Homily 9 — Hebrews 6, verses 1 to 6

“Therefore, leaving the principles of the teaching of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the teaching about baptisms and of laying on of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment. And this we will do, if God permits.” [a]

You have heard how much Paul found fault with the Hebrews for wanting to be forever learning about the same things. And with good reason: “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the elementary principles of the oracles of God” (Hebrews 5, verse 12).

I am afraid this might fairly be said to you too: that though “by this time you ought to be teachers,” you do not even keep the rank of learners. You are always hearing the same things on the same subjects, and yet you are in the same condition as if you had heard no one at all. If anyone were to question you, no one would be able to answer, except a very few who could soon be counted. And this is no small loss. Often, when the teacher wants to go further and touch on higher and more hidden subjects, the inattention of those he is to teach prevents him.

Think of a schoolmaster teaching a boy his letters. If the boy keeps hearing the first elements and still does not master them, the teacher will have to keep drumming the same things into him, and he will not stop teaching them until the boy has learned them exactly; for it is great folly to lead him on to other things before the first have been well put into him. It is the same in the church: if we keep saying the same things and you learn nothing more, we will never stop saying the same things.

If our preaching were a matter of display and love of show, it would have been right to jump from one subject to another and keep changing about, with no thought for you, but only for your applause. But since that is not where we have put our zeal, and all our labor is for your benefit, we will not stop speaking to you on the same subjects until you succeed in learning them. I could have said a great deal about the superstition of the pagans, and about the Manichaeans, and about the Marcionites, and by the grace of God I could have dealt them heavy blows. But that kind of sermon is out of season. Who would make speeches like those to people who do not yet know their own affairs exactly, who have not yet learned that greed is evil, and lead them on to other subjects before the time?

So we will not stop saying the same things, whether you are persuaded or not. Yet we are afraid that by saying the same things over and over, if you do not listen, we may make the condemnation of the disobedient heavier. But I must not say this about all of you. I know many who benefit from coming here, and who might rightly cry out against the others for doing them a hidden injury by their ignorance and inattention. Yet even so they will not be harmed. Hearing the same things continually is useful even to those who know them, since by often hearing what we know we are more deeply moved. We know, for instance, that humility is an excellent thing, and that Christ often spoke about it; yet when we listen to the words themselves and to the reflections made on them, we are moved still more, even if we hear them ten thousand times.

So it is a fitting time for us too to say to you now, “Therefore, leaving the beginning of the teaching of Christ, let us go on to perfection.” What is “the beginning of the teaching”? He goes on to state it himself, saying, “not laying again” — these are his words — “the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the teaching about baptisms and of laying on of hands, of the resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment.” [d]

But if this is “the beginning,” what else is our teaching except to repent “from dead works,” and through the Spirit to receive “the faith” in “the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment”? So what is “the beginning”? “The beginning,” he says, is nothing other than this: when there is no strict life. Just as someone starting to learn to read must first be taught the letters, so the Christian must know these things exactly and have no doubt about them. If he needs to be taught them again, he does not yet have the foundation. For someone who is firmly grounded ought to be fixed and stand steady, and not be moved about.

But if a person who has been given his first instruction in the faith and has been baptized is going to hear about the faith again ten years later, and be told that we ought to “believe” in “the resurrection of the dead,” he does not yet have the foundation; he is once again looking for the beginning of the Christian religion. And that the faith is the foundation and the rest is the building, listen to the apostle saying, “I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it” (First Corinthians 3, verse 10), and, “If anyone builds on this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw” (First Corinthians 3, verse 12).

“Not laying again,” he says, “the foundation of repentance from dead works.”

But what does “let us go on to perfection” mean? From now on, he means, let us go forward to the very roof; that is, let us have the best life. With letters, the alpha contains the whole, and a foundation contains the whole building; in the same way, full assurance about the faith contains purity of life. Without it one cannot be a Christian, just as there can be no building without foundations, and no skill in literature without the letters. Still, if a person were always going round and round the letters, or round the foundation and never on to the building, he would never gain anything. [e]

Do not think, however, that the faith is made little of by being called elementary. It is in fact the whole power. When he says, “For everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a baby” (Hebrews 5, verse 13), it is not the faith that he calls “milk.” But still to be doubting about these things is the mark of a weak mind that needs many sermons, for these are the healthy teachings. We call a man “perfect,” that is, full-grown, when he has a right life along with the faith. But if anyone has faith and still does evil, and is in doubt about the faith itself, and brings disgrace on the teaching, we will rightly call him “a baby,” since he has gone back again to the beginning. So even if we have been ten thousand years in the faith, if we are not firm in it, we are babies — when we show a life that does not match it, when we are still laying a foundation.

