Sermon 86

SERMO 86

On the words of the Gospel Matthew 19:21:
"Go, sell everything you have, and give to the poor," and so on.

The treasure to be placed in heaven.

The Gospel has reminded us by the present reading to speak to your Charity about the heavenly treasure. For indeed, unlike the faithless greedy ones think, our God did not wish to make us lose our possessions: if that which is commanded to us be well understood, piously believed, and devoutly accepted, He did not command us to lose them but showed the place where to put them. For no one can think except about his treasure and follow his wealth with a certain journey of the heart. Therefore, if they are buried in the earth, the heart seeks the abyss; but if they are reserved in heaven, the heart will be on high. Therefore, if Christians want to do what they also profess to know: for not all who hear this know it; and would that those who know it not know it in vain: he who therefore wants to have his heart on high, let him place there, there what he loves; and being placed on earth in the flesh, let him dwell with Christ in the heart: and as the head of the Church has gone before it, so let the heart of the Christian go before him. Just as the limbs are to go where the head Christ has gone before, so the heart of man, having risen again, will go where it has now gone before. Let us, therefore, go from here as far as we can: our whole being will follow where something of ourselves has gone ahead. The earthly house is ruinous: the heavenly house is eternal. Let us migrate in advance to where we plan to come.

Seeking the counsel of salvation, but not gladly listening.

We heard about a certain rich man seeking advice from the Good Teacher on how to attain eternal life. What he loved was great, but what he was unwilling to disdain was worthless. Thus, with a perverted heart, he listened to him whom he had already called a good teacher, and with greater love for worthlessness, he lost possession of charity. Unless he wished to obtain eternal life, he would not have sought advice on having eternal life. What then is it, brothers, that he rejected the words from the faithful teaching of the one whom he himself had called a good teacher? That teacher is good before he teaches; when he teaches, is he bad? He was called good before he taught. He did not hear what he wanted, but he heard what he needed: he came desiring, but he left sad. What if he had been told: Lose what you have? When he left sad, because it was said, Keep well what you have. Go, he said, sell all that you have, and give to the poor. Perhaps you are afraid of losing? Look at what follows: And you will have treasure in heaven. Perhaps you had set some servant to guard your treasures: your guard for your gold will be your God. He who gave on earth guards in heaven. Perhaps he would not have doubted to entrust what he had to Christ, and thus he was saddened because it was said to him: Give to the poor, as if saying in his heart, If you had said, Give to me, I would keep it for you in heaven; I would not hesitate to give to my Lord, the good teacher: but now you have said: Give to the poor.

What is given to the poor, God receives.

No one should fear to give to the poor; no one should think that he is giving to the one whose hand he sees. He receives who commanded you to give. Neither do we say this from our own heart or human conjecture: hear him himself both advising you and writing security for you. "I was hungry," he says, "and you gave me to eat." And when, after enumerating their deeds, they responded: "When did we see you hungry?" he replied: "When you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me." The poor man begs, but the rich man receives: you give to him who consumes, he receives who repays. Nor will he repay with what he has received: he wanted to be a lender, he promises more than you have given. Uncover now your avarice, think of yourself as a moneylender. Certainly if you were, you would be scolded by the Church, confounded by the word of God, all your brothers would curse you as a cruel moneylender, desiring to gain from the tears of others. Be a moneylender, no one prohibits you. You wish to give to the poor, who when he repays will lament: give to the worthy, who even encourages you to accept what he promises.

God himself is appropriate as creditors so that they may receive.

Give to God, and meet God. Indeed, give to God, and you shall be received. Certainly, you sought your debtor on earth: and he too sought, but where to hide himself from your face. You approached the judge and said, "Order my debtor to be summoned." Upon hearing this, he departs, and does not even seek to greet you: to whom perhaps, in his need, you had offered help by lending him support. Therefore, you have someone to give to. Give to Christ; he meets you freely, so that you may receive, and marveling, because he received something from you. For those on the right side he himself will freely say: "Come, blessed of my Father." Whither? "Come, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." For what reason? "I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink; I was naked, and you clothed me; a stranger, and you took me in; sick and in prison, and you visited me." And they: "Lord, when did we see you?" What is this? The debtor meets, and the creditors excuse. The faithful debtor does not want them to be deceived. Do you hesitate to receive? I have received, and you are unaware? And he responds how he received: "When you did it for one of the least of these my brothers, you did it for me." I did not receive personally: I received through my brethren. What was given to them has reached me: be secure, you have not lost. You looked upon the less worthy on earth: you have a worthy one in Heaven. I, he says, have received, I will repay.

