Sermon 387

SERMO 387

Warning of Saint Augustine concerning what is written: "Agree with your adversary quickly while you are on the way with him" and about the speck of anger, which, nourished by false suspicions, becomes a beam

Sinners are to be rebuked by the priests.

Your Beloved Charity, dearest brothers, has often heard in the Holy Scriptures the danger in which priests are placed if they do not wish to fulfill what the Apostle testifies: Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all patience and doctrine. And because so grave a burden hangs over our shoulders, to whom it is said: If you do not warn the wicked of their wickedness, I will require their blood at your hand, it is necessary for us to chastise the negligent, whether secretly or publicly. But when we correct, the one whom we correct, if he is evil, observes by whom he is corrected; and more easily acknowledges gladly what he should correct in his corrector than in himself. And if he finds true things to say against the one who corrects him, he rejoices. How much better would it be if he rejoiced in his correction and health, rather than in another’s ailment! Behold, suppose that what you say is true, you have found something in the man who has reproved you; yet through him, truth was being spoken to you, the truth was speaking to you through a wicked man, an unjust man. You seek what to reprove in the man: rather find what to reprove in the truth. Whether you like it or not, it is your adversary, in which you find nothing to accuse. Make it your friend if you can. Your adversary is the Word of God: whether a sinner speaks it, or a righteous person speaks it, it is the Word of God and is beyond reproach. It is your adversary: agree with it while you are on the way with it. The way is this life; the Word of God is the adversary of all the wicked. It is little to you that, though it remained in its most blessed and secret seat, it has come to you, to be with you on the way, and it wished to accompany you so that, while you walk, and have it in your power, you may settle your case and say, “When will you finish your way?” And when you finish your way, there will be no one with whom you may resolve your case; and the adversary will hand you over to the judge, the judge to the officer, and the officer to the prison. You will not leave until you have paid the last penny. The Word of God is with you as an adversary on the way: you have it in your power, settle. What does this adversary seek from you? To agree with it. What else but your salvation? It walks with its adversaries and tells them to agree with it. Let it happen: the way is not yet finished. What was not done yesterday, may be done today. The way is not yet finished: why do you wait until it is finished? When it is finished, there will be no other way to agree with your adversary. The judge remains, the officer, and the prison. This way has ended suddenly for many who promised themselves many more years upon it. But behold, suppose that your way will be long, and your adversary will always walk with you: are you not ashamed to be in discord with such an adversary for so long? The Word of God, as far as it is concerned, is your friend; you make it your adversary. For it wishes well for you, but you, on the contrary, wish ill for yourself. It commands: Do not steal; you steal; it commands: Do not commit adultery; you commit adultery; it commands: Do not defraud; you defraud; it forbids you to swear falsely; you swear falsely; you do everything contrary to what it says, you make the Word of God your enemy. It is no wonder, then, that you are your own enemy: For he who loves iniquity hates his own soul. If, therefore, by loving iniquity you have hated your own soul, do you wonder that you have hated the Word of God, which wishes well for your soul?

Let us first correct ourselves so that we may be able to correct a brother.

Therefore, shall we be silent and not rebuke anyone at all? Indeed, let us rebuke, but first ourselves. You wish to rebuke your neighbor: there is nothing closer to you than yourself. Why look far away? You have yourself before you. For what does the Lord say through Scripture? "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." If, therefore, you do not love yourself, how do you love your neighbor? You received the rule of love for your neighbor from yourself. "I love him," you say. Therefore I say, first love yourself, and then speak to yourself. And if you truly speak out of love, it is clear that the word has worked something within you. But it is to be feared, lest you do not love yourself, and wish to rebuke another, doing this with hatred. For if you hate your brother, you commit less than what you do. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer. You have heard, today the epistle of John was read. Scripture says, lest men despise what they have within their hearts and accuse what is done by the body, "Whoever hates his brother," it says, "is a murderer." The hand is not yet armed, the throat is not yet seized, the ambush is not yet prepared, the poison is not yet sought, and already with the conceived hatred he is held guilty in the eyes of God. The one whom he seeks to kill still lives, and yet he is already judged as having killed. Therefore, if you rebuke with hatred, do you dare to rebuke anyone, murderer that you are? Or because men do not hold you and lead you to the judge, therefore do you not recognize your crime in the eyes of the supreme God and judge? If you do not wish to recognize your crime, you will recognize your punishment: for He does not spare murderers. "But I correct myself," you say, "when I am on the way." Therefore correct yourself, and then you will be able to rebuke your brother. You accuse lesser offenses, you commit greater ones: "You see the speck in your brother's eye, but do not notice the beam in your own eye." For the Lord said this concerning men who rebuke with hatred. You rebuke an angry man, and you waste away with hatred? Weigh in the balance of consideration anger and hatred. What is anger? A certain fervor of the mind. It displeases you at present. Your anger has now grown old in you, hence it has become hatred. Anger is a speck, a beam in future by growing: for just as a speck grows into a beam, so anger inveterate becomes hatred. Now you hate, and you rebuke someone angry: now in him the speck displeases, in you the beam still pleases. Do you want to know how much difference there is? Often we find fathers being angry with their sons: a father hating his son is difficult to find. A father can be angry with a son whom he loves: he can be angry and love, it can be said; he can hate and love, it cannot be said. I have said this for the sake of men, who punish lesser things in others and do not punish greater things in themselves.

Let us agree with the Word of God while we are still on the way.

Therefore, dearest brothers, thinking of these things healthily, let us make friends with our adversary, while we are on the way with him: that is, let us consent to the word of God, while we are still in this life; because afterward, when we have crossed over from this world, no settlement or any satisfaction will remain. The judge stands, and the officer, and the prison. Therefore, that we may be able to fulfill all these things with the help of the Lord, let us love with our whole heart not only friends but also enemies; so that in us may be fulfilled that which is written: The whole law is fulfilled in one word: You shall love your neighbor as yourself; and that: Charity covers a multitude of sins. May He who is true charity deign to grant us this, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.