Homilies on First Thessalonians

It is necessary that a ruler will have many occasions for making enemies. Doctors must often trouble the sick. They prepare diets and medicines for them that are not pleasant, but are helpful. Fathers also are often unpleasant to their children. Teachers are the same way, and even more so. A doctor may be disliked by the sick person, yet the family and friends are still on good terms with him, and often even the sick person is too. A father also rules his son very easily, both because of natural authority and because of civil law. If he punishes or scolds his son against the son’s will, no one stops him, and the son himself cannot even look back at him defiantly. But in the case of the priest, there is great difficulty. First of all, he ought to rule people who are willing to obey and thankful for his rule. But it is not possible for this to happen quickly. For the person who is exposed and rebuked, whoever he may be, will certainly stop being thankful and become an enemy. The same is true of the person who is advised, the one who is warned, and the one who is urged on. So if I say, pour out your wealth for the needy, I am saying something offensive and burdensome. If I say, control your anger, put out your rage, restrain your excessive desire, cut off a small part of your luxury, everything seems burdensome and offensive. And if I punish someone who is lazy, or remove him from the Church, or exclude him from the public prayers, he is grieved, not because he has been deprived of these things, but because of the public shame. For this makes the evil worse: when we are forbidden from spiritual things, we do not grieve because we have lost these great blessings, but because we are disgraced in the sight of others. We do not tremble at the thing itself or fear it.

For this reason Paul speaks at length from beginning to end about these people. And Christ Himself subjected them to such strict necessity that He says, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat. Therefore whatever they tell you, do and observe. But do not do according to their works.” Matthew 23:2-3 And again, when He healed the leper, He said, “Go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.” Matthew 8:4 And yet You say, “You make him twofold more a son of hell than yourselves.” Matthew 23:15 “For this reason I said,” He answers, “Do not do the things that they do.” Therefore He has shut out every excuse from the one who is under rule. In his Epistle to Timothy also this Apostle said, “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor.” 1 Timothy 5:17 And in his Epistle to the Hebrews also he said, “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit to them.” Hebrews 13:17 And here again, “But we beseech you, brothers, to know them that labor among you, and are over you in the Lord.” For since he had said, “Build each other up,” lest they should think that he had raised them to the rank of teachers, he added, “See, however, that I gave leave to you also to edify one another, for it is not possible for a teacher to say everything.” “Them that labor among you,” he says, “and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you.” And how, he says, is it not absurd? If a man stands up for you before a man, you do anything, and you confess yourself greatly indebted. But he stands up for you before God, and you do not acknowledge the favor. “And how does he stand up for me?” you say. Because he prays for you. Because he ministers to you the spiritual gift that is by Baptism. He visits. He advises and admonishes you. He comes at midnight if you call for him. He is nothing else than the constant subject of your mouth, and he bears your injurious speeches. What necessity had he? Has he done well or ill? You indeed have a wife, and live luxuriously, and choose a life of commerce. But the Priest has kept himself back from this by his occupation. His life is nothing else than to be employed about the Church. “And esteem them exceeding highly in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace with them,” he says. Do you see how well he knows that unpleasant feelings arise? He does not merely say, “Love,” but “exceeding highly,” as children love their fathers. For through them you were begotten by that eternal generation. Through them you have obtained the kingdom. Through their hands all things are done. Through them the gates of heaven are opened to you. Let no one raise divisions. Let no one be contentious. He who loves Christ, whatever the Priest may be, will love him, because through him he has obtained the awful Mysteries. Tell me, if you wished to see a palace shining with much gold, and radiant with the brightness of precious stones, and you found the man who had the key, and when called upon he immediately opened it and admitted you inside, would you not prefer him above all men? Would you not love him as dearly as your eyes? Would you not kiss him? This man has opened heaven to you, and you do not kiss him, nor pay him honor. If you have a wife, do you not love above all the man who procured her for you? So if you love Christ, if you love the kingdom of heaven, acknowledge through whom you obtained it. For this reason he says, “For their work’s sake, be at peace with them.”

Verse 14. And we exhort you, brothers, admonish the disorderly, encourage the faint-hearted, support the weak, be long-suffering toward all.

