Sermon 350E
Sermo to all peoples.
Sermon of Saint Augustine
concerning the ministry of carnal things which is done unto the saints
The apostles, servants of God and the Church, give spiritual things, receive temporal things.
The Apostle says: "Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches," indeed admonishing this which he also confirms in another place with the law as a witness, "You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain." For thus he says: "Elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching." For the Scripture says, "You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain." This he said to Timothy; to the Corinthians, however, when dealing with this matter and asserting that it was rightfully owed to him, but that he did not demand it, he preached: "Who serves as a soldier at his own expense ever? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock? Do I say these things merely as a human opinion? Does not the law also say this? For it is written in the law of Moses, 'You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.' Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Or does he not speak entirely for our sake? Indeed, it was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope, and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the harvest. If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right."
They give spiritual things, they receive carnal things.
Since these things are so, most beloved brothers, since no one among the faithful and good sons of the church doubts that carnal things should be rendered with due service to the necessary uses of the servants and ministers of God, the dispensers of spiritual things, it may seem strange how those very carnal things which are offered are sown not in the flesh but in the spirit. For when writing to the Galatians, he had said, which I have just mentioned: "Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches," and then he added: "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart." Therefore, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. If he who sows to his own flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, it is evident that those carnal things that are provided for the sustenance of the dispensers of God are not being sown in their own flesh, since they will not reap corruption from it but eternal life, with the Lord saying: "I was hungry and you gave me food," and answering those who sought: "As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me," and he himself commending the reward in the end: "So the wicked will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." But those who give food to the hungry and drink to the thirsty Christ in the least of Christ's, minister carnal things according to the Apostle saying: "Is it a great thing if we reap your carnal things?", and yet they reap eternal life from the Spirit, surely not in their own flesh but in the spirit even though sowing carnal things. It matters greatly not what is given, but with what intent it is given: for what is given is earthly food, which as the Lord reminds and the matter itself proclaims goes into the stomach and is expelled into the latrine; however, the intent of the giver sows the carnal thing in the spirit, and a small portion of earthly fruits becomes the price of the kingdom of heaven.
A small portion of earthly fruits becomes the price of the kingdom of heaven.
What are these if not the great and wonderful works of God? Spiritual things are sown and carnal things reaped: for what else is it: If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? Similarly, carnal things are sown and spiritual things are reaped: for what else is it: Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry and you gave me food? O venerable commerce of the saints! Great things are given and small things are taken, and in turn for those small things, great things are returned, if indeed those great things and these small things ought to be called such, as if the great sun and the small moon, since both are heavenly lights; yet this is not to be compared, as if the small star is compared to the great sun, because both are from the sky. Far be it for us to say that the great doctrine of wisdom, which Christ's Apostles preached, is to be thus considered of the same kind as the small hospitality, which the believers provided to the preachers, since that is the enlightenment of the mind, this the sustenance of the body, that may precede and surpass the sun, this cannot endure under the sun. Now, if the spiritual things which the holy teachers sow, reaping the carnal things from the devout faithful, incomparably surpass these, what should be said about that eternal life, which at the end is repaid for these most worthless things? For God is then to be seen, adhered to, and enjoyed without end. For this is, he says, eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. For this he clearly promised when he said: He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him. Therefore, for these earthly, small, and temporal things, for what is given to Christ when he is hungry in his least ones, not something of one's own but oneself will be returned. What kind of victor will he be in that judgment, whose reward the judge himself will be!
God's dispensers rejoice, sowing spiritual things and reaping carnal things.
The Apostle, knowing what reward these works await, did not rejoice for his own advantage when these carnal items were provided for his temporal needs. Therefore, when he spoke about this, he said: “Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit.” For the worker of the Lord’s field could have obtained sustenance from other sources, but it was bad for the tree to remain barren. For indeed the Lord fed Elijah with ravens ministering to him, and afterward provided him to be fed by a widow, not because there was no other way for the servant of God to be nourished, but so that she might have a way to earn favor with the Lord. Therefore, the dispensers of God rejoice in sowing spiritual things and reaping carnal things, but they rejoice not out of greed for the gifts but out of love for the givers. Otherwise, those who provide earthly things and will receive heavenly things in the end would be much happier than those who sow spiritual things and reap carnal things. But because they redirect the very carnal things they reap to the benefit of those from whom they reap, charity encompasses everything with a single purpose, that it may reign eternally over all. For this reason, God wants to teach His little ones through human dispensation and to sustain His stewards through human ministry so that, while supplying each other’s needs, they may foster benevolence and bring forth beneficence. Otherwise, just as He fed the hungry without anyone providing anything, whenever He wanted, from wherever He wanted — as He fed Elijah through the birds of the sky, the people of Israel through manna from heaven — so He can also teach the unlearned without any human words. As He taught Moses and other prophets, and as the Apostle who says, “Not from men, nor through man,” and another Apostle to whom it was said, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” So, because He teaches some through whom He may teach others and enriches some through whom He may feed others, although He could teach or feed everyone without human ministry, He wants works of mercy to be exercised by humans. Thus, by mutual temporal need, one obtains merit in eternal abundance: Elijah is sent to the widow for carnal supplies, although birds ministered food to him; tithes are commanded to the people to be provided to the Levites who were all satisfied with manna; and the Lord Himself made man for us is sometimes received by a certain Zacchaeus, sometimes by a certain Martha, and even when He feeds thousands with very few loaves, He is fed as if He were poor. Likewise, in the dispensation of spiritual things, Saul, called from heaven, receives instruction from Ananias, and Cornelius, visited by an angel, is sent to Peter. The Holy Spirit comes upon all, and yet He appoints certain teachers for others. Thus, temporal poverty makes the weak necessary to each other, so that charity may make all rich and eternity may receive all after time.
The kingdom of heaven is bought by all, possessed entirely by each.
Therefore, buy the field with the treasure while there is time, buy the incorruptible pearl with perpetual radiance: it is the kingdom of heaven that I speak of, preached by the Lord's mouth in the gospel. Our fathers bought it and have left it still to be bought by us. It is kept intact by the buyer for the one about to buy, it is bought in turn by all, it is fully possessed by each individual. Nor shall the concern for the price trouble you; for it is not set at a point where the richer can easily attain and the poorer cannot extend themselves: it is worth as much to each as they have. Zacchaeus the wealthy received half of the things, it did not exclude the fisherman's nets, it also admitted the two coins of a certain needy widow and, weighing them on the scale of charity, found them heavier than the many gifts of many rich men; nor shall you separate a cup of cold water from this transaction, where the love of the buyer burns. Even if it happens to be lacking, do not despair: love and purchase. There are indeed great resources of the poor, which are pious wills. For what is more precious than peace or to what do we strive through all our labors if not to eternal peace? Therefore, hear the testimony of the angels praising God and saying about this matter at the birth of the Savior: Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men of goodwill. This is not brought forth from a purse, not from storerooms: it is kept in the heart, given out from the heart, neither corrupted when kept nor lost when given.