Homily 10 — Hebrews 6, verses 7 to 12

“For the land that drinks in the rain that often falls on it, and brings forth plants fit for those by whom it is farmed, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and briars, it is rejected and close to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.” [a]

Let us hear the words of God with fear — with fear and much trembling. For it is said, “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice in him with trembling” (Psalm 2, verse 11). But if even our joy and our gladness must be “with trembling,” what punishment do we not deserve if we do not listen with dread to what is said, when the things spoken, as now, are themselves fearful?

He had said that “it is impossible for those who have fallen away” to be baptized a second time and to receive forgiveness through the washing, and he had shown how terrible their case is. Then he goes on: “For the land that drinks in the rain that often falls on it, and brings forth plants fit for those by whom it is farmed, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is rejected and close to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.”

Let us fear, then, beloved! This threat is not Paul’s; these words are not a man’s. They are the Holy Spirit’s, the words of Christ who speaks in him. Is there anyone, then, who is clear of these thorns? And even if we were clear, not even then ought we to be confident; we ought to fear and tremble that thorns might at some time spring up in us. But when we are “thorns and thistles” through and through, tell me, where does our confidence come from? Why are we growing slack? What is it that makes us so idle?

If “the one who thinks he stands” ought to fear “that he may fall” — for he says, “Let the one who thinks he stands take care that he does not fall” (First Corinthians 10, verse 12) — how anxious ought the one who has fallen to be, that he may get up again! Paul is afraid “that after preaching to others, he himself might somehow be disqualified” (First Corinthians 9, verse 27). If he, who had stood the test so well, is afraid that he may fail it, what pardon will we have, who have already failed it, if we have no fear, but practice our Christianity as a habit and for form’s sake?

So let us fear, beloved: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven” (Romans 1, verse 18). Let us fear, for it “is revealed” not only “against ungodliness” but “against all unrighteousness.” What does “against all unrighteousness” mean? Against all of it, both small and great.

In this passage he hints at God’s love for humankind, and he calls the teaching of the good news “rain.” What he said above — “when by this time you ought to be teachers” (Hebrews 5, verse 12) — he says here too. In fact, in many places Scripture calls the teaching “rain.” For it says, “I will command the clouds to rain no rain on it” (Isaiah 5, verse 6), speaking of “the vineyard.” This is the same thing that in another place it calls “a famine of bread and a thirst for water” (Amos 8, verse 11). And again: “The river of God is full of water” (Psalm 65, verse 9). [c]

“For land,” he says, “that drinks in the rain that often falls on it.” Here he shows that they had received the word and drunk it in, and had enjoyed it often too, and even so they gained nothing by it. For he means: If you had not been farmed, if you had had no rain, the evil would not have been so great. For it is said, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin” (John 15, verse 22). But if you have often drunk and received nourishment, why have you brought forth other things instead of fruit? For it is said, “I waited for it to bring forth grapes, and it brought forth thorns” (Isaiah 5, verse 2).

You see that everywhere Scripture calls sins “thorns.” For David too says, “I was turned to mourning when a thorn was fixed in me” (Psalm 32, verse 4, as the Greek Old Testament reads it). For sin does not simply come upon us; it is fixed in. And even if only a little of it stays in, even if we do not take it out entirely, that little by itself causes pain just the same, as a thorn does. And why do I say “that little by itself”? Even after it has been taken out, it leaves the pain of the wound there for a long time, and much care and treatment are needed for us to be completely free of it. For it is not enough just to remove the sin; the wounded place must be healed as well.

But I am afraid that what is said here applies to us more than to anyone else.

“For the land,” he says, “that drinks in the rain that often falls on it.” We are always drinking, always hearing, but “when the sun has risen” (Matthew 13, verse 6) we lose our moisture at once, and so we bring forth thorns. What, then, are the thorns? Let us hear Christ saying that “the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful” (Matthew 13, verse 22).

“For the land that drinks in the rain that often falls on it,” he says, “and brings forth fitting plants.” For nothing is so fitting as a pure life, nothing so suitable as the best way of living, nothing so fitting as virtue. [e]

“And brings forth,” he says, “plants fit for those by whom it is farmed, receives a blessing from God.” Here he says that God is the cause of all things, and strikes a blow at the pagans, who credited the power of the earth with producing the crops. For he means that it is not the farmer’s hands that rouse the earth to bear fruit, but the command that comes from God. That is why he says, “receives a blessing from God.”

