Water, Faith and Wood - Christopher Smith (Excerpt)

8/14/2019 Water, Faith and Wood - Christopher Smith (Excerpt)

1/35


2/35

Water, Faithand Wood

Stories of the

Early Churchs Witness

for Today

C. Christopher Smith

With a Foreword by

Kevin Rains

Doulos Christou PressIndianapolis


3/35

WATER, FAITH AND WOOD:

Stories of the Early Churchs Witness for Today

Copyright 2003, Doulos Christou Press. All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America.

ISBN: 0-9744796-9-1

LCC No.: 2003096464

FIRST EDITION.

Chapters 15-20 of the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus were

tran slated by Kevin Ed gecom b. These chap ters and th eir

introduction have been used by perm ission of the translator. A

full translation of this work is available online at:http:/ / ww w.bombaxo.com/

Scriptural passages are the authors paraphrase of the KJV unless

otherwise marked .

Some passages, marked NRSV, were used from theNew Revised

Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division ofChristian Education of the National Council of the Churches of

Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Doulos Christou Press is an independent, ecumenical press

committed to publishing works related to radical Christian

discipleship.

Doulos Christou Press1629 E. Lexington Ave

Indianapolis, IN 46203

www.douloschristou.com


4/35

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments.............................................................. iv

Foreword ........................................................................... vii

Introduction ......................................................................... 9

Chapter 1 Water ............................................................... 20

Chapter 2 Faith ................................................................ 44

Chapter 3 Wood................................................................ 73

Chapter 4 Introduction to the Texts ............................... 98

Chapter 5 Water: Writings from the Early Church ..... 104

Chapter 6 Faith: Writings from the Early Church ..... 125

Chapter 7 Wood: Writings from the Early Church .... 155

Conclusion ....................................................................... 193

Notes................................................................................. 197

Bibliography..................................................................... 202
http://0.0.0.0/http://0.0.0.0/http://0.0.0.0/http://0.0.0.0/http://0.0.0.0/http://0.0.0.0/http://0.0.0.0/http://0.0.0.0/http://0.0.0.0/http://0.0.0.0/http://0.0.0.0/http://0.0.0.0/http://0.0.0.0/http://0.0.0.0/http://0.0.0.0/http://0.0.0.0/


5/35

Foreword vii

Foreword

This book deeply troubled me. For several days after my initial

reading I went from being slightly irritated to bordering on

desperation. It literally kept me up at night. It crawled und er my

skin and burrowed into my mind. A nagging frust ra t iondeve loped. A soul sp l in te r was lodged and i r r i t a ted me

constantly. After a couple of days of this frustration I began to

come to an und erstanding of why this might be. There are likely

several reasons, bu t the most basic and prevailing one is this: the

gulf between the practices of Christ followers in the first few

centuries and my own practices was enormous. Then to my

horror, I started to actually believe that they were right and I

was wrong! How far we have drifted from our original coursefaithfully set for us by the Apostles, martyrs and faithful ones of

the ear ly centu ries! My experience and practice of baptism, faith,

and suffering bear almost no resemblance at all to theirs. So, if

they are ind eed right and I am indeed wrong, then I have mu ch

work to do, much grou nd to cover. This book has propelled me

on a journey to close that gulf by leaving my comfortable but

shaky notions of discipleship and starting to walk toward the

much r icher theology and practice of those earliest followers. Inthis regard , this book is both a compass and map.

It is a compass because it contains large sections of the

actual w ritings of the m ost recognized and respected teachers of

those early centu ries. These writings can help u s get our bearings


6/35

Water, Faith

and Woodviii

and find True North. But its not enough to just know the

coordinates of where we need to be. At some point we must

step out and start walking. It is a map because Chris has givenus practical, useable concepts for following the compass to a

better p lace.

So, this book is desperately needed in a day when

discipleship has often been trivialized to fill in the blank

curriculum. These notions while well intentioned to get as

many in as fast as possible are misguided. We need more

than a course correction. We need to get back to the starting

place. To do that we must submit ourselves to the wisdom ofearlier generations whose faith was forged in deep suffering

and patient endurance.

Chris has stayed in my hom e on many occasions. I have

had the opportun ity to live for many m onths in close proximity

with him and his wife. I have observed his life and ministry

closely and been the recipient of his gifts of teaching and

hospitality. We have broken bread and shed tears together. Iam convinced after all that time of two things: he is a man of

the deepest character and profound intellect. Rarely, if ever,

have I observed those two qualities co-existing so natu rally and

so fully in one person. What he writes he d eeply believes, and

what he believes he puts into p ractice.

With that, I can w holeheartedly comm end this book and

its author to you. They can be trusted and relied upon to lead

us to a p lace of more fully, more faithfully following the Way.May you experience the fullest frustration and then the

accurate gu idance of which th is book is capable.

Kevin Rains

Cincinnati, Ohio

29 June 2003

The Feast of

St. Peter and St. Paul


7/35

Water, Faith

and Wood44

Chapter 2

Faith

Before launching into a d iscussion of the faith of the Early Chu rch, it

would serve us well to consider the meaning of the word faith.

Accord ing to the au thor of Hebrews, faith is the substance of things

hop ed for, the evidence of things not seen (11:1). The writer then

proceeds to illustrate th is definition by telling the stories of faithful

Israelites. The actions of these stories main characters are drivennot by the characters prowess or by the w isdom of the world, but

rather by a d ivinely given vision of future reality. For instance, Noah

saw no evidence of the coming flood, yet he obediently followed

Gods instru ctions to build the ark. Likewise Abraham , seeing no

evidence that God would protect his son, faithfully laid him on the

altar and p repared to sacrifice him. The Early Church also can be

characterized by its faith, its choosing to act accord ing to the reality

of Christs resurrection, instead of the fallen reality of the presentworld. With the resurrection of Christ as their assurance, they looked

forward to the end of the Scriptural story, the future reconciliation of

God and humanity. However, just like Israels ancient heroes, they

did not passively bide their time until Gods promises were fulfilled ,

bu t instead they acted in accord ance with those prom ises. The Early

Churchs trust in Gods faithfulness and pow er energized them to be

obedient to Christ, even in the midst of worldly opposition. While

the world parad ed its opulent pride, the Christians remained hum ble

and meek. While the world put u p its walls of deceit, the Christians

reveled in truth and r ighteousness. While the world clung greedily

to every penny, the Christians delighted in generosity and mercy.

While the world was quick to avenge a wrong, the Christians made

peace with their enemies by returning good for evil. While the world

persecuted the Church, the Christians remembered that their Lord

had also been persecuted , and they patiently end ured w ith their eyes


8/35

Faith 45

fixed on the resurrection. It is little wond er that the Apostle Pau l

was led to conclud e that the Gospel was foolishness to the p erishing

world (I Cor. 1:18). Similarly, Cyprian p roclaims that The Kingdom

of God is not in the w isdom of the world, nor in eloquence, but in thefaith of the cross and in the virtue of d ialogue (Third Treatise #69).

Cypr ians words underscore the impor tance of the fa i thful

comm un ity in the Early Church, for d ialogue w as the prod uct of the

interaction of the Holy Spirits gifts manifested in the community.

Indeed, Paul instructed the Church in Corinth that when they

gathered together each one was to bring something to share according

to his or her gifts a song, a prayer, a story, a lesson, a prophecy (I

Cor. 14:26-33). Thus, the gathering of the Chu rch w as to be definedby this interaction, or d ialogue of all the gifts in the community. The

New Testament Greek word for Church is ekklesia, a term w hich w as

also used in secular Greek culture to describe a political gathering, a

forum . Ju st as a p olitical forum w ould d issolve without the

par ticipation of its members, the health of the Chu rch hinged up on

the participation of its members and the utilization of their Spirit-

given gifts. Faith for the Early Church was not an ind ividualized

product that was consumed once a week in the gathering of believers,but rather was an adventure for the community of believers to

par ticipate in, a task to be und ertaken by them. In the following

paragrap hs, we will examine how the Early Churchs faith was made

man ifest in its comm unities, or in other w ords, we will name some

practices that emerged as a result of the Churchs focus on the ultimate

reconciliation of God and humanity and their understanding that

they p layed a crucial role in bringing forth that reconciliation.

