Homilies on Colossians 11.1–12.1

[Homily 11] “Walk in wisdom toward those outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.” What Christ said to the disciples, Paul now exhorts too. What did Christ say? “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; be therefore wise as serpents and …,” giving them no handle against you. For this is why “toward those outside” is added: so that we may learn that toward our own members we need less caution than toward those outside. For where there are brothers, there are many pardons and much love. There must be caution here too, but much more outside; for it is not the same to be among enemies and foes as among friends. Then, since he has made them afraid, see how again he encourages them: “redeeming the time,” he says, that is, the present time is short. He said these things not wishing them to be shifty or hypocrites, for that belongs not to wisdom but to folly. But what? In things where they do no harm, he says, give them no handle; as he says also when writing to the Romans: “Render to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute, tax to whom tax, honour to whom honour.” Let your war be only for the preaching, he says; let this war have no other beginning. For if they are to hate us for other things too, we will have no reward, they will become worse, and they will seem to bring just charges against us: for example, if we do not pay the taxes, if we do not render the fitting honours, if we are not humble. Do you not see how Paul, where the preaching suffered no harm, gives way? Hear him saying to Agrippa, “I think myself happy that I am to make my defence before you today, especially because you are expert in all the customs and questions among the Jews.” If he had thought he must insult the ruler, he would have overturned everything. And hear how gently blessed Peter and his companions answer the Jews, saying, “We must obey God rather than men.” And yet these men, who had given up on their own lives, could have insulted them and done anything whatever; but they did not, for that belongs to vainglory; rather they did everything that they might preach and speak everything with boldness; the other belongs to excess. “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt,” that is, let your graciousness not fall into carelessness. For it is possible to be gracious, and possible to be so with fitting decorum. “That you may know how you ought to answer each one.” So one must not converse alike with all, I mean with Greeks and with brothers. By no means; for that belongs to the utmost folly. “All my affairs Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow slave in the Lord, will make known to you.” Ah, how great is Paul's wisdom! Why does he not put everything into his letters, but only the necessary and urgent things? First, not wishing to stretch them to great length; secondly, making the one who goes more respected, so that he may have something to relate; thirdly, showing how he is disposed toward him, for he would not have entrusted these things to him otherwise. Besides, there were things that ought not to be made known by letter. “The beloved,” he says, “brother.” If beloved, he knows everything, and Paul hid nothing from him. “And faithful minister and fellow slave in the Lord.” If faithful, he will tell no lie; if a fellow slave, he has shared in the trials; so that he has gathered trustworthiness from every side. “Whom I have sent to you for this very purpose.” Here he shows his great love, since he sent him for this, and this was the cause of his journey; as he also said writing to the Thessalonians: “We thought it good to be left at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy our brother.” And to the Ephesians too he sends this same man, and for the same cause. “That he may know,” he says, “your affairs, and comfort your hearts.” See what he says: not that you may learn my affairs, but that I may learn yours; so nowhere does he put his own first. By saying “that he may comfort your hearts,” he shows that they too are in trials. “With Onesimus, the beloved and faithful brother, who is one of you. They will make known to you all things here.” This is the Onesimus about whom he wrote to Philemon, “whom I wished to keep with me, that on your behalf he might minister to me in the bonds of the gospel; but without your consent I wished to do nothing.” And he adds the praise of the city too, so that they may even take pride in him, and not only not be ashamed. “Who is,” he says, “one of you. They will make known to you all things here. Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you.”

