Homilies on the Statues, Homily 8

You recently heard how all Scripture brings consolation and comfort, even when it is a historical narrative. For example, “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth,” was a historical statement; but our discussion showed that this sentence was full of comfort. For example, God set a twofold table for us by spreading out the sea and the land together; by lighting the two lights above, the sun and moon; and by establishing the two periods of their course, day and night, one for work and the other for rest. For night benefits us no less than day. As I said about trees, those that bear no fruit rival fruit-bearing trees in usefulness, since they spare us from having to use trees that provide pleasant food for building. Wild and untamed animals also serve our needs no less than tame animals: through our fear of them, they drive us together into cities, make us more cautious, and bind us to one another; they exercise some people's strength and free others from their illnesses, for doctors prepare many medicines from them; and they remind us of our ancient sin. For when I hear it said, “All the wild beasts of the earth will live in fear and dread of you,” and then see that this honor was later diminished, I am reminded of sin, which has dispelled their fear of us and undermined our authority. In this way I become a better and wiser man as I learn the harm sin has done us. So, just as I said that these things and others like them, which God their Maker knows about, contribute greatly to our present life, I now also say that night brings its benefits no less than day, providing rest from work and a remedy for disease. Often doctors, despite their many efforts and the endless variety of remedies they prepare, cannot relieve someone suffering from illness. But sleep comes to him on its own, completely removes the disease, and spares the doctors an immense amount of trouble. Again, night is a remedy not only for bodily exhaustion but also for illnesses of the mind, giving rest to anguished souls. Often someone has lost a son, and countless comforters have been unable to draw him away from tears and groans. But when night approaches, overcome by the tyrannical power of sleep, he closes his eyes in slumber and finds some small relief from the miseries of the day. 2. And now, I ask you, let us move on to the subject that prompted these observations. For I know very well that you are all eagerly awaiting this discussion, and that each of you is in distress until he learns why this Book was not given from the beginning. But even now I do not think the time is right to discuss this subject. Why? Because our week is nearly over, and I am afraid to begin a subject whose explanation I would soon have to cut short. For the subject needs several consecutive days and a sustained effort of memory, so we must postpone it again. But do not take this badly! We will certainly repay our debt to you with interest, for this is best both for you and for us who must repay it. Meanwhile, let us now discuss the subject we left out yesterday. What did we leave out yesterday? “God was walking,” it says, “in Paradise in the cool of the day.” What, I ask, does this mean? “God was walking!” God was not walking, for how could He do this when He is present everywhere and fills all things? But He gave Adam this impression so that he might regain his composure and not be careless; so that, by fleeing and hiding, he might offer in advance some part of his defense, even before any words had been spoken. For just as people about to be brought into court to face charges for their crimes appear before their judges looking filthy, grimy, sad, and subdued, hoping that their appearance will move them to loving-kindness, mercy, and forgiveness, so it happened with Adam. For he needed to be brought before this Tribunal in a subdued state. So God dealt with him beforehand and humbled him. He perceived that someone was walking there; but what made him suppose that it was God? This is how people who have committed sin usually behave. They suspect everything; they tremble at shadows; they are terrified by every sound; and they imagine that everyone is approaching them with hostile intentions. So guilty people often see others running on some unrelated business and suppose they are coming after them. And when others are talking together about an entirely different subject, those conscious of sin suppose they are talking about them. 3. For sin is like this: it betrays a person even when no one finds fault; it condemns even when no one accuses; it makes the sinner timid, someone who trembles at a sound, while righteousness has the opposite effect. Listen to how Scripture describes the cowardice of the one and the boldness of the other. “The wicked flee when no one pursues.” How does he flee when no one pursues? He has something within him driving him on—an accuser in his conscience—and he carries it everywhere. Just as he cannot flee from himself, he cannot escape the persecutor within. Wherever he goes, he is whipped and carries an incurable wound! But the righteous man is different. What is he like, then? Listen: “The righteous is bold as a lion!” Elijah was such a man. For example, he saw the king coming toward him, and when the king said, “Why are you leading Israel astray?” he answered, “I am not leading Israel astray, but you and your father's house are.” Truly, the just man is bold as a lion, for he stood up to the