But besides their way of life, he brings another charge against these Hebrews too: that they were being shaken to and fro and needed “to lay a foundation of repentance from dead works.” Someone who changes from one thing to another, giving up this and choosing that, ought first to condemn the first and be separated from that whole order, and then pass over to the other. But if he means to take hold of the first again, how will he lay hold of the second? [f]

“What about the law, then? We condemned it, and now we are running back to it again.” This is not shifting about, for here too, under the good news, we have a law. “Do we then make the law void through faith? Far from it! On the contrary, we establish the law” (Romans 3, verse 31). I was speaking about evil deeds. Whoever means to pursue virtue ought first to condemn wickedness, and then go after virtue. For repentance cannot make them clean. That is why they were baptized at once: so that what they could not accomplish by themselves might be done by the grace of Christ. So repentance is not enough for cleansing; people must first receive baptism. At any rate, they had to come to baptism having condemned their sins and passed sentence on them.

But what is “the teaching about baptisms”? It is not that there are many baptisms; there is only one. Why, then, did he put it in the plural? Because he had said, “not laying again a foundation of repentance.” If he were to baptize them again and instruct them afresh, and if, after being baptized at the beginning, they were taught all over again what ought and ought not to be done, they would remain forever past correcting.

“And of laying on of hands.” For this is how they received the Spirit: “when Paul had laid his hands on them” (Acts 19, verse 6), it says.

“And of the resurrection of the dead.” For this both takes place in baptism and is professed in the confession of faith.

“And of eternal judgment.” But why does he say this? It was likely that, having already believed, they would either be shaken from their faith or lead evil and lazy lives; so he says, “Stay awake.” They cannot say: “If we live lazily, we will be baptized again, we will be instructed again, we will receive the Spirit again. Even if we fall away from the faith now, we will be able to wash away our sins by being baptized again, and reach the same state as before.” You are deceived, he says, if you suppose these things.

Verses 4 and 5: “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and were made sharers in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, crucifying the Son of God afresh for themselves, and putting him to open shame.” [g]

See how he begins: shaming them, and warning them off.

“Impossible.” Do not go on expecting, he says, what is not possible, if you have once been fully enlightened. Notice that he did not say, “It is not fitting,” or, “It is not to your advantage,” or, “It is not lawful,” but “impossible,” so as to throw them into despair.

Then he adds, “and have tasted the heavenly gift.” If you have tasted the heavenly gift, he says — that is, forgiveness — “and were made sharers in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God” (here he is speaking of the teaching) “and the powers of the age to come” (what powers does he mean? Either the working of miracles, or “the down payment of the Spirit,” Second Corinthians 1, verse 22), “and have fallen away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify the Son of God afresh for themselves and put him to open shame.”

“To renew them to repentance,” he says — that is, by repentance; for “to repentance” means “by repentance.” What then? Is repentance shut out? Far from it — not repentance! What is shut out is being made new a second time by the washing. For he did not say it was “impossible” to be renewed “to repentance” and stop there; he added how it is impossible: by “crucifying afresh.”

To “be renewed” means to be made new; and to make people new is the work of the washing alone. For it is said, “Your youth will be renewed like the eagle’s” (Psalm 103, verse 5). But it is the work of repentance, when those who have been made new have afterward grown old through sins, to set them free from this old age and make them strong. To bring them back to that former brightness, however, is not possible, for there it was all grace.

“Crucifying the Son of God afresh for themselves,” he says, “and putting him to open shame.” What he means is this. Baptism is a cross, and “our old self was crucified with him” (Romans 6, verse 6), for we were “made conformed to the likeness of his death” (Romans 6, verse 5; Philippians 3, verse 10), and again, “We were buried with him, then, through baptism into death” (Romans 6, verse 4). So it is not possible for Christ to be crucified a second time, for that is to “put him to open shame.” For if “death no longer has dominion over him” (Romans 6, verse 9), if he rose again, rising above death by his resurrection, if by dying he wrestled with death and overcame it — and then he is crucified again, all those things become a fable and a mockery. So whoever baptizes a second time crucifies him again. [i]

But what is “crucifying afresh”? It is crucifying over again. As Christ died on the cross, so do we in baptism — not in the flesh, but to sin. See, there are two deaths. He died in the flesh; in our case the old self was buried and the new self arose, made conformed to the likeness of his death. So if one must be baptized again, then this same Christ must die again. For baptism is nothing else than the putting to death of the one baptized, and his rising again.