Jesus Christ, the ExampleAll of the faithful practices of the Early Chu rch can be summarized

by the example that Jesus put forth in his life and teaching. Cyprian

drives this point home: The example of living is given to us in Christ

(Third Treatise#39). The Apostle Paul also emphasizes the same point

in his description of the Chu rch as a Body (I Cor. 12): the Church is

not just any body bu t it is the body of Christ, his embodiment in the

present age. Earlier in the same epistle to the Corinthians, Paul urgedthe Chu rch in Corinth to imitate him, as he in turn imitated Christ

(11:1). Thus, the pu rpose of the Church, at its most basic level, is to

follow and imitate Jesus. Indeed, Christ left his disciples with a single

charge before he ascended into the heavens: make disciples (i.e.,

students or followers) of all nations (Matt. 28:19). This mission of

the Chu rch has not changed over the past 2000 years; despite all our


9/35

Water, Faith

and Wood46

Tertullian, On PrayerChapter IV.

The Third Clause [of the Lords Prayer].

According to this model [prayer],we continue, Your will bedone in the heavens and on the earth; not that there is someother power to prevent Gods will being done, and we prayfor the successful achievement of his will; but we pray for hiswill to be done in all. For, by figurative interpretation of flesh

and spirit, we are heaven and earth even if it is to beunderstood simply, still the sense of the petition is the same,that in us Gods will be done on earth, to make it possible,for it to be done also in the heavens. What, moreover, doesGod will, except that we should walk according to his disci-pline? We pray, then, that he would supply us with the sub-stance of his will, and the capacity to do it, that we may besaved both in the heavens and on earth; because the sum of

his will is the salvation of the people whom he has adopted.There is, too, that will of God which the Lord accomplishedin preaching, in working, and in enduring, for if he himselfproclaimed that he did not his own, but the Fathers will,undoubtedly those things which he used to do were theFathers will (John 6:38) unto which things, as unto exem-plars, we are now spurred: to preach, to work, to endureeven unto death. And we need the will of God, that we may

be able to fulfill these duties. Again, in saying, Your will bedone, we are even wishing well to ourselves, in that there isnothing evil in the will of God; even if things that do notseem good are imposed on us. So, in praying this prayer, weprepare ourselves for patience. The Lord also, when he hadwished to demonstrate to us, even in his own flesh, the fleshsinfirmity, by the reality of suffering, said, Father, remove

this your cup; and remembering himself, added, but notmy will, but yours be done (Lk. 22:42). He himself was theWill and the Power of the Father: and yet, for the demon-stration of the patience that was due, he gave himself up tothe Fathers Will.


10/35


11/35

Water, Faith

and Wood48

Origen, Against Celsus,

Book VIII,

Chapter 73.Celsus next urges us to help the king with all our might, and to

labor with him in the maintenance of justice, to fight for him; and

if he requires it, to fight under him, or lead an army along with

him. To this our answer is, that we do, when the occasion arises,

give help to kings, and indeed we offer a divine help, putting on

the whole armor of God (Eph 6:11). And we do this in obedience

to the command of the Apostle Paul, I exhort, therefore, that first

of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving, be

made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority (1

Tim. 2:1-2). Additionally, the more any one excels in piety, the

more effective help he renders to kings, and he renders even more

assistance than is given by soldiers, who go forth to fight and slay as

many of the enemy as they can. And to those enemies of our faith

who require us to bear arms for the commonwealth, and to slay

men, we reply: Do not those who are priests at certain shrines,and those who wait upon certain ones of your gods, keep their

hands free from blood, that they may with unstained hands offer

the appointed sacrifices to your gods; and even when war is upon

you, you never enlist the priests in the army. If that, then, is a noble

custom, how much more so, that while others are engaged in battle,

the Christians too should intercede as the priests and ministers of

God, keeping their hands pure, and wrestling in prayers to God on

behalf of those who are fighting for true justice, and for the kingwho reigns righteously, that whatever is opposed to justice may be

destroyed!And as we by our prayers vanquish all the de-

mons that stir up war, and lead to the violation of oaths, and

disturb the peace, we in this service are much more helpful to

the kings than those who go into the field to fight for them.

And we do take our part in public affairs, when along with

righteous prayers we practice self-denying disciplines andmeditations, which teach us to despise pleasures, and not to be

led astray by them. And none fight better for the king [and his

role of preserving justice] than we do. We do not indeed fight

under him, although he demands it; but we fight on his behalf,

forming a special army of piety by offering our prayers to God.


12/35

Faith 49

In p raying that Gods Kingdom would come, the Churchs

focus is turned outward, away from the selfish desires of the

individu al. Prayer then, as Jesus, the Apostles and the Early Church

und erstood it is decidedly not a tool for self-improvement, for thebui ld ing of a mul t i tude of se l f i sh , ind iv idua l k ingdoms .

Understanding humanitys tendency to selfishly abuse prayer,

Ignatius clarifies the instru ction of the Apostle Paul, saying: pray

withou t ceasing on behalf of other men (Letter to the Ephesians X).

Origen likewise emphasizes that our p rayerful obedience to God s

will brings abou t the fru its of the Kingd om in the wor ld (see excerpt

on pr evious pa ge, especially the italicized por tion). Origen s

depiction of prayer in this passage is striking because it illustratesprayer as an attitude, which begins on bended knees in the act of

prayer but continues to permeate all corners of life through the

practice of self-denying d isciplines and meditations.

The fru it of our p rayerful obedience, as Origen d escribes it,

is the [vanquishing of] all the demons that stir up war and lead to

the violation of oaths and disturb the peace ( Against Celsus

VIII.LXXIII). Thus, the Kingdom or the Reign of God is pow erfully

made manifest in our midst. Tertullian also ham mers this pointhom e:Prayer alone is that w hich u nleashes God. ... [I]t washes away

faults, repels temptations, extinguishes persecutions, consoles the

faint-spirited, cheers the high-spirited, escorts travelers, calms w aves,

makes robbers stand aghast, nourishes the poor, governs the rich,

raises up the fallen, arrests the falling, confirms the stand ing. (On

PrayerXXIX). These word s remind us of Jesus proclamation at the

outset of his ministry: The Spirit of the Lord is upon m e, because he

has anointed m e to preach the good new s to the poor; he has sent me

to heal the brokenhearted , to preach d eliverance to the cap tives, and

recovery of sight to the blind, to set the opp ressed at liberty, to preach

the acceptable year of the Lord (Lk. 4:18-19). Thus, in prayerful

submission to Gods will we are participants in the work of Jesus,

servants and ambassadors of Gods Kingd om of reconciliation, who

bring healing and liberty to the world .

Patientia

Thus, as the early Christians prayerfully submitted to the

will of God, they w ere prepared to carry ou t their roles in the divine

story. However, in order to d iscern and carry ou t these roles, their

minds had to be guided by a second fundam ental attitud e, which

they referred to as patientia. Patientia is indeed the Latin word

that is the source of our English word patience. However, I have


13/35

Water, Faith

and Wood50

Cyprian,On the Advantage of Patience, Chapter IV.

