Gregory of Nazianzus, On Love for the Poor

you may add. For this is to receive, to be given to God; however much you bring in, what is left is always more; and you will give nothing of your own, because all things are from God. And just as it is not possible to step over one's own shadow, which retreats as we advance, and always keeps the same distance ahead; nor to get above one's own head, a bodily mass always lying over 35.888 the body; so neither by what we give can we conquer God. For we give nothing that is outside of what is His, nor beyond His generosity.

ΚΓʹ. Know from where you have your being, your breathing, your thinking, and that which is greatest, to know God, to hope for the kingdom of heaven, equality with angels, the vision of glory, now indeed in a mirror and in riddles, but then more perfect and more pure; to become a son of God, a co-heir with Christ, and, if I may dare say so, God himself? From where do you have all these things, and from whom? Or, to speak of lesser and visible things, who gave you to see the beauty of the heavens, the course of the sun, the circle of the moon, the multitude of stars, and in all these, as on a lyre, the well-tuned harmony and unchanging order, the changes of seasons, the variations of climes, the cycles of years, the equal measure of day and night, the growths of the earth, the diffusion of the air, the breadths of the sea, both loose and stable, the depths of rivers, the currents of winds? Who gave the rains, agriculture, foods, arts, dwellings, laws, governments, a civilized life, intimacy with kindred? From where is it that of the animals, some are tamed and yoked for you, while others are given for food? Who established you as lord and king of all things upon the earth? Who, not to speak of each thing, granted all by which man excels other creatures? Was it not He, who now before all and in place of all asks from you loving-kindness? Then are we not ashamed if, having received so much from Him, and hoping for more, we will not contribute this one thing to God, loving-kindness? But while He separated us from the beasts, and honored us alone of those on earth with reason, shall we make beasts of ourselves, and be so corrupted by luxury, or have gone mad, or—I know not what to say—that along with the barley-cake and the bran, which perhaps we have ill-gotten, we will think our nature to be better than theirs? And just as there was of old, as far as the myths go, a race of giants and of other men; so shall we be to these men lofty and more than human, like that Nimrod, or the race of Anak, which long ago afflicted Israel, or those for whose sake the flood cleansed the earth? And He is not ashamed to be called our Father, though He is God and Lord; but shall we deny our own kindred? 35.889

Κ∆ʹ. By no means, O friends and brothers, let us not become evil stewards of what has been given to us, lest we hear Peter saying: Be ashamed, you who hold on to what belongs to others, and imitate the equality of God, and no one will be poor. Let us not labor at hoarding and guarding, while others are laboring in poverty, lest on the one hand, the divine Amos reproach and threaten us bitterly in these words: 'Come now, you who say, "When will the month be over, that we may sell; and the sabbaths, that we may open our treasures?"' and what follows, by which he directs the wrath of God against those who acquire with a large and small measure; and on the other hand, the blessed Micah, perhaps cutting off luxury itself, as satiety begets insolence, and the squandering on ivory couches, and being effeminate with the choicest ointments, and being fattened on tender calves from the herds and kids from the flocks, and applauding to the sound of instruments, and still more, thinking that any of these things is stable and permanent; yet perhaps considering these things not so dreadful as that, while they live in luxury, they feel nothing for the affliction of Joseph; for he adds this to the accusation of satiety; which may we not suffer now, nor live in such luxury as to despise even the loving-kindness of God, who is displeased by these things, even if He does not bring his wrath upon sinners at once, nor at the same time as their wickedness.

προσθῇς. Καὶ τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι λαβεῖν, τὸ τῷ Θεῷ δοθῆναι· ὅσον ἐὰν εἰσενέγκῃς, πλεῖον ἀεὶ τὸ λειπόμενον· καὶ οὐδὲν δώσεις ἴδιον, ὅτι τὰ πάντα παρὰ Θεοῦ. Καὶ ὥσπερ οὐκ ἔστιν ὑπερ βῆναι τὴν ἑαυτοῦ σκιὰν ὑποχωροῦσαν καθόσον πρό ιμεν, καὶ τὸ ἴσον ἀεὶ προέχουσαν· οὐδὲ ὑπὲρ τὴν κεφαλὴν γενέσθαι σώματος μέγεθος ὑπερκειμένην 35.888 ἀεὶ τοῦ σώματος· οὕτως οὐδὲ οἷς δίδομεν νικῆσαι Θεόν. Οὐ γὰρ ἔξω τι τῶν αὐτοῦ δίδομεν, οὐδὲ ὑπὲρ τὴν ἐκείνου φιλοτιμίαν.

