Sermons & Tracts 4 part 14/28

Wherefore I know not with what face he will be able to obtain pardon of his own sins before the tribunal of Christ, who, at God's command, is not willing to grant forgiveness to his enemies. The Apostle also preaches, saying, 'Rendering to no man evil for evil. Bless those who persecute you; bless, and curse not' (Rom. 12:17, 14): and again, 'Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good' (Rom. 12:21): and again, 'Not rendering evil for evil, nor curse for curse, but contrariwise, blessing' (1 Pet. 3:9). The blessed Evangelist John also, who at the supper reclined upon the breast of the Lord, thus admonishes us in his Epistle, saying, 'He who hates his brother is a murderer;

and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him' (1 John 3:15): and again, 'He who says that he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness, and walks in darkness, and knows not where he goes; because the darkness has blinded his eyes' (1 John 2:9-11). In this place by 'brother' we ought to take every man. The same blessed John also says, 'If anyone shall say, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar: for he who does not love his brother whom he sees, how can he love God whom he does not see?' (1 John 4:20). But now, if you so bid, let these things suffice.

For there are innumerable passages, both in the New and in the Old Testament, which seem to confirm with the most forceful testimonies the matter of which we speak, which it would take too long now to make known to the ears of your Charity. But by holy souls even small things are received in place of great ones: for indeed, one to whom small things—yet great—are of no profit, more things could profit nothing. Therefore, most beloved brethren, considering that which has already often been said, that the whole law is fulfilled in us in one word, that is, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'; love not only friends, but even enemies: for whoever are unwilling to fulfill this, their remaining good works will not be able to profit them.

And therefore so forgive all your enemies, that with your conscience you may be able to say in prayer, 'Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors' (Matt. 6:12). Which may He deign to grant, who lives and reigns unto the ages of ages. Amen. SERMON 274. This admonition contains how the loving and merciful Lord has placed within our power the manner in which we shall be judged on the day of judgment, and that there is one single and singular remedy against all sins, and that no one will ever be able truly to excuse himself as being unable to love his enemies. 1. God has provided easy remedies for everyone. There are two chief kinds of almsgiving.

The loving and merciful Lord, knowing the frailty of the human race, which cannot pass through the present life without sins of one kind or another, has deigned to provide such remedies as not only the rich but even the poor may apply to the wounds of their sins. But what are these remedies? Those two, surely, of which the Lord said, 'Give, and it shall be given to you; forgive, and it shall be forgiven you' (Luke 6:37-38). 'Give, and it shall be given to you' pertains to the almsgiving which is given to the hungry, the naked, and the captives: 'Forgive, and it shall be forgiven you' pertains to the almsgiving through which pardon is granted to all enemies.

If any poor man should wish to excuse himself, saying that he cannot feed the hungry, clothe the naked, or ransom the captive; he will in no way be able truly to say that he cannot pardon his enemies or adversaries, so that, by the prayer which the skilled heavenly Judge dictated for us, he may securely say in the Lord's Prayer, 'Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors' (Matt. 6:12); and may hear that evangelical sentence without any fear, 'If we forgive men their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you your sins: but if you do not forgive, neither will your Father forgive your sins' (Matt. 6:14-15).

It is dealt with us most tenderly, when it is placed within our own power in what manner we shall be judged on the day of judgment. 'If you forgive,' He says, 'it shall be forgiven you; if you do not forgive, it shall not be forgiven you.' 2. He who remembers what he owes to God easily forgives his enemy. Moreover, those debts cannot be discharged otherwise, nor can those who do not discharge them be excused. But someone says: 'I cannot pardon my enemies.' If you have no sin which God might pardon you, then perhaps it is permitted that you may say you do not wish to pardon your neighbor. But if you have sinned incomparably more against God than a man has sinned against you, why, at the Lord's command, do you not forgive a little, that God may deign to forgive you much?

