Homily 10 — First Corinthians 3, verse 18, to 4, verse 2

“Let no one deceive himself. If anyone thinks that he is wise in this world, let him become a fool, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” [a]

As I said before, Paul launched into his charge against the sexually immoral man before its proper time. He opened it only halfway, obscurely and in a few words, and made the man’s conscience shrink back. Now he hurries back to the battle against the wisdom of the pagans, and to his charges against those who were puffed up with it and were dividing the church. He does this so that, once he has added what remained and finished the whole subject with care, he may from then on let his tongue be carried along with full force against the unclean man. For in what he said before, he had only fought a first skirmish with him.

These words, “Let no one deceive himself,” are the words of someone aiming chiefly at that man and subduing him in advance by fear. The saying about the “straw” also fits best with someone hinting at him. So does the phrase, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God lives in you?” For two things are most able to draw us away from sin: keeping in mind the punishment appointed for the sin, and counting up how great our true dignity is. So by bringing up “the hay” and “the straw” he terrifies them; but by speaking of the dignity of the noble birth that was theirs, he puts them to shame. With the first he tries to correct those who are duller of feeling; with the second, those who are more thoughtful.

“Let no one deceive himself. If anyone thinks that he is wise in this world, let him become a fool.”

He tells a person to become, so to speak, dead to the world — and this deadness does no harm at all, but rather helps, since it becomes a cause of life. In the same way he tells him to become foolish to this world, and by this he brings the true wisdom in to us. Now a person becomes a fool to the world when he thinks little of the wisdom from outside and is convinced that it contributes nothing to his grasp of the faith. Poverty that is according to God is the cause of wealth; lowliness is the cause of being lifted up; to despise glory is the cause of glory. In the same way, becoming a fool makes a person wiser than everyone. For with us, everything goes by opposites.

Further, why did he not say, “Let him put off his wisdom,” but, “Let him become a fool”? So that he might run down the pagan education as thoroughly as possible. For it was not the same thing to say, “Lay aside your wisdom,” and, “Become a fool.” Besides, he is also training people not to be ashamed of the lack of polish among us, for he laughs all pagan things to scorn. And for the same kind of reason he does not shrink from the words, since he trusts in the power of the things he speaks of. So just as the cross, though it was counted shameful, became the source of countless blessings and the foundation and root of glory beyond words, so also what was counted foolishness has become the cause of wisdom for us.

Think of someone who has learned something badly. Unless he puts all of it away, makes his soul smooth and clean, and only then offers it to the one who is to write on it, he will know no sound truth for certain. It is the same with the wisdom from outside. Unless you turn it all out and sweep your mind clean, and give yourself up to the faith like someone who knows nothing, you will know nothing excellent with any accuracy. It is like people who see poorly. If they will not shut their eyes and put themselves in others’ hands, but keep trusting their own affairs to their own faulty eyesight, they will make many more mistakes than those who cannot see at all.

But you will say: “How are people to put off this wisdom?” By not acting on its teachings.

Then, having told them so urgently to withdraw from it, he adds the reason, saying, “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” Not only does it contribute nothing; it even gets in the way. So we must withdraw from it as something that does harm. Do you notice how triumphantly he carries off the spoils of victory, having proved that, far from helping us at all, it is even our opponent? [d]

And he is not content with his own arguments, but brings in testimony again, saying, “For it is written, ‘He catches the wise in their own craftiness’ ” (Job 5, verse 13). By “in their craftiness” he means getting the better of them with their own weapons. They used their wisdom to do away with all need of God; so by that very thing, and nothing else, he refuted them, showing that they were in special need of God. How, and by what means? It was by their wisdom that they had become fools, and it was fitting that by it they should be caught. Those who supposed they had no need of God were brought into such a tight corner that they appeared inferior to fishermen and uneducated men, and from then on could not do without them. That is why he says that he caught them “in their own craftiness.” The saying “I will destroy their wisdom” was spoken because it brings in nothing useful; but this one, “who catches the wise in their own craftiness,” was spoken to show the power of God.

Next he states the way God caught them as well, adding another testimony. Verse 20: “For the Lord,” he says, “knows the reasonings of men, that they are empty.”

