Homilies on Ephesians 16

Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil-speaking be put away from you, with all malice.

And be kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God also forgave you.

It is not enough to be delivered from wickedness, if one is to attain the kingdom of heaven; there is need also of much practice of the virtues.

For that we may be delivered from hell, we must abstain from evil;

but that we may attain the kingdom, we must cleave fast to virtue.

Or do you not know that even in the courts of the outside world, when there is an inquiry into what has been done, and the whole city gathers in assembly, this is how it happens? For among those outside also there was an ancient custom, to crown with a golden crown, not the man who had done the city no harm—

for this alone is enough only to escape being punished—

but the man who has displayed great benefactions.

So too a man ought to be led up to this honor.

But indeed I know not how it came near to escaping me—that very thing which it was most necessary for me to say to you.

For I now take up again the first part of this division, making some slight correction.

For since I said that, in order not to fall into hell, our withdrawal from evils suffices, in the midst of my speaking there stole upon me a certain fearful threat—one that brings punishment not upon those who have dared to do some evil, but that chastises those who have fallen short in any of the good things.

What then is this? 'When,' it says, 'the fearful day has come, and the day of the Lord is at hand, the Judge shall sit upon the tribunal, and having set the sheep on the right and the goats on the left, to the sheep He shall say:'

'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;'

'for I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat.'

For it was fitting that they should receive this recompense for so great a lovingkindness.

But that those who did not share with the needy out of what they themselves possessed should be chastised not merely with the loss of good things, but should even be consigned to the fire of hell—what reason could there be for this? Nay rather, this too would have a very fair reason, no less than that former one.

For by this we are taught that those who have done good things shall enjoy the good things in the heavens;

but those who have nothing evil to be charged with, yet have fallen short

in some of the good things, shall be led away together with those who have wrought evil into the fire of hell.

Unless indeed one should say that even to fail to do the good is a part of wickedness;

for this belongs to sloth, and sloth is a part of wickedness;

or rather, not a part, but the ground and evil root of it;

for sloth has taught every kind of wickedness.

Let us not then foolishly put these questions, such as: What place shall he receive who has done nothing evil and nothing good? For not to do good, this very thing is to do evil.

For tell me: if you had a household servant who neither stole, nor was insolent, nor talked back, but was master of drink and of all the rest, yet sat idle the whole time and did none of the things a servant owes his master to fulfill—would you not scourge him? would you not put him to the rack? 'Yes,' you say;

and yet he wrought no evil.

This very thing, then, is the evil.

But, if you please, let us bring the argument also to the rest of life.

Let there be some farmer, and let him do no harm to our possessions, neither plot against them nor steal; but let him only bind his own hands and sit at home, neither sowing, nor cutting a furrow, nor yoking oxen, nor tending the vine, nor toiling at any of the other tasks of the land;

shall we not punish such a man? And yet he has done no wrong, nor have we anything to charge against him;

but by this very thing he has done wrong;

for he does wrong to the common weal, in not furnishing his own contribution.

But what, tell me? If each of the craftsmen and artisans harmed nothing—neither him of another trade, nor even him of the same trade—but only remained idle, would not the whole of your life be ruined and thus destroyed? Will you have us draw the argument also to the body? Then let the hand not strike the head, nor cut off the tongue, nor gouge out the eye, nor work any other such evil;

but let it only remain idle, and not fulfill its own service to the whole body;

is it not then worthy to be cut off, rather than to be carried about idle, injuring the whole body? And what of this? If the mouth does not devour the hand, nor bite the breast, but leaves undone all that belongs to it, is it not better that it be stopped up? If therefore, in the case of servants, and of craftsmen, and of the whole body, it is a great wrong not only to do some evil, but also to fail in the good things, how much more would this be so in the case of the body of Christ.

For this reason the blessed Paul also, while leading us away from wickedness, leads us on to virtue.

For what profit is there, tell me, in cutting out all the thorns, if the good seed be not cast in? For the labor, remaining incomplete, will come round again to the same loss for us.

For this very reason Paul also, exceedingly caring for us, does not halt his precepts at the cutting out and removal of evils, but exhorts us to show forth swiftly also the planting of good things.

For having said, 'Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil-speaking be put away from you, with all malice,' he added:

'And be kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another.'

For these are habits and dispositions.

And the riddance of the one is not enough to establish us again in the habit of the other; but there is need again of some movement, and of an impulse no less than that involved in fleeing from the evils, so that we may come into the possession of the good things.

And in the case of the body, if the black man be rid of this quality, he does not straightway become white.

Or rather, let us not exercise the argument upon natural things, but let us bring the illustration to bear upon things that depend on choice.

He who is not an enemy is not therefore altogether a friend, but there is a certain middle state, which is neither of enmity nor of friendship—in which state most men stand toward us.

He who does not weep does not therefore also laugh, but there is a middle condition.

So too here: he who is not bitter is not therefore altogether kind, nor is he who is not wrathful therefore altogether tender-hearted;

but there is need again of another zeal, so as to acquire this excellence.

And behold how, according to the law of the best husbandry, the blessed Paul both thoroughly cleanses and works the land entrusted to him by the Husbandman.

He took away the spurious seeds; he thereupon exhorts,

so that the genuine plants may take hold.

For if, when the thorns have been pulled up, the ground remains idle, it will again bring forth useless weeds.

Wherefore its leisure and idleness must be forestalled by the casting in of good seeds and plants.

He took away wrath, he set in kindness;

he took away bitterness, he set in tender-heartedness;

he cut out malice and evil-speaking, he planted forgiveness;

for this is the meaning of, 'Forgiving one another.'

