Homilies on 2 Timothy 3.1–3.2

“Hold the pattern of the sound words that you heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus; guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. You know this, that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and [Hermogenes]. May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain, but when he was in Rome he searched for me very diligently and found me. May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day. And what services he rendered in Ephesus, you know very well.” Not only by letters did he set before the disciple what he must do, but already by spoken words as well. He made this plain in many places, in other letters too, saying, “whether by word or by letter, as from us”; and much more here. Let us not, then, think that what concerns the teaching has been stated incompletely; for he handed down many things to him unwritten as well; and it was to remind him of these that he said, “Hold the pattern of the sound words that you heard from me.” What does he mean? As painters do, he says, I have impressed on you an image of virtue and of everything that pleases God, laying down in your soul, as it were, a rule, an archetype and boundaries. Keep these, then; whether you need to decide anything about faith, or about love, or about self-discipline, take your examples from there; you will not need to look for a model from others, since everything is laid up there. “Guard the good deposit.” How? “Through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.” For it is not within the reach of a human soul or human power, when entrusted with so much, to be equal to guarding it. Why? Because the robbers are many; the darkness is deep; the devil is still at hand and lies in wait; we do not know at what hour, at what moment, he attacks. How then shall we be equal to guarding it, he says? “Through the Holy Spirit”: that is, if we have the Spirit with us; if we do not drive the grace away, it will be present. “For unless the Lord builds a house, those who build it labour in vain; unless the Lord guards a city, those who guard it stay awake in vain.” This is our wall, this our fortress, this our refuge. If, then, it dwells in us and itself guards, what need is there of a command? So that we may hold it fast, he says, so that we may keep it, and not drive it away by bad deeds. Then he recounts his trials, not wishing to cast the disciple down but to raise him up, so that if ever he too should fall into them, he might not find it strange, looking to his teacher and remembering all that happened to him. What, then, does he say? Since it was likely that, once he was arrested, he would be abandoned and enjoy no kindness, no support, no help, but would be betrayed even by the faithful and by his friends, hear what he says: “You know this, that all who are in Asia turned away from me.” There were likely many in Rome at that time from the parts of Asia; but no one stood by me, he says, no one acknowledged me, all were estranged. And see his philosophic soul. He told only what happened; he did not curse them; the one who did the opposite he even praised, and he prays countless good things for him; but those he did not curse. What does he say? “Among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. May the Lord grant mercy,” he says, “to the household of Onesiphorus, for he refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain, but when he was in Rome he searched for me very diligently and found me.” See how everywhere he speaks of the shame, not of the danger, so that Timothy might not be afraid, although the matter was full of dangers; for at that time Paul had given offence to Nero by winning over one of those attached to him. But when he was in Rome, he says, he not only did not avoid meeting me, but even sought me out and found me. “May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day. And what services he rendered in Ephesus, you know better than I.” Such must the faithful be: not held back by fear or threat or shame, but working together with one another, standing by and helping, as in war. For they do not so much do a favour to those in danger as to themselves, making themselves sharers, through what they do for them, in the crowns owed to them. For example, one of those dedicated to God is in affliction, suffering many terrible things and contending with great endurance; you have not yet been drawn into this contest; it is open to you, if you wish, even without going down into the arena, to become a sharer in the crowns laid up for him, by being present with him, anointing him, urging him on, rousing him. And that this is so, hear what he says, writing elsewhere: “Yet you did well to share in my affliction”; and again, “For even in Thessalonica you sent once and again for my need.” And how did those who were absent share in the affliction of one who was not with them? How? Because you sent me, he says, what I needed, once and again. And again, speaking of Epaphroditus, he says, “Because he came near to death, risking his life, to make up for what was lacking in your service to me.” For as with kings not only those who fight but also those who guard the baggage share in the honour, and not merely that, but often obtain equal rewards, though they have not bloodied their hands nor taken up arms, nor even seen the enemy's battle line at all, much more is it so in these afflictions. For whoever helps the athlete when he is wasting away with hunger, whoever is present, whoever encourages him with words, whoever provides all other care, has an equal share with the one who contends.

