Homilies on Romans, Homily 7

“What more, then, do we have than they do? For we have proved that both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin. As it is written, There is no one righteous, no, not one: there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God. They have all gone astray; together they have become useless; there is no one who does good, no, not one. Their throat is an open tomb; they have used their tongues to deceive; the poison of asps is under their lips; their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are quick to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their paths: and they have not known the way of peace: there is no fear of God before their eyes.” He had accused the Gentiles, and he had accused the Jews; the next step was to speak of the righteousness that comes through faith. For if the law of nature was ineffective, and the written Law brought no benefit, but both weighed down those who did not use them properly and made it clear that they deserved greater punishment, then salvation through grace was necessary. Speak of it, then, Paul, and show it to us. But he does not yet venture to do so, because he has the Jews’ fierce opposition in mind. So he returns to his accusation against them. First he brings in David as their accuser, speaking at length about the same things Isaiah mentioned briefly. In this way he provides a strong bridle to keep them from bolting, so that none of his hearers will break away afterward when the matters of faith are explained to them; the prophets’ accusations have already held them firmly in check. For the prophet describes three extremes: he says that all of them together did evil, that they did not do good and evil indiscriminately but pursued wickedness alone, and that they pursued it with all their energy. Then, to keep them from saying, “What if these things were said about other people?” he continues: Ver. 19. “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it says to those who are under the Law.” This, then, is why he brought in David after Isaiah, who admittedly directed his words at them: to show that these statements also concerned the same people. For why, he means, would a prophet sent to correct you need to accuse other people? The Law was not given to anyone but you. And why did he not say, We know that whatever the prophet says, but instead, whatever the Law says? Because Paul regularly calls the whole Old Testament the Law. Elsewhere he says, “Do you not hear the Law, that Abraham had two sons?” (Gal. iv. 21, 22.) Here too he calls the Psalm the Law when he says, “We know that whatever the Law says, it says to those who are under the Law.” Next he shows that these things were not said simply to accuse them, but also to prepare the way for faith. The Old Testament is so closely related to the New that even its accusations and rebukes were directed entirely toward this goal: that the door of faith might open brightly to those who hear it. For the Jews’ chief downfall was their conceit about themselves (something he mentioned later: “being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to the righteousness of God”) (Rom. x. 3). By confronting them beforehand, the Law and the Prophet brought down their proud thoughts and humbled their conceit. In this way, once they had considered their own sins, emptied themselves of all their foolishness, and seen themselves in the gravest danger, they might eagerly run to Him Who offered them forgiveness of their sins and accept grace through faith. This is what St. Paul hints at even here when he says, “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it says to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may become guilty before God.” Here he shows that they lack the confidence to speak that comes from works, and instead put on a show of words and behave shamelessly. This is why he uses such a literal expression, saying, “so that every mouth may be stopped.” He points to the shameless and almost uncontrollable arrogance of their speech and shows that their tongues have now been bridled in the strictest sense. For their speech had rushed along like an irresistible torrent. But the prophet stopped it. When Paul says, “so that every mouth may be stopped,” he does not mean that they sinned in order to have their mouths stopped, but that they were rebuked so they would not commit this very sin in ignorance. “And the whole world may become guilty before God.” He does not say the Jew, but all humanity. The phrase “so that every mouth may be stopped” hints at the Jews, although he does not say so plainly, to avoid making his language too harsh. But the words “that the whole world may become guilty before God” refer to Jews and Greeks alike. This is no small point in bringing down their foolish pride. For even here they have no advantage over the Gentiles, but are equally helpless as far as salvation is concerned. Someone who can offer no excuse for himself and needs someone else’s help is properly called guilty. That was the condition of all of us, because we had lost what was needed for salvation. Ver. 20. “For through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.” He attacks the Law again, though with restraint (for what he says accuses the Jews’ apathy, not the Law). Still, because he was about to introduce his discussion of faith, he has worked hard here to show the Law’s utter weakness. For if you boast in the Law, he means, it brings you greater shame: it solemnly puts your sins on display before you. But he does not express it this harshly. Again he speaks gently: “For through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.” So the punishment is greater, but