Homilies on the Statues, Homily 12

1. Yesterday I said, “Blessed be God!” and today I say the very same thing again. Although the evils we dreaded have passed, we should not let their memory disappear—not so that we may grieve, but so that we may give thanks. For if the memory of these terrors stays with us, we will never be overtaken by the actual experience of such terrors. Why do we need the experience when our memory serves as a warning? Since God did not allow us to be overwhelmed by the flood of those troubles while they were upon us, let us not allow ourselves to become careless now that they have passed. When we were sad, He consoled us; let us thank Him now that we are joyful. In our agony He comforted us and did not abandon us; therefore, let us not betray ourselves in prosperity by slipping into laziness. “Do not forget,” someone says, “the time of famine in the day of plenty.” So let us remember the time of trial in the day of relief, and let us act the same way about our sins. If you have sinned and God has pardoned your sin, accept your pardon and give thanks. But do not forget the sin—not so that you may torment yourself by thinking about it, but so that you may train your soul not to become reckless and fall into the same snares again. 2. Paul did this too. After saying, “He considered me faithful, appointing me to the ministry,” he goes on to add, “though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an abuser.” “Let the servant’s life,” he says, “be openly exposed, so that the Master’s loving kindness may be clear. For although I have received forgiveness of sins, I do not reject the memory of those sins.” This not only revealed the Lord’s loving kindness but also made the man himself more distinguished. When you learn who he was before, you will be all the more astonished at him; and when you see what he rose from to become what he was, you will praise him all the more. And if you have sinned greatly, once you have changed, this example will give you grounds for hope. Besides everything already said, such an example comforts those in despair and helps them stand upright again. The same will be true of our city. Everything that has happened serves to show your virtue, since through repentance you have succeeded in averting such anger. At the same time, these events proclaim the loving kindness of God, who has removed that threatening cloud in response to a small change in conduct. In this way He also raises up everyone sunk in despair, when they learn from our case that anyone who looks upward for divine help will not be overwhelmed, even if countless waves surround him on every side. 3. For who has seen, who has ever heard of sufferings like ours? Every day we expected our city to be torn up from its foundations, together with its inhabitants. But just when the Devil hoped to sink the ship, God brought about a perfect calm. So let us not forget how great these terrors were, so that we may remember how great the benefits we received from God are. Anyone who does not know the nature of the disease will not understand the physician’s skill. Let us tell these things to our children too, and pass them down to the most distant generations, so that everyone may learn how the Devil tried to destroy the very foundation of the city, and how God visibly raised it up again when it had fallen and lay flat. He did not allow even the slightest injury to happen to it, but took away its fear and quickly dispelled the danger it faced. Even throughout the past week, we all expected our property to be confiscated and soldiers to be let loose on us, and we imagined a thousand other horrors. But look! All these things have passed away like a cloud or a fleeting shadow. We have been punished only by the expectation of something dreadful—or rather, we have not been punished, but disciplined, and have become better, because God softened the Emperor’s heart. So let us always say, every day, “Blessed be God!” Let us pay greater attention to gathering together and hurry to the church, from which we have received this benefit. For you know where you first fled, where you flocked together, and where our safety came from. Let us hold fast to this sacred anchor. Just as it did not fail us in the time of danger, let us not leave it now in the time of relief. Instead, let us attend the appointed assemblies and prayers with close attention, and listen every day to the divine words. While we were anxious about the evils threatening us, we spent our free time busily running after people arriving from the court. Let us now spend all that time listening to the divine laws, instead of engaging in ill-timed, senseless amusements, so that we do not again put ourselves in a position where we have to occupy ourselves that way. 4. Over the past three days, then, we have examined one way of coming to know God and brought our discussion to a close. We explained how “the heavens declare the glory of God,” and what Paul means when he says, “The invisible things of Him, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood through the things that are made.” We showed how the Creator is glorified through the creation of the world, through heaven, earth, and the sea. Today, after briefly reflecting further on that same subject, we will move on to another topic. For He not only made creation but also arranged for it to keep working once it was made. He did not allow everything to remain motionless, nor did He command everything to be in motion. Heaven, for example, has remained motionless, as the prophet says: “He placed heaven like a vault and stretched it out like a tent over the earth.” On the other hand, the sun, along with the rest of the stars, runs its course every day. Again, the earth is fixed, but the waters are constantly moving—and not only the waters, but also the clouds and the frequent showers that follow one another and return in their proper season. The clouds all have the same nature, but what comes from them differs. Rain becomes wine in the grape, but oil in the olive, and in other plants it changes into their juices. The earth has one womb, yet it bears different fruits. The heat of the sun’s rays is also the same, but it ripens everything differently, bringing some things to maturity more slowly and others more quickly. Who can help being astonished and filled with admiration at these things? 