the spiritual gains, and to believe that any time is suitable for such commerce. Rightly, therefore, did the blessed one write, "For all things work together for good to them that love God." Keeping this sentiment, I beg, well-carved A in our minds, let us never be angry if, while living in this life, we fall into any misfortunes, whether into calamities or bodily sicknesses or other troublesome things. Instead, let us show great moderation of soul and philosophy, resisting every temptation, knowing that if we are vigilant, we can from all sides derive profit, and even more so from temptations than from comfort. Let us never be discouraged, thinking what a gain is patience, nor let us look with hostility upon those who bring temptations upon us. 156 For even if they do so to fulfill their own purpose, yet the common Master permits it, because He wishes us in this way to engage in this spiritual commerce and to receive the reward of patience. If, therefore, we can endure what is brought upon us with thanksgiving, we will blot out no small part of our sins. For if the Master permitted this treasure and teacher of the world to be exposed to dangers every day, not because He despised His athlete, but because He was preparing a longer stadium for his virtue so as to render him more brilliant crowns, what shall we say, who abound in countless sins and therefore frequently fall into temptations, that by enduring them we might at least obtain some small portion of mercy B and in that fearful day enjoy those ineffable good things? Considering this within ourselves, let us resist all things steadily and patiently, that we may receive from the kind Master the reward of endurance and be able to diminish the multitude of our sins and attain to eternal goods, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, and honor, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
WARNING ON THE HOMILY ON THE TEXT, IF THINE ENEMY HUNGER, FEED HIM
Although we have nothing concerning the year in which Chrysostom delivered this homily, from the things that are said in number 4 of this discourse concerning the imperial court and the imperial military guard, it is clear that it was delivered in Constantinople; and indeed, as is narrated in number 2, in the summer, when the heat caused a great crowd to gather; a cause which the Constantinopolitans alleged when Chrysostom complained that the church was not being frequented and that many were absent from his sermons, whom Chrysostom brilliantly refutes.AGAINST THOSE WHO DID NOT COME TO THE GATHERING, AND ON THAT APOSTOLIC PHRASE, "IF THINE ENEMY HUNGER, FEED HIM," AND ON THE REMEMBRANCE OF ENMITIES.
157 1. It seems that we have profited nothing by having delivered a long speech recently to exhort your zeal for coming to the gatherings. The church is again stripped of her children. I am therefore compelled to appear again burdensome and severe, both by reproving those present and by rebuking those who have absented themselves; the former because they have not cast off their sloth, and you because you do not care for the salvation of your brethren. C I am compelled to seem burdensome and severe—not for my own sake nor for my own possessions' sake, but for your sake and for the sake of your salvation, than which nothing is more precious to me. Let him who wishes be annoyed; let him call me importunate and shameless; I, however, shall never cease to provide annoyance for this cause, for nothing can be more profitable to me than this shamelessness. Perhaps, perhaps, if not because of anything else, at least because of this you will be ashamed, so that you may not always be annoyed for the same reason, and you will take up the care to help your brethren. For what do your praises profit me, when I do not see you making progress in virtue? Or what harm comes to me from the silence of the hearers, when I see your piety being increased? The praise of the speaker, you see, is not applause, but the zeal and diligence of the hearers in piety; not the tumult excited at the time the discourse is heard, but the zeal and diligence which is displayed at all times. Applause issues at the same time from D the mouth of the speaker. Perhaps, indeed, perhaps, even if nothing else, this at least, being ashamed that I am not constantly being crowded by the same ones, you will take up the care of your brethren. For what do your praises of me matter when I do not see you making progress in virtue? Or what harm is it to me from the silence of those who listen, when I see that you are being corrected? For the praise of the one speaking is not the first thing, nor is it the zeal of the hearers—it is not noise; for the time of listening, it is the zeal and diligence of the time that passes. The applause goes forth at the same time from the mouth [of the speaker], and the air being dispersed is destroyed. But to make the hearers better, ageless and immortal, brings the reward both to the one speaking and to those who obey.