But what and how great is the patience in God, that, most patientlyenduring the profane temples and the images of earth, and thesacrilegious rites instituted by men, in contempt of his majesty andhonour, he makes the day to begin and the light of the sun to ariseupon the good and the evil alike. Furthermore, while he waters theearth with showers, no one is excluded from his benefits, but he

bestows his undiscriminating rains equally upon the righteous and

the unrighteous . We see that with undistinguishing equality ofpatience, at Gods behest, the seasons minister to the guilty and theguiltless, the religious and the impious those who give thanks andthe ungrateful. The elements wait on them; the winds blow, thefountains flow, the abundance of the harvest increases, the fruits ofthe vineyard ripen, the trees are loaded with apples, the groves puton their leaves, the meadows their greenness; and while God isprovoked with frequent, and indeed, with continual offences, hesoftens his indignation, and in patience waits for the day ofretribution, once for all determined; and although he has revengein his power, he prefers to keep patience for a long while, bearing,that is to say, mercifully, and putting off, so that, if it might bepossible, the long protracted mischief may at some time be changed,and man, involved in the contagion of errors and crimes, may eventhough late be converted to God, as he himself warns and says, Ido not will the death of him that dies, so much as that he mayreturn and live (Ezek. 18:32). And again, Return unto me, says

the Lord (Mal. 3:7). And again: Return to the Lord your God;for he is merciful, and gracious, and patient, and of great pity, andwho inclines his judgment towards the evils inflicted (Joel 2:13).Which, moreover, the blessed Apostle referring to, and recallingthe sinner to repentance, sets forward, and says: Do you despisethe riches of his goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering, notknowing that the patience and goodness of God leads you torepentance? But in accordance with your hardened and impenitent

heart you treasure up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and ofrevelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render toeveryone according to his works (Rom. 2:4-6). He says that Gods

judgment is just, because it is tardy, because it is long and greatlydeferred so that by the long patience of God humankind may be

benefited for life eternal.


14/35

Faith 51

chosen to retain the Latin term , as a reminder that th is attitud e was

much broader in meaning in the Early Church than the practices

that come to our m ind s when we think of patience. Above all,

patientia was understood as an essential part of Gods nature. Today,

we would be qu ick to affirm that God is love (I Jn. 4:8, 16), bu t w e

have a tendency to forget the Apostle Pauls definition of love in

which it is described as first and foremost patient (I Cor. 13:4).

Similarly, the Early Church also und erstood Jesus as p roviding u s

with a model of patience. Tertu llian spends a chapter of his treatise

On Patience describing the connection between the beatitud es and

patience. He says, for instance,

When [Jesus] marks the peacemakers (Matt. 5:9) withthe [title] of blessedness, and nam es them as children

of God, do the impatient have any affinity with

peace? Even a fool may perceive the answ er to that

question. When, however, he says, Rejoice and be

glad, when they curse and persecute you; for very great

is your rew ard in heaven , (Matt. 5:11-12) of course it

is not to the impatience of exultation that he makes that

promise; because no one will exult in adversitiesunless he has first learned to endu re them, and no one

will endure them unless he has learned to practice

patience (XI).

This passage reminds us that the attitud e of patientia, in the early

Christian communities, was largely comprised of endurance.

Cyprian likewise describes Gods endurance through the sins of

hu man ity (see excerpt on previous page).

Tertu llian also remind s his readers of their calling to end urethrough violence, grief, and indeed through all circumstances until

the coming resurrection. While we tend to think of patience as a

mind set, Tertullian notes that although patience begins in the mind,

it also serves as a guide for all our being. In particular, he refers to

endurance through torture as bodily patience. He says: But when

the Lord pronounces the flesh weak, he show s what need there is

of strengthening it through patience to meet every preparation

for subverting or p unishing faith; that it may bear with all constancystripes, fire, cross, beasts, sword; all of which the prophets and

apostles, by endu ring, conqu ered! Tertullian proceeds to name

Isaiah, Stephen and above all Job, as examples of bodily patience

(On PatienceXIV). Cyprian also find s Job to be a paragon of patientia:

Thu s Job was searched out and proved, and was raised

up to the very highest pinnacle of praise by the virtue


15/35

Water, Faith

and Wood52

of patience. What darts of the devil were sent forth

against h im! What tortu res were pu t in use! The loss of

his estate is inflicted, and the privation of numerous

offspr ing is ordained for h im. The master, rich in estate,

and the father, richer in children, is suddenly neither

master nor father! The w asting of wounds is added; and

moreover an eat ing pest of worms consumes his

festering and wasting limbs. And yet Job is not broken

down by his severe and repeated conflicts, nor the

blessing of God withheld from being declared in the

midst of those difficulties and trials of his, by the victory

of patience. (On the Advantage of Patience XVIII)

Indeed Job provides us w ith a stellar example of patientia: patience

und er material loss, patience und er grief, patience und er illness and

patience und er the mockery of his wife and friend s. Although Jobs

story stands as a stellar mod el of end urance, patientia for the Early

Church consisted of more than mere end urance.

Perhaps the most challenging aspect of patientia was the

mindset that the disciple of Jesus w as to let God be his avenger, and

was not to take revenge upon his enemies. Tertullian spends a chap ter

describing how w e are to leave vengeance to God . In this chap ter, heargu es that w hen God proclaims Vengeance is mine (Rom. 12:19,

Heb. 10:30), we are to understand that it indeed is Gods alone and

not our own (On Patience X). Thus, patientia was a gu ide for the

early Christians w hen they faced persecution; it taught them that it

is better to endure the suffering, as Christ and the Apostles did , than

to return evil for evil, even to the point of not cursing their oppressors

(cf. Tertullian On Patience VIII). Patien tia could ther efore be

summarized as trust in Gods sovereignty and omnipotence in allsituations, even those in which we have to endure physical or

emotional suffering. To have patientia is to proclaim w ith Job, in the

midst of our suffering: Blessed be the name of the Lord (1:21) or I

know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be

thw arted (42:2 NRSV). Thus, the stories of the Early Church show

that the attitudes of prayer and patientia shaped the early Christian

comm un ities and defined the p ractices that w ere essential to their

gathered life.

HolinessThe first such practice was holiness. The Early Church, above

all else, aimed to be a holy community. However, before we examine

this claim any further, we should make sure we have a firm definition

of holiness: to be holy is to be set apart. It is not uncommon for peop le


16/35

Faith 53

to und erstand holiness as synonym ous with righteousness. It is

indeed true that both God and the Church are holy because of

righteousness, but we should not lose sight of the fact that these two

concepts are distinct, and that we are called to live as a people setapart from the sinful ways of the world . However, we must stress

the d istinction here that w hile Gods peop le are called to be set apart

from the ways of the world, we are not called to live in isolation from

the world . Holiness should never be misunderstood as isolationism

Since the earliest days of hu manity, the people of God have

been marked by their holiness. One of the major themes of the Israelite

his tory recorded in the Old Testament , i s I srae l s cycle of

domestication and holiness. Although the stories of the Old TestamentLaw clearly and repeatedly spell out Israels call to holiness , the

Hebrew people had a tendency at some times to be more like the

nations around them and at others to be more obed ient to Gods call

for them to be a holy nation. For instance, the story in I Samuel 8

about Israels rejection of Gods authority in their cry for a human

king can be unders tood as an h i s to r i ca l example o f the i r

domestication. The Church likewise has gone throu gh numerou s

cycles of holiness and d omestication. The earliest centu ries of theChurch tended more toward holiness than dom estication, although

there was a definite trend toward domestication that culminated in

the Emperor Constantines unification of Chu rch and State. There

are tw o specific patterns of holiness ethical holiness and political

holiness that are found repeatedly in the stories of the Early Church

(and there is admittedly a fair amount of overlap between these two

patterns). The Church tend ed toward holiness in its ethics because

its practices were shap ed by Chr ists love and not by the sinful w ays

of the world. It also tend ed tow ard holiness in its politics because it

sought the establishment of the Kingd om of God on Earth, and not

the agenda of any w orldly governm ent or ideology. The holiness of

the early Christian communities is perhaps best expressed in the

passionate w ords of Tatian:

I do not wish to be a king; I am not anxious to be rich; I

decline m ilitary command ; I detest fornication; I am not

impelled by an insatiable greed to go to sea; I do not

contend for the honors of men; I am free from a madthirst for fame; I despise death; I am superior to every

kind of disease; grief does not consume my soul. If I am

a slave, I endure servitude. If I am free, I do not flaunt

my good birth. Die to the world, repudiating the

madness that is in it. Live to God, and by apprehend ing

him lay aside your old natu re (Address XI).


17/35

Water, Faith

and Wood54

These patterns of holiness in the Early Chu rch were forged

above all by its attitudes of prayer and patientia. The holiness of Gods

people was an extension of p rayer; in comm itting themselves to the

unfolding story of Gods Kingd om, the early Christians intentionallydistingu ished themselves from the world around them. TheDidache

begins with the proclamation that There are two paths, one of life

and one of death, and the d ifference is great between the tw o paths.