What Christ gives in exchange for earthly things.

And what have I received? What shall I give back? I was hungry, he says, and you gave me food, and so forth. I received the earth, I will give heaven: I received temporal things, I will restore eternal things: I received bread, I will give life. In fact, let us also say this, I received bread, I will give bread: I received drink, I will give drink: I received shelter, I will give a home: I was visited when sick, I will give health: I was visited in prison, I will give freedom. The bread that you gave to my poor, was consumed: the bread that I will give, both restores and does not fail. Therefore let him give us the bread, that bread which descended from heaven. When he gives bread, he will give himself.

What did you want, then, when you lent money? To give money and to receive money: but to give less and to receive more. God says to you, I will exchange everything you have given for the better. For if you were to give a pound of silver and receive a pound of gold, how much joy would you feel? Look and ask greed: I gave a pound of silver, I receive a pound of gold. What is similar between silver and gold? More so, what is similar between earth and heaven? And you were going to leave behind both gold and silver here: but you were not going to remain here forever. And I will give another, and I will give more, and I will give better, and I will give eternal. So, let our greed be restrained, brothers, so that what is holy may be kindled. Completely what prohibits you from doing good speaks to you badly: you want to serve a bad mistress, not recognizing the good Lord. And sometimes two mistresses occupy the heart, and they tear apart the bad servant worthy of serving such, in different directions.

Greed and luxury, two mistresses giving opposite commands.

Sometimes a man is possessed by two opposing mistresses, greed and luxury. Greed says: Save; luxury says: Spend. Under two masters ordering different things, demanding different things, what will you do? Both have their own persuasive arguments. And when you begin to refuse to obey and to go into your own freedom; since they cannot command, they flatter. And their flatteries are more to be feared than their commands. What does greed say? Save for yourself, save for your children. If you are in need, no one will give to you. Do not live for the moment: plan for your future. On the other hand, luxury says: Live while you live, do good for your soul. You are going to die, and you do not know when: to whom you will leave your possessions, whether he will possess them, you do not know. You take away and deprive from your own throat: perhaps once you are dead, he will not even place a cup over you; or if he places a cup, he himself will be drunk, no drop will fall to you. Therefore, do good for your soul while you can, when you can. Greed orders one thing: Save for yourself, plan for the future. Luxury orders another: Spend, do good for your soul.

Christ frees from their yoke.

Be weary, o book called to freedom; be weary of the servitude of such mistresses. Acknowledge your Redeemer, your Liberator. Those servants: He commands easier things, He does not command contrary things. I dare to say more. Avarice and lust were commanding contrary things, so that you could not obey both: and one was saying, Preserve for yourself, and provide for the future: the other was saying, Spend, do well for your soul. May your Lord proceed saying the same, and your Redeemer not commanding contrary things. If you should refuse, his house does not need one who serves unwillingly. Attend to your Redeemer, attend to your price. He came to redeem, He shed blood. He held you dear, whom He purchased at such a high price. You acknowledge who has purchased, attend to what He redeems. I am silent about the other vices proudly dominating you: for you were serving innumerable evil masters. I speak of these two commanding contrary things, pulling in different directions, avarice and lust. Rescue yourself from these, come to your God. If you were a slave to iniquity, be a slave to righteousness. The words they were saying to you, and commanding contrary things, you hear the same from your Lord, and He does not command contrary things. He does not remove their words, but removes their power. What was avarice saying to you? Preserve for yourself, provide for the future. The word is not changed, the man is changed. Now if it pleases, compare those who offer counsel. That is avarice, this is righteousness.

The counsel of avarice is imprudent.

Discuss contrary things. Greed says, "Save for yourself." Suppose you want to obey: ask where to save. It will show you a fortified place, a walled chamber, an iron chest. Fortify everything: perhaps a domestic thief will even break through the innermost parts; and while you take care of your money, you will fear for your life. Perhaps while you save much, he who wants to seize it also thinks of killing. Finally, although you fortify your treasure and your clothing with whatever defense against thieves; fortify them against rust and moths. What will you do? There is no external enemy taking it away, but an internal one consuming it.

Another foolish plan.

Therefore, greed did not give good advice. Behold, it commanded you to save, and it did not find a place to give where you could save. Let it also say consequently, Plan for the future. For how much of the future? For a few uncertain days. It says, Plan for the future, to a man who perhaps will not live until tomorrow. But behold, let him live as much as greed thinks, not as much as it shows, not as much as it teaches, not as much as it trusts: but as much as it thinks he will have lived, grown old, and finished his life; still the old man, bent over, leaning on a staff, seeks profit, and hears greed saying, Plan for the future. For which future? It speaks now to the dying. Because of your sons, it says. If only at least we would have those old men who are not greedy, who do not have sons. Even to them, even to such, even to those not excusing their own inequity with any image of piety, it does not cease to say, Plan for the future. But perhaps they are quickly ashamed: let us see those who have sons, whether they are certain their sons will possess what they have left behind. Let them pay attention while they live, to the sons of others, some losing what they had through the wickedness of others, some squandering what they possessed through their own wickedness: and the children of the rich remain poor. Stingy, tenacious slaves of greed. But my sons will possess this, it says. It is uncertain: I do not say it is false; but what you have done is uncertain. Finally, make it certain: what do you want to leave them? What you acquired for yourself. Surely what you acquired was not left to you, and you have it. If you could have what was not left to you, then they can also have what you do not leave them.

The counsel of God commands that which is greed.

The counsels of greed have been refuted: but the Lord says the same things, now let justice speak: the words will be the same, not the meaning. The Lord your God says to you, Keep for yourself, consider the future. And ask him, Where will I keep it? You will have a treasure in heaven, where neither thief approaches, nor moth destroys. For how long will you keep it? Come, blessed of my Father, take possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For how many days is this kingdom, the end of the sentence itself shows. When he said about those on the left: So they will go into eternal fire; about the righteous he said: But the righteous into eternal life. This is to consider the future. The future, which has no further future. Those days without end are called days, and it is called a day. For one said: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord in the length of days, when he spoke of those days. And a day is called: I have begotten you today. And those days, one day; because there is no longer time: that day is neither preceded by yesterday, nor excluded by tomorrow. Therefore let us consider into that future: and the words that greed was saying to you are not different; and greed is overturned.

False piety in the children of the greedy.

It remains for you to say: And what do I do about my children? Listen to the advice of your Lord on this matter as well. If your Lord says to you, I who created think better than you who begot: you might not have something to say. But you will look upon that rich man who went away sad, and was rebuked in the Gospel; and you might say to yourself: That rich man did wrong by not selling everything and giving to the poor, because he had no children; but I have children; I have those for whom I must provide. And in this weakness your Lord will stand by you.

I dare to speak through His mercy: I dare to say something, not from my presumption, but from His compassion. For yourself and for your children: but listen to me. If, as human things are, each of you has lost a child: pay attention, brothers, pay attention, because greed has no excuse, neither here nor in the future age. Behold, even human things: for we do not desire it, but we see examples. A Christian has been lost, you have lost a Christian child: therefore you have not lost him, but you have sent him ahead. For he has not departed, but has proceeded. Ask your faith: certainly you too will go there, where he has gone before. I speak briefly, to which I think no one will respond. Is your son alive? Ask your faith. If therefore he lives, why is his part seized by his brothers? But you will say: Will he not return, and possess it? Then send it to him where he has gone ahead: he cannot come to his things, but his things can go to him. See with whom he is. If your son were serving in the palace, and became a friend of the Emperor, and said to you, Sell my part there, and send it to me: would you find anything to respond? Now, your son is with the Emperor of all emperors, and with the King of all kings, and with the Lord of all lords: send to him. I do not say, He himself has necessities: his Lord, with whom your son is, is needed on earth. Here He wants to receive what He gives in heaven. What some greedy people are accustomed to doing, make a passage: give to strangers, what you will receive in your homeland.

What was owed to the living is due to the dead.

Finally, now, nothing about you; I speak about your son. You hesitate to give your own, and hesitate to return what belongs to another: certainly, you are convicted because you were not keeping it for your own sons. Behold, you do not give to your sons because you would take away from your sons. You would certainly take away from him. Why is he unworthy to receive, because he lives with a more worthy one? Deservedly if he with whom he lives would not wish to receive, now he is rich not to your house but to the divine house. Therefore, let it be absent that I say to you, Give what you have: but I say to you, Return what you owe. But his brothers, you say, will have it. O bad doctrine, teaching your sons to wish for the death of their brothers! If they will be richer from the matter of their dead brother, see how they watch themselves in your house. What then will you do? You divide the inheritance, and teach fratricide?

In the division of inheritance, Christ must be counted among the sons.

But I do not want to speak of the one lost, lest I seem to threaten human misfortunes. Let us speak in a better and more prosperous way. I do not say, you will have one less, but count it as you have one more. Make room for Christ with your children; let your Lord join your family, let your Creator join your offspring, let your brother join the number of your children. For indeed, with such importance, he deigned to be a brother. And although he is the Only Begotten Son of the Father, he wished to have co-heirs. Behold how generously he is! Why are you so barren? You have two children, count him as the third; you have three, let him be the fourth; you have five, let him be the sixth; you have ten, let him be the eleventh. I do not wish to say more: reserve a place for your Lord among your children. For what you give to your Lord will benefit both you and your children; but what you poorly reserve for your children will harm both you and them. You will give one portion, which you accounted for one child. Consider yourself to have begotten one more.

The excuse for greed has been removed.

What is great, my brothers? I give advice, do I bind the throat? As the Apostle says: I say these things for your benefit, not to cast a snare upon you. I think, brothers, it is a small and easy thought to think that the father of children has one more child, and to acquire such estates which you may possess forever, both you and your children. Greed does not have what it says. You have shouted at these words. Speak against it, do not let it conquer you, do not let it be stronger in your hearts than your Redeemer. Let it not be stronger in your heart than he who advises us to lift up our hearts. So now let us dismiss it.

The counsel of luxury is refuted.

What does luxury say? What? Do well by your soul. Behold, even the Lord says: Do well by your soul. What luxury was telling you, justice tells you this. But see also here how it is said. If you want to do well by your soul, consider that rich man who, by the counsel of luxury and greed, wanted to do well by his soul. A region succeeded for him, and he did not have where to store his fruits, and he said: What shall I do? I do not have where to collect them. I found what I shall do: I will tear down the old storehouses, and I will build new ones, and I will fill them, and I will say to my soul: You have many goods, rejoice. Listen to the counsel against luxury: Fool, this night your soul will be taken from you: the things which you have prepared, whose will they be? And where is that soul going, which will be taken from him? This night it will be taken, and he does not know where it will go.

Another rich man luxurious.

Behold another rich man, luxurious and proud. He feasted sumptuously every day and was clothed in purple and fine linen. And a poor man covered with sores lay at his gate, longing to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table; even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom. And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.' But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.' And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house— for I have five brothers— so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.' But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.' And he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' He said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.'

God's counsel on giving alms.

Regarding the giving of alms and obtaining rest for the soul in the future, so we should do good for our soul, which has been perversely spoken by luxury, spoken also by Moses, and the Prophets. Let us listen while we live. Because there, it is in vain to desire to hear, who scorned these things when they listened. Or are we waiting for someone to rise from the dead and tell us to do good for our soul? This has already been done: not your father, but your Lord has risen. Listen to Him, take good advice. Do not spare your treasures, spend as much as you can. The voice of luxury pleads: the voice of the Lord has been made. Spend as much as you can, do good for your soul, so that your soul is not taken away this night. You have in the name of Christ, as I believe, a sermon about giving alms. This voice of yours praising, is acceptable to the Lord, if He sees also the hands working.