Homilies on 1 Timothy 11.1–12.1

“Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, … holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. And let these also be tested first; then let them serve, if they prove blameless.”

Having discussed bishops, described their character, and said what they must have and what they must keep from, he passed over the order of presbyters and leaped to the deacons. Why? Because there is not much between the presbyters and the bishops. They too have undertaken teaching and presiding over the church, and what he said of bishops fits presbyters as well. Bishops surpass them in the power of ordination alone, and in this alone do they seem to have more than the presbyters. “Deacons likewise”: that is, they too must have the same qualities. What are the same? Such as being blameless, self-controlled, hospitable …. That he wants them to be such when he says “likewise,” he made clear by what follows, saying, “dignified, not double-tongued.” Nothing so tends to make men base as craftiness; nothing is so useless in the church as treachery. “Not addicted to much wine,” he says, “not greedy for gain, holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience.” See, he has shown what being blameless means. And see how he sets down “not a recent convert” here too. For in saying, “And let these also be tested first,” he added the connective “also” as though this had been said by him about the bishop; there is nothing between. That is why “not a recent convert” is said there too. How is it not absurd that no one admits a newly bought servant into a house until through long experience he has given many proofs of his character, while one who comes into the church of God from outside is at once among the first in everything?

“The women likewise ….” Some say this is said simply about women; but it is not. Why would he want to insert something about women in the middle of what he was saying? He is speaking of those who hold the rank of the diaconate. “Let deacons be the husbands of one wife.” This is fittingly said of women deacons too. The office is very necessary, useful, and decent in the church. “Let deacons,” he says, “be the husbands of one wife.” Do you see how he requires the same virtue from deacons too? Even if they are not of the same rank as the bishop, they must nevertheless be equally blameless, equally pure. “Managing their children and their own households well. For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.” Everywhere he sets down the management of children, so that the rest may not be offended on this account. “For those who serve well,” he says, “gain a good standing,” that is, advancement, “and great boldness in the faith of Christ Jesus.” As if he said: those who have shown themselves vigilant in the lower offices will quickly rise to the higher ones too.

“I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you soon; but if I delay, that you may know how one ought to behave in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.” So that his giving instructions about such matters might not throw the disciple into dejection, he says: I am not writing these things as though I will no longer come; I will come; but if I happen to delay, so that you may not be distressed, he says. To Timothy he writes these things to stop his dejection; to the others, to rouse them and make them more zealous; for his presence, even when only promised, could do much. Do not be surprised that one who foresaw all things by the Spirit did not know this, saying, “I hope to come, but if I delay”; this is the language of one who does not know. Since he was led by the Spirit and did not do what he did by his own judgment, it is natural that he did not know this too. “That you may know,” he says, “how one ought to behave in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.” Not like that Jewish house. For this is what holds together the faith and the preaching; the truth is both pillar and buttress of the church.

“And confessedly,” he says, “great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the Spirit.” That is, the dispensation on our behalf. Do not speak to me of the bells, nor of the Holy of Holies, nor of the high priest: the church is the pillar of the world. Consider the mystery, and you will shudder: it is a mystery, and great, and a mystery of godliness, and that confessedly, not disputedly; for it is beyond doubt. Since in giving instructions about priests he said nothing like what is in Leviticus, he turns the matter to something else, saying, “God was manifested in the flesh,” that is, the Creator was seen in the flesh. “Vindicated in the Spirit.” He means either “wisdom is vindicated by her children,” or that he did no deceit, as the prophet says: “who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth.” “Seen by angels.” So the angels too, together with us, saw the Son of God, whom they did not see before. Truly great is the mystery. “Proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world.” He was heard of and believed in throughout the world, as the prophet shows, saying, “Their voice has gone out into all the earth.” Do not think these are merely bare words; they are not, but are full of unspeakable realities. “Taken up in glory,” that is, on the clouds: “This Jesus,” he says, “who was taken up from you, will come in the same way as you saw him go.”

See the wisdom of blessed Paul. When he was about to exhort those counted worthy of the diaconate not to fill themselves freely with wine, he did not say “not to get drunk,” but “not addicted to much wine.” Rightly; for if those who entered the temple did not partake of wine at all, much less ought these. Wine causes derangement, he says; and even if it does not cause drunkenness, it slackens the soul’s vigor and loosens its firmness. Consider how everywhere he calls the dispensation on our behalf a mystery. Rightly: it is not clear to all people; or rather it was not clear even to the angels; for how could it be, when it was made known through the church? That is why he says, “confessedly great.” Truly it is great: God became man, and man God; a man was seen without sin; a man was taken up; he was proclaimed in the world; the angels saw him together with us. It is a mystery, then. Let us not parade the mystery, nor set it out everywhere; let us live worthily of this mystery. Those entrusted with mysteries are persons of standing. If a king entrusted some secret to us, tell me, would we not take this as a sign of great friendship? Now God has entrusted us with his mystery, and, as though we had received no great benefits, we become ungrateful toward our benefactor. Let us shudder at still being so insensible toward his kindness. It is a mystery which all know; or rather, which before this not all knew, but now has become clear to all.

Let us be trustworthy, then, in guarding the mystery. He has entrusted us with so great a mystery, and we do not entrust him even with money. Yet he says: Deposit it with me; no one can snatch it, no moth or thief can ruin it; and he promises to give back a hundredfold; and we are not persuaded. Yet with those with whom we deposit money we receive nothing more, and are grateful if we get back the whole of what we deposited. Even if a thief steals it here, he says, count it against me; I do not tell you, “A robber took it,” or “A moth ate it.” He repays a hundredfold here and adds eternal life there, and no one makes a deposit. But he repays me slowly, someone says. This too is the greatest sign of his generosity, that he does not repay here in this perishable life; or rather, he repays a hundredfold here as well. For tell me, did not Paul leave his knife here, Peter his rod and hook, Matthew his tax booth? Was not the whole world opened to them more than to kings? Did not all lay their money at their feet? Did they not make them stewards and masters of it? Did they not entrust them with their very souls? Did they not make themselves wholly dependent on their counsel? Did they not enroll themselves as their slaves? And now too do we not see many such things happening? Many, often from small and humble beginnings, handling nothing but a mattock, not even well supplied with necessary food, bearing the name of monk, have become more illustrious than anyone and been honored by emperors. But are these small things? Consider that these are an addition; the principal sum is stored up in the time to come.

Despise money, if you want to have money; if you want to be rich, become poor. Such are God’s paradoxes: he does not want you to become rich by your own effort but by his grace. Leave these things to me, he says; you take care of the spiritual things, so that you may learn my power too. Flee the slavery and yoke of money. As long as you cling to it you are poor; when you despise it, you become doubly rich, both because these things flow to you from every side and because you need none of the things most people need. Being rich is not having much, but not needing much. So as long as he is in need, the emperor differs in nothing from the poor man; for this is poverty, to need others. So by this reasoning even the emperor is poor, inasmuch as he needs his subjects. But not so the man who has been crucified to the world; he needs no one; his hands suffice to maintain him: “For these hands,” he says, “ministered to my needs and to those who were with me.” He said these things who said, “as having nothing, and yet possessing everything”; he who was thought a god by the people of Lystra. If you want to obtain the things of the world, seek heaven; if you want to enjoy the things here, despise them. “For seek first,” he says, “the kingdom of heaven, and all these things will be added to you.” Why do you admire small things? Why gape at what is worth nothing? How long will you be a beggar? How long poor? Look up to heaven; consider the wealth there; laugh at gold; learn how small its use is. The enjoyment of it lasts only for the present, for this perishable life, as much as sand; or rather, as a drop is to a boundless abyss, so is the present life to the life to come.

This is not ownership, it is use; it is not mastery. For how can it be, when, as you breathe your last, willing or unwilling, others take everything you have, and they in turn give it to others, and those again to others? We are all sojourners, and the owner of a house is perhaps less its owner than the tenant; for often when the owner dies the tenant remains and enjoys the house more. And if the tenant pays rent, so did the former owner, for he built, toiled, and repaired. Ownership is only a word; in fact we are all masters of what belongs to others. Only those things are ours which we send ahead to the other world; the things here are not ours but belong to the living, or rather they leave us even while we live. Only those things are ours which are achievements of the soul: almsgiving and love for humankind. Even those outside the church call the others “external goods,” for they are outside us. Let us make them, then, internal goods. It is not possible to depart taking money with us, but it is possible to depart taking almsgiving; or rather, let us send them ahead, to prepare a dwelling for us in the eternal abodes. Money (chrēmata) is so called from “using” (kechrēsthai), not from being its master; and possessions themselves are use, not ownership. Tell me, how many owners has each field had, and how many will it have? There is a very wise proverb (one should not despise popular proverbs if they contain some wisdom): “Field, how many have you belonged to, and how many will you belong to?” This we must say of houses and of money too. Virtue alone knows how to travel abroad with us; virtue alone crosses over to the life there. Let us at last weaken and quench the longing for money, so that we may kindle the desire for the things there. These two loves cannot occupy one soul: “For either he will love the one and hate the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other.”

