Homilies on Romans, Homily 15

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God.” Here it seems to me that he has raised this whole subject for the sake of those who were in danger—or rather, not just this subject, but also what he said a little earlier. For the words, “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us”; the words that “the whole creation groans”; the statement that “we are saved by hope”; the phrase, “we wait patiently for”; and the statement that “we do not know what we should pray for as we should”—all these are addressed to them. For he teaches them to choose not simply what they themselves think is useful, but what the Spirit suggests, since many things that seem beneficial to us sometimes even do great harm. Peace, for example, freedom from danger, and a life without fear seemed advantageous to them. And why be surprised that they thought so, when blessed Paul himself thought the same? Yet he later learned that the opposite of all these things was advantageous, and when he learned this, he was content. So the man who begged the Lord three times to free him from dangers, once he heard Him say, “My grace is enough for you, for My Power is perfected in weakness” (2 Cor. xii. 8, 9), afterward delighted in being persecuted, insulted, and subjected to irreparable harm. For he says, “I glory in persecutions, in insults” (Eng. V. reproaches), “in hardships.” (2 Cor. xii. 10.) This was his reason for saying, “For we do not know what we should pray for as we should.” And he urged everyone to entrust these matters to the Spirit. For the Holy Spirit cares deeply for us, and this is God's will. Having encouraged them in every way, he moves on to what we heard today, presenting a reason strong enough to bring them back to the right outlook. For he says, “we know that all things work together for good to those who love God.” When he speaks of “all things,” he includes even things that seem painful. For even if trouble, poverty, imprisonment, famines, deaths, or anything else at all comes upon us, God can turn all these things into their opposite. This is a striking example of His indescribable power: He makes things that seem painful become pleasant to us and turns them into something helpful. So he does not say that no suffering comes near “those who love God,” but that it “works together for good.” That is, He uses the sufferings themselves to prove the worth of those who are plotted against. And this is far greater than preventing such sufferings from approaching or stopping them once they have come. This is what He did with the furnace in Babylon. He neither prevented them from falling into it nor put out the flame after those saints were thrown into it. Instead, He let it keep burning and used that very flame to make them even more admirable. He continually performed similar wonders with the Apostles too. (St. Mark xvi. 18.) For if people who have learned to live philosophically can use natural circumstances to produce the opposite of their intended effect, and can live more comfortably in poverty than the rich do, and shine through disgrace, how much more will God do these things, and far greater things, for those who love Him? For only one thing is needed: genuine love for Him, and everything else follows. Just as things that seem harmful do these people good, even beneficial things harm those who do not love Him. For example, the display of miracles, the wisdom of His teaching, and the soundness of His doctrine only harmed the Jews. For the former they called Him possessed (John viii. 48), and for the latter they called Him someone who would make Himself equal to God (ib. v. 18); and because of the miracles (ib. xi. 47, 53), they even tried to kill Him. But the thief, when crucified, nailed to the Cross, insulted, and suffering countless evils, was not harmed at all; he even gained the greatest good from them. See how all things work together for good for those who love God. After mentioning this great blessing, which goes far beyond human nature, he proves it from past blessings, since many people found it unbelievable. He says, “to those who are called according to His purpose.” Consider the calling, for example, he means, as evidence of what I have just said. Why, then, did He not call everyone from the beginning? Or why did He not call Paul himself as soon as the others? Doesn't the delay seem harmful? Yet the outcome showed that it was for the best. He mentions purpose here, however, so that he will not attribute everything to the calling, since otherwise both Greeks and Jews would certainly object. For if the calling alone were enough, why was everyone not saved? So he says that salvation comes not from the calling alone, but also from the purpose of those called. For the calling was neither forced on them nor compulsory. All, then, were called, but not all obeyed the call. Ver. 29. “For those He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the Image of His Son.” See what extraordinary honor! What the Only-begotten was by Nature, they too have become by grace. And he was still not satisfied with calling them conformed to that Image, but adds another point: “that He might be the first-born.” Even here he does not stop, but goes on to mention another point: “Among many brothers.” He wants to use every means to make the relationship clear. You must understand all these things as referring to the Incarnation. For in His Godhead He is Only-begotten. See what great things He has given us! So do not doubt the future. For he also shows His care for us on other grounds, saying that things were arranged this way from the beginning. People have to form their ideas about things from the things themselves, but God