And he put it well: “crucifying afresh for themselves.” For whoever forgets the earlier grace and orders his own life carelessly acts in every way as if there were another baptism. So we must take care, and make ourselves secure.

What does “having tasted the heavenly gift” mean? It means the forgiveness of sins. For this is God’s alone to give, and the grace is a grace given once for all. “What then? Shall we continue in sin, so that grace may abound? Far from it!” (Romans 6, verses 1 and 2). If we were always going to be saved by grace, we would never be good. When there is only one grace and we are still so lazy, would we stop sinning if we knew our sins could be washed away again? For my part, I think not.

Here he shows that the gifts are many. To explain it, he says: You were counted worthy of such great forgiveness. Think of the one who was sitting in darkness, who was at enmity, at open war, estranged, hated by God, lost. He has suddenly been enlightened and counted worthy of the Spirit, of the heavenly gift, of adoption as a son, of the kingdom of heaven, of those other good things, the mysteries beyond words. And if he does not become better even so — he who deserved destruction, yet obtained salvation and honor as though he had accomplished great things — how could he be baptized again?

So he said the thing was impossible on two grounds, and he put the stronger one last. First, the one who has been counted worthy of such blessings and has betrayed everything granted to him is not worthy to be renewed again. Second, it is not possible for Christ to be crucified afresh, for this is to “put him to open shame.” So there is no second washing; there is not. And if there is, there is also a third and a fourth, for the earlier one is constantly canceled by the later, and that one in turn by another, and so on without end.

“And have tasted,” he says, “the good word of God” — and he does not unfold what it is — “and the powers of the age to come.” For to live like angels and have no need of earthly things, and to know that this is the way we are brought into the enjoyment of the ages to come — this we may learn through the Spirit, and so enter those sacred inner chambers.

What are “the powers of the age to come”? Eternal life, the angels’ way of life. Of these we have already received the down payment from the Spirit through our faith. So tell me: if you had been brought into a palace and entrusted with everything in it, and then had betrayed it all, would you have been entrusted with it again?

“What then? Is there no repentance?” There is repentance, but there is no second baptism. Repentance there is, and it has great power. If he is willing, it can set free from the burden of his sins even one who has been plunged deep in many sins, and it can bring into safety one who is in danger, even if he has come to the very depth of wickedness. This is clear from many passages. “Does not one who falls get up again,” it says, “or one who turns away not turn back?” (Jeremiah 8, verse 4). It is possible, if we are willing, for Christ to be formed in us again. Listen to Paul saying, “My little children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you” (Galatians 4, verse 19). Only let us take hold of repentance. [j]

See God’s love for humankind! On every ground we ought to have been punished from the first. We received the natural law and enjoyed countless blessings, yet we did not acknowledge our Master, and we lived an unclean life. Yet he not only did not punish us, but even made us sharers in countless blessings, just as if we had accomplished great things. Again we fell away, and even so he does not punish us, but has given the medicine of repentance, which is enough to put away and blot out all our sins — if only we knew the nature of the medicine and how we ought to apply it.

What, then, is the medicine of repentance, and what is it made of? First, of condemning our own sins. For it is said, “I did not hide my wrongdoing” (Psalm 32, verse 5), and again, “I will confess my lawlessness against myself to the Lord, and you forgave the wrongdoing of my heart.” And, “Tell your sins first, so that you may be shown to be in the right” (Isaiah 43, verse 26). And, “A righteous man accuses himself at the start of his speech” (Proverbs 18, verse 17).

Second, of great humility. For it is like a golden chain: if one takes hold of the first link, all the rest will follow. If you confess your sin as one ought to confess, the soul is humbled, for conscience, turning it back on itself, brings it into subjection.

Other things too must be added to humility, if it is the kind blessed David knew when he said, “A broken and crushed heart God will not despise” (Psalm 51, verse 17). What is broken does not rise up and does not strike out, but is ready to be mistreated and does not rise up itself. Such is a crushed heart: even if it is insulted, even if it is badly treated, it stays quiet and is not eager for revenge.

And after humility there is need of intense prayers, of many tears, tears by day and tears by night. For he says, “Every night I will wash my bed; I will drench my couch with my tears. I am weary with my groaning” (Psalm 6, verse 6). And again, “For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mixed my drink with weeping” (Psalm 102, verse 9).

