Sermon 11: 1 Samuel 2:27-30 continued

Therefore let us humbly beseech God, etc.

In yesterday's sermon we began to show the reasons why God often reproaches men with his benefits toward them: namely because the greater part of men not only neglects to render due thanks and to praise and worship the giver, but especially because they abuse those very benefits and daily profane and pollute them. Does not such great ingratitude deserve that God should, as it were, appoint a day before his tribunal and prosecute those conscious of such great ingratitude? And what punishments do we think such despisers of God's great liberality deserve? I confess indeed that James says God gives generously and does not reproach anyone — meaning that he is far unlike men, who, if they have once been beneficent toward anyone, when asked again bear it poorly and repel those seeking a benefit again more harshly, as importunate and insufficiently grateful. But God is not like that, for he never grows weary of doing good, and his resources are never diminished by liberality or exhausted by munificence. For God is a perennial and perpetual fountain of all good things, who, pouring out his benefits liberally upon men, never by his own nature reproaches them — though sometimes he is driven to do so by the ingratitude and malice of men. For, as I have already touched upon, with what spirit do we receive, acknowledge, and proclaim God's benefits toward us? They mostly lie buried among us, so that he seems to have wasted his effort and his oil. But the offense committed by us in this respect is far graver: that whatever benefits we receive from God's generous hand, we turn to the contrary purpose, so that instead of the glory of God and the salvation of our neighbor — for which we ought to be zealous above all — we seize from them an occasion for exalting ourselves, for rising up against God, and for despising those to whom we were bound. Whenever God therefore complains that his benefits have been despised and rejected and reproaches our ingratitude, he plainly testifies that the malice and corruption of men is so great that they deserve to be swallowed up by the earth opening beneath them; and unless God kindly lifts them up, as it were, with his own hand and grants the grace of recognizing their sins, it is all over with them, because they always strive against God's will.

Here, moreover, the prophet reproaches the singular benefit God conferred on Eli — namely the priestly office, to which he had been called by a special favor of God. For, I ask, at what time did God join Aaron as a companion and colleague to his brother Moses, and thereafter set him over him — what was his condition? He was a captive in the house of Pharaoh, oppressed by wretched servitude, under the same law as the rest, who wandered about desolate like wretched sheep without a shepherd, unless God had shown some notable sign of his fatherly favor. Nothing, therefore, at that time commended Aaron to God; no dignity in him stood out above the rest. And this is indicated by the prophet in these words: Did I not plainly reveal myself to the house of your father, when in Egypt, in the house of Pharaoh — where he had not attained any primary dignity but was enduring harsh servitude? For this reason the whole region that the Israelites occupied is called by the name of a prison; Moses also calls it an iron furnace, because they endured harsh servitude in it from which no hope of escape appeared, and nothing but straitness on every side presented itself to their eyes. Behold how abject Aaron's condition was at that time — not only oppressed by wretched servitude, to which every kind of insult was added, but apparently given over to death itself and delivered to the will of Pharaoh, to be utterly consumed by him along with all the rest of the people. Therefore, by this circumstance of that time and condition, the grace and beneficence of God is made more illustrious: that he raised Aaron, recalled as it were from the very depths of hell, to so great a height of dignity, so that exercising the Lord's priesthood as a mediator between God and men, he might in some way prefigure the person of our Lord Jesus Christ and act as his legate and vicar on earth. How great, I ask, is this goodness and justice of God? And indeed if Eli had duly performed the duties of his office, he would not have incurred this reproach. For God pours out his gifts upon men with such goodness and liberality that he wills them to be perpetual, unless they show themselves unworthy of them. For Scripture teaches that he repents of his benefits, and not without reason. Therefore God is rightly indignant with Eli for not faithfully performing his office, and threatens him with disgrace and infamy because he valued his sons more than God himself. Moreover, we must observe what God professes about having revealed himself to Aaron's family and the tribe of Levi, because from this we learn that the more we are heaped with benefits from God, the closer God draws to us and binds us to himself, so that the greater his benefits toward us, the greater the gratitude and all obedience we should render to him, and we should hang entirely on his will. For, I ask, how shall we contemplate God, who is invisible in his incorporeal essence? Namely, because his glory shines forth in the excellence of this world, in that he reveals his justice, goodness, and power in it. But when he is also beneficent to individuals, and with generous hand heaps each one privately with gifts, then indeed he communicates himself to us more intimately and draws even closer to us. Moreover, we need not go far, as Paul says, to investigate this power of God; for we do not live by our own power but by God's. Therefore we experience sufficiently in ourselves what God is. Yet we also arrive at knowledge of him by certain other stages — for instance, when each person carefully considers what special gifts he has been enriched with by the Lord. Thus one who excels in strength of intellect and wisdom, one who abounds in earthly resources, one who has attained many honors — does he not have ample material for reflecting on God's goodness, from whose kindness so many and so great faculties have flowed, and for thinking how much he is bound to God? But these things are even much greater if one compares himself with brute animals, because the better the condition of men compared to them, the greater are God's benefits toward men, by which it is fitting that we should be more and more stirred up to the praises of God, since he has deemed us worthy of a far more excellent dignity than brute animals. Who, therefore, does not execrate as abominable the one who, heaped with the highest benefits and honors from God, was nevertheless ungrateful and neglected to proclaim God's liberality toward him — especially when he considers that God did not deal with him in the same way as with the rest: one man being deranged and insane, another stupid and dull and of no intellect at all, another of low and abject condition begging his bread, another born to disgrace and reproach, another living wretchedly in chains? Is not more than ungrateful the one who does not burst forth in praise of the kind Father who has deigned to come so near to him by his benefits and to communicate himself to him? And this is one way of approaching God, by which God reveals himself to us, displaying his munificence toward us, and joins himself to us so closely in preference to other creatures. But he communicates himself to us far more excellently when he testifies that he admits us into the number of his children — as is the case with the preaching of the gospel, in which he openly announces that he has become a Father to us in Christ. For this reason also the gospel is called the communion of Christ — by no means an empty one, but one whose power is so great that, grafted into his body, we become his members and have life in common with him; and just as he is one in the Father, so we become one in him. Therefore, since God's kindness toward us is so great, every effort must be made that we do not recoil far from him like wild beasts, but gently embrace the testimony of his power, love, justice, and uprightness. But we must not lightly pass over that circumstance we touched on regarding our condition, in which God deigns to seek us out as we lie wretchedly. For he does not love and raise up those who possess some dignity and strength, but the wretched and abject — indeed, those plunged into the very abyss of hell he seeks out and with kind hands draws them forth to be raised up to heaven. How great, then, I ask, is our disgrace if we are too slow in worshipping and glorifying him, when it is the will of him who calls and adopts us that we devote ourselves entirely to him and strive with all our might to promote his glory?