Here he speaks to those who are in authority. "Admonish the disorderly," he says. Do not rebuke them out of imperiousness or self-will, but with admonition. "Encourage the fainthearted, support the weak, be longsuffering toward all." For the one who is rebuked harshly, when he despairs of himself, becomes bolder in contempt. For this reason, it is necessary to make the medicine sweet by admonition. But who are the disorderly? All those who do what is contrary to the will of God. For the order of the Church is more harmonious than the order of an army. So the reviler is disorderly, the drunkard is disorderly, and the covetous, and all who sin. For they do not walk orderly in their rank, but out of line. Therefore they are also overthrown. But there is also another kind of evils. It is not such as this, indeed, but it too is a vice: faintheartedness. For this is just as destructive as sloth. He who cannot bear an insult is feeble-minded. He who cannot endure trial is feeble-minded. This is he who is sown upon the rock. There is also another sort, that of weakness. "Support the weak," he says. Now weakness occurs in regard to faith. But notice how he does not permit them to be despised. And elsewhere also in his Epistles he says, "Receive those who are weak in the faith." Romans 14:1. For in our bodies too, we do not suffer the weak member to perish. "Be longsuffering toward all," he says. Even toward the disorderly? Yes, certainly. For there is no medicine equal to this, especially for the teacher, none so suitable to those who are under rule. It can completely shame and put out of countenance the one who is fiercer and more shameless than all men.

Verse 15. Make sure that no one repays anyone evil for evil.

If we should not repay evil with evil, then we should much less repay good with evil. And even more, when no evil has been done first, we should not do evil at all. “You say, ‘Such a person is a bad man, and he has hurt me and done me much harm.’ Do you want to take revenge on him? Do not strike back. Leave him unpunished. Well then, is that where it ends? By no means;”

But always pursue what is good for one another and for everyone.

This is the higher philosophy: not only to refuse to pay back evil with evil, but to return good for evil. For this is truly revenge. It harms the other person and benefits you, or rather, it greatly benefits even him also, if he is willing. And so that you may not think this is said only about the faithful, he says, "both toward one another and toward all."

Verse 16. Rejoice always.

This is said about the temptations that bring suffering. Listen, all of you who have fallen into poverty or into painful troubles. From these things, joy is born. For when we have a soul like this, so that we take revenge on no one but do good to everyone, then tell me, from where can the sting of grief enter us? For if someone rejoices so much in suffering wrong that he repays even the person who has wronged him with kindness, from where can grief come to him afterward? And you say, how is this possible? It is possible, if we are willing. Then he also shows the way.

Verses 17 and 18. Pray without stopping. In everything, give thanks, for this is the will of God.

Always giving thanks is a mark of a wise soul. Have you suffered some evil? But if you choose, it is not evil. Give thanks to God, and the evil is changed into good. You also should say as Job said, "Blessed be the name of the Lord forever." Job 1:21 Tell me, what great thing have you suffered? Has sickness come upon you? Even that is nothing strange. For our body is mortal and able to suffer. Has loss of possessions come upon you? But these also are things that can be gained, and then lost again, and they remain here. But is it the plots and false accusations of enemies? Yet it is not we who are injured by these, but those who are the authors of them. For, he says, "The soul that sins shall itself also die." Ezekiel 18:4 And the one who suffers the evil has not sinned, but the one who has done the evil has.

So, you should not take revenge on the one who is dead. Instead, pray for him, so that you may rescue him from death. Do you not see how the bee dies when it stings? By that creature, God teaches us not to wound our neighbors. For we ourselves receive death first. By striking them, perhaps we cause them pain for a little while, but we ourselves will not go on living any longer, just as that creature will not. And yet Scripture praises it, saying that it is a worker whose labor kings and ordinary people use for their health, in Sirach 11:3. But this does not keep it from dying. It still must perish. And if its other excellence does not save it when it harms others, much less will ours save us.

In fact, to start harming someone when no one has harmed you is what the most savage beasts do, or rather, not even beasts do that. If you let them feed in the wilderness and do not press them into need by confining them, they will never harm you, come near you, or bite you, but will go their own way.