For God has not commanded you to fast more than you are able, to abstain from wine or from meat, to afflict yourselves more frequently with vigils, to sail to the East or to the West with infinite labors or perils; none of these things is imposed upon us: but this is commanded us, that, attentively considering the strongbox of our conscience, we should hate no man in this world, fulfilling that which the Lord Himself says, 'All things whatsoever you wish that men should do to you, do you also to them in like manner' (Matt. 7:12). And because there is no one who does not wish that whatever he has sinned, whether against God or against man, be forgiven him; why do we not do to others what we wish to be done to us:

that there may be fulfilled in us that which the Apostle says, 'The whole law is fulfilled in one word: You shall love your neighbor as yourself' (Gal. 5:14)? Wherefore we must by no means deceive ourselves with false security, believing that if we are unwilling to forgive our neighbors, we may deserve to receive pardon of our own sins. For with great trembling must that terrible and fearful sentence of our Lord be considered, which that cruel servant deserved to hear: 'Wicked servant, I forgave you the debt, because you besought me; ought you not also then to have had mercy on your fellow-servant, even as I had mercy on you?' And what after this? 'He delivered him to the torturers, until he should repay all the debt.'

And that He might impress this even upon the slower of understanding, He added: 'So also shall my heavenly Father do to you, if you do not each forgive his brother from your hearts' (Matt. 18:32-35). For since, without any labor of the body, if we forgive our brethren with our whole heart, we can obtain pardon for all our sins; what excuse shall we be able to have on the day of judgment, if we neglect to fulfill that which, with His help, we can most easily do? Wherein without doubt our Lord will fulfill His sentence upon us; that with what judgment we have judged, with that same judgment it shall be judged concerning us; and according to the measure by which we have granted pardon to our neighbors, it shall be forgiven us (Matt. 7:2).

For whoever is unwilling to fulfill these things shuts against himself the gate of divine mercy. 3. Without charity, other works are empty. However many good works anyone may have done, all will be made void, if in him there be not the true charity which reaches not only unto friends, but even unto enemies themselves: for the blessed Paul the Apostle does not lie, in whom Christ spoke, saying, 'If I distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not charity, it profits me nothing' (1 Cor. 13:3). And because the root of all evils is covetousness (1 Tim. 6:10),

and the root of all good things is charity; what does it profit a man if he has a thousand branches, whether with flowers or with fairest and most delightful fruits, if in him the root is not living and true? For just as, when the root of covetousness is torn out, all the branches forthwith wither and perish; so whoever, through hatred and anger, has extinguished in himself the root of charity, nothing will remain in him whereby he may attain to eternal life. 4. Empty almsgiving. Why God wishes almsgiving to be done.

But he who keeps the aforesaid evils in his heart, and believes that by many almsdeeds he can redeem those very sins, let him hear the Lord saying in the Gospel, 'If you offer your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you, leave there your gift, and go first to be reconciled to your brother; and then coming you shall offer your gift' (Matt. 5:23-24). This sentence clearly shows that to offer sacrifice or to give alms profits nothing, unless reconciliation with one's enemy has first gone before.

For that God does not wish to hear our prayer, if we choose to keep hatred in our heart, He Himself has said in the Gospel: 'He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me' (John XIV, 21); and, 'What does it profit that you call me, Lord, Lord, and do not do the things which I say' (Luke VI, 46)? What are these things which the Lord declared that He had spoken in a special way? Surely those things which pertain to peace and concord: 'Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you' (Matthew V, 44); and that saying, 'By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another' (John XIII, 35). For if we give alms more generously, and yet, contrary to Christ's precepts, do not forgive our enemies,

we offer our substance to God, but subject our soul to the adversary. Consider too whether such a division can be just and pleasing to God. For God desires not so much our possessions as our very selves. Since He knows that we love earthly substance greatly, He wills that what we love be offered to Him; so that, according to His precept, where our treasure has gone before, there our heart also may follow (Matthew VI, 21), and when the priest says, 'Lift up your hearts,' we may with a secure conscience answer that we have them lifted up unto the Lord. 5. Recapitulation. For who would not tremble at that saying of the blessed Apostle John, which we have often set before you and ought continually to impress upon you?

He says: 'Whoever hates his brother is a murderer' (1 John III, 15); and again, 'He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness even until now' (1 John II, 9); and, 'He who hates his brother is in darkness, and walks in darkness, and knows not whither he goes, because the darkness has blinded his eyes' (1 John II, 11). And that word: 'The ways of those who retain the injury of evildoing lead to death.' And since, according to those things which we have set forth above, not even a shadow of any excuse remains to us, let us labour with all our strength, with God's help, to fulfil what He has commanded, so that we may be worthy to receive what He has promised.

