Homily 17 — First Timothy 6, verses 2 to 12

“Teach and urge these things. If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree with sound words, the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the teaching that accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but sick with craving for questions and quarrels about words, from which come envy, strife, insults, evil suspicions, perverse disputings of people corrupt in mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that gain is godliness. Withdraw yourself from such people. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” [a]

A teacher needs not only authority but gentleness, and not only gentleness but authority. The blessed Paul teaches both, saying at one time, “Command and teach these things” (First Timothy 4, verse 11), and at another, “Teach and urge these things.” If physicians plead with the sick, not for the benefit of their own health but to relieve the sickness and restore the patient’s broken strength, much more ought we to follow this method and plead with those we teach. The blessed Paul does not refuse to be their servant. “We do not preach ourselves,” he says, “but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake” (Second Corinthians 4, verse 5); and again, “All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos” (First Corinthians 3, verse 22). And he gives himself to this service eagerly, for it is not slavery; it is something higher than freedom. For Christ says, “Whoever commits sin is the slave of sin” (John 8, verse 34).

“If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree with sound words, the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the teaching that accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing.” So conceit comes not from knowledge but from “knowing nothing.” The one who knows the teachings of godliness is also the most inclined to moderation. The one who knows sound words is not unsound. What inflammation is in the body, pride is in the soul. And just as in the first case we do not call the inflamed part sound, so here we do not count the arrogant sound either. It is possible, then, to have knowledge and yet to know nothing; for the one who does not know what he ought to know knows nothing. [c]

That pride comes from knowing nothing is plain from this. Christ “made himself nothing” (Philippians 2, verse 7); so the one who knows this will not be high-minded. A human being has nothing except from God; so he will not be high-minded. “For what do you have that you did not receive?” (First Corinthians 4, verse 7). Christ washed the feet of his disciples; how can anyone who knows this set himself up? That is why he says, “When you have done everything, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants’” (Luke 17, verse 10). The tax collector was accepted for nothing but his humility; the Pharisee perished through his boasting. The one who is puffed up knows none of these things. Again, Christ himself says, “If I have spoken wrongly, bear witness to the wrong; but if rightly, why do you strike me?” (John 18, verse 23).

“Sick with craving for questions.” So to question is to be sick. “And quarrels about words” — and this is rightly said. When the soul is feverish and stormy with reasonings, then it questions; but when it is in health, it does not question, it receives the faith. And from questionings and quarrels about words nothing can be discovered. When the things that faith alone promises are taken up by an inquisitive spirit, that spirit neither proves them nor lets us understand them. If someone shut his eyes, he could not find anything he was looking for. Or again, if he kept his eyes open but buried himself away and shut out the sun, he could not find anything searching like that. So without faith nothing can be made out, and contentions are bound to arise. “From which come insults, evil suspicions” — that is, mistaken opinions and teachings that spring from questionings. For when we begin to question, then we suspect things about God that we ought not. [d]

“Perverse disputings” — that is, idle pastimes, or conversation. Or he may mean contact with one another: just as infected sheep pass their disease to the healthy by contact, so do these bad men.

“Deprived of the truth, thinking that gain is godliness.” See what evils quarrels about words produce: the love of gain, ignorance, and pride — for pride is born of ignorance. [e]

“Withdraw yourself from such people.” He does not say, engage them and contend with them, but “withdraw yourself” — turn away from them. As he says elsewhere, “Reject a man who is a heretic after a first and second warning” (Titus 3, verse 10). He shows that they do not err so much from ignorance as that they owe their ignorance to their own laziness. Those who quarrel for the sake of money you will never persuade. They can be persuaded only as long as you keep giving, and even then you will never satisfy their desires. For it is said, “The greedy man’s eye is not satisfied with a portion” (Sirach 14, verse 9). So it is right to turn away from such people, since they cannot be corrected. And if he, who was bound above all others to fight for the truth, is advised not to enter into contention with such men, much more should we avoid it, who stand in the place of disciples.

Having said, “They think that godliness is a means of gain,” he adds, “But godliness with contentment is great gain” — not when it possesses wealth, but when it has none. So that he will not lose heart over his poverty, Paul encourages him and revives his spirit. They think, he says, that godliness is a means of gain, and so it is — only not in their way, but in a far higher one. Then, having demolished their kind of gain, he extols the other. That worldly gain is nothing is plain, because it is left behind; it does not keep us company or go along with us when we depart. How is this plain? Because we had nothing when we came into this world, and therefore we will have nothing when we leave it. Nature came into the world naked, and naked she will go out of it. So we need nothing beyond what is necessary, if we brought nothing with us and will take nothing away. [f]

Verse 8: “And having food and clothing, let us be content with these.” We ought to eat such things, and as much, as will be enough to nourish us, and to put on such things as will cover us and clothe our nakedness, and nothing more; and an ordinary garment will do for that. Then he urges them from what happens in this life, saying, in verse 9, “But those who want to be rich” — not those who are rich, but those who want to be. For a man may have money and use it well, not overvaluing it, but giving it away to the poor. Such people he does not blame, but the greedy.

