John Chrysostom, On Almsgiving

De eleemosyna

On almsgiving.

62.769 The divine Scripture says, He who has mercy on the poor lends to God. See what a debtor the merciful acquire, how great, how wealthy. For if you lend to a man either gold, or silver, or grain, you make a written bond, and you bind the given hand with the writing; but with God this is not so, but you give to the martyrs' shrines and to the poor man, and God invites and calls you to receive back the loans, which you lent to the poor man; He hastens to release the guarantee, and does not simply repay, but with much blessing, saying, he says, and many times more. Likewise also the buyer, comes to give a little, but the seller more; and thus setting a price in the middle they negotiate their agreements.

And when after so much labor you acquire what you desire, you do not have security; for often before it reaches your house, it has either died, or is lost, or is found worthless, and the labor becomes twofold. But in the kingdom of God you endure nothing of the sort, not the toils of a journey, not burning heat, not weariness, not the grief of failure, none of these things. While you are sitting inside your house, the poor man comes selling paradise, and says to you: Give bread, and receive paradise; give a worn-out garment, and receive the kingdom of heaven. However, he does not compel you to give what you do not have, but from what you are able. But you say, not wanting to buy the paradise of God, "I have no bread." Give one obol, give a cup of cold water, give what you wish, give what you have; Christ accepts all things; only buy paradise; imitate that widow of Zarephath, saying: She who gave the handful of meal, and inherited the kingdom of heaven; and again another widow mentioned in the Gospel, who had nothing else except two mites only, and casting these into the treasury she bought paradise. God does not seek a mass of money, but a merciful soul, and a willing heart. Give to the poor, acquire God as a debtor; He who has mercy on the poor lends to God.

And when, he says, does the borrower repay? When you leave all your possessions here, the houses, the gold, the silver, the clothing, all the rest, and you depart there leaving everything here behind; then the borrower repays with thanksgiving. Send your possessions ahead of you, do not wait for times, do not keep them, lest you lose eternal life. Death is uncertain, you do not know when it comes, at what hour you do not know you will depart; and you go there, but your possessions remain here, and others, dividing your wealth, do not even make mention of your name; and often your heirs squander your substance, and curse you. Send your possessions ahead to the endless age, lest you go to the place of unquenchable fire, like the rich man because of Lazarus. Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; and so on. See what the Maker of the world says. He does not say, I was a King, and you feared me; nor, a Ruler, and you honored me; but, I was naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me.

Truly nothing is equal to almsgiving; the poor man spends, and God repays. God, having borrowed from the poor and from those who remain at the martyrs' shrines, not only repays the loan, but makes the lenders themselves heirs,

De eleemosyna

Περὶ ἐλεημοσύνης.

62.769 Φησὶν ἡ θεία Γραφὴ, Ὁ ἐλεῶν πτωχὸν δανείζει Θεῷ. Ὅρα τίνα χρεωφειλέτην

κτῶνται οἱ ἐλεήμονες, πῶς μέγαν, πῶς εὔπορον. Ἀνθρώπῳ μὲν ἐὰν δανείσῃς ἢ χρυσίον, ἢ ἀργύριον, ἢ σῖτον, ποιεῖς γραμματεῖον, καὶ τὴν χεῖρα τὴν δεδομένην δεσμεύεις τοῖς γράμμασιν· ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ ἔστι τοῦτο, ἀλλὰ τοῖς μαρτυρίοις διδοῖς καὶ τῷ πένητι, καὶ ὁ Θεὸς προσκαλεῖται καὶ προσφωνεῖ ἀπολαβεῖν τὰ δάνεια, ἃ ἐδάνεισας τῷ πένητι· σπεύδει λῦσαι τὴν ἐγγύην, καὶ οὐχὶ ἁπλῶς ἀποδίδωσιν, ἀλλὰ μετὰ πολλῆς εὐλογίας λέγων λέγει, καὶ ἐλάττων πολλοῖ. Ὁμοίως καὶ ὁ ἀγοράζων, ὀλίγον μὲν ἔρχεται διδόναι, περισσότερον δὲ ὁ πωλῶν· καὶ οὕτως εἰς μέσον τιμὴν στήσαντες τὰ σύμφορα πραγματεύονται.