Thus, the attitude of prayer w as the basis for holiness, as it served as

both an identification with Christs way of life and a pointed

separation from the worlds way of death. Tertullian, comm enting

on the second clause of the Lords prayer, illuminates the connection

between prayer and holiness: When we say, Hallowed (i.e., holy)be Thy name, we pray this; that it may be hallowed in us who are in

him (On PrayerIII). Patientia likewise prepared the early Christians

for holiness; their trust in the sovereignty of God freed them from

the worldly practices of the culture around them. For instance, they

no longer had to return evil for evil; they trusted that God would

avenge any evil done to them. Similarly, their patient trust freed

them from the fear of illness or death. Jesus instru cted the crow ds in

the Sermon on the Mount: Therefore take no thought for tomorrow ,

saying, What shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or with what

shall we be clothed? For the pagans strive after all these things (Matt.

6:31-32). Why is it that the pagans are worr ied abou t these things?

They do so because they are afraid of sickness and death. Thu s, the

Churchs pa t ient ia , i t s pa t ient t rus t in Gods sovere ignty ,

distingu ished it from the cultures of the world.

The ethics of the Early Church therefore were set apart from

the ways of the culture in which they were immersed. Their practices

were shaped at a fund amental level by their refusal to serve any idol.In an age in which the pagan Greeks were consumed by their worship

of a multitude of gods, the Christians served one God only, and that

God was not one fashioned by human hand s. Mathetes writes in his

letter to Diognetus:

Are all these [pagan ] gods not deaf? Are they not blind ?

Are they not without life? Are they not destitute of

feeling? Are they not incapable of motion? Are they not

all liable to rot? Are they not all corru ptible? These thingsyou call gods; these you serve; these you worship; and

you become altogether like them. For this reason, you

hate the Christians, because they do not d eem these to be

gods. But do not you yourselves, who now think and

suppose such to be gods, much m ore cast contempt u pon

them than they do up on you? Do you not mock and insult


18/35

Faith 55

them more, when you worship gods made of stone and

earthenware, without ap pointing any p ersons to guard

them; but those made of silver and gold you shu t up by

night, and app oint watchm en to look after them by day,

lest they be stolen? (II)

It was not enough however for the Christians to avoid the

idols of the Greeks, their obedience to Jesus left no room for any

idols at all. Gluttony, the idolatry of food, and drunkenness, the

idolatry of alcohol both of wh ich ran ram pan t in the pagan culture

of the Greeks and Romans were rejected by the Christians. Cyprian,

in describing the Church, tells his readers that the believer ought

not to live like the Gentiles, (Third Treatise #34) and that too great

a lust of food is not to be desired (#60). Jesus likewise taught that

his followers shou ld not only avoid excesses of diet, bu t even that

they should not w orry about what they were to eat, as the pagans

were wont to do (Matt. 6:31-33). In contrast to the Greeks, Jesus w as

energized by his obedience, saying: My food is to do the will of

him that sent m e, and to finish h is work (John 4:34).

Money and material possessions were another area in which

the early Christians w ere set apart from the p ractices of the w orld.They were not consumed with greed and those who had an

abundance of wealth were expected to share liberally with those

who d id not . They lived as aliens and strangers on Earth, and thus

handled the things of the Earth loosely. Hermas writes in his first

parable: You know that you , who are the servants of God, dw ell in

a strange land ; for your city is far aw ay from this one. If, then,

you know the city in which you are to dwell, why d o you acquire

lands here, and make expensive decorations, and accumulatedwellings and useless build ings? He who makes such preparations

for this city cann ot return again to his own. Jesus taught that

hu man ity easily makes idols of their money and possessions, and

he had as little to do w ith such things as possible. When he sent ou t

his disciples (Luke 10), he sent them out withou t money, and warned

them in his teaching that if they were not careful, money would

sup plant God as their master: No man can serve two m asters: for

either he w ill hate the one, and love the other; or else he will cling tothe one, and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and

mammon (Matt. 6:24).

S imi lar ly , the ear ly Chr is t ians avoided the sexual

indulgences of the pagans. Cyprian refers to fornication as grievous

(Third Treatise #63), and remind s his aud ience that carnal idolatry

leads to death (#64). Similarly, Mathetes notes that the early


19/35

Water, Faith

and Wood56

Christians shared a comm on table, but not a common bed (Diognetus

V). In regard to sexuality, as in all things, the Early Church set their

sights on Jesus, who thou gh he was temp ted in every way just as we

are, was withou t sin (Hebrew s 4:15).The Early Chu rch, as we have noted, was not only holy in its

ethics; it was also politically holy. Just as the ethical holiness of the

early Christian communities was marked by the rejection of false

gods, its political holiness was marked by the rejection of false

allegiances. Hermas no doubt alluding to Hebrew s 13:14 reminds

his aud ience in h is first parable, that our home is not here on Earth,

but rather that we seek a City that is to come. When Jesus taugh t his

disciples to pray, he taugh t them to pray that Gods Kingdom wouldbe established on Earth, and he m ade it clear that Gods Kingd om

was never to be taken as equivalent to any earthly kingdom (cf. Jn.

18:36, Lk. 17:20-21). Tertu llian reinforces this latter point by observing

that, in op position to earthly kingdoms w hich d esire to control and

prolong the p resent age, the Kingdom of God, wh ich w e pray may

arrive, tends toward the conclusion of the present age (On Prayer

V). Since the p rimary allegiance of the Early Chu rch lay with the

coming Kingdom of God, its members were expected not to be

mindless servan ts of their earthly kingdoms. This political holiness

is sum med up eloquently in the word s of Tertullian:

Since all zeal in the pu rsu it of glory and honor is dead

in us, we have no pressing ind ucement to take part in

your public meetings; nor is there anything more foreign

to us than the affairs of state. We acknowledge one all-

embrac ing commonwea l th the wor ld (Apology

XXXVIII).

As Tertullian emphasizes, the early Christians did not serve in

governmental offices. Neither d id they return evil for evil by fighting

in the Kings army. However, it is important to note that their non-

participation did not equate to passive ind ifference. Origen dr ives

home this point by observing that the Church did serve their earthly

Kingdoms, not by fighting its wars or filling its offices, but rather

through prayer and the p ractice of self-denying d isciplines (Against

Celsus VIII.73-75). Thus, the Chu rch resting firm ly in its belief that

the will of God was more beneficial than the will of the King,maintained that the best possible service that they could do for their

land w as service that was gu ided by p rayer, by lifting the land up to

God and pleading that Gods good and perfect will be done. Prayer,

how ever, as Origen notes is not a comp letely passive activity because

it leads the one praying into selfless acts of service. The w orld is

often quick to action, bu t their actions are often gu ided by selfish


20/35

Faith 57

motives. In contrast, the early Christians, by setting their focus in

prayer on the Kingdom of God, were able to set aside their own

selfish motives and thus genuinely served the best interests of their

neighbors and the world. Mathetes is therefore led to conclude thatthe Christians are the preservers of the world and that God has

assigned them th is illustrious position, which it is unlawful for them

to forsake (Diognetus VI).

