John Chrysostom, On the Change of Names

God, being without need, and wishing to show you that, needing none of our things, He desires our servitude, but looking to one thing alone, our benefit, and not for His own need's sake, but does all things for our advantage, if we approach Him willingly and with resolve and with gratitude for this servitude; He does not compel or force those who are unwilling and who leap away, showing this very thing, that it is not He who owes us thanks for our servitude, but we who owe Him thanks for His lordship. Knowing these things, therefore, and understanding the Master's love for mankind, let us display a manner of life worthy of His goodness, according to our ability, so that we may also obtain the kingdom of heaven; of which may we all be deemed worthy to attain, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the power, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. REBUKE Against those who were absent, an exhortation to those present, concerning caring for the brethren, and on the introduction to the epistle to the Corinthians,

"Paul, called," and concerning humility.

1. Whenever I look upon your small number and see the flock diminishing at each gathering, I am both disheartened and I rejoice; I rejoice because of you who are present, but I am disheartened because of those who are absent. For you are worthy of praise, not having become more slothful because of the small number; but they are liable to charges, not being stirred to zeal even by your diligence. For this reason I call you blessed and say you are to be emulated, because their neglect has not harmed 51.144 you at all; but them I call wretched and I weep, because your diligence has not benefited them at all. For they have not heard the prophet saying: I have chosen to be cast aside in the house of God, rather than to dwell in the tents of sinners. He did not say, I have chosen to dwell in the house of my God, nor to spend time, nor to enter; but, I have chosen to be cast aside. It is beloved to me even to be ranked among the last; I am content with this, even if I am deemed worthy to set foot on the 51.145 threshold, he says; I consider it the greatest gift, even if someone should number me among the last in the house of my God. Longing makes the common Master one's own; for such is love. In the house of my God. He who loves desires to see not only the one he loves, but also his house, and even his gateway; not only the gateway of the house, but the very narrow street and the lane; and if he sees a cloak or a sandal of the beloved, he thinks the beloved himself is present. Such were the prophets; since they did not see the incorporeal God, they saw the house, and through the house they imagined His presence. I have chosen to be cast aside in the house of my God, rather than to dwell in the tents of sinners. Every place, every space, in comparison to the house of God, is a tent of sinners, whether you speak of a courtroom, or a council-chamber, or each man's house. For even if prayers are made there, or supplications, yet of necessity there are also contentions and fights and revilings, and gatherings for the cares of this life; but this house is pure from all these things; for this reason, those are tents of sinners, but this is the house of God; and just as a harbor, free from winds and waves, provides great safety to the ships that anchor there, so also the house of God, snatching those who enter as from some storm of external affairs, allows them to stand with great calm and safety, and to listen to the divine oracles.

Θεὸς ἀνενδεὴς ὢν, καὶ βουλόμενός σοι δεῖξαι, ὅτι οὐδενὸς τῶν ἡμετέρων δεόμενος, τῆς δουλείας ἡμῶν ἐφίεται, ἀλλ' εἰς ἓν μόνον σκοπῶν τὸ συμφέρον ἡμῖν, καὶ οὐ τῆς αὐτοῦ χρείας ἕνεκεν, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἡμετέρας ὠφελείας ἅπαντα πράττει, ἂν μὲν ἑκόντες καὶ βουλόμενοι καὶ χάριν αὐτῷ τῆς δουλείας εἰδότες προσέλθωμεν· ἄκοντας καὶ ἀποπηδῶντας οὐκ ἀναγκάζει, οὐδὲ βιάζεται, αὐτὸ τοῦτο δεικνὺς, ὅτι οὐκ αὐτὸς ἡμῖν χάριν τῆς δουλείας, ἀλλ' ἡμεῖς αὐτῷ χάριν τῆς δεσποτείας ἔχειν ὀφείλομεν. Ταῦτ' οὖν εἰδότες, καὶ τὴν τοῦ ∆εσπότου φιλανθρωπίαν ἐννοοῦντες, ἀξίαν αὐτοῦ τῆς ἀγαθότητος κατὰ δύναμιν τὴν ἡμετέραν πολιτείαν ἐπιδειξώμεθα, ἵνα καὶ τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν ἐπιτύχωμεν· ἧς γένοιτο πάντας ἡμᾶς ἐπιτυχεῖν, χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος, ἅμα τῷ Πατρὶ καὶ τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν. ΕΠΙΤΙΜΗΣΙΣ Κατὰ τῶν ἀπολειφθέντων, παραίνεσις πρὸς τοὺς παρόντας, εἰς τὸ κήδεσθαι τῶν ἀδελφῶν, καὶ εἰς τὸ προοίμιον τῆς πρὸς Κορινθίους

ἐπιστολῆς, "Παῦλος κλητὸς," καὶ περὶ ταπεινοφροσύνης.

