Sermon 159
SERMO 159
ABOUT THE SAME WORDS OF THE APOSTLE (ROM 8, 30-31),
Or, on Justification; Also, on the Words of James (1:2-4):
"Consider it all joy, my brothers,"
"When you have encountered various trials," etc.
Justification here in us is imperfect. Perfect justification is in the martyrs. It is an injustice to pray for a martyr.
Yesterday, a discourse was given about our justification, which is from our Lord God, by us as ministers, with His giving, and you listening. And since in this life we are burdened with the load of corruptible flesh, certainly not without sin — for if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us — it became clear, as I judge, to your Charity that we are justified according to the manner of our pilgrimage, living by faith until we enjoy the vision. It begins with faith, therefore, to reach the vision: the way is run, the homeland is sought. In pilgrimage, our soul says: For all my desire is before you, and my groaning is not hidden from you. But in the homeland, there will be no place for praying, but only for praising. Why will there be no place for praying? Because nothing is lacking. What is believed here, is seen there; what is hoped for here, is held there; what is asked for here, is received there. However, there is some perfection in this life, which the holy martyrs have reached. Therefore, the ecclesiastical discipline holds, which the faithful know, that when the martyrs are recounted at the altar of God, prayers are not made for them; but for the other deceased commemorated, prayers are made. It is an insult to pray for the martyr, whose prayers we ought to commend ourselves to. For he has fought against sin to the shedding of blood. For some, still imperfect, and yet partly justified, the Apostle says to the Hebrews: For you have not yet resisted to blood, striving against sin. If, therefore, they had not yet resisted to blood, surely some did resist to blood. Who resisted to blood? Certainly, the holy martyrs; of whom the reading from the holy apostle James has just been heard. Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations. It is said to the perfect, who can also say: Test me, Lord, and try me. Knowing, he says, that tribulation produces patience; and patience has a perfect work.
The love of justice admits several degrees. First degree. Pleasures of the senses, lawful and unlawful.
For indeed justice must be loved; and in this justice, there are degrees for those progressing. First, one must not prefer everything that delights over the love of justice. This is the first step. What did I say? That among all things that delight, justice itself should delight you more; not that other things do not delight, but that justice itself delights more. For certain things naturally delight our weakness, such as food and drink delight the hungry and thirsty; as this light delights us, which pours from the sky when the sun rises, or which shines from the stars and the moon, or which is lit on earth by lights comforting the darkness of our eyes: a melodious voice and a most pleasant song delight us, a good smell delights us; our touch is also delighted by whatever pertains to some pleasure of the flesh. And all these things, which delight us in the senses of the body, are somewhat permissible. For, as I said, these great spectacles of nature delight the eyes; but the spectacles of theaters also delight the eyes. The former are permissible, the latter impermissible. A sacred Psalm sweetly sung delights the hearing: but the songs of actors also delight the hearing. The former is permissible, the latter impermissible. Flowers and spices, which are God's creation, delight the sense of smell; but the incense on the altars of demons also delights the sense of smell. The former is permissible, the latter impermissible. Permissible food delights the taste; but the feasts of sacrilegious sacrifices also delight the taste. The former is permissible, the latter impermissible. The embrace of spouses delights; the embrace of prostitutes also delights. The former is permissible, the latter impermissible. Therefore, you see, dearest ones, that in these senses of the body there are permissible and impermissible delights. Let justice delight in such a way that it surpasses even permissible delights; and to the delight by which you are permissibly delighted, prefer justice.
The delight of the mind from justice and faith.