5. And the wonder is not only that He formed creation with such great variety and diversity, but also that He spread it out for everyone to share—the rich and the poor, sinners as well as the righteous. As Christ also declared, “He makes His sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends His rain on the just and the unjust.” Moreover, when He filled the world with various animals and planted different dispositions in these creatures, He commanded us to imitate some of them and avoid others. For example, the ant is industrious and performs demanding work. By paying attention, you will receive the strongest warning from this animal not to indulge in laziness or avoid labor and toil. That is also why Scripture sends the lazy person to the ant, saying, “Go to the ant, you lazy person, imitate his ways, and be wiser than he is.” Are you unwilling, he means, to learn from the Scriptures that it is good to work, and that anyone who will not work should not eat either? Learn it from creatures without reason! We do this in our households too. When those who are older and considered superior have done something wrong, we tell them to pay attention to thoughtful children. We say, “Notice that person, who is younger than you, and see how earnest and watchful he is.” You too, then, should take from this animal the best encouragement to work hard. Marvel at your Lord, not only because He made heaven and the sun, but also because He made the ant. Although the animal is small, it offers abundant proof of the greatness of God’s wisdom. Consider how prudent the ant is, and consider how God has planted such an unceasing desire to work in so small a body! But while you learn industry from this animal, take from the bee a lesson in cleanliness, industry, and harmony with others all at once! For the bee works and toils every day no more for herself than for us. This is especially fitting for a Christian: to seek the interests of others rather than his own. Just as she travels through all the meadows to prepare a banquet for someone else, you too should do the same. If you have accumulated wealth, spend it on others. If you have the ability to teach, do not bury the talent, but bring it out in public for those who need it! Or if you have any other advantage, make yourself useful to those who need the benefit of your work! Do you not see that this, above all, is why the bee is more honored than the other animals—not because she works, but because she works for others? The spider also works and toils and spreads his fine fabrics over the walls, surpassing even a woman’s greatest skill. Yet the creature is not valued, because his work is of no benefit to us. That is what people who work and toil only for themselves are like! Imitate the dove’s innocence too! Imitate the donkey in his love for his master, and the ox as well! Imitate the birds in their freedom from anxiety! For we can benefit greatly—very greatly indeed—from creatures without reason in correcting our conduct. 6. Christ also teaches us through these animals when He says, “Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” And again, “Look at the birds of the air: they do not sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them.” The prophet also speaks this way to shame the ungrateful Jews: “The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master’s feeding trough, but Israel does not know me.” And again, “The turtledove, the swallow, and the crane observe the time of their coming, but my people do not know the judgment of the Lord their God.” Learn to achieve virtue from these animals and others like them, and learn to avoid wickedness from those with opposite traits. For just as the bee pursues good, the asp is destructive. So avoid wickedness, so that you do not hear it said, “The poison of asps is under their lips.” Again, the dog has no shame. So hate this kind of wickedness. The fox too is crafty and deceitful. Do not imitate this vice. Instead, just as the bee, flying over the meadows, does not choose every kind of flower but selects what is useful and leaves the rest, you should do the same. As you survey the whole range of animals without reason, accept anything beneficial you can draw from them. Make it your business to practice by your own free choice the good qualities they have by nature. For God has honored you in this respect too: He has allowed you to achieve by your own free choice what they possess as natural advantages, so that you may also receive a reward. Their good works do not arise from free will and reason, but from nature alone. In other words, the bee makes honey because nature teaches it, not because it has learned to do so through reason and reflection. For if the work were not natural and assigned to the species, some of them would certainly be unskilled at their craft. Yet from the time the world was first made until the present day, no one has observed bees giving up their work and failing to make honey. Such natural characteristics are common to the whole species. But the things that depend on our free choice are not shared by everyone, because accomplishing them requires effort. 