determined these things long ago, and He has had goodwill toward us from long ago (πρὸς ἡμἅς διέκειτο), he says. Ver. 30. “Moreover, those He predestined, He also called; and those He called, He also justified.” He justified them through rebirth in the baptismal washing. “And those He justified, He also glorified” through the gift, through adoption. Ver. 31. “What, then, shall we say to these things?” It is as if he were saying: Then let me hear no more about the dangers and malicious schemes coming from every direction. For even if some disbelieve the things to come, they still have nothing to say against the good things that have already happened—for example, God's friendship toward you from the beginning, justification, and glory. Yet He gave you these things through means that seemed distressing. And the things you thought disgraceful—the Cross, scourges, chains—are the very things that have set the whole world right. Just as through His own sufferings, though they looked dreadful to human eyes, He brought freedom and salvation to the whole human race, so He also regularly deals with the things you endure, turning your sufferings into glory and renown for you. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Someone may say, Why, who isn't against us? The world is against us: kings and peoples, relatives and fellow countrymen. Yet those who are against us are so far from hindering us at all that, even against their will, they become the cause of our crowns and bring us countless blessings, because God's wisdom turns their plots into our salvation and glory. See how truly no one is against us! This is what made Job shine more brightly: the devil took up arms against him. For the devil stirred up his friends against him, his wife against him, and wounds, servants, and a thousand other schemes. And it turned out that none of them was ultimately against him. Yet this was no great thing for him, though it was great in itself. What was far greater was that they all turned out to be for him. Since God was for him, even everything that seemed against him became for him. This also happened with the Apostles: Jews, Gentiles, false brothers, rulers, peoples, famines, poverty, and ten thousand other things were against them, yet nothing was against them. For these were the very things that made them shine most brightly, stand out, and become great in the sight of both God and people. Just consider what Paul has said about the faithful, those who are truly (ἀκριβὥς) crucified—something that not even the Emperor with his crown can achieve. For many barbarians take up arms against him, enemies invade, bodyguards plot, many subjects repeatedly rebel, and thousands of other things oppose him. But against the faithful person who carefully observes God's laws, neither a human being, nor the devil, nor anything else can stand! If you take away his money, you have brought him a reward. If you speak ill of him, your slander makes him shine more brightly in God's sight. If you reduce him to starvation, his glory and reward will be all the greater. If you hand him over to death, which seems the harshest blow of all, you are weaving a martyr's crown around him. What, then, can equal this way of life, against which nothing can prevail, when even those who seem to be plotting harm serve him as much as his benefactors? This is why he says, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Next, still not satisfied with what he has already said, he sets down here too the greatest sign of His love for us, the one he always dwells on: the killing of His Son. For He did not merely justify us, he means, glorify us, and conform us to that Image; He did not spare even His Son for you. And so he goes on to say, Ver. 32. “He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also freely give us all things with Him?” Here his words are emphatic (μεθ᾽ ὑτερβολἥς) and intensely warm, to show His love. How, then, could He neglect us, when for our sake “He did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all”? Consider how good He must be not to spare even His own Son, but to give Him up, and to give Him up for everyone—worthless, unfeeling people, enemies, and blasphemers. “How, then, will He not also freely give us all things with Him?” What he means is roughly this: If He gave His own Son, and did not merely give Him, but gave Him over to death, why doubt anything else, since you have the Master? Why be uncertain about the possessions when you have the Lord? For He who gave the greater thing to His enemies can hardly fail to give the lesser things to His friends. Ver. 33. “Who will bring any charge against God's elect?” Here he opposes those who say that faith is of no benefit and refuse to believe in the complete change. (i.e. in baptism see p. 349.) See how quickly he silences them by pointing to the worthiness of Him who chose them. He does not say, “Who will bring any charge against God's servants?” or “God's faithful ones?” but “God's elect?” And election is a sign of virtue. For if, when a horse trainer has selected colts fit for racing, no one can find fault with them, and anyone who does will be laughed at, how much more do those who “bring any charge against” souls chosen by God deserve to be laughed at? “It is God who justifies.” Ver. 34. “Who is He who condemns?” He does not say, It is God who forgave our sins, but something much greater: “It is God who justifies.” For when the Judge's sentence declares us righteous—and such a Judge as this—what does the accuser matter? So we should neither fear trials, since God is for us and has shown it by what He has done, nor fear Jewish quibbles, since He has both chosen and justified us. And the amazing thing is that He