Καὶ ὅτε μετὰ τοσούτου κόπου κτήσῃ ὃ ποθεῖς, οὐκ ἔχεις τὸ ἀσφαλές· πολλάκις γὰρ πρὸ τοῦ φθάσαι εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν σου, ἢ ἀπέθανεν, ἢ ἀπώλετο, ἢ ἀδόκιμος εὑρέθη, καὶ γίνεται διπλοῦς ὁ κόπος. Ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον ὑπομένεις, οὐχ ὁδοιπορίας κόπους, οὐ καύσωνα, οὐ χαυνότητα, οὐ λύπην ἀποτυχίας, οὐδὲν τούτων. Ἔσω καθημένου σου εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν, ἔρχεται ὁ πένης πωλῶν τὸν παράδεισον, καὶ λέγει σοι· ∆ὸς ἄρτον, καὶ λάβε παράδεισον· δὸς ἀπότριμμον ἱμάτιον, καὶ λάβε βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν. Πλὴν οὐκ ἀναγκάζει σε διδόναι ὃ οὐκ ἔχεις, ἀλλ' ἐξ ὧν ἰσχύεις. Ἀλλὰ σὺ λέγεις μὴ θέλων ἀγοράσαι τὸν παράδεισον τοῦ Θεοῦ. Οὐκ ἔχω ἄρτον. ∆ὸς ἕνα ὀβολὸν, δὸς ποτήριον ψυχροῦ ὕδατος, δὸς ὃ θέλεις, δὸς ὃ ἔχεις· πάντα ὁ Χριστὸς δέχεται· μόνον ἀγόρασαι τὸν παράδεισον· μίμησαι τὴν χήραν ἐκείνην τὴν Σαραφθείαν, λέγων· Ἣ τὴν δρᾶκα ἀλεύρου ἔδωκε, καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν ἐκληρονόμησε· καὶ πάλιν ἄλλην χήραν τὴν ἐν τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ μνημονευομένην, τὴν μηδὲν ἔχουσαν ἄλλο, εἰ μὴ δύο λεπτὰ μόνον, καὶ ταῦτα βαλοῦσα ἐν τῷ γαζοφυλακίῳ ἠγόρασε τὸν παράδεισον. Οὐ ζητεῖ ὁ Θεὸς ὄγκον χρημάτων, ἀλλὰ ψυχὴν ἐλεήμονα, καὶ καρδίαν εὐπροαίρετον. ∆ὸς πένητι, κτῆσαι τὸν Θεὸν χρεωφειλέτην· Ὁ ἐλεῶν πτωχὸν δανείζει Θεῷ.

Καὶ πότε, φησὶν, ὁ δανεισάμενος ἀποδίδωσιν; Ὅτε ἀφῇς τὰ ἐνταῦθα ἅπαντα χρήματα, τὰς οἰκίας, τὸ χρυσίον, τὸ ἀργύριον, τὸν ἱματισμὸν, τὰ λοιπὰ πάντα, καὶ ἐκεῖ ἀπέρχῃ πάντα τὰ ἐνταῦθα καταλιπών· τότε ὁ δανεισάμενος μετ' εὐχαριστίας ἀποδίδωσι. Πρόπεμψόν σου τὰ χρήματα, μὴ περιμένῃς χρόνους, μὴ τηρήσῃς αὐτὰ, ἵνα μὴ ἀπολέσῃς τὴν αἰώνιον ζωήν. Ἄδηλος ὁ θάνατος, οὐκ οἶδας πότε ἔρχεται, οἵᾳ ὥρᾳ οὐ γινώσκεις ἐκπορεύῃ· καὶ σὺ μὲν ἐκεῖ ὑπάγεις, τὰ δὲ χρήματα ὧδε μένει, καὶ ἄλλοι τὸν πλοῦτόν σου καταμεριζόμενοι, οὐδὲ μνήμην τοῦ ὀνόματός σου ποιοῦσι· πολλάκις δὲ οἱ κληρονόμοι σου ἀνασκάπτουσί σου τὴν οὐσίαν, καὶ καταρώμενοί σε. Πρόπεμψόν σου τὰ χρήματα εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τὸν ἀτελεύτητον, μήποτε εἰς τὸν τόπον ἀπέλθῃς τοῦ πυρὸς τοῦ ἀσβέστου, ὡς πλούσιος διὰ Λάζαρον. ∆εῦτε, οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ Πατρός μου, κληρονομήσατε τὴν ἡτοιμασμένην ὑμῖν βασιλείαν ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου. Ἐπείνασα γὰρ, καὶ ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν· ἐδίψησα, καὶ ἐποτίσατέ με· καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Ὅρα τί λέγει ὁ Ποιητὴς τοῦ κόσμου. Οὐ λέγει, Βασιλεὺς ἤμην, καὶ ἐφοβήθητέ με· οὐδὲ, Ἄρχων, καὶ ἐτιμήσατε· ἀλλὰ, Γυμνὸς, καὶ περιεβάλετέ με· ἀσθενὴς, καὶ ἐπεσκέψασθέ με.

Ὄντως οὐδὲν ἴσον τῆς ἐλεημοσύνης· πένης δαπανᾷ, καὶ ὁ Θεὸς ἀποδίδωσι. ∆ανεισάμενος ὁ Θεὸς ἀπὸ τῶν πενήτων καὶ τῶν παραμενόντων τοῖς μαρτυρίοις, οὐκ ἀποδίδωσι μόνον τὸ δάνειον, ἀλλὰ κληρονόμους αὐτοὺς ποιεῖ τοὺς δανειστὰς,