And notice how, when he speaks of the thorns, he did not say “bringing forth thorns,” and did not use this word, which describes what is useful. What did he say instead? “Bearing thorns” — as if one were to say “forcing out,” “throwing out.”

“Rejected,” he says, “and close to being cursed.” Oh, what great comfort there is in this phrase! For he said “close to being cursed,” not “a curse.” Now whoever has not yet fallen under a curse, but has only come near it, may also come to be far from it.

And it was not only by this that he encouraged them, but also by what follows. For he did not say, “rejected and close to being cursed, which will be burned.” What, then? “Whose end is to be burned” — if it stays as it is to the end, he means. So if we cut out the thorns and burn them, we will be able to enjoy those countless good things, to become approved, and to share in the blessing.

And it was with good reason that he called sin “a thistle,” saying, “the land that bears thorns and thistles.” For whichever side you take hold of it from, it wounds and stings, and it is unpleasant even to look at.

So, having rebuked them enough, and alarmed and wounded them, he now heals them in turn, so as not to cast them down too far and make them slack. For whoever strikes someone who is “sluggish” makes him more sluggish. So he neither flatters them the whole way through, in case he should make them slack, nor wounds them the whole way through. He puts in a little to wound them, and then applies a great deal to heal them in what follows. [g]

For what does he say? We are not saying these things because we have condemned you, or because we think you are full of thorns, but because we fear that this might happen. It is better to frighten you with words, so that you will not suffer the reality. And this is especially a mark of Paul’s wisdom. Moreover, he did not say, “We think,” or “We guess,” or “We expect,” or “We hope.” What, then? “But, beloved, we are persuaded of better things concerning you, things that go with salvation, even though we speak this way” (verse 9).

He used this word in writing to the Galatians as well: “I am persuaded about you in the Lord that you will not think otherwise” (Galatians 5, verse 10). In that case, since they deserved heavy condemnation and he could not praise them from things as they were, he does it from the things to come. “That you will not think otherwise,” he says: he did not say “you are,” but “you will not think otherwise.” Here, though, he encourages them from things as they are: “We are persuaded of better things concerning you, beloved, things that go with salvation, even though we speak this way.” And since he could not say very much from the present, he strengthens his comfort from the past, and says (verse 10): “For God is not unjust, so as to forget your work and the love you have shown toward his name, in having served the saints and serving them still.”

Oh, how he restored their spirits here, and gave them fresh strength, by reminding them of what they had done before, and bringing them to the point where they could not suppose that God had forgotten! For whoever is not fully assured of his hope, and says that God is unjust, cannot help sinning. So he compelled them by every means to look forward to the things to come. For someone who despairs of the present and has given up making an effort may be restored by the prospect of the future. As he himself also said when writing to the Galatians, “You were running well” (Galatians 5, verse 7), and again, “Have you suffered so many things in vain? If indeed it was in vain” (Galatians 3, verse 4).

And just as in this place he puts praise together with reproof, saying, “when by this time you ought to be teachers” (Hebrews 5, verse 12), so there too: “I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away” (Galatians 1, verse 6). Together with the reproof comes the praise, for we are amazed when great things fail. You see that praise is hidden under the accusation and the blame. Nor does he say this about himself only, but about everyone. For he did not say, “I am persuaded,” but “we are persuaded of better things concerning you” — good things, he means. He says this with reference either to their conduct or to their reward. Next, having said above that it is “rejected and close to being cursed,” and that it is “to be burned,” he says, We are not saying this of you at all: “For God is not unjust, so as to forget your work and love” (verse 10).