For do not think, I pray you, of Paul the athlete, the invincible and unconquerable, but of some other one of the many, who, if he had not received much consolation and much encouragement, might not have stood his ground, might not have contended. So those who are outside the contests, by caring for the one who has entered them, have become causes of the victory, and would become sharers in the crowns laid up for the victory. And what wonder is it if one who shares with those who are still living is counted worthy of the same things as those who contend? Just as with those who have departed, those already laid to rest, those crowned, those who need nothing, it is possible to share even after death. For hear Paul saying, “sharing in the commemorations of the saints.” “And how,” someone says, “is it possible to share?” When you admire the man, when you do any of the things for which he was crowned, you share in his prizes and his crowns, clearly. “May the Lord grant him,” he says, “to find mercy from the Lord on that day.” He showed me mercy, he says; so he will have the recompense on that fearful and awesome day, when we have need of much mercy. “May the Lord grant him,” he says, “to find mercy from the Lord.” Two Lords? By no means; but “for us there is one Lord, Jesus Christ,” and one God. Here those who are sick with the doctrines of Marcion pounce on the saying; but let them learn that this is the custom of Scripture, and one can find Scripture using this manner of speaking in many places, as when it says, “The Lord said to my Lord”; and again, “I said to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord’”; and elsewhere, “The Lord rained from the Lord.” This indicates persons of the same substance; it does not divide the nature. For it says this not so that we may think of two substances differing from one another, but of two persons, each of the same substance. See how he said, “May the Lord grant him.” What? Nothing else than mercy. For since he himself had received mercy from Onesiphorus, he prays that Onesiphorus too may receive it from God. And if Onesiphorus, who exposed himself to dangers, is saved by mercy, much more are we. For the accounting is fearful, fearful, and needs great love for humankind, so that we may not hear that awesome word, “Go away, I do not know you, you who work lawlessness”; so that we may not hear again that fearful word, “Depart, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels”; so that we may not hear, “There is a chasm between us and you”; so that we may not hear that word full of horror, “Take him and throw him into the outer darkness”; so that we may not hear that word full of great fear, “You wicked and lazy servant.” For that court is very awesome and fearful; and yet God is gentle, and yet he is kind. For he is called the God of compassion and the God of comfort, and good as no one is good, and kind and gentle and rich in mercy, and he does not desire the death of the sinner so much as that he should turn and live. Why, then, why is that day so full of anguish? A river of fire is drawn before his face, books of our deeds are opened, that day is like a furnace … many … How, then, is he loving to humankind? How merciful? How good? He is loving even so, and it is from these things above all that the greatness of his love is shown. For this is why he holds such great fear over us: so that, pushed by these things at least, we may one day be roused to longing for the kingdom. See, I pray you, how he does not simply bear witness for Onesiphorus, but says, “He often refreshed me.” Like an athlete oppressed by drought—that is, by afflictions—he revived me, he says, and strengthened me. “And what services he rendered in Ephesus, you know better than I.” Not only in Ephesus, he says, but here too. Such must the sober and wakeful man be: working not once, nor twice, nor three times, but throughout his whole life. For as our body, once fed, does not have its sustenance for its whole life, but needs daily food as well, so here too, in godliness, we need every day the help that comes from works. For we have need of much mercy; for it is because of our sins that God, who loves humankind, does all those things, needing none of them himself, but doing everything for our sake. That is why he has told and recounted everything to us; and not only recounted it, but confirms it by deeds. He was trustworthy even from words alone; but so that no one might think the words were exaggeration or mere threat, he adds the assurance that comes from deeds as well. How? By bringing punishments both on individuals and on whole peoples. And so that you may learn it from the facts themselves, at one time he punished Pharaoh, at another he brought the flood of waters and that total destruction, at another the destruction by fire. And now too we see many of the wicked punished and paying a penalty; these are examples of hell. So that we may not sleep, nor be careless, nor forget the words, he reminds us and rouses us by deeds, showing us here tribunals, law courts, accountings. Then, among human beings there is so much concern for justice, but with God, who even laid down these laws, is there no account taken of them? And how could that be believed? For in the house, in the marketplace, everywhere one can see law courts. In the house the master judges his slaves every day and demands an account of their faults, punishing some and letting others go. In