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"The Lord said to Abram after Lot's parting from him, 'Lift up your eyes, and from where you now are look north and south, east and west: all the land you see I will give you.'"" j) ESTERDAY, [312] DEARLY BELOVED, you learnt of the patriarch's extraordinary humility, you saw the remarkable degree [313] of his restraint. It was no slight thing for the old man, who had performed so many good deeds and enjoyed so much favor from the Lord of all, to display towards the younger man, his nephew, such equality of esteem as to cede to him pride of place and take second best, and put up with everything for the sake of heading off conflict and eliminating the grounds of rivalry. Let us all be anxious to emulate this conduct, never threatening our relatives nor entertaining grandiose notions; let us give evidence of deep humility by deferring to them, let us rather make it our concern to take second place in behavior and speech, not even reacting against those who do us wrong, even if they happen to be beneficiaries of ours (this, after all, is the most excellent philosophy), nor even being provoked by their arrogance, even if those feuding with us are our inferiors— rather, let us allay their ill feeling by restraint and meekness.
(2) Nothing, you see, is more efficacious than this, nothing is more potent. This brings our soul into lasting tranquility, as if causing it to find haven in port, and proving to be for us the basis of complete repose. Hence Christ too delivered that divine instruction in the words, "Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls."? Nothing, you see, brings the soul into repose and great peace to such an extent as meekness and humility. This
1. Gen 13.14-15.
2. Matt 11.29.
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would prove to be for its possessor more valuable than any diadem, this would be more to one's credit than any notoriety or glory. I mean, what could be more desirable than being freed from the threat of conflict arising within one's own person? I mean, even if we enjoy peace and respect many times over outwardly while alarm and disturbance arise within us from the tumult of our thinking, no benefit comes to us from peace on the outside—just as nothing would be more pitiable than a city suffering the treason of the citizens within its walls, no matter if you fortified it with countless ramparts and fortifications.
(3) Accordingly, I beseech you, let us make this our special concern, to keep our soul undisturbed, to bring it to a state of peace, to free it from all alarm so that we ourselves may enjoy complete repose and may be gentle with our acquaintances. This, in fact, is a particular mark of the person endowed with reason: mildness, restraint, gentleness, humility, tranquillity, not being pulled and tugged like a slave either by anger or by the other passions, but through the use of reason prevailing over interior impulses, preserving our natural nobility and not falling victim to the frenzy of brute beasts through indifference. To learn the power of gentleness and restraint, and how virtue alone suffices to render the person who practices it devotedly worthy of those ineffable encomiums, listen to the eulogy bestowed to blessed Moses on that account, and the crown awarded him for that reason: "Moses was the mildest of all people on the earth,"* Scripture says.
Do you see the greatness of the encomium, which conferred on him equality of esteem with the whole human race—or, rather, gave him precedence over all mankind? Again, Scripture says about David, "Be mindful, Lord, of David and all his meekness."* On that score, too, the patriarch won much greater favor from on high, and by exerting himself from his own resources he was accorded greater blessings from the loving Lord. You will come to realize this when we propose to you the sequel [314] to yesterday's words and unfold for 3. Num 12.3.
Aa ESalgo sll.
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your good selves the passage read at the outset. You see, when Abram gave evidence of great restraint in giving pride of place to Lot and yielded to him the right of choice, he willingly chose second place for the sake of avoiding all rivalry; hence notice the extent of the reward he immediately enjoys from God and the way he regales the patriarch with recompense in excess of his considerable wealth. This, you see, is what our Lord is like: when he sees us exerting ourselves even slightly of our own accord, he plies us with generous rewards on his account, and demonstrates such great generosity as to surpass by a great margin what has been done by us.
