Homily 18 — Romans 10, verse 14, to 11, verse 6

“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how will they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? And how will they preach unless they are sent? As it is written.” [a]

Here again he takes every excuse away from them. He had said, “I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge,” and that “being ignorant of God’s righteousness, they did not submit” to it. Now he goes on to show that for this very ignorance they deserved punishment before God. He does not say it in so many words; he proves it by carrying on his argument through questions, and so convicts them all the more clearly, building the whole passage out of objections and answers.

But look further back. The prophet, he says, has said, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Now someone might perhaps say, “But how could they call on him in whom they had not believed?” Then, after the objection, comes a question from Paul: And why did they not believe? Then another objection. Someone may well say, “And how could they believe, when they had not heard?” But hear they did, he implies. Then another objection again: “And how could they hear without a preacher?” Then an answer again: But preach they did, and many were sent out for this very purpose. And how does it appear that these are the men who were sent? Next he brings in the prophet, who says, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news of peace, and bring good news of good things!” (Isaiah 52, verse 7.)

You see how he points out the preachers by the kind of thing they preached. For these men went about everywhere telling of nothing else than those good things beyond words, and the peace God has made with human beings. So, he implies, when you disbelieve, it is not us you disbelieve, but Isaiah the prophet, who said many years ago that we would be sent, and would preach, and would say what we do say.

Being saved, then, came from calling on him; calling on him, from believing; believing, from hearing; hearing, from preaching; and preaching, from being sent. And they were sent, and they did preach; and the prophet went around with them to point them out and proclaim them, saying that these were the men he had shown them so many ages before, and praising their very feet because of what they preached. If all this is so, it is perfectly clear that their not believing was their own fault alone — and that because God’s part had been done completely.

Verses 16 and 17: “But they have not all obeyed the good news. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our report? So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Isaiah 53, verse 1.) [b]

They pressed him with yet another objection, to this effect: if these were the men God sent on this mission, everyone ought to have listened to them. Notice Paul’s good judgment, and see how he shows that the very thing that caused the confusion in fact did away with the confusion and the difficulty. It is as if he said: “What is it that trips you up, O Jew, after such great and abundant evidence and proof of these points? That not everyone submitted to the good news? Why, this very thing, taken along with the rest, is enough to assure you that what I say is true — the very fact that some do not believe. For the prophet foretold this too.”

Notice his wisdom beyond words here as well: he shows more than they were looking for, more than they expected him to have to say in reply. This is his meaning: “What is it you say? That not all have believed the good news? Well, Isaiah foretold this too, long ago. Or rather, not only this, but much more than this. Your complaint is, Why did not all believe? But Isaiah goes further than that. For what does he say? ‘Lord, who has believed our report?’”

Having rid himself of this difficulty by making the prophet a bulwark against them, he returns to the line he was following before. He had said that they must call on him; that those who call must believe; that those who believe must first hear; that those who are to hear must have preachers; and that the preachers must be sent. And he had shown that they were sent, and that they had preached. Now, as he is about to bring in another objection, he first takes occasion from another quotation of the prophet — the one with which he had met the objection a little earlier — and so weaves it in and connects it with what went before. He had brought forward the prophet as saying, “Lord, who has believed our report?” and he aptly seizes on the quotation as proof of what he says: “So then faith comes by hearing.”

And he does not make this a bare statement. The Jews were forever looking for a sign, and for the sight of the resurrection, and were gaping after such things. So he says that the prophet promised nothing of the kind; he said that it was by hearing that we were to believe. That is why he establishes this first, and says, “So then faith comes by hearing.”

Then, since this seemed a lowly thing to say, see how he raises it up. He says, in effect: “I was not speaking of mere hearing, or of the need to hear people’s words and believe them. I mean a great kind of hearing.” For the hearing is “by the word of God.” They were not speaking words of their own; they were telling what they had learned from God. And this is a higher thing than miracles. For we are equally bound to believe and obey God, whether he is speaking or working miracles, since both works and miracles come from his words. It was in this way that heaven and everything else were established (Psalm 33, verses 6 to 8).

