Homily 7 — Colossians 2, verse 16, to 3, verse 4

“So let no one judge you in food, or in drink, or in regard to a feast day, or a new moon, or a sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the body is Christ’s. Let no one rob you of your prize by a humility of his own choosing and the worship of the angels, dwelling on things he has not seen, puffed up for nothing by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, supplied and knit together through the joints and ligaments, grows with the growth of God.” [a]

First he said in veiled terms, “Take care that no one makes a prey of you by the tradition of men” (verse 8), and before that, “I say this so that no one may deceive you with persuasive speech” (verse 4). In this way he reached their souls ahead of time and stirred anxious thoughts in them. Next he set out those blessings and so made the effect stronger still. Only then, last of all, does he bring in his rebuke and say, “So let no one judge you in food, or in drink, or in regard to a feast day, or a new moon, or a sabbath day.”

Do you see how he belittles these things? He is saying: “If you have received such things, why make yourselves answerable over these petty matters?” And he makes light of them when he says, “or in the part of a feast day” — for in fact they did not keep the whole of the former rule — “or a new moon, or a sabbath day.”

He did not say, “So do not keep them,” but, “Let no one judge you.” He showed that they were doing wrong and undoing what had been done, but he aimed his charge at others. He is saying: “Do not put up with those who judge you.” Or rather, not even that. He argues with those people themselves, all but stopping their mouths, and says: “You have no business judging.” But he did not want to throw the blame on them.

He did not say, “in clean and unclean,” nor “in the feasts of Tabernacles, and Unleavened Bread, and Pentecost,” but “in the part of a feast.” For they did not dare to keep the whole, and even if they did observe it, it was not so as to celebrate the feast. “In part,” he says, showing that the greater part has been done away with. For even if they did keep the sabbath, they did not keep it strictly.

“These are a shadow of the things to come” — he means of the new covenant — “but the body is Christ’s.” Some people punctuate it here this way: “but the body is Christ’s,” that is, the truth has come with Christ. Others this way: “Let no one rob you of the body of Christ,” that is, cheat you out of it. The word Paul uses here is said when the victory belongs to one party and the prize goes to another: when you have won, and yet are cheated of the prize. You stand above the devil and sin; why do you put yourself under sin again? That is why he said, “He is obligated to keep the whole law” (Galatians 5, verse 3), and again, “Is Christ then found to be a servant of sin?” (Galatians 2, verse 17). This he said when writing to the Galatians.

Once he had filled them with indignation by saying “rob you of the prize,” he then begins: “of his own will,” he says, “in humility and worship of angels, intruding into things he has not seen, puffed up for nothing by his fleshly mind.” How “in humility,” and how “puffed up”? He shows that the whole thing came from empty glory.

But what, taken as a whole, is the drift of what he says? There are some who maintain that we must be brought near by angels, not by Christ, since that would be too great a thing for us. That is why he goes over and over what Christ has done, “through the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1, verse 20). That is why he says that “he suffered for us” (First Peter 2, verse 21), that “he loved us” (Ephesians 2, verse 4). Besides, in this very thing they were puffed up all over again. And he did not say “access through angels,” but “worship of angels.”

“Intruding into things he has not seen.” For he has not seen angels, and yet he carries on as though he had. That is why he says, “puffed up for nothing by his fleshly mind” — about nothing that is true. He is puffed up about this teaching, and puts forward a show of humility. “By his fleshly mind,” not a spiritual one: his reasoning is merely human.

“And not holding fast to the Head,” he says, “from whom the whole body…” The whole body has from there both its being and its well-being. Why do you let go of the Head and cling to the members? If you have fallen away from it, you are lost. “From whom the whole body”: everyone, whoever he may be, has from there not only life, but also his very joining to the rest. The whole church, as long as she holds fast to the Head, grows, because there is no longer any passion of pride and empty glory in her, and nothing made up by human fancy.

Notice “from whom”: he means the Son. “Through the joints and ligaments,” he says, “being supplied and knit together, it grows with the growth of God.” He means the growth that is according to God, the growth of the best life. [f]

Verse 20: “If you died with Christ.”