“Those who want to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful cravings, which drown people in ruin and destruction.” He is right to say “they drown people,” since they cannot be raised up from that depth. “In ruin and destruction.” [g]

Verse 10: “For the love of money is the root of all evil; and some, reaching after it, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

He names two things, and the one that might seem weightier to them he puts last: their “many sorrows.” And to learn how true this is, the only way is to live among the rich and see how many their sorrows are, and how bitter their complaints.

Verse 11: “But you, man of God.” This is a title of great dignity. We are all people of God, but the righteous are so in a special way — not by right of creation only, but because God has made them his own. If, then, you are a “man of God,” do not seek things beyond your need, which do not lead you to God; but “Flee these things, and pursue righteousness.” Both expressions are emphatic. He does not say, turn away from the one and draw near to the other, but “flee these things, pursue righteousness,” so that you will not be greedy.

“Godliness” — that is, soundness in teaching. “Faith” — which is the opposite of questionings. “Love, endurance, gentleness.” [h]

Verse 12: “Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of eternal life.” There is your reward, “to which you were also called, and have made the good confession” in hope of eternal life, “before many witnesses.” That is, do not put that confidence to shame. Why do you labor for no profit?

But what is the “temptation and snare” that he says those who want to be rich fall into? It makes them wander from the faith, it entangles them in dangers, it makes them less fearless. “Foolish cravings,” he says. And is it not a foolish craving when people like to keep fools and dwarfs, not out of kindness but for their own pleasure; when they have tanks for fish in their halls; when they rear wild beasts; when they give their time to dogs, and deck out horses, and are as fond of them as of their children? All these things are foolish and superfluous, in no way necessary, in no way useful.

“Foolish and harmful cravings!” What are harmful cravings? When people live lawlessly; when they desire what belongs to their neighbor; when they go to every length in luxury; when they long for drunkenness; when they desire the murder and ruin of others. Driven by these desires, many have tried to seize the throne, and perished. Surely to labor with such aims is both foolish and harmful.

And he was right to say, “They have wandered from the faith.” Greed draws their eyes to herself and little by little steals away their minds, and does not let them see their way. Think of someone walking along a straight road with his mind on something else. He does go on his way, but often, without knowing it, he walks right past the very city he was hurrying to, his feet plodding on at random and to no purpose. Greed is that kind of thing.

“They have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” Do you see what he means by the word “pierced”? What he means to express by the image is this. Desires are thorns. Just as someone who handles thorns tears his hand and gets himself wounded, so the one who falls into these cravings will be wounded by them and pierce his soul with griefs. And what cares and troubles attend those who are pierced like this is impossible to describe. That is why he says, “Flee these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness.” For gentleness springs from love.

Verse 12: “Fight the good fight.” Here he praises Timothy’s boldness and courage, in that he confidently “made the confession” before everyone, and he reminds him of his early instruction. “Take hold of eternal life.” [i]

There is need not only of confession, but of endurance to persevere in that confession, of fierce struggle and of countless labors, so that you are not overthrown. For the stumbling blocks and hindrances are many; that is why the way is “narrow and hard” (Matthew 7, verse 14). So we must keep ourselves collected and girded for action on every side. All around us pleasures appear, drawing the eyes of the soul: the pleasures of beauty, of wealth, of luxury, of idleness, of glory, of revenge, of power, of rule. All these are fair and lovely to look at, and able to capture those who are unsteady and do not love the truth. For truth has a stern and uninviting face. And why? Because the pleasures she promises all lie in the future, while the others hold out honors and delights and rest here and now — though all of them are false and counterfeit.

So coarse, effeminate, unmanly minds, unwilling to bear the labors of virtue, cling to these. It is like the games of the pagans. The one who does not earnestly long for the crown may give himself up from the very start to revels and drunkenness — and this is in fact what the cowardly and unmanly competitors do — while those who keep their eyes fixed on the crown endure blows beyond number. For the hope of the reward to come holds them up and rouses them to action.

