Lend Me Your Ears: Great Speeches in History (65 page)

Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, “Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths.”

But I say unto you, “Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, ‘Yea, yea’; ‘Nay, nay’: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.”

Ye have heard that it hath been said, “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.” But I say unto you, “Resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.”

Ye have heard that it hath been said, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.” But I say unto you, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? Do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, “They have their reward.” But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: that thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, “They have their reward.” But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou has shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. After this manner therefore pray ye:

Our Father which art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, “They have their reward.” But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men to fast. but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy
whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.

Therefore I say unto you, “Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.” Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

Therefore take no thought, saying, “What shall we eat?” or, “What shall we drink?” or, “Wherewithal shall we be clothed?” (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek): for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, “Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye”; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give
him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Not every one that saith unto me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works?” And then will I profess unto them, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock; and the rain descended, and the floods came and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

Baptized as John in 1182, this saint became known as Francis of Assisi from his nickname of Francesco, “the Frenchman.” Although he was born in Assisi, a town in central Italy, his mother’s family was of French descent, and he knew some French as well as Latin.

When he was twenty-three, Francis sought a military career. He intended to join an army supporting the pope’s cause in southeastern Italy, but he became ill at Spoleto and never reached the fighting. While ill, he received a “heavenly visitation,” a voice in a dream asking him, “Why do you desert the Lord for his vassal?”

After serving as a repairer of run-down churches and a nurse of lepers, Francis started a religious order dedicated to a strict renunciation of the material values of this world and a literal adherence to the Christian Gospel. His followers numbered only eleven in 1209, but his joyous preaching and asceticism increased the numbers a decade later to more than five thousand. This was the ebullient message attributed to him: “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.”

The faith of Francis in the brotherhood of men and nature led him to preach the Gospel, or “good news,” to all of God’s creatures, great and small. In this sermon, his personification of birds as “my little sisters” introduces the evidence of God’s love for them and, by extension, argues the need for a human posture of gratefulness toward the Creator.

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MY LITTLE SISTERS
, the birds, much bounden are ye unto God, your creator, and always in every place ought ye to praise him, for that he hath given you liberty to fly about everywhere, and hath also given you double and triple raiment; moreover he preserved your seed in the
ark of Noah, that your race might not perish out of the world; still more are ye beholden to him for the element of the air which he hath appointed for you; beyond all this, ye sow not, neither do you reap; and God feedeth you, and giveth you the streams and fountains for your drink; the mountains and the valleys for your refuge and the high trees whereon to make your nests; and because ye know not how to spin or sew, God clotheth you, you and your children; wherefore your Creator loveth you much, seeing that he hath bestowed on you so many benefits; and therefore, my little sisters, beware of the sin of ingratitude, and study always to give praises unto God.

The “morning star of the reformation,” John Wyclif (or Wycliffe) may now be best known for having translated the Bible into English; his translation was the basis for religious instruction for over two centuries, until the King James Version. (He is also known to phrase detectives as the coiner, or at least the first user in print, of “by hook or by crook,” in one of his controversial tracts. Tenants of manors were allowed to take as much firewood as could be cut with a crook, or loose timber that could be pulled from the tree by a hook; Wyclif used the phrase to mean “one way or the other,” as we do today.)

As a religious reformer and doctor of theology, however, he gained renown in his time for his preaching, despite what were considered heretical notions about the need for the reform of papal authority, ideas expressed both in his writings and in his lectures. When his controversial theses were denounced by Oxford University in 1381, Wyclif added to the controversy by choosing to appeal not to the pope but to the king.

Many of the radical views that informed his preaching may be glimpsed in his remarks on the Gospel for the sixth Sunday after Easter. In this sermon, Wyclif questions papal control and favors an untraditional doctrinal position—that the Holy Ghost is not of God alone but of the Father and the Son.

The formal style, complicated for us by obsolete or archaic words such as “sclaundred” (offended) and “cautelies” (craftiness or trickery), lends solemnity to Wyclif’s argument. With quotations from Jesus interspersed throughout the message, Wyclif carefully couches his controversial position in what “say some men.” The message against the pope, however, comes across clearly, ending with exhortations to condemn false priests and to beware the fiend or devil, the personification of evil.

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CHRIST TELLETH HIS
disciples of coming of the Comforter, the which is the Holy Ghost, and what life they shall after lead. And each man should con here this lore, for then he may be soul’s leech, and wit, by signs of his life, whether his soul be sick or whole.

Lord! if a physician learneth diligently his signs, in veins, in pulse, and other things, whether a man’s body be whole; how much more should he know such signs that tell help of man’s soul, and how he hath him to God. Although such things be privy and pass worldly wit of men, natheless, the Holy Ghost telleth men some of such signs, and maketh them more certain than man can judge a bodily health. And, for we should kindly desire for to know the soul’s state, therefore the Holy Ghost, that teacheth us to know these signs, is cleped a comforter, passing other comforters. And as a man’s soul is better than the body, and endless good passeth temporal good, so this knowing of the soul passeth other man’s cunning.