(4) You will find this done by him in each of the works accomplished by us. I mean, what, tell me, could be more worthless than two pennies? Yet despite that, he caused that widow who made an offering of the two pennies to be celebrated from that time to this all over the world.' Why do I say two pennies? If you give only a cup of cold water, even for that he will award great recompense, always rewarding for their intention those who practice virtue.® You could see this done by him also in the case of the offering of prayers: if someone prays with fervor, immediately he will say to him,
"While you were yet sleeping, lo, I was at your side."' If, however, one gives evidence of greater insistence and earnestly offers petitions with great desire and ardent zeal, he likewise exalts and rewards him for his petition. This he did also in the case of the Canaanite woman;® when he saw her great persistence and constancy, he first of all exalted and, so to say, crowned her with commendation, making her famous throughout the whole world; then with great generosity he surpassed the extravagance of her petition, saying to her, "'O woman, great is your faith.' Then he added, 'May your wish be granted.'"? If we wanted to single out every example of the holy Scriptures, in every case we would see the Lord's
5. Cf. Luke 21.1—3.
6. Cf. Matt 10.42.
7. Isa 65.24.
8. Cf. Matt 15.22—28. g. Matt 15.28. This is proving to be a typically wide-ranging scriptural introduction to the day's theme.
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great generosity. The patriarch had a precise understanding of that: well aware that the person giving way in unimportant matters would be better off in matters of greater consequence, as you heard yesterday, he yielded to Lot and chose for himself the worse region so as to remove the grounds of rivalry, demonstrate his own virtue and leave the whole family in peace.
(5) But let us see from what has just been read what reward he receives from the Lord for such restraint. "God said to Abram," the text says, "after Lot's parting from him, 'Lift up your eyes, and from where you now are look north and south, east and west; all the land you see I will give to you and your descendants forever.'" See the promptness of God's providential recompense demonstrated in favor of the good man: Sacred Scripture wants to teach us the extent of the reimbursement the patriarch was accorded for such humility from the loving God, and so after saying that Lot took his leave and went off to the land he had selected on the score of its beauty, it immediately added, "The Lord God said to Abram." Then, for our precise realization that he said this by way of rewarding him for what had been done for Lot, it added, "God said to Abram after Lot's parting from him," [315] as if to say the following words to him without demur, You ceded the beautiful region to your nephew on account of your great restraint and thus gave evidence of your eminent humility and showed such concern for peace as to put up with anything for the sake of preventing any rivalry coming between you—hence accept from me a generous reward. "'Lift up your eyes,'" he said, "'and from where you are now look north and south, east and west; all the land you see I will give to you and your descendants forever.'" Do you see the recompense exceeding in great measure what had been done by Abram? The loving
Lord uses the same words as Abram himself in his act of deference: as he had said, "'Lo, does not all the land lie before you? Part from me; if you go to the right, I'll go to the left; if you go to the left, I'll go right,'" so the Lord said,
"Lift up your eyes, and from where you now are, lo, all the land you see I will give to you and your descendants forever."
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(6) Observe in this instance the extraordinary degree of his generosity: whereas you gave him the right of choice (he is saying), ceding the region he wished to take for himself while being content for your part to accept what was left over, I am displaying such generosity as to hand over to you all the land that falls under your gaze on all sides, north and south, east and west—all the land you see; and not only this but also " 'to your descendants forever.'" Do you see the generosity worthy of God's goodness? do you see how Abram was granted as much as he had conceded? Let us learn from this incident to show great generosity in almsgiving so that we may be granted great rewards in return for giving meager alms. I mean, what parity is there, tell me, between giving a little money and winning remission of sins? Between feeding the hungry and enjoying confidence on that dread day and hearing those words that earn right of entry to the kingdom, "I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat"?! The one who showed you such generosity was not beyond alleviating that person's need, was he? His reason, however, for allowing him to be afflicted by need was that he might win great reward for his endurance and you might store up for yourself confidence on the basis of almsgiving.
(7) Do you see the Lord's loving kindness, how he arranges everything with our salvation in mind? So when you consider that it is for you and your welfare that that person is beset with want and perishing from starvation, don't pass him by heartlessly, but prove a faithful steward of what has been entrusted to you by the Lord so that by alleviating the poor person's need you may win such favor from on high. And praise the Lord for allowing that person to live in need for the sake of you and your salvation in order that you may be able to find the way to be in a position both to wash away your sins and by managing properly what has been entrusted to you by the Lord to be accorded that commendation which exceeds all thought and description. You will hear, in fact,
"Well done, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful 10. Matt 15.35.
