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inviting the Master of heaven to your table. God 54.620 is not ashamed of such suppers. For where there is spiritual teaching, there is also moderation and reverence and gentleness; where there is husband and wife and children and concord and friendship, and those bound by the chains of virtue, there Christ is in the midst. For he does not seek a golden roof, nor the gleam of columns, nor the beauty of marbles, but the beauty of the soul, and the comeliness of the mind, and a table full of righteousness, and bearing the fruits of almsgiving. And if he should see such a table, he quickly partakes of the gathering, and is present. For he himself is the one who said: You saw me hungry, and you fed me. When, therefore, you hear a poor man crying out loudly from below, then from the table of what is set before you give something to him who is in need, you have invited the Master through the servant to your table, you have filled it all with blessings, and through this first-fruit you have prepared the greatest occasion for your storehouses to be multiplied with many good things. But may the God of peace and love, who gives bread for food and seed to the sower, multiply your seed, and increase the fruits of righteousness in all of you, giving his grace, and may he count you worthy of the kingdom of heaven, which may we all attain by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father be glory, honor, power, with the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

SERMON 9. On how one must rebuke the sins of the brethren, and that it is necessary to provide for their salvation, and why Abram was called Abraham, and on the name of Noah; that the righteous were not called these names simply,

but by the economy of God.

1. If it were possible for you to know what has been said by us, and what has been left, and where we concluded the sermon previously, and from what point we must take it up today, I would have immediately made my introduction from the sequence of what was said before. But since many of those who heard us then are not present today, and many of those now present did not hear then, the difference in the audience makes it necessary to have an explanation of what we have said; for in this way the memory of these things will be more firmly fixed 54.621 for those who have followed the sermon from the beginning, by being reminded again of what they heard; and for those who were absent there will not be so great a loss, as the sermon makes the teaching more familiar to them from the start. And yet perhaps those who are always present might say that for this very reason one ought not to take up what has been said, so that those who were absent and despised the assemblies, having suffered the harm in deed, might become better, being disciplined by the loss. But I praise you, because you are so vexed over the indifference of the brethren, and I admire your zeal; but I wish you to temper this zeal with loving-kindness. For zeal deprived of forgiveness is not zeal, but rather anger, and admonition, not having loving-kindness, seems to be a kind of envy. For this reason I rather exhort you, not to judge the sins of your neighbors bitterly. For just as he who sees the wounds of his brethren without forgiveness, if ever he himself should sin, will find no one to grant him forgiveness; so he who judges the transgressions of his neighbors with mercy, if ever he should be tripped up, will see many stretching out a hand. And I say these things now, not wishing to increase the indifference of those who were absent, but the

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οὐρανῶν ∆εσπότην ἐπὶ τὴν τράπεζαν καλῶν τὴν σήν. Οὐκ 54.620 ἐπαισχύνεται τὰ τοιαῦτα δεῖπνα ὁ Θεός. Ἔνθα γὰρ διδασκαλία πνευματικὴ, ἐκεῖ καὶ σωφροσύνη καὶ σεμνότης καὶ ἐπιείκεια· ἔνθα ἀνὴρ καὶ γυνὴ καὶ παιδία καὶ ὁμόνοια καὶ φιλία. καὶ τοῖς τῆς ἀρετῆς συνδεδεμένοι δεσμοῖς, ἐκεῖ μέσος ὁ Χριστός. Οὐ γὰρ χρυσοῦν ὄροφον ζητεῖ, οὐδὲ ἀστραπὰς κιόνων, οὐδὲ κάλλη μαρμάρων, ἀλλὰ ψυχῆς ὥραν, καὶ διανοίας εὐμορφίαν, καὶ τράπεζαν δικαιοσύνης γέμουσαν, καὶ ἐλεημοσύνης καρποὺς ἔχουσαν. Κἂν ἴδῃ τοιαύτην τράπεζαν, ταχέως κοινωνεῖ τοῦ συλλόγου, καὶ παραγίνεται. Καὶ γὰρ αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ εἰρηκώς· Πεινῶντά με εἴδετε, καὶ ἐθρέψατε. Ὅταν οὖν ἀκούσῃς πένητος κάτωθεν μεγάλα βοῶντος, εἶτα ἀπὸ τῆς τραπέζης τῶν προκειμένων δῷς τι τῷ δεομένῳ, τὸν ∆εσπότην ἐκάλεσας διὰ τοῦ δούλου πρὸς τὴν τράπεζαν τὴν σὴν, πᾶσαν αὐτὴν εὐλογιῶν ἐνέπλησας, καὶ διὰ τῆς ἀπαρχῆς ἀφορμὴν μεγίστην τοῦ πληθύνεσθαί σοι τὰ ταμεῖα ἀγαθῶν πολλῶν παρεσκεύασας. Ὁ δὲ Θεὸς τῆς εἰρήνης καὶ τῆς ἀγάπης, ὁ διδοὺς ἄρτον εἰς βρῶσιν, καὶ σπέρμα τῷ σπείροντι, πληθύνοι τὸν σπόρον ὑμῶν, καὶ αὐξήσειε τὰ γεννήματα τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἐν πᾶσιν ὑμῖν, τὴν παρ' αὐτοῦ χάριν διδοὺς, καὶ καταξιώσειε τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν, ἧς γένοιτο πάντα ἡμᾶς ἐπιτυχεῖν χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, μεθ' οὗ Πατρὶ δόξα, τιμὴ, κράτος, σὺν τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