that is the Jew’s fault. For the Law did its work by revealing sin to you, but it was then your duty to flee from it. Since you did not flee, you brought harsher punishment on yourself, and the good the Law did became grounds for greater punishment for you. Now that he has increased their fear and given them a strong desire for forgiveness of their sins, he introduces the things of grace and says, Ver. 21. “But now the righteousness of God apart from the Law has been revealed.” Here he makes a great claim, one that needed much proof. For if those who lived under the Law not only failed to escape punishment but were weighed down all the more by it, how is it possible without the Law not only to escape punishment but even to be justified? He has set out two great points here: being justified, and obtaining these blessings without the Law. This is why he does not simply say righteousness, but the righteousness of God. By the dignity of the Person, he shows both the greatness of the grace and the possibility of fulfilling the promise. For all things are possible for Him. And he does not say, “was given,” but “has been revealed,” removing the charge that this is something new. For something revealed already existed but was hidden. And it is not only this expression but also what follows that shows this is no recent thing. For after saying, “has been revealed,” he continues: “Witnessed to by the Law and the Prophets.” Do not be troubled, he means, because it has only now been given, or frightened as though it were something new and strange. For both the Law and the Prophets foretold it long ago. He has pointed out some passages in the course of this argument, and will soon point out others. Earlier he brought in Habakkuk, saying, “the righteous will live by faith” (i. 17), and afterward he brings in Abraham and David, who also speak to us themselves about these things. The Jews had great respect for these men, since one was a patriarch and a prophet, and the other a king and a prophet. Besides, the promises about these things had come to both of them. This is why Matthew mentions both of them first at the very beginning of his Gospel, and then presents the ancestors in order. For after saying, “the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ” (Matt. i. 1), he does not wait to name Isaac and Jacob after Abraham, but mentions David together with (5 mss. “after”) Abraham. What is truly remarkable is that he even puts David before Abraham, saying, “the Son of David, the Son of Abraham,” and then begins the list of Isaac and Jacob and all the rest in order. This is also why the Apostle keeps presenting them in turn here and speaks of the righteousness of God being witnessed to by the Law and the Prophets. Then, so that no one will say, How are we to be saved without contributing anything at all toward this goal? he shows that we too offer something substantial toward it: our faith. So after saying, “the righteousness of God,” he immediately adds, “through faith to all and upon all who believe.” Here again the Jew is alarmed at having nothing better than the rest and being counted with the whole world. To keep him from reacting this way, Paul again humbles him through fear, adding, “For there is no difference, for all have sinned.” So do not tell me that this person is a Greek, that person a Scythian, and another a Thracian, for all are in the same condition. Even if you have received the Law, you have learned only one thing from it: to recognize sin, not to flee from it. Next, to keep them from saying, “Even if we have sinned, we still have not sinned as they did,” he adds, “and have fallen short of the glory of God.” So even if you have not committed the same sins as others, you are equally deprived of glory, because you belong among those who have sinned. And someone who has sinned belongs among those who are put to shame, not those who are glorified. Still, do not be afraid. I said this to show the Lord’s (Δεσπότου) love for humanity, not to drive you to despair. And so he continues: Ver. 24, 25. “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God has presented as a propitiation through faith in His blood, to show His righteousness.” See how many proofs he uses to establish what he has said. First, the dignity of the person: the one who does these things is not a man who might be too weak for the task, but almighty God. For the righteousness, he says, belongs to God. Again, he appeals to the Law and the Prophets. You need not be afraid when you hear “apart from the Law,” because the Law itself approves this. Third, he appeals to the sacrifices under the old covenant. This is why he said, “In His blood”: to remind them of those sheep and calves. For if the sacrifices of creatures without reason cleared away sin, he means, this blood would do so much more. And he does not simply say λυτρώσεως, but ἀπολυτρώσεως, complete redemption, to show that we should never again enter such slavery. For the same reason he calls it a propitiation, to show that if the type had such power, the reality would display it all the more. But to show again that this was nothing new or recent, he says, “foreordained” (Auth. Version marg.). And by saying that God “foreordained” it and showing that the good deed is the Father’s, he shows that it is also the Son’s. For the Father “foreordained,” but Christ accomplished the whole work as it should be done in His own blood. “To show His righteousness.” What does showing righteousness mean? It is like showing His riches: not only being rich Himself, but also making others rich. Or showing His life: not only being alive Himself, but also making the dead live. Or showing His power: not only being powerful Himself, but