The praise of your voices here makes the speaker radiant, but the reverence of your souls provides much boldness before the judgment seat of Christ for the one who has taught. Therefore, if anyone loves those who speak, let him not care for the applause, but for the benefit of the hearers. It is no small evil to neglect one’s brothers, but it is an extreme punishment and an inevitable penalty; and the man who hid his talent made this clear. For he was not accused because of his own life; for he did not become evil regarding the deposit—for he gave it back whole—but nonetheless he became evil regarding the labor of the deposit. For he did not double what was entrusted: for this reason he was punished. Hence it is clear that even if we are zealous and well-ordered, even if we have great desire for the hearing of the divine Scriptures, it is not sufficient for our salvation. For one must double the deposit, and it becomes double when, along with our own salvation, we also take care of the provision of others. For to him He said, "See, you have what is yours"—but this did not suffice for him as an excuse. "For you ought," He says, "to have deposited what was given with the bankers" (Matt. 25:27). And notice with me how light are the commands of the Master. For men make those who loan money responsible for the collection from those who hold it. "You have deposited it; you," he says, "collect it; I have no account with the one who received it." But God is not like this, but He commands one only to deposit, and no longer makes us responsible for the collection. For the one speaking is master of advising, not of persuading. For this reason, He says, I make you responsible for the deposit only, but no longer for the collection. What could be lighter than this? And yet the servant called this master, who is so gentle and philanthropic, harsh. For such are the habits of ungrateful and slothful servants; they always shift the causes of their own sins onto their masters. For this reason, being tortured and bound, that man was led off into the outer darkness. In order that we might not suffer this, let us deposit the teaching on our brothers, whether they are persuaded or whether they are not. For if they are persuaded, they will benefit both themselves and us; but if they are not persuaded, they draw upon themselves an inevitable punishment, while they could not harm us in the slightest. For we have done our part by advising; if they are not persuaded, no harm could come to us from this. For the charge is not the failure to persuade, but the failure to advise; but after the exhortation and the advice, the persistent and the continuous, the account before God will no longer be for us, but for them. I wished, therefore, to know clearly that you continue to exhort them, and if they remain forever in their sloth, I would never have troubled you; but now I fear that because of your indifference and neglect they might remain uncorrected. For it is impossible for a man who is constantly enjoying exhortation and teaching not to become better and more zealous. And popular is the proverb which I am about to say, A but yet it establishes this very thing. For it says, Constant dripping of water hollows out a rock. And yet what is softer than water? And what is harder than a rock? But yet the persistence overcomes nature. And if persistence overcomes nature, much more could it vanquish free will. Christianity is not a game, beloved, nor is it a secondary matter. We say these things continuously, and we do nothing more.
2. How do you think I am in pain, remembering that in festivals, vast seas of crowds resemble the gatherings, but now not even the thousandth part of that crowd is gathered here? Where now are those who bother us during the holidays? I seek those, and for those I mourn, B thinking how great a multitude of those being saved is perishing, how great a loss of brothers I endure, how [the matter of] salvation is reduced to a few, and the greater part of the body of the Church resembles a dead and motionless body. "And what is that to us?" he says. To you, most of all, the ones who do not care, the ones who do not exhort and advise, to you who do not impose necessity, and [who do not] pull them with force, and lead them away from their great sloth. For C that one must not be useful to himself only, but also to many, Christ made clear, having called us salt and leaven and light; and these are useful and profitable to others. For the lamp does not shine for itself, but for those sitting in darkness; and you are a lamp, not that you might enjoy the light alone, but that you might lead back that one who has wandered. For what is the benefit of a lamp when it does not shine for the one sitting in darkness? And what is the benefit of a Christian when he gains no one nor leads them back to virtue? Again, the salt does not bind only itself, but it also constricts the rotting parts of bodies, and does not allow them to flow away and perish. So also you, since God has made you spiritual salt, D constrict and bind the rotting members, that is, the slothful and base brothers, and having freed them from sloth, as from some putrefaction, unite them to the remaining body of the Church. For this reason He also called you leaven; for even the leaven does not leaven itself, but the remaining mass, the great and vast amount, [is leavened] by the small and slight [amount]. So also you: even if you are few in number, but many and powerful in faith and in the zeal according to God, become such. Just as, therefore, the leaven is not weak because of its smallness, but prevails because of the heat inherent in it and the power of its quality; so also you will be able to lead back many more to the same zeal as you, if you wish. But if they put forward the heat—for I also hear people saying that, "The sultriness is intense now, the heat is unbearable—"
