Homilies on Romans, Homily 21

“For as we have many members in one body, and all members do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and each of us is a member of the others.” Again he uses the same example he uses with the Corinthians, to calm the same passion. For this medicine is powerful, and this illustration is effective in curing the disease of arrogance. Why, he means, do you think so highly of yourself? Or why does someone else completely despise himself? Aren’t we all one body, both great and small? Since all of us together are only one, and members of one another, why do you separate yourself through your arrogance? Why do you shame your brother? For just as he is a member of you, you are also a member of him. This is why your claims to honor are so equal. For he has stated two things that could bring down their arrogant spirit: first, that we are members of one another, not only the small of the great, but also the great of the small; and second, that we are all one body. Or rather, there are three points, since he shows that the gift came from grace. “Therefore do not be proud.” For God gave it to you; you did not take it, or even find it. So too, when he discusses the gifts, he does not say that one received more and another less, but what? Different gifts. For his words are, “having then gifts,” not lesser and greater, but “differing.” And what if you are not assigned the same function? The body is still the same. And beginning with gifts, he ends with a good deed (4 mss. pl.); so after mentioning prophecy, ministry, and the like, he concludes with mercy, diligence, and assistance. Since some were likely to be virtuous without having prophecy, he shows that this too is a gift, and a much greater one than the other (as he shows in the Epistle to the Corinthians). It is greater to the extent that one has a reward, while the other receives no recompense. For the latter is entirely a matter of gift and grace. So he says, Ver. 6. “Having then gifts differing according to the grace of God that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith.” Now that he has comforted them enough, he also wants to make them compete with one another and work harder, by showing that they themselves provide the grounds for receiving more or less. He does indeed say that it is given by God (as when he says, “according to the measure of faith God has assigned to each person,” and again, “according to the grace given to us”) (Rom. xii. 3), to humble the arrogant. But he also says that the initiative lies with them, to stir up the apathetic. He does this in the Epistle to the Corinthians too, to produce both these responses. For when he says, “earnestly desire the gifts” (1 Cor. xii. 31), he shows that they themselves were responsible for the differences in what was given. But when he says, “Now all these things are the work of one and the same Spirit, distributing to each person individually as He wills” (ib. 11), he proves that those who have received the gift should not be puffed up, using every means available to calm their disorder. He does the same here. And again, to awaken those who have grown drowsy, he says, “Whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith.” For although it is a grace, it is not poured out at random. Instead, it adjusts its measure to the recipients and lets as much flow as it finds the vessel of faith they bring can hold. Ver. 7. “Or ministry, let us devote ourselves to our ministry.” Here he names something broad in scope. For even the apostleship is called a ministry, and every spiritual work is a ministry. This is indeed the name of a particular office (viz. the diaconate); here, however, it is used in a general sense. “Or let the one who teaches focus on teaching.” See how little concern he shows for their order, putting the lesser things first and the greater afterward, again teaching us the same lesson: not to become conceited or puffed up. Ver. 8. “Or let the one who exhorts focus on exhortation.” This too is a kind of teaching. For it says, “If you have any word of exhortation, speak to the people.” (Acts xiii. 15.) Then, to show that pursuing virtue does little good unless it is done in the right way, he continues, “The one who gives” (μεταδιδοὺς, imparteth), “let him do it with simplicity.” For giving is not enough; we must also give generously, since this is what simplicity consistently means here. Even the virgins had oil, but because they did not have enough, they were shut out of everything. “The one who defends” (A.V. ruleth, προἵστάμενος,) “with diligence”; for merely undertaking someone’s defense is not enough unless he does it with diligence and zeal. “The one who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.” For showing mercy is not enough; we must do it generously and without resentment—or rather, not merely without resentment, but even with cheerfulness and joy, since not