also did this through the death of His Son. Who, then, will condemn us, since God crowns us, and Christ was put to death for us, and not only was put to death but afterward also intercedes for us? For he says, “It is Christ who died—more than that, who has risen from the dead, Who is at the right hand of God, Who also intercedes for us.” For although He is now seen in His own dignity, He has not stopped caring for us, but even “intercedes for us” and continues to show the same love. For He was not content merely to be put to death. And this is generally a sign of very great love: to do not only His own part, but also to appeal to Another on our behalf. This is all he meant to convey by intercession. He uses language better suited to human beings and adapted to our understanding in order to show His love. For unless we also understand the words “He did not spare” in the same way, many inconsistencies will follow. And to see that this is his point, notice that after first saying He “is at the Right Hand,” he then says He “intercedes for us.” He has shown an equality of honor and rank, so that it is clear that the Intercession signifies only love, not inferiority. For since He is Life itself (αὐτοζωή) (Ps. xxxvi. 9.), a Well of every kind of good thing, and has the same power as the Father to raise the dead, give them life, and do everything else He does, how could He need to plead in order to help us? (John v. 19, 21, 36.) By His own power He freed those who had been handed over and condemned from their very condemnation, made them righteous and sons, led them to the highest honors, and brought about things no one had ever hoped for. After accomplishing all this and showing our nature on the King's throne, how could He need to plead in order to do easier things? (Acts vii. 55; Heb. x. 12; Rev. vii. 17.) You see how every argument shows that he mentioned intercession for no other reason than to show the warmth and strength of His love for us. For the Father too is presented to us as begging people to be reconciled to Him. “For we are ambassadors of Christ, as though God were begging you through us.” (2 Cor. v. 20.) Still, although God begs, and people are “ambassadors in Christ's place” to other people, we do not therefore understand anything to be done that is unworthy of His dignity. We gather only one thing from everything we are told: the intensity of His love. Let us do the same here. If, then, the Spirit even “intercedes for us with groans that cannot be expressed,” and Christ died and intercedes for us, and the Father “did not spare His own Son” for you, and chose you and justified you, why be afraid any longer? Why tremble when you enjoy such great love and receive such great care? In this way, after showing His great providential care for us from the beginning, he boldly brings out what follows. He does not say, You too ought to love Him. Instead, as though carried away with enthusiasm at this indescribable Providence toward us, he says, Ver. 35. “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?” He does not say “of God,” so little difference does it make to him whether he mentions the Name of Christ or of God. “Will trouble, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?” Notice blessed Paul's judgment. He does not mention the things that capture us every day—love of money, desire for glory, and slavery to anger. Instead, he lists things far more overpowering than these, things capable of forcing nature itself and often breaking down the firmness of our resolve even against our will: troubles and distresses. Although the things mentioned are easy to list, each single word contains thousands of forms of trial. For when he says “trouble,” he includes prisons, chains, slanders, exiles, and every other hardship. In one word he runs through a boundless ocean of dangers and, with that single word, shows us all the evils people encounter. Yet he defies them all! That is why he presents them as questions, as though it were beyond dispute that nothing could shake someone so loved, who had received so much providential care. Then, so that this might not seem as though he had lost all sense of proportion, he also brings in the Prophet, who declared this long ago, and says, Ver. 36. “For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are considered sheep for slaughter.” (Ps. xliv. 22.) That is, we are exposed to everyone to be mistreated by them. Yet in the face of so many great dangers and these recent horrors, the purpose of our struggles offers enough comfort—or rather, not just enough, but far more. For we do not suffer for people or for any other thing belonging to this life, but for the King of the universe, he says. But this is not the only crown, for he surrounds them with another as well, one with many different aspects. Since they were human and could not undergo countless deaths, he shows that even so their prize is no smaller. For even if nature has appointed us to die only once, God has granted us, through our choice, to undergo this every day if we are willing. Clearly, then, we will depart with as many crowns as the days we have lived—or rather, with many more. For it is possible to die not just once or twice in a day, but many times. Someone who is always ready for this continually receives a full reward. This is what the Psalmist (Προφήτης) suggests when he says, “all day.” This is also why the Apostle brought him before them: to stir them all the more. For if, he means, those under the old dispensation, whose reward was the land and the other things that end with this life, cared so little for this present life and its trials and dangers, what forgiveness could we find if, after being promised Heaven, the Kingdom