authority to make such decisions, thus coming to the right conclusion from the wrong process. Rather than coming to Orthodoxy as a result of submitting to appropriate church authority, we come to it from the standpoint of our personal prerogative to find truth, which we then have to prove, in turn, by forcing our conclusions upon others. As Americans from a Protestant background, who chose to re-affiliate with the ancient doctrinal categories of Orthodoxy, we still maintain many of the individualistic and opportunistic assumptions or our wider culture, which leads to a practical problem of “church hopping”, rebelliousness, radicalism, fundamentalism, and instability. This instability is toxic to the propagation of the Gospel in our own lives and in the relationships we are called by God to illuminate with love. 

Life Application 

Moving forward with our transformation from egoistic neophytes to mature men and women in Christ, how should we deal with our intemperance, passionate responses to the world, and our prelest and pride? 1) Is to recognize and repent of the underlying bad attitudes that we have behind our desire to be Orthodox - the desire for recognition, power, love for our own opinion, reactions against others, and personal significance. 2) Confess these sins to spiritual fathers and mothers in the Faith, who are able to direct you towards a positive spirituality that is not based upon your own fancies and feelings. This is why “obedience” is so necessary, and why our spiritual disciplines should not be self-prescribed, but the result of reflection by those who love us and care for us. 3) And, lastly, our “penance” or “self-change” can only occur if we are really struggling with “fasting”, self-negation, temperance - all of the qualities that the Holy Fathers have so aptly described in the above quotes. 

In the end, we strive to fulfill St. Paul’s admonition - ‘Let Your Moderation be Known to All Men. The Lord is at hand!” (Philippians 4:5) We prepare our souls for Christ and the Last Day, crying out for mercy and trying to avoid the fearful condition of having preached to others, we ourselves become shipwrecked, cast away, and alienated from God ourselves. This last state is worse than our first. (Matthew 12:45, Luke 11:26) Our time for moderation, temperance and constant repentance is limited, so let us not waste it on unimportant distractions. “So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”

Collect

O LORD, we beseech thee favourably to hear the prayers of thy people; that we, who are justly punished for our offences, may be mercifully delivered by thy goodness, for the glory of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost ever, one God, world without end. Amen.