also making the weak powerful. In the same way, showing His righteousness means not only that He is righteous Himself, but that He also suddenly makes righteous those who are covered with the festering sores (κατασαπέντας) of sin. To explain this—what “showing” means—he adds, “That He might be just, and the justifier of the one who believes in Jesus.” So do not doubt, for it comes through faith, not works. And do not turn away from the righteousness of God, for it is a blessing in two ways: it is easy, and it is open to everyone. Do not be embarrassed or ashamed. For if He Himself openly declares (ἐνδείκνυται) that He does this, and, so to speak, takes delight and pride in it, why are you downcast and hiding your face over what your Master glories in? After raising his hearers’ expectations by saying that what had happened was a display of God’s righteousness, he next uses fear to urge on anyone who is slow and reluctant to come, speaking as follows: “Because of the paralysis caused by previous sins.” Do you see how often he reminds them of their transgressions? Earlier he did so by saying, “through the Law comes the knowledge of sin,” and afterward by saying, “all have sinned.” But here his language is even stronger. For he does not say because of the sins, but “because of the paralysis,” that is, the deadness. There was no longer any hope of recovering health. Just as the paralyzed body needed a hand from above, so does the soul that has been deadened. And something even worse, which he brings against them as a charge, makes the accusation greater. What is it? That they reached this desperate condition while God was showing forbearance. For you cannot claim, he means, that you have not received great forbearance and goodness. But the words “at this time” point to the greatness of His power (Sav. forbearance) and love for humanity. For after we had given everything up, (he would say,) and it was time to sentence us, and evils had grown great and sins had reached their full measure, then He displayed His own power, so that you might learn how abundant His righteousness is. For if this had happened at the beginning, it would not have seemed as wonderful and extraordinary as it does now, when every kind of cure had proved useless. Ver. 27. “Where is boasting, then? It is excluded,” he says. “By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith.” Paul takes great pains to show that faith has a power never even imagined of the Law. For after saying that God justifies a person by faith, he tackles the Law again. And he does not say, Where, then, are the Jews’ good deeds? Where is their righteous conduct? Instead he says, “Where, then, is boasting?” He takes every opportunity to show that they merely use grand words, as though they had something more than others, while having no work to show for it. And after saying, “Where, then, is boasting?” he does not say, It has disappeared and come to an end, but “it is excluded,” a word that suggests more particularly that its time has passed, because there is no longer any basis for it. For just as those who want to repent when judgment has arrived no longer have time to do so, so now the time had passed for them to plead that the Law had made them better: sentence had already been passed, everyone was about to perish, and He Who would graciously put an end to these terrors was at hand. For if they had grounds to rely on these things, they should have done so before His coming. But now that He Who would save through faith had come, the time for those efforts was over. For it was because everyone had been convicted that He saves by grace. This is why He has come only now: so they cannot say, as they would have if He had come at the beginning, that it was possible to be saved by the Law and by our own efforts and good deeds. To curb this shamelessness, He waited a long time. Then, after every argument had clearly proved that they could not help themselves, He saved them by His grace. This is also why, after saying above, “To show His righteousness,” he added, “at this time.” Anyone who argues against this is like someone who committed great sins, could not defend himself in court, was condemned, and was about to be punished, but then received a royal pardon—and after being pardoned had the nerve to boast and say he had committed no sin. The time to prove that was before the pardon came. After it came, the time for boasting was over. This is what happened with the Jews. Because they had betrayed themselves, He came, and His very coming put an end to their boasting. For someone who says he is a “teacher of little children,” “boasts in the Law,” and calls himself “an instructor of the foolish” can no longer have any grounds for boasting if he needed a teacher and a Savior just as they did. For if even before this circumcision had become uncircumcision, that was all the more true now, since it is excluded from both periods. But after saying that “it was excluded,” he also shows how. How, then, does he say it was excluded? “By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith.” See how he calls faith a law too, gladly keeping the familiar names to soften its apparent novelty. But what is the “law of faith”? It is being saved by grace. Here he shows God’s power: He has not only saved people, but has even justified them and given them grounds for boasting, without needing works, looking only for faith. By saying this, he tries to bring the believing Jew to a sense of moderation and to calm the unbelieving Jew in a way that will draw him to his own position. For if someone who has been saved is proud of keeping the Law, he will be told that he has stopped his own mouth, accused himself, renounced