Book I, Homily 9 Remixed: Fear God, Not the Reaper (Author Unknown)

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It should be no surprise that we fear death in proportion to our interest in power, fame, and fortune. Death deprives us of our job titles, bank accounts, and every other possession from which we try to extract happiness. If we have these things in the proportions we desire, we consider ourselves to be happy. But if we lose some or all of what we possess and see no hope of retrieving them, we then easily become unhappy. “FML,” thinks the person focused entirely on ambition and acquisition, “will I now depart forever from my titles, treasures, beloved country, friends, bank accounts, investments, and all the good things I like that can money can buy, which are the joy and delight of my heart? FTS, that the day should come when I should say goodbye to all that and never enjoy it ever after!”

            Indeed, Ben Sirach is justified when he writes, “O how bitter and sour is it for a man lives in peace and prosperity in his own property, living in leisure as he chooses without trouble, pampered and well-fed, to recall that he must die” (Ecclus. 41:1).

            The world does not smile upon us all, of course. Some of us suffer because of poverty, illness, or other adversities. And these unfortunates fear death as well, because our bodies naturally dislike the prospect of inactivity, decay, and dissolution which death promises them. Or they fear death because of the horrible pain often precedes death, particularly during chronic and lingering illnesses.

            These two reasons to fear death seem big and important to us, yet we should fear death for a reason much more important than the ones I have given. Our interest in power, fame, and fortune and concern for the pleasure and integrity of our body without repenting for our sins and allowing our life to be changed by grace puts us at risk of a state and condition after death known as “the second death” (Rev. 21:8), which will come to all of the unrepentant after the first death of the body. And this is the death that should terrify us, for that death will bring the irretrievable loss of the grace and favor of God, eternal joy, pleasure, and happiness. And this is not all. Those who experience the second death not only lose these eternal pleasures but also are condemned without hope of redemption to the eternal punishment of hell.

Into this state death sent the unmerciful and ungodly rich man described in the Gospel of Luke (Lk. 16:19-31), who living in all wealth and pleasure, indulged himself with haute cuisine and haute couture and despised poor Lazarus, who lay at his gate seeking pity while sick, starving, and covered with sores. Both these men died. Angels took Lazarus, the poor sufferer, to Abraham’s bosom, a place of rest, pleasure, and healing. But the unmerciful rich man descended into hell; and cried out for comfort in the midst of his suffering, complaining of the intolerable pain that he suffered in the flames of fire. But it was too late. So it is to hell that the death of our bodies sends all those that have had joy and happiness in this world but have not been faithful to God or loving to their neighbors and so have died without repentance and hope of God’s mercy. Therefore, it should be no surprise that we fear death; many of us have much more cause to do so than we believe.

 I have described three reasons why we might fear death: (1) because death will cause us to lose what power, fame, and fortune we have gained in this life and the pleasures that come with it; (2) because horrible pain often precedes death; but the third and chief reason is fear of the eternal condemnation and punishment of body and soul, which we fear will follow our departure from the pleasures of this present life.

            The Scriptures tell us that our very fear of death has enslaved us to the pursuit of the pleasures of the world alone, so that we fall into sin (Heb. 2:15). But we should be forever grateful to God that neither one of these causes nor all of them put together should make Christians fear death, for Christians are the very limbs of Christ, the temple of the Holy Spirit, children of God, and heirs of the everlasting kingdom of heaven (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19).

Instead, there are many significant reasons undoubtedly grounded upon the faultless and eternal truth of God’s word that should encourage Christians to have no fear of bodily death. And indeed because of the many benefits and opportunities created by death, Christians should wish, desire, and long enthusiastically for death. For death to a Christian is no death at all but indeed a rescue from death, from all of the pain, anxiety, sadness, and imperfection of this world, and the beginning of rest, eternal joy, and the tasting of heavenly pleasures so great that tongue is not able to express, eye is unable to see, ear cannot hear, nor anyone living in the created worlds can imagine them (1 Cor. 2:9). These are the exceedingly generous benefits that God our heavenly Father, out of his one way merciful love for the human species and out of His love for Son Jesus Chris Christ, has prepared for those who humbly submit to God’s will, and truly love Him from the bottom of their hearts each and every day.

            And we should believe that death, having been destroyed by Christ, cannot keep anyone that steadfastly trusts in Christ under its perpetual tyranny and subjection. Those who trust in Christ will rise from death again to glory at the Day of Judgment selected by Almighty God, just as Christ, our Head rose again, according to God’s design upon the third day. For St. Augustine says that where the Head goes, the rest of the Body can trust and be trusted to follow. And St. Paul says that if Christ has risen from the dead, we will as well (1 Cor. 15:20-25). And to comfort Christians about their deaths, the Holy Scriptures call the death of our bodies “a time of sleeping” (John 16: 11,13; Acts 7:60; 1 Thess. 4:13-18). Like in sleep, our senses will be taken away from us for a time, and we will awake with our senses refreshed to a higher state than when we fell asleep. So, although our souls and bodies will be separated for some time, yet at the general resurrection of the dead, we will be more fresh, beautiful, and perfect than we are now. For now we are mortal, then we will be immortal. Now we suffer from many weaknesses, but then we will be free of every weakness of body and mind; now we feel so many desires for power, fame, fortune, and pleasure, then we will become spiritual, desiring nothing but to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

            Therefore, the death of our bodies is merely the door to eternal life and is not worthy of our fear and anxiety, if we think about it carefully. It is a comfort, not a burden, but the relief of every burden. It is not an enemy, but a friend; not a cruel tyrant, but a gentle guide, leading us, not to mortality, but to immortality, not to sorrow and pain, but to joy and pleasure that will last forever; if we receive it with thanksgiving, accept it as God’s messenger, and bear it patiently for the love of Christ, who died most painfully for us out of love for us and to redeem us from eternal death. And thus, St. Paul tells us, “Our life is hid with Christ in God, but when our Life will appear, then we will also will appear with Him in glory” (Col. 3:3-4).

            Why then are we afraid to die, when we consider the many comforting promises of the Gospel and the Holy Scriptures?  St. John tells us, “God the Father has given us eternal life and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life and whoever does not have the Son does not have life” (1 John 5:11-12). And he also writes, “I write to you that believe in the Name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life and should continue to believe in the Name of the Son of God” (1 John 5:13). And Our Savior Christ says, “He who believes in me has eternal life, and I will raise him from death to life at the last day” (John 6:40, 47). St. Paul says, “Christ has been chosen and appointed by God to be our righteousness, holiness, and redemption, so that all who boast [of their merits] should boast instead about the Lord” (1 Cor. 1:30,31). St. Paul considered everything He had done before he found Jesus to be of very little value, “appraising what I considered nearly priceless to be worth as much as shit in comparison to being part of Christ” and having true holiness, righteousness, and redemption (Phil. 3:7-11). Finally, St. Paul makes a clear argument on this subject as follows, “If our heavenly Father would not spare his only Son but offered Him to death in exchange for us, how can He deny us anything?” (Rom. 8:32). Therefore, if we have Christ, then we possess by Him and through Him everything good, whatever we can wish or desire in our hearts, such as victory over death, sin, and hell. We have the favor of God, peace with Him, holiness, wisdom, justice, power, life, and redemption; we have through Him eternal health, wealth, joy, and bliss.

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In the first part, I showed that there were three reasons why people commonly fear death; (1) because it separates them from their possessions and pleasures in life; (2) because of the pain and suffering that often comes with death; and most of all, (3) because they fear extreme misery and eternal damnation after death. And yet none of these three causes trouble good people; because they soothe their fears by true faith, perfect charity, and certain hope of endless joy and everlasting bliss.

