John Chrysostom, On "Do not fear"

Stand in the battle line, only armed; stand in a holy place, only having pure eyes; enter into the harbor, only navigating the ship with precision. These things you can learn here; and you are not willing, but you go out into the worldly battle line naked of the commands of God. Consider how great it is to go out from the church despising all human things, and treading on painful things, and becoming higher than good things, being neither lifted up in those, nor pressed down in these; as Job was, neither submerged by poverty, nor lifted up by wealth, but in the inequality of circumstances maintaining his own judgment equal. Come, take a weapon from me. And what weapon? That which often guarantees your salvation. You go out, and you see a man lifted up on a horse with a golden bridle, and many bodyguards around him; again some humble and cast-off person. Then envy enters you because of the rich man; disdain for the poor man takes hold of you. David comes to you, stands by you and says: Do not be afraid, when a man becomes rich. Go out with the prophet, and do not be afraid. Go where I tell you with the prophet, with the teacher, with the staff, with the herald. Do not be afraid, when a man becomes rich. But you will say: This is of one exhorting and advising, and declaring what is necessary; tell me also the way, by which I ought not to fear the man. Because the nature of wealth imitates the nature of man. And how, I say. What is man? A humble creature, mortal, short-lived. Such also is wealth; or rather, not such, but even weaker. For often it does not die with the man, but dies even before the man. And you know countless examples in this city of the death of untimely wealth, and you have learned that the one who possessed it lives, but the possession has perished; for the death of wealth is a change to poverty. Consider therefore how short-lived the possession is. For the one who possessed it lives, but the possession has perished, and would that it had perished alone, and not destroyed the possessor along with it. Therefore you would not err in calling wealth an ungrateful servant, a bloodthirsty and man-slaying servant, a servant giving slaughter as a reward to its master. And what is more grievous, it is not when it leaves him that it surrounds him with dangers, but even before it leaves him, it disturbs and troubles him. For do not look at the one clothed in silk garments, and smelling of myrrh, and being served outwardly; but unfold his conscience, lay bare his mind while he is still rich, and you will see disturbances and troubles within. And when you see another falling in his fall, understand your own misfortune. γʹ. For what is more treacherous than human affairs? What I have often said, that it imitates the nature of river currents, at the same time it appears and runs past, at the same time it is held and leaps away. Do not be afraid, when a man becomes rich. Take this saying, 55.503 this spiritual song. For when envy enters, and the verse also enters, the word drives out the passion. Do not be afraid, when a man becomes rich. These my medicines do not require money, but they are heavenly. For I do not treat the body, but I heal the soul; and I speak not only of yours, but also of my own. For though I am a teacher, yet I am a man, subject to our common nature, providing a common teaching also. Do not be afraid, when a man becomes rich. Take this verse as a treasure and a foundation; take the verse as a root of wealth and abundance. For not being rich, but not wanting to be rich, this is wealth. Have you then understood what was said to you? The