to be hemmed in and pressed in the crowd, sweating and dripping from every side, burdened by the heat, and reduced to straits: I am ashamed of them, believe me; for these are womanly excuses, or rather, even for them these pretexts would not suffice to obtain pardon, as their bodies are softer and their nature weaker. Although it appears shameful to melt away such an excuse with a reply, it is nevertheless necessary. For if they are not ashamed to put forward such excuses, we ought much more not to be ashamed to refute them. B What then shall we oppose to those who put these forward? I wish to refresh the memory of the three children, who, when they were in the furnace and in the midst of the flames, and saw themselves beset on all sides by fires that were rushing into their mouths, their eyes, and their very breath, did not cease to sing that sacred and mystical hymn to God with the creatures, but more eagerly than if they had been lingering in a meadow, standing there in the middle of the fire, they offered up praises to the common Master of all: and with these three children, [I wish to refresh your memory of] the lions in Babylon, of Daniel, and of the den (Dan. 3); and not only of this one, but also of the other den, and of the prophet, and of the mire in which Jeremiah was suffocated up to his neck, so that they may remember these, I beseech you (Jerem. 38). And I wish to introduce to those who put forward the heat, Paul and Silas C bound there with fetters, full of the marks of stripes, with their bodies torn by the multitude of wounds and blows, at midnight praising God and celebrating those holy vigils. How is it not absurd that those saints, while in the furnace, and fire, and den, and among wild beasts, and in the mire, and prison, and fetters, and stripes, and dungeons, and while undergoing intolerable evils, blamed none of these things, but with much intensity of purpose and constant ardor gave themselves to prayers and holy hymns; while we, who have endured not even a small, not to mention a great one of the sufferings enumerated, should, on account of a little heat and sultriness, and sweat, abandon the care of our very own salvation, and leaving the assemblies, wander outside, and mix ourselves with gatherings by which everything is tainted—where there is nothing that is not vicious and corrupt? Such a store of divine oracles, and you object the heat? The water D which I shall give him, says Christ, shall become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life (John 4:14): and again, He that believeth in me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water (John 7:38). Are you, I ask, when you have internal fountains and spiritual rivers, afraid of sensible heat? But in the marketplace, I ask, where there is such noise, so many straits, and such great heat, how is it that you do not put forward the sultriness and the heat of the sun? For you cannot, I think, say that it is possible to enjoy a fresher nature of the air there, while here all the heat we have collected rages; but rather the contrary, for here, where the ground is paved with stone slabs, and because of the rest of the construction of the holy house (since it rises to an immense height), the air is lighter and cooler; while there, the sun radiates from everywhere, and there are many straits, smoke, dust, and many other things which cause greater annoyance than these. From which it is understood that these inept excuses are to be attributed to the sloth and softness of a soul that has been stripped of the flame of the Holy Spirit.
γ. I am not speaking these things now so much to those people as to you, who do not draw them in, who do not rouse them from their sloth, and lead them to this salutary table. For servants, when they are about to fulfill a common service, call their fellow-servants; but you, by whom this spiritual duty is to be performed, allow your fellow-servants to be deprived of this gain. What if they themselves are unwilling, someone will say? Accomplish it by constant urging, that they may be willing; for if they see us pressing them, they will certainly be willing. But in truth these are pretenses and feigned excuses. For how many fathers are here who do not have their sons standing with them? Could you not have drawn your children here as well? From which it appears that the others also stay outside not only due to their own sloth, but also due to your neglect. But if not previously, now at least be stirred up, and let each one enter the church with his own member, and let father rouse son, and son his begetter, and husbands their wives, and wives their husbands, and master his servant, and brother his brother, and friend his friend, and urge them to frequent this gathering; nay, indeed, let us invite not only friends, but even our enemies to this common treasury of goods. If an enemy sees your care, he will surely put aside his hatred.
On the diligence of the Jews regarding the Sabbath. Secular matters succeed well if God is worshipped.
Say to him: Are you not ashamed, nor do you blush before the Jews, who observe the Sabbath with such diligence, and abstain from all work from the very evening? For if they see the sun on the day of Preparation veering toward the setting, they cancel their contracts and interrupt their purchases. And if someone, having bought something before evening, brings the payment coming in the evening, they do not suffer themselves to accept it, nor do they admit the money. And what do I say of the price of goods and contracts? Even if it were permitted to receive a treasure, they would prefer to lose that gain than to violate the law. If therefore the Jews, even though they observe the law unseasonably, are so accurate and diligent, and so studious in an observance which profits them nothing, but rather even harms them: you, who are now superior to the shadow, to whom it has been granted to see the Sun of Righteousness, who already belong to the citizenry of heaven, do you not show the same care and zeal as those who persistently hold to a vice unseasonably, you to whom the truth itself has been entrusted; but being called here for a small part of the day, you do not deign to spend even that on the hearing of the divine oracles? What pardon, I ask, could you possibly merit? What legitimate and just excuse could you bring? It is not possible, it is simply not possible that one who is so negligent and lazy should ever be held worthy of pardon, even if he puts forward the occupations of secular affairs a thousand times. You do not know that if you come here and worship God, and are a participant in this gathering, the affairs which are at hand are made easy and ready for you? Are you pressed by secular cares? For their sake, therefore, come here, so that through the attendance here, you may depart with security...