Why, then, did we say these things? “But we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness toward the full assurance of hope to the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (verses 11 and 12). [h]

“We desire,” he says. That is, we do not simply work for this, or wish it only so far as words go. What, then? “We desire” that you hold fast to virtue — not, he means, because we condemn your past conduct, but because we fear for the future. And he did not say, “not because we condemn your past conduct, but your present; for you have lost heart, you have become too careless.” But see how gently he hinted at it, without wounding them. For what does he say? “But we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to the end.” This is the admirable thing about Paul’s wisdom: he does not show openly that they had given up, that they had grown careless. For when he says, “We desire each one of you,” it is as if one were to say: I want you to be always in earnest, and to be now and in time to come just what you were before. This made his reproof gentler and easier to accept. And he did not say, “I will it,” which would have expressed a teacher’s authority, but what expresses a father’s affection and is more than willing: “we desire.” He all but says, Forgive us, even if what we say is unpleasant.

“We desire each one of you to show the same earnestness toward the full assurance of your hope to the end.” Hope, he means, carries us through; it picks us up again. Do not grow weary, do not despair, or your hope will be in vain. For whoever does good also hopes for good, and never despairs of himself.

“So that you will not become sluggish.” Again he says “become” — and yet he said above, “since you have become sluggish in hearing” (Hebrews 5, verse 11). But notice how he limited the sluggishness to their hearing. And here he hints at the very same thing: he says this instead of “so that you will not stay in it.” But again he leads them on to the time to come, for which they were not yet answerable, saying in effect, “so that you will not become too sluggish”; for we cannot be answerable for what has not yet come. Someone who is urged to be in earnest about the present, as though he were careless, will perhaps become even more sluggish; but someone who is urged with a view to the future will not.

“We desire,” he says, “each one of you.” Great is his affection for them. He cares equally for great and small. More than that, he knows them all and overlooks no one, but shows the same tender care for each and values all alike. That is also why he was the better able to persuade them to accept what was unpleasant in his words.

“So that you will not be sluggish,” he says. For just as idleness harms the body, so idleness in doing good makes the soul slacker and weaker.

“But imitators,” he says, “of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” Who these are he tells afterward. Earlier he had said, “Imitate your own former good deeds.” Then, in case they should say, “What then?”, he leads them back to the patriarch. He set before them examples of good deeds from their own history, but examples of feeling forsaken from the patriarch, so that they would not suppose they were overlooked and forsaken as worth nothing, but would know that it is the lot of the very noblest men to make the journey of life through trials, and that God has dealt in this way with great and admirable men. [i]

Now we ought, he says, to bear all things with patience, for this too is believing. If he says that he gives, and you receive at once, how have you believed at all? “In that case it is no longer a matter of your faith, but of me, the Giver. But if I say that I give, and I give after a hundred years, and you have not despaired, then you have counted me worthy of belief; then you have the right opinion about me.” You see that unbelief often comes not only from a lack of hope, but also from faintheartedness and a lack of patience, and not from condemning the one who made the promise.

“For God,” he says, “is not unjust, so as to forget your love” and the zeal “which you have shown toward his name, in having served the saints and serving them still.” He bears witness to great things about them: not deeds only, but deeds done with eagerness, as he also says in another place: “And not only this, but they also gave themselves to the Lord and to us” (Second Corinthians 8, verse 5).

“Which you have shown,” he says, “toward his name, in having served the saints and serving them still.” See how he soothes them again by adding “and serving them still.” Even now, he says, you are serving. And he lifts them up by showing that what they did, they did not for the saints but for God. “Which you have shown,” he says; and he did not say “to the saints” but “toward God,” for that is what “toward his name” means. It is for his name’s sake, he means, that you have done it all. So he who enjoys such great zeal and love from you will never despise you or forget you.

Hearing these things, let us, I beg you, “serve the saints.” For every believer is a saint, in that he is a believer. Even if he is someone living in the world, he is a saint. “For,” he says, “the unbelieving husband is made holy by his wife, and the unbelieving wife by her husband” (First Corinthians 7, verse 14). See how faith makes people saints. So if we see even someone living in the world in misfortune, let us stretch out a hand to him. Let us not be eager only for those who live in the mountains. They are indeed saints, both in their way of life and in their faith; but these others are saints by their faith, and many of them by their way of life too. Let us not go in to visit a monk we see thrown into prison, and then refuse to go in when it is someone living in the world. He too is a saint and a brother. [j]

But you say: “What if he is unclean and defiled?” Listen to Christ saying, “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged” (Matthew 7, verse 1). Act for God’s sake. Why, what am I saying? Even if we see a pagan in misfortune, we ought to show him kindness — and every human being without exception who is in misfortune — and much more a believer who lives in the world. Listen to Paul saying, “Do good to all, but especially to those who belong to the household of faith” (Galatians 6, verse 10).

