Homily 16 #

On Monday of the Second Week of Lent, a Teaching of Saint John Chrysostom on the Rich and the Unmerciful

I do not speak against the rich who live well and are generous, but I rebuke the wicked—those who, possessing wealth, live in greed. Concerning such people, the prophet David says: “He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.” Many rich men end their lives in misery, either being plundered by rulers or robbed by thieves. Therefore, O rich ones, be merciful, that you may inherit the kingdom of heaven.

For just as wine has a double effect—bringing joy to the wise but destruction and sin to the foolish—so too does wealth: it leads to salvation for the merciful but to sin, ruin, and severe torment for the greedy. Good is the wealth that is gathered lawfully, through righteous labor, but cursed is the wealth acquired through injustice. The Holy Scriptures call the covetous and unmerciful idolaters. For the miser is not master over his possessions; rather, his possessions rule over him, so that he watches over them constantly. But when he dies, his wealth passes to others.

It would be easier for a miser to cut away his own flesh than to give even a little of his wealth for the sake of God, the Church, or the poor. Wealth is good and truly blessed in the hands of a merciful man, but it is evil and cursed in the hands of a miser, for in it, there is no portion for God.

Maximus the Confessor says: “As a storm drowns a ship, so does ill-gotten wealth destroy the soul.” The glory of this world is the ruin of a foolish soul. The insatiable lover of riches is like a drunkard who delights in excessive drinking; just as the drunkard serves the bottle, so too does the greedy man serve his wealth, amassing it through injustice.

Bribery blinds the eyes of the covetous, just as drunkenness darkens the mind of the inebriated. One becomes deaf through greed, unable to hear the cries of the poor, while the other is made deaf by drunkenness, unable to hear the divine words of Scripture. Both serve the devil rather than God: one through greed, the other through gluttony. The drunkard and the covetous man are brothers. Therefore, let not the covetous condemn the drunkard, nor the drunkard the covetous.

The Apostle Paul says: “Neither the covetous nor drunkards shall inherit the kingdom of God.” Both fulfill the will of the devil.

O covetous man! You have lit a candle in the church, but behold—the orphan or widow whom you have wronged will come and sigh to God, shedding tears, and extinguish your candle. O hypocritical miser! It would be better for you not to rob and oppress than to seek to illuminate God’s temple with wealth gained through iniquity. Instead, have mercy on those whom you have harmed.

It is no true almsgiving to oppress the orphans and then show kindness to others, to enslave some while giving gifts to others. Even if you give alms to some, yet your servants trample the fields of the fatherless; others whom you employ are cruelly mistreated, going naked, barefoot, hungry, and wounded without cause. Some, ruined by your usury, suffer in anguish, and they all cry out against you to God in sorrow, while others are plundered and stripped of their homes.

Your charity is vain, O accursed plunderer and unjust judge! It is better to cease from your injustices and oppression and to treat your household with fairness than to think you can appease God with wealth gained through wickedness. True almsgiving is done by those who always act righteously and give from their honest labor to those in need.

Saint Basil says: “O rich man, if you lift your eyes to see, you will behold much evil: here the orphans weep because of you, there the poor cry out to God, those whom you have wronged and never shown mercy. Here your servants go about naked and wounded, while elsewhere I see others suffering from your extortions and being cast into the water. Foolish man, all these will rise up against you on the day of your soul’s departure!”