But you are a rational man, honored with so much rule and honor and glory, and yet in your conduct toward your fellow-creature, you do not even imitate the beasts. Instead, you injure your brother and devour him. And how will you be able to excuse yourself? Do you not hear Paul saying, "Why not rather take wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? No, but you yourselves do wrong and defraud, and that your brothers," in 1 Corinthians 6:7-8? Do you see that doing wrong is the real wrong, but to suffer wrongfully is to receive a benefit? For tell me, if anyone were to revile his rulers, if he were to insult those in power, whom does he injure? Himself, or them? Clearly, himself. Then he who insults a ruler insults not him, but himself. And he that insults a Christian, does he not through him insult Christ? "By no means," you say. What do you say? He that casts a stone at the images of the king, or emperor, at whom does he cast a stone? Is it not at himself? Then does he who casts a stone at the image of an earthly king cast a stone at himself, and does not he who insults the image of God, for man is the image of God, injure himself?

How long will we keep loving riches? I will not stop crying out against them, because they are the cause of everything. How long will this endless desire go on without ever satisfying us? What good is gold? I am amazed at it. There is some kind of spell in this matter, that gold and silver should be valued so highly among us. We do not even care about our own souls, but those lifeless images take up so much attention. From where did this disease invade the world? Who will be able to destroy it? What reason can cut off this evil beast and destroy it completely? This desire is deeply planted in the minds of men, even in those who seem to be religious. Let us be ashamed before the commands of the Gospel. In Scripture, these are only words; they are nowhere shown in deeds.

And what is the fine-sounding excuse of the many? “I have children,” one says, “and I am afraid lest I myself be reduced to the extremity of hunger and want, lest I should need others. I am ashamed to beg.” For that reason, then, do you cause others to beg? “I cannot,” you say, “endure hunger.” For that reason do you expose others to hunger? Do you know what a dreadful thing it is to beg, how dreadful it is to be perishing from hunger? Spare your brothers also! Tell me, are you ashamed to be hungry, and are you not ashamed to rob? Are you afraid to perish from hunger, and not afraid to destroy others? And yet to be hungry is neither a disgrace nor a crime. But to cast others into such a state brings not only disgrace, but extreme punishment.

All these are excuses, empty words, and trifles. It is not really because of your children that you act this way. Those who have no children, and will not have any, prove this. Even so, they still work hard, wear themselves out, and stay busy gathering wealth, as much as if they had countless children to leave it to. It is not care for his children that makes a man greedy, but a sickness of the soul. For this reason, many who do not have children are still mad about riches, while others who live with many children even despise what they have. They will accuse you on that Day. For if the needs of children forced people to store up riches, then they too would necessarily have the same desire, the same craving. But if they do not, then it is not because of the number of children that we are driven mad in this way, but because of the love of money. And who are they, you ask, who have children and yet despise riches? Many, and in many places. And if you allow me, I will also speak of examples from the ancients.

Did Jacob not have twelve children? Did he not live the life of a hired servant? Was he not wronged by his kinsman? And did he not often disappoint him? And did his number of children ever compel him to turn to any dishonest counsel? What was the case with Abraham? And with Isaac, did he not also have many other children? What then? Did he not possess all he had for the benefit of strangers? Do you see how he not only did not do wrong, but even gave up his possessions, not only doing good, but choosing to be wronged by his nephew? For to endure being robbed for the sake of God is a much greater thing than to do good. Why? Because the one is the fruit of the soul and of free choice. For that reason, it is easily done. But the other is injurious treatment and violence. A man will more easily throw away ten thousand talents willingly, and will not think that he has suffered any harm, than he will meekly endure being robbed of three pence against his will. So this rather is philosophy of soul. And we see this in the case of Abraham. For it says, "Lot beheld all the plain; and it was well watered as the garden of God, and he chose it." Genesis 13:10-11. And Abraham said nothing against it. Do you see that he not only did not wrong him, but was even wronged by him? Why, O man, do you accuse your own children? God did not give us children for this end, that we should seize the possessions of others. Take care, lest in saying this you provoke God. For if you say that your children are the causes of your grasping and your avarice, I fear lest you be deprived of them, as injuring and ensnaring you. God has given you children so that they may support your old age, so that they may learn virtue from you.

