Sermon 39
SERMO 39
ABOUT THAT WHICH IS WRITTEN
"Do not delay to turn to God."
"Nor defer from day to day"
The last day is hidden so that all days may be observed.
We have heard, Brothers, through the prophet saying to God: Do not delay in turning to the Lord, nor postpone from day to day. For suddenly His wrath will come, and in the time of vengeance He will destroy you. He has promised you that on the day you turn back, He will forget your past wickedness. But has He promised you the life of tomorrow? Or perhaps God has not promised it to you, and a mathematician has promised it to you, so that God may condemn both you and him? God has wisely ordained the uncertainty of the day of death. Each one should wisely contemplate his last day. It is the mercy of God that man does not know when he will die. The last day is hidden, so that all days may be observed.
But the world holds us, enticements flatter us on every side. The greatness of wealth delights, the splendor of honor delights, the terror of power delights. These things delight, but let the Apostle be heard: "We brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out of it." Honor ought to seek you, not you yourself. For you must recline in a lower place, so that he who invited you may make you ascend to a more honorable place. But if he does not wish, eat where you recline, because you brought nothing into this world. Is it little to you because you eat another’s? Recline wherever and eat. Will he say, "From mine"? Hear the Apostle: "We brought nothing into this world." You came into the world, you found a full table. But the earth and its fullness are the Lord's.
For those who desire, he says, to become rich. He did not say: Those who are rich, but: Those who desire to become rich, he blamed the desires, not the wealth: Those who desire to become rich fall into temptation and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. Money delights. Do you not fear this? Money is a good thing, great wealth is a good thing. They fall into temptation. Do you not fear? They fall into many foolish and harmful desires. Do you not fear? Where do desires lead? They plunge people into ruin and destruction. And are you still deaf? Do you not fear ruin and destruction? Thus God thunders, and you snore?
The worm of riches is pride.
Moreover, the Apostle gave advice to those who are already rich: Command, he said, the rich of this world not to be proud. Pride is the worm of riches. It is difficult for a rich man not to be proud. Remove pride, and riches will not harm. But attend to what you should do with what God has given you, so that it is not idle in your hands. Do not be proud. Remove that vice. Nor place your hope in the uncertainty of riches. Remove this vice as well. When you have done this, perform good works as you hear. Let them, he said, be rich in good works. Do not place your hope in the uncertainty of riches. But in what should they place their hope? In the living God, who provides us all things abundantly to enjoy. God provides the world to the poor and to the rich. Should a rich man fill two stomachs because he is rich? Observe and see that the poor sleep satisfied with what God has given. He who feeds you, feeds them through you.
When you die, you will be able to take nothing away from here.
Therefore, let not money be loved. But if it is already possessed, let this be made from it. Be rich, those who have it. But where rich? In good works. Easily, he says, distribute, share. Here now avarice contracts. Listen to what follows: Easily distribute, share. Just as cold water pours out, it stiffens, tightens the bosom, and says: "I do not lose my labors." Unfortunate one, do you not want to lose your labors? Behold, you will die, and having brought nothing here, you can take nothing from here. When you have taken away nothing, have you not lost all your labors? Therefore listen to the counsel of God. Do not be alarmed because he said: Easily distribute, share. Listen to what follows. Wait, do not shut the door against me, nor the hearing of your heart, wait. Do you wish to know: Easily distribute, share, because you will not lose, and is this only not lost? Let them lay up, he says, a good foundation for the future, so that they may seize true life. Therefore that which delights you is a false life. As if in a dream you live here. If here you live as if in a dream, you will wake up when you die, and thus you have nothing to find in your hands. How, if a beggar sleeps and in a dream an inheritance comes to him, nothing is more fortunate for him before he rises. He sees himself handling in dreams fine clothes, precious golden and silver vessels, entering the most pleasant and spacious estates, great families serving him. He wakes up and weeps. And just as when awake he accuses a man who stripped him, so he accuses the one who woke him up. The psalm speaks very clearly of this: They have slept their sleep, he says, and all the men of wealth found nothing in their hands, after they finished their sleep.
For our sake Christ willed to be poor.
Since you brought nothing, you will take nothing away from here. Send up what you have found, and you will not lose it. Give to Christ: for Christ willed to receive here. Do you give to Christ, and lose? You do not lose if you entrust to your servant, and do you lose if you entrust to your Lord? You do not lose if you entrust to your servant what you have acquired, and will you lose if you entrust to your Lord what you received from your very Lord? Christ willed to be needy here, but for our sake. All the poor, whom you see, He could feed. Christ could have fed them, as He fed Elijah through a raven. Yet He also withdrew the raven from Elijah, so that he might be fed by a widow, not for Elijah's sake, but for the widow's. When therefore God makes the poor, it is because He wills them not to have, and when He makes the poor, He tests the rich. For it is written: "The poor and the rich met together." Where did they meet? In this life. That one was born, and this one was born; they found each other, they met together. And who made them? The Lord. The rich man, to help the poor; the poor man, to prove the rich man. Let everyone act according to their strength. Let them not act in such a way that they suffer distress themselves. We do not say this. Your surplus is necessary for others. You have just heard, when the Gospel was read: "Whoever gives a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, will not lose his reward." He offered the Kingdom of Heaven for sale, and willed the price of it to be a cup of cold water. But when a pauper makes alms, then his alms should be a cup of cold water. Let him who has more, do more. That widow with her two mites did much. Zacchaeus gave half of his goods, and reserved the other half to return his frauds. Alms benefit those who have changed their lives. For you give to Christ in need to redeem your past sins. For if you give in order that you may always sin with impunity, you do not feed Christ, but you try to corrupt the judge. Therefore, perform alms so that your prayers may be heard, and God may help you to change your life for the better. And you who change the same life for the better, and through alms and prayers, let past evils be blotted out, and everlasting future goods come.