THEOSISJohn Chrysostom
Then he adds threatening words as well. See how he weaves his discourse from present events, from the prophets, and from the promised seed.
And see how he softens the severity of this admonition itself. "Lest there come upon you," he says, "what was spoken" to others: "For I work a work in your days, a work which you would not believe if anyone told it to you."
Therefore do not marvel only because it seems incredible, as was said above.
This could rightly be said to us as well: "Take heed," concerning those who do not believe in the resurrection.
The affairs of the Church are in a very bad state, although you think she is at peace. This is the grievous thing: while amid many evils, we do not even know that we are in evil.
What are you saying, you will ask? We maintain churches, we have property and everything else, assemblies take place, people come daily, and yet we are negligent?
But this is not what must be counted as praise for the Church.
What then, you will say? It is whether piety is in her, whether every day we go home with profit, having gathered more or fewer fruits. It is not merely fulfilling a rule or showing the appearance of piety.
Has anyone become better by being in the assembly for a whole month? This is what must be asked.
The very thing that appears to be a good work is not a good work if, after it is done, nothing further comes from it.
Would that nothing further came from it. But now something even worse comes.
What benefit do you receive from the assemblies? If there were any benefit for you, all of you should long ago have been living a philosophical life.
For twice a week so many prophets, apostles, and evangelists speak with you. They all set forth saving doctrines and, with great zeal, offer you persuasions for the correction of your morals.
A soldier, coming to the place of training, becomes more skilled in military affairs. An athlete, coming to the arena, becomes more experienced in wrestling.
One studying the medical art, coming to his teacher, becomes more knowledgeable, learns more, and is taught more. But what benefit have you gained?
I do not speak of those who come to the Church assemblies for one year, but of those who have come from youth.
Or do you consider it piety that you are often present at the assemblies? This means nothing if we receive no benefit.
If we gather no fruits here, it is better to remain at home.
Our forefathers built churches for us not so that we might come together from our homes and show ourselves to one another. That could also be done in the marketplace, the baths, and the festivals.
They built them so that disciples and teachers might gather together, and the former become better through the latter.
Our assemblies have become simply a custom and the appearance of piety. The rest of the matter is habit.
Pascha comes. There is great noise and great commotion. I will not say a crowd of people, for that is not proper to men.
The feast has passed. The noise ceases, but this silence is again fruitless.
How many all-night vigils there are, how many sacred hymns. And what comes from this? It is even worse, for many do this out of vainglory.
How do you think I am inwardly crushed when I see that all this flows away as through a leaky barrel?
But you will no doubt say to me, "We know the Scriptures." And what comes from this?
If you showed this by deeds, then there would be gain and benefit.
The Church is a dye-house. If you always leave without receiving any color, what benefit is there from coming here often? There is only greater harm.
Has anyone among you added anything to the customs he inherited from his fathers? For example, someone has the custom of commemorating his mother, wife, or son.
He does this whether he has heard it from us or not, guided by custom and conscience.
Are you angry at this, they will say? May it never be. On the contrary, I greatly rejoice in it.
But I would wish him to receive some benefit also from our discourse. I would wish that what habit has done might also come from us, so that another habit might be formed.
Otherwise, why should I labor in vain and speak empty words, if you intend to remain the same, and if our assemblies produce nothing good in you?
But they will say, "We pray." And what of it, if this happens without works?
Listen to what Christ says: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven" (Mt 7:21).
Often I have resolved to be silent, seeing that no progress comes in you from my words.
Perhaps progress does come, but because of the excess of my demands and desires, I resemble those who are too fond of money.
However much they gather, they always think they have nothing. So I, greatly desiring your salvation, think I have done nothing until I see your progress.
This is because I greatly desire that you reach the very highest degree.
I would wish that this were so, and that it came from my dissatisfaction, not from your negligence. Yet I fear that my hint will prove true.
You must admit that if there had been any benefit over such a length of time, we should already have ceased our discourses.
You would have no need of our words, since enough has been said for you to teach others, if you had any concern for the benefit of the absent.
But you continually need instruction. This shows nothing other than that you are not in a very good condition.
What then should be done? Should we only rebuke? I ask and implore you: be zealous not only to come to church, but also to return home having received some medicine against your passions.
If not from us, then borrow fitting medicines from the Scriptures.
For example, is someone given to anger? Let him attend to the readings of the Scriptures, and he will certainly find medicine either in narratives or in teachings.
In the teachings it is said, "The impulse of anger is a fall for a man" (Sir 1:22), and, "An angry man is not comely" (Prov 11:25), and similar things.
Again, "A slanderous man shall not be established" (Ps 139:12). Likewise Christ says, "He who is angry with his brother without cause shall be liable to judgment" (Mt 5:22).
And the prophet says, "Be angry, and do not sin" (Ps 4:5). Again: "Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce" (Gen 49:7).
In the narratives, you hear of Pharaoh, who was filled with great anger (Ex 14:5), and of the Assyrian king (4 Kgs 19:35), who perished for this reason.
Is someone possessed by love of money? Let him listen that nothing is more lawless than an extortioner, and that he gives his very soul for possessions (Sir 14:1-10).
Christ also says, "You cannot serve God and mammon" (Mt 6:24). The Apostle says, "The love of money is the root of all evils" (1 Tim 6:10).
The prophet says, "If riches flow in, do not set your heart on them" (Ps 61:11), and many similar things.
In the narratives, you hear of Gehazi, Judas, and the elders of the scribes, and that "gifts blind the eyes of the wise" (Deut 16:19).
Is someone proud? Let him hear: "If He mocks the mockers, He gives grace to the humble" (Prov 3:34).
And again: "The beginning of pride is man's departure from the Lord" (Sir 10:14), and, "Everyone proud in heart is an abomination before the Lord" (Prov 16:5).
From the narratives, you know about the devil and all the others.
In general, since it is impossible to list everything, let each one choose medicines for his wounds from the divine Scriptures.
If not all at once, then part today and part tomorrow. In this way, cleanse everything.
Concerning repentance, confession of sins, almsgiving, meekness, chastity, and everything else, you will find many examples there.
"Whatever was written beforehand was written for our instruction," it is said (Rom 15:4).
If everything in them is for our instruction, then let us attend to them as one ought to attend.
Why do we deceive ourselves in vain? I fear that someone may say of us too, "Their days passed away in vanity, and their years with haste" (Ps 77:33).
Who, after hearing us, has abandoned the spectacles? Who has abandoned covetousness? Who has become more zealous in almsgiving?
I would wish to know this, not out of vainglory, but so that I might become more zealous when I see the fair fruit of my labors.
But now, how shall I set to work when I see that the rain of teaching has fallen in such abundance, yet our fields remain in the same state, and the plants grow no higher?
The time of harvest has already come. The winnowing fan is ready. I fear that everything may prove to be chaff. I fear that all of us may be cast into the furnace (Mt 3:12).
Summer has passed, winter has come, and we sit, young and old alike, possessed by our passions.
Do not tell me, "I do not commit fornication." What benefit is it that you do not commit fornication, when you are covetous?
If a sparrow is held not by its whole body but only by one foot, it is lost and remains in the snare. Its wings no longer help when its foot is held.
So also you are not taken captive by fornication, but you are taken captive by love of money. All the same, you are captive.
The matter is not how you are captive, but that you are captive.
Do not say, young man, "I am not covetous." Perhaps you surrender to adultery. And again, what benefit comes from that?
It is impossible for all the passions to master us at one age. They are divided, and this is by God's love for mankind.
Otherwise, attacking us all together, they would become irresistible, and the battle against them would be too hard for us.
What folly it is to be unable to conquer even the passions separately, but to submit to them at every season.
It is even worse to take pride that something is tamed not by our effort, but by age itself.
Do you not see what care, practice, and labors charioteers apply, using both bread and everything else, so that they may not be thrown from their chariots and dragged on the ground?
Do you see how much skill there is here? Often an adult man cannot manage one horse, while a boy, skillfully taking two horses, easily leads and governs them.
Among the Indians, they say, a great and terrible beast, the elephant, obeys a fifteen-year-old youth with great submission.
Why do I say all this? Because if with care we tame elephants and wild horses, then still more can we tame our passions.
Why then are we so negligent throughout our whole life? We have never tried to acquire this skill.
In free time, when there is no battle, we have never conversed with one another about anything useful.
We can be seen standing on the chariot only when the battle has begun. For this reason we become worthy of mockery.
Have I not often said: let us practice on our household before temptation comes?
We often become angry at home with the children. Let us restrain anger there, so that it may be easy for us to bridle it before friends.
If we practiced in this way in every other matter, we would not be mocked in the time of battle.
For other arts and contests there are now weapons, practice, and care. But for virtue there is nothing.
The farmer will not dare to touch the vineyard before he has learned farming well. The helmsman will not stand at the stern until he has become knowledgeable in this work.
Yet we, being wholly inexperienced, wish to receive the first place.
We ought to be silent. We ought to have communion with no one, either in deed or in word, until we have tamed the beast that is within us.
Do not anger and desire attack us more fiercely than any beast?
Do not go out into the marketplace with these beasts until you have placed a good bridle on them, tamed them, and made them gentle.
Do you not see those who lead tamed lions through the marketplace? What gain they receive, and how people marvel at them because they have produced such gentleness in an irrational animal.
But if this beast suddenly became fierce, it would scatter everyone in the marketplace. The one leading it would be in danger, and he would become the cause of others' destruction.