So, after showing that we ought to believe the prophets, who always speak God’s words, and look for nothing more, he goes on next to the objection I mentioned, and says,

Verse 18: “But I say, have they not heard?”

What if, he means, the preachers were sent, and preached what they were told to preach, and these people did not hear? Then comes a complete answer to the objection: [d]

“Yes indeed: their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”

This is what he means: “What are you saying? They have not heard? Why, the whole world and the ends of the earth have heard. And you, among whom the heralds stayed so long, and whose own countrymen they were — have you not heard? Can that ever be? Surely, if the ends of the world heard, much more must you have heard.” Then another objection again.

Verse 19: “But I say, did Israel not know?”

What if, he means, they heard, but did not know what was being said, or understand that these were the men who had been sent? Are they not to be forgiven for their ignorance? Not at all. For Isaiah had described what marked these men out, in the words, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news of peace” (Isaiah 52, verse 7). And before him the Lawgiver himself had done so. That is why he goes on:

“First Moses says, I will make you jealous by those who are not a people; by a foolish nation I will anger you.” (Deuteronomy 32, verse 21.) [e]

So they ought to have been able to recognize the preachers even from Moses. And not only from their own unbelief, not only from the preachers’ proclaiming peace, not only from their bringing the good news of those good things, not only from the word being sown in every part of the world, but from the very fact that they saw those beneath them, the people of the Gentiles, held in greater honor. For what neither they nor their forefathers had ever heard, that wisdom these people suddenly took up and lived by. And this was a mark of honor so great that it ought to have stung them, and driven them to jealousy, and reminded them of the prophecy of Moses, which said, “I will make you jealous by those who are not a people.”

For it was not the greatness of the honor alone that was enough to drive them to jealousy, but also the fact that the nation that had come to enjoy these things was of so little account that it could hardly be called a nation at all. “For I will make you jealous by those who are not a nation, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.” For what is more foolish than the Greeks? Or what is of less account?

See how by every means God had given, from long ago, indications and clear signs of these times, to take away their blindness. For it was not in some little corner that the thing was done, but on land and on sea and in every part of the world. And they saw those whom they had once despised now enjoying countless blessings. So one ought to reflect that this is that people of whom Moses said, “I will make you jealous by those who are not a people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.”

Was it Moses alone, then, who said this? No; Isaiah too says so after him. And this is why Paul said, “First Moses”: to show that a second will come who says the same things more clearly and plainly. So, just as above he says, “Isaiah cries out,” so he does here too.

Verse 20: “But Isaiah is very bold, and says.” [g]

What he means is something like this. The prophet did violence to himself, and was eager to speak — not of something veiled over, but to set things out bare before your eyes. He chose to run into danger by speaking plainly rather than look to his own safety and leave you any shelter for your stubbornness. It was not the way of prophecy to say such things so clearly; but still, to stop your mouths completely, he tells the whole thing beforehand, clearly and distinctly.

The whole thing? What whole thing? Why, your being cast out, and their being brought in. He speaks as follows: “I was found by those who did not seek me; I was made manifest to those who did not ask for me” (Isaiah 65, verse 1). Who, then, are those who did not seek? Who are those who did not ask for him? Clearly not the Jews, but the people of the Gentiles, who until then had not known him. So, just as Moses gave their distinguishing mark in the words “not a people” and “a foolish nation,” so here Isaiah points them out on the same ground: their utter ignorance. And this was a very great reproach to the Jews: that those who did not seek him found him, and those who sought him lost him.

Verse 21: “But to Israel he says, All day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.” (Isaiah 65, verse 2.) [h]

Notice now that the difficulty which so many make a subject of question is found stored up long ago in the prophet’s words — and with a clear solution to it as well. And what is this difficulty? You heard Paul state it earlier:

“What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained righteousness; but Israel, who pursued the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness.” (Romans 9, verses 30 and 31.)

This is what Isaiah says here too. For to say, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I was made manifest to those who did not ask for me,” is the same as saying that “the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained righteousness.” Then he means to show that what was happening came not from God’s grace alone, but also from the disposition of those who came to him — just as the casting off of the others came from the contentiousness of those who disobeyed. Hear how he goes on: “But to Israel he says, All day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.” By “the day” he means here the whole period of the old covenant. The stretching out of the hands means calling them, drawing them to him, and inviting them. Then, to show that the fault was entirely their own, he says, “to a disobedient and contrary people.”

You see what a great charge this is against them! They did not obey him even when he invited them; they contradicted him — and that when they saw him doing so not once, or twice, or three times, but through the whole period. And others, who had never known him, had the power to draw him to themselves. Not that he says they had the power to do it on their own. To take away lofty notions even from the people of the Gentiles, and to show that it was his grace that did the whole, he says, “I was made manifest,” and, “I was found.” Someone may ask: “Did they bring nothing of their own, then?” Not at all. Taking hold of what was found, and coming to know what was made manifest to them — that was their own contribution.

Then, to keep the Jews from saying, “But why were you not made manifest to us as well?” he sets down something more than this: that he was not only made manifest, but continues holding out his hands, inviting them, and showing all the care of an affectionate father, and of a mother devoted to her child.

See how he has brought us a most lucid answer to all the difficulties raised before, by showing that it was their own disposition that brought ruin on them, and that they are wholly undeserving of pardon. For though they had both heard and understood what was said, not even then were they willing to come to him. And what is far more: God did not only make them hear these things and understand them. When they were disobedient and contrary, he added to the rest something with more power to rouse them and draw them to himself. What is that? His provoking them and making them jealous.

For you know how overmastering this passion is, and how great a power jealousy has by nature to put an end to all contentiousness and to rouse those who have grown slack. And why speak of human beings, when even in animals without reason, and in children not yet grown, its power is so great? A child will often refuse to come to its father when it is called, and stays stubborn. But when notice is taken of another child, then it comes to its father’s lap even without being called; and what calling could not do, jealousy does.

This is what God did too. He not only called and stretched out his hands; he also stirred up jealousy in them. He brought those far beneath them — a thing that makes people intensely jealous — not into their good things, but, what was a much stronger step and makes the passion still more overmastering, into far greater good things, more necessary than theirs, such as they had never imagined even in a dream. But still they did not submit. What pardon, then, do those deserve who show such extreme stubbornness? None.

Yet he does not say this himself. He leaves it to the consciences of his hearers to gather it from the conclusion of what he has stated, and, with his usual wisdom, confirms it again by what he goes on to say. He did this above as well, in the case of the law (see on Romans 7, verse 7) and of the people: he brought in objections that put the charge more strongly than the truth warranted, and then, in the answer that was to overthrow them, he conceded as much as he pleased and as the case allowed, so as to make what he was saying not unwelcome. And he does the same here, writing as follows:

Romans 11, verse 1: “I say then, has God cast away his people whom he foreknew? Far from it!” [j]

He puts it in the form a person would use when in doubt, as though taking his cue from what had been said. And after making this alarming statement, he denies it, and so gets what follows accepted readily; and what he had been laboring to show by all his earlier arguments, he establishes here too. What is that? That even if only a few are saved, the promise still stands. That is why he does not merely say “people,” but “people whom he foreknew.” Then, going on to prove that the people were not cast off, he says, “For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.”

I, he says, the teacher, the preacher. Now this seemed to contradict what had been said before in the words, “Who has believed our report?” and, “All day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people,” and, “I will make you jealous by those who are not a people.” So he was not content with the refusal, or with having said, “Far from it!” but he establishes it by taking it up again and saying, “God has not cast away his people.” Someone may say: “But this is not proof; it is only an assertion.” Look, then, at the proof — both the first and the one that follows it. The first is that he himself was of that race. God would not, if he were about to cast them off, have chosen from among them the man to whom he entrusted the whole preaching, and the affairs of the world, and all the mysteries, and the whole plan of salvation.

That is one proof. The next, after it, is his saying “the people whom he foreknew” — that is, those he clearly knew were suited to it and would receive the faith. For three, five, even ten thousand of them were believers (see Acts 2, verse 41; 4, verse 4; and 21, verse 20). And so, to keep anyone from saying, “Are you the people, then? And because you have been called, has the nation been called?” he goes on.

Verse 2: “He has not cast away his people, whom he foreknew.” [m]

It is as if he said, “I have with me three, five, even ten thousand.” Someone will answer: “So what? Has the people come down to three, five, or ten thousand — that seed which was compared for number with the stars of heaven and the sand of the sea? Is this how you deceive us and cheat us, by making yourself and the few who are with you into the whole people? Did you puff us up with empty hopes and tell us that the promise had been fulfilled, when everyone is lost and salvation has come down to a few? This is all bluster and emptiness! We cannot put up with clever tricks like these.” To keep them from saying this, see how in what follows he moves on to the answer. He does not state the objection, but before it can be raised he grounds his answer on ancient history. What, then, is the answer?

Verses 2 to 5: “Do you not know,” he says, “what the Scripture says of Elijah? How he pleads with God against Israel, saying, ‘Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.’ But what does God’s answer say to him? ‘I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.’ So too, then, at this present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.”

What he means is roughly this. “God has not cast away his people.” For if he had, he would have admitted none of them. But if he did admit some, he has not cast them away. “But if he had not cast them away, he would have admitted them all.” That does not follow. In Elijah’s time the part to be saved had come down to “seven thousand,” and now too there are probably many who believe. And if you do not know who they are, that is no wonder. That prophet, great and good as he was, did not know either; yet God was arranging things for himself even when the prophet did not know it.

But notice Paul’s skill. While proving the point in front of him, he quietly makes the charge against them heavier. That is why he gave the whole passage: to set their perverseness on display before them, and to show that they had been like this from long ago. If he had not wanted this, and had given his whole attention to proving that the people consisted in the few, he would simply have said that even in Elijah’s time seven thousand were left. As it is, he reads them the passage from further back, because all along he has taken pains to show that what they did to Christ and to the apostles was nothing strange, but their habitual practice. They might say, “It was as a deceiver that we put Christ to death, and as impostors that we persecute the apostles.” To prevent that, he brings forward the text that says, “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars” (First Kings 19, verse 14).

Then, so as not to make his words hurtful to them, he attaches another reason for bringing the text forward. He quotes it not as though his purpose were to accuse them, but as though he were intent on showing something else. And even by what had been done long before, he leaves them without any excuse. See how strong the accusation is, even from the person who makes it. It is not Paul, or Peter, or James, or John, but one whom they held in the highest regard: the chief of the prophets, the friend of God, a man so zealous on their behalf that he even gave himself up to hunger for them, and who to this day has never died. What, then, does this man say? “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.” What could be more savage and cruel than this? When they ought to have begged forgiveness for the wrongs they had already done, they wanted to kill him as well.

All these things put them completely beyond forgiveness. For it was not while the famine was raging, but when the weather had turned kind again, when their disgrace had been taken away, when the demons had been put to shame, when the power of God had been shown and the king had bowed before it — it was then that they committed these outrages, going from murder to murder and doing away with their teachers, the very men who would have brought them to a better mind. What could they have to say to this? Were these men deceivers too? Were they impostors too? Did they not know where these men came from either? “But they troubled you.” Yes, but they also told you good things. And what about the altars? Surely the altars did not trouble you? Did they provoke you too? See what stubbornness, what arrogance they were always giving proof of!

That is why, in another place, writing to the Thessalonians, Paul says, “You also have suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they do not please God, and are hostile to all men” (First Thessalonians 2, verses 14 and 15). That is what he says here too: that they both tore down the altars and killed the prophets.

“But what does God’s answer say to him? ‘I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal’” (First Kings 19, verse 18). Someone may say: “And what does this have to do with the present subject?” It has a great deal to do with the present subject. For he shows here that it is the worthy whom God is accustomed to save, even when the promise is made to the whole nation. He pointed this out above as well, when he said, “Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant will be saved,” and, “Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom” (Romans 9, verses 27 and 29). And he points it out from this passage too. That is why he goes on to say, “So too, then, at this present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.” Notice that each word keeps its own place, showing at once God’s grace and the willing obedience of those who are saved. By saying “chosen,” he showed that they were approved; by saying “grace,” he showed the gift of God.

Verse 6: “And if it is by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, then it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.” [s]

Here again, using what has just been quoted, he pounces on the Jews’ love of argument, and on this ground he strips them of any excuse. What he means is this: you cannot even say, “Yes, the prophets called us, and God invited us, and the facts themselves cried out, and the provoking to jealousy was enough to draw us to him; but what was commanded was hard, and that is why we could not come near, because a display of works was demanded of us, and good deeds that cost great labor.” You cannot even say this. For how could God have demanded this of you, when it would simply throw his grace into the shade? Paul said this because he wanted to show that God was most eager for them to be saved (Deuteronomy 5, verse 29). Not only would their salvation have been easily accomplished; it was also God’s greatest glory to display his love for humankind.

Why, then, are you afraid to come near, when no works are demanded of you? Why are you quarrelsome and contentious, when grace is set before you? And why do you keep thrusting the law at me, to no purpose whatever? You will not be saved by it, and you will spoil this gift as well; for if you stubbornly insist on being saved by the law, you do away with this grace of God.

Then, so that they would not think this strange, he first took those seven thousand and said that they were saved by grace. For when he says, “So too, then, at this present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace,” he shows that those men too were saved by grace. And he shows it not by this alone, but also by the words “I have kept for myself.” That is the language of one who shows that he himself did the greater part. “But if it is by grace,” someone will say, “how is it that we were not all saved?” Because you did not want to be. Grace, though it is grace, saves those who are willing — not those who will not have it and turn away from it, who keep fighting against it and setting themselves in opposition to it.

Notice how, all the way through, the point he is proving is this: “Not as though the word of God had failed.” He proves it by showing that the worthy were the ones to whom the promise came, and that these, few though they are, may still be the people of God. He had in fact stated this forcefully at the beginning of the letter, where he says, “For what if some did not believe?” (Romans 3, verse 3). Nor did he stop there, but went on, “Indeed, let God be true, and every man a liar” (Romans 3, verse 4). And here again he confirms it in another way, showing the power of grace, and that in every age some were being saved and others were perishing.

So let us give thanks that we belong to those who are being saved, and that, when we could not save ourselves by works, we were saved by the gift of God. But in giving thanks, let us not do it in words only, but in works and actions. For this is genuine thanksgiving: to do the things by which God is sure to be glorified, and to flee the things from which we have been set free. If we insulted the King, and instead of being punished were honored, and then went and insulted him again, we would stand convicted of the worst ingratitude, and we would justly have to suffer the worst punishment, one far greater than the first. For the first insult did not show us to be as ungrateful as one committed after we had been honored and shown so much care.

So let us flee the things from which we have been set free, and not give thanks with our mouths only, or it may be said of us too, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Isaiah 29, verse 13). How is it anything but shameful, when “the heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19, verse 1), that you — for whose sake the heavens that glorify him were made — should do such things that through you the God who made you is blasphemed? That is why not only the one who blasphemes, but you too, will be liable to punishment. For the heavens do not glorify God by giving out a voice, either; they do it by moving others to glorify him when they see them. And yet they are said “to declare the glory of God.” In the same way, those who show a life worth marveling at glorify God even when they keep silent, when others glorify him because of them. For God is not so much revered because of the heaven as because of a spotless life.

So when we are arguing with the pagans, we point them not to the heavens but to men — men who were in a worse state than animals without reason, and whom God has persuaded to become rivals of the angels. And we stop their mouths by speaking of this change. For man is far better than the heaven, and he can have a soul brighter than all the beauty of the heavens. The heaven, though it has been in plain view for so long, has not persuaded many; but Paul, after preaching a short time, drew the whole world to himself. For he had a soul no less than the heaven, able to draw all people to him. Our soul is no match even for the earth, but his was equal to the heavens. The heaven stays within its own boundary and rule; but the loftiness of his soul went beyond all the heavens and conversed with Christ himself (Second Corinthians 10, verse 15; Romans 15, verse 19; and other places).

And the beauty of his soul was so great that God himself proclaims it. The angels marveled at the stars when they were made (Job 38, verse 7); but this is what God marveled at, when he says, “He is a chosen vessel to me” (Acts 9, verse 15). A cloud often overshadows this heaven; but no trial overshadowed Paul’s soul. Even in the storms he was clearer to see than the sky at a cloudless noon, and he shone on steadily, just as he had before the clouds came. For the Sun who shone in him did not send out rays that could be clouded over by the crowding of trials; even then he shone out the more. That is why he says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (Second Corinthians 12, verse 9).

So let us strive to be like him. Then, if we are willing, this heaven will be as nothing compared with what we are — nor will the sun, nor the whole world. For these things are for us, and not we for them. Let us show that we are worthy of having had them made for us. If we are found unworthy of these, how will we be worthy of a kingdom? Indeed, all who live in a way that brings blasphemy on God are unworthy to see the sun. Those who blaspheme him are unworthy to enjoy the creatures that glorify him, just as a son who insults his father is unworthy to be waited on by the trusted servants. So these creatures will enjoy glory, and great glory, while we will have to undergo punishment and vengeance. How miserable it will be, then, if the creation that was made for you is to be fashioned “according to the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8, verse 21), while we who were made children of God are sent away, through our great carelessness, to destruction and hell — we, for whose sake the creation will enjoy that great festival!

To keep this from happening, let those of us who have a pure soul keep it so — or rather, let us make its brightness more intense. And let those of us who have a soiled one not despair. For “if your sins are as purple,” he says, “I will make them white as snow; and if they are as scarlet, I will make them white as wool” (Isaiah 1, verse 18). When it is God who promises, do not doubt, but do the things by which you can draw these promises to yourself.

Are the fearful and outrageous things you have done beyond counting? What of it? You have not yet gone away into the grave, where no one will confess (Isaiah 38, verse 18; Psalm 6, verse 5). The arena has not yet been broken up for you; you are still standing inside the line, and even by a struggle at the very end you can win back all your defeats. You have not yet come to where the rich man was, to hear it said, “There is a gulf between you and us” (Luke 16, verse 26). The Bridegroom is not yet at hand, so that anyone need fear to give you some of his oil. You can still buy and store it up. No one is yet saying, “No, in case there is not enough for us and you” (Matthew 25, verse 9). There are many who sell: the naked, the hungry, the sick, the imprisoned. Give food to these, clothing to those, visit the sick, and the oil will flow more freely than from springs.

The day of reckoning is not here. Use the time as you should, and make reductions in the debts, and to the one who owes “a hundred measures of oil,” say, “Take your bill and write fifty” (Luke 16, verse 6). Do the same with money, with words, and with everything else, imitating that steward. And give this advice to yourself, and to your relatives too, for you still have the power to say it. You have not yet come to the point of having to call on someone else to go to them on their behalf (Luke 16, verse 28); you have the power to give advice both to yourself and to others at once. But when you have gone away there, you will have neither of these in your power when you need it. And with good reason. You had so long a time set for you, and did no good either to yourself or to anyone else; when you are in the Judge’s hands, how will you be able to obtain this favor?

Putting all these things together, then, let us hold fast to our own salvation and not lose the opportunity of this present life. For it is possible — it truly is — to please God even at our last breath. It is possible to win his approval by your last will: not in the same way as in our lifetime, but still it is possible. How, and in what way? If you leave him among your heirs, and give him too a portion of your whole estate. Did you not feed him while you lived? Then at least when you are departing, when you are no longer owner, give him a share of your goods. He loves humankind; he is not stingy with you. To be sure, feeding him in your lifetime is the sign of a greater desire, and so it will be more richly rewarded. But if you have not done this, at least do the next best thing. Leave him co-heir with your children. And if you are slow to do this, remember that his Father made you co-heir with him, and break down your inhuman spirit. For what excuse will you have if you do not even make him a sharer with your children — he who made you share heaven, and was slain for you?

