HOMILY 44
HOMILY 44
"Now, Abraham rose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before God."
Peeeg|ESTERDAY'S [405] THEME of the Samaritan woman gave us adequate [406] instruction in the Lord's ineffable longsuffering and surpassing concern for her, as well as her gratitude.? You saw how she came to draw material water but in fact drew from divine streams coming from an invisible spring, and thus went off home, fulfilling the word of the Lord, "The water that I shall give will become a spring of water in him gushing forth to life everlasting."*
Once she had drunk her fill of that divine and spiritual spring, remember, she did not keep the waters to herself but overflowed, so to say, and poured out on the inhabitants of the town as well the grace of the gift given her; the woman, the Samaritan, the foreigner, immediately turned preacher.
You saw how important gratitude of soul is, you saw the Lord's loving kindness in not scorning anyone but immediately directing his grace to anyone, be it woman or pauper— wherever at all he finds a spirit watchful and alive.
(2) Accordingly, I beseech you, let us also imitate this woman and receive the teachings of the Spirit with close attention. They are not our words, you see, nor do we utter with our own tongue whatever we say; instead, we are guided by the Lord's loving kindness for the sake of your salvation and the building up of the Church of God. So do not have
1. Gen 19.27.
2. This, in fact, was not the theme of Homily 43; the reference is lost on us, and we are encouraged to think that particularly in this post-Easter period the Genesis homilies were not necessarily given on successive days without interruption. See n. 5, infra.
3. John 4.14.
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regard to my person as a speaker, dearly beloved, nor my poverty of expression, but to the fact that I pass on what comes from the Lord; so keep your thoughts fixed on the one who has commissioned me and in this way receive my words with lively attention.
(3) This is true in human affairs, too. When the emperor wearing his crown dispatches letters, the bearer of them is in fact of no account in himself but only someone unimportant, often with no lineage to claim, an obscure son of obscure parents. Yet those due to receive them, while giving no heed to him personally, still pay him great respect also on account of the emperor's letters, and they receive the letters in great fear and complete silence. If, then, that person who brings the letters of a human being, and bears paper and nothing more, is given a welcome by everyone, much more would you be right in receiving with great attention the sayings of the Spirit sent to you by means of us, and thus win a great reward for your right attitude. You see, if the Lord of all sees your enthusiasm of spirit, he will also provide you with generous assistance with a view to your upbuilding and will grant you deeper understanding so as to grasp what is said. After all, the grace of the Spirit is abundant and, far from undergoing any diminution when poured out on everyone, it is rather increased by distribution, and the more numerous those who share in it, the more widely the effects of grace are felt.'
(4) So come now, if you don't mind, let us take up the thread of what we said the other day® and see where we closed the sermon and at what point we ought resume it today.
Where, then, did we break our sermon and conclude our in4. This passage expresses in striking form Chrysostom's thinking on Scripture and his role as scriptural commentator; the simile of the emperor's letters is akin to that in Homily 2, of Moses delivering letters from God. He sees himself speaking under divine inspiration (some manuscripts employ in place of "guided" the word Chrysostom normally uses for "inspired," enéchoumenos, as applied to biblical authors): when he speaks, it is the Spirit speaking. He is commissioned to "pass on" what comes from the Lord, for the salvation of his listeners and the building up of the Church—all arising from God's loving kindness.
5If proen is to be taken to mean, as often, "the day before yesterday," we can understand how the sermon on the Samaritan woman intervened.
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struction? We outlined to you the story of Lot [407] and the burning of Sodom, and we stopped our sermon at the point where the just man arrived safely at Segor. "The sun came out on the earth," the text said, remember, "and Lot entered
Segor,"® and then that divinely inspired rage fell upon Sodom, causing the destruction of the earth; the just man's wife forgot the words of the angels, looked back, and was turned into a pillar of salt, providing later generations with an everlasting reminder of her indifference.
(5) Today, therefore, it is necessary to press on to the sequel and say something briefly so that once again you may realize the compassion and affection of the patriarch and God's favor towards him. At sunrise, remember, the good man Lot arrived safely at Segor whereas the inhabitants of Sodom met their just desserts; the patriarch both pitied them for the destruction they suffered on account of their own lawlessness and at the same time was very anxious about the good man, and so he rose early, the text says, to find out what had happened. "Abraham rose early in the morning," the text says, remember, "and went to the place where he had stood before God; he looked in the direction of the district of Sodom and Gomorrah, and, lo and behold, he saw flame rising up from the earth like steam from an oven."' Reaching that place, the text says, where he had held conversation with the Lord and made intercession for the Sodomites, he saw the traces of that fearful punishment and was anxious to find news of the good man. This, after all, is the way with holy people: to be caring and compassionate.
(6) To teach us that the grace of the Spirit imparted to him knowledge about him so as to relieve him of his anxiety about Lot at the same time, Sacred Scripture says, "When the Lord wiped out the cities of the district, God was mindful of Abraham and dispatched Lot from the midst of the destruction."*
What is the meaning of "God was mindful of Abraham"? Of the petition he made, it means, in saying, "'Surely you won't
GnGeng. 23:
7. Gen 19.27—28, briefer than the Hebrew or LXX.
8. Gen 19.29.
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destroy the good along with the impious?'"'* So why, someone may ask, was the just man saved because of the patriarch's petition and not because of his own goodness? True, it was also because of the patriarch's petition; after all, when we do what lies in us, the intercession of the just also brings us the greatest benefit. If we are indifferent ourselves while placing the hope of our salvation in them alone, it is of no further benefit to us—not because the just are powerless but because we undermine them through our own indifference.
(7) For proof that whenever we are negligent, even if those interceding for us are just or even prophets, no benefit comes to us from it (they give evidence of their own virtue by those actions, you see, whereas no advantage will come to us from our behavior), listen to the God of all speaking to the prophet
Jeremiah, who was sanctified in the womb: "Do not pray for this people, because I will not heed you."!° See the Lord's loving kindness: he makes the prediction to the prophet lest, when ignored after interceding, he should think it happened through fault of his. Hence he foretells the people's wickedness to him and bids him not to pray so that he too may be in a position to realize the extremity of their evil behavior and they may learn that the prophet is of no advantage to them if they themselves are not prepared to do what lies in them.
(8) Mindful of this, [408] dearly beloved, let us have recourse to the intercession of the saints and call on them to intercede for us, but let us not only have confidence in their prayers but let us also manage our affairs properly and undergo a change for the better so as to provide grounds for the intercession made on our behalf. This is what the Lord of all said to another prophet as well: "Don't you see what they are up to? They are heating fat and making offerings to the heavenly host,"!! as if to say to him, Do you intercede for them with me even though they have not ceased their evilg. Gen 18.22.
10. Jer 7.16, abbreviated.
11. Jer 7.17-18 abbreviated. De Montfaucon is quick to observe that Chrysostom is quoting not another but the same prophet, Jeremiah; it is also the same passage as before.
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doing and have no sense of the ailment afflicting them but rather act as though they had nothing wrong with them?
Don't you see their utter arrogance? Have you no eye for their extreme folly? How could they ever fail to have their fill of impiety, but instead, like a pig in the mire, wallow in their own transgressions? After all, surely if they were prepared to be converted they would not put off all appeals? Am I not the one who cries aloud through the prophets, "And I said after her profligacy, 'After this, return to me,' but she did not retarn'?* (g) I mean, surely I seek nothing else than a mere cessation of their wickedness and a stop to their evil? Surely I look for no accounting of past deeds if I see them willing to change?
Do I not cry aloud each day, "Surely I have no real wish for the death of the sinner as for his conversion and life"?!5 Do I not take every means to snatch from destruction those ensnared in deceit? Surely, after all, if I see them changing, I will not hesitate? Am I not the one who says, "While you are still speaking I will say, 'Lo, I am here'"?!* Surely they themselves are not so anxious for their own salvation as all peoples being saved and coming to the knowledge of truth is an object of concern to me?! Surely I don't bring you from non-being for the purpose of destroying you? It is not in vain that I prepared the kingdom and the countless good things beyond description, was it? Did I not also make the threat of hell for the purpose of encouraging everyone by this means also to hasten towards the kingdom?
(10) Accordingly, O blessed prophet, do not exclude those people in addressing your petition to me; instead, let this be your one concern, to have their ailment cured, to bring them to a sense of their wickedness and lead them to health, and then my blessings will follow in every way. You see, I do not hesitate, I do not delay when I see a soul that is well disposed:
I look for one thing alone, confession of sins, and no longer do I press charges on the sinners. Surely, after all, what is
12. Jer 3:7.
13. Ezek 18.23.
14. Is 58.9.
Dean Cte Mime eed.
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proposed by me is not heavy and burdensome, is it? If I did not know that they would become worse by not confessing their former sins, I would not even look for that. But as I know the human race lapses all the more into wickedness, I wish them to confess their former sins for this reason, that confession may prove an obstacle to their falling into the same sins.
(11) Taking all this into account, therefore, dearly beloved, and considering our Lord's loving kindness, let us not be negligent but first take great care of ourselves, cleanse the stain of our sins and thus hasten to take advantage of the intercession of the saints. You see, provided we are prepared to be vigilant and alert, even by our own appeals we will obtain the greatest benefit. After all, since our Lord is loving, he does not accede to requests on our behalf by others as readily as he does to our own. See the extraordinary degree of his goodness: [409] if he sees us giving offence, suffering dishonor, having no confidence, and then gradually rising from our depression and wishing to have recourse to the riches of his loving kindness, he immediately accedes to our requests, extends his hand to us in our abjection and raises us where we have fallen, crying aloud, "Surely the fallen will not fail to riser' * (12) For you to learn, however, even from experience that many people succeed in attaining what they seek by making entreaty on their own rather than by means of others, it is necessary to parade before you those who have so attained in order that we may emulate them and be prompted to imitation. Accordingly, let us hear how that Canaanite woman, foreigner though she was and sorrowful in spirit, when she saw the physician of souls and the Sun of justice arising on those sitting in darkness, made her approach with ardent and lively enthusiasm, not made more reluctant by her being a woman or a foreigner; rather, overcoming all obstacles she came forward and said, "Have pity on me, Lord, my daughter is sorely
16. Jer 8.4.
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abused by a demon."!" But he who understands the unspoken thoughts of the mind kept silence and did not reply, not sparing her a word nor showing pity for the woman on seeing her approach with such lamentation; instead, he put her off, wishing to make the treasure lying unnoticed in the woman obvious to everyone. You see, he recognized the hidden pearl that he did not want to escape us; his purpose in putting her off and not deigning to reply to her was that the woman's earnest intercession should prove a lesson for everyone in future.
(13) See God's ineffable goodness: whereas he did not reply, the text says, the disciples were inclined to be more compassionate and kind but did not dare to say openly, Grant her request, have mercy on her, take pity on her. Instead, what did they say? "Have done with her, she's calling out after us,"!® as if to say, Free us from this nuisance, spare us the noise made by her. So what did the Lord do? Do you think there was no reason why I have kept silence, he said, and didn't grant her a reply? Listen: "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house in Israel."! Don't you know, he says, that the woman is a foreigner? Don't you know that I have already bidden you not to take the gentile road? So why do you heedlessly make a display of compassion? Consider God's inventive wisdom in that, although he had decided to reply, he dealt with the woman more severely than by his silence, delivering, as it were, a final blow in his wish to provoke her gradually so that the disciples, who were unaware of the faith concealed within her, might come to realize it.
(14) She, on the contrary, did not lose heart or become less persistent through seeing that the disciples achieved nothing further, nor did she say to herself, If not even they have succeeded in the appeal that they have been making on my behalf, why should I make an idle and vain entreaty? Instead, as though set alight by fire, with mind ablaze and heart in 17. Matt 15.22. Chrysostom had adduced the example of the Canaanite woman also in Homily 38.
18. Matt 15.23.
19. Matt 15.24.
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anguish, she falls at his feet and pleads, "Lord, help me."
He still does not yield to the woman, but makes a severer reply than before. "It is not proper to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."*! Consider, dearly beloved, the remarkable desire of her soul in this case and her extraordinary faith: when she heard the word "dogs," far from being distressed or retiring, she replied with great respect, [410]
"True, Lord; even the dogs eat scraps from their masters' table."2? I admit, she says, being a dog; so, as a dog grant me to be worthy of scraps from the table. Do you see the woman's faith and sincerity? She accepted his word, and immediately attained the object of her efforts, and attained it with lavish praise.
(15) What, in fact, did Christ say? "O woman, great is your faith: let it be done to you as you wish."?3 "OQ woman'—wonderful word, a remark redolent of warm commendation. You have given evidence of great faith, he says; consequently the things you want will come your way. See the lavishness of his generosity and the Lord's remarkable wisdom. Did we not think at the outset that he was rather lacking in compassion to repel her in that way and at first grant her not even a reply, but later through his first reply and the second one more or less rebuffing her and scaring away the woman approaching him with such ardent desire? From the conclusion, however, recognize God's goodness in employing such tardiness for the reason of his wish to render her more conspicuous. I mean, if he had acceded immediately, we would have been ignorant of the woman's virtue; but when he put her off we could understand his ineffable love and the extraordinary degree of her faith.
(16) Now, we were obliged to bring all this story to your notice so that we might learn that we get our way in prayer, not so much by means of others as on our own, when we make our petition with ardor and mind alert. Though she had the disciples interceding for her, notice, she succeeded in 20. Matt 15.25.
21. Matt 15.26.
22. Matt 15.27.
23. Matt 15.28.
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gaining nothing until she persisted on her own account and so won over the Lord's loving kindness. And that parable of the friend coming to the house at dead of night suggests the same thing. "Even if he will not respond to him on account of being his friend," remember, "at least because of his importunity he will get up and give him what he asks."24 So knowing our Lord's unspeakable love let us approach him, revealing and, as it were, placing before our eyes our sins in all their various kinds, and beg pardon for those in the past so that by showing great care in the future we may win greater favor from him.
(17) If you don't mind, however, let us pick up the thread of the reading." "Now, Lot went up to Segor and settled in the hill country with his two daughters, as they were afraid to live in Segor. He dwelt in a cave with his two daughters."26
Sull, having a lively fear of the punishment inflicted on Sodom, the just man traveled far and settled in the hill country with his daughters, the text says, and so it happened that he was dwelling in extreme isolation and solitude with his two daughters in the hill country. "Now, the elder said to the younger," the text goes on, "'Our father is rather old, and there is no one in the land who will come to us as is customary in all the land. Come, let us ply our father with wine and sleep with him, and let us raise up seed of our father.'"?7
(18) Let us listen, dearly beloved, with caution and great fear to the contents of the divine Scriptures: there is nothing written there idly and to no purpose; instead, everything is said carefully and to our advantage, even if we don't understand parts of it. You see, we can't understand everything precisely; on the contrary, even if we try to assign causes
[411] for some things to the extent possible to us, yet it still holds within it some treasure that is hidden and difficult to 24. Luke 11.8.
25. It has been, by any standards, a lengthy digression to establish the point that, valuable though intercession on the part of others is, one's own prayer and virtuous behavior is indispensable. One wonders how a preacher could think all this a relevant expansion of "God was mindful of Abraham"—unless some other purpose was served.
26. Gen 19.30.
27. Gen 19.31—32.
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interpret.2* So consider how Scripture narrated everything clearly and made known to us the intent of the just man's daughters, in one place making an adequate excuse for them, in another for the just man, lest anyone should have regard only to what took place and condemn either the good man or his daughters on the score of the licentiousness of this union.