resenting something does not amount to rejoicing in it. He also insists very strongly on this same point when writing to the Corinthians. For to stir them to such generosity he said, “The one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” (2 Cor. ix. 6.) But to correct their attitude he added, “Not grudgingly or under compulsion.” (ib. 7.) For the person showing mercy should have both: freedom from resentment and pleasure in giving. And why do you lament giving alms? (Aristot. Eth. N. ii. 3 and iv. 1.) Why are you grieved at showing mercy, losing the benefit of the good deed? For if you are grieved, you are not showing mercy, but being cruel and inhuman. If you are grieved, how will you be able to lift up someone in sorrow? For even when you give joyfully, it is quite an achievement if he suspects nothing hurtful. Since nothing seems so disgraceful to people as receiving from others, unless you remove that suspicion with an exceptionally cheerful expression and show that you are receiving rather than giving, you will actually bring the recipient down instead of lifting him up. This is why he says, “The one who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.” For who looks sad when receiving a kingdom? Who keeps looking dejected when receiving forgiveness for his sins? So do not focus on the money you spend, but on the increase that comes from spending it. For if the person who sows rejoices, even though the return is uncertain, much more should the person who cultivates Heaven. In this way, even if you give only a little, you will be giving much; just as, however much you give with a sad face, you will have made your much into little. This is how the widow’s two small coins outweighed many talents: her spirit was generous. But how is it possible, someone may ask, for a person living in extreme poverty and pouring out everything they have to do this willingly? Ask the widow, and you will hear how and learn that it is not poverty that makes people ungenerous, but a person’s attitude that produces both this and its opposite. For it is possible to be generous (μεγαλόψυχον) even in poverty, and stingy in wealth. So in giving he looks for simplicity, in showing mercy for cheerfulness, and in protecting others for diligence. For he wants us to give every kind of help to those in need, not only with money, but with words, deeds, our personal presence, and in every other way. After mentioning the chief kind of assistance (προστασίαν), namely teaching and exhortation (for this kind is more necessary, since it nourishes the soul), he moves on to help through money and all other means. Then, to show how these things can be practiced rightly, he introduces their mother, love. Ver. 9. For he says, “Let love be without hypocrisy,” If you have this, you will not feel the loss of your money, the strain on your body, the effort of speaking, your trouble, or your service. Instead, you will bear everything courageously, whether you are to help your neighbor with your own physical effort, your money, your words, or anything else at all. Just as he asks not merely for giving, but giving with simplicity; not merely for assistance, but assistance with diligence; not merely for alms, but alms with cheerfulness, so too he requires not merely love, but love without hypocrisy. For this is what love is. And if a person has it, everything else follows. The person who shows mercy does so cheerfully (for he is giving to himself); the person who helps does so diligently, for he is helping himself; and the person who shares does so generously, for he is giving to himself. Then, since there is also love for evil things, such as the love of the self-indulgent, or of those united by money, plunder, revelry, and drinking clubs, he clears love of all these by saying, “Abhor (ἀποστυγοὕντες) what is evil.” He does not speak of refraining from it, but of hating it; and not merely hating it, but hating it intensely. For he often uses this word ἀπὸ to intensify an expression, as when he speaks of “eager expectation,” “eagerly awaiting,” and “(complete) redemption.” Since many people who do no evil still desire it, he therefore says, “Abhor.” For he wants to purify our thoughts and have us maintain a powerful hostility, hatred, and war against vice. For do not imagine, he means, that because I said, “Love one another,” I mean you should go so far as to cooperate with one another even in evil actions. The law I am laying down requires the very opposite. It would have you estranged not only from the action, but even from the inclination toward vice; and not merely estranged from that inclination, but also filled with intense aversion and hatred toward it. And he is not content with this alone, but also introduces the practice of virtue. “Cling to what is good.” He speaks not only of acting, but also of being inwardly attached. This is what the command to “cling to” it indicates. So