Homilies on the Statues, Homily 15

1. Today, and last Sabbath, we should have taken up the subject of fasting; and no one should suppose that what I said was ill-timed. During the days of the fast, advice and reminders about it are really unnecessary; the arrival of these days itself prompts even the most careless people to make the effort to fast. But many people, when they are about to begin the fast, stock up beforehand on gluttony and drunkenness, as though their stomachs were about to undergo a long siege. Then, when they are set free, they rush to the table with shameful greed, as though emerging from a long famine and a harsh prison, as if they were trying to undo the benefit of fasting through excessive gluttony. So it might have been necessary to discuss self-control both then and now. Nevertheless, we have said nothing of the kind recently, and we will not speak about it now. The fear of the approaching calamity is enough to sober everyone's soul, taking the place of the strongest warnings and advice. For who is so wretched and degraded as to get drunk in such a storm? Who is so unfeeling, when the city is in such turmoil and threatened with such a shipwreck, that he would not become restrained and watchful, and be reformed more thoroughly by this distress than by any other warning or advice? Words cannot accomplish as much as fear does. And we can now demonstrate this from what has happened. How many words did we spend before this, urging the indifferent and advising them to stay away from the theaters and the impurities of those places! Still they stayed away from none of them. Instead, on this day they always flocked to the unlawful spectacles of the dancers and held their diabolical gathering in opposition to the full congregation of God's Church. Their loud shouts, carried through the air from that place, rang out against the psalms we were singing here. But look: now, while we have kept silent and said nothing about it, they have closed their performance area themselves, and the Hippodrome has been left deserted! Before this, many of our own people used to hurry to them; now they have all fled from there to the church, and all join together in praising our God! 2. Do you see what benefit fear has brought? If fear were not a good thing, fathers would not have appointed guardians over their children, nor lawmakers magistrates over cities. What can be more terrible than hell? Yet nothing is more beneficial than the fear of it, for the fear of hell will bring us the crown of the kingdom. Where there is fear, there is no envy; where there is fear, the love of money causes no disturbance; where there is fear, anger is extinguished, evil desire is restrained, and every irrational passion is rooted out. Just as no robber, burglar, or other criminal dares to appear in a house where an armed soldier is always stationed, so, while fear occupies our minds, none of the base passions will readily attack us. They all flee and are banished, driven away in every direction by fear's absolute power. And this is not the only benefit we gain from fear; there is another, far greater one. It not only drives out our evil passions but also brings in every kind of virtue with great ease. Where fear exists, there is eagerness to give alms, intense prayer, warm and frequent tears, and groans filled with remorse. Nothing so completely swallows up sin and makes virtue grow and flourish as a constant state of dread. Therefore, someone who does not live in fear cannot act rightly; and, on the other hand, someone who lives in fear cannot go wrong. 3. So let us not grieve, beloved; let us not lose heart because of our present distress, but marvel at the carefully arranged plan of God's wisdom. Through the very means by which the devil hoped to overthrow our city, God has restored and corrected it. The devil stirred up certain lawless men to treat the Emperor's very statues with contempt, so that the city's very foundations might be torn down. But God used this same event to correct us more thoroughly, driving out all laziness through dread of the anger they expected. Through the very means the devil himself prepared, the outcome has been exactly the opposite of what he wanted. Our city is being purified every day. The lanes, intersections, and public gathering places are free of lewd and sensual songs. Wherever we turn, there are pleas, thanksgivings, and tears instead of coarse laughter; words of sound wisdom instead of obscene language. Our whole city has become a Church: the workshops are closed, and everyone spends the entire day in these common prayers, calling on God with one united voice and great earnestness. What preaching, what warning, what advice, what length of time has ever managed to accomplish these things? 