Στῆθι ἐπὶ τῆς παρατάξεως, μόνον ὡπλισμένος· στῆθι ἐν τόπῳ ἁγίῳ, μόνον καθαρὰ ἔχων τὰ ὄμματα· ἔμβηθι εἰς τὸν λιμένα, μόνον μετ' ἀκριβείας σαλεύων τὸ πλοῖον. Ταῦτα ἐνταῦθα δύνασαι μαθεῖν· καὶ οὐ θέλεις, ἀλλ' ἐξέρχῃ ἐν παρατάξει κοσμικῇ γυμνὸς τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐντολῶν. Ἐννόησον ἡλίκον ἐστὶν ἐξιέναι ἀπὸ ἐκκλησίας πάντων τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ὑπερορῶντα, καὶ τὰ λυπηρὰ πατοῦντα, καὶ χρηστῶν ὑψηλότερον γινόμενον, οὔτε ἐν ἐκείνοις ἐπαιρόμενον, οὔτε ἐν τούτοις πιεζόμενον· οἷος ἦν ὁ Ἰὼβ, οὔτε ὑπὸ τῆς πενίας βαπτιζόμενος, οὔτε ὑπὸ τοῦ πλούτου ἐπαιρόμενος, ἀλλ' ἐν τῇ ἀνωμαλίᾳ τῶν πραγμάτων ἴσην τὴν ἑαυτοῦ γνώμην διατηρῶν. Ἐλθὲ, λάβε ὅπλον παρ' ἐμοῦ. Ποῖον δὲ ὅπλον; Ὃ πολλάκις σοι ἐγγυᾶται τὴν σωτηρίαν. Ἐξέρχῃ, καὶ βλέπεις ἄνθρωπον ἐφ' ἵππου ἐπαιρόμενον χρυσοχαλινώτου, καὶ πολλοὺς περὶ αὐτὸν τοὺς δορυφόρους· πάλιν εὐτελῆ τινα καὶ ἀπεῤῥιμμένον. Εἶτα εἰσέρχεταί σοι φθόνος διὰ τὸν πλούσιον· κατέχει σε βασκανία τοῦ πένητος. Προσέρχεταί σοι ὁ ∆αυῒδ, παρίσταταί σοι καὶ λέγει· Μὴ φοβοῦ, ὅταν πλουτήσῃ ἄνθρωπος. Ἔξελθε μετὰ τοῦ προφήτου, καὶ μὴ φοβοῦ. Ἄπελθε ὅπου λέγω σοι μετὰ τοῦ προφήτου, μετὰ τοῦ διδασκάλου, μετὰ τῆς βακτηρίας, μετὰ τοῦ κήρυκος. Μὴ φοβοῦ, ὅταν πλουτήσῃ ἄνθρωπος. Ἀλλ' ἐρεῖς· Τοῦτο παραινοῦντός ἐστι καὶ συμβουλεύοντος, καὶ τὰ δέοντα ἀποφαινομένου· εἰπέ μοι καὶ τὸν τρόπον, δι' ὃν οὐκ ὀφείλω φοβηθῆναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Ὅτι μιμεῖται τὴν φύσιν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἡ φύσις τοῦ πλούτου. Καὶ πῶς, ἐγὼ λέγω. Τί ἄνθρωπος; Ζῶον εὐτελὲς, ἐπίκηρον, ὀλιγοχρόνιον. Τοιοῦτον καὶ ὁ πλοῦτος· μᾶλλον δὲ οὐ τοιοῦτον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀσθενέστερον. Οὐ γὰρ μετὰ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τελευτᾷ πολλάκις, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τελευτᾷ. Καὶ ἴστε ὑμεῖς μυρία ἐπὶ τῇ πόλει ταύτῃ ὑποδείγματα τῆς τελευτῆς τοῦ ἀώρου πλούτου, καὶ μεμαθήκατε, ὅτι ὁ μὲν κεκτημένος ζῇ, τὸ δὲ κτῆμα ἀπώλετο· τελευτὴ γὰρ πλούτου μεταβολὴ πενίας. Ἐννόησον οὖν πῶς ὀλιγοχρόνιον τὸ κτῆμα. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ κεκτημένος ζῇ, τὸ δὲ κτῆμα ἀπώλετο, καὶ εἴθε ἀπώλετο μόνον, καὶ μὴ συναπώλεσε τὸν κεκτημένον. Οὐκοῦν οὐκ ἂν ἁμάρτοις τὸν πλοῦτον ἀγνώμονα οἰκέτην καλέσας, οἰκέτην αἱμοβόρον καὶ ἀνδροφόνον, οἰκέτην ἀμοιβὰς ἀποδιδόντα τῷ δεσπότῃ τὴν σφαγήν. Καὶ τὸ δὴ χαλεπώτερον, οὐχ ὅταν αὐτὸν καταλίπῃ, περιβάλλει κινδύνοις, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὶν ἢ καταλίπῃ αὐτὸν, θορυβεῖ αὐτὸν καὶ ταράττει. Μὴ γάρ μοι ἴδῃς τὸν τὰ σηρικὰ περιβεβλημένον ἱμάτια, καὶ μύρον πνέοντα, καὶ θεραπευόμενον ἔξωθεν· ἀλλ' ἀνάπτυξον αὐτοῦ τὸ συνειδὸς, γύμνωσον αὐτοῦ τὴν διάνοιαν ἔτι πλουτοῦντος, καὶ ὄψει ἔνδοθεν θορύβους καὶ ταραχάς. Ὅταν δὲ ἴδῃς ἕτερον πίπτοντα ἐν τῷ ἐκείνου πτώματι, τὴν οἰκείαν συμφορὰν καταμάνθανε. γʹ. Τί γὰρ σφαλερώτερον τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων πραγμάτων; Ὃ πολλάκις εἶπον, ὅτι ποταμίων ῥευμάτων μιμεῖται φύσιν, ὁμοῦ τε φαίνεται καὶ παρατρέχει, ὁμοῦ κατέχεται καὶ ἀποπηδᾷ. Μὴ φοβοῦ, ὅταν πλουτήσῃ ἄνθρωπος. Τοῦτον λάβε τὸν λόγον, 55.503 τὴν ᾠδὴν τὴν πνευματικήν. Ὅταν γὰρ εἰσέλθῃ ὁ φθόνος, ἐπεισέλθῃ δὲ καὶ ὁ στίχος, ἀπαλλάττει τὸ ῥῆμα τὸ πάθος. Μὴ φοβοῦ, ὅταν πλουτήσῃ ἄνθρωπος. Ταῦτά μου τὰ φάρμακα οὐ χρημάτων δεόμενα, ἀλλὰ οὐρανῶν. Οὐ γὰρ σῶμα θεραπεύω, ἀλλὰ ψυχὴν ἰατρεύω· οὐ τὴν ὑμετέραν δὲ λέγω μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ διδάσκαλός εἰμι, ἀλλ' ἄνθρωπός εἰμι, τῇ κοινῇ φύσει ὑποκείμενος, κοινὴν καὶ τὴν διδασκαλίαν παρέχων. Μὴ φοβοῦ, ὅταν πλουτήσῃ ἄνθρωπος. Λάβε τοῦτον τὸν στίχον θησαυρὸν καὶ ὑπόθεσιν· λάβε τὸν στίχον ῥίζαν πλούτου καὶ εὐπορίας. Οὐ γὰρ τὸ πλουτεῖν, ἀλλὰ τὸ μὴ βούλεσθαι πλουτεῖν, τοῦτό ἐστι πλοῦτος. Ἆρα συνήκατε τὸ λεχθὲν πρὸς ὑμᾶς; Ὁ