αʹ. Ὅταν εἰς τὴν ὀλιγότητα ἀπίδω τὴν ὑμετέραν καὶ τὸ ποίμνιον θεάσωμαι καθ' ἑκάστην σύναξιν ἐλαττούμενον, καὶ ἀθυμῶ, καὶ χαίρω· χαίρω μὲν δι' ὑμᾶς τοὺς παρόντας, ἀθυμῶ δὲ δι' ἐκείνους τοὺς ἀπόντας. Ὑμεῖς μὲν γὰρ ἐπαίνων ἄξιοι, οὐδὲ ἀπὸ τῆς ὀλιγότητος ῥᾳθυμότεροι γενόμενοι· ἐκεῖνοι δὲ ὑπεύθυνοι ἐγκλημάτων, οὐδὲ ἀπὸ τῆς ὑμετέρας σπουδῆς εἰς προθυμίαν διεγειρόμενοι. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ὑμᾶς μὲν μακαρίζω καὶ ζηλωτοὺς εἶναί φημι, ὅτι οὐδὲν ὑμᾶς 51.144 παρέβλαψεν ἡ ἐκείνων ὀλιγωρία· ἐκείνους δὲ ταλανίζω καὶ δακρύω, ὅτι οὐδὲν αὐτοὺς ὠφέλησεν ἡ ὑμετέρα σπουδή. Οὐκ ἤκουσαν γὰρ τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος· Ἐξελεξάμην παραῤῥιπτεῖσθαι ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἢ οἰκεῖν με ἐν σκηνώμασιν ἁμαρτωλῶν. Οὐκ εἶπεν, Ἐξελεξάμην κατοικεῖν ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ μου, οὐδὲ, διατρίβειν, οὐδὲ, εἰσιέναι· ἀλλ', Ἐξελεξάμην παραῤῥιπτεῖσθαι. Ἀγαπητόν μοι καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐσχάτοις τετάχθαι· στέργω ἐν τούτῳ, κἂν τῶν προ 51.145 θύρων ἐπιβῆναι καταξιωθῶ, φησί· μεγίστην ἡγοῦμαι δωρεὰν, κἄν με τῶν τελευταίων ἀριθμήσειέ τις ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ μου. Τὸν κοινὸν ∆εσπότην ὁ πόθος ἴδιον ποιεῖται· τοιοῦτον γὰρ ἡ ἀγάπη. Ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ μου. Ὁ φιλῶν οὐχὶ τὸν φιλούμενον μόνον ἐπιθυμεῖ ἰδεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν οἶκον ἐκείνου μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν πυλῶνα· οὐχὶ τὸν πυλῶνα τῆς οἰκίας μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν στενωπὸν καὶ τὸ ἄμφοδον· καὶ κἂν ἱμάτιον, κἂν ὑπόδημα ἴδῃ τοῦ φιλουμένου, αὐτὸν νομίζει παρεῖναι τὸν φιλούμενον. Τοιοῦτοι ἦσαν οἱ προφῆται· ἐπειδὴ τὸν Θεὸν οὐχ ἑώρων τὸν ἀσώματον, ἑώρων τὸν οἶκον, καὶ διὰ τοῦ οἴκου τὴν ἐκείνου παρουσίαν ἐφαντάζοντο. Ἐξελεξάμην παραῤῥιπτεῖσθαι ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ μου μᾶλλον, ἢ οἰκεῖν με ἐν σκηνώμασιν ἁμαρτωλῶν. Ἕκαστος τόπος, ἕκαστον χωρίον, πρὸς τὴν σύγκρισιν τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ Θεοῦ, σκήνωμα ἁμαρτωλῶν ἐστι, κἂν δικαστήριον εἴπῃς, κἂν βουλευτήριον, κἂν τὴν ἑκάστου οἰκίαν. Κἂν γὰρ εὐχαὶ γίνωνται ἐκεῖ, κἂν ἱκετηρίαι, ἀλλ' ἀνάγκη καὶ φιλονεικίας γίνεσθαι καὶ μάχας καὶ λοιδορίας, καὶ συλλόγους ὑπὲρ βιωτικῶν φροντίδων· ὁ δὲ οἶκος οὗτος τούτων καθαρεύει πάντων· διὰ τοῦτο, ἐκεῖνα μὲν σκηνώματα ἁμαρτωλῶν, οὗτος δὲ οἶκος τοῦ Θεοῦ· καὶ καθάπερ λιμὴν πνευμάτων καὶ κυμάτων ἀπηλλαγμένος πολλὴν τοῖς ὁρμιζομένοις πλοίοις παρέχει τὴν ἀσφάλειαν, οὕτω δὴ καὶ ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ οἶκος, ὥσπερ ἀπό τινος χειμῶνος τῶν ἔξωθεν πραγμάτων τοὺς εἰσιόντας ἐξαρπάζων, μετὰ πολλῆς παρέχει τῆς γαλήνης καὶ τῆς ἀσφαλείας ἑστάναι, καὶ τῶν θείων ἀκροᾶσθαι λογίων.