Homilies on 1 Timothy 15.1–15.2

“But refuse younger widows; for when they grow wanton against Christ, they wish to marry, incurring condemnation because they have set aside their first faith. At the same time they also learn to be idle, going about from house to house; and not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not. I wish, then, the younger widows to marry, to bear children, to manage their households, to give the adversary no occasion for reviling. For some have already turned aside after Satan.” 1. Paul, having made a long discourse about widows, and having fixed their age by saying, “Let a widow be enrolled not less than sixty years old,” and having taught the character of the widow by saying, “if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality, if she has washed the feet of the saints,” says here again: “But refuse younger widows.” About virgins, although the matter is far more burdensome, he hints at nothing of the kind. Naturally. Why? Because they enrolled themselves for greater things, and the work proceeded there from a greater purpose. The things, then, of “if she has shown hospitality, if she has washed the feet of the saints,” and all such things, he indicated through “devoted” and through saying, “The unmarried woman cares for the things of the Lord.” And if he is not exact about their age, do not wonder; for that too is especially clear from this. And besides, I said that they held to virginity from a greater purpose. Moreover, here falls had already happened, and these women provided the occasion for such legislation; but there there was nothing of the kind. For that some had already fallen is clear from this, from his saying, “For when they grow wanton against Christ, they wish to marry”; and again, “For some have already turned aside after Satan.” “But refuse younger widows.” Why? “For when they grow wanton against Christ, they wish to marry.” What is “when they grow wanton”? … as when one says of a woman with a kindly husband … that she has become another's. He shows, then, that they chose widowhood without due thought, not from judgment. So the widow too is joined to Christ in her widowhood; for “I am,” he says, “the protector of widows and the father of orphans.” He shows that they do not choose widowhood rightly, but grow wanton; and yet he bears it. And indeed elsewhere he says, “I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.” When they have been named his, he says, “they wish to marry, incurring condemnation because they have set aside their first faith.” By “faith” he means the compact, the troth; as if he said: they have been false to him, they have broken the compact. “At the same time they also learn to be idle.” So he enjoins work not on men only but also on women; for idleness has taught every vice. They are answerable not for this fault only, he says, but for other faults too. If, then, it is unbecoming for a woman to go about from house to house, much more for a virgin. “And not only idle,” he says, “but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not.” “I wish, then, the younger widows to marry, to bear children, to manage their households.” What then happens when the care of a husband is gone and the care of God does not hold them? Naturally they become idle, talkative, busybodies. For one who does not care for his own affairs will certainly care for another's; just as one who minds his own affairs will take no account of others', will have no concern for them. “Saying what they should not.” Nothing is so unbecoming to a woman as to meddle in others' affairs; and not to a woman only, but to a man too; for this is the greatest sign of shamelessness and impudence. “I wish, then.” Since these women wish it, I too wish the younger widows to marry; this is better than doing those things. They ought indeed to care for the things of God, they ought to keep their faith; but since those things do not happen, it is better that these should happen than those; for neither is God set aside, nor do they learn those things. For from that widowhood nothing good will come; but from this marriage many good things; from this she will be able to turn back the gaping and slackness of her mind. And why, he asks, did he not say, “Since widows have fallen, they ought to enjoy much care, so as not to suffer what I said,” but enjoined marriage? Because it is not forbidden, when it sets them in safety. That is why he adds, “to give the adversary no occasion for reviling,” nor any … “For some have already turned aside after Satan.” He forbids, then, such widows, not because he does not wish there to be younger widows, but because he does not wish them to be adulteresses, does not wish them to be idle and busybodies, saying what they should not, does not wish the devil to get an occasion; so that, if such things did not happen, he would not have forbidden it. “If any believing man or woman has widows, let them relieve them, and let the church not be burdened, so that it may relieve those who are truly widows.” Do you see how again he calls truly widows those who are left alone, who have consolation from nowhere? For so it was better; for the greatest two things came about: those gained an occasion of doing good, these were well maintained, and the church was not burdened. Rightly he added, “If any believing”; for believing women ought not to be maintained by unbelievers, so that they might not seem to need them. And see how consolingly he speaks; he did not say, Some extravagance … “so that the church,” he says, “may relieve those who are truly widows.” So she too has the reward of this help; for she who helps this one helps not this one only but also those others, letting them be maintained with greater abundance. “I wish the younger widows” to do what? To live in luxury? To be self-indulgent? Nothing of the kind; but “to marry, to bear children, to manage their households.” For lest you think he urges them to luxury, he added: “to give the adversary no occasion for reviling.” They ought indeed to be above worldly things; but since they have become lower, let them at least stand firm in these. “Let the presbyters who preside well be counted worthy of double honour, especially those who labour in word and teaching. For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox that treads out the grain,” and, “The worker is worthy of his wages.”