7. Take all the best qualities, then, and clothe yourself in them. For you are indeed king over the creatures without reason. And if their subjects possess anything excellent—gold, silver, precious stones, or magnificent clothing—kings usually possess the same things in greater abundance. Learn from creation, too, to admire your Lord! If anything you see is beyond your comprehension and you cannot discover its reason, glorify the Creator for this very thing: the wisdom of these works surpasses your understanding. Do not say, “Why is this?” or “What is it for?” Everything is useful, even if we do not know its purpose. If you enter a physician’s office and see many instruments laid out before you, you marvel at their variety even though you do not know how they are used. Treat creation the same way. Although you see many animals, herbs, plants, and other things whose use you do not know, admire their variety. Be astonished at God’s perfect workmanship for this very reason: He has neither made everything clear to you nor allowed everything to remain unknown. He has not allowed everything to remain unknown, so that you would not say that the things that exist are not governed by providence. He has not allowed you to know everything, so that the greatness of your knowledge would not make you proud. For this was how the evil demon threw the first man headlong: through the hope of greater knowledge, he deprived him of what he already possessed. That is also why a certain wise man gives this advice: “Do not seek out things too difficult for you, or investigate things too deep for you. But reflect with reverence on what you have been commanded, for most of His works are done in secret.” And again, “More things are shown to you than people understand.” He says this to console the person who is sad and troubled because he does not know everything. For, he observes, even the things you are allowed to know far surpass your understanding: you could not have discovered them by yourself, but have been taught them by God. So be content with the wealth you have been given, and do not seek more. Give thanks for what you have received, and do not be angry about what you have not received. Give glory for what you know, and do not stumble over what you do not know. For God has made both equally beneficial. He has revealed some things and hidden others to keep you safe. 8. One way of knowing God, then, is through creation, which I have discussed and which could occupy many days. Consider what it would take to examine just the formation of man in detail. (By detail I mean the precision possible for us, not true precision. For although we have already given many reasons for the works of creation, there are many more, beyond expression, that God who made them knows; of course we do not know them all.) To survey the whole shaping of man in detail, then, as I was saying, to discover the skill in every part of the body, to examine the arrangement and position of the tendons, veins, and arteries, and the shaping of every other part—even a whole year would not be enough for such an investigation. 9. For this reason, we will leave this subject here. What we have said gives those willing to work and study an opportunity to examine the other parts of Creation as well. We will now turn our discussion to another point that also proves God’s providence. What is this second point? When God formed man, he planted a natural law within him from the beginning. And what was this natural law? He gave conscience a voice within us and made our knowledge of good things and their opposites something we know without being taught. For we do not need to learn that sexual immorality is evil and chastity is good; we know this from the start. And to show you that we know it from the start, when the Lawgiver later gave laws and said, “You shall not kill,” He did not add, “because murder is evil,” but simply said, “You shall not kill.” He merely prohibited the sin, without teaching about it. Why, then, when He said, “You shall not kill,” did He not add, “because murder is wicked”? Because conscience had already taught this, and He was speaking to people who knew and understood the point. So when He speaks to us about another commandment, one we do not know through conscience, He not only prohibits something but also adds the reason. For instance, when He gave the commandment about the Sabbath, “On the seventh day you shall do no work,” He also added the reason for stopping work. What was it? “Because on the seventh day God rested from all His works which He had begun to make.” And again, “Because you were a slave in the land of Egypt.” Why, then, I ask, did He add a reason about the Sabbath but do nothing of the kind about murder? Because this commandment was not one of the fundamental ones. It was not one of those clearly defined by our conscience, but a limited and temporary commandment, and for this reason it was later abolished. But the commandments that are necessary and sustain our life are these: “You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal.” That is why He adds no reason in this case and offers no instruction on the matter, but is content simply to prohibit it. 10. I will try to show you that man knew virtue without being taught, not only from this but also from another consideration. Adam committed the first sin, and immediately afterward he hid himself. But if he had not known he was doing something wrong, why did he hide? For at that time there was no writing, no law, and no Moses. How, then, did he recognize his sin and hide himself? And he not only hid himself, but when called to account, he tried to blame someone else, saying, “The woman whom You gave me, she gave me some from the tree, and I ate.” The woman, in turn, passed the accusation to someone else—the serpent. Notice God’s wisdom too. When Adam said, “I heard Your voice, and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself,” God did not immediately convict him of what he had done or say, “Why have you eaten from the tree?” What did He say instead? “Who told you,” He asks, “that you were naked, unless you have eaten from that Tree, the only one from which I commanded you not to eat?” He neither remained silent nor openly convicted him. He did not remain silent, so that He could draw him out to confess his crime. He did not openly convict him, so that the whole disclosure would not come from Himself, depriving the man of the pardon granted to us through confession. So he did not openly state the source of this knowledge, but continued the conversation through questions, leaving the man himself to make the confession. 