Nothing is greater than this praise. This is the one who was taken up from Jerusalem with him. He said something greater than the prophets: they call themselves strangers and sojourners, but this man calls himself even a captive. For like a captive he was led and carried about, and was exposed to all to suffer ill, or rather worse than captives. For enemies, once they take captives, treat them with much care afterwards, as tending their own possessions; but this man everyone slandered as an enemy and foe. This was a comfort to them too; for when the teacher too is in such circumstances, the disciples are the more comforted. “And Mark, the cousin of Barnabas” — he adds the kinship, for Barnabas was a great man. “About whom you received instructions: if he comes to you, receive him.” Why? Would they not have received him even without this? Yes; but I want it to be done with great eagerness, he says; and this shows the man to be great. Where they received the instructions he does not say. “And Jesus who is called Justus.” Perhaps this man was a Corinthian. Then he gives a praise common to all, having said what was peculiar to each: “who are of the circumcision; these only are my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, who have been a comfort to me.” Since he said “fellow prisoner,” lest he cast down the souls of the hearers, see how he sets this down and rouses them: “fellow workers,” he says, “for the kingdom of God.” So, sharing in the trials, they will share in the kingdom. “Who have been a comfort to me.” He shows them to be great, since they have been a comfort to Paul. But let us see Paul's understanding. “Walk in wisdom,” he says, “toward those outside, redeeming the time.” That is, the time is not yours, but theirs; do not then wish to play the master. He did not simply say “buy,” but “redeem,” showing that by being so disposed you make it yours in another way. For it belongs to excessive folly to devise pretexts for wars and hatreds. For besides enduring superfluous dangers that bring no gain, another harm arises too: the Greeks do not come over to us. When you are among the brothers, you are rightly confident; but outside it should not be so. Do you see how everywhere he calls the Greeks “those outside”? That is why, writing to Timothy too, he said, “He must also have a good testimony from those outside”; and again, “For what have I to do with judging those outside?” “Walk in wisdom,” he says, “toward those outside.” For they are outside, even if they inhabit the same world with us, being outside the kingdom and the father's house. At the same time he consoles them by calling those men “outside”; as he said above, “Your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Then, he says, seek glory, then honours, then all the rest; but not now; rather grant these things to them. Then, lest you think he means money, he adds, “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one”: that it may not be full of hypocrisy, he says; for that is not grace, nor is it seasoned with salt. For example, if you must show respect and it is without danger, do not refuse; if it is the time to speak courteously, do not think the thing flattery; do everything that tends to honour, without harm to piety. Do you not see how Daniel shows respect to an impious man? Do you not see the three youths, how wisely they conducted themselves toward the king, showing courage and boldness, and nothing rash or offensive? For that is no longer boldness but vainglory. “That you may know,” he says, “how you ought to answer each one.” One way to the ruler, another to the subject; one way to the rich man, another to the poor. Why? Because the souls of the rich and of rulers are weaker, being enervated; so there one must be condescending; while those of the poor and of subjects are firmer and more understanding; so here one must use greater boldness, looking to one thing, edification. It is not that the one should be honoured more and the other less because one is rich and the other poor; but because of weakness the one should be supported, and the other not so. For example, do not without cause call the Greek defiled, nor be insolent; but if you are asked about the doctrine, answer that it is defiled and impious; when no one asks or compels you to speak, it is not fitting to take on hatred for nothing. For what need is there to manufacture superfluous enmities? Again, if you are catechizing someone, speak from the subject at hand; otherwise be silent. If the speech is seasoned with salt, even if it falls on a dissolute soul it will tighten its slackness; and if on a harsh one, it will smooth its hardness. Being gracious, let it be neither burdensome nor again slack, but let it have both astringency and pleasantness. For if it is immoderately astringent, it does more harm than good; and if immoderately pleasant, it grieves more than it benefits; so everywhere there must be measure. Be neither downcast and gloomy, for that is unpleasant, nor dissolute, for that is contemptible and trampled on; but taking the virtue of each, avoid its vice, as the bee takes the cheerfulness of the one and the gravity of the other. For if a doctor will not treat all bodies alike, much more must a teacher not treat all souls alike. And yet bodies would bear unsuitable medicines better than a soul an unsuitable word. For example, does a Greek come to you and become your friend? Say nothing to him about this until he becomes quite your friend; and when he becomes so, gently …