Let us pass to those words in which Aaron is said to have been called and chosen as priest, to go up to the altar of the Lord, and to burn incense to him, and to wear the ephod before him, and to receive a portion of the sacrifices. That was, as we said before, a distinguished dignity. For who appointed a mortal, no less a sinner than the rest, guilty before God's tribunal and one whom the earth bears unworthily, as a mediator between God and men, at whose prayers the just fury of God is as it were restrained? And who offered expiatory sacrifices for sins? Therefore the greater that dignity of Aaron was, the heavier the punishments that his successors, turning God's gifts to the contrary, brought upon themselves. Therefore it follows in our author that God had indeed spoken that the house of Aaron should minister in his presence forever — that is, that there would be a continuous succession of the priesthood — but now the Lord says thus: Far be this from me! But whoever shall honor me, I will glorify him; and whoever shall despise me shall be held in dishonor. From this it is first apparent that Eli and his whole family deserved to be stripped of so great a dignity and deprived of so great an honor. For does not God rightly and justly demand from men praise and glory for all his benefits toward us? Not indeed because he gains anything from our praise or needs it, but because it is right that we acknowledge the author of our benefits and proclaim his praises, which no one omits without guilt.

Therefore it is clear that Eli is rightly said here to have turned God's gifts to a contrary use and to have, as it were, trampled underfoot the very glory of God. For even if that was not his intention, still, it is the fault, not the intention, that must be attended to. For God always speaks the truth, and mortals who try to plead their case before him will never succeed if they wish. Therefore the one who did not duly observe the sacrifices but despised them is rightly said to have trampled them underfoot. And these things are indeed worthy of being carefully considered by us, lest we be found guilty before the Lord of the same contempt as Eli. But, alas, how easy the fall! For to say something about the spiritual worship of God as it is today and its rites — come, even if we gather in the church to pray, to make confession of faith, to receive the sacraments, yet if the doctrine does not carry weight among us but is treated like old wives' tales and falsehood, if we indeed beg God with prayers but everything is full of confusion and irreverence, if finally we receive the sacraments without fear of God and approach them without discrimination — if when infants are brought for baptism and the baptismal formula is read, we do not direct our minds to so great a mystery but either walk about in the very temple or chatter among ourselves — in short, if we do nothing except in a disorderly manner, is it not just the same as if we were trampling God and his worship underfoot? What else, then, awaits us but God's vengeance, before whose tribunal, being compelled to plead our case, we shall be struck dumb and, convicted of so great a crime — namely contempt of the divine majesty instead of its religious adoration — pay the deserved penalties? See, therefore, how greatly it concerns us to carefully weigh those words: that Eli honored his sons more than God himself.

And Eli could indeed have objected that his intention had been far different, and that he had never consented to such thefts, robberies, and fornications of his sons, but on the contrary had borne them gravely and with an offended spirit, and had not concealed from them the gravity of these crimes — that he had often rebuked and upbraided his sons about them, that he had declared to them that no place for pardon remained with God, that their sins were graver than if they had inflicted the most atrocious injuries on all the rest of created things in the whole world (for the injury had been done to God himself by them). Does not Eli seem to have performed his duty and exercised his paternal authority admirably? Was not that a sharp and severe rebuke? Indeed it was a rebuke and censure, but it was feeble — being done in a perfunctory manner. For the evil creeps on and grows daily more atrocious, so that it should be called a kind of mockery of the divine majesty rather than a serious rebuke. This is why God threatens to cover with disgrace and ignominy those by whom he is despised.

From this, then, we must learn that if, for the sake of a neighbor or friend whom we are eager to spare, or to avoid giving offense to this or that person, we allow God's glory to be injured, we sin no less than if we were pulling God down from his throne and raising mortals up to reign in his place. Nor will it avail us to deny anything; for the Lord sits as judge and arbiter. Therefore every effort must be made that God's name may be held in esteem among all, that we value his justice as highly as is fitting, that we obey no mortal who rises up against God, but cut off early every occasion of evil, diligently champion God's cause, and by no means allow his commandments to be violated. And let we not connive at wrongs where God's majesty is injured, lest we are found guilty of injustice before God's tribunal by neglect.

Let people of every rank examine themselves by this standard. You fathers, to whom children have been granted by God's kindness — take care that you do not give them loose reins, that you do not tolerate their living too wantonly, and that you do not transform them into idols. Be afraid lest God's majesty come into contempt through your indulgence and be trampled underfoot, as it were. For it will happen that divine vengeance will at last swallow up parents together with their children, whom parental indulgence has led into these snares. Let the same be said concerning magistrates and all those whom God has set over others. And conversely, you peoples, to whom God has granted the freedom to elect your magistrates — take care that by your votes you do not elevate to so great a height of dignity profane men, impious persons, or shameless scoundrels, lest you sin against God's majesty and strip it of its due honor.

Finally, to sum up this matter briefly: we must carefully guard against detracting even the slightest from God's glory, yielding to the favor and goodwill of men and their sins, unless perhaps we are striving to raise up vile mortals and the most worthless worms to the very throne of God himself.