He puts this in the middle, and on either side of it expressions of greater force. “If you died with Christ from the elements of the world,” he says, “why, as though living in the world, do you submit to regulations?” This does not follow; what should have been said is, “How is it that, as though living, you are subject to those elements?” But letting that pass, what does he say?

Verses 21 and 22: “Do not handle, nor taste, nor touch — all these things are to perish in the using — according to the commands and teachings of men.”

He is saying: “You are not in the world; how is it that you are subject to its elements? How is it that you are subject to its observances?” And notice how he makes fun of them: “Do not touch, do not handle, do not taste,” as though they were cowards keeping themselves clear of some great matters. “All these things are to perish in the using.” He has deflated the swollen self-importance of the many, and added, “according to the commands and teachings of men.” What are you saying? Do you mean even the law? From now on, now that the time has come, it is only a teaching of men. Or else he says it because they had corrupted the law; or else he is hinting at the customs of the pagans. The teaching, he says, is entirely human.

Verse 23: “These things have indeed a show of wisdom in self-chosen worship, and humility, and harsh treatment of the body, but are not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh.” [g]

“A show,” he says — not power, not truth. So even if they have a show of wisdom, let us turn away from them. For such a person may seem to be devout and humble, and to look down on the body.

“Not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh.” For God has given the flesh honor, but they do not treat it with honor. So, when it is a matter of teaching, he knows how to call it honor. They dishonor the flesh, he says, by depriving it and stripping it of its freedom, and by not leaving it to be governed by free will. God has honored the flesh.

Chapter 3, verse 1: “If then you were raised together with Christ.”

He brings them together, having established earlier that he died. That is why he says, “If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above.” There are no observances there. “Where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” How wonderful! Where he has led our minds, up on high! How he has filled them with lofty aspiration! It was not enough to say, “the things that are above,” nor even, “where Christ is.” What then? “Seated at the right hand of God.” From that height he was preparing them, from then on, to look down at the earth.

Verses 2, 3, and 4: “Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” [j]

He is saying: “This is not your life; it is another one.” He is pressing now to move them away from here, and he insists on showing that they are seated above and that they are dead. From both points he establishes that they must not seek the things that are here. For whether you are dead, you ought not to seek them; or whether you are above, you ought not to seek them. Does Christ appear? Neither does your life. It is in God, above. “What then? When will we live?” When Christ, who is your life, appears. Then seek glory, then life, then enjoyment.

This is to prepare the way for drawing them away from pleasure and ease. It is his habit: while he is establishing one point, he darts off to another. For instance, when he is speaking of those who went ahead of one another at supper, he suddenly falls upon the observance of the mysteries. For a rebuke carries great force when it comes unlooked for.

“It is hidden,” he says — hidden from you. “Then you also will appear with him.” So now you do not appear. See how he has moved them into heaven itself! For, as I said, he is always intent on showing that they have the very same things that Christ has, and all through his letters this is the drift: to show that in everything they are sharers with him. That is why he uses the words “Head” and “Body,” and does everything to get this across to them. [k]

So if we are to appear then, let us not grieve when we do not enjoy honor now. If this life is not life, but is hidden, we ought to live this life as though we were dead. “Then you also,” he says, “will appear with him in glory.” He said “in glory,” not merely “appear.” For the pearl too is hidden as long as it is inside the oyster. So if we are insulted, or whatever else we suffer, let us not grieve; for this life is not our life. We are strangers here, only passing through.

“For you died,” he says. Who is so witless as to buy servants for a corpse that is dead and buried, or to build houses for it, or to get costly clothing ready for it? No one. Then do not do it yourselves. But just as we look for one thing only, not to be left naked, so here too let us look for one thing and nothing more.

Our first man is buried — buried not in earth but in water; not destroyed by death, but buried by the destroyer of death; not by the law of nature, but by the sovereign command that is stronger than nature. For what nature has done may perhaps be undone, but what his command has done, never. Nothing is more blessed than this burial, at which all rejoice: angels, and men, and the Lord of angels. At this burial there is no need of grave clothes, or a coffin, or anything else of that kind.

