THEOSISJohn Chrysostom
As sins disappear when they are immersed in baptism, so these too will be destroyed if we choose to repent. Repentance consists in no longer doing the same things.
Whoever returns to his former deeds is like a dog returning to its vomit, and like the man who, according to the proverb, beats wool over a fire and draws water with a sieve.
Therefore we must turn away from the impulses of sin both in deed and in thought. Having turned away, we must apply to the wounds remedies contrary to the sins.
I shall give some examples. Are you a robber and a greedy man? Turn away from robbery, and apply almsgiving to the wound. Have you committed fornication? Turn away from fornication, and apply chastity to this ulcer.
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Have you said something evil about your neighbor and harmed him? Abandon slander, and apply friendliness. Let us do the same with each of our sins, and let us leave none of them without attention.
Show a life worthy of the love of Him who calls you, of the heavenly fellowship, and of the honor granted to you. Having been crucified to the world, and having crucified the world to yourself, strive with all diligence to live as they live in heaven.
Do not think that you have anything in common with the earth because your body has not yet been taken up into heaven. Your head is there, in heaven.
For this reason the Lord came down to earth and brought angels down with Him. Then, having received you, He ascended into heaven, so that even before your ascent there you might be assured that you can live on earth as in heaven.
Therefore let us constantly preserve the dignity we received at the beginning. Let us daily hasten toward the heavenly chambers, and let us reckon all earthly things as shadow and dream.
Indeed, if some earthly king unexpectedly adopted you, poor and destitute as you are, you would not think of your poor hut, although the difference between the two would still not be great.
So do not think of anything former, for you have been called to goods far greater. He who calls you is the Master of the angels, and the goods granted to you surpass every word and understanding.
He transfers you not from earth to earth, as an earthly king would, but from earth to heaven. He transfers you from mortal nature into immortal and ineffable glory.
That glory will be revealed to us in its true form only when we enjoy it.
Since you hope to receive such goods, will you still remember money and cling to earthly dreams? Will you not be convinced that everything visible is of less value than a beggar's rag?
How then will you appear worthy of such great honor? What defense will you bring? Or rather, what punishment will you not suffer, if after such a gift you run back again to your former vomit?
You will be punished for your sins not simply as a man, but as a son of God. The greatness of the honor will only serve to increase your punishment.
We too do not punish guilty slaves and children alike for the same offenses, especially if the children have received many benefits from us.
If the man to whom paradise was allotted suffered such calamities for one disobedience after great honor, what forgiveness can we ask? We have received heaven and become fellow heirs of the Only-begotten, yet we leave the dove and hasten to the serpent.
No, then we shall no longer hear, “Dust you are, and to dust you shall return,” or, “You shall till the ground” (Gen 3:19), and the other words once spoken to Adam.
Punishments much heavier threaten us: outer darkness, unbreakable bonds, the poisonous worm, and gnashing of teeth. And this will be according to our deeds.
Whoever has not become better even after such a benefit must, in all justice, undergo the last and heaviest punishment.
Elijah once opened and shut heaven in order to bring down and withhold rain. But heaven is opened to you so that you may ascend there.
And not only that you yourself may ascend, but, what is far greater, that you may lead others up with you, if you will.
Such boldness and power has the Lord granted you in all His goods.
Therefore, if our home is there, let us place all our possessions there, and leave nothing here, lest we lose it.
Here on earth, even if you lock up your property with a key, add doors and bolts, set a thousand guards, and protect it from every evildoer; even if you hide it from the eyes of the envious; even if you preserve it from moth and from the decay caused by time, which is impossible, you still will not escape death, sooner or later.
All this will be taken from you in a single moment. It will not only be taken away, but handed over to your enemies.
But if you send your possessions ahead into the heavenly home, you will be completely secure. You will need neither locks, nor doors, nor bolts.
Such is the strength of that city. So inaccessible is that place to robbers. So untouchable is it by corruption, and so guarded from every evil design.
Is it not extreme madness to gather everything where all that is deposited decays and perishes, and not to set aside even the smallest part where everything remains untouched and even increases?
And we do this, we who must live there forever.
For this reason the Gentiles do not believe our words. They want to see the proof of our teaching about the life to come, not in words, but in our deeds.
When they see that we build splendid houses, lay out gardens and baths, and buy fields, they do not want to believe that we are preparing to move to another, heavenly city.
If this were so, they say, Christians would convert everything they have here into silver and send it there ahead of time.
They draw this conclusion from what usually happens in the world. Indeed, we see that rich men build houses, buy fields, and acquire everything else in the cities where they intend to live.
Yet we do the opposite. We strive with all our strength to acquire land. For a few acres of land and some houses we spare not only money, but even shed blood.
But for the acquisition of heaven we do not want to sacrifice even our surplus, although we could buy it at a small price and, having bought it, possess it forever.
For this reason we shall undergo extreme punishment if we come there naked and poor. We shall suffer unbearable torments not only for our own poverty, but especially because we have drawn others into the same condition.
Indeed, if the Gentiles see that we too, who have been counted worthy of the great mysteries, are attached to earthly things, they themselves will cling to them all the more.
By this we heap a stronger fire upon our own heads. We ought to teach them to despise all visible things, but instead we, more than anyone, stir up in them attachment to them.
How then can we be saved, when we shall have to undergo examination for the perdition of others?
Do you not know that Christ commanded us to be salt and lamps in this world? We are to strengthen those weakened by sensual pleasure and enlighten those darkened by cares about wealth.
But if we cast them into still greater darkness and only weaken them further, what hope of salvation remains for us?
None at all. With wailing and gnashing of teeth, bound hand and foot, we shall be cast into the fire of Gehenna, after we have already exhausted ourselves here with cares about wealth.
Therefore, having considered all this, let us break every bond of deception by the love of money. Then we shall not fall into those bonds by which we shall be dragged into the unquenchable fire.
Whoever is enslaved to wealth will always be in bonds, both here and there. But whoever lacks this passion will be free, both here and there.
That we too may attain this freedom, let us break the heavy yoke of the love of money and take wing toward heaven, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen.