THEOSISJohn Chrysostom
See how Stephen shows that God guided them by benefits, punishments, and wonders, yet they remained the same. From this we learn that God is everywhere present. Hearing this, let us also flee to Him in afflictions.
"I have heard his groaning," he says. He does not simply say, "I hear," but that He hears because of their sufferings. If anyone asks why God allowed them to suffer so greatly, let him know this. Every righteous man is especially deemed worthy of rewards through sufferings.
Or He allowed them to suffer so that He might reveal His own power through this before all. He also taught them, by these sufferings, to practice wisdom in all things.
Look. When they were in the wilderness, they not only "grew fat, became thick, and were sleek," but also "forsook God" (Deut 32:15). A carefree life, beloved, is always an evil. Therefore, in the beginning God said to Adam, "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread" (Gen 3:19).
Thus, lest they enjoy a carefree life instead of great sufferings and become corrupt, He allows them to endure afflictions. Affliction is a great good. That affliction is good, hear David, who says, "It is good for me that You humbled me" (Ps 118:71).
If affliction is a great good for great and wonderful men, how much more is it so for us. If you wish, let us consider this affliction in itself. Suppose someone rejoices excessively, makes merry, and bursts into laughter. What is more unseemly or more foolish than this?
Let another grieve and be afflicted. What is wiser than this? Therefore the Wise One teaches, "Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth" (Eccl 7:3-4).
Perhaps you laugh at these words. But let us remember what Adam was in paradise, and what he was afterward. Let us remember what Cain was before the murder, and what he was afterward.
The soul of one who makes merry does not remain in its own place. As though carried away by some wind, it is swept along by pleasure, becomes frivolous, and has nothing firm. It is quick to invent, quick to promise, and a great storm of thoughts arises within it.
From this come untimely laughter, senseless merriment, an excessive flood of words, and much idle talk. But why do I speak of others? Let us imagine one of the saints and see what he was amid pleasure, and what he was, in turn, in sorrow.
Let us look, if you wish, at David. When he lived in pleasure and joy because of many trophies, victories, crowns, luxury, and self-confidence, see what he said and did. "I said in my prosperity, I shall never be moved" (Ps 29:7).
But when he was in affliction, hear what he says: "If He says thus, 'I have no pleasure in you,' behold, here I am. Let Him do to me what seems good to Him" (2 Sam 15:26). What is wiser than these words?
Let it be, he says, as God wills. He also said to Saul, "If the Lord has stirred you up against me, let this be a fragrant sacrifice from you" (1 Sam 26:19). When he was in affliction, he spared even his enemies. Afterward, he spared neither friends nor those who had in no way wronged him (2 Sam 11).
Jacob, when he was in affliction, said, "If the Lord God gives me bread to eat and clothing to wear" (Gen 28:20). The son of Noah had done nothing of the kind before. But when he became assured of safety from the flood, hear how insolent he proved to be (Gen 9:22).
And Hezekiah, when he was in affliction, see what he did for his salvation. He put on sackcloth and sat upon the ground. But when he began to live in pleasures, he fell from the height of his heart.
Therefore Moses exhorts, "You shall eat and be full. Beware, lest you forget the Lord" (Deut 6:11-12). The path of pleasures is slippery and leads to forgetfulness of God. When the Israelites were in affliction, they multiplied more and more. But when God delivered them, they all perished.
But why do I bring forward examples from ancient times? Let us turn, if you wish, to ourselves. Very many of us, when we prosper, become arrogant, enemies to all, and angry while we have power. But when it is taken from us, we become meek, humble, quiet, and conscious of our own nature.
That this is so, David also confirms, saying, "Their pride has possessed them completely. Their injustice proceeds as from fatness" (Ps 72:6-7). I say this so that we may not pursue pleasures by every means.
How then, someone will say, does Paul say, "Rejoice always"? He did not simply say, "Rejoice," but added, "in the Lord" (Phil 4:4). This is the highest joy. The apostles rejoiced with this joy. It is a joy that brings profit.
It has its beginning, root, and foundation in bonds, scourges, persecutions, evil report, and in all painful things. But its end is desirable. Worldly joy, by contrast, begins with pleasure and ends in sorrow.
I do not forbid rejoicing in the Lord. Rather, I especially urge it. The apostles were scourged and rejoiced. They were bound and gave thanks. They were stoned and preached. I also desire such joy.
It takes its beginning not from anything perceptible, but from spiritual things. It is impossible for one who rejoices in a worldly way to rejoice also in God. Everyone who rejoices in a worldly way rejoices in wealth, luxury, glory, power, and honors.
