The Sermons of Johannes Tauler · 22 of 124
Sermon for Septuagesima Sunday
The kingdom of heaven is like to an householder, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. — Matt xx, 1.
Dear children, this householder went out at the first hour, the third hour, and the sixth, and hired laborers at a penny a day. And even when evening was come, he still found men standing idle, and he said to them: Why stand ye here all the day idle? Go ye also into my vineyard and I will give you what is just. Now, dear children, this householder is our Lord Jesus Christ, and His house is eternal life, this earth, purgatory and hell. The heavenly Father saw that human nature had gone astray, leaving His beautiful vineyard sterile and desolate — that vineyard which He had created man to cultivate and make fruitful. To call human nature back again into His vineyard the heavenly Father now goes forth “early in the morning.”
Dear children, our Lord Jesus Christ goes forth from the heavenly Father’s bosom and yet remains there; and this is one meaning of the words goes forth “early in the morning.” But He may be said to go forth also in another sense, namely, in His human nature, that He may again hire us into His holy vineyard. This He does variously at the first, third, sixth and ninth hours. And yet once again He goes forth into the market place of the human race, namely, at the approach of evening, and He finds other men standing there idle. To these He speaks sharply: “Why stand ye here all the day idle? And they
-of John Tauler, the Illuminated Doctor
Again, dear children, there are some men who have once been enslaved by the world and by creatures, but have been liberated and are now free; u,nd these are standing idle and unhired from spiritual tepidity and coldness of heart, without love and without grace. And whosoever is without grace stands in nature alone. Let such a one (by an impossibility) do all the good works in the whole world, yet will he, all the same, stand idle and fruitless and empty, helped thereby in no manner whatsoever. Going out “early in the morning” means the going forth of God’s grace to men; for the morning puts an end to the darkness of night, and the coming of grace into the soul of man is the dawning of God’s day: “Why stand ye here all the day idle?” Go into my vineyard and I will pay you what is right.
It is plain, children, that all these men go into the Lord’s vineyard ^quite variously. Some are beginners. These labor for God with external religious works and according to their own plans, and they continue in that course, doing what they consider great things, fasting, keeping vigils, reciting prayers; at the same time paying little regard to the strictly interior religious life and resting wholly in sensible sweetness of devotion, thereby judging whether they are in God’s favor or disfavor. From this state flow evil results — injustice to others, rash judgments, many faults of vanity and pride, bitterness of spirit and obstinacy, enmities and many other defects besides. Thus are they led astray from Divine grace and soon break forth openly into sinful words and deeds. Whosoever finds himself resting on this false foundation should at once take measures to change to the true foundation, which is interior, before he suffers further injury or inflicts it upon those who are his associates.
The second kind of laborers, dear children, who have gone into the Lord’s vineyard are those who despise all transitory things and who have quite overcome their sensual appetites; and by these means they have attained to a good degree of virtue. They are absorbed in the joys of interior spiritual exercises, cleaving close to the supreme truth. But they are defective in this; they rest content with these their present consolations; they do not press onward through and beyond all consolations to the possession of God Himself, in Whom alone, and not in His gifts, they should find their resting place. ’
The third kind of laborers in God's vineyard are those most noble souls, who pass over and beyond all things in search simply of God — men who think of nothing, strive after nothing but God Himself, and God for His own seifs sake alone — neither Divine consolations, nor any other outpourings from God, but His own very essential Deity, into which they sink their own existence in single-hearted devotedness. God’s honor and praise, the perfecting in them and by them of God’s own will — this, and this alone, is the end and object of all their strivings. To suffer all things for His sake, to stand in total abandonment to His providence in all events of life, and to attribute no good thing to their own power or merit, such is their invariable and universal purpose. As water seeks its level, so in their heart’s allegiance do all of God’s gifts return to Him. They will not tolerate the thought of receiving any gifts from God for their own joy or profit in any wise whatsoever; God alone, God alone is the starting point and the returning point of everything they receive from Him, whether it be a favor for their inner or for their outer existence.