Let us flee, then, from this root of all evils, and we will escape them all. “The love of money,” he says, “is the root.” So says Paul — or rather Christ through Paul. And let us see how this is so. The actual experience of the world bears witness to it. For what evil is not caused by wealth — or rather, not by wealth, but by the wicked will of those who do not know how to use it? It is possible to use wealth for doing good, and even through it to inherit the kingdom. But as things are, what was given us to relieve the poor, to make amends for our past sins, to win a good name and to please God, this we use against the poor and wretched — or rather against our own souls, and to God’s great displeasure. For as for the other man, the greedy man robs him of his wealth and brings him to poverty, but brings himself to death. The other he makes waste away in want here; himself, in that eternal punishment. Are they equal sufferers, do you think? [j]

What evils, then, does it not cause! What frauds, what robberies! What miseries, hatreds, quarrels, battles! Does it not stretch out its hand even against the dead — yes, and against fathers and brothers? Do not those possessed by this passion violate the laws of nature and the commands of God — in short, everything? Is it not this that makes our law courts necessary? Take away the love of money, then, and you put an end to war, to battle, to hatred, to strife and contention. Such people ought to be banished from the world, like wolves and pests. For just as opposing and violent winds sweeping over a calm sea stir it up from its foundations and mix the sands of the deep with the waves above, so the lovers of wealth throw everything into confusion and unsettle it. [k]

The greedy man never knows a friend. A friend, did I say? He does not know God himself, driven mad as he is by the passion of greed. Don’t you see the Titans going out sword in hand? That is a representation of madness. But the lovers of money are not putting on a show; they are really mad and out of their minds. If you could lay bare their souls, you would find them armed in just this way, not with one or two swords but with thousands, recognizing no one, turning their fury on everyone, flying and snarling at everyone, slaughtering not dogs but the souls of human beings, and uttering blasphemies against heaven itself. By these people everything is overturned and ruined, through their madness for wealth.

Whom indeed I should accuse, I do not know! It is a plague that has seized everyone — some more, some less, but all to some degree. Like a fire catching hold of a forest, which lays waste and destroys everything around it, this passion has laid the world waste. Kings, magistrates, private persons, the poor, women, men, children — all alike are affected by it. It is as if a thick darkness had spread over the earth: no one is in his right mind. We hear many speeches against greed, both in public and in private, yet no one is made better by them. [l]

What, then, is to be done? How will we put out this flame? Even though it has risen to heaven itself, it can be put out. We have only to be willing, and we will be able to master the blaze. As it gained strength by our will, so it can be brought under by our will. Did not our own choice cause it? And will not the same choice be enough to put it out? Only let us be willing.

But how will that willingness be produced? If we consider how empty and useless wealth is: that it cannot leave this world with us; that even here it deserts us; and that while it stays behind, it inflicts on us wounds that do go with us. If we see that there are riches in that other world, compared with which the wealth of this world is more contemptible than dung. If we consider that wealth brings countless dangers, and a pleasure that is short-lived, a pleasure mixed with sorrow. If we rightly contemplate the true riches of eternal life, we will be able to despise worldly wealth. If we remember that it does nothing for glory, or health, or anything else, but on the contrary drowns people in ruin and destruction. If you consider that here you are rich and have many under you, but that when you depart from here you will go naked and alone. If we often picture these things to ourselves and listen to them from others, perhaps there will be a return to a sound mind and a release from this dreadful punishment.

Is a pearl beautiful? Yet consider: it is only sea water, and it once lay cast away in the bosom of the deep. Are gold and silver beautiful? Yet they were and are only dust and ashes. Are silk garments beautiful? Yet they are nothing but the spinning of worms. This beauty lies only in opinion, in human prejudice, not in the nature of the things. For what has beauty by nature needs no one to point it out. If you see a brass coin that is only gilded over, at first you admire it, imagining that it is gold; but when someone who knows shows you the cheat, your wonder vanishes along with the deception. So the beauty was not in the nature of the thing. Nor is it in silver. You may admire tin for silver, as you admired brass for gold, and you need someone to tell you what you should admire. So our eyes are not enough to tell the difference. [m]

It is not so with flowers, which are far more beautiful. If you see a rose, you need no one to tell you; by yourself you can tell an anemone, a violet, a lily, and every other flower. So the rest is nothing but prejudice. And to show that this destructive passion is only prejudice, tell me: if the emperor were pleased to decree that silver should be worth more than gold, would you not transfer your love and admiration to silver? So everywhere we are under the sway of greed and opinion.

That this is so, and that a thing is valued for its rarity and not for its nature, is clear from this. Fruits that are held cheap among us are highly prized among the Cappadocians, and among the Seres, the country these silk garments come from, they are worth even more than the most precious things among us. And many such examples could be given from Arabia and India, where spices grow and precious stones are found. Such preferences, then, are nothing but prejudice and human opinion. We act not from judgment but at random, as chance decides.

But let us recover from this drunkenness. Let us fix our gaze on what is truly beautiful, beautiful by its own nature — on godliness and righteousness — so that we may obtain the promised blessings, through the grace and love for humankind of Jesus Christ our Lord, with whom, to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, and honor, now and always, and forever and ever. Amen.