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in a few things, I will set you over many; enter into the joy of your Lord."!! Understanding this, let us look on the poor as our benefactors, able to afford us the basis of our salvation, and let us give with generosity and a joyful spirit, never being tardy in our offering, but conversing with them with great restraint and showing great meekness. "Incline [316] your ear to a beggar," remember, "and respond peaceably to him in meekness"!? so that even before your gift, you may lift his spirit from the dejection of great need with the gentleness of your words. Scripture says, remember, "a kind word is better than an offering";!* so speech is able both to lift the spirit and bring it much comfort.
(8) Accordingly, let us not simply have the recipient in view in showing generosity in almsgiving, but consider who it is who takes as his the kindnesses shown to the poor person and who promises recompense for favors done; and thus let us direct our attention to him while showing all zeal in making offerings with complete enthusiasm, and let us sow generously in season so that we may also reap generously. Scripture says, remember, "he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly."!4 Let us consequently sow these good seeds with no sparing hand so that in due season we may reap generously.
Now, after all, is the time for sowing, which I beseech you not to pass by, so that on the day of harvesting the returns of what was sown here we may gather the fruits and be regaled with loving kindness from the Lord. Nothing, you see, nothing else of our virtuous deeds will so succeed in quenching the fire of our sins as generosity in almsgiving: it causes the remission of our sins, proves the guarantee of confidence for us and ensures the enjoyment of those ineffable goods.
(g) This is enough talking, however, to encourage you and to show you that by giving alms, meager though they be, we receive great rewards from the Lord. By this stage, you see, the sermon has gone to an exhortation in almsgiving because,
11. Matt 15.23.
12) oir 4.9, 13. Sir 18.16.
14. 2 Cor 9.6. Chrysostom is still skirting around the day's theme with his allusions to other parts of Scripture.
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as you recall, we told you that the patriarch ceded part of the country to Lot, letting him have the most beautiful area in the region while taking the worst land for himself, and so he was accorded such generosity from God that the promise made him by God surpassed all thought and imagination.
The text says, remember, "'Lift up your eyes, and from where you are, lo, all the land you see to north and south, I will give to you and your descendants forever.'" You ceded part of the country to your nephew, he says; lo, I promise you the entire country—and not only this, but also I guarantee to give it to your descendants, and forever, or in other words in perpetuity. Do you see how he outdoes himself in his benefactions?
Since he knew that the patriarch longed for this in particular, and that nothing else would so arouse his enthusiasm, he said,
This favor, too, I will bestow upon you—that those descended from you will succeed to possession of the land and will have control over it in perpetuity.
(10) Then in case Abram should have regard only to his own condition, his advanced years and Sarah's sterility, and thus lose confidence in the promise instead of trusting in the power of the one making the promise, he said, "'I will make your descendants as numerous as all the grains of sand in the world; if anyone can number the grains of sand in the world, your descendants too will be numbered.'"!® No doubt the promise went beyond human nature; not only did he promise to make him a father despite so many impediments but also to extend the gift to such a multitude as to be compared with all the grains of sand in the world, and the multitude to be
- beyond number, wishing as he did to demonstrate the extent of the remarkable increase by the comparison. [317] Notice how the loving Lord gradually exercises the just man's virtue.
After saying previously, "'I will give this land to your descendants,'" he now says in turn, "'I will give it to your descendants forever, and I will make them as numerous as all the grains of sand in the world.'" For the time being the reality of the promise extended only to words, and much time would
15. Gen 13.16.
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elapse in the meantime, the purpose being that we might learn the godfearing quality of the patriarch's attitude and the extraordinary power of God. You see, the delay and postponement was intentional, so that those in receipt of the promise might reach extreme old age and, so to say, lose all hope for the time being according to human logic, and only then have the experience of their own limitations and come to recognize the remarkable degree of God's ineffable power.