And that we may not lose the remaining good works, whatever we do by God's inspiration, let us faithfully keep charity, as it were the mother of all good things, the Lord inspiring us. And that you may more fully and more clearly understand these things which we have set forth above, I have thought it right to add a little something from the work of Saint Augustine pertaining to the matter of which we have spoken, by which it is most manifestly proved that no man can merit the mercy of God who, despising the two precepts of charity, has neglected to forgive his enemies with his whole heart. 6. The mystery of the number forty. He is sick who has two less. The love of God; the love of neighbour.

Saint Augustine the bishop, when he was treating of that paralytic who had been thirty-eight years in his infirmity, spoke thus: By the number forty, dearest brethren, the course of our life and our manner of living is mystically signified in the divine Scriptures. For this reason, before Easter, which signifies the present life, we observe a fast of forty days; that we may be able to celebrate with joy Easter, which bears the image of eternal life. For this reason also Moses fasted forty days (Exodus XXXIV, 28), and Elijah likewise forty (1 Kings XIX, 8), and our Lord and Saviour consecrated the fast of forty (Matthew IV, 2);

and in the desert the people of Israel tarried forty years, after they had been counted worthy to be freed from Egypt (Deuteronomy VIII, 2). Whence, as you see, dearest brethren, that number forty seems to signify the figure of good Christians and of all the saints. But that sick man, of whom we read in the Gospel that he lay there, seemed to bear the type of the human race. And in that he had been placed in infirmity thirty-eight years, having two less than that number of forty which we mentioned above, let us see what are those two which were lacking to that consecrated number. And what will they be, brethren, but the two precepts of charity, namely the love of God and the love of neighbour;

which two are such that without them the rest profit nothing? And though a man knows what good works are, and possesses virginity or martyrdom, if he has not these two, on which the whole Law and the prophets hang (Matthew XXII, 40), he lies sick and paralysed. Christ therefore came, and through the grace of the Holy Spirit bestowed on us these two, that we should love God and love our neighbour. Finally, for that man who had fallen among robbers He gave two denarii (Luke X, 35), and among the Samaritans He spent two days (John IV, 40), that He might confirm them in the love of God and of neighbour. And that widow, as a type of the Church, cast two coins into the treasury (Luke

XXI, 2), and the Lord sent forth the disciples two by two to preach charity (Luke X, 1). For these two, as we have said, the human race did not deserve to have before the coming of Christ. Notice, brethren, that the Lord also said two things, those very things which seemed to be lacking to him: 'Arise, take up thy bed' (John V, 8). These two the sick man had less of. What is 'Arise,' but 'Love the Lord'? For everyone who loves God has his heart lifted up. And what is this, 'Take up thy bed,' but 'Love thy neighbour'? which love of neighbour is signified in the carrying of the bed. The Apostle said: 'Bear one another's burdens, and so you shall fulfil the law of Christ' (Galatians VI, 2).

If therefore your brother is overtaken in any fault, let him be borne by you; and if you are overtaken, let him support you. Therefore arise, love God, and take up your bed. Love your neighbour, that is, carry the burden on which you may find rest. These two were necessary for the human race. But it could in no way have them of itself; because the charity of God is poured forth in our hearts, not of ourselves, but through the Holy Spirit who is given to us (Romans V, 5): by His help who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen. SERMON 275. Why holy and just men in this world have taken vengeance upon sinners. 1. Why in the old Law sins were punished bodily. The anger of Moses without wrath.

He burns with zeal for God and with love of the people. The same is to be thought of Phinehas. The judgments of God, dearest brethren, are for the most part hidden, yet never unjust. And as to what we read in the Law concerning certain sinners, that vengeance was taken on them in the present world by holy men, by what reason it was done we ought to consider with the most subtle purity of faith. For since in the Old Testament sins seemed to be punished bodily, they were repaid with fitting punishments. Yet no one of the people carried this out as he wished according to his own wrath; but the rulers or judges, that the rest might have fear, took vengeance most justly. Finally, that blessed Moses, of whom we read that he was meek above all men (Numbers

XII, 3), coming down from the mountain, when he learned that the people had sacrificed to idols, commanded three thousand of the people to be slain (Exodus XXXII, 27); not to satisfy his own anger, but to avenge the injury done to God; and that the rest, seeing it, might never presume to commit such sins. And that we may understand with what spirit he commanded this to be done, returning to the Lord he made supplication, saying: 'If thou wilt not forgive thy people their sin, blot me out of thy book which thou hast written' (Exodus XXXII, 32). Behold true and perfect charity! He commanded a few to be slain, that he might free six hundred thousand, besides women and little ones; for unless he, moved by zeal for God, had taken vengeance on a few, God's justice would have destroyed them all.