Moreover, at first glance this passage seems to involve a contradiction, with God saying that he established the house of Aaron to minister to him forever, and then saying: Far be it from me. For if you say that God went back on his former agreement because it was conditional, you will have detracted just as much from his providence. But the resolution of this knot is easy, if only we attend to the phraseology of the Scriptures. First of all, let this be a true and immovable principle: that God never changes, and is never led by regret, as mortals are, who, often ignorant of the future, contract rashly and, at length recognizing their fickleness to their own harm, are forced to feel regret. But nothing of the sort happens to God, for whom all things are present, so that what he has once decreed must stand. Yet nothing prevents God from accommodating himself to our capacity, having promised this or that, and transforming himself, as it were, into another form. For what mortal could grasp the majesty of the divine utterances if God himself were to address us, a majesty which not even the angels themselves can bear? Therefore he lowers himself to accommodate his speech to our capacity. This, far from appearing strange, should rather make us marvel at his goodness whenever we hear him babbling, as it were, like a mother with an infant. Therefore some of God's promises are conditional, while others — namely those which concern our salvation — rest solely on God's mercy. For Paul declares that we are acceptable to God so that we may have the assurance of our salvation, which he teaches does not consist in the law. For God indeed promised eternal life to the one who fulfills the law; but alas, who will attain salvation in the law, which a thousand times convicts us of transgression, with the added threat: If anyone fails in one of the least commandments, he is a transgressor of the whole law? Therefore, Paul says, we must ascend to the gratuitous goodness of God, which he revealed in Christ his Son — the sole remedy for our diseases and weaknesses. Although our salvation rests solely on God's gratuitous goodness, yet God often promises many things to us with a condition. Therefore we must hold that God is not changeable when he strips an ungrateful man of his gifts, but that he is revealing his judgments. he is revealing his judgments. For God tests men who have been adorned with his benefits to see what sort of people they are; and those convicted of an ungrateful spirit he afflicts with shame and disgrace. Namely, those who defile God's benefits with their vices deserve the gravest punishments and bring them upon themselves, because — treating God as if in mockery — they are worthy to be in turn cast down and exposed as a laughingstock to all created things. This is the meaning of those words in which the Lord says that he had spoken to the house of Aaron that it should minister in his presence forever, but that now he is far from this intention; but whoever shall honor him, the same shall be glorified by him, and on the contrary whoever shall despise him shall be held in dishonor. For God indicates that he deemed the family of Aaron worthy of the priestly honor on this condition: that they should perform their office and religiously administer the worship of God. And those today who occupy the chief seats in the church should know that they are addressed with these same words — namely, that they have been called by the Lord to so great a dignity on the condition that a continuous course of life should correspond to their calling. For they do not satisfy their duty by the preaching of the word alone, unless uprightness of life and character is added, by which they set a good example for their neighbors and commend the word they proclaim by the purity and integrity of their life; and they must take the greatest care that the word does not become cheap among their hearers through their own fault. But we see most of them carried away — some by ambition, others by greed for wealth and avarice, others by wantonness and a propensity toward every sort of wickedness — and trampling on God's benefits. What then must be done here? Namely, this divine saying must be recalled to its proper use: that those who have been sent to preach the word, if instead of the purity of the word and the good example and holiness of life they give themselves over to impurity and a flagitious life, should be regarded by us as putrid members — indeed, as enemies of God and of sound doctrine.

From this it is also evident how foolish is the ambition of the pope and his entire Roman clergy, who persuade themselves that they have been elevated to that dignity as if they could never be cast down from it. For thus you see in these times that papal tyranny — although so often convicted and proved to have corrupted true doctrine, to have introduced a diabolical one in place of the sound and whole, and to have deceived the wretched common people with mere illusions, to have perverted the true worship of God and transformed it into idolatry and falsehood, and infected it with poison — finally, when that mask they undeservedly boast of — the priesthood and apostleship — is stripped away, so that every occasion of exception may be cut off from them, they nonetheless take refuge in this asylum: that the apostolic succession cannot be taken from them, nor that dignity by which they are set over the whole church. But in truth they must be answered with what the Lord himself here professes: that the Lord elevated them to this dignity on no other condition than that on which he elevated the family of Aaron. For the Lord did not abdicate his authority when he established and ordained pastors; although he commanded them to be heard, he did not thereby wish anything to be detracted or diminished from his majesty and transferred to them. Can mortal little men — wretched and putrid corpses, rather — have come to such insanity that they want to be heard and worshipped in place of God? Rather, let us know that all must be brought to worship the one God through human ministry, and that our Lord Jesus Christ, the supreme pastor and prophet — such as God the Father appointed him, with a solemn oath of perpetuity — must be acknowledged and worshipped.

Since these things are so, who would patiently endure those who bear before them the titles of prelates and other distinguished names, or who enjoy other imaginary prerogatives, yet meanwhile are impious men, despisers of the divine majesty, profane persons, and manifest enemies of all order — so boldly and shamelessly, under the specious title of dignity, hindering the proper worship of God and exercising tyranny over souls, over which Christ alone has obtained royal power, and before whom every knee must bow? Who, I say, and what kind of stupor is it to preach of prelates that such great honor and such great reverence is owed to them that no one dare contradict them, even when they are turning heaven and earth upside down? Indeed, if they observe the condition prescribed here by the Lord, let them be above all exception; for the Lord's word must not be treated as old wives' tales. God himself speaks here: Far be it, he says. Therefore, when the wretched papist populace, deluded and superstitious, worships them, we easily observe that the simplicity by which they cover their obstinacy is one by which they blasphemously and contumaciously injure God's majesty, and like brute animals attack it. Why so? Because God himself has testified in these words: Far be it, he says, that those who despise me should stand before me forever. Let us then, taught by this example, learn that the greater the obedience and love of God required of us, the more he has bound us to himself by greater gifts. But something more must be added: we are bound by duty, if the Lord gives the opportunity, to resist with all our might such monstrous men rising up against his majesty, and to meet their scandals head-on, so that this divine sentence may stand: I will make ignominious those who despise me.