(11) Now, consider, I ask you, in this disposition of time the resoluteness of the patriarch's attitude in bypassing all human considerations, directing his thinking to the power of the person who made the promise and not being alarmed or concerned. I mean, you know how, when someone makes a promise on one or two occasions without ever putting into effect what was promised we become less enthusiastic about placing any further trust in the person making the promise.
While, however, this would be possible in the case of human beings, yet with God, who manages our affairs with great wisdom, once he promises—no matter if countless obstacles interpose—we should have regard for the greatness of God's power and keep our spirits up, our resolve strengthened, and know that the words spoken by him will without fail take effect. There is nothing, you see, which will ever succeed in frustrating his promises—he is God, after all, with whom all things are possible, and hence he directs affairs in the direction he wishes, being able to find ways where there are none and, despite our despairing, leading us to sound hopes so that in this way we may learn the extraordinary degree of his inventive wisdom. "'Arise,'" he said, you see, "'and travel through the length and breadth of the country, because I am going to give it to you.'"!® See how in every development he aims at instilling in the just man a deep sense of security:
Arise, he says, travel about and get to know the size of the country you are about to occupy, and so that you may enjoy great satisfaction, buoyed up by the prospect of occupation.
You see, I am going to give you as much land as you traverse, 16. Gen 13.17.
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so that you may realize that you did not give up as much as you are now about to receive. So don't think the worse part was left to you when Lot usurped what seemed the prime areas. On the contrary, before long you will know by the way things turn out that his choice of the prime areas was not to his advantage; and he will come to realize for himself what a mistake it was to set his heart on those prime areas. For the present, however, take possession of the reward of the humility and restraint you showed to your nephew, accept the promise, and now get to know all the land of which you are ruler, and which before long you and your descendants will possess in perpetuity. "'And to your descendants forever," he said, remember.
(12) Wonderful the extent of the promise; remarkable the depths of generosity of the Lord of us all; extraordinary the degree of the reward conferred by him in his mercy and love on this blessed man and on the descendants destined to be born to him! Hearing this and amazed at God's unspeakable goodness, the patriarch "struck camp and moved on until settling [318] at the oak of Mambre which is at Chebron."!"
After accepting the promise, the text is saying, and following Lot's parting, he changed his camp site to the vicinity of the oak of Mambre. Notice his sensible attitude, his high sense of responsibility in effecting the transfer with ease and making no difficulty of changing from place to place. I mean, you will not find him shackled and hidebound by any custom, something which frequently affects a great number of people, even those considered wise and those generally free of concerns: should the occasion require them to change and move in a different direction, even in many cases for a spiritual matter, you would find them troubled, beside themselves, regretting the change on account of their being prisoners: of habit. The just man, on the other hand, wasn't like that: he showed good sense from the very outset, and like a stranger or pilgrim he moved from here to there and from there to the next place, and in all cases his concern was to give evidence of his godfearing attitude in his actions.
17. Gen 13.18.
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(13) You see, when he changed his camp to the vicinity of the terebinth grove of Mambre, immediately "he built an altar there to the Lord."!® Do you see his sense of gratitude? I mean, once he set up camp, without delay he made an offering in thanksgiving for the promise made to him. On each spot where he made camp you will find him preoccupied with this concern above all, building an altar, offering prayers, and fulfilling the apostolic law bidding us pray in every place with pious hands raised on high.'® Do you see his soul carried aloft to the love of God and proving grateful for all his favors? Far from waiting for the promises to take effect, he even gives thanks and does all in his power to give evidence of gratitude for the favor ahead of time and thus to encourage his Lord to fulfill his promises.
(14) Let us also imitate and trust in God's promises, not allowing time to undermine our resolve, nor any obstacles to intervene in the meantime to weaken our determination.