By “honour” he means here maintenance, the supply of necessities. For his adding, “You shall not muzzle an ox that treads out the grain,” and, “The worker is worthy of his wages,” shows this. So when he says, “Honour widows,” he says this of the supply of necessary food; “so that it may relieve those who are truly widows,” he says; and again, “Honour those who are truly widows,” that is, those in poverty; for the more a woman is in poverty, the more she is a widow. He sets down the saying of the law and the saying of Christ, both agreeing. For the law says, “You shall not muzzle an ox that treads out the grain.” Do you see how he wishes the teacher to toil? For there is no other labour, none, like his. But that is the law's; how does he also set down Christ's? “For the worker,” he says, “is worthy of his wages.” Let us not, then, attend only to the wages, but also to how he commanded; for he says, “The worker is worthy of his food.” So if anyone lives in luxury and at ease, he is not worthy; unless he is an ox treading out the grain, and draws the yoke, bearing up against the stifling heat and the thorns, and does not leave off until he has brought the crops into the barns, he is not worthy. So the supply of necessities must flow abundantly to teachers, so that they may not be wearied or faint, nor, being occupied with small things, deprive themselves of the great, but may work at spiritual things, taking no account of worldly ones. Such were the Levites: they had no concern for worldly things, because the laity were concerned to provide for them, and their revenues were fixed by law, such as the tithes, the offerings of gold, the first-fruits, the vows, and much else. But to them he rightly legislated these things, since they sought things present; but I say nothing more than that those who preside ought to have food and clothing, so that they may not be distracted toward these things. And what is “double honour”? Double that given to the widows, or that given to the deacons; or simply by “double” he means much honour. Let us not, then, consider only this, that he counted them worthy of double honour, but that he added, “who preside well.” And what is “preside well”? Let us hear Christ saying, “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” So this is to preside well: to spare nothing for the sake of caring for them. “Especially,” he says, “those who labour in word and teaching.” Where now are those who say there is no need of word or teaching? when he so exhorts even Timothy, saying, “Practise these things, be in them”; and again, “Attend to reading, to exhortation; for by doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.” And these above all others he wishes to be honoured, and he gives the reason, that they undergo much labour, he says. Naturally. For when one man neither keeps vigil nor takes thought, but simply sits by in security and freedom from care, while the other wears himself out taking thought and studying, especially when he is also unskilled in the learning from outside, how should he not above all enjoy honour, and before all others, as one who gives himself up to such labours? For he is answerable to countless tongues: so-and-so has blamed, another has praised, another has slandered his memory and his composition; and he needs much strength to bear these things. For it is a great thing, great for the building up of the church, and it contributes much, that those who preside should be apt to teach; and if this is absent, many things in the churches are lost. That is why with the other qualities, with being hospitable and gentle, with being beyond reproach, he numbers this too, saying “apt to teach.” For why else is he called a teacher? Yes, someone says, so that he may teach philosophy by his life. So these things are superfluous, and there is no need of teaching by words for progress. Then how does Paul say, “especially those who labour in word and teaching”? For when the discourse is about doctrines, what life has strength here? But what word does he mean? Not the pompous, nor that which has the elegance of the outside learning, but that which possesses great strength of the Spirit, full of understanding and wisdom. He needs, then, not ornament and diction but thoughts, however they are expressed, not composition but sense. … “Do not receive an accusation against a presbyter except on the evidence of two or three witnesses.” What? Against a younger man must one receive an accusation without witnesses? And against anyone at all, must not judgments always be made with exactness? What then does he say? Not in other cases either, he says, but especially against a presbyter. For he means here by “presbyter” not the rank but the age, since the young sin more easily than the old. And it is clear from this that Timothy had been entrusted thenceforth with a church, or rather with a whole nation, that of Asia; that is why he speaks to him about presbyters too. For since many things are judged from suspicion, there must be, he says, those who bear witness and convict him, according to the old law: “At the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.” He did not say, “Do not condemn,” but, “Do not even receive an accusation,” do not bring him to judgment at all. What then, if … being examined by the trial, this too becomes clear. For with sins it is something to be content with to have even two witnesses, because they are done secretly and in hiding; so this is a sign of much testing. What then, if the sins are acknowledged, but he has no witnesses, only an evil suspicion? I said above, he says, “He must also have a good testimony from those outside.” “Rebuke those who sin before all, so that the rest also may have fear.” That is, do not cut off quickly, but examine everything with great exactness; but