For see how Paul too, when he came to Athens, conversed with them. He did not say, “O defiled and utterly defiled men!”, but what? “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.” Again, when he had to insult, he did not refuse, but said with great vehemence to Elymas, “O full of all deceit and all villainy, son of the devil, enemy of all righteousness!” For just as to insult the Athenians would have been folly, so not to insult this man would have been weakness. Again, have you been brought before a ruler on some matter? Render the fitting honours. “They will make known to you,” he says, “all things here.” Why have I not come myself? he means. What is “they will make known to you all things here”? That is, the bonds and all the other things that detain me. So I, who pray to see them and who send others too, would not myself have stayed behind unless a great necessity detained me. And yet this was not for those who were finding fault? Yes, very much for those who were finding fault. For to learn that he had fallen into trials and borne them nobly was a thing that confirmed them and set their souls upright. “With Onesimus,” he says, “the beloved and faithful brother.” Paul calls the slave a brother — rightly, since he names himself too a slave of the believers. … the arrogance. Paul, who is worth the whole world and ten thousand heavens, names himself a slave, and are you proud? He who led and carried everything as he wished, who holds the first place in the kingdom of heaven, who has been crowned, who went up to the third heaven, calls slaves brothers and fellow slaves. Where is the madness? Where the arrogance? So trustworthy did Onesimus become that he was even entrusted with such things. “And Mark,” he says, “the cousin of Barnabas, about whom you received instructions; receive him.” Perhaps they received instructions from Barnabas. “Who are of the circumcision.” He checks the conceit of the Jews; he lifts up the souls of these Colossians, because few are from the circumcision and most from the Gentiles. “Who have been,” he says, “a comfort to me.” He shows himself to be in great trials. So this too is no small thing, when we comfort the saints by our presence and word and attendance, when we suffer ill with them (“those in bonds,” he says, “as bound with them”), when we make their sufferings ours; we will also share in the crowns. Were you not dragged into the stadium? Did you not come down into the contest? Another has stripped, another wrestles. But if you wish, you too will share: anoint him, become his friend, … rouse his strength, refresh his soul. It follows that this happens in all other cases too. For Paul did not need it, but said these things to lift them up. You then, in all other cases, … those who love him, receive him as he comes out with great attention; so you will share in the crowns, so in the glory. Even if you do nothing else, but rejoice at what has happened, even so you have shared not a little; for you have contributed love, the sum of all good things. For if those who weep are thought to share in the grief, and do a great kindness to the mourners, and take away much of the pain, much more do those who rejoice make the pleasure greater. For how great an evil it is not to have those who grieve with one, hear the Prophet saying, “And I waited for one to grieve with me, and there was none.” That is why Paul too says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” Increase the pleasure: if you see your brother well thought of, do not say, “The good reputation is his; why should I rejoice?” These are not the words of a brother but of an enemy. If you wish, it is not his but yours; you are master of making it greater, if you are not downcast but pleased, if you become cheerful, if you are glad. And that this is so is clear from this: the envious envy not only those who are well thought of, but also those who rejoice in their good reputation; so well do they know that these too share in the good reputation, and these are the ones who most take pride in it. For he blushes when much praised; but this man takes pride in it with great pleasure. Do you not see with athletes how one is crowned and another not? But the pain and the joy belong to their lovers and their haters; those leap, those skip. See how great a thing it is not to envy: the labour is another's, and the pleasure yours; another wears the crown, and you skip, you take pride. For tell me, another has won; why do you leap? But they too know well that what happened is common. That is why the envious do not accuse him, but try to bring down the victory; and you hear them saying such words as “I wiped you out” and “I threw you down”; and yet the deed is another's, but the praise yours. And if in outward things it is so great a good not to envy, but to make another's goods one's own, much more in victory over the devil; for then he blows against us more, clearly because we are more pleased. Defiled as he is, he knows well that this pleasure is great. Do you want to grieve him? Be pleased and rejoice. Do you want to gladden him? Become gloomy: you will lighten through your despondency the grief your brother's victory caused him; you stand with him, separated from your brother; you do greater evil than he. For it is not the same to be an enemy and do what enemies do, and to be a friend and stand with the enemies; this man is more defiled than the enemies. If your brother is well thought of, whether in speaking or in some display, or in achieving something, become a sharer in his good reputation; show that he is your member.