The blessed priest Phinehas also slew with his own hand, with a sword, one of the princes lying with a foreign woman. And with what spirit he did this, the Lord Himself bore witness, saying: 'Phinehas, moved by my zeal, has appeased my wrath, that I should not destroy my people' (Numbers XXV, 11). For Phinehas did this not out of carnal hatred, but out of zeal and divine love; not to avenge himself, but to free the people from the wrath of God. 2. Nor was Elijah's spirit different, both when the soldiers are consumed by heavenly fire, and when he commands the priests to be killed, inasmuch as he acted by the Holy Spirit. This same thing we know that blessed Elijah also did:

when the most proud and sacrilegious king had sent to him a captain of fifty with his soldiers, ordering him that he ought to come to him; blessed Elijah, grieving over the destruction of his people, whom the impious man had persuaded to worship idols, said in the Holy Spirit that fire should come down from heaven and consume them, so that, these being struck in body, others might be healed in heart. But because no spiritual medicine availed anything among them, the Holy Spirit through the mouth of Elijah commanded that another captain of fifty, who had also come with pride, should be slain with his men. And with what mercy the Holy Spirit, and with what spirit Elijah, did this thing, the humility of that third captain, who came in the third place, showed (2 Kings I, 9-14).

In which we clearly recognized that if human frailty had first humbled itself, divine mercy would at once have granted pardon. For it is not to be believed that they were sent to Elijah in order to kill him, but rather to call him to the king. And therefore blessed Elijah did not satisfy his own anger, but rather avenged the injury done to God. This also he carried out against the priests of the idols on Mount Carmel, when he commanded them all to be slain (1 Kings XVIII, 40); namely, that false religion, with its teachers extinguished, might give place to true religion in the hearts of men. All of which blessed Elijah must be believed to have carried out not by his own power, but by the might of the Holy Spirit.

Finally, if you wish to know what sort of man Elijah himself was, when the grace of the Holy Spirit for a little while deserted him, that it might prove him, he could not bear the threats of a single harlot, but fled into the desert on a journey of forty days. He therefore, who by the supplying grace of God through the Holy Spirit had shut up heaven by his word, and had made avenging flames come from on high, could not endure the words of a single little harlot. This I have said for this reason, that we may recognize that all that was accomplished not so much by Elijah as by the Holy Spirit through Elijah. And therefore it is wicked to believe that blessed Elijah, in those whom he caused to be slain, wished to avenge himself. 3. What Elisha, being mocked, represents. Why he sought vengeance.

This also we ought to think concerning blessed Elisha, to whom, when wanton boys cried out, 'Go up, bald head; go up, bald head' (2 Kings II, 23), the Holy Spirit who dwelt in him commanded that two bears should come up and tear forty-two boys. And although this was done in a mystery, and signified the Passion of the Lord, when the mocking Jews cried out, 'Let him be crucified, let him be crucified' (Matthew XXVII, 23), just as those had cried, 'Go up, bald head; go up, bald head'; that is, go up upon the cross in the place of Calvary: yet even according to the letter, a few were struck for this reason, that very many might be healed;

so that, because the Jews not only despised the Prophets but even mocked them, being struck with so great a plague they might recognize the power of the Holy Spirit. But because they were unwilling to amend themselves, the Holy Spirit Himself cries out elsewhere through the prophet: 'I have struck your children; and you have not received discipline' (Jeremiah II, 30). If therefore the Holy Spirit wrought this, it is wicked that anything should be imputed to blessed Elisha; because in truth a mere man without the Holy Spirit could not have had such great power. For if we impute anything to holy Elisha, we as it were presume to dispute concerning the just judgment of God. 4. The same zeal in Peter. And lest perchance we think that this was done only in the Old Testament;

consider that most blessed and most gentle apostle Peter, and see what the Holy Spirit wrought through him concerning Ananias and Sapphira (Acts V, 5-10). Which surely was not done in order that the blessed Apostle might avenge himself, who seemed to have suffered no injury from them: but the Holy Spirit, springing forth through his mouth, cut off in its very root a most wicked example of unbelief. Therefore, thinking on all these things spiritually and faithfully, let us suspect nothing sinister concerning the holy zeal or judgment of the just: which thing may the Lord Himself, our Saviour, deign to grant us, who lives and reigns, God, through all ages of ages. Amen. SERMON 276. On the love of parents, and on tithes. 1.

