Homily 7 — First Timothy 2, verses 2 to 7

“That we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and dignity. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who wills that all people be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.” [a]

If the priest is urged to offer prayers for kings and governors in order to put an end to public wars and uprisings and battles, private individuals ought to do it much more. For there are three very grievous kinds of war. The first is public, when our soldiers are attacked by foreign armies. The second is when, even in time of peace, we are at war with one another. The third is when a person is at war with himself, and that is the worst of all.

Foreign war will not be able to hurt us much. Tell me, what does it matter if it slaughters us and cuts us down? It does the soul no harm. Nor will the second kind have power to harm us against our will; for though others are at war with us, we can still be peaceable ourselves. That is what the prophet says: “In return for my love they are my adversaries, but I give myself to prayer” (Psalm 109, verse 4); and again, “I was at peace with those who hate peace”; and, “I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war” (Psalm 120, verses 6 and 7, as the Greek Old Testament reads them).

But from the third kind we cannot escape without danger. When the body is at odds with the soul, stirs up evil desires, and arms sensual pleasures against it, or the bad passions of anger and envy, we cannot reach the promised blessings until this war is brought to an end. Whoever does not quiet this uproar must fall, pierced by wounds that bring on the death that is in hell. So we need daily care and great anxiety, that this war may not be stirred up within us, or, if it is stirred up, that it may not last, but be put down and laid to rest. For what good is it that the world enjoys deep peace, if you are at war with yourself? This, then, is the peace we should keep. If we have it, nothing from outside will be able to harm us.

And the public peace contributes no little to this end. That is why it is said, “That we may lead a quiet and peaceful life.” But if anyone is troubled when all is quiet, he is a miserable creature. Do you see that he is speaking of this peace, the one I call the third kind? That is why, when he has said, “that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life,” he does not stop there, but adds, “in all godliness and dignity.” And we cannot live in godliness and dignity unless that peace is established. For when prying speculations unsettle our faith, what peace is there? Or when unclean spirits do, what peace is there?

When he says, “that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life,” he does not want us to suppose he means the kind of life everyone lives. So he adds, “in all godliness and dignity.” For a quiet and peaceful life can be led by the pagans; the profligate, the pleasure-loving, and people of loose living can be found living such a life. That this cannot be what he means is plain from what he adds, “in all godliness and dignity.” A life like theirs lies open to snares and conflicts, and the soul is wounded every day by the uproar of its own thoughts. [d]

But what kind of life he really means is plain from what follows, and plain too from the fact that he does not speak simply of godliness, but adds “all godliness.” By saying this he seems to insist on a godliness not of doctrine only, but one that is backed up by the way we live; for surely godliness must be required in both. What good is it to be godly in doctrine but ungodly in life? And that it is quite possible to be ungodly in life, listen to this same blessed apostle saying elsewhere, “They profess to know God, but by their works they deny him” (Titus 1, verse 16). And again, “He has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (First Timothy 5, verse 8). And, “If anyone who is called a brother is sexually immoral, or greedy, or an idolater” (First Corinthians 5, verse 11) — such a man does not honor God. And, “Whoever hates his brother does not know God” (First John 2, verse 9). These are the many forms that ungodliness takes.

That is why he says, “all godliness and good order.” For it is not only the sexually immoral man who lacks dignity; the greedy man too can be called disorderly and lacking in self-control. Greed is a craving no less than the appetites of the body, and whoever does not discipline it is called dissolute. People are called dissolute because they do not restrain their desires. So the hot-tempered, the envious, the greedy, the deceitful, and everyone who lives in sin may be called dissolute, disorderly, and unrestrained.

Verse 3: “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.” What is it that he calls “acceptable”? Praying for all people. This God accepts; this he wills.

Verse 4: “Who wills that all people be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.”

Imitate God! If he wills that all people be saved, there is good reason to pray for all. If he has willed that all be saved, be willing yourself; and if you wish it, pray for it, for wishes lead to prayers. Notice how he presses this on the soul from every side, urging us to pray for the pagans and showing how great an advantage comes from it: “that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life”; and, what is far more than this, that it pleases God, and so people become like him, since they will the same thing he wills. This is enough to shame even an animal without reason.