Mutual SubmissionA second faithful practice that played a major role in shaping

the Early Chu rch was mutual submission. All the members of these

comm unities, from the most matu re to the most recently baptized,

were expected to subm it to one another in love and to submit to the

guidance of the Holy Spirit within the community. Submission is a

d ifficult concept to grasp in our fiercely ind ependent age, but in the

Early Chu rch it ind icated the Christians commitment to serve each

other. No person w as exempt from the call to follow Christs example

of service. Christs ministry on Earth , his incarnation, was itself an

act of submission. He subm itted himself to the loving w ill of God in

taking on human flesh and demonstrating to us the dep ths of Godslove. The Ap ostle Pau l, in Philippians 2, tells us that Jesus d id not

have to come to Earth, but he chose to do so in ord er that hu man ity

might through him be reconciled to God. He also submitted himself

to humanity, by not just becoming human, but by becoming a servant

of all humanity (cf. Phil. 2:7). His submission and servants heart

were perhaps best captured in the example he set for h is disciples

by w ashing their feet (John 13:3-15), one of the lowliest chores of the

ancient world.Mutual submission, for the early Christians, also was

grounded in the attitudes of prayer and patientia. The attitude of

prayerful obed ience, as we have noted , was defined by su bmission

to the will of God. However, in submitting to Gods Kingdom , the

Early Church understood themselves as also submitting to one

another, for the Church was the vehicle by which the will of God

was carried out on Earth. The Early Church und erstood that as they

submitted to the will of God in p rayer they were to likewise to submitto one another, recognizing the gifts of the Spirit in one another and

allowing the Spirit to work throu gh these gifts toward the build ing

up of the Kingdom . Thus, their practice of mu tual submission would

have been senseless outside the context of prayer i.e., corporate

obedience to Gods Kingdom. The patient tru st of the Early Church

also prepared them to submit to one another. Patientia is the mindset


21/35

Water, Faith

and Wood58

of living out of control, of living with the u nd erstanding that God is

in control. When we speak of mutual submission, we must remember

that we are speaking of submission to the gifts of the H oly Spirit in

others. Impatience tempts us to take matters into our own hand s,but mutu al submission flows out of patience, out of the recognition

that God is sovereign and in control. Imp licit in our submission to

one another is a rejection of our selfish desire to imp atiently have to

take control of every situation.

The mutual subm ission of the Early Church is perhap s most

clearly seen in Clement of RomesEpistle to the Corinthians (see excerpt

on next page). This passage emp hasizes the role of gifts in the

Churchs practice of mutual submission. Every member of the Churchwas given gifts for the ed ification of the body (cf. Eph. 4:7-11), and

every member of the body w as expected to subm it to gifts that others

had been given. Those who taught were to be learned from; those

who p rophesied were to be listened to; the generosity of the wealthy

was to be accepted w ith gratitud e. These gifts were the catalyst of

the community, the heartbeat that pulsed in its midst, guiding its

members into a deeper experience of Christs love. We mentioned

earlier the importance of d ialogue in the community; such d ialoguewas the result of the Spirits gifts used in mutual submission to one

anoth er. No one person had every possible gift; therefore interaction

was necessary and everyone had to rely upon the community to

provide for their needs, be they spiritual, physical or emotional.

Submission therefore was a necessity for the health of the body. The

Apostle Pau l observes that in ones ph ysical body: The eye cannot

say unto the hand , I have no need of you: nor the head to the feet, I

have no need of you (I Cor. 12:21). Similarly, in the Body of Christ,

each m ember needs the gifts and skills of every other member. The

analogy of the Body is a wond erful picture of submission: to subm it

to another is to recognize ones need of their gifts and to reject

anothers gift is likewise a refusal to submit.

KoinoniaThe centrality of the gifts and of mutual submission in the

Early Church set the stage for a third practice of the faithfulcommunity: koinonia or the fellowship of sharing . The fruit of mutual

subm ission w as sharing; as one p erson subm itted to anothers gift,

the gifted person had a responsibility to share that gift and its fruit

with the person w ho submitted himself. It is not d ifficult to see that

koinonia was a practice that followed from the life of Christ, the One

who became hum an and then gave up his life in ord er that all


22/35

Faith 59

Clement of Rome, Epistle to the Corinthians

Chapter XXXVII. Christ is Our Leader, and We are His Soldiers.Let us then, brothers and sisters, act the part of soldiers with all energy,

in accordance with Christs holy commandments. Let us consider those

who serve under the Roman generals and notice the order, obedience,

and submissiveness with which they perform the things that are

commanded of them. All soldiers are not prefects, nor commanders

of a thousand, nor of a hundred, nor of fifty, nor the like, but each one

in his own rank performs the things commanded by the king and the

generals. The great cannot subsist without the small, nor the small

without the great. There is a kind of mixture in all things, and from

this mixture arises mutual advantage. Let us take our body for an

example (I Cor. 12). The head is nothing without the feet, and the

feet are nothing without the head. Indeed, the very smallest members

of our body are necessary and useful to the whole body. But they all

work harmoniously together, and are under one common rule for the

preservation of the whole body.

Chapter XXXVIII. Let the Members of the Church Submit

Themselves, and No One Exalt Himself Above Another.

Let our whole body, then, be preserved in Christ Jesus; and let everyone

be subject to his neighbor, according to the special gift bestowed upon

him. Let the strong not despise the weak, and let the weak show respect

to the strong. Let the rich man provide for the wants of the poor; and

let the poor man bless God, because he has given him a communitythat can provide his needs. Let the wise man display his wisdom, not

by mere words, but through good deeds. Let the humble man not

bear testimony to himself, but let others bear witness to him (cf.

Proverbs 27:2). Let him that is pure in the flesh not grow proud of it

or boast knowing that it was another who bestowed on him the gift

of purity. Let us consider then, brothers, the matter out of which we

were made, how we came into the world, from utter darkness, as if

emerging from a grave. He who made us and fashioned us, preparedhis bountiful gifts for us before we were born, and introduced us into

His world. Since, therefore, we receive all these things from him, we

ought to give him thanks for everything; to whom be glory forever

and ever. Amen.


23/35

Water, Faith

and Wood60

hu manity might share in the glorious benefits of eternal life. In

particular, koinonia emerged from the Christ-like attitudes of prayer

and patientia. In submitting ourselves to the will of God in p rayer,

we also subm it ourselves to follow th e examp le of Jesus. Just asJesus gave everything to share his life with us, so we likewise are

called to participate in the sharing fellowship of Gods people.

Patientia also prep ared the Early Church for koinonia, particularly

the sharing of material things. One learns through patientia not to

be pained by loss of material possessions. Tertu llian elaborates on

this point at length , and he concludes: He who is greatly d isturbed

with the impatience of a loss [of a material possession] sins d irectly

against God by giving earthly things precedence over heavenlythings (VII). If one is trained by patience not to be hurt by the loss

of material possessions, how mu ch more willing will that person be

to share resources with a brother or sister in need? Thu s, patientia

creates an env ironment in w hich koinonia can flourish.

The koinonia of the Early Church was centered on the

Eucharist, the shared meal that served as a reminder of Christs gift

to hum ankind . Mathetes noted the importance of the comm on table

in the life of the early Christian communities (Diognetus V), and asJohn Howard Yoder one of the most prominent Mennonite thinkers

of the twentieth century has noted, all the sharing of the Early

Chu rch was the norm al, organ ic extension from table fellowship

(Body Politics 17). We see koinonia illustrated in Lukes accounts of

the Church in Jerusalem just after Pentecost (Acts 2 and 4), and in

chapter 2 this sharing is connected to the daily breaking of bread

together (2:42-44). Likewise, Cyprian remind s his aud ience that

Brethren ought to sustain one another (Third Treatise#9). The earlyChristians, following the teaching of the Scriptures, saw themselves

as Gods stewards, as ones who own nothing but are responsible for

administering the riches of God. Ind eed, Cyprian warns that We

must boast in nothing for nothing is our own (Third treatise #4).

Thus, if the Churchs mem bers were stewards of Gods resources, to

what end w ere these resources to be used? The answer to this

question seems quite clear: the gifts and resources given by God

were to be used to ed ify, or build up, Gods people the Church.

Thus, koinonia not only follows from the Gifts of the Spirit and

mutu al subm ission bu t also from a rad ical doctrine of steward ship.

Barnabas emphasizes the connection of koinonia and steward ship:

You shall share all things with your neighbor; you shall not call

things your own; for if you partake together in things which are

incorruptible, how much more should you do so in those things

which are corruptible (Epistle XIX)


24/35

Faith 61

The sharing of material resources however was not the only

expression of koinonia in the early Church comm unities. The Apostle

Paul instructed the Church in Corinth to structure its gathering

around the koinonia that emerged from the interaction of the gifts

of the Spirit: How is it then, brothers and sisters? When you come

together, each one of you has a psalm, a teaching, a tongue, a

revelation, an interpretation. Let all these things be done for the

edification of the bod y (I Cor. 14:26). Thus, whatever the Spirit

laid on a persons heart, whether a song, a Scripture, a story, etc.,

was to be shared with the congregation du ring the meeting time .