so that you may have Him as your ally, so that you may be invincible to the demons, being aided by the hand from above. B If you enjoy paternal prayers, if you participate in the common prayer, if you hear the divine oracles, if you draw to yourself the help of God, if you go forth thus fenced about with these arms, not even the devil himself will any longer be able to look you in the face, much less wicked men who make it their study to insult and slander. But if you go from your house to the forum, having been found naked of these weapons, you will be easily overcome by all who would insult you. For this reason many things, both in our public and our private affairs, befall us contrary to our judgment, because we have not first been diligent about spiritual matters and then about the things of life, but have reversed the order. For this reason, the sequence and correctness of affairs is reversed, and everything is full of much disturbance for us. How do you think I am pained and distressed when I consider that, when a festival and holy day is at hand, even if there is no one calling, the whole city runs together, but when the festival and holy day is gone, even if we spend the whole day rending ourselves and calling you, there is no one who pays attention? For having turned these things over in my mind many times, I have sighed bitterly and said to myself: What need is there of exhortation or counsel, when you do everything simply out of habit, and do not become more eager from our teaching? For when in festivals you have no need of exhortation from us, but when they have passed you derive no benefit from our teaching, do you not show our word to be superfluous, at least as far as it reaches you? It is not thus that the sluggish know; for if they had cast off their negligence, as we do, who every day have concern for your affairs! What do you gain so much from outward affairs that you do not cause damage to yourself? There is no gain to be had from another assembly or meeting as great as from the attendance here: even if you speak of a law court, or a council chamber, or the very imperial palaces. For we do not entrust to those who enter here the administration of nations and cities, nor the supervision of armies, but another C rule, even more venerable than the empire itself—or rather, it is not we who entrust it, but the grace of the Spirit. What, then, is the rule more venerable than the empire, which those who enter here receive? They are taught to master things that are absurd, to reign over evil desire, to rule over anger, to renounce envy, to be enslaved to vainglory. There is no king so venerable, who sits upon the royal throne and is encompassed by a diadem, as the man who brings his own right reason up onto the throne of the rule over the servile passions, and on the strength of that mastery over them, as if on some bright diadem, will set his head. For what profit is there, tell me, in purple and golden garments and a jeweled crown, when the soul is a captive of the passions? What gain is there from outward liberty, when the stronger part in us is enslaved shamefully and pitiably? For just as when a fever descends to the depths and burns up all that is within, there is no benefit from the surface of the body, if it suffers no such thing; so, when our soul is dragged down by the passions within, there is no benefit from outward rule, nor from the royal seat, when the mind is overthrown from the throne of the empire by the passions with much tyranny, and submits and trembles at their uprisings. That this may not happen, prophets and apostles everywhere run together, suppressing our passions, casting out all the beastliness of the irrationality within us, and entrusting to us a rule much more venerable than the empire. For this reason I said that those who deprive themselves of this care receive a wound in vital matters, enduring a loss the like of which they could receive from nowhere else; since they also gain profits by coming here, such as they could gain from nowhere else; just as also the law said: Thou shalt not appear before the Lord empty, that is, without sacrifices; if thou shouldst enter, do not enter. If, then, it is not proper to enter into the house of God without sacrifices, much more is it necessary to do so at assemblies with the brethren; for this sacrifice and offering is better than that one, when you enter having taken a soul with you. Do you not see the pigeons that have been trained, how, when they go out, they hunt others? Let us do this, too. For what excuse will there be, when the herd of irrational animals is able to hunt their own kind, that we, who have been honored with reason and such great wisdom, should overlook such a catch? I exhorted you in the previous discourse, saying: Let each of you go to the houses of your neighbors, wait for those who come out, seize them, and lead them back to the common mother; and imitate those who wait for the theater, who with all diligence await that unlawful spectacle. But no advantage has come to us from that exhortation. For this reason I say it again, and I will not cease saying it until I persuade you. Hearing is of no benefit if action does not accompany it. D Therefore it makes our punishment heavier, when we hear the same things continually and do none of the things that are said. And that the punishment is heavier, hear Christ saying: If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin (John 15:22); and the Apostle likewise: For not the hearers of the law shall be justified (Rom. 2:13). And to the hearers indeed he says these things; but wishing also to instruct the speaker, that there will be no extra profit for him from the teaching when he does not have a manner of life conjoined to the teaching, and a life consistent with the word, hear how also the Apostle addresses himself, and the
prophet. For the one says to the sinner: "But to the sinner God said: Why do you declare my statutes, and take up my covenant into your mouth? But you have hated discipline?" (Ps. XLIX, 16, 17) A The Apostle, however, when he inveighs again against these same people, who are magnificent in their own eyes because of their doctrine, speaks thus: "You are confident that you yourself are a guide of the blind, a light of them that are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants. You therefore that teach another, you teach not yourself?" (Rom. II, 19–21).