Honour, love, and in poverty support are owed to parents. Some despise their poor parents, who are perhaps better than themselves. We read, dearest brethren, the Lord admonishing us through the prophet, that we should always render to our parents both honour and love; and if perchance it happen that they labour under some poverty, we should relieve their needs according to what we are able. For thus He says: 'If thou seest one naked, cover him, and despise not the household of thine own seed' (Isaiah LVIII, 7). In this place, by 'the household of thy seed,' He willed our parents to be understood. But someone says: Who is there that hates his parents, that the Lord should have admonished this as something great through the prophet?

Without doubt, brethren, the Holy Spirit knew that there are some men who, when they have attained to certain honours or riches acquired from wherever, so despise their poor parents that they do not deign even to see them. And if they do this, let them not doubt that they have admitted to themselves not only a sin but even a grave crime. And perchance it happens that such a man, through riches and pride, commits grave crimes and sins, while his parents, through that very poverty and humility and simplicity, hold to justice: and with what face does he disdain to regard his parents, innocent and just, while he himself is a sinner and impious? If anyone therefore is well provided, if he has any parents who are poor;

let him first supply their necessities, and thus give alms to needy strangers: because to the other poor, if you do not give, another will give; but to your own poor parents, if you bestow nothing, it is difficult that another should bestow. 2. The lawful order of almsgiving. Of our goods, what is ours; what belongs to another. This is the just and lawful order of almsgiving, that first you should provide for yourself and yours a sufficient and modest food and clothing, not pompous nor luxurious; then, as I said, if there are any poor among your parents, give as much as you are able; then do not permit your menservants and maidservants either to hunger or to be cold:

and after these things, whatever God, as I said, apart from food and clothing, has given you, store it up not in an earthly place, where thieves dig through and steal, but in the heavenly treasury: that where your treasure shall be, there your heart also may be (Matthew VI, 20 and 21); and when the priest cries, 'Lift up your hearts,' we may answer securely and in truth, We have them lifted up unto the Lord. For whatever God, apart from a modest and reasonable food and clothing, has bestowed, whether from any military service or from agriculture, He has not given specially to you, but has transmitted it through you to be distributed to the poor: if you are unwilling to give, know that you are carrying off another's goods; because, as I said, that alone is ours which reasonably suffices for us or for ours.

Whatever is over and above, our God, as I said, has transmitted to be distributed to the poor. 3. Tithes are unjustly denied, since by right the nine parts are owed. And so we ought not only to give tithes, but also of the nine parts, whatever remains after taxes are paid or our expenses discharged, we ought faithfully to distribute as though transmitted to others. Which if we do, those things which we give are truly ours; but if we do not, neither are those things ours which we keep, nor are we ourselves our own who seem to keep them. And yet, brethren, I do not see with what face we do not offer the tenth to Him from whom we have received the whole.

If God should wish to render an account with us and to say: The land which you till, I made; you yourself who till it, and your servants, I made; the animals which help you to till, I created; the heat of the sun I bestow, the rain in its due seasons I dispense, the very seed which you scatter I grant: if you attend to the reckoning of justice, you ought to reserve the tenth for yourself, and give me the nine parts. Yet I do not seek this; I wish to be merciful: I give you an example, that as I have had mercy on you, so you may have mercy on the poor. If therefore, brethren, God should wish to make a just reckoning with us, is there anything we could answer? And although in many places of the holy Scriptures God admonishes us concerning these things;

yet through the Apostle He specially cries out and admonishes, saying: 'Having food and clothing, with these let us be content. For those who wish to become rich fall into temptation, and into the snare of the devil, and into many desires useless and hurtful, which plunge men into destruction and perdition: for the root of all evils is covetousness, which some coveting have made shipwreck of the faith, and have entangled themselves in many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; pursue rather justice, godliness, and faith' (1 Timothy VI, 8-11). I ask you, brethren, that we may be silent about the rest of the Scriptures: for which Christian does this apostolic saying not suffice?