            All of those that are united to Christ with true faith, steadfast hope, and perfect charity should be full of joy and fear neither death nor eternal damnation. For death cannot deprive them of Jesus Christ, nor can any sin condemn those grafted tightly onto Him, who is their only joy, treasure, and life. Let us repent of our sins, amend our lives, trust in His mercy and that He has paid for our sins, and then death can neither take Him from us, nor us from Him. For in that case, as St. Paul says, “whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord” (Rom. 8:1). And in another place he says, “Christ died and rose again, so that he would be Lord both of the living and the dead” (Rom. 14:8-9). Then, if we are the Lord’s own when we are dead, it follows in consequence that death of our body cannot harm us but benefits us greatly and puts us in closer relationship with God. And of the closer relationship to God that comes through death, St Paul writes, “God has prepared us for immortality and has given us a security deposit in the form of His Holy Spirit. Therefore, let us be free of anxiety, for we know that as long as we are in our bodies, we are as far from God,” as if we were traveling in lands far from home, at risk from many dangers and “walking without perfect sight” and knowledge of Almighty God, only seeing Him by faith in the Holy Scriptures, “but we are filled with courage and desire instead to be at home with God” (2 Cor. 5:5-8) and Our Savior Christ, far from the body, “where we may behold His Godhead as He really is, face to face” (1 John 3:2; 1 Cor. 13:12) to our eternal comfort.

            St. Paul is comparing life in this world to immigrating as an exile to a strange country far from God; and that death, delivering us from our bodies, honorably returns from exile into our native land and enables us to live with God forever in eternal rest and quietness. So dying is no loss but immensely profitable and victorious to all true Christians.

            What did the thief that hung on the cross next to Christ lose by his bodily death? Nothing. His death was only to his benefit. Did not our Savior say to him, “Today, you shall be with me in Paradise” (Lk. 23:43)? And consider Lazarus, an utterly destitute man camping out at a rich man’s gate while starving and covered with sores. Did not death do him good and greatly improve his condition? For death placed him into the ministering hands of angels, who brought him into Abraham’s bosom, a place of rest, joy, and heavenly consolation. Therefore, let us believe that Christ has prepared and made ready those same joyful and happy accommodations for us that he prepared for Lazarus and the thief. And so let us cling to His salvation and gracious redemption, believe His word, serve Him from our hearts, love and obey Him; and let us repent of whatever we have done contrary to His most holy will and eagerly amend our lives, being certain that we will find that He is as merciful to us as he was to Lazarus and the thief. The Holy Scriptures provide us these examples for the comfort of sinners and those who suffer sorrow, misery, or calamity in this world, so that that we do not think that God’s mercy is not meant for us but trust that our sins can be forgiven and life eternal be granted us, just as it was to Lazarus and the thief.

            Thus I trust that every Christian can see in the infallible word of God that bodily death cannot harm nor hinder true believers in Christ but indeed benefits and improves the condition of Christian souls who practice true repentance, charity, and faith in God’s mercy and forgiveness through the merits of Jesus Christ, his only Son.

            The second cause of the fear of death is the fear of pain that precedes or accompanies death. This fear is the fear of our weak flesh and a natural consequence of being mortal creatures. But true faith in God’s promises, regard for the extremity of Christ’s suffering on the cross for wretched sinners, and anticipation of joyful eternal life in heaven should calm and moderate this fear. Certainly, our fear does not need to get in the way of the healthy desire and happiness that the Christian soul has to be separated from its corrupt body and come into the gracious presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ. If we firmly believe the word of God, we shall view illness, the suffering of death, or whatever awful pain we suffer before or at the time of death to be the loving correction of our heavenly Father, which He administers to us: (1) either to demonstrate the power of his patient children and be made praiseworthy, glorious, and honorable in his sight when Jesus Christ shall be revealed as the Judge of all the world; or (2) else to discipline and fix whoever offends his fatherly and gracious goodness so that they do not suffer eternal death. And this rod of correction is common to all of those who truly are His children.

            Therefore, “let us throw off the burden of sin that weighs so heavily” on our necks and return to God by true repentance and amendment of our lives. “Let us with patience run the race” suffering all sorrows, the pain of death, and death itself (when God sends it to us) for the sake of Him who died for our salvation, “having our eyes fixed and firmly set upon the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, Jesus Christ; who considering the joy into which He would enter” disdained the shame and pain of death and willingly bent and fit his will to His Father’s will “patiently suffering the most shameful pain and death of the cross” being innocent and harmless. Now therefore He is exalted in heaven and sits eternally at the right hand of God the Father (Phil. 2:9). Let us recall therefore the life and joys of heaven that are kept for all those who patiently suffer here with Christ and consider that Christ was tortured painfully and put to death by sinners and yet these things were done for the good of sinners; and then with patience and greater ease, we will suffer such sorrows and pains when they come. Let us not despise the Lord’s correction, nor form a grudge against Him, nor turn away from Him, when He corrects us, for the Lord loves all those whom He corrects and chastises every child He acknowledges (Prov. 3:11-12). “Has anyone heard of a child”, St. Paul says, “who is loved but is not disciplined by his or her father. If you are without God’s correction, whom all his dearly loved and true children have, then you are illegitimate [lightly regarded by God] and not his true children. In this world, our earthly parents disciplined us and we came to fear them and respect their discipline. Should we not have greater respect for the discipline of our heavenly Father, through whom we have eternal life? And our earthly parents sometimes disciplined us unwisely and unfairly, but this Father justly disciplines us, so that we repent of our sins and amend our lives, but also to make us wealthy spiritually by participating in His holiness. Moreover, all discipline which God uses in this present time seems to lack all joy and comfort and only contain sorrow and pain; yet it brings with it a taste of God’s mercy and goodness toward those that are disciplined and a certain hope of God’s everlasting consolation in heaven ”  (Heb. 12:1-11).

            If then these sorrows, diseases, and sicknesses, and also death itself, are nothing else but the way that our heavenly Father disciplines His naughty children and through which He assures us of His love and gracious favor, tests and purifies us, gives us holiness, and certifies us as the children of Our merciful Father, shall we not then humbly, as obedient and loving children (1 Pet. 1:14) embrace Our heavenly Father’s discipline, and echo in our hearts the cry of Our Savior Jesus Christ, “Father, if this anguish and sorrow which I feel, and death, which I see approach, may not pass, but it is your will that I suffer them, let your will be done”?  (paraphrase of Matt. 26:42).

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In this Homily against the Fear of Death, I declared two reasons why we might fear to die and argued that these reasons should not trouble faithful Christians when death comes but rather give them much reason to rejoice, because they shall be delivered from the sorrow and misery of this world and be brought to the great joy and happiness of the life to come.

            Now the third and special reason why death indeed is to be feared is the wretched condition of the ungodly after their death. This is, of course, no reason why godly and faithful people should fear death; but, on the contrary, their godly behavior in this life and belief in Christ, clinging continuously to his merits, should give them an almost painful desire for the life they shall have after the death of their bodies. The Holy Scriptures clearly discuss an immortal state after the changes and chances of this life, where we shall live eternally in God’s presence joyfully and at rest, having been made victorious over all sickness, sorrow, and death. These parts of Scripture should strengthen the doubtful against the fear of all grief, illness, sin, and bodily death, calm our trembling and ungodly fear, and encourage with the comfort and hope of a blessed state after this life. St. Paul prayed for the Ephesians, “that the God and Father of glory would give to them the spirit of wisdom and understanding that the eyes of their hearts would be enlightened to know Him,” to see how great were the things to which He had called them, and the richness of the inheritance He had prepared after this life for those who love Him (Eph. 1:17-18). And St. Paul himself declared that, “the desire of his heart was to be dissolved” and separated from his body “to be with Christ,” which he said was “much better for him, although it was more necessary for his auditors that he should live” a situation he accepted for their sake (Phil. 1:23-26). Indeed, St. Martin of Tours felt the same way and said, “Good Lord, if I am necessary to do good to your people, I will not refuse any task, but if not, I ask you to take my soul.”

            The holy fathers of the old Law, and all faithful and righteous men who died before our Savior Christ’s ascension into heaven, did escape their troubles by death and enter into rest, and fled from the hands of their enemies into the hands of God, from sorrows and sicknesses into joyful refreshment. The Scriptures clearly tell us that they entered the bosom of Abraham, a place full of comfort and consolation. The Book of Wisdom says that “the souls of the righteous are in the hands of God and torment can touch them. In the eyes of the unwise, they appeared to die, and their death was counted a misery and their departure from this world seemed wretched, but they are at rest” (Wisd. 3:1-3). And in another place, this book says, “the righteous shall live forever. Their reward is with the Lord and their minds are with God, who is above all: therefore, they shall receive a glorious kingdom and a beautiful crown at the Lord’s hand. And in addition, Wisdom says, “The righteous, though they die suddenly, will be at peace” (Wisd. 4:7). We should not doubt that Abraham’s bosom existed, Christ’s words are so obvious that a Christian needs no more proof of it (Lk. 16:22-25).

            Now then if this were the state of the holy fathers and righteous prior to the coming of our Savior and His glorification, how much more should we all have a steadfast faith and sure hope of this blessed state and condition after our death? Indeed, our Savior has performed the whole work of our redemption and has gloriously ascended into heaven to prepare dwelling places with Him and said to His Father, “Father, I desire that wherever I am, my servants shall be with me” (John 14:2-3; 17:24; 12:26). And we know that, whatever Christ desires, His Father desires the same. Therefore, there is no other conclusion we can make but that our souls will be with God after our departure from this present life, if we are His faithful servants.

            Consider St. Stephen. When he was stoned to death and in the midst of pain, what was he thinking about? The Acts of the Apostles says, “When he was full of the Holy Spirit, having lifted his eyes toward heaven, he saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at God’s right hand.” And when he had proclaimed what he was seeing boldly before the enemies of Christ, “they took him out of the city and stoned him there as he cried out to God, saying, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:55-59). And does not our Savior say clearly in the Gospel of John, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in Him who sent me, has eternal life and comes not to judgment but shall pass from death to life” (John 5:24)? Should we not consider death to be precious, because it is the way to life? Therefore, the Prophet truly said, “Precious in the sight of the Lord are the deaths of his servants” (Ps. 116:15). Holy Simeon, after he had checked off the chief item of his bucket list in seeing our Savior, for whom he had longed his entire life, he “took Him in his arms and said, ‘Now, Lord, let me depart in peace, for my eyes have seen the Savior whom you have prepared for all the world to see” (Lk. 2:28-31). It is true therefore that the death of the righteous is called peace and the benefit of the Lord, as the Church says in the name of righteous departed from this world, “Turn, O my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has been good to you and has rewarded you” (Ps. 116:7). And we see in the Holy Scriptures and the ancient histories of the Martyrs, that the holy, faithful, and righteous, ever since Christ’s Ascension, did not doubt at the hour of death that they would go to be with Christ in spirit, who is our life, health, wealth, and salvation.

            John in his holy Revelation saw 144,000 virgins and innocents, of whom he said, “These follow the Lamb [Jesus Christ] wherever He goes.” And shortly thereafter he writes, “I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Write, “blessed hereafter are the dead who die in the Lord, for they rest from their labors, says the Spirit, and their works do follow them”’” (Rev. 14:1-5, 13). So those who sowed with labor and pain will reap their crop with joy and comfort, for “those who sow in the Spirit, shall harvest eternal life through the Spirit. Let us therefore never tire of doing good, for when the harvest time arrives, we will reap without any exhaustion” eternal joy (Gal. 6:8-10). Therefore, as St. Paul encourages us, while we have time, let us do good to all and not accumulate treasure on earth, where rust and moth consume (Matt. 6:19), for that rust, St. James tells us, will testify against us at the Day of Judgment and shall torture our flesh like the flames of a fire (James 5:3).

            Let us beware of managing our money like those sad, grasping, and wretched people, whom St. James exhorts to mourn and bewail their greedy accumulation and ungodly hoarding of property (James 5:1-4). Let us wisely take a page from the good example of the wicked Steward (Luke 16:1-9). Let us wisely manage the possessions God has given us for the brief span of our lives that we may truly hear and obey this commandment of our Savior Christ : “Truly, I say to you, use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves, so that they may welcome you into eternal dwellings.” He called wealth wicked because property can be abused in a variety of wicked ways, even though it is otherwise the good gift of God and a means by which God’s servants can truly serve Him. He commanded His disciples not to make rich friends, to obtain high offices or titles of honor, or to give great gifts to rich people who do not need them but to make friends with poor and wretched people. Indeed, the gifts they receive, Christ regards as if they were made to Him. And Christ in the Gospels gives great honor and preeminence to the poor and wretched, for He says that they will welcome their friends into everlasting dwellings. He does not mean that the poor will reward us for the good we do them, but that Christ will reward us, accounting whatever good we do to such friends as done for Him. Thus if we make the poor and suffering our friends, we make Our Savior Christ our friend, for they are his hands and feet, whose misery He bears as His own misery and whose comfort, relief, and help He regards as His comfort, relief, and help. And He will thank and reward us for the good we show to the poor and suffering just as if we had done the same good to Him, as He testifies in the Gospels, saying, “Whatever you have done to the least of those who believe in Me, you have done it to Me” (Matt. 25:40; 10:42; 18:6).

            Therefore, let us diligently ensure that our faith and hope in Almighty God and Our Savior Christ neither shrink, nor our love for Christ grow cold, but let us eagerly each day show ourselves to be the true worshippers and lovers of God by keeping His commandments, doing good deeds to our needy neighbors, relieving their poverty with our abundance and plenty to the best of our ability, their ignorance with our wisdom and knowledge, and their spiritual weakness with our strength and authority. We should steer all from evil deeds by our godly advice and good example, persevering in doing good as long as we live. And if we do this, we will not need to fear death for any of the three reasons I have mentioned or for any other reason that can be imagined. On the contrary, we will view our lives as they really are: full of many sicknesses, troubles, and sorrows; a perilous pilgrimage in which our spirits are weighed down heavily by the sinfulness and fragility of our bodies; exposed to the many sorrows and dangerous frauds of this world that assail us on every side, the temptations of pride, greed, and lust in time of prosperity as well as the impatient whining of all that is worldly in us in time of adversity, which never stop dragging and snatching us from the life, wealth, and everlasting joy and salvation we have in God in Christ Jesus; full of the countless assaults of our spiritual enemy, the devil, with all of his fiery arrows of ambition, pride, lust, vanity, jealousy, malice, slander, and the other numerous tricks, schemes, and traps he uses to enslave human beings “like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). And when we consider these miseries, dangers, and inconveniences to which we are subject as long as we live in this world and compare them to the blessed and comfortable condition of the life to come and the sweet condition of those who die in the Lord, we will not fear death. When we compare being subject to the weaknesses of our body and the assaults of the world and the devil to being free from all of it to live in peace, rest, and eternal quiet in the fellowship of the angels (Heb. 12:22-23), Patriarchs, Prophets, Martyrs, and Confessors and in the presence of Almighty God and Our Savior Christ, we will not fear death. When we reflect on these things and believe them wholeheartedly, standing firmly in this true faith in God and having a quiet conscience in Christ because of firm hope and trust in God’s mercy extended through the merits of Jesus Christ to obtain this quiet, rest, and eternal joy, we definitely will not fear the death of our bodies when it comes but indeed we will share with St. Paul the happy and heartfelt desire to die when God wills it (Phil 1:23), so that when God calls us out of this life, we will be free of every opportunity to do or suffer evil and live eternally to please God and perfectly obey His will, along with our Savior Jesus Christ. May the Lord in His infinite mercy and grace bring us all into the gracious presence of Christ to reign with Him in eternal life. To Christ with our heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit be the glory forever and ever. Amen. 

Notes
27 January 2015: Mac Stewart points out the 1549 Prayer Book explanation of illness. It is unsurprisingly identical to that in this Homily.

Book I, Homily 8 Remixed: Losing Your Religion Is A Very Bad Thing (Author Unknown)

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Ben Sirach says that our basic motivation to turn away from God is pride, “For pride is the fountain of all sin. He who has it shall be full of curses, and it will destroy him in the end” (Ecclus. 10:12-13). And as sin and pride turn us from God, so will God and all goodness leave us. And the Prophet Hosea clearly tells that those who turn away from God to pursue an immoral life, yet seek to pacify Him by sacrifices, are wasting their time. They may sacrifice all they want, but He still will leave them, “They do not apply their minds to return to God. Although they lead whole flocks and herds in search of the Lord, they shall not find Him, for He has gone away from them” (Hos. 5:4,6).

            There are many ways of turning from God. Sometimes, it can be done quite directly by idolatry, as Israel and Judah did. Sometimes people leave God, because they do not have enough faith in God or even mistrust Him, as Isaiah says, “Woe to those who go down to Egypt to seek help, trusting in horses and putting their faith in the number of chariots and power of horsemen. They have no confidence in the Holy One of Israel, nor do they seek the Lord” (Is. 31:1). And what were the consequences? Isaiah tells us, “The Lord shall let his hand fall upon them and both the helper and the one helped shall be destroyed together” (Is. 31:3).

             Sometimes, people turn away from God by neglecting His commandments concerning the treatment of their neighbors. We are commanded to express heart-filled love for everyone, as Zechariah said to the people on God’s behalf, “Give true judgment and show mercy and compassion to your brother. Do not defraud the widow or the orphan, the alien, and the poor. Let no one forge evil in his heart for his brother. But they did not heed these words. They turned their backs and followed their own way. They plugged their ears in order not to hear. They hardened their hearts as hard as stone so that they would not have to listen to the law and the words that the Lord had sent through His Holy Spirit by His ancient Prophets. And this is why the Lord has turned His fierce anger toward them and has said, ‘Because they would not listen to my words, I did not listen to their cries. I drove them out among the nations and turned their own country into a wasteland’” (Zech. 7:9-14).

            And therefore, all those who do not show concern for the word of God but follow the ideas and stubbornness of their own hearts, they turn their backs rather than their faces to God, as Jeremiah says (Jer. 7:24). Origen says that a person turned toward God, “applies and gives himself to God’s word with eagerness, deeds, thought, and care; reflects upon God’s laws day and night; gives himself entirely to God; and consistently practices God’s precepts and commandments.” And Origen also describes a person turned away from God as someone who, “is busy with fables and tales when hearing or reading God’s word; or is thinking about secular business, money, or new ways to make money.” He continues, “Whoever is entangled with concern for their possessions, is filled with the desire for riches, and is eager for the glory and honor of this world is turned from God.” Therefore, in Origen’s opinion, whoever is not focused on what is commanded or taught by God; whoever does not listen to it, embrace it, and imprint it on his heart, so that he can shape his life according to God’s commandments; that person is turned from God, though he does other things that seem good to his own mind and appeal to his own sense of devotion. Of course, these things seem to him better and more appropriate to God’s honor, when they deeply dishonor God.

            The Holy Scriptures teach us what it means to turn away from God through the example of King Saul, who was commanded by God through the Prophet Samuel, to kill the Amalekites and destroy all of them along with their property. Yet Saul, motivated partly by pity and partly (as he thought) by devotion to God, saved Agag their king, and their choicest cattle in order to sacrifice to God (1 Sam. 15:1-22). And for this reason, God said to the Prophet Samuel, “I repent of having made Saul king, for he has turned away from me and has not obeyed my instructions” (1 Sam. 15:11). And he commanded Samuel to tell Saul what He had said.

            And when Samuel asked why Saul had saved the cattle contrary to God’s commandment, Saul excused himself by saying that he was afraid that his troops would not be satisfied without spoil and that he figured that God would be content with the sacrifice of choice beasts to Him and would look favorably on Saul’s good intentions ad devotion rather than his disobedience. But Samuel criticized Saul’s intentions and devotion, however much they seemed to honor God. What mattered was for Saul’s actions to agree with God’s word, the only assurance of God’s pleasure. And so Samuel said, “Does the Lord desire whole-offerings and sacrifices, as he desires obedience? To obey is better than sacrifice and to listen better than the fat of rams. Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft; arrogance as evil as idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has rejected you as king” (1 Sam. 15:22-23).

            All of these examples from the Holy Scriptures teach us that if we turn away from God, He will always turn away from us. And God has given us terrible warnings of the miserable consequences that necessarily follow. We cannot possibly measure the whole extent of this misery. It exceeds our capacity to do so while we are in this life. Yet if our hearts are softer than stone or not harder than diamond, we should fear, tremble, and quake to remember God’s warnings to us.

            First, the Scriptures commonly describe the displeasure of God toward us in two ways: (1) showing His terrifying countenance to us; or (2) turning His face or hiding it from us. Showing his terrifying countenance to us signifies His great anger; but turning His face or hiding His face signifies something many times worse, that is, He clearly abandons whatever he has turned away from.

The meanings of these phrases can be illustrated from human manners. We show good, cheerful, and loving expressions to those whom we favor, so that the face, expression or countenance of a person indicates his attitude toward the person to whom he or she shows it. So, when God shows His terrifying visage toward us, that is, He sends dreadful plagues of war, famine, or pestilence upon us, it appears that He is greatly angry with us. But, when He withdraws from us his word, the right doctrine of Christ, His gracious assistance and aid, which is ever joined to His word… Well, then He leaves us to make our way by our own wits, will, and strength. And thus He declares that that He is beginning to forsake us. For since God has shown His face of mercy in Jesus Christ to all who truly believe His Gospel, which so lightens their hearts that they, if they see it as they should, are transformed into His likeness, made participants in the heavenly light and His Holy Spirit, and have been created in Christ Jesus for good works appropriate for God’s children (2 Cor. 3:18, 4:4,6; Eph. 2:10). So if afterwards, they wander away from this road, they are ungrateful to God, and they do not arrange their lives according to His example, teaching, and the proclamation of His glory, He will take away from them His kingdom and His holy word, through which He reigns in them. And why? Because they do not bear the fruit He seeks (Matt. 21:19-21).

            Nevertheless, He is merciful and so very patient. He does not pour his anger upon us the very moment that we begin to shrink from His word, and do not believe it or express it in the way we live. First, he sends His messengers, the true preachers of His word, to reprimand and warn us of our duty. For let us not forget that He showed His great love to us by offering to us His only Son to suffer death, so that by His death we might be freed from death and restored to eternal life, to dwell with Him forever and share His inheritance of glory and dominion in heaven. And He only asks from us that we should walk in a godly life, as is appropriate to our status as his children. However, if we do not listen to those who warn us or are not properly overawed by His generosity toward us, we are in great trouble. If we continue to disobey His word and will, not knowing Him, not loving Him, not fearing Him, not putting our whole trust and confidence in Him; and moreover, if we continue to treat our neighbors uncharitably with contempt, jealousy, and malice, or by committing murder, robbery, adultery, gluttony, deceit, lying, swearing, or other detestable works and ungodly behavior; then He threatens us with terrible curses (e.g., Heb. 4:1-13; Gal. 5:21; Ps. 95:1), swearing in great anger that whoever does these things shall never enter His rest, which is the Kingdom of Heaven.

(2)

In the first part of this Homily, I have described the many ways we may turn away from God: (1) idolatry; (2) insufficient faith; (3) ignoring or badly treating their neighbors and their welfare; (4) not listening to God’s word; and (5) overindulging in worldly pleasures. You have heard the terrible consequences of turning away from God, but that God’s infinite goodness persuades Him to turn us back toward Him by the gentle rebukes of preachers before He resorts to terrible threats.

            Now if these gentle warnings and terrible threats have no effect on us, He will show his terrifying countenance to us and pour unbearable plagues upon our heads. And after He does so, He will take away all of his aid and assistance to us, which is our only defense against disaster. Indeed, I can illustrate this with a metaphor used by both the Prophet Isaiah and the Lord Jesus in the parable of evil tenants.

God has planted a wonderful vineyard for his beloved children, “He planted hedges around it. He built a wall around that, planted it with chosen vines, and made a watchtower and wine press in the middle of it. But when He came to harvest it, he found wild grapes had grown rather than good” And what was the result?: “Now I shall show you,” said God, “what I will do with my vineyard. I will uproot the hedges so that they will wither away. I will destroy the walls that any one may come and trample the vines. I will let the land lie fallow. It shall not be tilled or weeded, but briers and thorns will flourish upon it. And I will command the clouds not to rain upon it” (Is. 5:1-6; Matt. 21: 33-41).

            Here we are rebuked and warned that if we, the chosen vineyard of God, do not produce good grapes, that is, good works, which are good and pleasant in his sight… If we do not produce such good fruit when He looks for it or when He sends His messengers to ask us for them… Or indeed if He or they find wild grapes, which I interpret to mean sour works, bitter and unfruitful, then He will remove all which defends us and He will permit horrible plagues of famine, war, disease, and death to afflict us. And if we do not repent after these disasters, He will let us become a wasteland. He will abandon us. He will turn away from us. He will not bother to weed or turn the soil around us. He will leave us alone and let us bear what fruit we can produce by ourselves: brambles, briers, and thorns: all vice, all wickedness, and in such abundance that they will outgrow us, choke us, strangle us, and utterly destroy us.

            But those in this world who do not live in the fear of God but follow the freedom of the flesh, do not sense the great wrath of God, that God no longer clears or weeds around them, that He leaves them to their own devices. They indeed see it as a great gift of God that they have such freedom and live as if the freedom to indulge the flesh were the true freedom of the Gospel. But may God forbid, my dear friends, that we should ever want such freedom. For, although God does sometimes allow the wicked to have such pleasure in this world, recall that ungodly living inevitably results in destruction. The murmuring Israelites in the wilderness had their heart’s desire. They had more quail meat than they knew what to do with (Numb. 11:4-6, 31-33). But what was the result? Their sweet meat had sour sauce. Even when the meat was in their mouths, the plague of God came upon them and they died straightaway (Ps. 78:30-31). So if we live contrary to God’s will and God lets us follow our own wills, to indulge our own desires and seek our own pleasures, and if God does not correct us with some plague, there is no doubt that He is completely fed up with us.

            And although it might take more or less time, when He smites such a person, they are smitten forever. So when he does not strike, afflict, beat, or punish us; when he permits us to embrace all ungodliness and every worldly pleasure we desire without punishment and adversity, it is terrifying proof that He does not love us any more, that He does not care for us anymore, but He has left us to our own devices. Consider that as long as a vine grower prunes her vines, digs at their roots, and refreshes the soil, she cares about them, she sees some sign of fruitfulness that she may gain from them: but, when she stops working with them, it is a sure sign that she does not want anything to do with them because they will never be any good.

And a father, as long as he loves his child, he is angry with the child and disciplines the child for misbehaving. But when discipline has no effect and he then lets the kid do what he wants, it is a sign that he wants nothing to do with the child anymore. As soon as he can, he will disinherit the kid, kick him out of the house, or let him fall into the cold hands of the justice system.

            So surely nothing should wound our heart so much or terrify us as when we know in our conscience that we have grievously offended God and continue to do so, but God does not strike us and quietly allows us to pursue those sinful things we delight to do. Then it is definitely time to cry as David did, “Do not drive me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me” (Ps. 51:11); “Do not hide your face from me or turn away your servant in anger” (Ps. 27:9); “Do not hide your face from me or I shall be like those who go down into the abyss” (Ps. 143:7). David’s mournful prayers show us the horrible danger of being one from whom God has turned his face. And if we do come near that awful situation, David’s example should galvanize us to cry aloud to God with all our heart, that we may not enter or continue in that state, which is undoubtedly so sorrowful, miserable, and dreadful that no one can sufficiently express or any heart consider it. For it must be an absolutely fatal grief to be under God’s wrath; to be separated from the Holy Spirit, the source of all good things; to fall to such a condition that you are fit for nothing better than to be condemned to hell.

Our examples of this terror come from David and Isaiah. David tells us that when God turns His face from us, we are emptied of all goodness and placed far from any relief. Isaiah tells us that we are like a vineyard, and when we are unfruitful, we can expect to be left alone without pruning and tilling so that we become overgrown with briers and thorns. We are denied even the nurture of the rains because of our unfaithfulness, which I interpret to mean the teaching of the Holy Scriptures, since St. Paul uses planting and watering to mean the same thing (I Cor. 3:6-9). And once denied the Holy Scriptures and the teaching of the gospel, we no longer belong to His kingdom or are governed by His Holy Spirit. We are excluded from the grace and benefits that we had and might have enjoyed eternally through Christ; we are deprived of the heavenly light and life, which we had in Christ when we lived in Him. We shall be, as we were before we first believed, “in a world without God” (Eph. 2:12). Indeed, we will be in even worse condition, since we will be handed over to the power of the devil. This is the way God disposes all He alienates from Himself, as he did to Saul and Judas (1 Sam. 15:23-35; 16:14; Lk. 12:3; John 13:2, 27) and to all those who live according to their own desires, children of mistrust and unbelief.

Therefore, let us not to be unfruitful and reject God’s word, so that we remain those who obtain and retain true faith in God through his holy word and do not become the offspring of unbelief. And unbelief has two kinds of children, who are quite different. Indeed, they are exact opposites. The first kind falls into despair. They weigh their sinful and wicked lives against the purity of God’s righteousness; because they are deprived of the comfort and counsel of God’s Spirit, the very “Spirit of counsel” (Is. 11:2), their hearts never will be convinced that God can or will receive them once more into His favor and mercy. The other kind is stuck in a foolish optimism. They hear the broad and loving promises of God’s mercy, but they do not understand them through the lens of true faith and so make them wider than God ever did. They trust that they can continue in sinful and wicked living as long as they desire, indeed as long as they live. Yet they imagine that God at the hour of death will show His mercy upon them, and then they will return to Him. And both these kinds of people are in a state of damnation, yet God, “who does not desire the death of sinners” (Ezek. 18:25,32; 33:11), has opened a way for both kinds of abandoned sinners to escape, if they change their ways in time.

The first kind of abandoned sinner is consumed with fear of God’s rightful justice in punishing sinners, which correctly sends them into despair about what hope they have of saving themselves. Yet if they would consistently believe that God’s mercy is the treatment they need for their despair and distrust, not only for them, but for all who are genuinely sorry and penitent and cling to God’s mercy, they could be sure that they will obtain mercy and enter into a place of safety. Those who sail to the port of God’s mercy, no matter what they have done, they shall find a refuge from everlasting damnation. As God says through Ezekiel, “When a wicked man mends his ways, his former wickedness will not bring him down…When I pronounce sentence of death upon the wicked, then if he mends his ways and does what is just and right…he will live and not die. None of the sins he has committed will be remembered against him” (Ezek. 33:12, 14,16).

I would instruct the second kind of abandoned sinner to reflect upon this: if they readily believe God’s good promises, should they not also so readily believe God’s warnings? They should believe the Law as much as the Gospel. They should believe that there is a hell filled with everlasting fire just as much as they believe there is a heaven filled with everlasting joy. They should believe that damnation is threatened to the wicked and evildoers just as much as they believe that salvation is promised to those faithful in word and deed. In every case, they should believe God is just as earnest when promising the bad as He is when promising the good. Indeed, sinners that continue to live wickedly should believe that the promises of God’s mercy and the Gospel are not extended to them, because of their state of sin, but instead their portion is only the threats of God’s wrath and indignation in the Law and other of the Scriptures. And these reflections should make it clear to them that as they presume excessively upon God’s mercy and live viciously; God will withdraw His mercy from them all the more. And when He is incited to wrath for such a long time, it is very likely that those who presume on his mercy will be destroyed suddenly. St. Paul tells us what these sinners say, “ ‘All is peaceful, all secure’ [but] destruction is upon them as sudden as a woman going into labor” (1 Thess. 5:3).

Let us therefore beware of such wicked boldness to sin. For God has promised his mercy to those who truly repent (even at the hour of death), but He has not promised to the presumptuous sinner that he shall live long or be capable of true repentance at the hour of death. It is for that reason that God has made our time of death uncertain, so that we do not put our hope in deathbed conversions and live wickedly to God’s great displeasure in the meantime.

Therefore, let us all follow the counsel of Ben Sirach, let us “not be slow to turn to the Lord. Let us not procrastinate about it. For His wrath comes when you least expect it, and He will destroy the wicked in the time of His vengeance” (Ecclus. 5:7). Let us therefore turn to Him as often as we can, and when we turn, let us pray to God as Hosea teaches, saying, “Forgive all of our sins and receive us with grace” (Hos. 14:2). And, if we turn to Him with an humble and a very penitent heart, He will show us His favor and grace for the sake of His holy Name, His promises, and His truth and mercy, which are promised to all faithful believers in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son. To whom, the only Savior of the world, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be all honor, glory, and power, forever and ever. Amen.     