“And how?” someone says; “for I am not well thought of.” Never utter this word; close your lips. If he who says this were near me, I would put my hand over his lips, lest the enemy hear. Often we have enmities with one another, and do not show them to our enemies; but you show yours to the devil. Do not say this, do not think it; but the opposite: “He is my member; the glory passes to the body.” “Why then,” he says, “are those outside not so disposed?” Because you are the cause: when they see you estranging yourself from his pleasure, they too estrange themselves; when they see you making it your own, they do not dare; but you too are just as glorious. You were not well thought of for speaking, but you were well thought of for rejoicing with him, more greatly than he. For if love is a great thing and the sum of all, you have received the crown that comes from it; he the crown from rhetoric, you that from loving greatly; he displayed the power of words, you by your deeds overthrew envy and trampled on jealousy. So you would rightly be crowned more than he; your contest is more glorious; you not only trampled on jealousy but did something else too. He has only one crown, but you two, and the two more glorious than the one. What are these? One, that which you won against envy; the second, that which you bound on from love. For rejoicing with him is a token not only of being pure of envy, but also of having love firmly rooted. Him some human passion often troubles, such as vainglory; but you are pure of every passion; for you do not rejoice in another's good things out of vainglory. Did he set the church right, tell me? Did he increase the assembly? Praise him again: you have double crowns: you overthrew envy, you bound on love. Yes, I beg and entreat you. Do you want to hear of a third crown too? Men below applaud him, but angels above applaud you. For it is not the same to display eloquence and to master the passions. This praise is temporary, that eternal; this from men, that from God; he appears crowned, but you are crowned in secret, where your Father sees. If it were possible to see each one's soul separated from the body, I would have shown you this one more dignified than that one, gleaming more brightly. … the stings of jealousy, we benefit ourselves from this, beloved; we ourselves will bind on the crown … The jealous man fights against God, not against that man; for when he sees someone having grace, and is pained, and wants the church pulled down, he fights not with that man but with God. For tell me, if someone adorned a king's daughter, and was well thought of for adorning her and making her dignified, and someone else wanted her to be disgraced and the man unable to adorn her, against whom would he be plotting, against this man, or against her and her father? So now you who are jealous fight against the church, you war against God. For since the benefit of the church is bound up with the good reputation of your brother, necessarily when this is destroyed that too is destroyed; so in this respect you do a satanic work, plotting against the body of Christ. You are pained at this man who has done no wrong, but much more at Christ. What wrong has he done you, that you do not let his body be adorned with beauty, that you do not let the bride be adorned? See how great the punishment is: you gladden your enemies; and the very man who is well thought of, whom you want to grieve by envying, you gladden more; by being jealous you show more clearly that he was well thought of, for you would not have been jealous otherwise; you show more clearly that you are being punished. I am ashamed to exhort you from these motives; but since we are so weakly disposed, let us be trained even by these, and be freed from this deadly passion. Are you pained that he was well thought of? Why then do you exalt his good reputation by envying? Do you want to punish him? Why then do you show that you are pained? Why do you exact punishment of yourself before the man whom you wish not to be well thought of? From now on the pleasure will be double for him, and the punishment for you: not only because you show him to be great, but because you also produce another pleasure for him by punishing yourself; and again, the things at which you are pained, he is pleased at while you envy. See how we deal ourselves grievous blows, and do not perceive it. “But he is an enemy.” And yet why an enemy? What wrong did he do? But nevertheless we make the enemy more glorious, and punish ourselves the more, because he knew it. Perhaps he is not even pleased; but we, thinking he is pleased, are pained again on this account. So stop envying: why do you inflict wounds on yourself? Let us consider these things, beloved: the double crowns of those who do not envy, the praises from men and from God, the evils that come from jealousy; and so we will be able to quench the beast, and be well thought of before God, and obtain the same things as those who are well thought of. For perhaps we will obtain them; and even if we do not, it will be for our good that we do not; but even so we will be able, having lived for the glory of God, to obtain the good things promised to those who love him, by the grace and lovingkindness 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.

