NOTES for Act 20:35

Charity was from the beginning one of the main services of church. It should be noted that for the antique world such position directed to support the weak, was at least, unusual. The ancient world was quite tough, and indulgence to the weak, or especially to help them was not at all a hallmark of the societies of the antiquity. Of course, there were always some exceptions, but they only confirmed the rule. It is particularly the Church at the end could change the consciousness of the society as regards to mercy, charity and support for the weak. But it wasn’t for the Church an end in itself? For, it was created not at all as an organization of charity, but as a community of people living in the Kingdom. And charity was only the external demonstration of this life of the Kingdom. It was the model of the relations in the Kingdom, applied to the non transformed world.

The apostle describes it in three words: more blessed to give, than to receive. And it is not at all a question here that the Kingdom is made up of altruists only: because altruism, in fact, is nothing else than the reverse of egoism. The fact is that the Kingdom is given to each free of charge, completely without merit. And all the efforts, which are required to man, the purpose of these efforts is not to receive the Kingdom, but to hold it.

Man receives the Kingdom free of charge, and it cannot happen differently. And mostly he obtains it thanks to the testimony of the one who received it earlier. Testimony is in fact a donation, the donation of this Kingdom, which he also received formerly as a gift. Such is the mechanism of the spread of the Kingdom in the world - through testimonies, from heart to heart. Indeed, when the Savior says that it is necessary to seek for the Kingdom, He adds: "and all these things shall be added unto you", meaning by "all these things" what man needs for life in the non transformed world.

And the Church in its life recreated this model, testifying not only of the Kingdom as the reality of the transformed world, but also the Kingdom as what defines the life of the Church here and now: the initiation into the Kingdom and into the Church gave to man all the necessity not to starve, and the one who had not this necessity, received it as help, from the Church that testified to him about the Kingdom. It is not of course about charity in itself, which could have turn to an end in itself, but about that the man who found the Kingdom would not die of hunger on its doorstep.

Paul bids farewell to the elders of the church in Ephesus, which he himself founded and where he spent three years (see Acts 20:31). With all the selfless “immodesty” characteristic of him, he lists the deeds by which he served God. He warns the elders against following false teachers and dividing the Church (see Acts 20:29-31). Before the Cross, Christ asked the Father to preserve the Church in unity. Paul speaks of happiness and blessedness. Christ called His disciples to perfect joy. This is how the Lord summed up His life. And the example of the Apostle Paul shows that we can do the same.

The speech Paul addressed to the brethren before leaving for Jerusalem recalls Christ’s farewell words at the Last Supper, and this cannot surprise us, for Paul himself asked Christians: “...imitate me, as I imitate Christ” (1 Cor. 4:16). This is not imitation in the bad sense of the word, for Paul does not mimic the Teacher’s appearance and manner, as the many false christs and false prophets do; rather, he consciously carries out the task entrusted to him, measuring his words and actions against Christ.

Facing the trials ahead, Paul takes stock of his ministry. We know that it is not finished and that Paul still has much to do, but at this moment, as at any moment, he is ready to answer for what he has or has not managed to accomplish.

Having warned the brethren he is leaving about the dangers, Paul entrusts them not to the authoritative leadership of any apostle or other experienced church person, but to God and the word of His grace. Paul does not replace God and His will with human undertakings: however well designed and necessary they may be, they will not help without Him.

This conversation of the apostle Paul with the Ephesian presbyters is one of the most dramatic passages in the book of Acts. Paul knows that he is going to meet trials, and that he will no longer see most of his brothers and coworkers. Therefore his words to them are a kind of spiritual testament, the most important thing he can say to the disciples of Christ.

Thus he reminds them that he did not preach a new teaching, a new law, or a new religion to them; he simply became a servant and witness of the beginning of their own direct relationship with God. He does not call them to cling to external authorities, but to pay attention to themselves and to the flock in which the Spirit dwells, the flock that Christ the Savior acquired for Himself. Now God will guide His Church, and the presbyters are only His servants. And finally, let them remember the words of Jesus, words that Paul himself fulfilled to the end: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Paul proved that these words are not so much about money as about everything a person has: soul, time, strength, his whole life.