Let good works be added to the reading of Scripture. Since, therefore, it can be of no benefit to me who speak, that I make words, nor to you who listen, that you hear, unless there is obedience to what is said—nay, it condemns us the more—let us not exhibit zeal for mere hearing, but let us also observe in our works those things which are spoken. It is indeed good to give assiduous attention to the hearing of the sacred oracles; but even this good is rendered useless if it does not possess the connected benefit that is born of obedience. That you may not, therefore, have gathered here in vain, with all diligence—which I have often begged of you in my prayers, and which I shall not cease to demand—bring me brethren, exhort the erring, give counsel not by word only, but also by deed. B Greater is this doctrine, which is brought forth by habits and by conduct. Even if you say nothing, if only you go out from the assembly and show to men who did not attend the assembly the gain that you brought away with you—by your external appearance, by your look, by your voice, by your gait, and by the whole remaining modest composition of your body—it suffices for exhortation and counsel. For you ought to go out from here as if from sacred shrines, as if fallen from heaven, having become more modest, philosophizing, doing and saying all things moderately and temperately; and let the wife seeing her husband departing from the assembly, and the son his father, and the father his son, and the servant his master, and the friend his friend, and the enemy his enemy, all take a sense of the benefit which we have reported from this gathering; they will take it, if they notice you have become milder, more patient, more religious. Consider to what mysteries it has been given to you to participate, you who have been initiated; with whom you offer that mystical song; with whom you pronounce the thrice-holy hymn. Teach the profane that you have danced with the Seraphim, that you belong to the heavenly people, that you have been inscribed in the choir of angels, that you have conversed with the Master, that you have encountered Christ. If we compose ourselves in this way, there will be no need of speech toward those who were not present, but from our progress they will perceive their own loss, and will hasten to run, that they may enjoy the same benefits. C For when they see the beauty of your soul shining forth from these very senses, even if they are the most stupid of all, they will be inflamed with a longing for your exceptional beauty. For if the form of the body excites those who look upon it, the beauty of the soul can much more move the spectator and urge him on to a similar zeal. Let us therefore adorn our inner man, and let us remember outside those things which have been said here; for there the time requires that we be most mindful; and as an athlete, what he has learned in the wrestling school, exhibits the specimen of these things in the contests: so we also, what we hear here, ought to show in external affairs. When you have gone out, and the devil has beset you, either through anger, or through vain-glory, or through some other passion, mindful of that doctrine with which you have been imbued here, you may easily be able to escape the snares and bonds of the wicked one. Do you not see in the stadiums the trainers and masters of the wrestling school, who, when after a thousand contests they have received a vacation from wrestling by the benefit of age, sitting outside the stadium not far from the very dust, suggest by shouting to those who are inside and struggling, so that they may stretch out a hand, that they may pull a leg, that they may attack the back, and suggesting many other things of this kind—that if you do this or that, you will easily extend your adversary to the ground—in this way they benefit their disciples most greatly? You also look upon your trainer, the blessed Paul, who after countless contests, sitting now outside the stadium, that is, having departed from this life, suggests by shouting to us who are struggling, and cries out through his epistles, when he sees those caught by anger, by the memory of injuries, and oppressed by passions: If your enemy is hungry, feed him (Rom. XII, 20); if you do this or that, you will overcome your adversary. So he adds here also: For doing this, you shall heap coals of fire upon his head. But while I run through the law, a question occurs to us, which seems to be born from the thing itself, and supplies D to many a handle of reproach against Paul, which I have decided to bring into the midst for you today. What, therefore, is it that finally terrifies the minds of those who are unwilling to examine all things diligently? When Paul exhorted us to be recalled from anger, he says, and that they should be meek and modest toward their neighbors, he exasperated them all the more and inflamed them with wrath. For what he said, If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink, is an excellent command, and full of philosophy, and very useful both to the one acting and to the one suffering. But what follows afterward has much difficulty, and does not seem in the least to agree with the sentiment of the one who said the previous things. What then is that? That he says, But doing this, you shall heap coals of fire upon his head. For by these words he affects with injury both him who acts and him who suffers, since he burns the head of the latter, and places coals of fire upon it. For what so great a good happens, from the fact that he is fed and given drink, as the evil from the accumulation of coals? And so he who is affected by the benefit, he says, is affected by injury in this way, since he casts him into a greater punishment; while he who has conferred the benefit is harmed again in another way. For what gain can it be worth, that he deserves well of his enemies, when he does it for the hope of punishment? For he who feeds or gives drink to an enemy for this reason, that he may heap coals upon his head, is not benign and clement, but cruel and immitable, who through a small benefit inflicts an immense punishment. For what can be done more harsh than he who nourishes for this reason, that he may heap coals of fire upon the
A head of the one nourished? This, then, is the objection; but we must now supply the solution, so that by these very things which seem to seize upon the letters of the Law, you may see clearly the entire wisdom of the Lawgiver. What, then, is the solution? That great and noble man well understood this, that it is a grave and difficult thing to be reconciled to an enemy; grave and difficult, not according to its own nature, but according to our sloth. Yet he commanded not only to be reconciled, but even to nourish, which was much more grave than the former. For if some, merely seeing those who have offended them, become like wild beasts, how would they choose to nourish them when hungry? And why do I say "seeing"? If one merely remembers them, and is compelled to bring their name into the middle, he renews the wound of the mind for us, and makes the inflammation greater.