above, and its indescribable blessings, we act so feebly that we do not even reach their level? He does not actually say this, but leaves it to his hearers' consciences and is content with the quotation alone. He also shows that their bodies become a sacrifice, and that we must not be disturbed or troubled because God has arranged things this way. He encourages them in other ways too. To prevent anyone from saying that he is merely philosophizing here without any experience of reality, he adds, “we are considered sheep for slaughter,” meaning the Apostles' daily deaths. You see his courage and goodness. For just as sheep do not resist when slaughtered, he means, neither do we. But because the weakness of the human mind, even after such great things, still feared the multitude of trials, see how he again stirs his hearer and fills him with a lofty, triumphant spirit by saying, Ver. 37. “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” For this is what is truly wonderful: not merely that we conquer, but that we do so through the very things intended as plots against us. And we are not merely conquerors, but “more than conquerors”—that is, we conquer easily, without effort or hard work. For without undergoing the actual events, simply by setting our minds right, we raise our trophies over our enemies. And with good reason, for God struggles alongside us. So do not doubt that, although beaten, we defeat those who beat us; although driven out, we overcome our persecutors; although dying, we put the living to flight. For when you consider God's power and love, nothing prevents these wonderful, extraordinary things from happening, or this most beneficial victory from shining upon us. For they did not merely conquer: they conquered in a wonderful way, so that people could learn that those plotting against them were at war not with human beings but with that invincible Might. Look at the Jews, then, with these men among them, completely at a loss and saying, “What are we to do to these men?” (Acts iv. 16.) It is indeed amazing that, although they had seized them, brought them under the jurisdiction of their courts, imprisoned them, and beaten them, they were still at a loss and bewildered, because they were being defeated through the very things by which they expected to conquer. Neither kings nor peoples, nor ranks of demons, nor the devil himself could defeat them. Instead, all were overwhelmingly defeated, finding that everything they planned against them turned to their advantage. That is why he says, “we are more than conquerors.” For this was a new way of winning: people prevailed through their adversaries, were never defeated, and went into these struggles as though they held the outcome in their own hands. Ver. 38, 39. “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” These are great things he mentions here. The reason we do not fully grasp them is that we do not have such great love. Yet although they are great, he wanted to show that they were nothing beside the love with which God loved him. So he places his own love after God's, to avoid seeming to make great claims about himself. What he says is something like this: Why speak of present things and the evils that fall to us in this life? Even if someone were to speak to me of things to come and of powers—of things such as death and life, of powers such as angels and archangels and all the higher orders of beings—even these would mean little to me compared with the love of Christ. For even if someone threatened me with that future death that has no death, to separate me from Christ, I would not agree; nor would I agree if he promised me life without end. Why mention earthly kings and consuls, or this person or that? If you speak to me of angels, all the powers above, everything that exists, or everything that is to come, they are all small to me—things on earth, in heaven, under the earth, and above heaven—compared with this attraction. Then, as though these were not enough to convey his intense desire, he imagines still other things of equal greatness and says, “nor any other creation.” What he means is roughly this: Even if there were another creation as great as the visible creation and as great as the invisible creation, none of them could separate me from that love. He does not say this because the Angels or the other Powers attempt it—far from it—but because he wants to show as fully as possible his attraction to Christ. For he loved Christ not for the things belonging to Christ; rather, he loved those things for His sake. He looked to Him alone and feared only one thing: falling away from his love for Him. For this was in itself more dreadful than hell, just as remaining in that love was more desirable than the Kingdom. What, then, should we now deserve, when he places no value even on the things in Heaven compared with his longing for Christ, while we value things of mud and clay more than Christ? Out of longing for Him, he would accept falling into hell and being banished from the Kingdom if that choice were put to him; yet we cannot even rise above this present life. Are we worthy even to touch his shoes, when we fall so far short of his greatness of soul? For Christ's sake he thinks nothing even of a kingdom, while we think little of Christ Himself but place great value on the things belonging to Him. If only it were things belonging to Him! But as things stand, it is not even that. With a Kingdom offered to us, we leave it alone and spend all our days chasing shadows and dreams. Yet God, in His love for humanity and His extraordinary gentleness, has acted like an affectionate father whose son has become unwilling to stay with him all the time, and who finds another way to bring