But I do not know where this notion came in, or how this custom got the upper hand. For whoever looks only for those who live alone, and is willing to do good to them alone, while with everyone else he pries with curiosity and says, “Unless he is worthy, unless he is righteous, unless he works miracles, I will not stretch out a hand” — that man has taken away the greater part of almsgiving, and in time he will destroy the thing itself as well. And yet almsgiving is what is shown to sinners, to the guilty. For this is almsgiving: pitying not those who have done well, but those who have done wrong.

And so that you may understand this, listen to the parable. “A certain man,” it says, “went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers” (Luke 10, verse 30, and the verses that follow). When they had beaten him, they left him by the roadside, badly bruised. A certain Levite came, and when he saw him he passed by. A priest came, and when he saw him he hurried past. A certain Samaritan came, and took great care of him. For he “bandaged his wounds” (Luke 10, verse 34), poured oil on them, set him on his donkey, “brought him to the inn, and said to the innkeeper, Take care of him” (Luke 10, verse 35). And notice his great generosity: “And I,” he says, “will give you whatever you spend.” Who, then, is his neighbor? [l]

“The one,” it says, “who showed mercy to him. Go, then,” he says, “and do the same yourself” (Luke 10, verse 37). And see what a parable he told. He did not say that a Jew did this for a Samaritan, but that a Samaritan showed all that generosity. Having heard these things, then, let us not care only for “those who belong to the household of faith” (Galatians 6, verse 10) and neglect the rest.

So you too, if you see anyone in trouble, do not pry into anything further. His being in trouble is itself a just claim on your help. For if, when you see a donkey choking, you lift it up and do not pry into whose it is, much more ought we not to pry into whose a man is. He is God’s, whether he is a pagan or a Jew; for even if he is an unbeliever, he still needs help. If it had been entrusted to you to inquire and to judge, you would have been right to speak this way; but as things are, his misfortune does not allow you to search into these matters. For if it is not right to pry even into people who are in good health, or to be a meddler in other people’s affairs, much less into those who are in trouble.

But looked at another way, what are we to say? Did you see him prospering and highly thought of, so that you could say that he is wicked and worthless? If you see him in trouble, do not say that he is wicked. When a man is held in high regard, we may fairly say such things; but when he is in disaster and needs help, it is not right to say that he is wicked. For this is cruelty, inhumanity and arrogance. Tell me, what was ever more wicked than the Jews? And yet, while God punished them — and justly, yes, very justly — he approved of those who had compassion on them, and punished those who rejoiced over them. For “they were not grieved,” it says, “at the affliction of Joseph” (Amos 6, verse 6). [m]

And again it says, “Ransom those who are about to be slain; do not spare” (Proverbs 24, verse 11). He did not say, “Pry into it and find out who he is” — and yet, for the most part, those who are led away to execution are wicked — for this above all is almsgiving. Whoever does good to a friend does not do it altogether for God’s sake; but whoever does good to a stranger acts purely for God’s sake. “Do not spare” your money; even if you must spend it all, still give.

But we, when we see people in extreme distress, lamenting, suffering things worse than ten thousand deaths, and often unjustly — we, I say, are sparing of our money and unsparing of our brothers and sisters. We take care of lifeless things and neglect the living soul. And yet Paul says, “In gentleness instruct those who oppose, if perhaps God may give them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him at his will” (Second Timothy 2, verses 25 and 26). “If perhaps,” he says. You see how full of patience the saying is.

Let us imitate him too, and despair of no one. For fishermen too, after casting many times, have caught nothing, and afterward, casting again, have gained everything. So we too expect that you will all at once show us ripe fruit. For the farmer too, after sowing, waits a day or two and is a long while expecting, and then all at once he sees the crops springing up on every side. This we expect will happen in your case too, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom, to the Father and also to the Holy Spirit, be glory, might and honor, now and always, and forever and ever. Amen.