Paul, therefore, having understood all these things, and wishing to make this thing—which is difficult to be accomplished and grievous—easy and light, and to persuade one who could not even endure to look at his enemy to become [166] B ready for his benefit, placed the coals of fire, so that, incited by the hope of punishment, he might hasten to the benefit of the one who had offended him. And just as the fisherman covers the hook on all sides with bait, and offers it to the fish, so that it may hasten to the customary food, and through it be caught and held easily; so too does Paul, wishing to lead the one who has been wronged into the benefit of the one who has wronged him, not offer the hook of philosophy naked, but having covered it, as with a certain bait, with coals of fire, he calls the one who has been insulted by the hope of punishment to the benefit of the one who has offended him; and when he has come, he then holds him and does not allow him to flee, the very nature of the matter nailing him to the enemy; and he almost says to him: "Do you not wish, for the sake of piety, to nourish the one who has wronged you? Then, at least, for the sake of the hope of punishment, nourish him." For he knows that if he touches the benefit toward him, it becomes C henceforth a beginning and foundation of reconciliation for him. For no one would endure to have as an enemy the one who is constantly fed and given drink by him, even if at the beginning he does this in the hope of punishment. For time, as it goes on, relaxes also the tension of wrath. Just as, therefore, the fisherman, if he had offered the hunter naked, would not have drawn the fish, but now having covered it, he secretly lets the hook into the mouth of the approaching creature; so too Paul, if he had not set forth the expectation of punishment, would not have persuaded those who were wronged to touch the benefit of those who had offended them. Wishing, therefore, to move them, as they were leaping away, and vexed, and numb even at the very sight of their enemies, to persuade them to perform the greatest of benefits, he placed the coals of fire—not that he might cast those ones into inexorable punishment, but that, having persuaded the wronged to benefit their enemies in the expectation of punishment, he might, in time, persuade them also to release all their wrath toward them.
6. And thus he comforted the one who was wronged; but at the same time, how does he bind the one who has wronged D him to the one who was angered? First of all, by the trophy of the benefit; for no one is so miserable and insensible who, being fed and nourished, would not wish to become a slave and friend to the one who is doing these things for him; secondly, by the fear of punishment. For he seems to be directing his speech toward the one who is feeding him, saying: "For in doing this, you heap coals of fire upon his head;" but he is attacking the one who has offended him most, so that by the fear of this punishment he may not remain an enemy forever, but, knowing that being fed and given drink could harm him most greatly if he were to remain permanently in his hostility, he might dissolve his wrath. For thus, having quenched the coals of fire, he will be able to be saved. And so both the chastisement and the punishment draw the one who was wronged to the benefit of the one who offended him, and frighten and stir up the one who provoked him, and push him toward the reconciliation of the one who is feeding and giving him drink. He has therefore bound both to one another with a double bond—that of benefit and that of punishment. For the difficult thing is to begin and to find an entrance for reconciliation; but when this has been opened in any way whatsoever, all things following thereafter will be easy and light. For even if at the beginning the one who was offended nourishes the enemy in the hope of punishment, yet by the very act of nourishing, becoming a friend, he will be able to cast out the desire for punishment. For having become a friend, he would no longer nourish with such an expectation the one reconciled to him. Again, the one who provoked him, seeing that the one who was wronged is choosing to feed and give him drink, by this very fact, and by the fear of the punishment stored up for him, casts out all hostility—even if he were a thousand times iron-hearted, and cruel, and an adamant—both reverencing the kindness of the one who is feeding him, and fearing the punishment stored up for him if he were to remain an enemy after the nourishment.