king just as a lion stands up to some worthless dog. Although one wore purple and the other a sheepskin, the sheepskin was the more worthy of reverence of the two garments. For that purple brought about the terrible famine, while this sheepskin brought deliverance from that disaster! It divided the Jordan! It made Elisha an Elijah twice over! Oh, how great is the power of the Saints! Not only their words, not only their bodies, but even their very clothes are always held in reverence by all creation. This man's sheepskin divided the Jordan! The sandals of the Three Children trampled down the fire! Elisha's word changed the waters so that they carried iron on their surface! Moses' rod divided the Red Sea and split the rock! Paul's clothes drove out diseases! Peter's shadow put death to flight! The ashes of the holy Martyrs drive away demons! This is why they act with authority in everything, just as Elijah did. For he paid no attention to the crown or the king's outward splendor. He looked instead at the soul clothed in rags, filthy, grimy, and in a more miserable condition than any criminal's. Seeing the king captive and enslaved to his passions, he despised his power. For he seemed to see a king on a stage, rather than a real one. What good was outward abundance when the poverty within was so great? And what harm could outward poverty do when there was such a rich treasure within? Blessed Paul was also such a lion. For when he entered the prison and merely raised his voice, he shook all its foundations; he gnawed the chains to pieces, using words instead of teeth. So it would be fitting to call such men not merely lions, but something greater than lions. For a lion is often captured after falling into a net, but the Saints become even more powerful when they are bound, just as this blessed man did then in prison: he freed the prisoners, shook the walls, bound the jailer, and conquered him with the word of godliness. The lion raises his voice and puts all the wild beasts to flight. The Saint raises his voice and drives away the demons on every side! The lion's weapons are a hairy mane, pointed claws, and sharp teeth. The righteous man's weapons are spiritual wisdom, self-control, patience, and contempt for all present things. Whoever has these weapons will be able to laugh at not only wicked men but even the hostile powers themselves. 4. So, man, devote yourself to living according to God, and no one will ever conquer you. Even if you are considered the most insignificant of men, you will be more powerful than all. On the other hand, if you are indifferent to virtue in your soul, even if you are the most powerful of men, everyone who attacks you will easily defeat you. The examples already given have proved this. But if you wish, I will also try to teach you through actual facts that the righteous cannot be conquered and that sinners are vulnerable. Listen, then, to how the prophet expresses both points. “The ungodly,” he says, “are not so, but are like the chaff that the wind scatters from the face of the earth.” For just as chaff lies exposed to gusts of wind and is easily lifted and swept along, so the sinner is driven about by every temptation. While he is at war with himself and carries that warfare around with him, what hope of safety does he have, betrayed in his own home and carrying with him a conscience that is a constant enemy? But the righteous man is different. What kind of man is he? Listen to the same prophet saying, “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion.” What does “like Mount Zion” mean? “He will never be shaken,” he says. For whatever siege engines you bring up, whatever arrows you shoot in your attempt to overthrow a mountain, you will never succeed. How could you? You will break all your siege engines to pieces and exhaust your own strength. The righteous man is like this too. Whatever blows he receives, he suffers no harm from them, but destroys the power of those who plot against him, not only men but demons too. You have often heard what siege engines the Devil brought up against Job. But he not only failed to overthrow that mountain; he retreated exhausted, his arrows broken to pieces and his siege engines made useless by that assault! 5. Knowing these things, let us pay attention to our lives. Let us not be preoccupied with possessions that perish, or glory that dies out, or the body that grows old, or beauty that fades, or pleasure that passes. Instead, let us devote all our care to the soul and provide for its well-being in every way. For not everyone finds it easy to cure a sick body, but everyone can easily cure a sick soul. A sick body needs medicines as well as money to heal, but healing for the soul is easy to obtain and costs nothing. The flesh is freed from troublesome wounds only with much effort, for very often the knife and bitter medicines must be used. But nothing like this is needed for the soul. Simply exercise your will and desire, and everything is accomplished. This is the work of God's providence. For bodily illness could cause no great harm (since even if we were not ill, death would come in any case and destroy and dissolve the body), but everything depends on the health of our souls. Since this is far more precious and necessary, He has made its treatment easy, without expense or pain. What excuse, then, or what forgiveness will we obtain if, when the body is sick and money must be spent on it, doctors called in, and much anguish endured, we