God, when He joined the man to the woman, said, “For he will cling to his wife.” (Gen. ii. 24.) Then he gives reasons why we should love one another. Ver. 10. “Be tenderly affectionate toward one another with brotherly love.” You are brothers, he means, born from the same labor pains. For this reason alone you should love one another. Moses also said this to those quarreling in Egypt: “You are brothers; why do you wrong one another?” (Exod. ii. 13.) So when he speaks of outsiders, he says, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live peacefully with everyone.” (Rom. xii. 18.) But when he speaks of his own people, he says, “Be tenderly affectionate toward one another with brotherly love.” In the other case he requires them to refrain from quarreling, hatred, and aversion; but here he also requires love, and not merely love, but the love of relatives. For one’s “love” must not only “be without hypocrisy,” but also intense, warm, and glowing. For what is the point of loving sincerely if you do not love warmly? So he says, “tenderly affectionate toward one another,” that is, be friends, and warm friends too. Do not wait for someone else to love you; eagerly take it up yourself and be the first to begin. For then you will reap the reward for his love as well. Having given the reason why we should love one another, he also tells us how that affection can become unchanging. So he continues, “Outdo one another in showing honor.” For this is how affection develops and, once developed, endures. Nothing makes people friends so effectively as an earnest effort to surpass one’s neighbor in honoring him. For what he mentioned before comes from love, and love comes from honor, just as honor also comes from love. Then, so that we do more than show honor, he looks for something further when he says, Ver. 11. “Do not hold back in zeal.” For this too produces love: when along with honor we show a readiness to protect. Nothing makes people so loved as honor and thoughtful care. For love is not enough; this must be there too. Or rather, this too comes from love, just as love gains its warmth from it, and the two strengthen each other. For many people love in their minds but do not reach out a hand. This is why he uses every means to build up love. And how are we to become people who “do not hold back in zeal”? “Fervent in spirit.” See how in every instance he aims higher. He does not merely say “give,” but “generously”; not merely “rule,” but do it “with diligence”; not merely “show mercy,” but do it “with cheerfulness”; not merely “honor,” but “outdo one another”; not merely “love,” but do it “without hypocrisy”; not merely refrain from “evil” things, but “hate” them; not merely hold to “what is good,” but “cling” to it; not merely “love,” but do it “with brotherly affection”; not merely be zealous, but be so without holding back; not merely have the “Spirit,” but have it “fervent,” that is, so that you may be warm and awake. For if you have the things already mentioned, you will draw the Spirit to you. And if It remains with you, It will likewise equip you for those purposes. Everything will be easy through the Spirit and love, as you are set aglow from both sides. Don’t you see how no one can withstand bulls (Hannibal. ap. Liv. xxii. 16) carrying a flame on their backs? You too will be more than the devil can withstand if you take up both these flames. “Serving the Lord.” For it is possible to serve God in all these ways, since whatever you do to your brother passes on to your Master, and He will calculate your reward accordingly, as though He Himself had received the benefit. See how high he has raised the spirit of the person who does these things! Then, to show how the flame of the Spirit can be kindled, he says, Ver. 12. “Rejoicing in hope, patient in affliction, persevering in prayer.” For all these things fuel that fire. After requiring the spending of money, bodily effort, leadership, zeal, teaching, and other demanding activities, he again equips the wrestler with love and the Spirit through hope. For nothing makes the soul so courageous and ready to venture anything as a good hope. Then, even before the good things hoped for, he gives yet another reward. Since hope concerns things to come, he says, “patient in affliction.” Even before those future things, in this present life you will gain a great good (see on Rom. v. 4, p. 397) from affliction: becoming resilient and tested. After this he offers them another help when he says, “persevering in prayer.” So when love makes things easy, the Spirit helps, hope lightens the burden, affliction makes you tested and fit to bear everything nobly, and you have along with these another very great weapon, namely “prayer” and the help that comes from prayer, what hardship can remain in what he commands? Surely none. You see how in every way he gives the wrestler firm footing and shows that the commands