And after prayer as intense as this, there is need of much almsgiving, for this above all gives strength to the medicine of repentance. Among the physicians’ remedies there is a medicine made up of many herbs, but one of them is the essential one. So too with repentance: this is the essential herb — indeed, it can be everything. Listen to what the divine Scripture says: “Give alms, and all things will be clean” (Luke 11, verse 41). And again, “By almsgiving and acts of faithfulness sins are purged away” (Proverbs 16, verse 6). And, “Water will put out a blazing fire, and alms will do away with great sins” (Sirach 3, verse 30).

Next, not being angry with anyone, not holding a grudge, forgiving everyone all their offenses. For it is said, “A man holds on to anger against another man, and yet seeks healing from the Lord” (Sirach 28, verse 3). “Forgive, so that you may be forgiven” (Mark 11, verse 25).

Also, turning our brothers and sisters back from their wandering. For it is said, “Go and turn your brothers and sisters back, so that your sins may be forgiven you.” And keeping close to the priests: “And if,” it is said, “a man has committed sins, they will be forgiven him” (James 5, verse 15). Standing up in defense of those who are wronged. Not holding on to anger. Bearing all things gently.

Now then: before you learned that our sins can be washed away by repentance, were you not in anguish because there is no second washing, and did you not despair of yourselves? But now that we have learned how repentance and forgiveness are carried through to success, and that we will be able to escape entirely if we are willing to use it rightly, what pardon can we possibly get if we do not even begin to think about our sins? For if this were done, everything would be accomplished. [o]

Just as the person who goes through the door is inside, so the one who counts up his own evils will certainly come to have them healed. But if he says, “I am a sinner,” without counting them up one by one and saying, “I have committed this sin and this one,” he will never stop. He will be confessing all the time, but never caring in earnest about putting things right. If he has made a beginning, all the rest will certainly follow, if only he has shown a beginning on one point; for in every case the beginning and the first steps are the hard part. So let us lay this as a foundation, and everything will be smooth and easy.

So I beg you, let us begin: one by making his prayers intense, another by constant weeping, another with a downcast face. Not even this, small as it is, is without profit. For it is said, “I saw that he was grieved and went about downcast, and I healed his ways” (Isaiah 57, verses 17 and 18).

But let all of us humble our own souls by almsgiving and by forgiving our neighbors their offenses, by not remembering injuries and not taking revenge. If we keep reflecting on our sins, nothing outside us can make us proud — not wealth, not power, not authority, not honor. Even if we were sitting in the imperial chariot itself, we would groan bitterly. For blessed David too was a king, and yet he said, “Every night I will wash my bed,” and the rest of that verse (Psalm 6, verse 6). The purple robe and the diadem did him no harm at all; he was not puffed up. For he knew he was a man, and since his heart had been crushed, he went about mourning.

For what are all human things? Ashes and dust, spray blown before the wind, smoke and a shadow, a leaf driven here and there, a flower, a dream, a story, a fable, wind and air puffed out for nothing and wasting away, a feather that cannot stay put, a stream flowing past — or anything that is more nothing than these. [p]

Tell me, what do you consider great? What rank do you think is great? That of consul? Most people think there is no higher rank than that. Yet the man who is not consul is not one bit worse off than the man who is in such splendor and so greatly admired. Both are of the same rank; both alike, after a little while, are no more. When was he made consul? For how long? Tell me — for two days? Why, this happens even in dreams.

“But that is only a dream.” And what is this? Tell me: is what happens by day not a dream, just because it happens by day? Why do we not rather call these things a dream? For just as dreams are shown to be nothing when the day comes, so these things too are shown to be nothing when the night comes. Night and day have each received an equal share of time and have divided all duration equally between them. So just as in the day a person takes no joy in what happened at night, so in the night he cannot reap the fruit of what is done in the day. You have been made consul? So was I, in the night — only I was in the night and you in the day. And what of it? Even so you have no advantage over me, except perhaps that people say, “So-and-so is consul,” and the pleasure that comes from the words gives him the edge.

I mean something like this — I will say it more plainly. If I say, “So-and-so is consul,” and give him the title, is it not gone as soon as it is spoken? So too with the things themselves: no sooner does the consul appear than he is no more. But suppose he is consul for a year, or two years, or three or four. Where are those who were consul ten times? Nowhere.

But Paul is not like that. He was, and he lives on forever. He did not live one day, or two, or ten, or twenty, or thirty — or ten or twenty or thirty years — and then die. The four hundredth year has now passed, and still he is famous, far more famous than when he was alive. And these things are on earth; but the glory of the saints in heaven — what words could set it out?

So I beg you, let us seek this glory; let us pursue it so that we may attain it, for this is the true glory. From now on let us stand apart from the things of this life, so that we may find grace and mercy in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honor and worship, now and always, and forever and ever. Amen.