So do not be afraid to pray for the Gentiles, for God himself wills it. Be afraid only of praying against anyone, for that he does not will. And if you pray for the pagans, you ought of course to pray for heretics too; for we are to pray for all people, and not to persecute. And this is good for another reason as well: we share the same nature, and God commands and accepts goodwill and affection toward one another.

But you say: “If the Lord himself wills to give it, what need is there of my prayer?” It is of great benefit, both to them and to you. It draws them to love, and it inclines you to kindness toward others. It has the power to draw others to the faith, for many people have fallen away from God through quarreling with one another. And this is what he now calls God’s salvation, “who wills that all people be saved.” Without this, everything else is nothing great: a salvation in name only, and in words alone. [f]

“And come to the knowledge of the truth.” The truth — what truth? Faith in him. He had said earlier, “Charge some that they teach no other doctrine.” But so that no one would treat such people as enemies and stir up trouble against them on that account, he says that “he wills that all people be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.” And having said this, he adds in verse 5, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and human beings.”

He had said before, “to come to the knowledge of the truth,” implying that the world is not in the truth. Now he says “that there is one God” — that is, not many, as some say — and that God has sent his Son as mediator, which proves that he wills all people to be saved. [g]

But is not the Son God? Most truly he is. Then why does he say “one God”? In contrast to the idols, not to the Son; for he is discussing truth and error.

Now a mediator must have fellowship with both of the parties he is to mediate between. This is the mark of a mediator: to be closely joined with each of those whose mediator he is. He would no longer be a mediator if he were joined to one and cut off from the other. So if the Son does not share the nature of the Father, he is not a mediator, but is cut off. For as he shares the nature of human beings, because he came to them, so he shares the nature of God, because he came from God. Since he was to mediate between two natures, he had to come close to both; for just as a place lying between two others touches each of them, so what lies between two natures must be joined to each. So as he became man, he was also God. A man could not have become the mediator, because he must also plead with God. God could not have been the mediator, because those for whom he was to mediate could not have received him.

And just as he says elsewhere, “There is one God, the Father … and one Lord, Jesus Christ” (First Corinthians 8, verse 6), so here too: “one” God and “one” mediator. He does not say “two,” for he did not want that number twisted into belief in many gods, which was what he was speaking about. So he wrote “one” and “one.” Do you see how exact the wording of Scripture is? For though one and one make two, we are not to say so, even though reason suggests it. And here you do not say that one and one are two, and yet you say what reason does not suggest: “If he begot, he also suffered.”

“For there is one God,” he says, “and one mediator between God and human beings, the man Christ Jesus.”

Verse 6: “Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified to in due time.” Was Christ, then, a ransom for the pagans too? Beyond doubt, Christ died even for the pagans — and you cannot bear to pray for them! [h]

But you ask: “Then why did they not believe?” Because they would not. But his part was done. His suffering was a “testimony,” he says. For he came, that is, “to bear witness to the truth” of the Father, and he was killed. So not only did the Father bear witness to him, but he also bore witness to the Father. “For I have come,” he says, “in my Father’s name” (John 5, verse 43). And again, “No one has ever seen God” (John 1, verse 18). And again, “That they may know you, the only true God” (John 17, verse 3). And, “God is a Spirit” (John 4, verse 24). And he bore his witness even to the point of death. As for “in due time,” it means at the most fitting time.

Verse 7: “For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle — I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying — a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.”

“Since, then, Christ suffered for the Gentiles, and I was set apart to be ‘a teacher of the Gentiles,’ why do you refuse to pray for them?” He fully establishes his own trustworthiness by saying that he was “appointed” (Acts 13, verse 2) — that is, set apart — for this purpose, since the other apostles were slow to teach the Gentiles. He adds, “in faith and truth,” to show that there was no deception in that faith. Notice here how far grace now reaches. The Jews had no prayers for the Gentiles; but now grace is extended to them. And when he says he was set apart to be a teacher of the Gentiles, he hints that grace had now been poured out over every part of the world. [i]

“He gave himself a ransom,” he says. Then how was he handed over by the Father? Because it came from his goodness. And what does “ransom” mean? God was about to punish them, but he held back from doing it. They were about to perish, but in their place he gave his own Son, and sent us as heralds to proclaim the cross. These things are enough to draw everyone, and to show the love of Christ.

