The Sermons of Johannes Tauler · 11 of 124

First Sermon for the Vigil of the Epiphany

Take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel. — Matt li, 20.

If one reads the Holy Gospels a thousand times and preaches and meditates them as many, he will ever find some new truth unperceived before by any man. “Take the Child and His mother and go into the land of Israel, for they are dead that sought the Child’s life.” Dear children, as soon as some men are conscious of an inward striving toward a new life, they are rash and over eager. The newness of the Holy Spirit within them leads them to a sudden resolve to do great things for God. Meanwhile they have not considered whether their nature is such, or the store of grace in them is such as to make a success of what they are undertaking. Therefore, let every one look to the end before he embarks in such a work, considering his inner state and his outer surroundings carefully. Interiorly he should at once place himself in touch with God’s Spirit, so that every work begun may in Him and by Him be happily ended. Yet some start away instantly, begin with untried methods, venturing this or that scheme blindly; and hereby many injure themselves in soul and body. They build upon their own foundation both in things natural and spiritual. Often one thinks he is guided by God, while he is but following his natural bent.

Our dear St. Joseph, abiding in his exile with the Child and His mother, received the angel’s message that Herod was dead and that they were to return to the land of Israel; but he learned by human means that Herod’s son, Archelaus, reigned in his father’s place, and he feared that the beloved little Infant would be killed by him.

Dear children, what shall we understand from this? Herod, who had hunted the Child and would have killed Him, may be compared to the world, which would kill the Divine Infant in our souls. From the world we must flee if we would preserve the Child alive within us. Indeed, our own soul is the Child. And when one has fled from the world externally and gone into a convent or monastery, presently Archelaus rises up and begins to rule interiorly in the soul. ' It may be that this Archelaus can never conquer thee; but that is because thou shalt by the strength of God, fortify thyself with great and earnest industry in devout practices; for I assure thee that thou hast many fierce enemies arrayed against thee and ready to assail thee.

The first enemy is the world. This attacks thee with spiritual pride, leading thee to walk before men’s eyes and be esteemed holy by them. Thou shalt be tempted to please others by thy dress, thy manners, lofty speech, wisdom, friends, wealth, honors; and all these things are nothing else than the devil’s uniform.

Another enemy is a man’s own flesh, which assails him with bodily and spiritual temptations to impurity, with evil suggestions of word and deed. In these ways are all those men guilty who wilfully indulge sensuality in any way whatsoever. Let every man subject to these attacks, guard himself most carefully in all his senses, and in all those irregular emotions wherein one is likely to suffer uncleanness. Any man whose mind is tenderly inclined toward creatures, whether lay people or religious, cherishing tender sentiments about them in his heart day and night, such a one is being drawn into that vice whose ugly name is impurity. And just as external unchastity deprives the body of its purity, so does interior unchastity smirch the beautiful purity of the soul. And as the soul is nobler than the body, in the same degree is interior impurity fouler than external.

The third enemy is bitterness of heart, that evil spirit which poisons thy soul with bad wishes, judgments, hatred, revenge; so and so has done thee this injury and has said such and such things to thee; these injuries thou wilt by no means tolerate and thou givest him angry looks, a scornful bearing, bitter and violent words. Hence come dissensions, mutual mistreatment, and other vicious things. Children, this is without any doubt the inspiration, seed sowing and actual work of the devil.

Be sure that if thou wilt ever be blessed thou must fly from all this and must, for God’s sake, yield thyself up to suffer all things kindly and meekly, whether men treat thee justly or unjustly. Leave thy vindication to God and the truth and do not defend thyself; and then will the peace of God be born within thee, and be spread around thee in all patience and love. But if thou failest to do this with zeal and earnestness, then is thy Archelaus present and he will surely slay the Child, namely, the precious grace of God, within thy soul. We know how carefully the humble Joseph enquired, in order to discover if there was any one near who sought the Child Jesus to kill Him.

And even when all these vices are overcome there yet remain a thousand bands to be broken asunder, and these no one knows but a truly converted man; for Joseph’s example teaches us an earnest perseverance in a godly and blessed way of living, together with an ever-growing love of God’s will. By such virtues did he most faithfully guard the little Child and his mother from those who would have killed Him.