his own claims to salvation, and excluded boasting. On the other hand, someone who has not believed, humbled by these same arguments, will be able to be brought over to faith. Do you see how far superior faith is? How it has taken us away from those earlier things without even allowing us to boast about them? Ver. 28. “Therefore we conclude that a person is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the Law.” After showing that through faith they were superior to the Jews, he goes on to discuss faith with great confidence, again soothing what seemed offensive in it. For two things troubled the Jews: first, whether people who were not saved with works could be saved without them; and second, whether it was just for the uncircumcised to enjoy the same blessings as those who had been raised under the Law for so long. The second troubled them far more than the first. So after proving the first point, he moves on to the second, which troubled the Jews so deeply that even after they had believed, they complained against Peter over this position. What, then, does he say? “Therefore we conclude that a person is justified by faith.” He does not say a Jew, or someone under the Law. Instead, after leading his argument into a wide-open space and opening the doors of faith to the world, he says “a person,” the name common to our race. Then, taking his cue from this, he answers an unspoken objection. For since the Jews would probably resent and take offense at hearing that faith justifies every person, he continues: Ver. 29. “Is He the God of the Jews only?” It is as if he said, On what grounds does it seem wrong to you that everyone should be saved? Is God partial? In this way he shows that when they want to insult the Gentiles, they are actually insulting God’s glory, if they refuse to allow Him to be the God of all. But if He is the God of all, then He cares for all; and if He cares for all, then He saves all alike through faith. This is why he says, “Is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also.” For He is not partial, as in the Gentiles’ fables (cf. Ov. Tr. I. ii. 5. sqq), but belongs to all and is One. This is why he continues: Ver. 30. “Since there is one God.” That is, the same God is Master of both groups. But if you speak to me about the state of things in ancient times, even then both shared in the care of Providence, though in different ways. For just as you were given the written law, they were given the natural law. They lacked nothing, provided they were willing, and could even surpass you. So he continues, alluding to this very point: “Who will justify the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith.” In this way he reminds them of what he said earlier about uncircumcision and circumcision, when he showed that there was no difference. But if there was no difference then, there is even less now. He now establishes this on still clearer grounds, showing that both groups need faith equally. Ver. 31. “Do we then,” he says, “nullify the Law through faith? Certainly not! Rather, we establish the Law.” Do you see his versatile and indescribable wisdom? The very use of the word “establish” shows that the Law was not standing then, but had broken down (καταλελυμένον). Notice too Paul’s extraordinary power, and how thoroughly he establishes his point. Here he shows that faith, far from doing any harm to the “Law,” actually helps it, just as the Law in turn prepared the way for faith. For just as the Law itself bore witness to faith earlier (for he says, “witnessed to by the Law and the Prophets”), so here faith establishes the Law now that it has lost its strength. And how, someone might ask, did it establish the Law? What was the Law’s purpose, and what was the goal of all its commands? To make a person righteous. But it had no power to do this. “For all,” it says, “have sinned.” But when faith came, it accomplished this. For as soon as a person believes, he is justified. So faith established the Law’s intention and brought to completion what all its commands aim at. Consequently, it has fulfilled the Law rather than nullified it. He has demonstrated three points here: first, that it is possible to be justified without the Law; next, that the Law could not accomplish this; and third, that faith is not opposed to the Law. For since the Jews’ chief difficulty was that faith seemed to oppose the Law, he shows more than the Jew asks: far from opposing it, faith is closely allied with it and works together with it. This was what they especially wanted to hear proved. But after this grace, through which we were justified, we also need a life that matches it. So let us show a commitment worthy of the gift. We will do so if we hold firmly to love, the mother of good deeds. Love is not just words or ways of addressing (προσρήσεις) people, but caring (προστασία) for them and expressing itself in actions: relieving poverty, helping the sick, rescuing people from dangers, standing beside those in trouble, weeping with those who weep, and rejoicing with those who rejoice. (Rom. xii. 15.) For this last action is also part of love. Rejoicing with those who rejoice may seem a small thing, yet it is very great and requires a spirit of true wisdom. We can find many people who carry out the more painful part (πεικρότερον), yet lack the strength for this one. Many weep with those who weep, but still do not rejoice with those who rejoice. Instead they are in tears when others rejoice. This comes from resentment and envy. So rejoicing when our brother rejoices is no small good deed, but an even greater one than the other. Perhaps it is greater not only than weeping with those who weep, but even than standing beside those in