11. Again, we can observe the same process in the case of Cain and Abel. First of all, they set aside the fruits of their own work for God. For we want to show from man’s virtue, as well as from his sin, that he was capable of knowing both. Adam showed that man knew sin was evil, and Abel in turn made it clear that he knew virtue was good. Without learning it from anyone, without hearing any law proclaimed about first fruits, but taught from within, by his conscience, he presented that sacrifice. This is why I do not take the argument into a later period, but apply it to the time of these earliest men, when there was still no writing, no law, and no prophets or judges, and only Adam and his children existed. I do this so that you may learn that the knowledge of good and evil had already been planted in their natures. For where did Abel learn that offering sacrifice was good, that it was good to honor God and give thanks in everything? “Why, then,” someone replies, “did Cain not bring his offering?” He too offered sacrifice, but not in the same way. And this again reveals the knowledge supplied by conscience. For when he envied the one who had been honored and planned murder, he concealed his deceitful intention. What did he say? “Come, let us go out into the field.” His outward appearance was one thing—a pretense of love—but his thought was another: the intention to murder his brother. If he had not known his plan was wicked, why did he conceal it? And again, after the murder, when God asked him, “Where is Abel your brother?” he answered, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” Why did he deny the crime? Was it not clearly because he condemned himself so strongly? Just as his father hid himself, this man denied his guilt, and after being convicted, he said again, “My crime is too great to obtain pardon.” 12. But someone may object that the Gentile accepts nothing of this kind. Come, then, let us discuss this point. In discussing creation, we fought against these objectors with the help of reason as well as the Scriptures; let us now do the same about conscience. For Paul too took up this subject when arguing with such people. What do they claim? They say there is no self-evident law established in our consciences, and that God has not planted it in our nature. But if that is so, I ask, where did their lawmakers get the laws they wrote about marriage, murder, wills, trusts, refraining from encroaching on one another, and a thousand other things? People living now may perhaps have learned them from their elders, and those elders from their predecessors, and those again from still earlier people. But from whom did the people who originated and first enacted their laws learn them? Is it not clear that they learned from conscience? For they cannot say that they communicated with Moses or heard the prophets. How could that be, when they were Gentiles? Clearly, laws were laid down, arts discovered, and everything else developed from the very law God placed in man when He first formed him. For the arts too were established this way, their inventors coming to know them without being taught. 13. This is also how courts of justice came into being and penalties were defined, as Paul accordingly observes. For many Gentiles were ready to dispute this and say, “How will God judge the people who lived before Moses? He sent no lawgiver, introduced no law, commissioned no prophet, apostle, or evangelist. How, then, can He call them to account?” So Paul wished to prove that they possessed a law they knew without being taught and clearly understood what they ought to do. Listen to what he says: “For when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature the things contained in the law, these, though they do not have the law, are a law to themselves. They show the work of the law written in their hearts.” But how, without writing? “Their conscience also bears witness, and their thoughts meanwhile accuse or else excuse one another, on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.” And again, “All who have sinned without law will perish without law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.” What does “They will perish without law” mean? Their thoughts and conscience will accuse them, rather than the law. For if they did not have a law of conscience, they would not have to perish for having done wrong. How could that happen if they sinned without a law? But when he says “without a law,” he does not claim that they had no law, but that they had no written law, though they had the law of nature. And again, “But glory, honor, and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile.” 14. But he said these things about the early times, before Christ’s coming. The Gentile he names here is not an idolater, but someone who worshiped God alone, free from the obligation to follow Jewish observances (I mean Sabbaths, circumcision, and various purifications), yet displaying every kind of wisdom and piety. Again, speaking of such a worshiper, he observes, “Anger and indignation, distress and anguish, upon every human soul that does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Gentile.” Here again he uses the name Greek for someone free from the observance of Jewish customs. If, then, this person had not heard the law or associated with the Jews, how could he face anger, indignation, and distress for doing evil? Because he possessed a conscience that warned, taught, and instructed him inwardly in everything. How is this clear? From the way he punished others when they did wrong, from the way he laid down laws, and from the way he established courts of justice. To make this clearer, Paul spoke of those living in wickedness: “Although they know God’s ordinance, that those who commit such things deserve death, they not only do the same things but also approve of those who practice them.” “But how,” someone asks, “did they know that it is God’s will for those living in wickedness to be punished with death?” How? From the way they judged others who sinned. For if you do not consider murder wicked, you should not punish a murderer brought before your court. Likewise, if you do not consider adultery evil, release the adulterer from punishment when he falls into your hands! But if you write laws, prescribe punishments, and judge the sins of others severely, what defense can you make when you do wrong yourself by saying that you do not know what you ought to do? Suppose you and another person have both committed adultery. Why do you punish him and consider yourself worthy of forgiveness? If you did not know adultery was wicked, it would not be right to punish it in someone else. But if you punish it and expect to escape punishment yourself, how is it reasonable for the same offenses not to receive the same penalty? 