care for it so much (even though that illness could do us no great harm), yet neglect the soul? And this when we are not required to pay money, trouble anyone else, or endure any suffering, but can bring about its complete recovery without any of these things, simply by choosing and willing it—and when we know for certain that if we fail to do this, we will face the most severe sentence, and punishments and penalties that allow no mercy! For tell me, if someone promised to teach you the art of healing in a short time, without money or effort, wouldn't you consider him a benefactor? Wouldn't you agree to do and endure everything that the person making these promises commanded? Look, you can now find, without effort, a medicine for wounds of the soul, rather than the body, and restore it to health without any suffering! Let us not be indifferent to this! For tell me, what pain is there in letting go of anger toward someone who has wronged you? The real pain is in remembering injuries and refusing to be reconciled! What effort does it take to pray and ask for a thousand good things from God, who is ready to give? What effort does it take to speak evil of no one? What difficulty is there in being freed from envy and ill will? What trouble is it to love your neighbor? What suffering is there in avoiding shameful words, abuse, and insults toward another? What strain is there in not swearing oaths? For I return again to this same warning. The burden of swearing oaths is very great indeed. Often, under the influence of anger or rage, we have sworn, perhaps, never to be reconciled to those who have wronged us. Yet afterward, when our rage has died down and our anger has subsided, we have wanted to be reconciled but have been held back by the obligation of these oaths. We have suffered the same anguish as if we were caught in a snare and held fast by bonds that cannot be broken. The Devil knows this and clearly understands that anger is a fire, that it is easily put out, and that once it is put out, reconciliation and love follow. Wanting this fire to keep burning, he often binds us with an oath, so that even if the anger ends, the continuing obligation of the oath may keep the fire alive within us. Then one of two things must happen: either we are reconciled and break our oath, or we refuse reconciliation and subject ourselves to the penalties for holding on to malice. 6. Knowing these things, then, let us avoid oaths, and let our mouths continually practice saying, “Believe me.” This will be a foundation for all godly behavior. For once the tongue has been trained to use this one expression, it feels ashamed and would blush to utter disgraceful and ugly words. And if habit ever draws it astray, it will be checked again because it has many accusers. For when someone hears a person who does not swear oaths using foul language, he will seize the opportunity to ridicule him and say mockingly, “You say ‘Believe me’ in everything and don't dare utter an oath, yet you disgrace your tongue with these shameful expressions?” So, under strong pressure from those around us, we will return to godly behavior, even against our will. “But what,” someone says, “if taking an oath is necessary?” When it means breaking the law, there is no such thing as necessity. “Is it possible, then,” someone replies, “never to swear an oath?” What are you saying? Has God commanded it, and do you dare ask whether His law can be kept? Indeed, it is impossible for His law not to be kept. I want to convince you from our present circumstances that, far from its being impossible to avoid swearing oaths, it is impossible to swear them. Look: the city's inhabitants were commanded to make a payment in gold that might have seemed beyond many people's means, yet most of the sum has been collected. You can hear the tax collectors saying, “Why are you delaying, man? Why do you put us off from day to day? You cannot avoid it. It is the Emperor's law, and it allows no delay.” What are you saying, I ask? The Emperor has commanded you to pay your money, and it is impossible not to pay it! God has commanded you to avoid oaths, and how can you say it is impossible to avoid them! 7. This is now the sixth day I have urged you to obey this commandment. From now on, I want to take my leave of you—I mean to stop discussing this subject—so that you will be on your guard. You will no longer have any excuse or receive any leniency. For even if nothing had been said about this, you should rightly have corrected it on your own, since it is not complicated or something that requires great preparation. But since you have benefited from so much warning and counsel, what excuse will you offer when you stand accused before that fearful tribunal and are required to give an account of this transgression? You cannot invent any excuse. You must either leave here corrected or, if you have not corrected yourselves, be punished and endure the most severe penalty! So think about all these things, and leave here deeply concerned about them. Urge one another to keep what has been said over so many days in your minds with the utmost vigilance. Then, while we are silent, you may teach, build up, and encourage one another, showing great improvement; and, having fulfilled all the other commandments, you may enjoy eternal crowns. May God grant that we may all obtain them through the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom glory be to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.