[Homily 12] “Epaphras, who is one of you, a slave of Christ, greets you, always striving for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God. For I bear him witness that he has great zeal for you and for those in Laodicea and those in Hierapolis.” At the beginning of the letter too he commended the man from his love; and praising him also shows love, as he said at the beginning: “who also declared to us,” he says, “your love in the Spirit.” Praying for them too shows love and makes him loved. He commends him, opening a door for his word (for the teacher's being respected is the disciples' benefit); and again by saying “one of you,” so that they may take pride in the man, as people who produce such men. “Always,” he says, “striving for you in his prayers.” He did not simply say “praying,” but “striving,” trembling and fearing. “For I bear him witness,” he says, “that he has great zeal for you.” A trustworthy witness. “That he has,” he says, “great zeal for you”; that is, he loves you exceedingly and burns with affection for you. “And for those in Laodicea,” he says, “and for those in Hierapolis.” He commends him to them too. But how were they to know this? It is likely that they heard it; besides, when the letter was read, they learned it. For “see to it,” he says, “that it is read also in the …” … “perfect,” he says. At the same time he accuses them, and inoffensively exhorts and counsels them. For it is possible to be perfect and not to stand firm, as when someone knows everything but is still shaken; and it is possible not to be perfect and yet to stand, as when someone knows in part, but stands firmly. But he prays for both: “that you may stand,” he says, “perfect.” See how again he reminded them of the teaching about the angels, and about life. “And fully assured,” he says, “in all the will of God.” For it is not enough simply to do the will. He who is fully assured does not allow another will to be in him, since otherwise he is not fully assured. “For I bear him witness,” he says, “that he has great zeal.” Both “zeal” and “great”: both are intensifications, as he himself says writing to the Corinthians: “For I am zealous for you with a godly zeal.” “Luke the beloved physician greets you.” This is the evangelist. He puts him later not to humble him, but to exalt Epaphras. It is likely that there were others too called by this name. “And Demas.” Having said, “Luke the physician greets you,” he added, “the beloved.” This too is no small praise, but a very great one: to be beloved of Paul. “Greet … the church in his house.” See how he glues them together and joins them to one another, not only by the greeting, but also by the exchange of the letters. Then again he gratifies the man by addressing him individually. He does this not idly, but to lead the others too to the same zeal. For it is no small thing not to be numbered with the rest. See, at any rate, how he shows the man to be great, since his house was a church. “And when this letter has been read among you, see that it is read also in the church of the Laodiceans.” I think there were some things written there which these too needed to hear. And for them the benefit was greater when, while others were being accused, they recognized their own sins. “And that you also read the one from Laodicea.” Some say that it is not Paul's letter sent to them, but the one from them to Paul; for he did not say, “the one to the Laodiceans,” but “the one from Laodicea,” that is, written from there. “And say to Archippus, ‘See to the ministry which you received in the Lord, that you fulfil it.’” Why does he not write to him? Perhaps he did not need it, but only a bare reminder, so as to be more earnest. “The greeting with my own hand, Paul's.” This is a token of genuineness and friendship, that they should see the handwriting and be moved by it. “Remember my bonds.” Ah, how great an encouragement! For this was enough to urge them to everything and make them more courageous in the contests; and not only more courageous, but it made them more intimate with him too. “Grace be with you. Amen.”