The Sermons of Johannes Tauler · 59 of 124

Sixth Sermon for Pentecost

No man can come to Me except the Father, who hath sent Me, draw him. — John Ti, 44.

These words apply to our Saviour’s disciples after the ascension, for they were very wretched. They lay, as it were, imprisoned in the deep dungeon of their sinfulness, bound by their own inclinations as by fetters of iron. Conscious at last of their own powerlessness, they now cry out pitifully to the eternal Father. For St. Luke tells us that they were persevering with one mind in prayer — prayer to be set free from their heavy chains, to be released from their dark dungeon. And God their Father heard their fervent prayer. He struck off their chains, He drew them forth from prison, and set them in the Divine school of the Holy Ghost, in which they were to be filled with all truth. The cords with which He drew them forth were six in number.

The first is that He turned upon them His eyes of compassion. Nor was this in the way of His ordinary mercy, but with particular mercy for them. God draws men to Himself by created things, through which He reveals His existence in the created light of their souls. St. Thomas teaches that some of the heathen saw God’s presence as He dwelt in the created world about them, which showed Him as its Creator and Master, so that men should pay Him honor in every part of the world. Thus God draws men through His creatures, thereby giving them proofs of His existence.

In addition to this, God manifests Himself to the soul of man by His secret word of truth within them. St. Augustine says: “The heathen have discoursed of certain truths that they know from the everlasting law of God, and not from their own natural knowledge.” Such is the case with all men who utter truth, as St. Ambrose teaches: “Whatsoever is true, no matter by whom it may be spoken, comes from the Holy Ghost.” Hence it happens that when the soul is deeply recollected, it often becomes sensitive to the words of eternal truth, a state that sometimes comes upon us in the night time toward morning. This influence may be either in the nature of a caress from God or of a chastisement.

Yet again God influences the soul when a man gives himself entirely up to Him, waiting solely upon God’s blessed will, truly disengaged from love of self and of all created things. Then the eternal Father, finding his creature’s will offering no manner of resistance, draws him in a way that causes his soul to adhere to Him in an especially affectionate manner. This drawing is called a union, an embracing. Its gift is the possession of the Supreme Good, Who made Heaven and earth and all things for our sake, Who came on earth and humbled Himself to the death of the cross. It is because man is dearer to God than all Heaven’s glory or that of earth, that He seeks to possess him, and that He desires to guide him in all his ways. This attraction for man it was that turned God’s gracious glances upon Christ’s disciples, this is the reason of all the joys and sorrows with which He visited them. All was to fit them to respond to His drawing of their souls. And when at last the disciples allowed God to manage them after His own will, they answered His drawing perfectly. This will appear better aB we go on.

One might enquire: Why did God prepare the disciples for this privilege and does not thus prepare me and other men, at least In this wonderfully special manner? I answer that there are two reasons. One is God’s free choice, by which He prefers some men rather than others for the bestowal of His most familiar love, just as a king by his royal freedom of choice, calls to his privy council certain of his nobles rather than others. Another reason is that some men correspond better with God’s invitation and more diligently co-operate with it than others do, using every means at hand, overcoming all obstacles. This extraordinary Divine drawing was given to our dear disciples, because they prepared for it by most hearty prayers for pardon. They lamented most sincerely their former dullness of heart, and their unworthy lives while their beloved Master had been with them. They painfully called to mind His all that man holds dear for their sakes; and they despised their own stupidity and ingratitude. Then they set a watch over themselves, abandoned themselves wholly into God’s hands, cut themselves loose from all attachments as far as they were able, and begged Qod’s help to fully complete their disengagement from earthly things. And in that frame of mind they humbly waited on Qod’s blessed will. This explains why they were so specially favored.

One might object that the disciples could not thus prepare for Qod by their own power, for it is written: “Without Me you can do nothing” (John xv, 5) ; it is Qod who has led them through these degrees of preparation, and drawn their wills to Him. In answer I say that it is true that without Qod’s general sanctifying influence we can do no good thing, and that without the Holy Spirit’s particular influence we can take no single step in advance. And yet it also stands true that we have our part to perform, for it is certain that we can resist the Holy Ghost and cling to self in spite of Him. Qod does not sanctify a man without his own free will. Our eyes cannot see without light shining; and yet when the light beams we must open our eyes, or we shall not see, in spite of our having the light. No matter how brightly the sun shines, if I bandage my eyes with a thick cloth, it shines not for me; in spite of all the sunshine I do not see. Thus, therefore, when the eternal Father cast His light upon the disciples, they stripped off all bandages, and set aside as far as they could all things else that intervened between them and Him. Then Qod did His work, and drew them to Him with a special attraction. This was the work of the beloved Son of Qod, the guide of all hearts. He pierced every obstacle with His light, He banished every hindrance to the full enlightenment of their souls.