danger. At any rate, many have shared danger with people in danger, yet have been cut to the heart when those people received honor. Such is the tyranny of resentment! And yet the one requires hard work and effort, while this requires only a choice and a right attitude. Still, many who have endured the harder task have failed to accomplish the easier one. They waste away and consume themselves when they see others honored, when a whole Church benefits from teaching or in any other way. What could be worse than this? Such a person is no longer fighting against his brother, but against the will of God. Think about this, and rid yourself of the disease. Even if you are unwilling to set your neighbor free, at least free yourself from these countless evils. Why bring war into your own thoughts? Why fill your soul with trouble? Why stir up a storm? Why turn things upside down? How will you be able to ask forgiveness for your sins in this state of mind? For if He does not forgive those who refuse to forgive the wrongs done to them, what forgiveness will He grant those who try to injure people who have done them no injury? This is evidence of the greatest wickedness. People like this fight alongside the Devil against the Church, and perhaps they are even worse than he is. For one can be on guard against him. But these people hide behind a mask of friendship and secretly set the woodpile on fire, throwing themselves into the furnace first. They suffer from a disease that deserves not only no pity but even much ridicule. Tell me, why are you pale and trembling and afraid? What evil has happened? Is it that your brother is honored, looked up to, and respected? You should be making garlands, rejoicing, and glorifying God because a member of your own body is honored and looked up to! But are you pained because God is glorified? Do you see where this war leads? But someone will say, It is not because God is glorified, but because my brother is. Yet through him the glory rises to God, and so will the war you wage. But that is not what grieves me, he will say, for I would like God to be glorified through me. Well then, rejoice that your brother is honored, and God is glorified through you too. Everyone will say, Blessed be God, Whose household has this attitude, completely free from envy and rejoicing together in one another’s blessings! And why do I speak of your brother? Even if he were your foe and enemy, and God were glorified through him, you should make him your friend for that reason. But you make your friend an enemy because God is glorified through the honor he receives. If someone healed your body when it was in poor condition, even if he were an enemy, you would from then on count him among your closest friends. Yet do you consider someone who gladdens the face of Christ’s Body, that is, the Church, an enemy even though he is your friend? What other way could you show that you are at war with Christ? This is why, even if a person performs miracles, practices celibacy and fasting, sleeps on the bare ground, and through this virtue rises even to the level of the angels, he will still be the most accursed of all if he has this fault. He will break the Law more seriously than an adulterer, someone who has sex outside marriage, a robber, or a grave robber. And so that no one will condemn this language as an exaggeration, I would like to ask you this question. If someone came with fire and a pickaxe and began destroying and burning this House and digging up this Altar, would not everyone here stone him as an accursed lawbreaker? What, then, if someone brought a flame even more consuming than that fire—I mean envy—which does not destroy stone buildings or dig up a golden Altar, but overturns and contemptuously ruins something far more precious than either walls or Altar: the Teachers’ building? How could he deserve to be tolerated? Let no one tell me that he has often tried and failed, for actions are judged by their intention. For Saul did kill David, even though he did not hit him. (1 Sam. xix. 10.) Tell me, do you not realize that you are plotting against Christ’s sheep when you wage war against His Shepherd? These are the sheep for whom Christ shed His Blood, and for whom He commanded us to do and endure everything. Do you not remind yourself that your Master sought your glory rather than His own, while you seek your own glory rather than your Master’s? Yet if you sought His glory, you would obtain your own as well. But by seeking your own before His, you will never gain even that. What, then, is the remedy? Let us all join in prayer and raise our voices together on their behalf, as we would for those possessed by demons. Indeed, these people are more miserable than they are, because their madness is chosen. This affliction needs prayer and much pleading. For if someone who does not love his brother gains nothing even if he gives away all his money and even receives the glory of martyrdom, consider what punishment someone deserves who actually wages war against a person who has done him no wrong at all. He is even worse than the Gentiles. For if loving those who love us gives us no advantage over them, tell me, where should we rank someone who envies those who love him? Envying is even worse than waging war, since someone who wages war ends his hatred when the cause of the war ends. But an envious person would never become a friend. One fights openly, the other secretly. One often has a reasonable cause to give for the war; the other has nothing but madness and a satanic spirit. What, then, can we compare such a soul to? What viper? What asp? What destructive caterpillar? What scorpion? There is nothing as accursed or as destructive as a soul like