Now when the Wisdom that has no limits pronounces this decree about them and declares them to be such, what other proof are you looking for of their utter folly? Human judgments, it is true, fail in many cases; but the decree of God is beyond objection and incorrupt in every case.

So, having set up so splendid a trophy of the verdict from on high, he next uses a certain forcefulness of style, turning it against those who were being led, and speaking like this. Verse 21: “So let no one boast in men; for all things are yours.” He comes back to his earlier subject, pointing out that they should not be proud even of their spiritual things, since they have nothing of their own: “Since, then, the wisdom from outside is harmful, and the spiritual gifts were not given by you, what do you have to boast of?” About the wisdom from outside he says, “Let no one deceive himself,” because they were conceited about something that in truth did more harm than good. But here, since the thing spoken of was really useful, he says, “Let no one boast.” And he frames his words more gently: “for all things are yours.” [f]

Verse 22: “Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come, all are yours; and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.”

Because he had dealt with them sharply, he refreshes them again. Above he had said, “We are God’s fellow workers” (First Corinthians 3, verse 9), and had soothed them with many other expressions; so here too he says, “All things are yours.” He is taking down the pride of the teachers and showing that, far from doing the people any favor, the teachers themselves ought to be grateful to them. For it was for the people’s sake that they had been made what they were, and had received grace besides. But since the people too were sure to boast, he cuts out this disease in advance as well, by saying, “as God gave to each one,” and, “God gave the growth” (First Corinthians 3, verses 5 and 6). So neither were the teachers to be puffed up as the givers of good things, nor were the others, hearing a second time that “all things are yours,” to be carried away again: “It was for your sake, yes; yet the whole was God’s doing.” And I want you to notice how he has kept it up all the way through, framing his supposed cases in his own name and in Peter’s.

But what does “or death” mean? That even if they die, it is for your sake that they die, facing dangers for your salvation. Do you notice how he again takes down the high spirit of the disciples and lifts the spirit of the teachers? In fact he talks with them as with children of noble birth, who have tutors and are to inherit everything.

We may also say, in another sense, that the death of Adam was for our sake, so that we might be corrected; and the death of Christ, so that we might be saved.

“And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” In one sense “we are Christ’s,” in another sense “Christ is God’s,” and in a third sense “the world is ours.” We are Christ’s as his work. Christ is God’s as his true-born Offspring, not as a work — and it is not in that sense that the world is ours either. So though the words are the same, the meaning is different. “The world is ours” as something made for our sake. But “Christ is God’s” because he has him as the source of his being, since he is his Father. And “we are Christ’s” as having been formed by him. Now, he says: “If they are yours, why have you done the very opposite, calling yourselves by their names, and not by Christ’s and God’s?”

Chapter 4, verse 1: “This is how one should regard us: as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.” After casting down their spirit, see how he refreshes it again, saying, “as servants of Christ.” So do not let go of the Master and take your name from the servants and attendants. “Stewards,” he says, showing that we ought not to give these things to everyone, but to those they are due to, and to whom it is fitting for us to give them out. [h]

Verse 2: “Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful.”

That is, that he not keep his master’s goods for himself, that he not lay claim to them as their owner, but manage them as a steward. For a steward’s part is to manage well the things put in his charge: not to say that his master’s things are his own, but on the contrary, that his own things are his master’s. Let everyone think about this, both the one who has power in speaking and the one who owns wealth: that he has been entrusted with a master’s goods, and that they are not his own. Let him not keep them to himself or set them down to his own account, but let him credit them to God, who gave them all.

Would you like to see faithful stewards? Listen to what Peter says: “Why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?” (Acts 3, verse 12). To Cornelius also he says, “We too are human beings with the same nature as you”; and to Christ himself, “Look, we have left everything and followed you” (Matthew 19, verse 27). And Paul, no less: after saying, “I worked harder than all of them” (First Corinthians 15, verse 10), he added, “yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” Elsewhere too, setting himself firmly against these same people, he said, “For what do you have that you did not receive?” (First Corinthians 4, verse 7). “For you have nothing of your own — not wealth, not speech, not even life itself, for this too surely belongs to the Lord. So when need calls, lay this down as well. But if you cling to life, and when ordered to lay it down you refuse, you are no longer a faithful steward.”

“And how is it possible to resist when God calls?” Well, that is just what I say too. And this is why I most admire God’s love for humankind: the things he is able to take from you even against your will, he does not want to have paid in by you unwillingly, so that you may have a reward besides. For example, he can take away your life without your consent; but his will is to take it with your consent, so that you may say with Paul, “I die every day” (First Corinthians 15, verse 31). He can take away your glory without your consent and bring you low; but he wants to have it from you with your own goodwill, so that you may have a recompense. He can make you poor even if you are unwilling; but he wants you to become poor willingly, so that he may weave crowns for you. Do you see God’s mercy toward humankind? Do you see our own stupidity, like that of animals without reason?

What if you have come to high rank, and have at some time obtained some office of governing in the church? Do not be proud. You did not acquire the glory; God put it on you. So use it sparingly, as if it belonged to someone else: not abusing it, not spending it on unfitting things, not puffed up, not claiming it for yourself; but consider yourself poor and without glory. If you had been entrusted with a king’s purple robe to keep, it would never have been right for you to misuse the robe and spoil it; you would have had to keep it all the more carefully for the one who gave it.

Have you been given the gift of speech? Do not be puffed up; do not be arrogant, for the gift of grace is not yours. Do not be stingy with your Master’s goods, but share them out among your fellow servants. Do not be carried away by these things as if they were your own, and do not be sparing in giving them out. Again, if you have children, it is God’s children you have. If you think this way, you will be thankful for having them, and if you lose them, you will not take it hard. Job was like this when he said, “The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away” (Job 1, verse 21).

For we have everything from Christ. We have existence itself through him, and life, and breath, and light, and air, and earth. If he were to shut us out from any one of these, we would be lost and ruined. For “we are foreigners and exiles” (First Peter 2, verse 11). And all this talk of “mine” and “yours” is bare words only; it does not stand for real things. If you say the house is yours, it is a word without reality. The very air, the earth, the materials belong to the Creator; and so do you yourself, who built it; and so does everything else. But suppose the use of it is yours. Even this is uncertain — not only because of death, but even before death, because things are so unstable.

So let us keep picturing these things to ourselves and live disciplined lives, and we will gain two of the greatest advantages. First, we will be thankful both when we have and when we lose; and we will not be slaves to things that are passing away and are not our own. Whether it is wealth he takes, he has taken only what is his own; or honor, or glory, or the body, or life itself. If he takes away your son, it is not your son he has taken, but his own servant. You did not form him; he made him. You only served to bring him into the light; the whole was God’s own work. So let us give thanks that we have been counted worthy to serve him in this matter. [k]

But what? Would you have kept him forever? This again shows a grudging spirit, and that you do not know it was someone else’s child you had, not your own. Those who part with what they had calmly simply recognize that they had what was not theirs; so whoever gives way to grief is in fact counting the King’s property as his own. For if we are not our own, how can they be ours? I say “we,” because we are his in two ways: because he created us, and because of the faith. That is why David says, “My substance is with you” (Psalm 39, verse 7), and Paul too, “For in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17, verse 28). And pressing the argument from the faith, he says, “You are not your own,” and, “You were bought with a price” (First Corinthians 6, verses 19 and 20). For all things are God’s.

So when he calls and chooses to take, let us not, like grudging servants, run away from the accounting or pilfer our Master’s goods. Your soul is not yours; how can your wealth be yours? How is it, then, that you spend on what is unnecessary the things that are not yours? Do you not know that we are soon to be put on trial for this — that is, if we have used them badly? But since they are not ours but our Master’s, it would be right to spend them on our fellow servants. It is worth considering that failing to do this was the charge brought against that rich man, and against those who had not given food to the Lord (Luke 16, verse 21; Matthew 25, verse 42).