So real, so far beyond words, are the benefits God has given us. He sacrificed himself for his enemies, who hated him and rejected him. What no one would do for friends, for brothers, for children, the Lord has done for his servants — a Lord who was not himself like his servants, but God for human beings, and for human beings who did not deserve it. Had they deserved it, had they done his will, it would have been less wonderful. But that he died for such ungrateful, such stubborn creatures — this is what strikes every mind with amazement. What people would not do for their fellow human beings, God has done for us!

Yet after such a display of love toward us, we hold back, and we are not in earnest in our love for Christ. He sacrificed himself for us; for him we make no sacrifice. We neglect him when he lacks the food he needs; when he is sick and naked we do not visit him. What do we not deserve? What wrath, what punishment, what hell? Even if there were no other reason, this alone should be enough to win everyone over: that he stooped so low as to make human sufferings his own, and to say, “I am hungry, I am thirsty.”

Oh, the tyranny of wealth! Or rather, the wickedness of those who are its willing slaves! For it has no great power of its own; it has power only through our weakness and servility. It is we who are mean and groveling, fleshly and without understanding. What power does money have? It is mute and without feeling. If the devil — that wicked spirit, that crafty one who throws everything into confusion — has no power, what power does money have? [k]

When you look at silver, imagine it is tin! You cannot? Then take it for what it really is: earth, for earth is what it is. And if you cannot reason this way, consider that we too will perish; that many who have owned it have gained hardly any advantage from it; that thousands who gloried in it are now dust and ashes. Consider that they are suffering the worst punishment, and are far more beggarly than those who ate off glass and earthenware; that those who once reclined on ivory couches are poorer now than those lying on the dunghill.

“But it delights the eyes!” How many other things delight them more! The flowers, the clear sky, the vault of heaven, the bright sun are far more pleasing to the eye. Silver has a great deal of tarnish; that is why some have claimed that it is black, as can be seen from the images that turn black. But there is no blackness in the sun, the sky, the stars. There is far more delight in these bright things than in its color. So it is not its brightness that makes it pleasing, but greed and wrongdoing. These, and not money, give the pleasure. Cast them out of your soul, and what seemed so precious will look more worthless to you than clay.

People with a fever long for mud when they see it, as if it were spring water, while people in good health seldom want even water. Cast off this sick longing, and you will see things as they are. And to show that I am not speaking falsely, know that I can point out many who have done it. Put out this flame, and you will see that these things are worth less than flowers.

Is gold good? Yes, it is good for almsgiving, for relieving the poor. It is good — not for useless purposes, to be hoarded or buried in the ground, or worn on the hands or the feet or the head. It was discovered for this purpose: that with it we might set captives free, not make it into a chain for the image of God. Use your gold for this: to free the one who is bound, not to chain the woman who is free.

Tell me, why do you value above everything what is worth so little? Is it any less a chain because it is made of gold? Does the material make any difference? Whether it is gold or iron, it is still a chain — in fact, the gold one is heavier. What makes it light, then, but empty glory, and the pleasure of being seen wearing a chain you ought rather to be ashamed of? To make this plain, fasten it on, and put the wearer in a wilderness, or somewhere no one can see, and at once the chain will feel heavy and be thought a burden.

Beloved, let us be afraid, lest we be condemned to hear those terrible words, “Bind him hand and foot” (Matthew 22, verse 13). And you, woman — why do you do this to yourself now? No prisoner has both his hands and his feet bound. Why do you bind your head too? You are not content with hands and feet; you bind your head and your neck with many chains. I pass over the worry these things bring, the fear, the alarm, the quarrels they cause with your husband if he ever needs them, and how it is like death to people when they lose one of them. Can you call this a pleasure? To gratify other people’s eyes, do you put yourself in chains, and worries, and dangers, and unease, and daily quarrels? This deserves every reproach and condemnation. [l]

No, I beg you, let us not do this. Let us burst every “bond of wrongdoing” (Acts 8, verse 23); let us break our bread for the hungry, and let us do everything else that may give us confidence before God, so that we may obtain the blessings promised through Jesus Christ our Lord, with whom, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, and honor, now and always, and forever and ever. Amen.