And yet everything he ever did, he did not as repaying a debt, but as granting a favor. But you, after such great benefits, have been made a debtor besides. And still, though things stand so, he crowns you as though he were receiving a favor, not as though he were demanding payment of a debt — and this when what he is to receive is his own. So give your money, which is now of no further use to you and of which you are no longer owner, and he will give you a kingdom that will serve you forever, and with it he will bestow the things of this life as well. For if he is made co-heir with your children, he lightens their orphanhood for them, does away with plots against them, beats off insults, and stops the mouths of those who bring trumped-up lawsuits. And if they themselves are unable to defend what was left to them, he will defend it himself and will not let the will be broken. And if he does allow even this, he makes up from his own store everything the will ordered, and more generously still, simply because he was mentioned in it. So leave him your heir. It is to him that you are about to go. He himself will be your Judge in the trial of everything that has been done here.

But there are some so wretched and tight-fisted that, though they have no children, they still do not have the heart to do this. They would rather give what they have to hangers-on and flatterers, to this person and that, than to Christ, who has done them such great good. What could be more unreasonable than this? If one were to compare people of this kind to donkeys, or even to stones, one still would not have said anything to match their unreasonableness and senselessness. Nor could one find an image to set before you their madness and folly. What forgiveness will they obtain for not having fed him in their lifetime, when even on the point of departing to him they have no wish to give him so much as a trifle out of goods of which they are no longer owners? They are so hostile and unfriendly that they will not give him a share even of what is useless to themselves.

Do you not know how many people have not even been counted worthy of an end like this, but have been snatched away suddenly? But God gives you the power to give orders to your family, to speak with them about your property, and to set everything in your house in order. What defense, then, will you have to offer, when even after receiving this favor from him you have betrayed the benefit, and stand, as it were, at the opposite pole from your forefathers in the faith? For they sold everything even in their lifetime and brought it to the apostles’ feet; but you, even at your death, give no share to those in need.

The better course, and the one that gives great confidence, is to relieve poverty in one’s lifetime. But if you have not been willing to do this, at least on your deathbed do some noble act. This is not what a strong love for Christ would do, but it is still an act of love. For if you will not have the high place with the lambs, even to come after them at all is no small thing — and so not to be placed with the goats, or on the left hand. But if you will not do even this, what plea is going to rescue you? Neither the fear of death, nor your money’s having become useless to you from now on, nor the chance to leave safety behind you for your children, nor the chance to store up great forgiveness there for the time to come, will make you merciful to others.

That is why I advise, as the best course, that in your lifetime you give the larger half of your goods to the poor. But if any are so narrow of soul that they do not have the heart to do so, let them at least become merciful out of necessity. When you were living as though there were no death, you clung tightly to your goods. But now that you have learned that you are to die, at least now give up that opinion, and make plans for your affairs as one who must die — or rather, as one who is to enjoy immortal life forever.

And if what I am going to say is distasteful and full of horror, still it must be said. Count the Lord among your slaves. Are you giving your slaves their freedom? Give Christ his freedom from hunger, from distress, from prison, from nakedness. Do these words horrify you? Is it not more horrible, then, when you do not do even this much? Here the words make your blood run cold. But when you have gone to that world, and have to hear things far more painful than these, and see the torments that have no remedy, what will you say? To whom will you flee for refuge? Whom will you call to your side to help you? Abraham? He will not listen to you. Those virgins? They will not give you any of their oil. Your father, then, or your grandfather? But not one of these, however holy he may be, will have the power to reverse that sentence.

Weighing all these things, then, make your prayer and petition to him who alone is Lord, and able to blot out the bill against you and to quench that flame. Win his favor by feeding him and clothing him now, continually, so that you may leave this world with good hope, and when you are there you may enjoy the eternal blessings. May we all attain them by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.