So do not say, “I am only spending what is mine, and it is on my own that I live in luxury.” It is not your own; it is other people’s. Other people’s, I say, because that is your own choice. For God’s will is that the things entrusted to you on behalf of your brothers and sisters should be yours. Now the things that are not yours become yours if you spend them on others; but if you spend them on yourself without restraint, your own things are no longer yours. Since you use them cruelly and say, “It is only fair that my own things should be spent entirely on my own enjoyment,” that is why I say they are not your own. For they are common to you and your fellow servants, just as the sun is common, and the air, and the earth, and all the rest. [m]

In the body, each service belongs both to the whole body and to each separate member; but when it is given over to one member only, it destroys the proper working of that very member. It is the same with wealth. To make what I say plainer: the body’s food is given to all the members in common. If it passes into one member only, even to that one it turns out to be foreign in the end. For when it cannot be digested or give nourishment, even to that part, I say, it turns out foreign. But if it is shared, both that part and all the rest have it as their own.

It is the same with wealth. If you enjoy it alone, you too have lost it, for you will not reap its reward. But if you hold it together with the rest, then it will be more your own, and then you will reap its benefit. Do you not see that the hands serve, the mouth softens, and the stomach receives? Does the stomach say, “Since I have received it, I ought to keep it all”? Then please do not use this language about riches either. For it belongs to the one who receives to give out. As it is a fault in the stomach to hold on to the food and not pass it on — for that harms the whole body — so it is a fault in the rich to keep what they have to themselves. For this destroys both themselves and others.

Again, the eye receives all the light, but it does not keep it for itself alone; it lights up the whole body. It is not in its nature to keep it to itself, as long as it is an eye. Again, the nostrils perceive perfume, but they do not keep it all to themselves. They pass it on to the brain, delight the stomach with a pleasant aroma, and by these means refresh the whole person. The feet alone walk; but they do not move only themselves along; they carry the whole body with them. In the same way, whatever you have been entrusted with, do not keep it to yourself alone, since you are harming the whole, and yourself most of all.

And it is not only in the case of the limbs that one may see this happen. The smith too, if he chose to share his craft with no one, would ruin both himself and all the other crafts. So too the shoemaker, the farmer, the baker, and every one of those who follow any necessary trade: if he chose not to share with anyone the products of his skill, he would ruin not the others only, but himself along with them.

And why do I say “the rich”? For the poor too, if they followed the wickedness of you who are greedy and rich, would harm you very greatly and soon make you poor. Or rather, they would destroy you completely if, in your need, they refused to share what is theirs: the farmer, for instance, the labor of his hands; the sailor, the gains from his voyages; the soldier, the distinction he has won in the wars. So if nothing else can, let this at least put you to shame, and imitate their goodwill. Do you share none of your wealth with anyone? Then you should not receive anything from anyone else either — and in that case the world will be turned upside down.

For in everything, giving and receiving is the source of countless blessings: in seed, in students, in the crafts. If someone wants to keep his craft to himself, he overturns both himself and the whole course of things. And if the farmer buries the seed and keeps it in his house, he will bring on a terrible famine. So too the rich man, if he acts this way with his wealth, will destroy himself before he destroys the poor, heaping a fiercer fire of hell on his own head.

So just as teachers, however many students they have, give some of their learning to each, so let your possession be many people to whom you have done good. And let everyone say: “This one he freed from poverty, that one from dangers. That one would have died if, next to the grace of God, he had not had your protection. You cured this man’s disease; you rid another of a false accusation; another was a stranger and you took him in; another was naked and you clothed him.” [n]

Endless wealth and many treasures are not as good as sayings like these. They draw everyone’s eyes more powerfully than your golden robes, and horses, and slaves. Those things even make a man seem offensive; they get him hated as a common enemy. But these sayings proclaim him a common father and benefactor. And, what is greatest of all, favor from God follows you in every part of what you do. What I mean is, let one man say, “He helped give my daughter her dowry,” and another, “And he gave my son the means to take his place among men,” and another, “He put an end to my misfortune,” and another, “He rescued me from dangers.”

Words like these are better than golden crowns: that a man should have countless people in his city to proclaim his kindness. Voices like these are far more pleasant, and sweeter than the voices of the heralds who march in front of the magistrates: to be called savior, benefactor, defender — the very names of God — and not greedy, proud, insatiable, and stingy. Let us not, I beg you, let us not long for any of these last names, but for the opposite ones. For if the first, spoken on earth, make a man so splendid and famous, think what renown, what splendor you will enjoy when they are written in heaven and God proclaims them on the day that is to come! May it be the lot of us all to obtain this, through the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom, to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power and honor, now and always, and forever and ever. Amen.