The second drawing is now to be considered. By it the heavenly Father enabled them to answer His first attraction in a spirit of entire and permanent self-renunciation. This He had taught them by His beloved Son: “Do not possess gold, nor silver, nor money in your purses; nor scrip for your journey, nor two coats, nor shoes, nor a staff” (Matt, x, 9, 10). Anyone can see, that to obey this a strong drawing away from all bodily comfort is needed. It is a call to enter the school of eternal light, which teaches us to cast our heart’s affections high above even the third heaven, to say nothing of all the things of time. Besides this, they must give no place whatever in their souls to any sense of proprietorship; and, joined to this, they are to cultivate a spirit of depths of their hearts, far from the storm, that is to say, the imperfections, of the outward life. There they become, as it were, partakers of that light eternal that is Qod — a light clear and steadfast, different from the light of the sun and moon, which alternates with darkness. Thus did the disciples need to be released from the narrowness and the degradation and the unrest that is essential to created thingB, and to be freed from all bodily fetters. St. Jerome says: “As it is impossible that a stone can have the wisdom of an angel, so is it impossible that Qod can communicate Himself in time or in the things of time.”

And now occurs a question. Since God draws some men to Him by means of joy and others by means of sorrow, by which of these did He draw the disciples? The answer is found in considering their life. It was passed in our Saviour’s company in much hardship, ending in great shame and distress. So they were drawn to God more by sorrow than by joy. And especially after their Master’s cruel death were they in a state of bitter suffering, until they had become entirely detached. And thus, by the special favor of their heavenly Father, they were made fit to receive the Holy Spirit by the way of suffering. The drawing through sorrow is a safer way than that through joy. And it is in this sense that St. Gregory understands the psalmist: “A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at tby right hand” (Ps. zc, 7) ; meaning that a thousand helpers shall fail thee in time of sorrow and persecution, but ten thousand in time of joy and prosperity.

And the way to God through sorrow is more like Christ’s way in all His life, and in His death. It is, besides, a better sign of God’s love, for it is written: “Such as I love, I rebuke and chastise” (Apoc. iii, 19). It is, indeed, true that the disciples enjoyed a close familiar companionship with the Divine Master, but it was embittered by the knowledge that for every gift they got they must suffer the death of all self-love. And as fast as God relieved them of one suffering he sent them another just as hard — for God is always accustomed to thus treat his beloved friends. The disciples found this to be the case, and so must they keep on suffering to the end, according as their heavenly Father arranged for them. Until at last their sorrow was turned into joy, and they were glad to suffer for the name of Jesus.

The third drawing of the heavenly Father, had the effect of freeing the disciples from thinking of the humanity of Christ under gross bodily forms. God granted them deliverance from this and all other kinds of in books. For now the truth is imparted interiorly; it is spoken without words or figures or forms of any created kind, which, indeed, are not according to truth’s essential nature. Therefore did the humble St. Francis exhort his brothers in his rule, that they should not busy themselves much with books and writings. If they were unlettered, let them not be too anxious to learn to read, but rather be absorbed above all things in striving after the spirit of God, and with pure hearts pray for His holy operation in their souls.

Thirdly, one is to renounce such images and forms in the mind, because in the holy school of God, wisdom is learned by humility, speech by silence, life by death, knowledge by forgetting. John slept when he gazed upon the fountain head of eternal wisdom. When Paul in his trance looked upon eternal truth, he knew not whether his soul were in the body or out of the body. In like manner must the souls of the disciples be imageless, if they would have places in such a school. Fourthly, when the mind is occupied with images, these run through the imagination in the order and succession of time. that is not soul and enlightens it. St. Gregory says: “The Holy Ghost is a marvelous master workman. He takes up His abode in a fisherman and makes him a preacher; He takes up His abode in a cruel persecutor and makes him a teacher of nations; He takes up His abode in a publican and makes him an evangelist.” Who is like this master workman? To teach everything that He pleases He requires no time — a single touch and all is taught the soul — nothing more is necessary.

How from these four reasons, it is plain that the disciples’ souls must be drawn away from forms and images. And yet in this drawing, they did not see all that St. Paul did when he was rapt into the third heaven;

Divine Essence direct and without any intermediation. This was not granted to the disciples, because they still were conscious of being in their bodies. And yet in their inmost souls they were so flooded with Divine light, that they experienced essentially the same as St. Paul did, some more completely than others.

The fourth drawing was that whereby the heavenly Father drew the disciples out of themselves. He emptied them of self and self-seeking, so that they stood in entire freedom from self-enthrallment, and were wholly disengaged from self-interest. All complaint now ceased among them, and all anguish and pain was dead. Herein was perfected most highly the first drawing, in which they were started toward perfect Divine union, and of which we have already treated. For now the eternal Father shall not meet with any resistance from their natural inclinations in His designs for their sanctification. This drawing is to give God His place as master in their souls, a free and undivided and most loving supremacy. From it they shall learn His perfections and be made like unto Him. No wonder that they must be drawn out of and away from self, for selfhood is wholly inconsistent with Divine liberty, love and nobility.

