Homilies on First Timothy — Homily 16

St. John Chrysostom

1. 0. Greeting

[[1 Timothy 5.21]]-23

I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels, that you observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality. Lay hands hastily on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins: keep yourself pure. Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities.

Having spoken of Bishops and Deacons, of men, and women, of widows and elders, and of all others, and having shown how great was the authority of a Bishop, now he was speaking of judgment, he has added, I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels, that you observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality. Thus fearfully he charges him. For though Timothy was his beloved son, he did not therefore stand in awe of him. For as he was not ashamed to say of himself, Lest by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast-away [[1 Corinthians 9.27]]; much less would he be afraid or ashamed in the case of Timothy. He called the Father and the Son to witness. But wherefore the elect Angels? From great moderation, as Moses said, I call heaven and earth to witness [[Deuteronomy 4.26]]; and again, Hear ye, O mountains, and strong foundations of the earth. [[Micah 6.2]] He calls the Father and the Son to witness what he has said, making his appeal to Them against that future Day, that if anything should be done that ought not to be done, he was clear from the guilt of it.

That thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality. That is, that you deal impartially and equally between those who are upon trial and are to be judged by you, that no one may pre-occupy your mind, or gain you over to his side beforehand.

But who are the elect Angels? It is because there are some not elect. As Jacob calls to witness God and the heap [[Genesis 31.45]], so we often take at once superior and inferior persons to witness; so great a thing is testimony. As if he had said, I call to witness God and His Son and His servants, that I have charged you: so before them I charge you. He impresses Timothy with fear; after which he adds, what was most vital, and bears most on the maintenance of the Church, the matter of Ordinations. Lay hands, he says, suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins. What is suddenly? Not upon a first, nor a second, nor a third trial, but after frequent and strict examination and circumspection. For it is an affair of no common peril. For you will be responsible for the sins committed by him, as well his past as his future sins, because you have delegated to him this power. For if you overlook the past unduly, you are answerable for the future also, as being the cause of them, by placing him in that station, and of the past too, for not leaving him to mourn over them, and to be in compunction. For as you are a partaker of his good acti