this. For it is this, this very thing, that has overturned the Churches, produced heresies, armed a brother’s hand and dipped his right hand in the blood of the righteous, torn away the laws of nature, opened the gates to death, and put that curse into effect. It did not allow that wretched man to remember the birth pangs, his parents, or anything else. Instead it made him so furious and drove him to such a frenzy that even when God urged him and said, “He will turn to you, and you will rule over him” (Gen. iv. 7, LXX.), he would not give in even then. Yet He both forgave him his fault and made his brother subject to him. But his disease is so incurable that even if thousands of medicines are applied, it keeps shedding tissue through its own corruption. Why are you so upset, you most miserable of men? Is it because God has been honored? That would show a satanic spirit. Is it because your brother surpasses you in reputation? You are free to surpass him in turn. So if you want to win, do not kill him or destroy him. Let him remain, so that the opportunity for the contest is preserved, and defeat him while he lives. That way your crown would have been glorious. But by destroying him like this, you pronounce a harsher sentence of defeat on yourself. Yet an envious spirit understands none of this. And what reason do you have to crave glory in such solitude? For they were the only inhabitants of the earth at that time. Still, even this did not restrain him. He put everything out of his mind and took his place in the devil’s ranks, for it was the devil who led the war on Cain’s side. It was not enough for him that man had become subject to death. By the manner of death, he tried to make the tragedy still greater, and persuaded him to murder his brother. For he was impatient and in labor to see the sentence carried out, never satisfied with our sufferings. Imagine someone who had put an enemy in prison and saw him under sentence, but insisted on seeing him butchered inside the city before he was taken out, unwilling even to wait for the proper time. This is how the devil acted then. Although he had heard that man must return to the earth, he labored with desire to see something worse: a son dying before his father, a brother destroying a brother, a premature and violent slaughter. Do you see what a great service envy has done him? How it has filled the devil’s insatiable spirit and prepared for him a feast as great as he wanted to see? Let us escape this disease. For it is impossible—indeed, impossible—to escape the fire prepared for the devil unless we free ourselves from this sickness. We will become free if we keep in mind how Christ loved us and how He commanded us to love one another. What love did He show us? He shed His precious Blood for us when we were enemies and had done Him the greatest wrong. Do this too for your brother (for this is the point of His saying, “I give you a new commandment: that you love one another in the same way that I have loved you”) (John xiii. 34). Or rather, even this does not reach the full measure. For He did this for His enemies. And are you unwilling to shed your blood for your brother? Why, then, do you actually shed his blood, disobeying the commandment to the point of reversing it? Yet He did not do what He did because He owed it, while you, if you do it, are only paying a debt. For the man who, after receiving the ten thousand talents, demanded the hundred silver coins was punished not simply because he demanded them, but because the kindness shown him had not made him any better. He did not even follow his Lord’s lead and forgive the debt. After all, if the servant had done it, he would only have been paying a debt. For everything we do goes toward paying a debt. This is why He Himself said, “When you have done everything, say, We are useless servants; we have done what it was our duty to do.” (Luke xvii. 10.) So if we show love, if we give our possessions to those in need, we are paying a debt. This is not only because He first began these acts of goodness, but also because, whenever we give, it is His possessions that we distribute. Why, then, deprive yourself of what He wants you to have a right to? He told you to give these things to someone else so that you might have them yourself. For as long as you keep them to yourself, even you yourself do not possess them. But when you give them to someone else, then you have received them yourself. What magic, then, can accomplish as much as this? He Himself poured out His Blood for His enemies, while we will not even pour out money for our benefactor. He did it with His own Blood; we will not even do it with money that is not ours. He did it before us; we will not do it even after His example. He did it for our salvation; we will not do it even for our own benefit. For He gains nothing from our love for humanity; all the gain comes to us. This is precisely why we are commanded to give away our possessions: so that we will not lose them. God acts like someone who gives a little child money and tells him to hold it tightly, or to give it to the servant for safekeeping, so that anyone who wants to cannot snatch it away. For He says, Give to someone in need, so that no one will snatch it from you—an informer, for example, or a slanderer, or a thief, or, if you escape all these, death. For as long as you hold it yourself, your hold on it is not secure. But if you give it to Me through the poor, I keep it all safe for you and will return it at the right time with a great increase. For I receive it to increase it and keep it more securely, not to take it away, so that I may preserve it for you for that time when no one is there to lend or show pity. What could