ΚΓʹ. Γνῶθι πόθεν σοι τὸ εἶναι, τὸ ἀναπνεῖν, τὸ φρο νεῖν, αὐτὸ τὸ μέγιστον, τὸ γινώσκειν Θεὸν, βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν ἐλπίζειν, ἀγγέλων ἰσοτιμίαν, δόξης θεω ρίαν, νῦν μὲν τὴν ἐν ἐσόπτροις τε καὶ αἰνίγμα σι, τότε δὲ τὴν τελεωτέραν τε καὶ καθαρωτέραν· υἱὸν γενέσθαι Θεοῦ, συγκληρονόμον Χριστοῦ, τολμή σας εἴπω, καὶ θεὸν αὐτόν; Πόθεν σοι ταῦτα πάντα, καὶ παρὰ τίνος; Ἢ, ἵνα τὰ μικρὰ λέγω καὶ τὰ ὁρώ μενα, τίς ἔδωκέ σοι κάλλος οὐρανοῦ βλέπειν, ἡλίου δρόμον, σελήνης κύκλον, ἀστέρων πλῆθος, καὶ τὴν ἐν τούτοις πᾶσιν, ὥσπερ ἐν λύρᾳ, εὐαρμοστίαν καὶ τάξιν ὡσαύτως ἔχουσαν, ὡρῶν ἀλλαγὰς, μεταβο λὰς καιρῶν, ἐνιαυτῶν περιόδους, ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς ἰσομοιρίαν, γῆς ἐκφύσεις, ἀέρος χύσιν, πλάτη θαλάττης λελυμένης καὶ ἱσταμένης, βάθη ποταμῶν, ἀνέμων ῥεύματα; Τίς ὑετοὺς, γεωργίαν, τροφὰς, τέχνας, οἰκήσεις, νόμους, πολιτείας, βίον ἥμε ρον, οἰκείωσιν πρὸς τὸ συγγενές; Πόθεν σοι τῶν ζώων τὰ μὲν ἡμέρωται καὶ ὑπέζευκται, τὰ δὲ τροφῇ παραδέδοται; Τίς σε κύριον καὶ βασιλέα πάντων κατ έστησε τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς; Τίς, ἵνα μὴ καθ' ἕκα στον λέγω, πάντα, οἷς προέχει τῶν ἄλλων ἄνθρωπος, ἐδωρήσατο; Οὐχ οὗτος, ὃς νῦν πρὸ πάντων καὶ ἀντὶ πάντων αἰτεῖ παρὰ σοῦ τὸ φιλάνθρωπον; Εἶτα οὐκ αἰσχυνόμεθα, εἰ τοσαῦτα παρ' αὐτοῦ, τὰ μὲν λαβόν τες, τὰ δὲ ἐλπίζοντες, μηδὲ ἓν τοῦτο εἰσοίσομεν τῷ Θεῷ, τὸ φιλάνθρωπον; Ἀλλ' ὁ μὲν τῶν θηρίων ἡμᾶς ἐχώρισε, καὶ λόγῳ μόνους τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς ἐτίμησεν· ἡμεῖς δὲ ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς θηριώσομεν, καὶ το σοῦτον ὑπὸ τῆς τρυφῆς διεφθάρμεθα, ἢ μεμήναμεν, ἢ, οὐκ ἔχω τί λέγειν, ὥστε ὁμοῦ τῇ μάζῃ καὶ τοῖς πιτύροις, ἃ κακῶς ἴσως ἐπορισάμεθα, καὶ τὴν φύσιν εἶναι βελτίους αὐτῶν οἰησόμεθα; Καὶ ὥσ περ ἦν τι τὸ παλαιὸν, ὅσον ἐπὶ τοῖς μύθοις, γέ νος γιγάντων καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἀνθρώπων· οὕτω καὶ ἡμεῖς τούτοις ἐσόμεθα ὑψηλοί τε καὶ ὑπὲρ ἄνθρωπον, οἷον Νεβρὼδ ἐκεῖνος, ἢ τὸ τοῦ Ἐνὰκ γένος, ἐκ θλίβον πάλαι τὸν Ἰσραὴλ, ἢ δι' οὓς ὁ κατακλυ σμὸς τὴν γῆν ἐκάθηρεν; Καὶ ὁ μὲν οὐκ αἰσχύνε ται Πατὴρ ἡμῶν καλεῖσθαι, Θεὸς ὢν καὶ ∆εσπό της· ἡμεῖς δὲ καὶ τὸ συγγενὲς ἀρνησόμεθα; 35.889