Would you like to see a picture of this? I will show you a pool in which one was buried and the other raised. In the Red Sea the Egyptians sank beneath the water, but the Israelites came up out of it. In the same act he buries the one and brings the other to birth. Do not be surprised that birth and destruction both take place in baptism. For tell me, are not melting and fusing opposites? That is plain to everyone. Yet this is what fire does: it melts and destroys wax, but it fuses together gold-bearing earth and works it into gold. So here too the force of the fire has done away with the statue of wax and brought out a golden one in its place. For truly, before the washing we were clay, but after it, gold.

How is this plain? Hear him saying, “The first man is from the earth, made of earth; the second man is the Lord from heaven” (First Corinthians 15, verse 47). I spoke of a difference as great as that between clay and gold, but I find the difference between the heavenly and the earthly greater still. Clay and gold are not as far apart as the earthly and the heavenly. We were made of wax, and formed of clay. For the flame of craving melted us far more than fire melts wax, and any passing temptation shattered us far more easily than a stone shatters things made of clay. And, if you like, let us sketch the former life, and see whether it was not all earth and water, full of fluctuation and dust and instability and flowing away.

And, if you like, let us look closely not at the former things but at the present ones, and see whether we do not find everything that exists to be mere dust and water. What will you point to? Authority and power? For nothing in this present life is thought more enviable than these. But you could sooner find dust standing still in the air than find these things standing still, especially now. For to whom are they not subject? To those who love them; to eunuchs; to people who will do anything for money; to the passions of the populace; to the anger of those more powerful.

The man who yesterday sat high on his judgment seat, who had heralds shouting in piercing voices, and many running before him and haughtily clearing the way for him through the marketplace, is today mean and low, stripped and bare of all those things, like dust driven by the wind, like a stream that has flowed past. And just as dust is raised by our feet, so public offices are produced by people who are busy about money and who, in the whole of life, hold the rank and station of feet. And just as dust, once it is raised, fills a large part of the air though it is only a small body, so does power. And just as dust blinds the eyes, so the pride of power dims the eyes of the understanding.

But what? Do you want us to examine that thing so many pray for, wealth? Come, let us examine it part by part. It has luxury, it has honors, it has power. First, then, if you like, let us examine luxury. Is it not dust? Or rather, it passes by more swiftly than dust. For the pleasure of luxurious living reaches only as far as the tongue, and once the belly is full, not even to the tongue. [m]

But someone says: “Honors in themselves are pleasant things.” Yet what could be less pleasant than that very honor, when it is paid with an eye to money? When it does not come from free choice and a willing mind, it is not you who reap the honor, but your wealth. So this very thing makes the rich man, more than anyone, a man without honor. For tell me: suppose everyone honored you because you had a certain friend, and all the while admitted that you, for your part, were good for nothing, but that they were forced to honor you for his sake. Could they have dishonored you more in any other way?

So our wealth is the cause of our dishonor, since it is honored more than its owners are, and it is a proof of weakness rather than of power. How then is it not absurd that we are not counted worth as much as earth and ashes — for that is what gold is — but are honored for its sake? And rightly so. But it is not so with the man who despises wealth. For it would be better not to be honored at all than to be honored like that.

Tell me: if someone said to you, “I think you worthy of no honor at all, but I honor you for the sake of your servants,” could anything be worse than that dishonor? But if it is a disgrace to be honored for the sake of servants, who share the same soul and nature with us, it is far more of one to be honored for the sake of meaner things, such as the walls and courtyards of houses, and vessels of gold, and clothes. That would be contempt indeed, and shame; better to die than to be honored like that. For tell me, if you were in danger in this pride of yours, and some low and disgusting person were willing to get you out of your danger, what could be worse than that?

What you say to one another about our city, I want to say to you. Once our city offended the emperor, and he gave orders that the whole of it should be utterly destroyed — men, children, houses, everything. (For such is the anger of kings: they use their power as far as they please; so great an evil is power.) The city was then in the most extreme danger. But the neighboring city, the one on the coast, went and pleaded with the emperor on our behalf. At this the people of our city said that this was worse than if the city had been razed to the ground. So to be honored in this way is worse than being dishonored.

See where this honor has its root. The hands of cooks get us honored, so that we ought to feel grateful to them; and so do the swineherds who supply us with a rich table, and weavers, and spinners, and metalworkers, and pastry cooks, and those who furnish our tables.