Trusting instead in God's power as if we already had before our eyes the revelation of the promises, let us give evidence of unalloyed faith. Extraordinarily great, you see, are the promises the Lord has made to us, too, surpassing our imagination—I mean enjoyment of the kingdom, a share in those ineffable goods, life with angels, escape from hell. On the other hand, let us never lose confidence because these things are not visible to bodily eyes; rather, let us consider the fidelity of the one promising and the greatness of his power, and thus view them with the eyes of faith and on the basis of what has already been given let us maintain sound hope in what is to come. The reason, after all, that we have been blessed with many favors here is that we may be encouraged by the former to have confidence in the latter. He who gave his own son out of love for us, how will he not grant us everything else? As Paul also says, "He who did not spare his own son but handed him over for us all, how will he not grant us everything else as well along with him?"?° If he gave his son for us sinners, if 18. Ibid.
1g. Cf. 1 Tim 2.8.
20. Rom 8.3.
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he favored us with the gift of baptism, if he granted us forgiveness of previous sins, if he laid down for us a way of penance, if he devised countless other means to our salvation,
[319] clearly he will provide the good things stored up for us in the time to come. After all, he who prepared these things before our coming into existence out of his characteristic goodness, how will he not grant us also enjoyment of them?
I mean, for proof that he did prepare these good things for us in advance, listen to his words to those standing on his right: "'Come, you who enjoy my Father's blessing, take possession of the kingdom prepared for you before the beginning of the world.'"?! Do you see the excess of goodness, the great degree of loving kindness he displays towards the human race in preparing for us enjoyment of the kingdom even before the beginning of the world?
(15) Let us therefore not prove ungrateful nor render ourselves unworthy of such wonderful gifts, but rather love our
Lord as we ought and do nothing to impair his favorable regard for us. After all, it wasn't we ourselves who initiated the process, was it? He took the initiative in displaying towards us his great love beyond all telling. So would it not be absurd for us not to love as far as lies in our power the one who loves us so much? You see, for love of us he endured everything without demur, being torn as it were from the paternal bosom and willing to take on the form of a slave,"? passing through every human experience, submitting to abuse and indignity at the hands of Jews, and finally accepting the cross, the most shameful death, so that he might set us free through faith in him as we go crawling on the earth and weighed down with countless burden of sins. All this, in fact, blessed Paul had in mind, that fervent lover of Christ, who like a winged bird traversed the whole world, who in his zeal gave evidence of the faculties of incorporeal creatures, though in bodily form himself, and thus minded he shouted aloud, "The love of 21. Matt 25.34.
22. Cf. Phil 2.6—7, introducing a catena of Pauline texts that illustrate his regard and fellow-feeling for the Apostle.
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Christ, you see, constrains us." See his uprightness, see the extraordinary degree of his virtue, see his fervent love. "The love of Christ," he says, "constrains us," that is, urges, impels, coerces us. Then, wishing to explain what had been said by him, he says, "convinced of this, that if one person died for all, then all have died, he did die for all so that the living might live no longer for themselves but for the one who died and rose for them."2! Do you see how appropriate it was for him to say, "The love of Christ constrains us"? He is saying, you see, If he died for the sake of us all, he died for the purpose that we the living might live no longer for ourselves but for him who died and rose for us.
(16) Accordingly, let us heed the apostolic exhortation, not living for ourselves but for him who died and rose for us.
How, you might say, will we be able to avoid living for ourselves? Listen to this blessed man's words again: "Now, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.""° See how, while still striding the earth and clad in mortal flesh, he was in the condition of a dweller in heaven who lives in the company of incorporeal creatures. Hence he said further in another place, "Now, those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts."*° So this is what is meant by not living for ourselves but for the one who died and rose for us, when we are in this life like corpses and are not distracted by any visible realities. You see, the reason the Lord was crucified was that we might exchange this life for the next—or rather, that we might through this life earn the next for ourselves. The present life, after all, provided we are prepared to be sober and alert, leads us to the enjoyment of eternal
[320] life; and we will be able, if we are willing to maintain some little vigilance and open wide our mind's eye, to keep alive in ourselves through every eventuality some understanding of the rest to be enjoyed there, and thus bypass and fly above visible realities while straining our attention to those of the next life that last forever. So this blessed man said by way
2g 502) COM pala 24. 2 Cor 5.14-15.