be more hardhearted, then, than our inability to bring ourselves to lend to Him after such promises? Yes, this is why we go before Him destitute, naked, and poor, without the things entrusted to us: because we do not deposit them with Him Who keeps them more securely than anyone. And for this we will be punished most severely. For when we are called to account, what will we be able to say about losing them? What excuse will we offer? What defense? Why did you not give? Do you doubt that you will receive it back? How can that be reasonable? For if He gave to someone who had not given, how much more will He give after He has received? Do you enjoy looking at your possessions? Then give all the more for that very reason, so that you may enjoy them more there, where no one can take them from you. For if you keep them now, you will suffer countless evils as well. The devil leaps like a dog at the rich, wanting to snatch things from them as from a child holding a piece of bread or a cake. So let us give them to our Father. If the devil sees this, he will certainly withdraw. And once he has withdrawn, the Father will safely give them all to you in the world to come, where the devil cannot trouble you. For now the rich are surely no different from little children harassed by dogs, with everyone barking around them, tearing and tugging—not only people, but also base passions: gluttony, drunkenness, flattery, impurity of every kind. When we are going to lend, we are very eager to find those who give a large return, and we look especially for honest dealers. But here we do the opposite. We abandon God, Who deals honestly and gives not one percent but a hundredfold, and seek out those who will not even return our principal. For what return will our belly give us, when it consumes the greater part of our possessions? Excrement and decay. And what will the desire for empty glory give? Envy and resentment. And what will stinginess give? Worry and anxiety. And what will impurity give? Hell and the venomous worm! These are the debtors of the rich, who pay this interest on the principal: evils now and dreadful things to come. Are we really to lend to these, with such punishment as interest, and refuse to entrust the same things to Christ (4 mss. om. τᾥ), Who offers us heaven, immortal life, and blessings beyond words? What excuse will we have? Why do you not give to Him Who will certainly repay you, and repay you far more abundantly? Perhaps because He takes so long to repay. Yet He certainly repays even here. For He Who says, “Seek the kingdom of heaven, and all these things will be added to you,” is true. (Matt. vi. 33.) Do you see this extraordinary generosity? Those goods, He says, have been stored up for you and are not diminishing, while I give you these here as an addition and a surplus. Besides all this, the very length of time before you receive them only makes your riches greater, because the interest is greater. For with people who borrow money, we see lenders doing just this: lending more readily to those who repay a long time later. Someone who repays the whole amount immediately cuts off the growth of interest, while someone who keeps it longer makes the profit greater too. So, while we are not offended by delay when dealing with people, and even use tricks to make it longer, will we be so small-minded with God that this very thing makes us reluctant and causes us to pull back? Yet, as I said, He both gives here and keeps the whole amount stored up there, not only for the reason already mentioned but also because He is planning another, greater benefit for us. For the abundance and excellence of the gift surpass this present, worthless life. In this perishable body, doomed to die, it is not even possible to receive those unfading crowns. Nor can we attain that unchanging, undisturbed condition in our present state, troubled, full of turmoil, and subject to so many changes. Suppose someone owed you gold and promised to repay the loan while you were staying in a foreign country, where you had neither servants nor any means of carrying it back to your home. You would plead with him in countless ways to pay it to you at home rather than in the foreign country. But do you think it right to receive those spiritual things beyond words in this world? What madness that would be! For if you receive them here, you must certainly receive them in a perishable form. But if you wait for that time, He will repay them to you imperishable and pure. If you receive here, you have received lead; if there, refined gold. Still, He does not even deprive you of the good things of this life. Alongside that promise He has placed another: everyone who loves the things of the world to come will receive “a hundredfold in this present life, and will inherit eternal life.” (Matt. xix. 29.) So if we do not receive a hundredfold, we have ourselves to blame for not lending to Him Who can give so much. For everyone who has given has received much, even if they gave only a little. Tell me, what great thing did Peter give? Was it not a broken net (Luke v. 6, 11), and only a fishing rod and hook? Yet God opened the houses of the world to him, spread land and sea before him, and everyone invited him to share their possessions. Or rather, they sold what belonged to them and brought it to their feet, not even putting it into their hands, for they did not dare: so great was the honor they paid him, as well as their generosity. But he was Peter, you will say! What difference does that make, man? He did not make this promise to Peter alone. Nor did He say, You alone, Peter, will receive a hundredfold, but “everyone who has left houses or brothers will receive a hundredfold.” For He