when you have learned it clearly, proceed vigorously, so that the others may be brought to their senses. For just as condemning lightly is harmful, so not proceeding against open sins gives the others a road to doing and daring the same things. He said “before all,” showing that it is not to be done lightly but with severity; for so the rest too will have fear. How then does Christ say, “Go, reprove him between you and him alone, if he sins against you”? … he allows him too to be reproved in the church. What then? Does not being reproved before all rather cause scandal? How? For when they know the sin but no longer the punishment, they are scandalized the more. For just as, when sinners remain unpunished, many go wrong, so, when they are punished, many do right. So God did too: he brought Pharaoh into the midst and punished him, and Nebuchadnezzar, and we see many others too, both by cities and by persons, who have paid the penalty. So he wishes all to have fear of the bishop, and sets him over all. Let us, then, love God with fear. For the law is not laid down for the righteous; but the many, who pursue virtue by compulsion and not by choice, reap great fruit from fear, often cutting off their own desires. For this reason let us hear about Gehenna, that we may reap much fruit from this threat and fear. For if, being about to cast sinners into it, he had not foretold its threat, many would have fallen into it. For if now, though fear … our souls, there are some who sin so easily as if it did not exist, if none of these things had been said or threatened, what terrible thing would we not have done? So, as I always say, Gehenna shows God's care no less than the kingdom does. For Gehenna works together with the kingdom, driving men toward it by fear. Let us not, then, think the thing a matter of harshness or cruelty, but of mercy and great love for humankind, and of care and affection toward us. If overthrow had not been threatened through Jonah, the overthrow would not have been prevented; if he had not said, “Nineveh shall be overthrown,” Nineveh would not have stood; if Gehenna had not been threatened, we would all have fallen into Gehenna; if fire had not been threatened, no one would have escaped the fire. He says the opposite of what he wishes to do, in order to do what he wishes. He does not wish the death of the sinner, and he speaks of the death of the sinner, so as not to cast him into death. He did not say it in word only, but shows it in deed too, that we may flee. And lest anyone think the thing only a threat, and not real, he made this clear from what has happened here. Or does not the flood seem to you a symbol of Gehenna, and the utter destruction by the rain of fire? “For as in the days of Noah,” he says, “they were marrying and giving in marriage, so it is now.” He foretold it then a long time before, and now he foretells it four hundred years or more beforehand; but no one pays attention; all think the thing myths, all a laughing matter; fear holds no one, no one weeps, no one beats his breast. The river of fire is boiling up, the flame is kindled, and we laugh and live in luxury and sin fearlessly. No one ever takes that day to mind, no one considers that present things pass away, that these are temporary, although the facts cry out every day and give voice. Untimely deaths, the changes of fortune that happen while we live, sicknesses and the other diseases, do not instruct us. And one may see changes not only in our bodies but in the very elements too; and in the stages of life we practise death every day, and in all things instability is stamped everywhere on events. Winter never remained, nor summer, nor spring, nor autumn; but all runs and flies off and flows. But what would you have me speak of? The flowers, the dignities, the kings who are now and tomorrow are not? The rich? The splendid buildings? Night and day? The sun? The moon? Does not she wane too? And does not the sun itself often fail, grow dark, is it not hidden by a cloud? Does anything that is seen remain for ever? Nothing; only the soul among the things in us, and this we neglect. Of the things that change we take much care as though they remained; of the one that remains we take no account, as though it were always passing away. So-and-so has great power: but until tomorrow, and after that he will perish; and this is clear from those who had greater power and now are nowhere to be seen. Life is a stage and a dream. For just as on the stage, when the curtain is drawn up, the varied scenes are dissolved, and when the ray of light appears all dreams fly away, so now too, when the consummation comes, both the common one and that of each person, everything is dissolved and vanishes. The tree you planted remains, and the house you are building, it too remains; but the craftsman and the farmer are carried off and perish. And though these things happen, not even so are we put to shame, but we prepare all these things as though immortal, living in luxury and self-indulgence. Hear what Solomon says, who had experience of present things in deed: “I built houses for myself,” he says, “I planted gardens and parks, and I had gold; I made myself men singers and women singers, flocks and herds.” For no one was so luxurious, no one so glorious, no one so wise, no one such a ruler; no one saw everything turn out so according to his mind. What then? He enjoyed none of these things; but what does he say after all these things? “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity”; not simply vanity, but to excess. Let us believe him, I beg you, who has come through experience; let us believe him, and lay hold of things where there is no longer vanity, where there is truth, where all is fixed and sure, where all is built on the rock, where there is no old age nor passing