Book I, Homily 7 Remixed: The Use and Abuse of the Lord's Name (Author Unknown)

(1)

Almighty God desires that his most holy Name should be honored and taken seriously by everyone, so He has commanded that no one should use his Name for light, stupid, or fraudulent reasons. Indeed, the Lord threatens punishment to those who make poor use of his Name by using his Name lightly, violating oaths they swear in his Name, and insulting Him by Name. I want to improve the knowledge and obedience of this commandment by explaining when it right for Christians to swear and the perils of trivial oaths and perjury.

            First, it is all right to swear when you are asked to testify in court or fulfill your duties as a juror or an officer of a court of justice. Second, you may call the Name of God as your witness when sealing covenants, honest promises, statutes, laws, and good customs. For instance, treaties between Christian rulers used to be sealed in this way. Indeed today, some among us make vows before God in marriage or honest and true friendship. And depending where we live, we may be asked to swear to uphold the laws and good customs of our nations. We may take oaths of allegiance or oaths of office, for instance.

            And we also may call God as our witness when proclaiming His glory in the public preaching of the Gospel or when counseling a brother or sister in a matter affecting the health of their soul. All of these uses of God’s Name and God’s witness for honest and necessary causes are lawful.

            The problem comes when oaths enter into the ordinary business of everyday life and when swearing becomes a habit. When we start swearing when making an argument about a secular matter, when buying or selling, or in other daily communication, our common and frequent making of oaths is ungodly, unlawful, and forbidden. This swearing is what taking God’s holy Name in vain means.

            Let us first observe that what I have called lawful swearing is not only not prohibited by God but also is commanded by Him. We can find examples of Christ and godly persons in Holy Scripture, who swore oaths and required oaths of others. And God Himself commands, “You shall fear the Lord your God and shall swear by His Name” (Deut. 6:13). And Almighty God says through His Prophet, David, “All who swear by God’s name will rejoice” (Ps. 63:11).

            Our Savior Christ swore at different times, saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you” (John 3:3,5,11). [Ed.: the phrase used is “Amen, Amen” in the Greek. Which indeed is used to seal oaths, notably in Deut. 27:15-26. This is the basis of the interpretation of the Homilist here.] And St. Paul swears, too, “I appeal to God as my witness” (1 Cor. 1:23). And Abraham, in his old age, asked his servant to swear that he would find a wife for his son, Isaac, from Abraham’s own family; and the servant did swear that he would do so (Gen. 24:1-9). Abraham, also, when he was asked, swore to Abimelech, King of Gerar that he would not break faith with him or his descendants and Abimelech swore the same oath to Abraham (Gen. 21: 22-31). And David swore to be a faithful friend to Jonathan and Jonathan did so in return (1 Sam. 18:3; 20:12-17, 42).

            As another example, God once commanded that if anything given to someone for safekeeping were stolen or lost, the one who was holding the property for safekeeping should take an oath before the judges that he did not carry it away nor allowed it to be carried away with his consent or knowledge (Ex. 22:10-11). And St. Paul says that in all matters of controversy in which the testimony of the parties is contradictory and the truth cannot be obtained in any other way, the dispute only can be settled by an oath before a judge (Heb. 6:16).

            And moreover God speaks through the Prophet Jeremiah in this way, “You shall swear, ‘The Lord lives in truth, in judgment, in righteousness’” (Jer. 4:2). So if you are asked to swear anything in a legal matter, you need to be sure in your conscience that three conditions are met. First, you must swear an oath truly, that is, you must have no bias for or against either party, focus on the truth, and only say what you know be true and nothing more than that. The second condition is that you must swear an oath with judgment: not carried away by the moment and unbound by reason but carefully and deeply, considering what an oath is. The third condition is that you must swear by righteousness, that is, your oath must express your zeal and love for defending the innocent, maintaining the truth, and upholding the integrity of the matter or cause related to the swearing of the oath. You must ignore what you might gain or lose in property as a result of your testimony or service. You must forget the love and affection you might have for either party as friends or relatives.  

An oath sworn under these three conditions is part of the glorification of God, which His commandment orders that we give Him, for He orders that we should swear only by His Name. Our oaths do not make him happy. That He teaches us to swear does not teach us that He takes pleasure in swearing. Oaths are much like animal sacrifices for Him. He commanded the Jews to sacrifice to Him, not because He enjoyed animal sacrifices but to keep the Jews from committing idolatry, . By commanding us to use Him as the object of our oaths, He thereby prohibits us from giving glory to anything he has created in heaven or on earth (Is. 42:6).

            At this point, I have shown you that lawful oaths are commanded by God and were used by Patriarchs, Prophets, Christ Himself, and the Apostle Paul. Therefore, Christian people must think lawful oaths are both godly and necessary. The confirmation of lawful promises and covenants by oaths keep countries and governments in tranquility and peace. We call on the name of God to witness our vows when we are profess His faith and are made living members of Christ in Holy Baptism. By a similar holy promise, the sacrament of matrimony knits husband and wife together in perpetual love, so that they will never desire to be separated by any displeasure they might have with one another or any adversity they may face. The lawful oaths of government officials ensure that the laws are upheld; justice is fairly administered; and innocent people, orphans, widows, and the poor are defended from the wrongs and harms that murderers, oppressors, and thieves may do to them. The lawful oaths of local officials ensure that peace, friendship, and good order are continuously maintained in all boroughs, cities, towns, and villages. And lawful oaths before police officers and in court allow the detection and punishment of criminals as well as restitution to those who have been harmed. Therefore, lawful swearing cannot be wrong, because it brings us so many godly, good, and necessary benefits.

            So when Christ so earnestly prohibited swearing, let us not understand that he prohibited every kind of oath. He merely prohibited all useless swearing and perjuring by God and by God’s creations, as swearing is commonly used today in buying, selling, and other aspects of our daily conversation. And His intention was that what a Christian said should have as much credit as if she had backed it up with an oath. For “every Christian man’s word,” says St. Jerome, “should be so true that it should be regarded as an oath.” And St. John Chrysostom agrees, “It is not convenient to swear, for why do we need to swear when we are forbidden to lie to one another?”

            Of course, some will say that they need to swear or else no one will believe them in the course of their business. St. John Chrysostom answers that whoever is truly in that situation probably treats others deceitfully and unfairly, or at least is reputed to do so. If you were trustworthy and did what you say you were going to do, you should have no need to swear at all. For whoever uses truth and clarity in their bargaining and communication will have no need to use swearing to make them credible to their neighbors, nor will their neighbors mistrust what they say. And if someone thinks they need an oath to be believable, that person is pretty much unbelievable anyway. For Theophylactus writes the truth when he says that, “no man is less trusted that he that frequently swears.” And Almighty God by Sirach says, “One given to oaths is wicked to his core; the rod will never be far from his house” (Ecclus. 23:11).

            And, of course, some will pooh-pooh their frequent oaths in their daily conversation by asking why they should not swear if they swear truly. I say to them that they may swear truly, yet in swearing often, lightly, and unnecessarily, they still take God’s most holy Name in vain. Much more ungodly and foolish are those who not only abuse God’s holy Name in the buying and selling of small things daily in all places but also while eating, drinking, playing, conversing, and reasoning; as if none of these things might be done without using, irreverently talking about, and swearing and breaking oaths by God’s holy Name. This behavior violates God’s commandment and deserves His indignation.

(2)       

I have taught in the first part of this Homily against swearing and perjury that it is very dangerous to use the Name of God in vain. Yet I also taught that there are lawful reasons to swear oaths. And I also put forward three requirements for a lawful oath: (1) that it uphold the truth; (2) that it be made with careful thought; and (3) that it be made out of zeal and love for justice. I have told you of the many good things that come from lawful oaths and of the dangers that come from rash and unlawful oaths. Now I shall show that it is just as bad to make lawful oaths to do good and honest things and not do them, as it is to promise evil and unlawful things and do them.

            The Holy Scriptures tells us of two notable cases of people being punished for intentionally breaking their lawful oaths. First, Joshua and the people of Israel made a treaty and faithful promise of alliance and friendship with the Gibeonites (Josh. 9). Yet in the days of wicked King Saul, many Gibeonites were murdered contrary to the treaty. And for this reason, God was so displeased that He sent a famine upon Israel for three years and would not end this punishment until the offense was expiated with the deaths of seven sons and close relatives of King Saul (2 Sam. 21:1-14). Second, King Zedekiah of Jerusalem promised fidelity to the King of Babylon. Yet contrary to his oath and allegiance, Zedekiah rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. And so pagan King Nebuchadnezzar by God’s permission and allowance invaded Judah and besieged Jerusalem, forcing Zedekiah to flee. And as a consequence, Zedekiah was taken prisoner, his sons were executed before his eyes, Zedekiah himself was blinded, and he finally was brought into Babylon in bronze fetters. Thus did God clearly show how much He abhors those who break their promises supported by honest oaths in His Name.

            And we also have examples in the Scriptures of people performing wicked acts because of rash oaths they made. First, Herod swore to Salome that he would give her whatever she asked if she would dance for him. And at the suggestion of her mother, she asked for the head of John the Baptist. Herod therefore not only swore a wicked oath but even more wickedly did what he promised and cruelly murdered the most holy prophet (Matt. 14:6-11). Likewise, some Jews swore that they would not eat nor drink until they killed St. Paul (Acts 23:12). And let us not forget Jephthah, to whom God gave a great victory over the Ammonites. Yet out of foolish devotion to God, he promised to sacrifice the first creature that met him upon his return home. [Ed.: The Homilist translates “creature” as “human.” The key point is that Jephthah promises a sacrificial offering without any consideration to its lawfulness. He could have inadvertently sacrificed an unclean animal as well as a human being.]  And forced by this idiotic oath, he sacrificed his one and only daughter who had welcomed him with joy and mirth upon his return (Judges 11:30-39). Thus, the promise, which he made most foolishly to God against God’s eternal will and the law of nature, he performed most cruelly, and so doubly offended against God. Therefore, if you bind yourself to do anything by oath, please consider whether what you have promised is good, honest, permitted by God’s commandments, and that you are able to do what you have promised justly. Promises like these you are bound to keep. But, if you, either ignorance or malice, promise and swear to do anything which either against the law of Almighty God or which you are unable to perform, you should regard it as an unlawful and ungodly oath.

            Now let us talk of perjury. So that you will know how great and heavy offense against God it is, I will describe to you what it means when someone takes an oath before a judge upon a book. First, the oath taker lays their hands upon the Gospel book. They swear truly to inquire, to make a true presentation of whatever they have been charged to present, and to present the truth without favor, fear, love, or malice toward anyone, so help them God and the contents of the holy Gospels. Let us consider that the book upon which they swear contains God’s everlasting truth, His most holy and eternal word by which we know that we can have forgiveness of sins and the inheritance of heaven, to live forever with God’s angels and saints in joy and gladness. In the Gospel book is also contained God’s terrible threats to stubborn sinners, who will not amend their lives and believe in God’s truth and His holy word. We hear of everlasting pain prepared in hell for idolaters, hypocrites, false and vain oathmakers, perjurers, bearers of false witness, false accusers of innocents, and those who conceal the crimes of others to obtain their favor and help them escape punishment. So whoever willfully breaks oaths sworn on Christ’s holy Gospel utterly abandons God’s mercy, goodness, and truth; rejects the merits of our Savior Christ’s birth, life, passion, death, resurrection, and ascension; refuses the forgiveness of sins promised to penitent sinners, the joys of heaven, and the company of angels and saints forever. For the Gospel promises all of these benefits and comforts to true Christians. And those who break oaths sworn upon the Gospel have joined the service of the devil, the master of all lies, falsehood, deceit, and perjury and deserve the indignation and curse of God in this life and the terrible wrath and judgment of our Savior Christ at the last judgment, when he will justly judge the living and the dead according to their deeds. For whoever abandons the truth for love or hatred of anyone or out of greed abandons Christ and joins Judas as Christ’s betrayer. And although the lies of perjurers remain secret, they will be revealed at the last day, when the secret of all human hearts will be manifest to the entire world. And then the truth will appear and accuse them, while their own conscience will join the blessed company of heaven to bear witness against them; and Christ, the righteous judge, will then justly condemn them to everlasting shame and death.

            Almighty God threatens perjury with harsh punishment through the Prophet Malachi, saying to Judah, “I shall appear before you in court, quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers, and perjurers…” (Mal. 3:5). Indeed, God declares the same thing to Zechariah in a vision of a flying book of twenty cubits length and ten cubits broad, of which He says, “This is the curse that shall go forth upon the face of the earth for falsehood, false swearing, and perjury; and this curse shall enter into the house of the liar and the house of the perjurer and it will remain in the midst of their houses and consume every stone and board in them” (Zech. 5:1-4). Thus, you see how much God hates perjury and what punishment God has prepared for perjurers.         

            I have presented how and why it is lawful for Christians to swear oaths, what criteria distinguish lawful from unlawful oaths, and why lawful oaths are godly and necessary. I also have told you that it is not lawful to swear “vainly,” by which I mean in ways and for reasons other than those I declared. And finally I have told you how damnable it is to break our lawful oaths or keep an unlawful or ill-advised oath. Indeed, let us earnestly seek grace that we keep away from all vain swearing and perjury and use only lawful and godly oaths, and that we may truly, without any fraud, keep our lawful oaths according to the will and pleasure of God the Father, to whom with the Son and the Holy Spirit be all honor and glory. Amen.  

Book I, Homily 6 Remixed: All You Need Is Love (Edmund Bonner)

The author of the Homily, as portrayed in Foxe's Book of Martyrs. We are not sure whether it is an accurate portrait of his behavior during the reign of Queen Mary, but it certainly fits with the argument put forward below.

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The best thing to teach to Christians is charity, for it is necessary for us to speak of it and make use of it daily. Many good works rely upon it. And if it is rare or absent, it is a disaster for the world; virtue is put to flight and every vice grows like a weed. Now every one of us comes up with our own definition of charity according to our own desires and in line with our manner of life, no matter how good or bad it may be. Indeed, we all persuade ourselves that we are overflowing with charity, at least as we define it. Therefore, you will hear now a true and clear description of charity, by which every person may look upon oneself, as if in a mirror, and see clearly without any mistake whether he or she has true charity or not.

Charity is to love God with all our heart, all our life, and all our powers and strength. By “with all our heart,” I mean that our heart’s mind and deepest eagerness should be to believe His word, trust in Him, and love Him above all other things that we love best in heaven or on earth. By “with all our life,” I mean that our chief joy and delight should be fixed on Him and His honor and our whole life be given to His service above all other things, to live and die with Him, and to forsake all other things that would keep us from Him; for, “he that loves father or mother, son or daughter, house or land more than me,” Christ says, ”is not worthy to have me” (Matt. 10:37; 19:29). By “all our powers,” I mean that our hands and feet, eyes and ears, mouths and tongues, and all other parts and powers of both body and soul should be given to the keeping and fulfilling of His commandments. This is the first and principal part of charity, but it is not the whole. Charity also includes loving every person, good and evil, friend and foe; Ans charity consists of acting with good will and heart toward every person, to treat them well in word, attitude, and deed, whatever excuse you may have to do otherwise. For so Christ Himself taught and did.

            Christ taught a doctor of the Law about the love of God in this way. The doctor asked Him what was the greatest commandment of the Law. He replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your life, and with all your mind” (Matt. 22:37). And of the love we should share among ourselves, he teaches, “You have heard it taught in times past that you shall love your friend and hate your enemy, but I tell you, Love your enemies, bless those that curse you and speak evil about you, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who persecute you, that you may be the children of your Father that is in heaven; for He makes the sun to rise both upon the evil and good, and sends rain on the just and unjust alike. For, if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Do not the tax collectors do likewise? And if speak well only of those who are your brothers and dear beloved friends, that is no big deal. Do not unbelievers do the same?” (Matt. 5:43-47). These are the very words of our Savior Christ on the love of our neighbor. To explain a bit of the context, the Pharisees had used their diseased traditions, false interpretations, and glosses to corrupt or even block this pure well of God’s living word. They taught that love and charity only were owed to your friends and it was sufficient to love those who loved you and hate your enemies. Therefore, Christ opened this well again, purged it, and scoured it by interpreting this godly law of charity truly and clearly, that we ought to love every one, both friend and enemy. And He explained the advantages of doing so and the disadvantages of doing the opposite. Indeed, what better thing can we wish for ourselves than that the heavenly Father count and receive us as His children? And we shall be sure that we are God’s children, Christ says, if we love everyone without exception. And if we do otherwise, He says, we are no better than the Pharisees, tax collectors, and unbelievers, and will have our reward with them, that is, to be excluded from the number of God’s chosen children and from our everlasting inheritance in heaven.