It remains for us to examine more closely the meaning of these words: I will glorify the one who honors me, but I will make ignominious the one who despises me — which contain a notable doctrine. For a certain blessing and happy outcome is promised by the Lord to each who directs their whole life to God's glory with a pure and sincere mind, aiming only at the goal set before them. Since these things give hope of divine favor and blessing, who would not run eagerly in this race and strive to attain the crown set before them? Yet yet it must not be supposed that the faithful who are zealous for God's glory will be entirely immune from the calumnies and hatred of the world. Our Lord Jesus Christ is set before all as the exemplar to behold, whom we see assailed by the calumnies of the wicked. And Paul himself warns (2 Corinthians 6:8) that the faithful must overcome many difficulties and pass through glory and dishonor, through reproaches and praises — which he himself, whom the world beheld living like an angel, nevertheless experienced, and taught us by his own example, having been assailed by every kind of insult and abuse from the Jews, to bear such things. And therefore let us know that this necessity presses upon the faithful: to prepare themselves for any kind of ignominy and abuse, especially when the promotion of God's glory and the proclamation of his word among men is at stake. For those whom fear and human frailty have seized are indeed unfit for this task. Therefore it is certain that a man who is devoted to serving God will stir up many enemies against himself, who interpret his words in the worst sense. But all such abuses, blasphemous words, and every kind of insult must be bravely borne and overcome with presence of mind, until, having completed the course of this life, we reach the goal of happiness. Nevertheless, let the faithful servants of God not lose confidence that God will be the avenger and defender of their good cause, even if they are assailed by every kind of calumny and abuse from the wicked; and that at last their righteousness shall emerge like the dawn.

The Lord therefore requires patience from his own, so that if they are unjustly burdened with calumnies by men, and sometimes overwhelmed and seem to have reached the very threshold of death — with storms and tempests raging on every side and no hope shining upon them from anywhere — yet the dawn will at last arise and scatter all those clouds. God himself, namely, will be present as the liberator, as if from a machine, and will reveal his grace and mercy to us, provided we fix all our hope on him and, mindful of his promises, patiently await their fulfillment. And while all other men are blind and plunged in the dense darkness of gloom, God's justice will appear to his faithful, and at last God's haters and despisers, overwhelmed with shame and disgrace, will receive the reward their deeds deserve.

Nor should we wonder that the despisers of God are so depraved with corruption, for they are indeed blind and pressed down, plunged in perpetual darkness and deep night. Therefore, even if they assail us — as if dragging us down with them into the abyss of darkness — with every kind of insult and mock the wretched and solicit us to deny God, let us not doubt that the heavenly light will at last shine forth in the greatest distresses, and the power of the divine promises will manifest itself — namely, that God will honor those by whom he has been sincerely worshipped and glorified throughout the whole course of their life.

Ought not these things to give us courage and raise us up to constancy and greatness of spirit against whatever threats and savage storms of the world, lest we fail from fear and cowardice, but rather complete our course undaunted against whatever attacks of the wicked — if there comes to mind this thought: that God will be present for us in his own time, and will demonstrate by the reality itself that this promise of his is not empty, that he will glorify those by whom he has been received with due honor and reverence? We often esteem highly the honors bestowed by men; how much more, then, does it befit us — who are to be heaped with divine honors by God himself — to be zealous for his glory and honor? Should not more than sufficient trust be placed in the Lord who promises, and the fulfillment of his promises be awaited with modesty and humility? Therefore, if it should happen that those who court popular favor and are captivated by such honors are exalted to the highest honors with great applause from all, let us possess our souls with patience and in silence, and making our separation from them, let us behold from afar their dignity that will shortly dissolve into smoke. For nothing surpasses the Lord; but let us know that whatever we obtain from his generous hand is our supreme good. And therefore honors are not to be sought from the world, for everything is full of ambition; and if we are once infected by it, there is no doubt that our life will contract a stain in the Lord's sight, and a greater condemnation is to be expected by us the more shameful the condition of our life.

But let us remember that honor is specifically promised to the worshippers of God on account of human weakness, lest — as if they were rejects — they lose heart, or, not yet sufficiently purged of human affections, they take it badly when they feel themselves oppressed — innocent and undeserving — by every kind of insult and injury. For he promises an eternal glory of dignity and honor, to be set against all those momentary insults that will quickly pass away. But to the promise there is also added a threat: that those who despise God will at last be afflicted with every disgrace and ignominy.

In order to perceive the force of this threat, we must briefly explain what it means to despise God. For otherwise we shall many times testify that contempt of God's majesty was never in our thoughts, and that we would rather have the earth swallow us than that anything be detracted from the divine glory, when in fact we are most guilty of despising God. Therefore this must be held: that we shall never be freed from this crime unless all our actions and thoughts are directed to the glory of God, which we should strive with all our strength to increase and amplify, and promote our salvation. Therefore, for example, if we dissimulate and tolerate evil deeds, or if we we foster offenses with our flatteries, is it not contempt of God and a kind of assault upon divine justice? Finally, we must apply ourselves to this care: to attend to the things in which the glory of God is situated — namely, that we tremble at his word, never speak of his divine majesty except honorably, esteem highly each of his works, flee to his help in affliction, give thanks for so many and so great benefits bestowed upon us, and at last worship his divinity with a pure and sincere mind. Behold what glory is owed to God: if anyone knowingly and willingly detracts even the smallest amount from it, it is certain that such a person exposes that same glory to the mockery and contempt of all, profanes God's promises, and it would be better for that person never to have been born, so long as he persists in this obstinacy. Therefore we must guard ourselves all the more diligently, the more gravely sin is committed here, lest we fall into that abominable crime of violating the divine majesty and injuring his glory. And indeed let men of the highest rank take careful notice here that a heavier judgment awaits them, the greater their dignity, unless they have striven to promote God's glory with all their strength. Therefore if kings and princes are zealous for their own glory and wish all things to be permitted to them, and do everything according to their own will and desire, and detract from God's glory so that they themselves may excel, if they make light of true religion, speak of God only perfunctorily, indulge superstitions, and are even carried away with blasphemous words against God, and boil over into every foul lust, and are polluted with fornications — if, in short, they are haters of what is right and just — it is certain that their fall and destruction are near, and that their glory will be turned to ruin and disgrace, and that their destruction will be all the more astonishing, the greater their dignity had been. But indeed if those whose honor was so great are dealt with so severely — so that neither honor, nor glory, nor dignity is spared — what will happen to those who, although they are lowly men of humble condition, nevertheless seem to wish to declare war against God's majesty? Therefore come, let us guard ourselves, devoting all our strength to God's glory and honor, and let us so apply ourselves to the glory of God's name and the propagation of justice, that he himself, recognizing us as his own, may so mark us with the tokens of his glory that he may be glorified more and more; and resisting all things contrary to his will, let us diligently take care that his name not be injured by insult. For indeed it is to be feared that if we permit by our indulgence homes and families to be infected with corruptions and pollutions, we shall at last be afflicted with deserved punishments, and, as God threatens, be cast far from his house. On the other hand, we may hope that even if we are the refuse of the world and are regarded as sweepings and rubbish, we shall nevertheless at last be claimed by the Lord for freedom and endowed with everlasting glory, and with such constancy that against whatever storms we may offer him the worship that is owed, undaunted. And this is the end of all the good things with which we are daily heaped by God: that seeking his glory, we may have new cause to proclaim and celebrate his praises with joy.

Let us therefore humbly, etc.

Let us therefore humbly beseech God.

In yesterday's sermon we began to show the reasons why God often reminds people of the benefits He has given them: namely, because the great majority of people not only neglect to give proper thanks and to praise and worship the Giver, but especially because they abuse those very gifts and daily profane and pollute them. Does not such ingratitude deserve that God should, as it were, bring a case before His own tribunal and prosecute those guilty of so great an offense? And what punishments do we think such despisers of God's generosity deserve? I acknowledge that James says God gives generously and without reproach — meaning He is nothing like people, who, if they have once done someone a favor and are asked again, respond poorly and brush away the one asking as an ungrateful nuisance. But God is not like that — He never grows weary of doing good, and His resources are never diminished by giving or exhausted by generosity. God is a perpetual and endless fountain of all good things, who pours out His blessings freely upon people and by His own nature never reproaches them — though sometimes He is driven to do so by people's ingratitude and malice. For, as I have already noted, how do we actually receive, acknowledge, and declare God's blessings toward us? Most of the time they lie buried among us, as though He had wasted His effort. But the offense we commit in this is far more serious: whatever benefits we receive from God's generous hand, we twist to a contrary purpose — so that instead of seeking God's glory and our neighbor's salvation, for which we ought to be zealous above all else, we use those gifts as an occasion for self-exaltation, for rising up against God, and for despising those to whom we were bound. When God therefore complains that His benefits have been despised and rejected and holds our ingratitude before us, He makes plainly clear that human malice and corruption is so great that people deserve to be swallowed up by the earth — and unless God kindly lifts them up, as it were, by His own hand and grants them the grace to recognize their sins, they are lost, because they always strive against His will.

Here the prophet specifically reminds Eli of the extraordinary benefit God had given him — namely the priestly office, to which he had been called by a special act of divine favor. Consider, I ask, what was Aaron's condition at the time God joined him to his brother Moses and then set him over him? He was a captive in the house of Pharaoh, crushed under wretched servitude, in the same condition as the rest — wandering like lost sheep without a shepherd, with no particular sign of God's fatherly favor distinguishing him. Nothing at that time commended Aaron to God; no dignity set him apart from the rest. This is what the prophet indicates with these words: 'Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father, when in Egypt, in the house of Pharaoh?' — where Aaron had no position of honor but was enduring harsh slavery. For this reason the whole region the Israelites occupied is called by the name of a prison; Moses also calls it an iron furnace, because they bore brutal servitude there with no visible hope of escape, and nothing but hardship and constraint pressed in on them from every side. See how low Aaron's condition was at that time — not only crushed by wretched slavery with every kind of insult added to it, but seemingly given over to death itself, delivered to Pharaoh's will to be destroyed along with all the rest of the people. Against the backdrop of that time and those circumstances, God's grace and goodness shines all the more brightly: that He raised Aaron, recalled as it were from the very depths of hell, to so great a height of dignity, so that exercising the Lord's priesthood as a mediator between God and people, he might in some way foreshadow the person of our Lord Jesus Christ and act as His representative on earth. How great, I ask, is this goodness of God? And indeed if Eli had faithfully carried out the duties of his office, he would not have incurred this rebuke. For God pours out His gifts upon people with such goodness and generosity that He intends them to be lasting — unless people prove themselves unworthy of them. Scripture teaches that He withdraws His blessings from those who abuse them, and not without reason. God is therefore rightly indignant with Eli for not faithfully performing his office, and He threatens him with disgrace and dishonor because he valued his sons above God Himself. We must also note what God says about having revealed Himself to Aaron's family and the tribe of Levi, because from this we learn that the more we are heaped with benefits from God, the closer He draws to us and binds us to Himself — so that the greater His gifts toward us, the greater the gratitude and obedience we owe Him, and the more completely we should depend on His will. For how else shall we contemplate God, who is invisible in His incorporeal essence? We do so because His glory shines forth in the excellence of the created world — He reveals His justice, goodness, and power in it. But when He is also generous to individuals and privately heaps each one with particular gifts, He communicates Himself to us even more intimately and draws still closer to us. As Paul says, we need not go far to investigate God's power — for we do not live by our own strength but by God's. We therefore discover what God is right within ourselves. Yet we also come to know Him by other steps — for instance, when each person carefully considers what particular gifts God has enriched him with. The person who excels in sharpness of mind and wisdom, the one who abounds in earthly resources, the one who has attained great honor — does he not have ample material for reflecting on God's goodness, from whose kindness so many remarkable gifts have flowed? And does he not have reason to think about how greatly he is indebted to God? These things are even more impressive when we compare ourselves to animals — for the better our condition compared to theirs, the greater are God's blessings toward us, and the more we ought to be stirred up in praise of God, who has considered us worthy of a far more excellent dignity than the animals. Who, then, would not condemn as abominable the person who, having received the highest gifts and honors from God, was nonetheless ungrateful and neglected to acknowledge God's generosity toward him — especially when he considers that God did not deal with him as He did with others: one man being born deranged or insane, another dull-witted and of little intellect, another in such low and abject circumstances that he must beg his bread, another born to disgrace and reproach, another living in misery and chains? Is not the person who does not burst forth in praise of the kind Father who has deigned to come so near to him through His gifts — is he not more than ungrateful? This is one way God approaches us — by displaying His generosity toward us, He reveals Himself to us and draws Himself closer to us than to any other creature. But He communicates Himself to us far more fully when He testifies that He welcomes us into the number of His children — as He does in the preaching of the gospel, in which He openly declares that He has become our Father in Christ. This is why the gospel is also called fellowship with Christ — not an empty fellowship, but one whose power is so great that, grafted into His body, we become His members and share life with Him; and just as He is one with the Father, so we become one with Him. Therefore, since God's kindness toward us is so great, every effort must be made not to recoil from Him like wild animals, but to gently embrace the testimony of His power, love, justice, and goodness. And we must not pass lightly over that detail we touched on — regarding the condition in which God deigns to seek us out. For He does not love and lift up those who already possess dignity and strength, but the wretched and lowly — indeed, He seeks out those plunged into the very depths of the abyss and with gentle hands draws them forth to be raised to heaven. How great, then, is our disgrace if we are too slow to worship and glorify Him — when the One who calls and adopts us wills that we devote ourselves entirely to Him and strive with all our strength to advance His glory?