25. Gal 2.20.
26. -Gal 5.24.
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of instructing us, "The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me:"2"
(17) See his ardent spirit, see his mind borne aloft on wings, see his imagination inflamed with love for God! "The life I now live," he says, "I live by faith." In other words, he says, Don't think I'm at work on some concern for the things of this present life; even if my condition is in the flesh and I am bound by the needs of nature, yet I live by faith, faith in Christ, spurning all present realities, bypassing everything through hope in him, and keeping my mind fixed on him.
Then, for you to learn the excess of his love, he says, "I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me." Notice the extraordinary degree of his gratitude.
What are you saying, O blessed Paul? A little earlier you said, "Who, far from sparing his own son, actually gave him up for us all,'?® and now you say, "Who loved me"—are you claiming as your own the benefit meant for all? Yes, he says: even if the sacrifice was offered by him for the whole human race, yet on account of my love for him I claim the deed for my benefit. This was also the way the Old Testament authors spoke in saying, "O God, my God";** admittedly he is God of the whole world, but it is peculiar to love to claim as one's own what belongs to all. "By faith in the Son of God," he says,
"who loved me." What are you saying? Did he love you alone?
The whole human race, of course, he says, yet I owe him thanks just as if I alone was loved. "And who gave himself up for me." What now: was he crucified for you alone? Does he not say himself, "When I have been lifted up, I shall draw everyone to myself "? Didn't you yourself say, "He gave himself up for us all'? Yes, he replies; I am not contradicting myself in this, but confirming my love.
(18) Notice further something else he teaches us in these words: earlier he had said of the Father, "He gave him up for us all"; now he says, "He gave himself up." The former
27. Gal 2.20.
28. Rom 8.32.
2g. Cf. Pss 22; 118.
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expression was intended to show the unity of thought and esteem between Father and Son, since he says in another place also, "Proved obedient to the point of death,"*° in each case expressing his faith in the Passion.*! In the latter case, on the contrary, he employed the phrase "gave himself up" to show that he willingly embraced suffering, not acting out of necessity but from the wish and determination to take on the salvation of the whole human race, and so he endured the Cross. So what degree of love will we manage to demonstrate in a worthy manner towards him who has shown such rich love in our regard? I mean, even if we deign to expend our very soul in obeying his laws and observing the commands given by him, we would not even then succeed in reaching the measure of the love he showed for our nature.
In his case, after all, it was a matter of God accepting this fate for the sake of human beings, and the master for his servants, and not simply for his servants but for those giving evidence of ingratitude and grossly implacable hostility. Whereas he took the initiative in [321] displaying such kindness towards those unworthy creatures so frequently remiss, we, on the contrary, will go to no great pains, whatever demonstration we are able to give, to make some return to the one who has taken the initiative in our regard by such wonderful acts of kindness. I mean, whatever comes from us, should it in fact follow eventually, is by way of response and indebtedness, whereas his actions are grace and favors, a wonderful degree of giftgiving.
(19) Consequently, with all this in mind let us love Christ as Paul loved him; far from allowing ourselves to take much account of present realities, let us constantly keep the love for him fixed firmly in our soul. This is the way, you see, to show scorn for everything of the present life, this is the way to live on earth as if in heaven, neither puffed up by successes here
30. Phil 2.8.
31. De Montfaucon suggests this translation of "Passion" for Chrysostom's otkonomia, normally used by him in the sense of "the divine plan":
"otkonomia is taken to refer to the Incarnation when the sermon deals with Christ, but here it refers to the Passion, as emerges from what follows."
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nor dejected by failures. Instead, we will pass by everything here and be carried up to the Lord as the object of our love, not troubled by the waiting itself but making our own the words of that blessed man, "The life we now live in the flesh we live by faith in the Son of God, who loved us and gave himself up for us," so that we may pass the present life without harm and be found worthy to enjoy the good things to come, thanks to the grace and loving kindness of our Lord
Jesus Christ, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory, power and honor, now and forever, for ages of ages.
Amen.