4. Let us be thankful for this, then, and not be irritable or discontented. What we have said has made it clear that fear is a good thing. But listen to Solomon's wise lesson about it—Solomon, who was raised in every luxury and enjoyed great security. What does he say? “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of laughter.” What are you saying, I ask? Is it better to go where there is weeping, lamentation, groaning, anguish, and so much sadness than where there is dancing, cymbals, laughter, luxury, and abundant food and drink? Yes, indeed, he replies. Tell me, why is that? For what reason? Because the banquet breeds insolence, while the house of mourning breeds self-control. When someone goes to the banquet of a wealthier man, he no longer looks at his own house with the same pleasure. He comes back to his wife dissatisfied, eats at his own table dissatisfied, and is irritable with his servants, his children, and everyone in his house, because other people's wealth makes him feel his own poverty more sharply. Nor is this the only evil: he also often envies the man who invited him to the feast and returns home having gained no benefit at all. But nothing of the kind can be said about the house of mourning. On the contrary, much spiritual wisdom can be gained there, along with self-control. Once someone crosses the threshold of a house containing a corpse and sees the dead man lying speechless, and his wife tearing her hair, mutilating her cheeks, and wounding her arms, he is subdued. His face grows sad, and each of those sitting together can say only this to his neighbor: “We are nothing, and our wickedness is beyond words!” What words could contain more wisdom? We acknowledge the insignificance of our nature, condemn our own wickedness, and count present things as nothing. In different words, we express that very thought of Solomon's—that thought so marvelous and so full of Divine wisdom: “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” Whoever enters the house of mourning immediately weeps for the dead man, even if he is an enemy. Do you see how much better that house is than the other? There, even a friend envies; here, even an enemy weeps. This is what God requires of us above all: that we should not gloat over those who have caused us grief. We can gain not only these benefits but others just as great. Each person is also reminded of his own sins and the fearful Tribunal, of the great Account and the Judgment. Even if he has suffered a thousand wrongs from others and has reason for sadness at home, he will receive and take home with him the medicine for all these things. He reflects that he himself, and all those swollen with pride, will soon suffer the same fate, and that all present things, pleasant or painful, are temporary. So he returns home relieved of all sadness and envy, with a light and cheerful heart. From then on he will be humbler, gentler, kinder to everyone, and wiser, because fear of what is to come has entered his soul and burned up all the thorns. 6. Solomon understood all this when he said, “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of drinking.” One produces indifference, the other earnest concern; one produces contempt, the other fear—a fear that leads us to practice every virtue. If fear were not a good thing, Christ would not have spoken so often and at such length about punishment and the vengeance to come. Fear is nothing less than a wall, a defense, and an impregnable tower. We certainly need a strong defense, since ambushes surround us on every side. As this same Solomon again warns us, “Perceive that you are walking among snares, and that you are walking on the battlements of cities.” Oh, how many good things this saying contains! Yes, just as many as the earlier one! Let each of us write it on our minds and always carry it in our memories, and we will not easily commit sin. Let us write it there after first learning it with the greatest precision. For he does not say, “Observe” that you are walking among snares, but “Perceive!” And why did he say, “Discern?” He tells us that the snare is concealed. That is what makes it a snare: the destruction is not openly visible, and the harm hidden on every side is not apparent. That is why he says, “Perceive!” You need much reflection and careful examination. Just as boys hide traps under earth, the devil covers our sins with the pleasures of this life. 7. But “perceive”: examine carefully. If some opportunity for gain comes your way, do not look only at the gain. Inspect it carefully, in case death and sin are lurking somewhere within it; and if you perceive them, flee from it. Again, when some delight or pleasure happens to present itself, do not look only at the pleasure. Search closely, in case some wickedness lies wrapped in its depths; and if you discover it, hurry away! If anyone offers advice, flattery, coaxing, promises of honors, or anything else of the kind, let us investigate as closely as possible and look at the matter from every side. Otherwise, something harmful or dangerous may come upon us through this advice, honor, or attention, and we may rush into it hastily and unknowingly. If there were only one or two snares, taking precautions would be easy. But listen to how Solomon speaks when he wants to show how many there are: “Perceive that you are walking among snares.” He does not say that you are “walking past” snares, but “among” snares. There are pitfalls on either side, deceptions on either side. Someone goes into the marketplace and sees an enemy: the mere sight of him sets him on fire! He sees a friend being honored: he is envious! He sees a poor man: he despises him and pays him no attention! He sees a rich man: he envies him! He sees someone being wronged: he recoils in disgust! He sees someone doing wrong: he is indignant! He sees a beautiful woman and is caught! Do you see, beloved, how many snares there are? That is why it says, “Remember that you are walking among snares.” There are snares in the house, snares at the table, and snares in social dealings. Very often someone, trusting a friend, unknowingly lets slip a detail about matters that should never be repeated, and this creates such great danger that the whole family is ruined! 