Let us set before our eyes, on account of what I said, an example of a contest. I ask whether you love justice; you will answer: I do. You would not answer truthfully unless it delighted you to some extent. For nothing is loved unless it delights. Delight yourself in the Lord, Scripture says. Moreover, the Lord is justice. For you should not imagine God as an idol. God is similar to invisible things; and those things are better in us which are invisible. Faith is better than flesh, faith is better than gold, and faith is better than silver, than money, than estates, than family, than riches; and all these things are seen, faith is not seen. To which then shall we consider God more similar, to visible or invisible things? To precious or to vile things? Let me speak of more vile things. You have two slaves, one deformed in body, the other very handsome; but the deformed one is faithful, the other is unfaithful. Tell me which one you love more: and I see that you love the invisible. What therefore, when you love the faithful slave more, although deformed in body, than the handsome one who is unfaithful, have you erred and preferred foul things to beautiful ones? Certainly not: but you preferred more beautiful things to foul ones. For you despised the eyes of the flesh, and lifted up the eyes of the heart. You asked the eyes of the flesh, and what did they report to you? This one is handsome, that one is foul. You rejected them, disapproved of their testimony; you lifted up the eyes of the heart to the faithful slave, and to the unfaithful slave; this one you found foul in flesh, that one handsome; but you pronounced and said: What is more beautiful than faith? What is more deformed than infidelity?
Justice must be loved above all lawful pleasures.
Therefore, above all pleasures, that is, even lawful delights, justice must be loved. For if you have inner senses, all those inner senses are delighted by the delight of justice. If you have inner eyes, see the light of justice: For with you is the fountain of life, and in your light we shall see light. Of that light the Psalm says: Enlighten my eyes, lest I ever sleep in death. Again, if you have inner ears, hear justice. Such ears were sought by him who said: He who has ears to hear, let him hear. If you have inner smell, hear the Apostle: We are the sweet fragrance of Christ to God in every place. If you have inner taste, hear: Taste and see that the Lord is sweet. If you have inner touch, hear what the bride sings of the bridegroom: His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me.
The delight in justice must be preferred to other delights.
As I began to say, let us propose an example of this struggle. Let us see, my brothers, who it may be; I ask, and let him respond, and what I am about to say, whether righteousness delights so much that he prefers it to other pleasures pertaining to these senses of the body. Behold, your gold delights you, your eyes delight in it: it is a beautiful metal, very shiny, it delights. It is beautiful, I do not deny it; for if I were to deny its beauty, I would do an injury to the Creator. Therefore the tempter comes and says to you: I take your gold unless you give false testimony for me; if however you say it, I will add to you. Two delights contend within you: now I ask you what you prefer, what delights you more, gold or truth; gold or true testimony. Does this shine and that not shine? Faith is sought in true testimony. Does gold shine, faith not shine? Be ashamed, have eyes; what you loved in your servant, return to your Lord. For just now when I asked about your two servants, one deformed and faithful, the other beautiful and faithless, whom you would love more; you answered justly, and preferred what should be preferred. Return to yourself, because now it concerns you yourself. Surely you loved the faithful servant. Is your Lord unworthy to have you as a faithful servant? And what did you promise your faithful servant as a great reward? That you would love greatly, the highest reward being freedom. What great thing did you promise your faithful servant? Temporal freedom. Do we not see many servants who are not in need, and free men begging? And you demanded faith from him to whom you promised freedom: and do you not keep faith to him who promises you eternity!
Justice must be pursued with delight out of love.
It is lengthy to go through each of the body’s senses individually: but understand from what I have said about the eyes, it applies to the other senses as well; and prioritize the delight of the mind over the delight of the flesh. Indeed, illicit pleasures delight your flesh; let your mind delight in invisible, beautiful, chaste, holy, melodious, sweet justice, so that you are not compelled to it by fear. For if you are compelled to it by fear, it does not yet delight. You ought not to sin, not from fear of punishment, but from love of justice. Hence the Apostle says: I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members to serve uncleanness and iniquity leading to more iniquity, so now present your members to serve righteousness for sanctification. What did I say? I speak in human terms: what you are able to bear, I say. When you presented your members to iniquity to commit shameful acts, were you led by fear or invited by pleasure? What do you say? Answer us, for even those who live well now, perhaps once lived badly. When you sinned, you delighted in your sins; did fear lead you to sin, or the sweetness of sin? You will answer: The sweetness. Sweetness draws to sin, and fear drives to righteousness? Test yourselves, examine yourselves. Let someone who threatens take gold: justice is sweeter, justice is brighter. Do not give gold to one who promises: justice should be preferred to gold, should be preferred with delight; it is more splendid, brighter, sweeter, and more pleasant. Therefore, if anyone proves himself, and has won in this struggle, he has heard the Apostle saying: I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. Without a doubt, he spared the weakness; and he tried to say something gentler to the less capable.