Would it not be better, then, not to be honored at all than to owe the honor to these people? And besides this, I will try to prove clearly that riches are a state full of dishonor. They degrade the soul, and what is more dishonorable than that? [n]

For tell me: suppose someone had a handsome body, more beautiful than anyone’s, and wealth came to him and promised to make it ugly — diseased instead of healthy, inflamed instead of cool. Suppose it filled every limb with dropsy, made the face bloated and swollen all over, swelled the feet and made them heavier than logs, and puffed up the belly and made it bigger than any wine cask. And suppose that after this it promised not even to let those who wanted to cure him do so — for that is how power works — but gave him so much freedom that he could punish anyone who came near to draw him away from what was harming him. Well then, tell me: when wealth does these things to the soul, how can it be an honor?

But this power is a more grievous thing than the disease itself, just as, for a sick man, not obeying the doctor’s orders is a worse evil than being sick. That is how it is with wealth: it inflames every part of the soul, and forbids the doctors to come near it. So let us not congratulate these people on their power, but pity them. If I saw a man lying sick with dropsy, and no one forbidding him to drink his fill of whatever he liked and to eat harmful foods, I would not congratulate him on his power either. For power is not a good thing in every case, and neither are honors, for these too fill a person with great arrogance. [o]

But if you would not choose for your body to catch such a disease along with wealth, how is it that you overlook your soul, when it catches not this plague alone, but another as well? For it is on fire all over with burning fevers and inflammations, and no one can put out that burning fever, for wealth will not allow it. It has persuaded the soul that things that are really losses are gains: putting up with no one, and doing everything as one pleases.

You will find no other soul so full of such great and extravagant cravings as the souls of those who want to be rich. What silly trifles do they not picture to themselves! You can see them dreaming up things more fantastic than painters of hippocentaurs, and chimeras, and dragon-footed creatures, and Scyllas, and monsters. And if someone chose to paint a single craving of theirs, neither Scylla nor chimera nor hippocentaur would look like anything at all beside such a monster; you would find that it holds every wild beast at once.

And perhaps someone will suppose that I myself once had great wealth, since I describe so truly what comes of it. There is a story told — for first I will confirm what I have said from the legends of the Greeks — there is a story told among them of a certain king who grew so insolent in luxury that he made a plane tree of gold, and a sky above it, and sat there; and this when he was invading a people skilled in war. Now was not this craving a hippocentaur? Was it not a Scylla? Another, again, used to throw men into a wooden bull. Was not this a Scylla indeed? And that king I just mentioned, the warrior — wealth made him a woman instead of a man, and from a woman — what shall I say? — an animal without reason, and even lower than that. For animals, if they lodge under a tree, are content with what nature gives and look for nothing more; but this man went beyond even the nature of animals. [p]

What, then, can be more senseless than the rich? And this comes from the greed of their desires. “But are there not many who admire him?” Then truly they share in the laughter he brings on himself. That showed off not his wealth but his folly. How much better than that golden plane tree is the one the earth produces! For what is natural is more pleasing than what is unnatural. And what did you mean by that golden sky of yours, you senseless man? Do you see how abundant wealth drives people mad? How it inflamed them? I suppose he does not even recognize the sea, and perhaps he will soon take it into his head to walk on it. Now is this not a chimera? Is it not a hippocentaur?

But even now there are some who do not fall short even of him, but are actually far more senseless. For in point of senselessness, tell me, how do those who make silver jars, pitchers and perfume bottles differ from that golden plane tree? And how do those women differ — I am ashamed, but it has to be said — who make chamber pots of silver? It is you who ought to be ashamed, you who have these things made. When Christ is starving, do you revel in such luxury? Or rather, play the fool like this? What punishment will these people not suffer? And do you still ask why there are robbers, why murderers, why such evils, when the devil has made you this ridiculous?

Merely owning silver dishes is itself out of keeping with a soul devoted to wisdom; it is sheer luxury. But making unclean vessels of silver too — is that luxury? No, I will not call it luxury, but senselessness; no, not that either, but madness; or rather, something worse even than madness.