Κ∆ʹ. Μηδαμῶς, ὦ φίλοι καὶ ἀδελφοὶ, μὴ γενώμεθα κακοὶ τῶν δοθέντων ἡμῖν οἰκονόμοι, ἵνα μὴ ἀκούωμεν Πέτρου λέγοντος· Αἰσχύνθητε, οἱ κατ έχοντες τὰ ἀλλότρια, καὶ μιμήσασθε ἰσότητα Θεοῦ, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἔσται πένης. Μὴ κάμνωμεν θη σαυρίζοντες καὶ φυλάσσοντες, ἄλλων πενίᾳ καμνόν των, μὴ ὀνειδίσῃ καὶ ἀπειλήσῃ πικρῶς ἡμῖν, ἔνθεν μὲν ὁ θεῖος Ἀμὼς ἐν τούτοις τοῖς ῥήμα σιν· Ἄγε νῦν, οἱ λέγοντες· Πότε διελεύσεται ὁ μὴν, καὶ ἐμπωλήσωμεν· καὶ τὰ Σάββατα, καὶ ἀν οίξωμεν θησαυρούς; καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τούτοις, δι' ὧν τοῖς μέγα καὶ μικρὸν στάθμιον κτωμένοις, τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ μῆνιν ἐπανατείνεται· ἔνθεν δὲ ὁ μακάριος Μι χαίας, τάχα μὲν καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν τρυφὴν ἐπικό πτων, ὡς τοῦ κόρου τὴν ὕβριν τίκτοντος, καὶ τὸ κα τασπαταλᾷν ἐπὶ κλινῶν ἐλεφαντίνων, καὶ τοῖς πρώ τοις τῶν μύρων θρύπτεσθαι, μόσχοις τε ἁπαλοῖς ἐκ βουκολίων καὶ ἐρίφοις ἐκ ποιμνίων πιαίνεσθαι, καὶ πρὸς τὴν φωνὴν τῶν ὀργάνων ἐπικροτεῖν, καὶ ἔτι μᾶλλον τὸ οἴεσθαι στάσιμόν τι τούτων εἶναι καὶ μό νιμον· τάχα δὲ οὐχ οὕτω ταῦτα δεινὰ νομίζων, ὡς τὸ μηδὲν πάσχειν ἐπὶ τῇ συντριβῇ τοῦ Ἰωσὴφ αὐτοὺς τρυφῶντας· τοῦτο γὰρ τῇ τῆς πλησμονῆς κατηγορίᾳ προστίθησιν· ὃ μὴ πάθωμεν νῦν ἡμεῖς, μηδὲ τοσοῦτον τρυφήσωμεν, ὥστε καὶ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλαν θρωπίας καταφρονεῖν τούτοις δυσχεραίνοντος, κἂν μὴ παρὰ πόδας, μηδὲ ὁμοῦ τῇ κακίᾳ τὴν ὀργὴν ἐπάγῃ τοῖς ἁμαρτάνουσιν.