For this reason, he did not stop the exhortation even there, but when he had emptied the wrath of each, then he also corrects their judgment, saying: "Do not be overcome by evil." For if you remain, he says, remembering wrong and taking vengeance, you seem to defeat the enemy, but you are overcome by evil—that is, by wrath; so, if you wish to be victorious, be reconciled, and do not retaliate. For this is the brilliant victory, when in the good—that is, in long-suffering—you overcome the evil, having cast out wrath and the memory of wrong. But the one who was wronged and inflamed would not have endured these steps from the beginning. For this reason, because he had cooled his anger, then he led him to the best cause of reconciliation, and did not allow him to remain in the evil hope of punishment. Did you see the wisdom of the Lawgiver? And so that you may learn that for the sake of the weakness of those who were not able to be bound to one another otherwise, he introduced this law, hear how Christ, in legislating this self-same thing, has not set the same reward; but having said "Love your enemies, do well to those who hate you," which is to feed and to give drink, he did not add, "For in doing this, you will heap coals of fire upon their heads," but rather, "In order that you may become like your Father who is in"
heaven." Fittingly; for He addressed Peter, James, and the rest of the choir of the apostles; therefore, He proposed that reward. But if you say that in this way also the commandment is heavy, you provide a greater defense for Paul, but you deprive yourself entirely of any excuse. Why? Because I shall show you that this which appears heavy was practiced in the Old Testament, at a time when a specimen of such philosophy had not yet been produced. For this reason, Paul did not introduce the law in his own words, but used the very same words as the one who first brought it forth, so that no place for an excuse would remain for those who did not heed it. For the passage, "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink," was not spoken first by Paul, but by Solomon. A For this reason, he set these words down, to persuade the auditor that it is most shameful that the old law, which the ancients frequently fulfilled, and which has now been raised to such great philosophy, should be thought heavy and burdensome. And who among the ancients fulfilled it, someone will say? Many others, certainly, but David in particular to a much greater degree. For he did not merely feed his enemy, nor only give him drink, but he also rescued him from death many times, and when he could have killed him, he spared him once, and twice, and many times. And while Saul hated and averted his eyes from him after countless benefits, after brilliant trophies, and the salvation won for the people against Goliath, such that he could not bear even to hear his name mentioned, but designated him by his father. For when the solemnity had arrived, because he had woven some guile and laid heavy snares for him, and did not see that he had come, "Where is," he said, "the son of Jesse?" B not bearing, truly, to mention his name because of excessive hatred, but at the same time thinking that by the ignobility of his father he could obscure the clarity of the righteous man—which opinion was clearly wretched and unhappy; especially since this should have done no harm to David, even if some crime could have been objected against the parent. For every individual must render an account of the things done by himself, and from these, one merits either praise or blame. Now, since he could object no crime, he brought up the ignobility of his lineage; and by this means he hoped he could obscure his brilliance, which was an act of extreme folly. For what crime is it to have been born of vile and humble parents? But he was not schooled in such philosophy. Saul, therefore, called him the son of Jesse; but David, when he found him sleeping inside the cave, C did not call him the son of Kish, but addressed him by the name of his dignity: "I will not," he said, "lay my hand upon the Lord's anointed." Thus he was clean from wrath and from every memory of injuries; he calls him the Lord's anointed, by whom he had been subjected to so many injuries, who thirsted for his blood, and after countless benefits had many times set about to slay him. For he did not look at what that man had deserved; but he looked at what it was fitting for him to do or to say, who is the highest limit of philosophy. What is that, finally? As though holding his enemy captive in prison, bound by a double or rather a triple shackle—both by the narrowness of the place, the lack of helpers, and the necessity of sleep—do you not extract penalties or punishment from him? By no means, he said. For I do not consider now what he deserves to suffer, but what it was incumbent on me to have done. He did not look at the ease of the slaughter, but he looked at the sanctity of the philosophy befitting him. D Yet what of those things that were then present was not fit to impel him to slaughter? That the enemy had been delivered bound into his hands? For you know indeed that we fly more readily to carry out those things that are full of ease, and that the expectation of successful result makes us burn with greater desire for the deed, which also happened in that case then.
Why David spared Saul. The great virtue of David.