The early Christians also demonstrated koinonia in their

willingn ess to share each others spiritual burdens. Confession of

sins and forgiveness were the fundamental ways in which the Early

Church spiritually supported one another. In theDidache, the Chu rch

is instructed: When you gather together, confess your sins; do not

come near to pray with an evil conscience (4:14). Similarly, Cyprian

writes: When w e have been w ronged , we must remit and forgive

it (Third Treatise #22). Forgiveness, stemm ing from p atience, was

an essential element of community for the early Christians. Thus,

Tertu llian says:

Who in the world that is prone to impatiencewill even

once forgive his brother, let alone seven times, or

seventy-seven times (Matt. 18:21-22)? Who that is

contemplating a suit against h is adversary will settle the

matter by agreement,unless he first begins by lopp ing

off chagrin, hard heartedness and bitterness, which are

in fact the p oisonous fruits of impatience? How will you

forgive, and forgiveness shall be granted you (Luke

6:37) if the absence of patience makes you tenaciouslyhold onto a wrong? (About Patience XII)

Chagrin, hardheartedness and bitterness, these are sins that bu ild

up wal ls be tween brothers and s i s te rs and ea t away a t the

fundamental un ity of Christs body. Patience demand s that we bear

the stru ggles of a brother or sister, even if he or she keeps making

the same mistake. Likewise, our sins are to be borne by others. It is

important for us to remember that the bearing of sins is not p ossible

without confession. Thus, we begin to see a picture of koinonia inthe spiritual sense: the process begins with the confession of an

individual, continues with the forgiveness of the commu nity (or part

of the comm unity) and these steps might have to be repeated if the

confessing ind ividu al falls again into the same sin. Thus, the

community was to endure patiently until this cycle of sin was finally

broken, and the ind ividual set free a milepost on that persons


25/35

Water, Faith

and Wood62

journey toward repentance. It is this sort of spiritual koinonia that

Jesus was describing when he instructed his disciples to forgive an

errant brother or sister 490 i.e., seventy times seven times (Matt.

18:21-22). Of course, 490 was not a magical nu mber beyond w hichsins d id not have to be forgiven, but rather it served as a figure of

speech ind icating that there was to be no limit to the forgiveness that

Christs followers wou ld extend.

In all its man ifestations material shar ing, worsh ip and the

bearing of spiritual burdens koinonia was facilitated in the Early

Church by their frequent gatherings. Perhaps we could even say

that one facet of koinonia was the Bodys practice of frequently

sharing time together. Church for them was not a once or twice a

week gathering rather it was a lifestyle that emerged through regu lar

gatherings of Gods people. In the story of the earliest Chu rch in

Jerusalem (Acts 2:42-46), we see that these followers of Jesus had a

practice of meeting together daily, and we also notice that their

gatherings contained a good deal of variety: listening to the teaching

of the Apostles, breaking bread together and praying. Ignatius

likewise reminds the Church in Ephesus of the importance of

gathering together frequently:

Take heed , then, to come together often to give thanks

to God, and show his praise. For when you come

frequently together in the same place, the powers of

Satan are d estroyed, and his fiery d arts (Eph. 6:16) of

sin fall back, worthless. For your unity and harm onious

faith prove his destruction, and the torment of his

assistants. Nothing is better than Christs peace, by

which all war, both of heavenly and earthly spirits, is

brought to an end . (First Epistle XIII)

Thus, the gathering of the Church was not only a means to the

koinonia of the Body, but w as also essential for the Church to carry

out its mission of fighting the spiritual battle against the worlds

pow ers of darkness. The Early Chu rch und erstood itself as waging

Gods battle for justice on Earth , but as Origen makes clear, this battle

is waged, not with the weapons of the world, but rather with the

weapons of the Spirit, the foremost of which is prayer.

CompassionAnother tool that the Church has been given for the battle

against injustice is compassion. If prayer is und erstood as the first

response to injustice, perhaps we will then see that compassion

emerges out of a p rayerful life, and indeed that it can be though t of


26/35

Faith 63

as prayer in action. Before we go any fur ther, we must have a clear

u nd erstand ing of w hat com p assion is. From its Latin roots,

compassion literally means suffering with. Jesus, of course, served

as a model of compassion for the Early Church. He chose not toremain aloof, but instead became a man, immersing himself in the

problems, sorrows and temptations of hu man ity. The Apostle Paul

describes Jesus compassion in this way: Although he was in the

form of God, he did not exploit his equality with God, but rather

made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a

servant, and w as mad e in the likeness of men: And being found in

this fashion as a man, he hu mbled himself, and became obedient unto

death , even the death of the cross (Phil. 2:6-8). The stories in the

Gospels show that Jesus also d id not shy aw ay from the sick and the

socially marginalized; he brought healing to the sick and the blind,

and he regularly fellowshipped with tax collectors and showed

kindness to prostitutes. These actions how ever were only an extension

of his teachings. One of the fundamental teachings of the Sermon on

the Mou nt w as Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain m ercy

(Matt. 5:10). We tend to un d erstan d m ercy in very abstract,

spiritualized terms, but the Greek w ord that is translated merciful

could just as easily be translated comp assionate. Jesus taugh tcompassion, and did not stop there, but also provided us with an

example of a comp assionate life.

Comp assion, like the other p ractices of the Early Church that

we have named, was founded upon the attitudes of prayer and

patientia. It was prayer that brough t the healing and liberation of

Christ to those in pain and oppression. As those who prayerfully

followed Christ suffered alongside those in pain, the suffering ones

realized the good news that Jesus, through his resurrection, hadconquered the p owers of death and suffering. Prayer taught the early

Christians that obedience to Jesus did not magically evaporate all

pain and suffering, but rather conquered that pain and suffering by

the p ractice of compassion, whereby Christs Body took that suffering

upon herself until that final redemption of the world when all

suffering w ill be eliminated .

The Early Churchs practice of compassion was also

ground ed in patientia. As a d isciple learned to patiently end ure hersufferings, she was equipped to bear the sufferings of other sisters

and broth ers. If one has been prepared by patientia to end ure

suffering and hardship, then she will not be afraid to enter into

situations where others are suffering. Mathetes, in his letter to

Diognetus, described the compassion of the early Christians: they


27/35

Water, Faith

and Wood64

share in all things w ith others (see excerpt on the next page). Just as

Gods patience was a means to express love to us, our patience is a

means to express our love to God and to others, but w e cannot enter

into that ministry of compassion unless we are being discipled(trained ) in the prayer and patientia of Jesus.

Cyprian, with the example of Jesus in mind for it was he

who w as said The example of living is given to us in Christ (#39)

begins h is description of the Church in the Third Treatiseby reminding

his readers of the the benefit of good works and mercy (#1). Indeed

this opening line sets the tone for this piece and thu s compassion is a

pr imary theme of the work. We see Cyprian emp hasizing the need

to care for widow s and orp hans (#113), as w ell as the sick (#109), andalso the need to sustain each other, a point that rings especially

true in our times of d istress (#9). Clement of Alexandria likewise

describes compassion in his provocatively titled treatise Who is the

Rich Man that shall be Saved?:

[Jesus has said:] Give to every one that asks of you (Luke

6:30). For tru ly such is Gods delight in giving. And this

saying represents god liness in its highest form: not to wait

to be asked, but to inquire oneself who has need ofreceiving your kindness. God has appointed a reward

for your liberal giving an everlasting habitation! What

an excellent trade! One purchases immortality through

generosity; and, by giving the perishing things of the

world, receives in exchan ge for these an eternal mansion

in the heavens! Rush to this market, if you are wise, O

rich m an! If need be, sail arou nd the w hole world (XXXI-

XXXII).

Thus, the koinonia of the Christian community gave birth to

comp assion, as the w ealthy entered into the suffering of the poor by

sharing their resources to meet the needs of their poor brothers and

sisters. The rich w ere called to go even so far as not build ing up an

inheritance for their children; instead their resources were to be given

toward the needs of the poor, and they were expected to trust that

God would take care of their children (Cyprian, On Works and A lms,

18-19). Thus, the Early Church was called to follow the compassionate

example that Jesus provided in his incarnational ministry, rich and

poor alike were called to share life together and to take the burdens

of their brothers and sisters upon themselves.


