WHAT CAN I FEAR?
In A.D. 373 John Chrysostom became a hermit. He went alone into the mountains near Antioch, seeking to know God better. Although his time of isolation was cut short by illness, he discovered that with God at his side, he could attend alone against anyone or anything.
That experience served Chrysostom well. In A.D. 398 he was appointed patriarch of Constantinople where his zeal for reform antagonized the Empress Eudoxia, who had him exiled.
After a period of time he was allowed to return once again to Constantinople, but yet again Chrysostom infuriated Eudoxia, who once again sent him away.
Question: How did Chrysostom respond to such persecution?
Answer: With these words:
"What can I fear? Will it be death? But you know that Christ is my life, and that I shall gain by death. Will it be exile? But the earth and all its fullness are the Lord’s. Poverty I do not fear; riches I do not sigh for; and from death I do not shrink."