away, where all blooms, where all is at its prime, where nothing grows old or ages … God, not from fear of Gehenna but from desire of the kingdom. For what, tell me, is equal to seeing Christ? There is nothing. And what is equal to enjoying those good things? There is nothing; naturally. For “eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared,” he says, “for those who love him.” … of these. Do we not accuse them ten thousand times, saying that human life is nothing? Why do you strive for nothing? Why do you undergo labours for nothing? But you see splendid buildings, and the sight of them deceives you? Then look at once to heaven; look up from the stones and columns to that beauty, and you will see that these are the works of ants and gnats. Practise philosophy with this sight; go up to the things in heaven; from there learn what the splendid buildings are, and you will see that they are nothing, but toys of little children. Do you see how much thinner, how much lighter, how much purer and clearer the air is, the higher you ascend? There those who practise almsgiving have their houses, their tents. These things are dissolved at the resurrection, or rather before the resurrection; time comes on and destroys and obliterates and dissolves them; and before time, often in their very prime and bloom, an earthquake has brought them down, or a fire has ruined the whole. For not in the ages of men only, but in buildings too there are untimely deaths; and often those that have become rotten with time remain unmoved when the earth is shaken, while the gleaming, solid, newly built ones are shaken down and destroyed by thunder alone; and this, I think, by God's dispensation, so that we may not be proud of our buildings. If you wish not to be downcast in another way, come to the public buildings, which you share equally. For there is no house, none, however splendid, more splendid than the public buildings. Spend as much time there as you wish; those are yours, yours together with the others; they are common, not private. But these do not delight, he says. They do not delight, first through habit, second through covetousness. So the delight is covetousness, not beauty; so the pleasure is covetousness and wishing to make everything one's own. How long shall we be nailed down, and wallow like worms in the mire? God gave us the body from earth so that we might lead it too up to heaven, not so that through it we might drag the soul down to earth. It is earthy, but if I wish, it becomes heavenly. See with what honour he has honoured us, entrusting such a work to us. “I made,” he says, “earth and heaven; I give you too a work of creation: make the earth heaven,” for you can. “He who makes all things and transforms them” is said of God; but he has given this power to men too, as an affectionate father who paints wishes not only to do it himself but to bring his child to the same skill. “I made,” he says, “a beautiful body; I give you the making of the better thing: make a beautiful soul. I said, ‘Let the earth bring forth the green plant and every fruit-bearing tree’; say you too, ‘Let this earth bring forth its own fruit,’ and whatever you wish to produce will come forth. I make summer and mist … [the dragon whom I formed] to play with him,” that is, the devil. “Nor have I grudged you this power: you too play with him, if you wish; for you can bind him like a sparrow. I make the sun rise on the evil and the good; you too imitate me: share what is yours with the good and the evil. When insulted I bear it and do good to those who insult me; you too imitate me, for you can. I do good, not for a return; you too imitate me, and do not do good … into the heaven; you too kindle lights brighter than these, for you can; enlighten those in error; that kindness is greater than seeing the sun: to know me. You cannot make a man, but you can make him righteous and well-pleasing to God. I made the substance; you adorn the will. See how I love you, and have given you power in the greater things.” See, beloved, how we have been honoured; and yet some of the senseless and ungrateful say, “Why are we masters of our will?” All these things we have gone through, in which we can imitate God, if there were no free will it would not be possible for us to imitate. “I rule angels,” he says, “and you too, through the first-fruits. I sit on a royal throne, and you too sit with me through the first-fruits”; “he raised us up with him,” he says, “and seated us with him at the right hand of the Father.” The cherubim and the seraphim worship you, all the angelic power, principalities, authorities, thrones, dominions, through the first-fruits. Do not accuse the body, which enjoys such honour, before which even the bodiless powers tremble. But what shall I say? “Not by these things only do I show my love, but also by what I suffered. For your sake I left my Father and came to you who hated me and turned away from me and did not even wish to hear my name; I pursued and ran after you, to lay hold of you; I united you and joined you to myself. ‘Eat me,’ I said, ‘drink me.’ Both above I hold you, and below I am entwined with you. Is it not enough for you that I hold your first-fruits above? Does this not satisfy my longing? I came down below again; I am not simply mingled with you, but … so that the blending and mixing and union may come about. For things that are united stand within their own limits; but I am woven together with you. I no longer wish there to be anything between; I wish both to be one.” Knowing these things, then, and his great care for us, let us do everything that can show us not unworthy of his great gifts; which may we all obtain, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, might, honour, now and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen.