Chapter 18. Only the Pure Sacrifice of the Church Pleases God.
Chapter 18
1. The oblation of the Church, then, which the Lord taught must be offered in the entire world, was reckoned by God a pure offering, and it was acceptable to him. Not that he has need of an offering from us, but because he who makes an offering is himself glorified by that offering if his gift is accepted. For by a gift to a king both honor and affection are shown. Such a gift Our Lord wished us to offer in all simplicity and innocence, and so he proclaimed, And so if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. So it is necessary to offer to God the first fruits of his creation, as also Moses said, You shall not appear before the Lord your God empty-handed, so that in the very things in which man was unpleasing, in these he was reckoned as pleasing to him, and receives honor from him.
2. Oblations, therefore, as a class were not rejected, for there were oblations there [Old Testament], and there are oblations here [New Testament]; there were sacrifices in the People [Israel], and there are sacrifices in the Church. Only the kind has been changed, since, of course, it is no longer offered by servants, but by freemen. The Lord, to be sure, is one and the same, but there was a peculiar character for the servants’ oblation, and there is a peculiar character for the freemen’s so that the sign of liberty might be shown also by the oblations. For with God nothing is purposeless, or without meaning. On that account these [the Jews] dedicated their tithes; but those who received liberty dedicate all their goods to the Lord’s services, giving gladly and freely the lesser as holding hope for greater things. Here the widow, poor as she is, deposits her entire living into God’s treasury.
3. For example, in the beginning God had regard for the gifts of Abel, because he offered them with simplicity and justice; for the sacrifice of Cain, however, he had no regard, because Cain’s heart was divided through jealousy and wickedness against his brother. God noted that when he exposed his hidden thoughts, Have you not sinned if you do offer rightly, but do not divide rightly? Calm yourself, because God is not appeased by sacrifice. For if one would attempt to make an offering purely and rightly and lawfully, however only according to outward appearances, but within his soul would not rightly share fellowship with his friend and would not fear God, he would not deceive God by the sacrifice that was offered rightly by outward appearance while having sin within. Nor would such a sacrifice profit him anything; rather, what is profitable is the giving up of evil that has been conceived within, lest this [evil], through the simulated action, but more through the sin, make man a killer of himself. With this in view the Lord said, Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like white-washed tombs, outwardly the tomb appears to be beautiful, but within it is full of dead men’s bones and of all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. To explain, though they were considered as offering rightly according to external appearances, still within themselves they had jealousy like Cain’s, for which reason they killed the just one and transgress the advice of the Lord, just as Cain did. For he said, Calm yourself, but he did not come to an agreement. What is calming oneself except to stop from intended attack?
In a similar strain Christ said, You blind Pharisees, first cleanse the inside of the cup and of the plate, that the outside also may be clean. But they did not listen. But Jeremiah said, But your eyes and your heart are not good, but are set upon dishonest gain, and upon shedding innocent blood, and upon oppression, and upon homicide. Isaiah too, You carry out a plan but not mine; and you made a league, but not by my spirit. Therefore in order that their inner will and intention, having been brought to light, may show that God is without fault and does not work evil (he is the kind who reveals the secrets but does not work evil) when Cain would not calm himself, he said to him, Its [sin’s] desire is for you, but you must master it. To Pilate he spoke in like manner, You would have no power over me, unless it had been given you from above. God always grants to one who is just that, having been tested by the things he suffers and endures, he may be received; but that the evildoer, having been condemned for what he did, may be expelled. Therefore, sacrifices do not sanctify man, for God does not need sacrifices; but the intention, when pure, of the one who offers, sanctifies the sacrifice and assures that God will accept it as from a friend. But the sinner who kills an ox for me is like one who kills a dog.
4. Since, therefore, the Church offers with simplicity, rightly has her gift been regarded by God as a pure sacrifice. On this point Paul wrote to the Philippians, I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. For it is necessary that we make an offering to God and be found pleasing in every respect to God the Maker, offering up the firstfruits of his creatures with a pure intention, sincere faith, firm hope, and fervent love. And this pure oblation the Church alone offers to the maker; she offers of his creation, with thanksgiving.
The Jews, on the contrary, no longer make an offering, for their hands are full of blood because they did not accept the Word through whom [the offering] is offered to God. But neither do all the assemblies of the heretics make an offering. Some, by asserting that there is another Father besides the Maker, show him to be covetous of what is not his own, and desirous of it, when they offer the things that belong to our creation. On the other hand, those who assert that our creation was made from degeneracy, ignorance, and suffering, sin against their Father when they offer him the fruits of ignorance, suffering, and degeneracy; they rather heap insult on him than offer him thanks. But how are they consistent in holding that the bread over which thanks was offered is the body of their Lord and that the chalice is his blood, if they do not hold that he is the Son of the Creator of the world, namely, his Word, through whom the trees fructify and the springs overflow, and the earth produces first the blade, then the ear, and finally the full wheat in the ear?
5. How, moreover, can they assert that the flesh that is nourished by the Lord’s body and blood will perish and will not receive life? So let them either change their opinion or abstain from offering the things mentioned. Contrariwise, our doctrine is in harmony with the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn confirms our doctrine. For we offer to God the things that are his own, while we proclaim harmoniously the communion and union of the flesh and the spirit. To explain, just as the bread, which is from the earth, when it receives the invocation of God, is no longer common bread, but the Eucharist, consisting of two things, the earthly and the heavenly, so also our bodies, when they receive the Eucharist, are no longer perishable, since they possess the hope of the resurrection.
6. We make an offering to him not as if he were in need, but to give thanks for the gift and to sanctify the creature. For in proportion as God does not need our things, we have need of making an offering of something to God. As Solomon said, He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord. For the God who has need of nothing, takes to himself our good actions in order to bestow on us his goods in reward. This is what Our Lord said, Come, O 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; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you welcomed me; I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. Therefore, just as he does not need these things and still wills that they be done for our sake lest we be unfruitful, so the same Word gave to the people the commandment of making offerings, though he did not need them, that the people might learn to serve God. In the same way, he wills that we offer the gift at the altar frequently without intermission. There is, therefore, an altar in heaven: for to that place our prayers and our offerings are directed; there is a temple too: as John says in the Apocalypse: And God’s temple was opened. And there is a tent. He said, Behold, the tent of God, in which he will dwell with men.