Let us turn to those words in which Aaron is said to have been called and chosen as priest, to go up to the altar of the Lord, to burn incense to Him, to wear the ephod before Him, and to receive a portion of the sacrifices. That was, as we said before, a remarkable dignity. For who appointed a mortal — himself no less a sinner than the rest, guilty before God's tribunal, and one whom the earth bears only unworthily — as a mediator between God and people, whose prayers could restrain, as it were, God's just fury? Who was it who offered atoning sacrifices for sin? Therefore the greater Aaron's dignity was, the heavier the punishments his successors brought upon themselves by turning God's gifts to the opposite purpose. It follows in our text that God had indeed spoken that the house of Aaron should minister before Him forever — that is, that there would be a continuous succession in the priesthood — but now the Lord says: Far be this from Me! Whoever honors Me I will glorify; whoever despises Me will be held in dishonor. From this it is clear first of all that Eli and his whole family deserved to be stripped of so great a dignity and deprived of so great an honor. Does God not rightly and justly demand from people praise and glory for all His benefits toward us? Not because He gains anything from our praise or needs it, but because it is right that we acknowledge the author of our blessings and declare His praises — which no one omits without guilt.

It is therefore clear that Eli is rightly said here to have turned God's gifts to a contrary purpose and to have, as it were, trampled underfoot the very glory of God. Even if that was not his intention, it is the act, not the intention, that must be judged. For God always speaks the truth, and no mortal who tries to plead his case before Him will succeed if he wishes to. Therefore the one who did not duly observe the sacrifices but treated them with contempt is rightly said to have trampled them underfoot. These things deserve our careful consideration, lest we be found guilty before the Lord of the same contempt as Eli. But — how easy the fall! Even in the spiritual worship of God today and its forms: we may gather in the church to pray, to confess the faith, to receive the sacraments — yet if the Word carries no weight among us but is treated like old wives' tales and falsehood, if we pray but everything is full of confusion and irreverence, if we approach the sacraments without the fear of God and without discernment — if when infants are brought for baptism and the baptismal words are read, we are not attending to so great a mystery but wandering around the church or chatting among ourselves — if in short we do nothing with proper order and reverence — is it not the same as trampling God and His worship underfoot? What then awaits us but God's vengeance — before whose tribunal, compelled to give account, we will be struck dumb and, convicted of so great a crime — namely contempt of the divine majesty in the very place meant for reverent worship — pay the deserved penalties? See, therefore, how much it matters to carefully weigh those words: that Eli honored his sons more than God Himself.

Eli could indeed have argued that his intentions were very different — that he had never consented to his sons' thefts, robberies, and sexual immorality, but on the contrary had been deeply troubled by them, had not hidden from them the gravity of their crimes, had often rebuked and reproved them, had told them that no room for pardon remained with God, and that their sins were graver than if they had inflicted the worst possible injuries on all the rest of creation — for the injury had been done against God Himself. Does Eli not seem to have performed his duty and exercised his paternal authority admirably? Was that not a sharp and severe rebuke? It was a rebuke, yes — but a feeble one, done in a perfunctory manner. The evil kept growing and became daily more atrocious, to the point where it should be called a mockery of God's majesty rather than a genuine correction. This is why God threatened to cover with disgrace and dishonor those by whom He is despised.

From this we must learn that if, to spare a neighbor or friend, or to avoid offending this or that person, we allow God's glory to be injured, we sin no less than if we were pulling God from His throne and raising mortals up to reign in His place. It will do us no good to deny it — the Lord sits as judge and arbiter. We must therefore strive with every effort that God's name be held in honor among all, that we value His justice as highly as is fitting, that we obey no mortal who rises up against God, that we cut off every occasion of evil early, that we diligently champion God's cause, and that we never allow His commandments to be violated. We must not turn a blind eye when God's majesty is dishonored, lest we be found guilty of neglect before His tribunal.

Let people of every rank examine themselves by this standard. You fathers, to whom God in His kindness has given children — take care not to give them loose reins, not to tolerate their living too freely, and not to turn them into idols. Fear lest God's majesty come into contempt through your indulgence and be trampled underfoot. For it will come about that divine vengeance will at last swallow up parents together with the children whom parental indulgence led into these snares. The same applies to magistrates and all those whom God has placed over others. And conversely, you peoples, to whom God has granted the freedom to elect your leaders — take care that your votes do not raise profane, impious, or shameless men to positions of high authority, lest you sin against God's majesty and rob it of the honor it is due.

To sum the matter up briefly: we must be careful never to take even the slightest away from God's glory by yielding to the favor, goodwill, or sins of people — unless we are content to raise vile mortals and the most worthless creatures to God's own throne.

