Sermon 347
SERMO 347
On the Fear of God
How frequently in the Scriptures the fear of God is commended.
Many teachings, brothers, have been given to us about the fear of God, and the divine scriptures have declared countless times how beneficial it is to fear God. From this abundant source, I will recall a few, and as much as I can within the brevity of time, I will discuss them for your attentive consideration. Who would not rejoice in being wise, or if he is not yet wise, desire to be so? But what does Scripture say? The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. Who would not delight in reigning? But let us hear what the Spirit advises in the Psalm: And now, kings, understand; be instructed, you who judge the earth; serve the Lord in fear, and rejoice with trembling. Hence the Apostle also says: Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. We also read written: You desired wisdom, keep justice, and the Lord will grant it to you. For we find many who are very negligent of justice, yet very eager for wisdom. The divine Scripture teaches these that they cannot attain what they desire unless they keep what they neglect. Keep, it says, justice, and the Lord will grant you the wisdom you desired. But who can keep justice unless he fears God? For it says elsewhere: For he who is without fear will not be able to be justified. Moreover, since the Lord does not grant wisdom except to the one who keeps justice, and he who is without fear cannot be justified, we return to that statement: The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.
We are taught by Isaiah to rise from fear to wisdom.
Isaiah the prophet, when he commended those seven well-known spiritual gifts, beginning with wisdom, reached to the fear of God, as if descending to us from a sublime height, so that he might teach us to ascend. Therefore, he began from the point that we wish to reach; and he reached to the point where we ought to begin. "The Spirit of God shall rest upon him," he said, "the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and godliness, the Spirit of the fear of the Lord." Just as he, by teaching and not by failing, descended from wisdom to fear; so we, not by pride but by progressing, ought to ascend from fear to wisdom. For the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. For this is indeed the valley of weeping, of which the Psalm says: "He has set his heart on ascending in the valley of weeping." For the valley signifies humility. But who is humble, except one who fears God, and with that fear breaks his heart in the tears of confession and repentance? For God does not despise a broken and contrite heart. But let him not fear to stay in the valley. For in that very broken and humbled heart, which God does not despise, He has set the steps by which we may ascend to Him. For thus says the Psalm: "He has set his heart on ascending in the valley of weeping, to the place he has prepared." Where are the ascensions made? He says, "In the heart." But from where must we ascend? Certainly from the valley of weeping. And to where must we ascend? "To the place," he says, "he has prepared." What is this place, except the place of rest and peace? For there is that clear wisdom, which never fades. Hence, Isaiah descended, by certain gradations of teaching, from wisdom to fear, from the place of eternal peace to the valley of temporal weeping, to exercise us: so that, in the confession of repentance, by grieving, moaning, and weeping, we may not remain in sorrow and groaning and tears; but ascending from that valley to the spiritual mountain, where the holy city, our eternal mother Jerusalem, is founded, we may enjoy untroubled joy. Therefore, when he had put forward wisdom, that is, the unfailing light of the mind, he added understanding: as if responding to those asking from where to come to wisdom, he answered: From understanding; from where to understanding: From counsel; from where to counsel: From might; from where to might: From knowledge; from where to knowledge: From godliness; from where to godliness: From fear. Therefore, to wisdom from fear; because the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. From the valley of weeping to the mountain of peace.
A Comparison Between the Seven Steps of Isaiah and the Eight Beatitudes of the Gospel.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. They are humble in the valley, they tremble, they offer to God a contrite and humbled heart: from where they ascend to piety, so as not to resist His will, either in His words, where they do not grasp His meaning, or in the very order and governance of creation, since many things happen differently than the private will of man desires: for there it should be said: Indeed, not what I will, but what You will, Father. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth: not the land of the dying, but the land of which it is said: You are my hope, my portion in the land of the living. From such piety they will merit the step of knowledge, so that they may know not only the evils of their past sins, over which they wept in the first step of repentance out of sorrow, but also the evil in which they are in this mortality and pilgrimage away from the Lord, even when secular happiness smiles upon them. For it is written: He who increases knowledge, increases sorrow. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Hence they rise to strength, so that the world is crucified to them, and they to the world, so that in the perversity of this life and the abundance of iniquity, charity does not grow cold; but the hunger and thirst for righteousness is endured, until they come to its satisfaction in that immortality of the saints and the fellowship of the Angels. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. However, because of the restlessness of temptations, and what is said: Woe to the world because of offenses; if perhaps small faults or sins sneak in stealthily, which human weakness is preoccupied with, advice should not be lacking. For such a degree of strength cannot prevail in this mortal life, so that he who fights with the most cunning adversary in continuous struggle is not struck at some point: especially through temptations of the tongue, where if one says to his brother: Fool, he shall be liable to the hell of fire. So what advice is there, except what the Lord says: Forgive, and you will be forgiven? And therefore, just as in the steps we learn through Isaiah, the fifth is counsel; so in the Gospel, in those praises of beatitude, it is placed fifth: Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. The sixth in Isaiah is understanding: where hearts are cleansed of all falsity of carnal vanity, so that pure intention is directed toward the end. Therefore, the Lord also said sixth: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. When indeed the end is reached, it is already standing, already resting, already triumphing in secure peace. And who is the end, if not God Christ? For Christ is the end of the law, for righteousness to everyone who believes. And who is the wisdom of God, if not Christ? And who is the Son of God, if not Christ? Therefore, in Him, they are wise, and in Him, they become sons of God, whosoever becomes: and this is full and perpetual peace. Therefore, since wisdom is the seventh in Isaiah for those ascending upwards, from where He Himself began to descend to us by teaching; the Lord who lifts us up also placed it seventh: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Therefore, having these promises, and striving toward the Lord by these steps, let us endure all the harsh and difficult things of this world, nor let its cruelty break us, which, having been conquered, we will rejoice in eternal peace. For this reason, with the end already shown to us, the eighth sentence encourages: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.