Sermon 223
SERMO 223
On the Vigils of Easter
This is the day which the Lord has made; the baptized faithful are admonished to adhere to the children of light.
In the book called Genesis, Scripture says: And God saw the light, that it was good. And God divided the light from the darkness: and God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. If therefore God called the light Day, without a doubt those to whom the apostle Paul says: You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord, were the Day: for He who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has illuminated them. These infants, whom you see outwardly whitened and inwardly cleansed, who prefigure with the whiteness of their garments the brightness of their minds, were darkness when they were oppressed by the night of their sins. But now because they have been cleansed by the bath of forgiveness, because they have been irrigated by the fountain of wisdom, because they have been suffused with the light of righteousness: This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. May the Lord's Day hear us, may the Day made by the Lord hear us: hear, and obey; so that we may rejoice and be glad in it. For, as the Apostle says, this is our joy and crown, if you stand firm in the Lord. Therefore, listen to us, O new children of the chaste mother: rather listen to us, children of the virgin mother. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord: walk as children of light, adhere to the children of light; and to say this more plainly, adhere to good believers. For there are, what is worse, bad believers. There are believers who are called, but are not. There are believers, in whom the sacraments of Christ suffer injury: who live in such a way that they themselves perish, and they destroy others. They themselves perish, by living wickedly: and they destroy others, by giving examples of wicked living. Therefore, beloved, do not join yourselves to such as these. Seek the good, adhere to the good: be good.
In the Church of this time, both the good and the bad are present. The good should tolerate the bad, and the bad should imitate the good.
Nor should you be surprised by the multitude of evil Christians, who fill the church, who communicate at the altar, who loudly praise the bishop or presbyter discussing good morals: through them is fulfilled what our gatherer foretold in the Psalm: "I have announced and spoken, they were multiplied beyond number." In the Church of this time, they can be with us; but in that congregation of saints which is to come after the resurrection, they will not be able to be. For the Church of this time is compared to a threshing floor, having mixed grain with chaff, having evildoers intermixed with the good; but after judgment, it will have all the good without any evil. This threshing floor contains the harvest sown by the Apostles, watered by good teachers following them up to the present time, even greatly threshed by the persecution of enemies; but, as the only thing remaining, not yet purified by the heavenly winnowing. However, He will come of whom you have spoken in the Creed: “From whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.” And, as the Gospel speaks, He will have His winnowing fan in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire. Let the ancient faithful hear what I say. Let those who are grain rejoice with trembling, and remain, and not depart from the threshing floor. Let them not try to rid themselves of the chaff by their own judgment: for if they currently wish to separate themselves from the chaff, they will not be able to remain in the threshing floor. And when He comes who discerns without error, what He does not find in the threshing floor, He will not lift to the barn. In vain will the grains then throw themselves from the spike, those which have now departed from the threshing floor. That barn will be filled, and then closed. Whatever remains outside, the flame will destroy. Therefore, dearly beloved, let the good tolerate the bad; let those who are bad imitate the good. In this very threshing floor, grains can fail among the chaff; grains can also be raised again from the chaff. These things happen daily, my brothers: this life is full of both punishments and consolations. Daily, those who seemed good slip and perish: and again, those who seemed bad are converted and live. For God does not desire the death of the wicked, only that he returns and lives. Hear me, grains; hear me, you who are what I desire to be: hear me, grains. Do not be saddened by the mixture of the chaff: they will not be with you forever. How burdensome is this chaff? Thank God, it is light. Let us only be grains, and however much there is, it will not weigh us down. For God is faithful, who will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able; but with the temptation will also make a way out, that we may bear it. Let the chaff hear us too; wherever they are, let them hear. I do not wish them to be here: yet let us address them, lest they be here. So, listen to me, chaff: even if you hear, you will not be chaff. So listen. Let God's patience profit you. Let the fellowship, admonition of the grains, make you grains. The showers of God's words are not lacking to you: let not the field of God be barren in you. Therefore revive, become grains, mature. For He who has sown you wishes to find ears of corn, not thorns.