And now one might inquire: Did the disciples’ natural life now die within them, since all forms and images were drawn out of their minds? Is nature now entirely dead? The answer is, no, nature is not now dead within them. Nay, in this their self-renunciation they are more truly natural than ever before. For whatsoever the Lord of nature operates in his creature, that is to be judged most perfectly natural, and resistance to it is resistance to nature. Thus says St. Augustine: “That the rod was turned into a serpent in the Old Testament was not against nature, because it was done by the will of God.” And so I say, that inasmuch as the disciples yielded themselves wholly to God’s will, they were in the highest degree natural. Their nature did not die, but it was elevated into the right order of existence. As to mental images and forms, they still had them no less than before, but they did not direct them upon selfish ends nor any otherwise than according to God’s will. When I said that they were emptied of all images, my meaning was, that these forms in the soul were now like a candle in the light of the noonday sun. The candle shines as much as ever, but its beams are mingled and lost in the sun’s rays, which are now the means of distributing the candle’s light. Thus do the mental images and the whole nature of the apostles,

Divine light, and are made thereby truer to nature and have more forma and images than ever before.

The fifth drawing now took place. By it the heavenly Father, finding the souls of His disciples in all freedom of spirit and entirely set at liberty from self and created things, drew them into a proportionately close union with Himself. Qod had obtained His way and purpose with them, for He could have asked no more from them than entire selfsurrender. And on their part, all their aspirations for the possession of God were now fulfilled. Nor was it that the Holy Ghost gave them Himself alone, but that God the Father and God the Son gave themselves also in the fulness of the indivisible Godhead. For when we attribute love to the Holy Ghost (as we do wisdom to the Son), so we must remember that in the distinction of the Divine persons it is proper to infinite love to unite the Father and the Son in the one Godhead.

And now you might enquire, as to whether or not God drew all the disciples to Himself in the same degree of love, and endowed them with the same degree of holiness, since they were all equally absorbed in Him and given up to Him. I answer that although all of them were equally detached in spirit, nevertheless they turned to God with different degrees of love and with varying ardor. It was with them as with the angels who remained true to God; they differed one from another in the greatness of their love, and God gave Himself in different degrees to them, although .each and all partook of His union. Thus were God’s gifts granted to all the disciples, but not in equal distribution. The beloved disciple John, for example, inasmuch as he gazed more profoundly into the Godhead, was the more richly gifted. But we must remark that God is wholly free in the granting of His favors, and bestows them just as He wills, and for no other reason than his Own will. And we must bear in mind, that God gave Himself personally to the disciples not only on Pentecost, but on many other occasions. For Richard of St. Victor and other teachers inform us, that as often as sanctifying grace is given us, so often is the person of the Holy Ghost imparted. Therefore they had received Him personally many times before, but they had not then been entirely detached from creators, nor had they received the fullness of His gifts. And in this sense it was that they received Him for the first time on Pentecost.

The sixth drawing of the disciples into the Holy Ghost’s high school, was a peculiar enlightenment of mind. By this grace the most secret was revealed nakedly to them, and that in a way wholly incomprehensible to all the doctors in the schools. God’s greatness was first presented to their souls, implanting deep within them the gift of filial fear, there to remain till the end of their lives. Besides this, they were taught a universal power to do good, joined to a deep insight into God’s being — the gift of fortitude. In addition, they were shown how to keep not only God’s commandments, but also how to observe the counsels of Christ — the gift of counsel. Joined to these was the gift of piety, the enjoyment of the sweet familiarity of sons with their father, in their union with God. To this, again, was added a penetrating knowledge of God’s creatures and all their mutual distinctions, with power to detect the difference between God’s supernatural light and that of our natural reason — the gift of science. God also taught them to compare their present spiritual state with former conditions, granting them thereby the gift of understanding. Finally He bestowed the gift of wisdom, and with it gave them a most precious union with Himself, and a man-, ner of life altogether Divine. This was what God taught in His high school of the Holy Ghost, namely His seven spiritual gifts; just as He teaches us in the school of nature His seven natural sciences, and in that of holy faith, the seven sacraments.

Ton might enquire whether or not the disciples, being thus taught in the sublime school of the Holy Ghost, learned all the knowledge learned in natural and human schools. I answer yes, in so far as human art and science conduces to God’s glory and to man’s eternal welfare: they were taught it all, from the course of the stars down to the simplest knowledge. But otherwise not; whatever does not benefit the soul they were not taught, nor did that leave them less happy, less perfect. Thus says St. Augustine: “How miserable is the man who knows all things and knows not God; and how blessed is he who knows God, and knows nothing at all about anything else.” Whosoever knows God and all things else, is not at all happier from knowing what is not God: God. alone it is that makes him happy. May God help us to this happy state; may He thus draw ns to Himself, and thus cause His light of troth to shine in our interior souls. Amen.