'Become forgiving,' he says.

For this grace is greater than that shown in money.

For he who remits money to the man who has borrowed from him works indeed a novel and wonderful work, yet the favor reaches only as far as the body—even though he renders to himself the recompense in spiritual gifts and in those which pertain to the soul;

but he who has forgiven sins has benefited both his own soul and the soul of that man who obtained the forgiveness;

for not only himself in this way, but that other also, has he made more equitable.

For it is not so much by proceeding against those who have wronged us, as by pardoning them, that we sting their souls, putting them to shame and making them abashed.

For in that other way we have profited neither ourselves nor them, but have harmed both—ourselves in pursuing requital after the manner of the rulers among the Jews, and inflaming the wrath that is in those men;

but if we requite the wrong with forbearance, having dissolved all his wrath, we have set up beside him a tribunal that casts the votes for us, condemning him more severely than we would.

For he will condemn himself and give sentence against himself, and will seek every occasion by which he may repay the borrowed portion of long-suffering with more than the measure, knowing that even if he pays back an equal amount, he is still the loser in this way—that it was not he himself who began, but that, taking the example from us, he comes off with less.

He will therefore be zealous to exceed in the measure, so that by the excess of his return he may cover up the loss which he incurred through coming second to the requital, and so that the diminution which came upon him from time—he being the one who first suffered ill—this too he may, by his exceeding forbearance, render a common thing.

For men, when they are fair-minded, do not so much groan over the evils, as over the good things which they receive from those they have wronged.

For the one is full of wickedness, but the other of reproach and of derision—namely, that the man who has received good should not requite good in return.

For this indeed wins praise and applause and blessing from all: that one who has been wronged should not retaliate.

It is by this above all that they are stung.

So then, if you wish to avenge yourself, avenge yourself in this manner:

repay good for evil, that you may make him your debtor, and win a wondrous victory.

Have you suffered wrong? Do good, and thus avenge yourself upon your enemy.

For if you retaliate, all men will blame both you and him alike;

but if you bear it, they will on the contrary applaud and admire you, while they will condemn him.

And what could be greater to an enemy than to see his enemy admired and applauded by all? What is more bitter to an enemy than to behold himself reviled by all in the very sight of his foe? If you avenge yourself upon him, you too are perhaps condemned, and you alone have taken vengeance;

but if you let it go, all men will avenge you in your stead upon him;

and this is harder than suffering the wrong itself: that the enemy should have so many avenging against him.

If you open your mouth, they will be silent;

but if you keep silence, then not with one mouth but with countless mouths of others do you assail him, and take your vengeance the more.

And when you revile him, many even accuse you;

for they will say that your words spring from passion;

but when one who has suffered no wrong at all thus overwhelms him with reproaches, then above all is the vengeance clear of every suspicion.

For when those who have suffered no terrible thing, on account of the exceeding measure of your forbearance, grieve and suffer along with you as though they themselves had been wronged, then this vindication is clear of all suspicion.

"What then," says he, "if no one avenges me?"

It is impossible for men to be so made of stone as to see such lofty wisdom and not marvel at it;

and even if they do not avenge you then, yet afterward, when they have come to a calmer state, they will do this, mocking and reviling him.

And even if no one else marvels, that very man himself will surely marvel at you.

For our judgment of what is good stands incorruptible and unswerving within us, even if we have fallen into the very pit of wickedness.

Or why do you think our Lord Christ said these words, "If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also"? Was it not because, the more patient one becomes, so much the more he benefits both himself and the other with the greatest benefit? For this reason He commanded to turn the other cheek also, that He might satisfy the desire of the one who is enraged.

For who is so brutish a beast as not thereafter to be put to shame? Even dogs are said to do this;

for even if they bark and rush upon someone, yet if he throws himself down on his back and does nothing, he quenches all their fury.

If then those brutes are shamed by one who is ready to suffer wrong at their hands, much more the human race, which is more rational.

But indeed it is worthwhile not to pass over that which came to memory a little before, and which was drawn in as testimony.

What then is this? We were speaking concerning the Jews and their rulers, that they were accused as men pursuing retaliation, and yet the Law permitted this to them:

"An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth"; yet not that they should gouge out one another's eyes, but that, restrained by fear of suffering, they might hold back their license to do harm, and neither work any evil upon others nor suffer it themselves at the hands of others.

"An eye for an eye"—that it might bind his hands, not that it might bring yours out against him; not only that it might ward off the harm from your eyes, but that it might also keep his safe and whole.

But that which I was inquiring—why, when vengeance was permitted, were those who made use of the thing accused? What then is this? It is the bearing of a grudge that He here speaks of.

For at once He allows the one who has suffered to act—as I said—thereby restraining that other;

but to bear a grudge He no longer permits;

for that deed is no longer of anger, nor of seething wrath, but of a wickedness deliberately practiced.

But God makes allowance for those who, perhaps swept away by the outrage done them, have rushed to vengeance;

therefore He says, "An eye for an eye";

and again, "The ways of those who bear grudges lead to death."

But if, where it was permitted to maim an eye for an eye, so great a punishment is laid up for those who bear grudges, how much more for those who have been commanded even to offer themselves to suffer wrong? Let us then not be bearers of grudges, but let us quench our anger, that we may be counted worthy of God's loving-kindness.

For "with what measure you measure," He says, "it shall be measured back to you, and with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged."

Let us therefore be loving and compassionate toward our fellow servants, that we may both escape the snares in the present life, and in the day to come obtain forgiveness from Him, by grace and loving-kindness, and so forth.