the fields again the farmer and his wife go to law every day; on ships the helmsman judges; in camps the general judges the soldiers; and one could find many law courts: in the crafts, the master judges the apprentice. So both privately and publicly all judge one another, and nowhere would one see the claim of justice neglected, but everyone everywhere giving account. Then, here the inquiry into justice is so widely spread, through city and household and each individual; but there, where “the right hand of God is full of righteousness,” and “his righteousness is like the mountains of God,” is there no account of justice there? And how does God, “the judge, righteous and strong and patient,” bear with it and not exact the penalties? Here you have the reason: he is patient, it says, and he is patient so as to draw you to repentance; but if you persist, “by your hardness and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself.” If, then, he is righteous, he repays according to desert, and does not overlook those who suffer wrong and leave it unavenged; for this is what the righteous do. If he is strong, he repays even after death, and at the resurrection; for this is what the strong do. If, being patient, he bears with it, let us not be disturbed nor say, “Why does he not punish here?” For if this happened, the human race would have been carried off beforehand, if he exacted from us every day the penalty for our offences. For there is not, there is not a day pure of sins; we stumble in something either great or small. So none of us would even have reached his twentieth year, if his patience and goodness were not great, granting us a long term for repentance so that we may strip off our offences. Let each one, then, go over what he has done with an upright conscience, and, bringing his whole life out into the open, consider whether he is not worthy of countless punishments and chastisements; and when he is indignant that so-and-so, who does countless wicked things, does not pay a penalty, let him think of his own deeds, and he will stop being indignant. For those things seem great because they are done in great and conspicuous matters; but if he examines his own, he will perhaps find more. For seizing and grasping are alike, whether they concern gold or silver; both spring from the same mind, and he who has filched something small will not refuse to filch something great; and if it is not at hand, that is not because of him but because of how things fell out. The poor man who wrongs one poorer than himself would not, if he could, have spared the rich man either; the matter now comes from his weakness, not from his choice. So-and-so holds office, someone says, and seizes the property of those under him. But do you not seize? Tell me. Do not tell me that he takes talents of gold and you ten obols; for in almsgiving too some threw in gold, and she two lepta, and she brought no less than they. Why? Because it is the choice that is judged, not the gift. Then, in almsgiving you expect God to judge so, and that you, because of your poverty, should carry off no less, if you throw in two lepta, than those who put down ten thousand talents of gold; but in greed not so? And how could that be reasonable? As she, by throwing in two lepta, brought no less because of her choice, so you too, if you filch two lepta, are in no better state than they; but if I may say something surprising, you are greedier than they. For whether someone commits adultery with the emperor's wife, or the poor man's, or the slave's, he is equally an adulterer, since the sin is judged not by the difference of persons but by the wickedness of the will of the one who dared it; so it is here too. And I would rather call him an adulterer who commits adultery with an ordinary woman than him who does so with the empress herself; for there wealth and beauty and many other things were the lures, but here there was nothing; so this man would be more of an adulterer. Again, I would rather call that man a drunkard who is given to poor wine; so also that man greedy who does not despise even small things. For he who seizes much might perhaps despise small things; but he who filches small things would by no means despise great ones; so this man is more of a thief. For he who does not despise silver, how would he despise gold? So when we accuse those in office, let us reckon up our own deeds, and we shall find that we ourselves steal and grasp even more than they, if we judge these things not by the act but by the choice, as it is just to judge. Tell me, if one man were brought to court for taking the goods of a poor man, and another those of a rich man, will not both pay a like penalty? And what? Is not the murderer equally a murderer, whether he kills a cripple and a pauper or a rich and handsome man? When, then, we say that so-and-so seized so-and-so's estate, let us think of our own deeds; and so we shall not condemn others, we shall admire God for his patience, we shall not be indignant that judgment does not come upon them, and we ourselves shall be slower to commit evil. For when we see that we ourselves too are liable for the same things, we shall no longer be so annoyed, but we shall stand back from sins and obtain the good things to come, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom be glory, might and honour to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, now and always and to the ages [of ages].