            And so Christ taught of true charity: that everyone is bound to love God above all things, and to love everyone, both friend and enemy. And He acted according to His own principles. He first worked to convince his enemies, then he criticized their faults, and when he could not convince them to change their ways, He still prayed for them. First, He loved God his Father above everything else, so much that he sought the glory and to follow the will of His Father rather than to seek His own glory or act in support of His own welfare, “I do not seek to do my own will but the will of Him that sent me” (John 5:30). Nor did He refuse to die in order to follow His Father’s will, saying, “If it be your will, take this cup from me, but let your will be done, not mine” (Matt. 26:39, 42). He did not only love his friends but also his enemies, whose hearts were filled with overflowing hatred for him, whose tongues spoke every kind of evil about him, and whose actions drove him to His death with all their power and might. Yet, despite all of their opposition, he did not withdraw his favor from them. He still loved them, critiqued their false teachings and their wicked living, and treated them kindly, patiently enduring whatever they spoke or did against them. When they insulted them, He did not insult them in return. When they struck him, he did not hit them back. And when they murdered Him, He did not kill them or threaten them, but prayed for them, submitting everything to the Father’s will. Just like a sheep led to the slaughter or a lamb shorn of its fleece makes no sound or resistance, He went to his death without any reluctance or curses to his tormentors (Is. 53:7).

Thus, I have shown what charity is and how it is taught by the example of Christ Himself. From this example, it is possible for every one to know unmistakably their state and condition with respect to charity and therefore with respect to their status as children of their Heavenly Father. For although every one is persuaded that they are in charity, they ought to examine no one but themselves, closely investigating their own hearts, lives, and interactions with others. And if they follow this standard, they will not be deceived but discern whether they are in perfect charity or not. If you do not follow your own desires and will but give yourself earnestly to God in order to His will and commandments, you may be sure that you love God above all things. And if you do not, you do not love Him, whatever you may pretend. As Christ said, “If you love me, keep my commandments. He that knows my commandments and keeps them is one who loves me” (John 14:15, 21). And again he says, “He that loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love Him, and We will both come to him and dwell with him. [And] he that does not love me will not keep my words” (John 14:23-24). And similarly, if you maintain an even temper and treat both friends and enemies well in both word and deed, you may be sure that you have charity. And then you will be sure as well that Almighty God has received you as His dear beloved child, as St. John says, “This is what shows who are God’s children and who are the devil’s: anyone who does not love his brother is not a child of God” (1 John 3:10).

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You have heard a plain and fruitful explanation of charity and how profitable and necessary charity is. You have heard how charity extends both to God and human beings, friends and enemies, and how charity is demonstrated by both the teaching and example of Christ. You finally have heard how you may evaluate whether you have perfect charity or not. Now we shall continue to speak on the same matter.

 Our nature is depraved, corrupt with sin, and empty of God’s word and grace, so it thinks it utterly irrational that one should love his or her enemy and has many excuses to the contrary. All of these excuses shrink to nothing before the teaching and living of Our Savior Christ, who loving us when we were His enemies, teaches us to love our enemies. He patiently endured many insults, suffered beating, and a tortuous death for our sake. Therefore, we are not members of His Body if we do not follow Him. “Christ,” says St. Peter, “suffered for us, leaving us an example to follow Him” (1 Pet. 2:21). Furthermore, we must consider that loving our friends is no more than what thieves, adulterers, murderers, and all wicked people do. Indeed, Jews, Muslims, and all others of any religion or none do so. And even domestic and wild animals love their friends, by which I mean those who give them food, shelter, or any other benefit. But to love one’s enemies is only the proper behavior of the children of God, the disciples and followers of Christ. Despite this, our corrupt and depraved nature weights heavily upon us. Over and over again, we reflect upon the offense and distress caused by our enemies. We think it impossible to bear the burden of loving those who hate us. But the burden should be easy enough if we consider the other side of the question: how much harm have we done to our enemies and how much pleasure we have received from our enemies. And if the scales still do not balance, then let us reflect on how much we have grieved Almighty God, how often we have grievously sinned against Him. For if we seek and have forgiveness from God, we also need to forgive the offenses done to us, which are very small compared to our offenses against God. And if we think that the one who has offended us is unworthy of forgiveness, let us think that we are even less deserving of God’s forgiveness. And although our enemy does not deserve to be forgiven for his or her own sake, yet we should forgive him on the example and from the store of the love of God. We should think about the great and many underserved benefits we have received from Him and that we owe Christ the forgiveness of those who sin against us.

But here arises an objection that requires a clear answer. If charity requires us to think, speak, and otherwise treat others well, whether they are good or evil, how can judges, police officers, and other enforcers of the law uphold the law against criminals with charity? How can they put wrongdoers in prison, fine them, and sometimes order their execution according to the law, if charity will not permit them to do so?

The clear and brief answer to this objection is that plagues and punishments are not evil, if they do not affect the innocent; and to wrongdoers they are both good and necessary, may be imposed according to charity, and should be imposed with charity.

And to further explain, you should know that charity has two roles, the one opposite to the other, and yet both are necessary to be used on people of opposite characteristics. The first role of charity is to make good and harmless people happy, not to oppress them with false accusations, but to encourage them with rewards to do good and to continue in doing so, even defending them from their enemies with force. And the office of bishops and pastors is to praise good people for doing good, that they may continue to do so, and to criticize and correct by the word of God the offences and crimes of those inclined to evil. The other role of charity is to criticize, correct, and punish vice without fear or favoritism. And this is only to be done to those who do harm. It is equally the role of charity to criticize, punish, and correct those that are evil as it is to cheer and reward those that are good and harmless. St. Paul writes to the Romans that “the civil authorities are instituted by God” not to trouble those who do good but criminals, against whom they use force “to bring retribution to the offender” (Rom. 13:1-4). And St. Paul advises Timothy strongly and earnestly to criticize sin with the word of God (1 Tim. 5:20). In this way, both roles are diligently performed and the kingdom of the devil is combated. The preacher strikes with the Word and the governor strikes with the sword. Otherwise, they neither love God nor those they govern, if because they do not enforce the laws, they voluntarily permit God to be offended and those whom they govern to perish. For just as every loving parent disciplines their natural children when they do wrong, or else they do not love them, so all governors of nations, states, cities, and houses should lovingly correct offenders under their government and seek the happiness of those who live innocently. They will do if they have any respect for God and the office they hold or love of those whom they govern. And let criticism and punishment be done quickly. If you dally, the offenders will get into worse trouble and not only be bad themselves but be an example of evil for others to fall into sin and outrage after them. One thief may rob many and thus make many into thieves. And a seditious person may allure many and subvert the allegiance of a whole town or country. And charity requires that such evil people, who offend so greatly against God and the commonwealth, should be cut off from the body of the commonwealth, so that they do not corrupt good and honest people. Just like a good surgeon cuts away infected tissue or even amputates a limb for the sake of his care for the entire body, so that it does not infect the other parts of the body connected to it.

I have declared to you what true charity or Christian love is, so clearly that no one can be deceived. Whoever maintains charity toward God, whom he is bound to love above everything, and also toward his neighbor, will surely avoid all offense to God and genuine offense to other people. Here’s the takeaway: true Christian charity is: (a) to love God above all things; (b) to love our neighbors whether they are friends, enemies, or indifferent; (c) to love our neighbors who are good and harmless by doing what good we can for them; (d) to love our neighbors who are bad and harmful by seeking their correction and just punishment, so that that they may be converted to goodness or at least so that God and the commonwealth may be hurt and offended less. And if we shape our life by Christian love and charity, then Christ promises and assures us that He loves us, that we are the children of our heavenly Father, reconciled to his favor, true members of the Body of Christ, and that after the brief time of our present and mortal life, we shall share with Him eternal life in his everlasting Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore to Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit be all honor and glory now and forever. Amen.