I know that many people make jokes about me for this; but I pay them no attention, so long as some good comes of it. Truly, being wealthy does make people senseless and mad. If their power reached far enough, they would have the earth made of gold too, and walls of gold, and perhaps the sky as well, and the air of gold. What madness this is, what wrongdoing, what a burning fever! Another man, made in the image of God, is dying of cold, and do you furnish yourself with things like these? What senseless pride! What more would a madman have done? Do you pay your own excrement such honor as to receive it in silver? [r]

I know that you are shocked to hear this. But it is the women who make such things who ought to be shocked, and the husbands who serve such diseased whims. For this is insolence, and savagery, and inhumanity, and beastliness, and loose living. What Scylla, what chimera, what dragon — or rather, what demon, what devil — would have acted like this? What good is Christ to us, what good is the faith, when one has to put up with people being pagans — or rather, not pagans, but demons?

If adorning the head with gold and pearls is not right, how will the one who uses silver for so unclean a service obtain pardon? Is not the rest enough — though even that is not bearable — chairs and footstools all of silver? Though even these come from senselessness. But everywhere there is excessive pride; everywhere there is empty glory. Nowhere is it use; everywhere it is excess.

I am afraid that, driven on by this madness, the female sex will go on to take some monstrous form; for it is likely they will want even their hair to be of gold. If not, tell me: were you not at all moved by what was said? Were you not greatly stirred? Did you not begin to long for it, and if shame had not held you back, would you have said no? For if they dare to do what is even more absurd than this, much more, I think, will they long to have their hair, and lips, and eyebrows, and every part overlaid with molten gold.

But if you do not believe me, and think I am joking, I will tell you what I have heard, or rather what exists right now. The king of the Persians wears his beard golden. Those who are skilled at such work wind gold leaf around his hairs as though around the threads of a loom, and it is treasured as a wonder. Glory to you, O Christ! With how many good things you have filled us! How you have provided for our health! From what monstrousness, from what unreason you have set us free!

Listen! I am warning you beforehand. I no longer advise; I command and charge. Let whoever wishes obey, and whoever does not wish, disobey. If you women go on acting like this, I will not put up with it. I will not receive you, or let you cross this threshold. For what need do I have of a crowd of diseased people? And what if, in training you, I do not forbid what is not excessive? Yet Paul forbade both gold and pearls (First Timothy 2, verse 9). We are laughed at by the Greeks; our faith looks like a fable.

And to the men I give this advice. Have you come to school to be instructed in spiritual philosophy? Strip off that pride! This is my advice to both men and women, and if anyone acts otherwise, from now on I will not allow it. The disciples were only twelve, and hear what Christ says to them: “Do you also want to go away?” (John 6, verse 67). For if we go on flattering you forever, when will we set you right? When will we do you any good? [s]

But someone says: “There are other sects, and people go over to them.” That is a lame argument. “Better is one who does the will of the Lord than ten thousand lawbreakers” (Sirach 16, verse 3). For tell me, which would you choose for yourself: to have ten thousand servants who were runaways and thieves, or a single one who loved you? Look, I urge you and command you: break up those showy ornaments for the face, and vessels like the ones I have described, and give to the poor, and do not be so mad.

Let whoever likes leave me at once; let whoever likes accuse me; I will not allow it in anyone. When I am about to be judged at the judgment seat of Christ, you will be standing far off, and your favor too, while I am giving my account.

But someone says: “Talk like that has ruined everything! Don’t let him go off and move over to another sect! No, he is weak; make allowances for him!” How far? Until when? Once, and twice, and three times, but not forever. [u]

Look, I charge you again, and I declare, following the example of the blessed Paul, “that if I come again I will not spare” (Second Corinthians 13, verse 2). But when you have done as you ought, then you will know how great the gain is, how great the advantage. Yes, I entreat you and beg you, and I would not refuse to clasp your knees and plead with you over this. What softness this is! What luxury, what insolence! This is not luxury but insolence. What senselessness! What madness!

So many poor people stand around the church, and though the church has so many children, and such wealthy ones, she cannot relieve even one poor person. “But one is hungry, and another is drunk” (First Corinthians 11, verse 21). One relieves himself even into silver; another does not have so much as bread! What madness! What beastliness could be as great as this?

May we never come to the test of whether we will proceed against the disobedient, nor to the anger that allowing these practices would stir in us. Rather, may we avoid all this willingly and patiently, so that we may live to God’s glory, be delivered from the punishment in the other world, and obtain the good things promised to those who love him, 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.