Echoes of Chrysostom: The Renewal of Orthodox Expository Preaching

 By: Chorbishop Nectarios


Introduction: A Forgotten Flame

In a time of increasing confusion, distraction, and theological erosion, the Orthodox Church must recover one of her most potent tools for spiritual formation and doctrinal clarity: expository preaching. Once the lifeblood of Orthodox homiletics—exemplified most profoundly in the golden voice of St. John Chrysostom—this method of verse-by-verse, text-driven proclamation has all but faded from regular use in many parishes. In its place, we often find moral anecdotes, loosely connected reflections, or liturgical commentary that lacks the doctrinal fire and Scriptural depth characteristic of our patristic heritage.

To renew Orthodox preaching is not to import Protestant methods, as some fear, but to recover our own tradition. Expository preaching is not foreign to Orthodoxy; it is native to it. We must rediscover how the Word of God is meant to be opened, not ornamented—proclaimed, not obscured—interpreted faithfully, not merely touched upon.

I. What Is Expository Preaching?

Expository preaching is the careful, reverent, and systematic unfolding of the meaning of a biblical text, usually verse by verse, in its historical, grammatical, and theological context, with application to the life of the Church. It is not merely reading a text and offering spiritual reflections. Nor is it thematic preaching adorned with biblical garnish. It is the text itself—its words, its logic, its theology—that governs the content of the homily.

St. John Chrysostom, the “Golden-Mouthed,” exemplifies this method in his homilies on Matthew, John, Acts, and the Pauline epistles. His sermons were not lectures, but pastorally charged expositions of Scripture. Consider his opening words to his series on the Gospel of Matthew:

“It were indeed meet for us not at all to require the aid of the written word, but to exhibit a life so pure, that the grace of the Spirit should be instead of books to our souls… But since we have utterly put away from us this grace… we are again brought to the necessity of the written word.”¹

For Chrysostom, preaching was not only an ecclesiastical function but a pastoral necessity. The Scriptures must be opened to the faithful, not merely read before the Gospel procession or read in the Epistle. The preacher must illuminate, explain, apply.

II. The Patristic Model of Expository Preaching

From Chrysostom in Antioch and Constantinople, to St. Cyril of Alexandria, St. Ephrem the Syrian, and St. Gregory Palamas, the Fathers preached from the text, not merely around it. Their homilies demonstrate rigorous engagement with the biblical material. There was no dichotomy between exegesis and exhortation.

St. Gregory the Theologian declared, “It is necessary first to be purified, then to purify others; to be instructed, then to instruct… to be light, and then to give light.”² This echoes the ethos of expository preaching, which assumes the preacher is not above the Word but under it—transformed by it before speaking it.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem, in his Catechetical Lectures, unfolds entire doctrines by opening the Scriptures systematically to catechumens.³ The very structure of early Christian catechesis was expository.

Yet this tradition waned in many regions of Orthodoxy over time. The causes are complex: the rise of liturgical formalism, the marginalization of homiletics in clerical training, and the historical pressures of Ottoman and Communist suppression all contributed to a de-emphasis on the pulpit.

Today, many Orthodox sermons are brief reflections, often delivered without notes, and typically disconnected from systematic biblical exposition. While well-intentioned, this approach often fails to bring the faithful into deep contact with the meaning of the Word.

III. The Necessity of Biblical Preaching Today

In an age flooded with secular ideologies, digital distractions, and moral relativism, the faithful are starved for truth. They do not need vague inspiration or moralism. They need the voice of God—clear, authoritative, life-giving.

The Apostle Paul charged St. Timothy: “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Tim. 4:2). This charge echoes into every age, and it is especially urgent now. The Church cannot afford to treat the pulpit as an ornament to the liturgy. It is an essential part of the Church’s mission.

Orthodox parishes must become places where the Scriptures are not only heard liturgically but explained doctrinally. As Chrysostom said, “Ignorance of Scripture is a great cliff and a deep abyss; not to know the Scriptures is the cause of all evils.”⁴ Preaching is one of the Church’s primary weapons against heresy, apathy, and worldliness.

IV. Expository Preaching and the Liturgy

Some may object: does not the Divine Liturgy already preach the Gospel? Why then emphasize expository preaching?

Indeed, the Liturgy is itself a sermon—a proclamation in chant and symbol, in gesture and sacrament. Yet the Liturgy presumes understanding. If the faithful do not know the Scriptures, they cannot enter deeply into the theological drama unfolding before them. The sermon becomes the bridge between the ears and the altar.

St. Basil the Great wrote: “Let the word of the preacher be like a key that opens the hearts of men to the mystery of Christ.”⁵ That key is forged through careful attention to the biblical text. When preaching flows from the lectionary but unfolds the Scripture in depth, the people are catechized week by week. They begin to see Christ in every passage. They begin to understand how the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms all point to the Cross.

In this way, expository preaching is not a detour from liturgical life, but its complement and servant.

V. Forming a New Generation of Orthodox Expositors

For expository preaching to flourish again in Orthodoxy, we must begin with priestly formation. Seminaries must teach not only patristics and liturgics, but also hermeneutics and homiletics—rooted in the Orthodox phronema. The study of Greek and Hebrew must be reintegrated into theological formation, not merely for academic pride, but for the precision and reverence it fosters in handling God’s Word.

Moreover, clergy must be taught that preaching is not a casual addendum to the Liturgy but a sacred trust. “Woe unto me if I preach not the Gospel,” said St. Paul (1 Cor. 9:16). This burden must be rekindled in the conscience of every Orthodox shepherd.

Workshops, retreats, and peer groups can aid in this recovery. Bishops should encourage longer, more substantive sermons—within reason and pastoral sensitivity. Laypeople must also be taught to value the homily, to hunger for the Word, and to demand more than a devotional anecdote. The flock’s appetite must be re-trained.

VI. A Word of Caution

Yet let us be clear: expository preaching is not a technique to be mastered, nor a platform for ego. It is not about dazzling the faithful with intellect or clever outlines. It is about opening the Scriptures with humility, clarity, and reverence. The preacher must not become the center of attention; Christ must. If the preacher is seen and the Word is obscured, the sermon has failed.

St. Isaac the Syrian reminds us: “He who is pure in his speech but impure in his life is like one who cleanses the outside of a cup, but leaves the filth within.”⁶ Preaching must flow from a heart that has been purified by prayer, fasting, and repentance.

Conclusion: The Golden Mouth Echoes Still

If the Orthodox Church is to answer the challenges of the modern world—not with compromise, but with clarity—we must recover the fire of the early Fathers. The echo of Chrysostom must be heard again, not as a museum relic, but as a living voice. His expository sermons were not only eloquent; they were pastoral weapons, spiritual medicine, and theological instruction.

Let Orthodox pulpits be filled again with the sound of verse-by-verse exposition. Let priests tremble before the sacred task of preaching. Let the faithful be nourished by the living Word, rightly divided.

The Church is not silent. She has a voice. Let that voice be heard again—clear, ancient, apostolic, and expository.

Footnotes

  1. St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew, Homily 1.

  2. St. Gregory Nazianzus, Oration 2, On the Priesthood.

  3. St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures, Prologue 4–5.

  4. St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Epistle to the Romans, Homily 8.

  5. St. Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit, 27.

  6. St. Isaac the Syrian, Ascetical Homilies, Homily 32.

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