Dear Friends,
I have recently been rereading John Chrysostom's homilies on Matthew's gospel, originally delivered in Antioch in the late fourth century. I was moved by a teaching on giving to the poor and forgiving others that is part of Chrysostom's tangential comments on being the light of the world (Matt. 5:14). I would like to share some snippets of this teaching with you this week. Please excuse the outdated language. The only translation from the Greek that is available is from the 1840s.
Love in Christ,
Michelle
With Proverbs 19:17, "Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord," in mind, Chrysostom says,
"When thou hast done any good action, seek not thanks from me, that thou mayest have God thy debtor. For, Lend, saith He, unto them from whom ye do not expect to receive.
"Thou hast thy Debtor; why leave Him, and require it of me, a poor and wretched mortal? What? is that Debtor displeased, when the debt is required of Him? What? is Hе poor? Is He unwilling to pay? Seest thou not His unspeakable treasures? Seest thou not His indescribable munificence? Lay hold then on Him, and make thy demand; for He is pleased when one thus demands the debt of Him. Because, if He see another required to pay for what He Himself owes, He will feel as though Hе were insulted, and repay thee no more; nay, He justly finds fault, saying, 'Why, of what ingratitude hast thou convicted Me? What poverty dost thou know to be in Me, that thou hastenest by Me, and resortest unto others? Hast thou lent to One, and dost thou demand the debt of another?'
"For although man received it, it was God that commanded thee to bestow; and His will is to be Himself, and in the original sense*, Debtor, and Surety, affording thee ten thousand occasions to demand the debt of Him from every quarter. Do not thou then let go so great facility and abundance, and seek to receive of me who have nothing. Why, to what end dost thou display to me thy mercy shewn to the poor? What! was it I that said to thee, Give? was it from me that thou didst hear this; that thou shouldest demand it back of me? He Himself hath said, 'He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth to God'. Thou hast lent to God: put it to His account.
. . .
"Let us then, beloved, bearing these things in mind, be humbled, and feel thankful to those who are in debt to us. For they become to us, if we command ourselves, an occasion of obtaining most abundant pardon; and giving a little, we shall receive much.
. . .
"As many therefore as stand indebted to thee, either for money, or for trespasses, let them all go free, and require of God the recompence of such thy magnanimity. For so long as they continue indebted to thee, thou canst not have God thy debtor. But if thou let them go free, thou wilt be able to detain thy God, and to require of Him the recompence of so great self-restraint in bountiful measure.
. . .
"Let us forgive those who must give account to us, both their debts and their offences; that we may make our own accounts prove indulgent, and that what we could not reach by all virtue besides, this we may obtain by not bearing malice against our neighbours; and thus enjoy the eternal blessings, by the grace and love towards man of our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory and might now and always, even for ever and ever. Amen."