8. So let us examine these matters closely from every side. Often a wife, often children, often friends, often neighbors have proved a snare to the unwary! And why, someone asks, are there so many snares? So that we may not fly low, but seek the things above. Just as birds are not easily caught as long as they cut through the upper air, so you will not easily be captured by a snare or any other device as long as you look to the things above. The devil is a birdcatcher. So soar too high for his arrows. The man who has risen aloft will no longer admire anything in the affairs of this life. When we climb to the mountaintops, the city and its walls seem small, and the people seem to move along the ground like ants. In the same way, when you rise to the heights of spiritual wisdom, nothing on earth will be able to fascinate you. Everything—even riches, glory, honor, and anything else of that kind—will seem insignificant when you look at heavenly things. To Paul, all the glories of this present life seemed trivial and more useless than dead things. That is why he exclaimed, “The world is crucified to me.” That is also why he urged, “Set your heart on things above.” Above? Tell me, what sort of things do you mean? Where the sun is, where the moon is? No, he says. Where, then? Where the angels are? Where the archangels are? Where the cherubim are? Where the seraphim are? No, he says. Where, then? “Where Christ sits at the right hand of God.” 9. Let us obey, then, and continually consider this: just as wings are no help to a bird caught in a snare, though it beats them about uselessly and to no purpose, so your reasoning is no help to you once wicked lust has seized you firmly. Struggle as much as you may, you are caught! Birds are given wings so that they can avoid snares. Human beings are given the power to think so that they can avoid sin. What pardon or excuse will we have, then, when we become more senseless than animals? A bird that has once been caught in a snare and then escaped, or a deer that has fallen into a net but broken through it, is hard to catch again in the same way, because experience teaches each one caution. But we, though often caught in the same nets, fall into them again. Though honored with reason, we do not imitate the foresight and care of animals without reason! How often, then, do we suffer a thousand evils from looking at a woman: we return home, harbor an excessive desire, and suffer anguish for many days. Yet we still do not learn caution. We have barely healed one wound before we fall into the same trouble again and are caught in the same way. For the brief pleasure of a glance, we endure a kind of prolonged and constant torment. But if we learn to repeat this saying to ourselves continually, we will be protected from all these terrible evils. 10. A woman's beauty is the greatest snare. Or rather, not a woman's beauty, but undisciplined gazing! We should blame ourselves and our own carelessness, not the things we look at. Nor should we say, Let there be no women, but, Let there be no adultery. We should not say, Let there be no beauty, but, Let there be no sexual immorality. We should not say, Let there be no stomach, but, Let there be no gluttony; for the stomach does not cause gluttony—our negligence does. We should not say that all these evils exist because of eating and drinking. Their cause is our carelessness and insatiable appetite. The devil neither ate nor drank, yet he fell! Paul ate and drank and ascended to heaven! How many people I hear saying, Let there be no poverty! So let us silence those who complain about such things, for making such complaints is blasphemy. Let us say to them instead, Let there be no pettiness of spirit. Poverty brings countless good things into our lives, and without poverty riches would be useless. So we should blame neither one nor the other, for poverty and riches are both weapons that will serve virtue if we are willing. A courageous soldier displays his own excellence with whichever weapon he takes, while an unmanly and cowardly soldier is hampered by either. To see that this is true, remember, please, the case of Job. He was both rich and poor, handled both weapons equally well, and conquered with both. When he was rich, he said, “My door was open to everyone who came.” But when he became poor, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. As it seemed good to the Lord, so it has happened.” When he was rich, he showed great hospitality; when he was poor, great patience. And you—are you rich? Show great generosity! Have you become poor? Show great endurance and patience! Neither wealth nor poverty is evil in itself; either becomes evil according to the free choice of those who use it. So let us train ourselves not to hold such opinions about these things. Let us blame people's wicked choices rather than God's works. Riches cannot benefit the petty-minded, and poverty can never harm the greathearted. 