ΛΟΓΟΣ Θʹ. Εἰς τὸ, πῶς δεῖ ἐπιτιμᾷν τοῖς τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἁμαρτήμασι, καὶ ὅτι χρὴ τῆς τούτων σωτηρίας προνοεῖν, καὶ διὰ τί Ἄβραμ Ἀβραὰμ ἐκλήθη, καὶ εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Νῶε· ὅτι οὐχ ἁπλῶς ταῦτα οἱ δίκαιοι ἐκαλοῦντο τὰ ὀνόματα,

ἀλλὰ τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ οἰκονομίᾳ.

αʹ. Εἰ μὲν ἦν δυνατὸν ὑμῖν εἰδέναι, τί μὲν ἡμῖν εἴρηται, τί δὲ ὑπολέλειπται, καὶ ποῦ μὲν τὸν λόγον κατε λύσαμεν πρώην, πόθεν δὲ αὐτὸν σήμερον ἀνελέσθαι χρὴ, εὐθέως τὰ προοίμια ἀπὸ τῆς ἀκολουθίας τῶν πρώην εἰρημένων ἐποιησάμην ἄν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ τῶν τότε ἀκηκοότων ἡμῶν πολλοὶ σήμερον οὐ παρήκασι, καὶ τῶν νῦν παρόντων τότε οὐκ ἤκουσαν, τὸ διάφορον τῶν ἀκροατῶν ἀναγκαίαν ποιεῖ γενέσθαι τῶν εἰρημένων ἡμῖν τὴν ἐξήγησιν· οὕτω γὰρ καὶ τοῖς ἐξ ἀρχῆς παρηκολουθηκόσι τῷ λόγῳ μᾶλλον ἐμπαγή 54.621 σεται τούτων ἡ μνήμη, πάλιν ἀναμιμνησκομένοις ὧν ἤκουσαν· καὶ τοῖς ἀπολειφθεῖσιν οὐ τοσαύτη ἔσται βλάβη, τοῦ λόγου γνωριμωτέραν αὐτοῖς ἄνωθεν ποιοῦντος τὴν διδασκαλίαν. Καὶ μὴν ἴσως ἂν εἴποιεν οἱ ἀεὶ παραγινόμενοι, ὅτι δι' αὐτὸ μὲν οὖν τοῦτο οὐκ ἐχρῆν ἀναλαβεῖν τὰ εἰρημένα, ἵνα ἀπολειφθέντες καὶ τῶν συνάξεων καταφρονήσαντες, ἔργῳ τὴν βλάβην ὑπομείναντες, βελτίους γένωνται, τῇ ζημίᾳ σωφρονιζόμενοι. Ἐγὼ δὲ ἐπαινῶ μὲν ὑμᾶς, ὅτι οὕτω δάκνεσθε ὑπὲρ τῆς ῥᾳθυμίας τῶν ἀδελφῶν, καὶ τὸν ζῆλον θαυμάζω· βούλομαι δὲ καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τὸν ζῆλον ὑμᾶς κεράσαι τοῦτον. Ζῆλος γὰρ συγγνώμης ἀπεστερημένος, οὐ ζῆλος, ἀλλὰ θυμὸς μᾶλλόν ἐστι, καὶ νουθεσία, φιλανθρωπίαν οὐκ ἔχουσα, βασκανία τις εἶναι δοκεῖ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ὑμᾶς μᾶλλον παρακαλῶ, μὴ πικρῶς τὰ τῶν πλησίον κρίνειν ἁμαρτήματα. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ χωρὶς συγγνώμης ὁρῶν τὰ τῶν ἀδελφῶν τραύματα, εἴ ποτε καὶ αὐτὸς ἁμάρτοι, οὐδένα εὑρήσει τὸν συγγνώμην αὐτῷ νέμοντα· οὕτως ὁ μετ' ἐλέου δικάζων τοῖς τῶν πλησίον παραπτώμασιν, εἴ ποτε ὑποσκελισθείη, πολλοὺς ὄψεται τοὺς χεῖρα ὀρέγοντας. Καὶ ταῦτα λέγω νῦν, οὐ τὴν ῥᾳθυμίαν τῶν ἀπολειφθέντων αὐξῆσαι βουλόμενος, ἀλλὰ τὴν