28/35

Faith 65

Mathetes, Letter to DiognetusChapter V. The Manners of the Christians.

The Christians are distinguished from other men neither bycountry, nor by language, nor by the customs that they ob-serve; for they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employa peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life that is marked by anysingularity. Their course of conduct has not been devised byany speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they,like some others, proclaim themselves the advocates of anymerely human doctrines. But, inhabiting Greek as well as bar-

barian cities, as the lot of each of them has determined, andfollowing the customs of the natives in respect to clothing,food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to ustheir wonderful and confessedly strikingmethod of life. Theydwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. Ascitizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure

all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them astheir native country, and every birth-land as a land of strang-ers. They marry, as do all others; they beget children; but theydo not destroy their offspring.They have a common table, butnot a common bed.They are in the flesh, but they do not liveafter the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they arecitizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the

same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men,and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned;they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yetthey make many rich; they are lacking all things, and yetabound in all; they are dishonored, and yet in their very dis-honor are glorified. They are spoken of as evil, and yet are

justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted and re-

pay the insult with honor; they do good, yet are punished asevildoers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened intolife; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners and are perse-cuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable toassign any reason for their hatred.


29/35

Water, Faith

and Wood66

Lessons for churches today

Thus, the stories of the Early Church reflect that they

carried out their mission through the practices not only ofcompassion, but also of koinonia, mutual submission and

holiness, all of which w ere grounded in the attitudes of prayer

and patientia. In so doing, they have provided us with a mod el

of w hat it means to be the people of God . In the following

paragraphs, I will describe five lessons that churches at the

beginning of the twenty-first century can learn from the early

Christian comm unities.

The Call to HolinessThe Church in the United States today has lost sight of

its distinctive nature, of its calling as a peculiar p eople (Titus

2:14 KJV, I Peter 2:9 KJV). As we described above, the broad

story of Gods people can be understood in terms of cycles of

domestication and holiness. The unification of Chu rch and State,

brought to a head by the Emp eror Constantine provides us with

perhaps the most striking example of the Churchs domestication.

However, in the sixth century, St. Benedict reacted to that

domes t i ca t ion and l aunched a movement g rounded in

communities of obedience that were called to holiness. Since the

time of St. Benedict, the Church has gone through a nu mber of

cycles of domestication and holiness. For app roximately the last

century, the Church in the United States has to a large extent

been dom esticated to American culture. This enculturation is

symbol ized by the American f lags tha t hang in church

sanctuaries, as well as the God Bless America or The Power

of Pride bum per stickers on the cars in the parking lot .

Today, the people of God are being called to return to

holiness. The stories of the early Christian communities, as well

as other stories of Christian holiness like those of St. Benedict,

will gu ide us on our journey. Before we can begin this journey,

however, we must recognize the many ways in which the

idolatrous pow ers of our culture hold u s in bond age. First, wehave been d omesticated by consumerism; we are more concerned

about buying things to make ourselves feel good and to keep

up with (or outdo) our neighbors, than w e are about denying

ourselves and tru ly loving our neighbors. Second ly, we have

succumbed to the nationalistic pride of American imperialism;

how can w e claim to love our neighbors around the world, while


30/35

Faith 67

we support the conquering of their lands, the killing of their children

and the littering of their countrysides with atrocities like napalm,

landm ines and depleted uran ium? We also have become prisoners

of our appetites just like the pagans be it the sexual appetite of

pornography or the literal appetite fueled by the ever-present

advertising of food and beverages. The time has come for us to be set

free from these chains that the world uses to bind us up and render

us impotent. Our assent to Christs lordship can no longer come in

words only; our behavior and attitud es must be obviously different

than those of our p agan neighbors.

Furthermore, we must learn from the political holiness of

the Early Church. The Scrip tu res make it clear that all hu man

governments are by nature oppressive (see I Samuel 8, Rom. 12:20-13:14, in which Paul implies that the governing authorities are enemies

especially the framing verses 12:17-21 and 13:8), so we thus should

be careful not to associate ourselves too closely with any particular

government. Instead, our call is to serve the comm on good of our

cities and nations in p rayer and in our practices of obedience to Jesus

(comp assion, koinonia, mutual submission, holiness), and in so d oing

we follow the pattern of the Early Chu rch.

Depth of Community

A second lesson that we can learn from the Early Chu rch is

the imp ortance of deep church comm un ities. For the Church to

partake meaningfully in Gods work in the world it must be united

as a community. Ezekiel 36:22-24 points ou t that God s name is mad e

holy by the gathering of a people:

Therefore say to the hou se of Israel, Thu s says the Lord

GOD; I do not d o these things for your sake, O house

of Israel, but for my holy names sake, which you have

profaned among the heathen, everywhere you w ent.

And I will sanctify my great nam e, which w as profaned

among the heathen, which you have profaned in the

midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am

the LORD, says the Lord GOD, when I shall be

sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you

from among the heathen, and gather you out of allcoun tries, and will bring you into your ow n land .

Thu s, in the second clause of the Lords prayer Make you r name

holy, * there is an imp licit hope that God would again gather a holy

*This imperative phrasing better reflects the original Greek than

declarative phrasings like Hallowed be thy name or Your name is holy.


31/35

Water, Faith

and Wood68

people from among the nations. The Early Chu rch und erstood

themselves as this holy people that God had called ou t from among

the pagan s. They also understood that Gods reign w as most clearly

demonstrated in the holiness of the gathered people of God. In ourage that is saturated with individualism, the Church needs to

remember that being the comm unity of Gods people, a united people

who are set apart from the ways of the world, is an essential part of

our mission in the world. In particular, we need especially to learn

from the Early Chu rchs faithful practices of mutual submission and

koinonia.

In these individualistic days, submission is a dirty word;

especially in the United States, we think we have the right to thepu rsuit of happ iness and thus view submission as a th reat to our

own self-fulfillment. We need to learn to be able to serve our brothers

and sisters in hum ility and not only to serve but also to be served by

them. If a sister has demonstrated the gift of teaching, we need to

learn to submit to that gift of teaching and learn from her. Likewise

if a brother has the gift of prophecy, we need to subm it to that gift

and to listen to his vision for our commun ity and carefully examine

where we fit as individuals in the way that God is leading ourcomm un ity. In my chu rch commu nity, the Spirit has been lead ing

us through a number of prophetic voices to examine how we can

move into closer proximity with our brothers and sisters in ord er to

worship and work on a more intimate level with them. It has been a

very moving experience to see people being subm issive to that leading

and considering how they can arrange their lives in response to it.

Similarly, our communities need to learn from the koinon ia

of the Early Church. Just as w e need to learn to use our gifts and to

submit to the gifts of others, we also need to share our resources

with one another and to graciously accept the generosity of others.

Oftentimes we are too enthralled w ith bu ild ing our own little empires

a bigger television, bigger house, bigger yard, bigger boat, etc.

that we forget our calling to participate in the koinonia of Gods

kingdom. The biblical concept of steward ship remind s us that our

resources are not our ow n, but rather are Gods and are to be used

for the fu rthering of God s kingd om. Wheth er it is shar ing a

lawnmower or a meal, we need to find new and creative ways toshare life and resources with our brothers and sisters. My wife and

I have been blessed by the numerous friends and family members

who have shared clothes, toys and supplies with us as we eagerly

aw ai t the coming of our f irs t baby. Pr ide com es w i th ou r

individualism, and we are often not ready to accept gifts from others

or to share sacrificially of our resources with others. Similarly, we


32/35

Faith 69

need to be willing to share our spiritual burdens, and confess our

sins to our brothers and sisters. Once again, our individualistic pride

is a hind rance to this sort of sharing.

May the Early Chu rch serve as a gu ide for us as we explore

what it means to be the holy people of God. May their example

inspire us to subm it to one another and may w e learn new w ays to

grow deeper into the sharing fellowship of koinonia.