Do you see, tell me, a man with many attendants, swaggering through the marketplace, clothed in silk, riding a horse, stretching out his neck? Do not be dazzled, but laugh. Just as you laugh when you see children playing at being magistrates, so laugh at this. This differs in nothing from that; or rather that is even more pleasant, since it comes from childhood and has much simplicity. There, there is laughter and pleasure; here this man is ridiculous and full of indecency. Glorify God that he has freed you from this stage-show and this puffing up. For if you will, you who walk on the ground will be higher than the man seated in the carriage. How? Because he stands a little above the earth in body, but is fastened to it in soul (“My strength cleaves to my flesh,” it says), while you walk in heaven in your mind. But he has many attendants shouting before him? And why is he honored more than his horse? What is worse than this folly, to drive men away so that the beast may pass with room to spare? But is riding a horse dignified? Slaves share in it too. And there are some who have so much pride that, though they have no need of it, they have the horse led behind them. Is anything more senseless than this? They want to look great because of horses, costly garments, and attendants. What is more worthless than this glory, which consists in horses and servants? Are you virtuous? Use none of these things; have an adornment of your own, not one made beautiful by another’s presence. These things even the wicked, the foul, the boorish, and all who have wealth can have. Mimes and dancers too ride on horses and have a servant running before them; but they are mimes and dancers all the same, and have not become dignified because of the horses and attendants. When nothing of the soul’s goodness is present in such a man, these things, added from outside, are idle and vain. Just as with a weak wall or a diseased body, whatever one puts around it remains unpleasant and diseased, so here too the soul gains no benefit from external things, but remains what it is, even if one puts countless gold ornaments about it. Let us not, then, be excited by these things; let us withdraw from what is temporary and hold to what is greater, the spiritual things which truly make us worthy of respect, so that we may obtain the good things to come, and so on.

“Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected …, for it is sanctified through the word of God and prayer.”

Just as those who hold to the faith rest on a secure anchor, so those who have fallen from it can stand nowhere, but after wandering up and down through many errors are at last carried into the very pits of destruction. He has already shown this, saying that some have already made shipwreck concerning the faith. And now he says: “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceitful spirits.” He says such things about the Manichaeans, the Encratites, the Marcionites, and their whole workshop: that in later times some will depart from the faith. Do you see that departing from the faith is the cause of all the evils that follow? What does “expressly” mean? Plainly, clearly, unmistakably, so that no one may doubt. Do not be surprised, he says, if some who have now departed from the faith still Judaize; there will be a time when those who have shared in the faith will do this in a worse way, not as far as foods only, but as far as marriage too, and will give such ruinous counsel about all such things. He does not say this of the Jews (for how would “some will depart from the faith” fit them?), but of the Manichaeans and their founders. He rightly called them spirits of error; for it was under their working that they uttered these things. What is “through the hypocrisy of liars”? They tell their lies not in ignorance or unknowingly, but lie in hypocrisy, knowing the truth but having their conscience seared, that is, being of wicked life.

Why does he mention only these heretics? Christ foretold others too, saying, “Offenses must come.” Besides, by the sowing of the grain and the growth of the tares he foretold these very people. But admire Paul’s prophecy: before the times in which they were to appear, he made known the time itself. Do not be surprised, then, if now, when the faith is at its beginning, some try to bring in these ruinous doctrines, since, when it has been established for a long time, some will depart from the faith. “Forbidding marriage,” he says, “requiring abstinence from foods.” Why did he not mention the other heresies? He hinted at them too, by saying “deceitful spirits and teachings of demons.” He did not want to sow these things in people’s souls ahead of time; but what had already begun, the matter of foods, this he pointed out at once.

“Which God created,” he says, “to be received by those who believe and know the truth.” Why does he not say “and by unbelievers”? How could he say “by unbelievers,” when they shut themselves out from these foods by their own laws? What then? Is luxury not forbidden? Very much so. Why, if foods were created to be received? Because God created bread too, and excess is forbidden; he created wine, and excess is forbidden. He does not command us now to refuse luxury as unclean, but as enervating the soul through excess. “For everything created by God is good,” he says, “and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.” If it is God’s creature, it is good: “For all things were very good.” By saying “God’s creature” he referred to all edible things; and he is already striking down in advance the heresy of those who bring in matter as unbegotten and say that these things belong to it. If it is good, what then does he mean by “it is sanctified through the word and prayer”? For clearly what is sanctified was unclean. Not so; here he is speaking against those who think some of these things are common. He sets down two points, then: first, that no creature is common; second, that even if it should become common, you have the remedy: seal it, give thanks, glorify God, and all uncleanness has flown away.

Can we, then, someone says, cleanse food offered to idols in this way? If you did not know that it was offered to idols. But if you know it and partake, you will be unclean, not because it was offered to idols, but because, having been commanded not to share with demons, you shared with them through it. So neither is that food unclean by nature; it becomes so through your choice and your disobedience. What then? Is pork not unclean? Not at all, when it is received with thanksgiving, with the seal; nor is anything else. Unclean is the will that does not give thanks to God.

“If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Jesus Christ, being nourished on the words of the faith and of the good teaching ….” What things? What he has said: that the mystery is great, that abstaining from these things is of demons, that foods are cleansed through God’s word and prayer. “Being nourished,” he says, “on the words of the faith and of the teaching which you have followed. But refuse profane and old wives’ myths, and train yourself for godliness.” “If you put these things before them,” he says. You see here no authority anywhere; he did not say “commanding,” nor “charging,” but “putting before”: that is, put these things before them as one advising, and stir up the discussions about the faith. “Being nourished,” he says, showing that attention to such things must be continual.