And it is thus that such souls are lifted out of and above themselves into God, their intentions and purposes being singly and solely for Him. But meanwhile human nature must be reckoned with, for a man cannot be totally separated from his natural self; and therefore, whether he will or not, he longs with a natural longing to be happy, even while he would be absorbed in God alone. But this inclination of nature should not be strong in such elect souls; it should be reduced to the smallest possible degree of influence. Effecting this causes suffering in very spiritual men, for they can hardly help being pleasurably absorbed in the good works to which they devote themselves. Hence they are apt to seek for new ways of practicing virtue, with a view to the spiritual joys to be found therein — prayer, meditation, holy tears and many long vigils. And herein, often without realizing it, they go to excess, never getting enough of spiritual sweetness; and when that goes from them, as it surely will, then they are afflicted. They now have an aversion for devout practices and become cold-hearted. The blame is all their own; they have ceased to think of God alone and to seek Him alone; they have drifted back into an attachment to the sweetness of His service. A man must never seek joy in God’s gifts; neither in methods of piety, in words and prayers, or in works of zeal. It is not God’s gifts, but God’s own self that we should seek.
Yes, children, there are some who cannot abide being empty of all spiritual solace and comfort. From this holy emptiness of soul they take
Now, this is unfair to God and really gives little rest to the soul, but rather breeds much unrest. Endeavor to be detached entirely from all creatures, whether in Heaven or on earth, except clearly in view of God; lean upon God and upon none other. Once thou hast done that honestly, then thou shalt have learned how rightly to honor all of God’s saints. For our beloved saints, are they not continually immersed in the depths of the Divine immensity — in the most holy Trinity?
I say to thee in that truth that God is: If thou wilt become a man after God’s will, then all things to which thou cleavest must perish within thee. And this means that thou must not cleave to the graces God grants thee, nor to His Saints as something apart from Himself, nor to anything else; for whatsoever ministereth to thy spiritual joy must be cut off. Before God can perfect within thee His Divine work of light and love, thou must be unencumbered from everything that gives thee comfort except God’s own very self.
Children, you are not to suppose that we are forbidden to venerate our dear saints in Heaven, but only to cling to them with a sense of proprietorship — with a selfish purpose of enjoying them. I say to thee that if thou wert enriched with all heavenly graces, and, in addition, wert granted all the merits of all holy men, the moment that thou shouldst appropriate these to thyself in spiritual joy, that moment they would be tainted with thy own personal sinfulness. The true and faithful servant of God goes ever right onward — consolation or no consolation, pleasure or pain, plenty or want — ever right onward through all these things to God’s own self. It is by forgetfulness of this that a man will, all unconsciously, stray apart from the true path of Divine wisdom and love, and by returning again to this the only right way, does he attain to perfection.
Children, a really devout man should imitate a laborer in a vineyard who works all day lQng; and if he must stop to eat at certain intervals, the whole time thus taken up is hardly an hour, while the work absorbs the entire day. He eats because he must have food, for that makes his blood and flesh, bones and marrow, which, as they are consumed by working, must be renewed by eating; but much work and a little eating is his rule for laboring in his vineyard. And in like manner in God’s vineyard. When one feels a yearning for the heavenly joy of Divine grace, let him indulge himself a little in it, so that he may be strengthened to work on more courageously, ever giving back to God in thanksgiving the joy that he has received from Him; and repeating this process from time to time, as he feels the yearning for God’s joy and the need of its nourishment to strengthen him in his holy labors. The spiritual men who thus deal with God in their interior and external life, humbly accepting and gratefully returning to God all His gifts, constantly become more worthy of them. Such Godlike men would be worthy to feed upon the finest pearls and gold and silver, if these could be turned into food. The best that the world possesses is but their family inheritance— theirs and no one else’s. But all worldly treasures are as nothing at all to them, and they are often the poor men of God, trusting, as they must, with all confidence in their heavenly Father’s care of them; and He does provide for them — if they were hidden away in the heart of a rock he would provide for them.
Such men are like a vinestock, which outwardly is black, hard, dry and ugly, and, if one went by appearances, would be only fit to chop down and make into firewood. But under this unfavorable appearance are hidden the channels of the sap, and the rich natural forces that give life and sweetness to the noblest fruit of any plant that grows. It is thus with those recollected souls that are at all times sunken so deep in God. Outwardly, they seem dry and dull and useless creatures, for they are humble and retiring, and they appear very insignificant, with neither fine words nor showy works, nor elaborate devotional methods, in every way appearing the least among their fellows. But concealed within their souls are the veins of God’s grace. They no longer belong to themselves, but God has made them and their lives and their innermost being His own portion among men.