Joseph was warned by God’s angel and led back by him into the land of Israel. Now, Israel means the land of vision. And, children, you must understand that many men are ruined, because they would prematurely break through the numerous cords of imperfections which bind them; that is to say, before God’s mercy has graciously released them, before God’s angel has warned them and led them forth. They fall into the grievous error of trying to perfect themselves before God really wills it. They think to succeed by their intellectual gifts and their eloquence about high things, and because they can meditate deeply and discourse loftily upon the Holy Trinity. It is a great misery that this delusion has now become so prevalent and grows worse day by day. Such men will not patiently endure the restrictions of God’s Providence and the darkness of Egypt, for Egypt signifies darkness; for it must be well understood that no creature that God ever made can be released from the bonds of spiritual imprisonment by its own strength; the eternal and all-merciful God, and none other, can release us. Turn thee this way or that way, it must be so if all shall be well with thee. Bun through the whole world, seek up and down everywhere, nowhere and from no one shalt thou find this release but from God alone. An instrument for His work He may choose, whether it be angel or man, but, none the less, He Himself does the work, and none other can do it. Therefore, search inwardly for God in the depths of thy soul, and give over outward searching. Suffer willingly for God’s sake; dwell in the darkness of Egypt until thou art plainly invited by God’s angel to come forth.

Joseph was warned in sleep. He that sleeps sins not. Thus the devout man should repose in peaceful sleep, indifferent to all the afflictions and oppositions that may come upon him, bowing meekly and in all patience under every sorrow, nor adverting to them unduly, willingly resigning himself and gladly suffering for God’s sake. Surely in no other way canst thou set thyself free than thus to remain, as it were, in this sleep of patience without sin, until, like Joseph, thou shalt be rewarded for thy humble submission by the heavenly invitation to come forth.

Understand, too, that Joseph, the Child’s guardian, represents the rulers of holy church, parish priests, bishops, abbots, priors, and father confessors. These are placed for ruling men and for directing them for God’s praise and according to His will. But many among them are, alas, blind; and the blind thus leading the blind, it is to be feared that both will fall into the pit of eternal damnation. Now, each of us has many superiors. Thus I have over me a subprior, a prior, a provincial, a bishop and a pope; and suppose that by an impossibility each and all of them wished to do me evil, were all turned into wolves striving to bite me; yet I ought, none the less, meekly to resign myself and be submissive under them, and that without any murmuring or contradiction. If it happens that they do me good, I ought to receive it humbly, as from God; if it happens that they do me evil and wrong me, I ought to accept it in all good will and cheerfulness,- and suffer it for the sake and love of God.

Notice, again, dear children, that Joseph was in constant fear until God’s angel announced that they were dead who sought the Child’s life; and then with all diligence he enquired who reigned in the land of Israel. Children, some men err by giving up all fear, for you must know that we should not ever be without fear as long as life lasts; for thus speaks the holy prophet: “The fear of the Lord is holy, enduring forever and ever” (Ps. xviii, 10). So, then, even when the angel calls thee forth, thou oughtest still to fear and diligently enquire what it is that reigns within thee, and whether it be truly God or only thy own nature.

Then holy Joseph took the Child Jesus and His ever-blessed and humble mother. The Child Jesus represents a pure, clean man. A man should be wholly clean and pure, quite unsullied by taint of outward things. And he should also be lowly minded, subject under God and under all creatures for God’s sake in deep humility. The blessed mother of Christ represents to us godlike love in all sweetness and purity, for such love is the unfeigned humbling of a man in his own esteem, joined to entire subjection to God’s will in all sincerity. Children, a man thus

He it is who truly teaches us the way of perfection in all things, giving us the pattern of His pure and guileless life. And if we could not so much as have God’s word, yet in His pure and holy life we should find all that is necessary to possess eternal happiness. He went to Jerusalem when He was twelve years old, but He did not remain there; He came away again because He had not yet perfectly arrived at man’s estate. He stayed away till that time had come, and then in His perfect manhood He was daily in Jerusalem teaching the Jews the way of truth. He went throughout the land of Galilee; He was in Capharnaum and in the city of Nazareth; He was everywhere in the land of Juda as a mighty teacher, doing signs and wonders. And thus must every devout man act. He must not dwell in the holy land of contemplation, but only go there from time to time and quickly withdraw again, for he is not perfectly grown up to manhood; he is a young and unpracticed and imperfect spirit. When he has become a strong, perfect and manly spirit, then let him enter into the land of Juda — I mean the perfect knowledge of God. Then let him in all freedom go up to Jerusalem, the true city of peace. Thou mayst then, at last, joyfully and plentifully teach others and correct them and journey to Galilee, which means a passing over.

Children, when one has thus gone onward, and has passed over all things created, he finally arrives at the city of Nazareth, the sweet flower-garden of joy, in which grow the beautiful and fragrant blossoms of eternal life. There he finds unspeakable peace, solace, and comfort, tranquil rest in God alone, all beyond the power of human tongue to describe.

Children, into this depth of God’s being all those men are absorbed, who for God’s sake have humbly and with good will borne the assaults of the passions, in inward and outward conflict. They have meekly bowed under God’s yoke; they have been submissive to all creatures, and they have persevered till the ever good God has Himself released them and led them forth by His grace into His holy peace. Then it happens that it is given them often to enjoy for a brief moment, a sweet foretaste of the happiness that shall be theirs in God for all eternity. May God grant us all this in His infinite bounty. Amen.