15. This is exactly what Paul rebukes when he says, “Do you think, you who judge those who do such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape God’s judgment?” It is impossible; it cannot be. For, he means, God will judge you by the very sentence you pronounce on someone else. Surely you are not just and God unjust! If you do not overlook someone else being wronged, how will God overlook it? And if you correct the sins of others, how will God not correct you? Even if He does not punish you immediately, do not take confidence from that, but be all the more afraid. Paul also told you this when he said, “Do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and patience, not knowing that God’s goodness leads you to repentance?” For that, he says, is why he bears with you: so that you may repent, not become worse. But if you refuse, this patience becomes a cause of greater punishment for you, since you remain unrepentant. This is exactly what he means when he says, “But because of your hardness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up anger for yourself for the day of anger and the revelation of God’s righteous judgment. He will repay everyone according to his deeds.” Since He repays everyone according to his works, He both planted a natural law within us and later gave us a written one, so that He could demand an account of sins and crown those who act rightly. Let us conduct ourselves with the greatest care, as people who will soon face a fearful tribunal. We know that we will receive no pardon if, after both a natural and a written law, so much teaching, and continual warning, we neglect our own salvation. 16. I want to speak to you again about oaths, but I feel ashamed. For my part, I do not find it tiring to repeat the same things to you day and night. But I am afraid that, after pursuing you for so many days, I may seem to be condemning you for great carelessness, since you need continual reminders about so easy a matter. And I am not only ashamed, but also afraid for you! Frequent instruction is healthy and beneficial for those who pay attention, but harmful and extremely dangerous for those who are careless. For the more often someone hears, the greater the punishment he brings on himself if he does not practice what he is told. God reproached the Jews for this, saying, “I sent my prophets, rising early and sending them, and even then you did not listen.” We do this out of our great care for you. But we fear that on that tremendous Day, this warning and counsel may rise up against you all. For when the goal is easy to achieve, and the person responsible for continually reminding you never stops his work, what defense will we have to offer? What argument will save us from punishment? Tell me, if someone happens to owe you money, do you not remind the debtor of the loan whenever you meet him? You should do the same. Let everyone think of his neighbor as owing him money—that is, the fulfillment of this commandment—and remind him to pay whenever they meet. Know that serious danger lies at our door while we neglect our brothers. This is why I too never stop mentioning these things. For I fear that I might somehow hear it said on that day, “You wicked and lazy servant, you should have put my money with the bankers.” Look, I have deposited it, not once or twice, but many times. It remains for you to pay the interest on it. Now the interest on hearing is showing it in deeds, for the deposit belongs to the Lord. So let us receive what is entrusted to us with care and guard it diligently, so that we may return it with much interest on That Day. For unless you bring others to perform the same good works, you will hear the words heard by the man who buried the talent. But God forbid that this should happen! May you instead hear those other words Christ spoke to the man who had made a profit: “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.” 17. We will hear these words if we show the same earnestness he did. And we will show this earnestness if we do what I say. When you leave, while what you have heard is still warm within you, encourage one another! Just as you each say goodbye when you part, let everyone leave here with a reminder, saying to his neighbor, “Take care and remember to keep the commandment.” In this way we will certainly gain the upper hand. For when friends send you off with this advice, and when you return home your wife gives you the same reminder, and our words keep their hold on you when you are alone, we will soon shake off this evil habit. I know you wonder why I am so earnest about this commandment. But fulfill the duty you have been given, and then I will tell you. Meanwhile, I say this: this commandment is a divine law, and it is not safe to break it. If I see it properly carried out, I will give you another reason, no less weighty than this one, so that you may learn that I am right to make so much of this law. But now it is time to end this address with a prayer. So let us all say together, “O God, Who do not desire the death of a sinner, but that he should turn and live, grant that, having fulfilled this and every other commandment, we may be found worthy to stand before the tribunal of Your Christ with great boldness and attain the kingdom to Your glory. For glory belongs to You, together with Your only-begotten Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever, to ages without end.” Amen.