And now, children, consider how the vine-dresser goes out and prunes his vines, cutting away the wild growth; for if he let it grow on with the useful branches, then the unpruned vine would give him only sour wine. It is thus that true spiritual men must do; they must cut out from their ways and inclinations, and their joys and sorrows, all whatsoever is illregulated. Thou must exterminate from thy heart all thy defects; thou canst do it and yet not break thy head or thy bones, for thou shouldst hold back the knife until thou art well advised what thou shouldst prune away. If the vine-dresser is not skillful at his trade, he may cut the wood that bears the grapes instead of the useless and barren
After the vine dresser has pruned his vine he ties it carefully, bending it toward the ground, and then fastens it securely to a stake. And in all this we have the sweet figure of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ in His me and passion, which must be made our only support. Bound fast to Jesus crucified, the superior faculties of our mind are sunk in lowly humility, in His sufferings and death. Our whole interior and external existence is by this means subjected to Him, and that not in mere mechanical imitation, but in true and hearty conformity to His death, each one, according to his state of life, giving Him his senses and his thoughts in entire and constant abandonment. This is the taming of an overfree will under the rule of God’s will, in all things inward and outward, exerting every effort to be truly obedient to God, and to respond to His grace, in all work and rest. Then one’s humility is so true, that if he had done all the meritorious works of all mankind, and possessed all the inner graces of all saintly men, he would not be spoiled by any sense of proprietorship; his virtues would seem no different to him than if they were the virtues of someone else, and would all be readily attributed to God. In such a soul as that, will God the Father quickly and without hindrance complete His hidden work of perfection. And those who fail to acquire these dispositions will without doubt fail to experience God’s perfect regeneration within their souls.
And, again, the vine-dresser digs up the soil about the vine and roots out the weeds; that is to say, the devout man vigilantly searches his soul’s very depths, and if he finds spiritual weeds there, imperfect tendencies, whether great or small, he puts in his spade and cuts them out by the root. He thus gives the bright sun of God’s grace free entrance to the inmost depths of his being, enlightening and vivifying all his powers. God’s grace thus draws up into active fruitful life all the forces of the soul. Ah, dear children, how sweet and nourishing is the fruit of
Divine grace, when we thus give God’s sunlight full entrance into our souls by cleaving away all that may hinder it! How beautiful its light and how sweet the fragrance of the flowers it produces, a fragrance which is the antidote to all spiritual poison, and fatal to the presence of the tempting serpent. O children, children, when the beams of God’s sunlight are allowed to fall directly on the human soul, they draw the soul’s whole life, inner and outer both, upward to Heaven! All that such a soul thinks and does, now tastes of God, so that the evil one and all his poisonous efforts come instantly to naught. If all the devils in hell conspired against that soul, and if all the evil men on earth joined them, they could not harm it, for it thinks and loves and acts only in God, and deeper and deeper into God’s life would their machinations drive it. Nay, if such a man were (by an impossibility) sunk even into the pit of hell, he would bring down Heaven there, with God and all His blessedness. And in practical daily life, he is perfectly safeguarded against all dangers that may beset his path.
Now, as the sun of God’s holy presence in the soul shines clearer and warmer as .time goes on, so the virtues of that soul become riper, and the fruit of holy living is more and more filled with spiritual sweetness; for the hindrances to the Divine influence are lessened continually, just in proportion to the earnestness and discretion of the soul’s co-operation. A man’s entire spiritual conduct is in a way then made Divine, his chief, and we might say his only, inner conception being God. But this is a state of soul too far beyond ordinary human existence to be capable of description.
Finally the vine-dresser trims away the leaves, to allow the sunlight to complete its work of ripening the grapes. In like manner various devotional helps become after a time of little aid to the soul, such as the usual pious practices and prayers, and remembrances of the saints. But this only happens when God has drawn the soul very deep into Himself, and His grace influences it in a way quite above its natural comprehension. For the glory and the sweetness of God’s communion, transcend all purely human methods and mediums of spiritual life, and the soul hardly knows how to distinguish its life from that of God. That the soul’s very being should be penetrated through and through by God’s sweetness, is His special purpose in this work of sanctification, just as if He were a cask of wine absorbing a little drop of water, until the soul is, as it were, unconscious of a separate life from that of God, unconscious of the lowly human existence to which it belongs. A secret and