(19) The text says, "The older said to the younger, 'Our father is rather old, and there is no one in the land who will come to us as is customary in all the land.'" Scrutinize their intent, and acquit them of any crime: they thought that total destruction had taken place and no one was still left alive; then they also saw their father's old age. So, in case the race should disappear, the text says, and we should be left without descendants (this, you see, was of particular concern to the ancients, that their line should continue through succession of offspring)—so in case we too should have to suffer complete annihilation as our father slips into old age and there is no man to be found whom we can get to. mate with us and leave a succession of progeny, ""'Come,'" she said, to avoid this "'let us ply our father with wine.'" Since our father would never have brought himself to countenance even a word of this, let us put the stratagem into effect by means of wine. "They plied their father with wine that night, and the elder sister went in and slept with her father; he was unaware of her sleeping with him or getting up."?°
(20) Do you see how Sacred Scripture made excuses for the Just man not once but twice? I mean, firstly from what the daughters did in practicing deceit with the aid of wine it showed that they would otherwise have been unable to convince their father to be part of it, whereas in this latter case
I think what happened later took place because of design from on high so that he was so far oblivious of it as to be
28. This is a fair statement of Chrysostom's hermeneutical stance, based on his limited exegetical skills. For him, lacking critical awareness of the complexity of the formation of the patriarchal narratives, rationalizing was a much invoked rule of thumb, but, as he admits here, rationalizing can take the commentator only so far.
29. Gen 19.33.
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completely unaware and so proved to be guiltless of sin. You see, those sins utterly condemn us which we commit knowingly and willingly. On the contrary, do you see Scripture giving testimony to the just man that he was completely unaware of what happened? Still another question, however, arises in the case of intoxication. What I mean is that everything should be carefully studied so that no occasion should be left to those of bad will and no sense of shame. So what should we say about it? That the instance of drunkenness befell him not so much from incontinence as from depression.
(21) Accordingly, let no one ever presume to condemn the Just man or his daughters. After all, how could it be other than a mark of extreme folly and stupidity on our part, laden as we are with such countless burdens of sin, to condemn those whom Sacred Scripture discharges of all sin and for whom it rather even supplies such a remarkable defense, instead of heeding the words of Paul, "With God as your champion, who can condemn you?"*® For you to learn that it was not idly or to no purpose that this happened but rather that his excessive depression allowed him to have no sense of being plied with wine, listen to what it goes on to say. "Now, it happened that next day the elder daughter said to the younger, 'Lo, last night I slept with our father; so let us ply him [412] with wine tonight as well, and you go in and sleep with him, and let us raise up seed of our father.'"*! Do you see how they did this from a right attitude?*? I mean, she is saying, I was able to achieve the object of my desires, and you ought to do the same thing; after all, perhaps our hopes will come to be realized and our line will not go into oblivion.
(22) "They plied their father with wine that night, too, and the younger daughter went in and slept with her father; he
30. Rom 8.33-34.
31. Gen 19.34.
32. Chrysostom's defense of these two women runs counter to his usual pattern, and is all the more surprising considering the conduct involved. It is therefore ironical that this departure from practice on Chrysostom's part runs counter to modern critical comment on the significance of the Hebrew narrative, such as Von Rad's, "Without doubt the narrative now contains indirectly a severe judgment on the incest in Lot's house" (Genesis, p. 224).