Was the leader of the army then counseling and inciting him? Was the memory of past things [doing so]? But nothing impelled him to slaughter; rather, the very ease of the slaughter turned him away: for he remembered that God had delivered him for that reason, that He might provide him a greater material and occasion for philosophy. And you, perhaps, admire him because he remembered none of the past evils; but I, for another reason much greater, am struck with wonder at him. What is that thing? That not even the fear of future things impelled him to kill the enemy. Inasmuch as he knew well that, having once escaped from his hands, he would again weave snares for him; but he preferred to let his adversary go free and undergo danger, rather than to kill his enemy for the sake of consulting his own security. What can be compared with that great and generous spirit, who, although the law commands an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, and that like be rendered for like, not only did he not do this, but he displayed much greater philosophy? Although if he had then killed Saul, thus also the praise of his philosophy would have remained uninjured, not only because he would have avenged himself, when he himself had not struck first, but also because he would have surpassed the saying, "An eye for an eye," with much greater modesty. For he would not have repaid one for one slaughter, but for many deaths which he had brought upon him, while he had tried to kill him not once, not twice, but many times, he would have been about to bring death for one: nevertheless, not only for that reason, but also because he was driven by fear of the future to proceed to vengeance, this also, beyond those things which have been said, acquires for him an entire crown of forbearance. For he who would have been angry at him on account of the things which had happened and had exacted penalties could not at all obtain the praise of forbearance; but he who, passing over many and grave past things, would be compelled by fear of imminent dangers to look out for his own safety, and for that reason to proceed to vengeance, no one could deprive of the crown of modesty. He discovered a certain new and unusual kind of philosophy, and neither memory of things past, nor fear of things to come, nor the exhortation of the army leader, nor the solitude of the place, nor the ease of the slaughter, nor anything else impelled him to homicide: but as to one who had done well by himself, and from whom he had received great benefits, thus to a man who was an enemy, by whom he had been afflicted with injuriesB One may see his philosophy from this: namely, that not only did he not kill him, when under such pressing necessity, but he did not even utter a word of abuse against him, even though he knew that the one insulted would not hear him. Yet we often speak ill of even our friends behind their backs, while he did not do so even of an enemy who had injured him so much. Thus, one may see his philosophy from these things; but his philanthropy and other concern for the king’s life appear from what he did afterwards. For when he had cut off the hem of his garment and taken the water skin, he went off to a distance and standing there, he cried out and showed these things to the one who had been saved—not doing this for display or vanity, but wishing to persuade him through his deeds that he had suspected him as an enemy in vain and to no purpose, and was thus hastening to draw him toward friendship. Yet even when he had not persuaded him thus, and even when he was able to dispose of him, he chose again to be an exile from his country and to live in a foreign land, and to suffer hardship day by day in order to provide himself with necessary food, rather than by remaining at home to grieve the conspirator. What could be more gentle than his soul? Truly, he said rightly: *Remember, O Lord, David, and all his meekness* (Ps. 131:1). Let us, too, imitate him, and neither speak nor do evil to our enemies, but rather let us do them good according to our ability; for we will not be benefiting them as much as we will ourselves. For *if you forgive*, he says, *to your enemies, it will be forgiven to you*. Forgive C human trespasses, so that you may receive a divine forgiveness for your sins; and if he has wronged you in great things, by how much more you forgive, by that much greater a forgiveness you will receive. It is for this reason that we were taught to say: *Forgive us, as we forgive*, so that we might learn that the measure of forgiveness receives its beginning first from us. So, the more grievous the evils the enemy works, by that much more is he doing good to you.
Let us then hasten and be eager to be reconciled with those who have offended us, whether they are angry justly or unjustly. For if you are reconciled here, you are freed from the judgment there; but if, while the enmity remains, death intervenes and carries off the grievance, there it is necessary for the judgment to be introduced. Just as, when many men are disputing with one another, if they resolve the matter more amicably outside the court, they free themselves from loss, fear, and many dangers; D but if they leave it to the judge, they are often burdened by both the loss of money and the punishment resulting from the trial; so here too, if we are reconciled during the present life, we will free ourselves from all punishment; but if we depart as enemies to that fearful tribunal, we will certainly pay the final penalty at the judge's verdict, and both will undergo inevitable punishment: the one who is angry unjustly, because he is unjust; and the one who is angry justly, because he has held a grudge. For even if we have suffered something unjustly, we must grant forgiveness to those who have wronged us.
And observe how he urges and presses even those who have done the injustice to reconcile with those who have been wronged. *If you bring your gift*, he says, *before the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, go, first be reconciled to your brother* (Matt. 5:23–24). He did not say, "Gather your gift and offer it," but, *Be reconciled, and then offer*. Leave it lying there, he says, so that the necessity of the offering might compel even the one who is justly angry to come to reconciliation. See how he encourages even the one who has provoked the anger to come, by saying, *Forgive your debtors*. For he has set not a small reward, but one that far exceeds the magnitude of the good work. Considering all these things, then, and calculating the reward that is produced by this, and how it is not a matter of much labor and effort to erase our sins, let us forgive those who have wronged us. For what others barely achieve through fasting, lamentations, prayers, sackcloth, ashes, and myriad confessions—I mean the erasing of their own sins—this we are able to do easily without sackcloth, ashes, and fasting, if only we erase the anger from our mind and forgive those who have wronged us with sincerity. May the God of peace and love, having banished all wrath, bitterness, and anger from our soul, deem us worthy, according to the order of the members, to be bound precisely to one another, that with one accord, with one mouth, and with one soul, we may continuously send up the debt of hymns of thanksgiving to Him, for to Him is the glory and the power, to the ages of ages. Amen.