are perfectly easy. Consider again how he makes the case for almsgiving—or rather, not almsgiving in general, but giving to the saints. For above, when he says, “the one who shows mercy, with cheerfulness,” he makes us generous toward everyone. Here, however, he is speaking on behalf of the faithful. And so he goes on to say, Ver. 13. “Sharing in the needs (χρείαις, al. μνείαις, memories) of the saints.” He does not say, Give to them, but “share in the needs of the saints,” to show that the givers receive more than they give, that this is an exchange, because it is a partnership. Do you contribute money? They contribute boldness before God to you. “Devoted to (Gr. pursuing) hospitality.” He does not say to practice it, but to be “devoted” to it, teaching us not to wait for those who will ask for it and watch for them to come to us, but to run to them and devote ourselves to finding them. This is what Lot did, and Abraham too. For Abraham spent the whole day at it, waiting for this noble prey, and when he saw it, he pounced on it, ran to meet them, bowed to the ground in worship, and said, “My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass by Your servant.” (Gen. xviii. 3.) He did not act as we do when we happen to see a stranger or a poor person: we frown and will not even lower ourselves to speak to them. And if, after thousands of appeals, we soften and tell a servant to give them a little something, we think we have done our whole duty. But he did not act this way. He took the position of a petitioner and a servant, though he did not know whom he was about to welcome under his roof. Yet we, who know clearly that it is Christ Whom we welcome, do not become gentle even for this reason. Abraham begs, pleads, and falls to his knees before them, while we insult those who come to us. He did everything himself, with his wife, while we do not do it even through our servants. And if you want to see the table he set before them, there too you will see great generosity. But that generosity came from no excess of wealth; it came from the riches of a willing heart. Yet how many rich people were there then? Still, none did anything of the kind. How many widows were there in Israel? Yet none showed hospitality to Elijah. Again, how many wealthy people were there in Elisha’s day? But the Shunammite woman alone gathered the fruits of hospitality, as Abraham also did. Besides his generosity and willingness, he especially deserves our admiration because, though he did not know who his visitors were, he still acted this way. So do not pry either, since you welcome the person for Christ’s sake. If you are always so exacting, you will often pass by a worthy person and lose the reward you would have received through him. Yet no fault is found with someone who welcomes a person who is not worthy; he is even rewarded. For “the one who welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward.” (Matt. x. 41.) But someone who passes by an admirable person because of this misplaced scrutiny will even suffer punishment. So do not busy yourself investigating people’s lives and actions. It is the height of stinginess to scrutinize a person’s entire life over one loaf of bread. For if this person is a murderer, a robber, or whatever else, does that make him seem undeserving of a loaf and a few coins to you? Yet your Master even makes the sun rise on him! And do you judge him unworthy of even one day’s food? I will put another case to you as well. Even if you were absolutely certain that he was burdened with countless sins, you would still have no excuse for depriving him of today’s food. For you are the servant of Him Who said, “You do not know what spirit you belong to.” (Luke ix. 55.) You are the servant of Him Who healed those who stoned Him, or rather, Who was crucified for them. And do not tell me that he killed someone else, for even if he were going to kill you yourself, you should still not neglect him when he is starving. For you are a disciple of Him Who desired the salvation even of those who crucified Him, Who said on the Cross itself, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke xxiii. 34.) You are the servant of Him Who healed the man who struck Him, Who on the Cross itself crowned the man who had mocked Him. And what can equal this? For both robbers mocked Him at first. Still, He opened Paradise to one of them. He mourns those who are about to kill Him, and is troubled and distressed at seeing the traitor, not because He was going to be crucified, but because the traitor was lost. He was troubled because He knew beforehand about the hanging and the punishment after the hanging. And though He knew his wickedness, He bore with him to the last hour and did not drive the traitor away, but even kissed him. Your Master kisses and receives with His lips the man who was on the very point of shedding His precious Blood. And do you consider the