pays attention to right actions, not distinctions between people. But, someone will say, I have a group of little children around me, and I want to leave them a good fortune. Why, then, are we making them paupers? For if you leave them everything, you are still entrusting your possessions to something that may fail you. But if you leave God as their fellow heir and guardian, you have left them countless treasures. For just as God does not help us when we avenge ourselves, but brings about more than we expect when we leave it to Him, so it is with possessions. If we take charge of them ourselves, He will withdraw His care from them. But if we cast everything on Him, He will keep both our possessions and our children completely safe. And why are you amazed that this should happen with God? You can see it happen even with people. For if, when you are dying, you do not ask any of your relatives to care for your children, it often happens that someone who is very willing feels hesitant and is too modest to take on the task on his own. But if you entrust their care to him, he will see it as a very great honor and repay it with very great generosity. So if you want to leave your children great wealth, leave them God’s care. For He Who gave you a soul, formed your body, and granted you life without your having done anything, will surely open every kind of wealth to them when He sees you showing such generosity and sharing their possessions with Him as well as with them. For if Elijah, after being fed with a little flour, made threshing floors and oil presses appear in the widow’s little hut because he saw that she honored him above her children, consider what loving care Elijah’s Lord will show! So let us think about how to leave our children virtuous, rather than how to leave them rich. For if they have the confidence riches give, they will pay attention to nothing else, since their abundant wealth gives them the means to conceal their wicked ways. But if they find themselves without the comfort that comes from that source, they will do everything they can to find abundant consolation for their poverty in virtue. Leave them no riches, then, so that you may leave them virtue. For it is utterly unreasonable to refuse to make them masters of all our possessions while we are alive, yet after we die to free young people, with their impressionable nature, from all fear. While we are alive, we will have the power to hold them properly accountable, bring them to their senses, and restrain them if they misuse their possessions. But if, after we die, we give them the power wealth brings just when they have lost us and are still young, we will push those unfortunate, miserable creatures over endless cliffs, piling fuel on the flame and pouring oil into a blazing furnace. So if you want to leave them both rich and safe, leave God in their debt and place their inheritance in His hands. For if they receive the money themselves, they will not even know whom to give it to, and will encounter many scheming and heartless people. But if you invest it with God beforehand, the treasure will be beyond attack from then on, and repayment will be very easy. For God is delighted to repay what He owes us. He looks more favorably on those who have lent to Him than on those who have not, and loves most those to whom He owes most. So if you want Him as your Friend continually, make Him your Debtor for a large amount. No lender is as pleased to have people in his debt as Christ (6 mss. God) is delighted to have people who lend to Him. He flees from those to whom He owes nothing, but runs to those to whom He is in debt. So let us use every means to make Him our Debtor, for this is the time for lending, and He is in need now. If you do not give to Him now, He will not ask you after you leave this life. For it is here that He thirsts, here that He hungers. He thirsts because He thirsts for your salvation. This is why He even begs, why He even goes about naked, negotiating immortal life for you. So do not neglect Him. He wants to nourish you, not to be nourished; to clothe you and equip you with the golden garment, the royal robe, not to be clothed Himself. Do you not see how the more devoted physicians, when washing the sick, wash themselves too, though they do not need it? In the same way, He does everything for your sake, because you are sick. This is also why He uses no force in asking: so that He may give you great returns, and so that you may learn that He asks you to meet your need, not because He is in need. This too is why He comes to you in a humble form, with His right hand held out. If you give Him a penny, He does not turn away. Even if you reject Him, He does not leave you, but comes back to you again. For He desires—yes, deeply desires—our salvation. So let us despise money, so that we may not be despised by Christ. Let us despise money even as a way of obtaining money itself. For if we keep it here, we will lose it altogether, both here and in the life to come. But if we give it away generously, we will enjoy abundant wealth in both lives. So let anyone who wants to become rich become poor, so that he may be rich. Let him spend so that he may accumulate, scatter so that he may gather. But if this seems new and paradoxical, look at the sower and consider that he cannot gather more in any other way than by scattering what he has and letting go of what is in his hand. Let us now sow and cultivate Heaven, so that we may reap abundantly and obtain everlasting blessings, through the grace and love for humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ, with Whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, and honor, now and always, forever and ever. Amen.