11. So let us discern the snares and walk far away from them! Let us discern the cliffs and not even go near them! The foundation of our greatest safety will be to avoid not only sinful things but also things that seem morally indifferent yet can make us stumble into sin. For example, laughing and joking do not seem to be recognized sins, but they lead to recognized sin. Laughter often gives birth to foul speech, and foul speech to still fouler actions. Words and laughter often lead to verbal abuse and insults; verbal abuse and insults to blows and wounds; and blows and wounds to slaughter and murder. So if you want to act wisely for your own sake, avoid not only foul words and deeds, blows, wounds, and murders, but even ill-timed laughter and the very language of banter, since these things have proved to be the root of the evils that follow. That is why Paul says, “Let no foolish talk or joking come out of your mouth.” Although this seems a small thing in itself, it causes us much harm. Again, living in luxury does not seem to be an obvious and acknowledged crime, but it produces great evils in us: drunkenness, violence, extortion, and plunder. A person who lives extravagantly and lavishly, catering excessively to his stomach, is often driven to steal, seize other people's property, and resort to extortion and violence. So if you avoid luxurious living, you remove the foundation of extortion, plunder, drunkenness, and a thousand other evils, cutting away the root of wickedness at its very tip. That is why Paul says that “she who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives.” Again, going to the theaters, watching horse races, or playing dice does not seem to most people to be an acknowledged crime, but it brings an endless host of miseries into our lives. Spending time in theaters produces sexual immorality, lack of self-control, and every kind of impurity. The spectacle of horse racing also produces fights, verbal abuse, blows, insults, and lasting hatred. And a passion for playing dice has often caused blasphemies, injuries, anger, reproaches, and a thousand other things more terrible still. 12. Therefore, let us avoid not only sins but also things that seem morally indifferent yet gradually lead us into these misdeeds. Someone walking beside a cliff trembles even if he does not fall over, and very often that very trembling makes him lose his balance and fall to the bottom. In the same way, someone who does not stay far away from sins but walks close to them will live in fear and will often fall into them. Besides, someone who eagerly looks at the beauty of other women, even if he does not commit adultery, has entertained lust by doing so and has already become an adulterer according to Christ's declaration. Often this very lust carries him on to the actual sin. So let us keep far away from sins. Do you want to live with self-control? Avoid not only adultery but also the lustful glance! Do you want to stay far from foul words? Avoid not only foul words but also excessive laughter and every kind of lust. Do you want to keep far from committing murder? Avoid verbal abuse too. Do you want to stay away from drunkenness? Avoid luxury and lavish tables, and pull the vice up by its roots. 13. An uncontrolled tongue is a great snare and needs a strong bridle. That is why someone also says, “A man's own lips are a powerful snare to him, and he is snared by the words of his own mouth.” So let us control this member above all the others. Let us bridle it and drive from our mouths verbal abuse, insults, foul and slanderous language, and the evil habit of taking oaths. Once again, our discussion has brought us back to the same appeal. Yesterday I had agreed with you, my beloved, that I would say no more about this command, since enough has been said about it on all the preceding days. But what am I to do? I cannot bear to stop giving this advice until I see that you have put it into practice. Paul too, after saying to the Galatians, “From now on let no one trouble me,” seems to have met with them and spoken to them again. Such is a father's tender affection: although fathers say they will leave, they do not leave until they see that their sons have learned discipline. Have you heard what the prophet tells us today about oaths? “I lifted up my eyes, and I saw,” he says, “and there was a flying sickle, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide; and he said to me, What do you see? And I said, I see a flying sickle, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide. It will also enter the house,” he says, “of everyone who swears in my name, and will remain in its midst and tear down the stones and the wood.” What exactly does this mean? Why is vengeance seen pursuing those who swear in the form of a “sickle,” and a “flying sickle” at that? So that you can see that judgment is inevitable and punishment cannot be escaped. Someone might perhaps escape a flying sword, but no one can escape a sickle that falls on the neck and acts like a cord. And when wings are added too, what hope of safety remains? But why does it tear down the stones and wood of the swearer's house? So that the ruin may correct everyone. Since the earth must hide the swearer when he is dead, the very sight of his ruined house, now a heap of rubble, will warn everyone who passes by and sees it not to dare do the same, so that they do not suffer the same fate. It will be a lasting witness against the dead man's sin. A sword does not pierce as deeply as an oath! A saber does not destroy as much as the blow of an oath! Though the swearer seems alive, he is already dead and has received the fatal blow. A man who has been fitted with the noose is already dead from the moment he passes through the doors of the court, even before he has gone out of the city, reached the pit, and seen the executioner standing over him. So it is with the swearer. 