For this reason, God has willed that mankind should be held together in this way, providing for two very important purposes. On the one hand, He appointed fathers to be teachers. On the other hand, He planted deep love in us. For if people were simply brought into being, no one would have any connection to anyone else. For even now, when there are relationships of fathers, children, and grandchildren, many people pay no attention to many others. It would be even more so then. For this reason God has given you children. Therefore do not accuse the children.

But if those who have children have no excuse, what can those say for themselves who have no children, yet wear themselves out trying to gain riches? But they do have a claim they make for themselves, though it has no excuse at all. And what is it? They say, "Instead of having children, we can have our riches as a memorial." This is truly ridiculous. One says, "Instead of children, my house will become the immortal memorial of my glory." But it will not be a memorial of your glory, O man. It will be a memorial of your greed. Do you not see how many people now, as they pass magnificent houses, say to one another, "What frauds, what robberies this man committed so that he could build this house. And now he has become dust and ashes, and his house has passed into the inheritance of others!" So then, what you leave behind is not a memorial of your glory, but of your greed. And your body is hidden in the earth, but you do not allow the memorial of your greed to be hidden, as it might have been over time. Instead, through your house, you cause it to be dug up and brought out. For as long as this house stands, bearing your name and being called this man's house, the mouths of everyone must surely be opened against you. Do you see that it is better to have nothing than to endure such an accusation?

These things apply here. But what will we do there? Tell me: if we have had so much available to us here, and have shared none of our possessions with anyone, or only very little, how will we get rid of our dishonest gains? A man who wants to get rid of greedy gain does not give a little out of a great amount. He gives back many times more than he stole, and he stops stealing. Hear what Zacchaeus says: "If I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold" in Luke 19:8. But you, after wrongly taking ten thousand talents, think that if you give a few drachmas, you have repaid everything, and you act as if you have given even more. And you do even this unwillingly. Why? Because you ought not only to have restored these things, but also to have added more from your own private possessions. A thief is not excused when he gives back only what he stole. Often he has paid with even his life, and often he makes a settlement by restoring many times as much. So the greedy man should do the same. For the greedy man also is a thief and a robber, and much worse than the other man, because he is more tyrannical. The thief acts in secret and attacks at night. In that way, he removes much of the boldness of the act, as if he were ashamed and afraid to sin. But the other man has no sense of shame. With a bold face, in the middle of the marketplace, he steals everyone's property, being both a thief and a tyrant at once. He does not break through walls, put out the lamp, open a chest, or tear off seals. But what does he do? He does things even more shameless than these. In the sight of the people he is injuring, he carries things out through the door. He confidently opens everything, and he forces them to lay out all their possessions themselves. That is how extreme his violence is. This man is more wicked than those thieves, since he is more shameless and tyrannical. A man who has been harmed by deceit is grieved, but he has at least one great comfort: the man who injured him was afraid of him. But a man who, along with the injury he suffers, is also treated with contempt, will not be able to bear the violence. For the mockery is greater. Tell me, if one man committed adultery with a woman in secret, and another did it in her husband's sight, which one grieved him more and was more likely to wound him? The second man not only did him wrong, but also treated him with contempt. But the first man, even if he did nothing else, at least showed that he feared the man he injured. It is the same with money. The man who takes it secretly shows him this much honor: he does it secretly. But the man who robs publicly and openly adds shame to the loss.

Therefore, let us all stop taking what belongs to others, both poor and rich. What I am saying now is not only for the rich, but for the poor also. They too rob people who are poorer than themselves. Craftsmen who are better off and more powerful undersell those who are poorer and more troubled. Merchants do the same to other merchants. And so it is with everyone involved in the marketplace. So I want to remove injustice from every side. The harm does not lie in how much is plundered or stolen, but in the intention of the one who steals. And I know, and remember, that I have told you before that those who do not despise small profits are even greater thieves and defrauders, if you also remember it. But let us not be too exact about this. Let them be counted just as bad as the rich. Let us train our mind not to desire greater things, and not to aim at more than we have. But in heavenly things, let our desire for more never be satisfied. Let each person always long for more. But on earth, let each person seek what is necessary and enough, and look for nothing more, so that he may be able to obtain the true goods, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ. With him, to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, and honor, now and always, and forever and ever. Amen.