Prayer as Central to the Mission and Identity of the Church

Furthermore, the stories of the Early Chu rch remind us that

prayer is central to our mission as the Chu rch. Prayer is the tool that

God uses to guide us into obed ience. When w e hear of a problem,whether a brother, a sister or a neighbor in need or w hether something

catastrophic like a hurricane or a war has hit the world, our first

response is generally: What can we, or what can I, do? However,

rather than just jumping in and doing something that seems good,

prayer shou ld be our first course of action. Certainly, some situations

require immediate attention, but in those situations, we shou ld be

praying even as we are moving to help. Prayer is a demonstration of

our hum ility. It is a way of saying that we are helpless and need

Gods direction. In reality, how ever, prayer seems to often come to

us as an afterthou ght: Lord , bless this course of action that I have

decided to take. Our problems with prayer can be traced in large

part back to our p roblems with submission, for prayer is the means

by which w e submit ourselves to God.

By their submission to God in all things, the early Chr istians

provide us with a model of what the Apostle Paul meant when he

wrote to the Thessalonians: Pray w ithout ceasing (I Thess. 5:17).

Continual p rayer was the catalyst that energized the Early Church;

indeed, in h isEpistle to the Ephesians, Ignatius clarifies the Apostle

Pauls dictum: Pray without ceasing on behalf of other men (X).

In these words of Ignatius, we are remind ed that prayer is not to be

used for our own ends, for the build ing up of our ow n kingdom, but

rather for the building up of Gods kingdom in the midst of the

community of believers. While most churches today recognize the

importance of prayer, it does not always hold a central position in

the mission and identity of the comm unity. We are prone to forgetTertu llians proclamation that in the Lords Prayer which ind eed

was given as a m odel for all our prayers we find an ep itome of the

whole gospel (On PrayerI). There cannot be any part of the Christian

faith that is not pervaded by p rayer.


33/35

Water, Faith

and Wood70

The Power of Prayer

In add ition to the centrality of prayer, our chu rches would

do well to remember the pow er that the Early Church found in prayer.

This pow er is characterized by the w ords of Origen: And as we byour p rayers vanqu ish all the demons that stir up w ar, and lead to

the violation of oaths and disturb the peace we in this service are

much more helpful to the kings than those who go into the field to

fight for them ( Against Celsus VIII.73). Do we really believe that

God is capable of vanqu ishing the demons that stir up w ar and disturb

the peace? In the present age of technology, we seem to have lost

most of our faith in Gods pow er to bring healing to a broken world.

Our tend ency is to tu rn first to ou r technological solutions, and thenif those fail to turn to God as a last resort. It is much easier for us to

turn to the technological solutions because they allow us the illusion

of remaining in control; we can buy prescriptions, pay for the surgery,

bu ild a fence and install a security system to keep the evils of the

world ou t of our lives.

Marva Dawn , in her w onderful book, Powers, Weakness, and

the Tabernacling of God , reminds us that the Scriptural picture of

Christian discipleship centers on the Spirit of God dwelling (or

tabernacling) in our weakness. When w e come to God in all our

weakness and brokenness, God is p leased to d well in full power in

our midst. Thu s, a major problem in the Church today is that we are

afraid to come to God in our weakness. As wond erful as our

technology may be, it often has the collective effect of persuad ing u s

to be invu lnerable. We feel that have no need to worry because

technology will take care of us, and thus we grad ually end up tru sting

technology instead of trusting God.

The connection between repentance and baptism is an

obvious one to us, but perhap s we need to be reminded m ore often

that the humility of repentance should pervad e all phases of our life

in Christ. Ou r responsibility in the journey of Christian d iscipleship

is merely to come to God in all of our brokenn ess and need . John

Stott, in h is excellent comm entary on the Sermon on the Mou nt, has

said that the first four beatitudes poverty of Spirit, mourning,

meekness (humility) and hunger and thirst for righteousness

d escribe ou r relationship to God . If the gathered life of ourcommunities were to be characterized by these facets of hu mility, we

would undoubtedly learn much about the power of God made

manifest in prayer. Then, and only then, could we assent to the

poignant w ords of Tertullian: Prayer alone is that which unleashes

God. It washes away faults, repels temptations, extinguishes

persecutions, consoles the faint-spirited, cheers the high-spirited,


34/35

Faith 71

escorts travelers, calms waves, makes robbers stand aghast,

nou rishes the poor, governs the rich, raises up the fallen, arrests the

falling, confirms the stand ing (On PrayerXXIX). If we come in allhu mility, God w ill work in power through u s, but it is imp ortant for

us to remember that God is working toward the ends of the Kingdom

and not toward ou r own human ends. It is easy for us to desire to

wield Gods power for our own end s, but w e must remember that

the model of prayer that we were given instructs us to pray Your

Kingd om come.

PatientiaIf we come to God in all hu mility, praying that the Kingd om of God

would come on Earth as it is in Heaven, God will undoubtedly

move powerfully in and through our comm unities. We will enjoy a

bumper crop of the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23), and we will

start to see signs that the mission of Jesus is being carried out in our

midst: the sick will be healed, the blind w ill see, and the oppressed

ones will be set free (cf. Luke 4:18-19). However, we must remember

that Gods work will unfold according to the divine timing and notaccording to our own wishes. Thus, one final lesson that our churches

need to learn from the Early Church is that of patientia. The culture

of the world, and particularly that of present day America, is centered

arou nd imp atience. One does not have to go very far to find

examples of our impatience; in fact, we are often inclined to use

convenience as a eup hem ism for our imp atience. There are

convenience stores on practically every corner, and even many of

our home appliances have their origins in convenience, especiallyones like the microwave and the dishwasher. Fast food restauran ts,

the modern icons of convenience, are just as abund ant as convenience

stores. Out on the highw ays, the average speed is almost always in

excess of the posted speed limit. All these phenom ena are, to some

degree, symptoms of our imp atience.

Our churches are, generally speaking, no less impatient than

the society that surrounds them. As we alluded to in the previous

section on the power of prayer, we tend not to believe that God canor w ill move p owerfully in d ifficult situations. Practically speaking,

we reject the omnipotence of God w hen w e impatiently rush to take

matters into our own hands. Our unwillingness to let God be the

Judge and Avenger is one of the fruits of our churches imp atience.


35/35

Water, Faith

and Wood72

The patientia of Jesus that was so fund amental for the Early Chu rch

taugh t them that it was better to suffer than to inflict harm. Many

churches in the United States have clearly demonstrated their

impatience by supporting the governments current war in Iraq.

Maybe the governm ent is justified in going to w ar and maybe it is

not, but regardless the Church has been called to be a nation of

peacemakers, a people wh o demonstrates Gods love for hu manity

by loving their enemies, and not retu rning evil for evil. It seems that

the Chu rch is particularly adep t at making excuses for why w e will

not follow our calling, and this is particularly tru e with regard to

our calling to return good for evil. This teaching of Jesus is generally

relegated to the realm of the ind ividual if it is recognized at all. Onemajor p roblem is that we are unwilling to recognize the Church as a

nation among all the other nations of the world, a nation found ed

and formed by the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles. Our excuses

and justifications are grounded not only in our impatience and

disbelief bu t also in ou r fear of suffering.

Our fear of suffering stems in large part from our reliance

upon technology and from ou r present lack of persecution. As we

learn to come to God in brokenness and to t rust in Divineomnipotence, we will be taugh t patientia. This process of learning

patientia will certainly be a painful one, but we have not been left

alone in these struggles. We have a host of faithful witnesses that

have gone before us, not least of which was Jesus himself, whose

stories serve to inspire and encourage us. We also have been given

a new family, a comm unity of brothers and sisters who enter with

us into this painful journey of discipleship, and who w ill carry ou r

burdens when they become too much for us to bear. In the followingsection of this book, we w ill examine the role of persecution in the

Early Church, how it shaped their patientia, and how we can learn

from their example in these days that are almost persecution-free

for churches in the United States and the Western world.

Documents

Water, Faith and Wood - Christopher Smith (Excerpt)