For the sake of justice, not only should pleasure be scorned, but also pain must be endured.
Behold, he says, I say this which you can grasp; you have presented your members to illicit pleasures, you were led by the sweetness of sins, so that you did those things; let the sweetness and sweetness of justice lead you to right deeds; love justice, as you loved iniquity. Justice is worthy, which may obtain from you to present to it what you presented to iniquity; this is: I speak in human terms, that is, what your weakness can still tolerate. What then does the Apostle withhold? What did he delay to say? What did he delay, I will say, if I can. Compare justice and iniquity; is justice as deserving as iniquity was? Should the former be loved as the latter was loved? Far from it, but even if only so, so be it. Therefore, more? Certainly more. In iniquity, you followed pleasure, for justice endure pain. In unjustness, I say, you followed delight, for justice endure pain; this is more. Behold, some lustful youth ensnared by alluring sweetness casts his eyes upon another's wife, loves her, desires to reach her; yet he seeks to hide: for he loves pleasure in such a way that he even more fears pain. Why does he seek to hide? He fears being caught, bound, brought in, imprisoned, produced, tormented, killed. Fearing all these things, in that pursuit of his sweetness he seeks a hiding place; he waits for the husband’s absence, he fears to find even a helper of his crime, because he dreads involving a conscience. And we see him led by sweetness: but that sweetness is not so great as to overcome even the fear and pain of punishment. Give me beautiful justice, give me the beauty of faith; let it come forth, show itself to the eyes of the heart, inspire fervor in its lovers. Now it is said to you: Do you want to enjoy me? Despise whatever else delights you, despise it for me. Behold, you have despised it, but this is little: It is human, due to the weakness of your flesh. It is little to despise whatever delighted you: despise whatever scared you; despise prisons, despise chains, despise the rack, despise torments, despise death. Defeat these things, you find me. In both stages, lovers of justice, prove yourselves.
Martyrs, perfect lovers of justice.
Perhaps we find some who prefer justice to pleasures and the delight of their own bodies: but who despises punishments, pains, and death for it, do you think there is anyone among you? At least let us think about it, which we do not dare to profess. What do we think? Where do we think? Thousands of martyrs lie before our eyes, true and perfect lovers of justice themselves. About them it is said: Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various trials; knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience; but patience has a perfect work. What can be added so that it has a perfect work? It loves, it burns, it is fervent; it tramples on all things that delight, and passes by; it comes to harsh, dreadful, savage, threatening things; it tramples on, breaks, and passes by. O to love, O to go, O to perish to oneself, O to reach God! Whoever loves his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake, will find it for eternal life. Thus must the lover of justice be armed, thus must the lover of invisible beauty be armed. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. What is: What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light? What I tell you and you hear with the mind, speak boldly. And what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. What is: What you hear in the ear? What you hear in secret; because you still fear to profess and confess. What then is: Preach on the housetops? Your houses, your bodies; your houses, your flesh. Ascend to the rooftop, trample on the flesh, and preach the word.
From God is, if we have any justice.
But first, my brothers, lament what you were, so that you may be able to be what you are not yet. What I am saying is great. And where is this great thing to us? It is the highest, it is perfect, it is the best; where is it to us? Hear where it is to us: Every best gift and every perfect gift is from above, descending from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, nor shadow of change. From there comes what we have good, from there comes what we do not yet have. Do you not have it? Ask, and you shall receive. If you, says the Savior, if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children; how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask Him? Therefore let every man examine himself, and whatever good he finds in himself that pertains to our justification, let him give thanks to the one who gave it; and in giving thanks to the one who gave it, let him ask from Him also for what He has not yet given. For you do not progress in receiving, and He does not fail in giving. However capacious a mouth, a capacious stomach you may bring; the fountain surpasses the thirsty.