At first glance this passage may seem to contain a contradiction, with God saying that He established the house of Aaron to minister before Him forever, and then saying: Far be it from Me. If you argue that God reversed His earlier promise because it was conditional, you still seem to have diminished His providence. But the resolution of this difficulty is straightforward, if we pay attention to how Scripture speaks. Let this first be a firm and immovable principle: God never changes, and is never moved to regret as mortals are — who, often ignorant of what lies ahead, make rash commitments and, eventually recognizing their mistake, are forced to feel regret. Nothing of the sort happens with God, for whom all things are present, so that what He has once decreed must stand. Yet nothing prevents God from accommodating Himself to our capacity — having promised one thing or another, and as it were adapting the form of His communication. For what mortal could grasp the majesty of divine speech if God were to address us in His full majesty — a majesty not even angels can bear? He therefore lowers Himself to speak within our capacity. Far from finding this strange, we should marvel at His goodness whenever we hear Him speaking gently to us, like a mother babbling to an infant. Some of God's promises are therefore conditional, while others — those concerning our salvation — rest solely on God's mercy. For Paul declares that we are accepted by God so that we may have assurance of our salvation, which he teaches does not rest on the law. God did indeed promise eternal life to the one who perfectly fulfills the law — but who will attain salvation through the law, which convicts us of transgression a thousand times over, with the added warning: if anyone fails in even the least commandment, he is guilty of breaking the whole law? Therefore, Paul says, we must rise to the freely given goodness of God, which He revealed in Christ His Son — the only remedy for our weaknesses and failures. Although our salvation rests solely on God's freely given goodness, God often makes His promises to us with conditions. We must therefore hold that God is not changeable when He strips an ungrateful person of His gifts — He is revealing His judgments. For God tests those whom He has adorned with His blessings to see what kind of people they are; and those who prove ungrateful He afflicts with shame and disgrace. Those who defile God's gifts with their vices deserve the gravest punishments and bring them upon themselves — because in treating God as though in mockery, they deserve to be in turn cast down and made a spectacle to all creation. This is the meaning of those words in which the Lord says He had spoken to the house of Aaron that it should serve before Him forever, but that He has now turned away from this — and that whoever honors Him He will glorify, and whoever despises Him will be held in dishonor. God indicates that He considered the family of Aaron worthy of priestly honor on this condition: that they would carry out their office and faithfully administer God's worship. Those who today occupy positions of leadership in the church should know that these same words are addressed to them — namely, that they have been called by the Lord to so great a dignity on the condition that a consistent, faithful life should match their calling. For they do not fulfill their duty by preaching alone unless uprightness of life and character is added — setting a good example for their neighbors and commending the Word they preach by the purity and integrity of their lives — and they must take the greatest care that the Word does not become cheap among their hearers through their own fault. But we see most of them carried away — some by ambition, others by greed, others by immorality and every kind of wickedness — trampling underfoot the gifts God has entrusted to them. What must be done in such a case? This divine word must be applied to its proper use: those who have been sent to preach God's Word, if instead of doctrinal purity and holiness of life they give themselves over to impurity and a wicked life, should be regarded by us as diseased members — indeed, as enemies of God and of sound doctrine.

From this it is also evident how foolish is the ambition of the pope and his entire Roman clergy, who have persuaded themselves that they have been elevated to their dignity in such a way that they can never be removed from it. In these times we see that papal tyranny — though repeatedly exposed and proven to have corrupted true doctrine, introduced a diabolical teaching in place of sound and whole doctrine, deceived the ordinary people with mere illusions, perverted true worship and transformed it into idolatry and falsehood, and infected it with poison — when that mask they so undeservedly wear, the claim of priesthood and apostolic succession, is stripped away and every excuse cut off, they still take refuge in this claim: that apostolic succession cannot be taken from them, nor the dignity by which they claim authority over the whole church. But in truth they must be answered with what the Lord Himself declares here: that He elevated them to this dignity on no other condition than the one on which He elevated the family of Aaron. For the Lord did not give up His own authority when He established and ordained pastors; although He commanded them to be heard, He did not thereby wish anything to be transferred from His own majesty to theirs. Can mortal little men — wretched and decaying corpses, rather — have come to such madness that they want to be heard and worshipped in the place of God? Rather, let us know that through human ministry all people are to be brought to the worship of the one God — and that our Lord Jesus Christ, the supreme pastor and prophet, appointed by God the Father with a solemn oath of perpetuity, must be acknowledged and worshipped.

Since these things are so, who would patiently endure those who carry before them the titles of prelates and other distinguished names, or who enjoy other imaginary privileges, yet are in reality impious men, despisers of God's majesty, profane persons, and open enemies of all order — boldly and shamelessly using the pretense of dignity to hinder proper worship of God and to exercise tyranny over souls, over which Christ alone has obtained royal authority, before whom every knee must bow? Who, I ask, and what kind of stupidity is it, to claim that such great honor and reverence are owed to these men that no one dare contradict them — even when they are turning heaven and earth upside down? If they observe the condition prescribed by the Lord, let them be above all challenge; for the Lord's Word must not be treated as old wives' tales. God Himself speaks here: Far be it, He says. Therefore, when the wretched papist population — deluded and superstitious — worships them, we can easily see that the so-called simplicity by which they cover their stubbornness is in fact a blasphemous and defiant dishonoring of God's majesty, attacking it like brute animals. Why? Because God Himself has testified in these words: Far be it, He says, that those who despise Me should stand before Me forever. Let us then, taught by this example, learn that the greater the gifts by which God has bound us to Himself, the greater the obedience and love of God He requires of us. We must add something more: we are also bound by duty, when the Lord gives the opportunity, to resist with all our strength such monstrous people rising up against His majesty, and to confront their scandals head-on — so that this divine sentence may stand: I will make ignominious those who despise Me.

It remains for us to examine more closely the meaning of these words: I will glorify the one who honors Me, but I will make ignominious the one who despises Me — which contain a notable truth. A certain blessing and happy outcome is promised by the Lord to everyone who directs their whole life to God's glory with a pure and sincere mind, aiming only at the goal set before them. Since these words give hope of divine favor and blessing, who would not eagerly run in this race and strive to attain the crown set before them? Yet we must not suppose that the faithful who are zealous for God's glory will be entirely free from the slanders and hatred of the world. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself is set before all as the example to follow — and we see Him assailed by the slanders of the wicked. Paul himself warns in 2 Corinthians 6:8 that the faithful must navigate many difficulties and pass through glory and dishonor, through reproach and praise — which he himself experienced, though the world saw him living like an angel; yet he was assailed by every kind of insult and abuse from the Jews, and he taught us by his own example to bear such things. We must therefore know that this is the necessity pressing upon the faithful: to prepare themselves for any kind of disgrace and abuse, especially when promoting God's glory and proclaiming His Word among people. Those whom fear and human weakness have seized are simply unfit for this task. It is certain that a person devoted to serving God will stir up many enemies against himself, who will twist his every word for the worst. But all such abuses, blasphemous words, and every kind of insult must be bravely borne and overcome with a calm mind, until, having completed the course of this life, we reach our destination of blessing. Nevertheless, let the faithful servants of God not lose confidence that God will be the defender and avenger of their good cause — even if they are assailed by every kind of slander and abuse from the wicked — and that at last their righteousness will emerge like the dawn.