this about. Since we do not have the right desire for Him, He keeps setting various other things before us to hold us close to Himself. Yet even then we do not stay with Him, but keep darting away to childish playthings. Paul is different. Like a noble-hearted child who is open with his father and devoted to him, he seeks only the Father's presence and places little value on other things—or rather, he goes far beyond a child. For he does not value the Father and the things belonging to Him equally. When he looks to the Father, he counts those things as nothing and would rather be disciplined and beaten, as long as he could be with Him, than live comfortably apart from Him. Let all of us shudder, then, who cannot even rise above money for Christ's sake—or rather, who cannot rise above it for our own sakes. For Paul alone truly suffered everything for Christ's sake, not for the Kingdom or his own honor, but because of his love for Him. As for us, neither Christ nor the things belonging to Christ draw us away from the things of this life. Like serpents, snakes, or pigs—or even all of them at once—we keep dragging ourselves through the mud. How are we better than those beasts, when, with so many great examples before us, we still keep bending down and cannot bring ourselves to look up to Heaven even for a moment? Yet God gave up even His Son. But you will not even share your bread with Him Who was given up for you, Who was killed for you. The Father did not spare Him for your sake, even though He was His own Son, but you do not even look at Him when He is wasting away with hunger, although you would only be spending what belongs to Him, and spending it for your own good! What could be worse than breaking the law like this? He was given up for you, He was killed for you, He goes about hungry for you; you are asked to give from what belongs to Him, so that you yourself may gain, and still you do not give! Aren't these people more unfeeling than any stone, when they persist in this devilish cruelty despite such powerful appeals? For He was not satisfied even with death and the Cross alone, but also accepted becoming poor, a stranger, a beggar, naked, thrown into prison, and sick, so that at least in this way He might draw you away from these things. If you will not repay Me, He says, for having suffered for you, have mercy on Me because of My poverty. And if you are unwilling to pity Me for My poverty, let My sickness move you and My imprisonment soften you. If even these things do not make you charitable, grant My request because it is so easy. For I am not asking for an expensive gift, but bread, lodging, and comforting words. But if even after this you remain unmoved, change for the sake of the Kingdom, for the rewards I have promised. Do you have no regard even for these? Still, let your very human nature soften you when you see Me naked, and remember how I was naked on the Cross for you; or, if not that, how I am now naked in the poor. I was bound for you then; indeed, I am still bound for you, so that either the former reason or the latter might move you to show some pity. I fasted for you; again, I am hungry for you. I was thirsty as I hung on the Cross; I am thirsty in the poor as well, so that through both the former and the latter I may draw you to Myself and make you charitable for your own salvation. So although you owe Me repayment for countless blessings, I do not demand it from you as from a debtor. Instead, I crown you as someone doing Me a favor, and give you a kingdom for these small things. For I do not even say, End My poverty or make Me rich, although I became poor for you. I still ask only for bread, clothing, and a little relief from My hunger. And if I am thrown into prison, I do not insist that you loosen My chains and set Me free. I ask only one thing: that you visit Me, Who was (or am) bound for you. That will be enough of a favor to Me, and for this alone I will give you Heaven. Yet I delivered you from the most painful chains, while for Me it is quite enough if you will only visit Me in prison. I can indeed crown you even without all this, but I want to be in your debt, so that the crown may give you some confidence. This is why, although I can support Myself, I go about begging, stand beside your door, and stretch out My hand: I want you to support Me. For I love you intensely and so desire to eat at your table, as people do with those they love. And I glory (John xv. 8) in this. When the whole world is watching, I will proclaim you publicly and, in everyone's hearing, present you as My supporter. Yet when someone supports us, we feel ashamed and cover our faces. But because He loves us intensely, even if we remain silent, He will then tell what we did with great praise. He is not ashamed to say that when He Himself was naked, we clothed Him, and when He was hungry, we fed Him. Let us take all these things to heart and not be content merely to praise them, but actually do what I have been speaking about. What good are these rounds of applause and shouts? I ask only one thing of you: that you show these things in real action, by obeying through what you do. This is my praise, this is your gain, this makes me shine more brightly than a crown. When you leave the Church, then, this is the crown you should make for me and for yourselves through the hands of the poor, so that in this present life we may be sustained by a good hope, and after we depart to the life to come, we may attain those countless good things. May we all attain them by the grace and love for humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, with Whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, and honor, now and always, forever and ever. Amen.