poor unworthy even of a loaf, and have no reverence for the Law Christ laid down? By this He shows that we should not turn away, not only from the poor, but even from those who would lead us to death. So do not tell me that someone has done you terrible harm. Just consider what Christ did so near the Cross itself, seeking through His kiss to reform the traitor who was about to betray Him. And see how powerfully He appeals to his sense of shame. For He says, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” (ib. 48.) Whom would He not have softened? Whom would these words not have moved to yield? What beast? What stone of unbreakable hardness? Yet they did not move that wretched man. So do not say, Someone murdered someone else, and that is why I turn away from him. For even if he were about to thrust a sword into you and drive his hand into your very neck, kiss that very right hand! For even Christ kissed the mouth that brought about His death! So you too must not hate, but mourn and pity the person plotting against you. Such a person deserves our pity and tears. For we are servants of Him Who kissed even the traitor (I will not stop dwelling on that continually), and spoke words to him gentler than the kiss. For He did not even say, You foul and wicked traitor, is this how you repay us for so great a benefit? What did He say instead? “Judas,” calling him by his own name, which sounds more like someone mourning and calling him back than someone angry with him. And He does not say, your Teacher, your Master, and Benefactor, but “the Son of Man.” For even if He were neither Teacher nor Master, are you betraying One Whose affection for you is so gentle and sincere that He even kisses you at the moment of betrayal, when a kiss itself was the signal for the betrayal? Blessed are You, O Lord! What examples of humility and patience You have given us! That is how He treated him. But did He not act the same way toward those who came against Him with clubs and swords? What could be gentler than the words He spoke to them? For although He had the power to destroy them all in an instant, He did nothing of the kind, but appealed to their sense of shame (ἐντρεπτικὥς), addressing them with the words, “Why have you come out as against a thief, with swords and clubs?” (Matt. xxvi. 55.) And after He had thrown them backward to the ground (John xviii. 6), since they remained unmoved, He next gave Himself up willingly. He patiently watched them put chains on His holy hands, although He had the power to throw everything into confusion at once and overthrow them. But even after this, do you treat the poor fiercely? Even if he were guilty of ten thousand sins, need and starvation would be enough to soften even the most hardened soul. Yet you stand there brutalized, imitating the rage of lions. But they never taste dead bodies. You, however, see him reduced by suffering to a very corpse (τεταριχευμένον lit. salter, or, a mummy), yet leap on him now that he is down, tear his body with your insults, pile storm upon storm, and make him crash against a rock as he flees to the harbor for refuge, causing a shipwreck more distressing than those at sea. And how will you say to God, Have mercy on me, and ask Him to forgive your sins, when you abuse someone who has done no wrong, hold him to account for his hunger and desperate need, and surpass all wild beasts in your cruelty? For they seize the food they need because their stomachs compel them. But you, when nothing drives or compels you, devour your brother, bite him, and tear him apart, if not with your teeth, then with words that bite more sharply. How then will you receive the sacred Host (προσφορὰν), when you have stained your tongue purple with human blood? How will you give the kiss of peace with a mouth gorged with war? Indeed, how will you enjoy even ordinary food when you are accumulating so much venom? You do not relieve his poverty; why make it even more crushing? You do not lift up the fallen; why knock him down as well? You do not remove his despair; why increase it? You give no money; why add insulting words? Haven’t you heard what punishment those who do not feed the poor suffer, what vengeance they are condemned to? For He says, “Depart into the fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matt. xxv. 41.) If those who do not feed them are condemned like this, what punishment will those suffer who not only fail to feed them but also insult them? What punishment will they undergo? What hell? To keep from kindling such great evils against ourselves, let us correct this evil habit too while we have the power, and put a bridle on our tongues. Let us be so far from insulting them that we even invite them, both through words and actions, so that by storing up much mercy for ourselves we may obtain the blessings promised us. May God grant that we may all attain them through grace and love for humanity, etc.