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was unaware of her sleeping with him or getting up."** Consider, dearly beloved, that the whole exploit was conducted by God's design as with the first formed human being: as in that case, while he was asleep God allowed him to have no sensation while he took a part of his rib, shaped that rib into a woman and presented her to Adam. Exactly the same thing happened here: if the removal of the rib happened without causing pain after God put him into a trance, much more so did that happen here. What Sacred Scripture said there, "He caused a drowsiness to come upon Adam and he fell asleep,"** it also indicated here by saying, "He was unaware of her sleeping with him or getting up. They both conceived children of their father," the text goes on. "The elder daughter bore a son, and called him Moab, meaning, of my father; he is the ancestor of the Moabites. The younger daughter also bore a son, and called him Amman, meaning, son of my race; he is the ancestor of the Ammanites."*° (23) Do you see how the exploit did not arise from incontinence for the reason that they immediately gave names to the children to commemorate the event and made a record of the exploit by the names of the children, as if by some commemorative column, so as to foretell that peoples would descend from them and the race of their offspring would develop into a huge number. One would, in fact, be the ancestor of the Moabites, Scripture says; the other, ancestor of the Ammanites. Now, in those times, since it was at the very origin of things and people wanted to leave a memorial of themselves through the continuation of the race, the just man's daughters demonstrated such anxiety in that regard. Today, on the contrary, since through the grace of God the practice of religion has spread and, according to blessed Paul, "the form of this world is now passing away,"*° let us leave a memorial of ourselves through the practice of good works so that after our passing from here the propriety of our perfect lifestyle will prove a reminder and instruction to those reflect33. Gen 19.35.
34. Gen 2.21.
35. Gen 19.36—38.
36. 1 Cor 7.31.
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ing on us. People who are virtuous and live a life of continence, you see, can be of greatest benefit to those who observe them, not simply while they happen to be in this life, but even after passing from this life.
(24) For proof of this, consider, I ask you, what a great number of years has passed till today and how frequently we would have wished to encourage some people to emulation of this continence. We have brought to your attention Joseph, that fine, comely young man in the very prime of life, giving evidence of such fortitude in the cause of continence, and in this way we have been anxious to stir the listeners to imitation of the just man. After all, tell me, who could adequately marvel at this blessed man for the fact that, despite his finding himself enslaved and being in the bloom of youth, a time when the fire of passion is more ardently enkindled, he saw his mistress frantic to get her hands on him and yet gave evidence of such fortitude and so prepared himself for the contest chastity involves, that, though bereft of garments in fleeing [413] from that willful woman, he was nevertheless clad in the vesture of continence? We can see in this a novel and surprising example of a sheep falling into the clutches of a wolf, or rather, of a lioness, and succeeding in being saved; like a dove fleeing from attack by a hawk, so the good man escapes that woman's clutches.
(25) In my view, not so remarkable was the case of those three children who in the middle of that awful Babylonian furnace remained safe from the fire, and whose bodies came to no further harm, compared with the remarkable and surprising example of this just man falling into this furnace more lethal than the Babylonian one—I mean the Egyptian woman's incontinence—and remaining unharmed and emerging from it with the vesture of continence preserved unstained. Do you see how virtuous people prove an occasion of benefit to us, both while present here on earth and after passing from here? The reason, you see, that we drew this just man to your attention at this time was that we might all follow his example.
(26) Accordingly, let us all imitate him, prove superior to
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pleasures, and in the knowledge "that our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the powers, authorities, and rulers of the darkness of this age,"*" let us so arm ourselves; mindful that we, who are clad in a body, are forced to do battle with incorporeal powers, let us bring to our defense the weapons of the Spirit. You see, since we in our fleshly condition have to do battle with the invisible powers, the loving Lord provided us also with invisible weapons for this purpose that we might prevail over the enemies of our nature through the power of these weapons. Trusting, then, in the power of these weapons let us contribute what lies within us, and under the protection of this spiritual armor we will manage to strike the very eyes of the devil. In fact, he cannot bear the light flashing from that source, but even if he tries to confront it his eyes will be immediately blinded. You see, whenever there is self-control, sobriety and a numerous concert of virtues, there, also, the grace of the Spirit wings its way in generous measure. Hence, Paul too said, "Make peace with everyone your object, as also your own sanctification."** So let us purify our conscience, I beseech you, and cleanse our thinking, so that, free from all uncleanness of mind, we may win the grace of the Spirit, prevail over the devil's wiles, and be found worthy of those ineffable blessings. May it be the good fortune of us all to enjoy them, thanks to the grace and loving kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be the glory, now and forever, for ages of ages..
Amen.
37. Eph 6.12.
38. Heb 12.14.