14. Let us consider all this and not make our brothers swear oaths. What are you doing, man? At the sacred table you demand an oath, and where Christ lies killed, you kill your own brother. Robbers murder on the highways, but you kill the son in his mother's presence, committing a murder more accursed than Cain's own. He killed his brother in isolation and only with the death of this present life; you kill your brother in the middle of the church, and with the deathless death to come! Do you think the church was built so that we could swear? It was built so that we could pray! Is the Table placed there so that we can demand oaths? It is placed there so that we may release sins, not bind them. But if you heed nothing else, at least respect that book you hold out when you demand the oath. Open the Gospel you take in your hand when you tell someone to swear; and when you hear what Christ declares there about oaths, shudder and stop! What does He say there about oaths? “But I say to you, Do not swear at all.” And you turn the Law that forbids swearing into an oath? Oh, what contempt! Oh, what an outrage! You are doing exactly what someone would do if he asked the lawgiver who prohibits murder to become an accomplice to murder himself. I do not lament and weep as much when I hear that people are being killed on the highway as I groan, shed tears, and shudder when I see someone approach this Table, place his hands on it, touch the Gospels, and swear! Are you uncertain about money, I ask, and would you kill a soul? What do you gain that could equal the harm you do to your own soul and your neighbor's? If you believe the man is truthful, do not require him to take an oath; if you know he is a liar, do not force him to commit perjury. “But I want complete assurance,” someone says. Indeed, when you have not made him swear, then you will receive good and complete assurance. 15. As things stand, when you return home, your conscience will continually torment you as you reason with yourself: “Did I make him swear for nothing, then? Didn't he actually commit perjury? Have I become the cause of the sin?” But if you do not make him swear, you will find great comfort when you return home, thanking God and saying, “Blessed be God that I restrained myself and did not force him to swear needlessly and to no purpose. Away with gold! Let the money perish!” What especially gives us assurance is that we did not break the law or force someone else to do so. Consider for Whose sake you did not make anyone swear, and that will be enough to refresh and comfort you. Often, when a fight breaks out, we bear insults bravely and say to the person insulting us, “What am I to do with you? So-and-so, your protector, is stopping me; he holds my hands back.” And that is enough to comfort us. In the same way, when you are about to make someone swear, restrain yourself and stop. Say to the person about to swear, “What am I to do with you? God has forbidden me to make anyone take an oath. He is holding me back now.” This is enough to honor the Lawgiver, keep you safe, and keep the person ready to swear in fear. When he sees that we are so afraid to make others take oaths, he himself will be much more afraid to swear rashly. If you spoke this way, you would return home with great assurance. So listen to God in His Commandments, so that He Himself may listen to you in your prayers! These words will be written in heaven, will stand beside you on the Day of Judgment, and will clear away many sins. 16. Let us consider this not only in regard to an oath but in everything. When we are about to do something good for God's sake and find that it brings a loss, let us look not merely at the loss involved but at the gain we will reap by doing it for God. For example, has someone insulted you? Bear it nobly! You will do so if you think not merely of the insult but of the dignity of Him who commands you to bear it, and bear it humbly. Have you given alms? Think not of the expense but of the fruit that grows from it. Have you been fined? Give thanks, and consider not only the pain resulting from the loss but also the gain that comes from thanksgiving. If we conduct ourselves this way, none of the grievous events that may happen to us will cause us pain. We will even gain from things that seem distressing, and loss will be sweeter and more desirable than wealth, sorrow than pleasure and joy, and insult than honor. Thus everything adverse will turn to our gain. Here we will enjoy great peace, and there we will attain the kingdom of heaven. May God grant that we may all be found worthy to obtain it, by the grace and loving kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom and with Whom, to the Father with the Holy Spirit, be glory, dominion, and honor, now and always, and forever and ever. Amen.