The Lord therefore requires patience from His own: so that if they are unjustly burdened with slanders by people, and are sometimes overwhelmed and seem to have reached the very edge of death — with storms raging on every side and no ray of hope visible anywhere — yet the dawn will at last arise and scatter all those clouds. God Himself will be present as the one who rescues, as if arriving at the critical moment, and will reveal His grace and mercy to us — provided we fix all our hope on Him and, mindful of His promises, patiently wait for their fulfillment. While all other people remain blind and sunk in deep gloom, God's justice will appear to His faithful — and at last God's enemies and despisers, overwhelmed with shame and disgrace, will receive the reward their deeds deserve.

We should not be surprised that those who despise God are so deeply corrupted — they are blind and weighed down, plunged in perpetual darkness and deep night. Therefore, even if they assail us — as though dragging us down with them into the abyss of darkness — with every kind of insult, mocking the lowly and tempting us to deny God, let us not doubt that the heavenly light will at last shine forth in the deepest distress. The power of the divine promises will then be made plain: that God will honor those who have sincerely worshipped and glorified Him throughout the whole course of their lives.

Should not these things give us courage and lift us to constancy and strength of heart against whatever threats and fierce storms the world brings — so that we do not fail from fear and cowardice, but rather complete our course undaunted against every attack of the wicked? For this thought should come to mind: God will be present for us in His own time, and will demonstrate by the reality itself that His promise is not empty — that He will glorify those who have received Him with due honor and reverence. We often place great value on honors given by people; how much more then should we — who are to be heaped with divine honor by God Himself — be zealous for His glory and honor? Should not more than sufficient trust be placed in the Lord who makes this promise, and should we not await the fulfillment of His promises with patience and humility? Therefore, if it should happen that those who court popular favor and crave human honors are lifted to the highest positions amid great applause from all — let us possess our souls with patience and composure, and keeping ourselves apart from them, let us observe from a distance their dignity that will shortly dissolve into smoke. For nothing surpasses the Lord — and let us know that whatever we receive from His generous hand is our supreme good. We must not seek honor from the world, for everything there is full of ambition; if we are once infected by it, our lives will contract a stain in the Lord's sight, and the more shameful our life becomes, the greater the condemnation to be expected.

But let us remember that honor is specifically promised to the worshippers of God because of human weakness — lest they lose heart as if they were cast off, or, not yet sufficiently freed from human desires, take it badly when they find themselves oppressed — innocent and undeserving — by every kind of insult and injury. For God promises an eternal glory and honor to be set against all those momentary insults that will quickly pass away. But to the promise there is also added a warning: that those who despise God will at last be afflicted with every disgrace and dishonor.

To understand the force of this warning, we must briefly explain what it means to despise God. Otherwise we will often insist that contempt of God's majesty was never in our thoughts, and that we would sooner be swallowed by the earth than let anything be taken from God's glory — when in fact we are most guilty of despising Him. This must therefore be firmly grasped: we will never be free of this guilt unless all our actions and thoughts are directed toward the glory of God, which we should strive with all our strength to promote and increase. For example, if we turn a blind eye to evil deeds, or if we encourage sins with our flattery — is that not contempt of God and a kind of assault upon divine justice? We must therefore apply ourselves to this: to attend to those things in which God's glory consists — namely, trembling at His Word, never speaking of His divine majesty except with honor, holding each of His works in high esteem, fleeing to His help in affliction, giving thanks for so many and such great blessings, and at last worshipping His divine majesty with a pure and sincere mind. This is the glory owed to God: if anyone knowingly and willingly withholds even the smallest part of it, that person exposes His glory to the mockery and contempt of all, profanes God's promises, and it would be better for that person never to have been born, so long as he persists in that obstinacy. We must therefore guard ourselves all the more carefully, the more seriously this sin is committed — lest we fall into the abominable crime of violating God's majesty and injuring His glory. And those in the highest positions of authority must take careful note that a heavier judgment awaits them the greater their dignity — unless they have striven with all their strength to promote God's glory. Therefore, if kings and princes are zealous only for their own glory, wanting everything on their own terms, doing all things according to their own will and desire, taking away from God's glory so that they themselves may shine — if they treat true religion lightly, speak of God only in passing, indulge superstitions, are even carried away into blasphemous words against God, overflow into every kind of shameless desire, are polluted with sexual immorality — if in short they are enemies of what is right and just — it is certain that their fall and destruction are near, and their glory will be turned to ruin and disgrace, and their destruction will be all the more astonishing the greater their dignity had been. And if those who held such great honor are dealt with so severely — sparing neither their honor, glory, nor dignity — what will happen to those who, though they are lowly people of humble condition, still seem to want to declare war against God's majesty? Therefore come — let us dedicate all our strength to God's glory and honor, and so apply ourselves to the glory of His name and the promotion of justice, that He, recognizing us as His own, may mark us with the signs of His glory and be glorified more and more through us. Let us resist everything contrary to His will, and carefully protect His name from insult. For it is to be feared that if we allow, through our indulgence, our homes and families to be infected with corruption and pollution, we will at last be struck with deserved punishments and, as God threatens, be cast far from His house. On the other hand, we may hope that even if we are the refuse of the world — regarded as sweepings and rubbish — the Lord will nevertheless at last claim us for freedom and endow us with everlasting glory, so that with unshakeable constancy, against whatever storms, we may offer Him the worship that is owed, without fear. And this is the purpose of all the good things with which God daily enriches us: that seeking His glory, we may always have new reason to declare and celebrate His praises with joy.

Let us therefore humbly beseech God.