But he who rejoices in God rejoices in dishonor for His sake, in poverty, in non-possession, in fasting, and in humility of mind. Do you see how opposite their objects are? Whoever has no joy here is also a stranger to spiritual sorrow. Whoever has no sorrow here is a stranger to joy in God.
These things undoubtedly bring true joy. Those others bear only the name of joy, but in reality are sorrow. How many sorrows the arrogant man has. How he tears himself apart through pride, inventing thousands of insults for himself, and nursing great hatred, fierce enmity, deep envy, and extreme ill will.
If someone above him insults him, he is vexed. If he has not yet risen above everyone, he is tormented. By contrast, the humble man enjoys great pleasure, expecting honors from no one. If he is honored, he rejoices. If he is not honored, he does not grieve.
He even loves the fact that honors have not been given him. Thus, not to seek honors and yet receive them is great pleasure. With the other man the opposite occurs. He seeks honors and does not receive them.
The one who seeks honors and the one who does not seek them do not rejoice in them alike. The first, however much he receives, thinks he has received nothing. The second, even if you give him little honor, accepts it as though he had received everything.
Likewise, a man living in luxury has much wealth, and acquisitions flow to him easily, as from a fountain. But he fears the misfortunes that arise from luxury and the uncertainty of the future.
The man who has accustomed himself to a modest way of life is always at peace and enjoys pleasure. He is not so grieved at lacking a luxurious table as he is delighted that he does not fear the uncertainty of the future.
Everyone knows how many misfortunes arise from luxury, but it is necessary to speak of it now. From it comes a double warfare, of body and soul. There is a double storm, double diseases, and diseases incurable, accompanied by great disasters.
The fruits of moderation are not like this. From it come double health and double blessings. "Healthy sleep," says the Wise One, "comes with moderation of the stomach" (Sir 31:22). Moderation is desirable everywhere, and excess is the opposite.
For example, place a large bundle of wood upon a small spark, and you will no longer see a bright fire, but only very unpleasant smoke. Put upon a very strong and large man a burden beyond his strength, and you will see him cast down with his load, lying on the ground.
Load too much cargo upon a ship, and you will cause a terrible shipwreck. Such also are the fruits of luxury. On ships that are overloaded, great confusion arises among the passengers. The helmsman, the man at the stern, and all who sail on it begin throwing everything into the sea, above and below.
So it is here also. They discharge upward and downward, and perish amid torments. What is most shameful, the mouth itself performs the work of the lower parts and becomes even more shameful than they.
If the mouth is in such a shameful state, imagine what the soul is like. There all is gloom, storm, and darkness. There is great confusion in the thoughts, which are restlessly and heavily disturbed. The soul itself cries out from constraint.
Then the gluttons themselves accuse one another, are vexed, and hasten to cast out their inward uncleanness. Yet even after the discharge the storm does not cease. Fevers and other diseases appear.
Yes, you will say, they are subject to diseases and shame. But it is useless for us to describe this and count the diseases. I am sick, I suffer, I am subject to shame, I who have nothing to eat. But these who live in luxury, as you see, are cheerful, flourish in health, make merry, and ride horses.
Alas, such words deserve tears. Tell me, whom do we see suffering from gout, carried on litters, and bandaged? If they did not consider it an offense, and did not take my words as an insult, I could name them.
But there are also some, you say, who remain healthy. That is because they do not give themselves only to pleasures, but also to labors. Show me even one man who constantly gratifies his belly, lies in idleness, does no work at all, and remains healthy. You will not find such a man.
Even if thousands of physicians were gathered, they could not free from disease the man who is constantly overfilled. This is contrary to the nature of the matter itself. I will offer you a medical teaching.
Not everything received into the belly becomes nourishment. Even in the substance of food itself, not everything is nutritive. One part is destined for expulsion, another for nourishment.
Therefore, if a man receives it in measure and allows it to be completely digested, this process takes place, and the food reaches its purpose. Everything healthy and useful takes its place, while the excess and useless part is separated and cast out.
But if it is received beyond measure, even what is nutritive in it becomes harmful. To make this clearer for you, I shall offer the following example. In bread there is fine flour, meal, and bran.
If you pour into the millstone as much as it can grind, it separates all these. But if you pour in more, everything is mixed together. So also wine, if it receives proper preparation and timely fermentation, at first has everything undivided.
Then one part turns into lees, another into foam, and another becomes a pleasant drink for those who use it. This last part is useful and does not quickly spoil. At first there was neither wine nor lees, but everything was mixed together.
The same can be seen on the sea during a strong storm. Then we see fish floating dead on the surface, unable to hide from the cold in the depths. So it is also with us.
When the heavy rain of satiety pours down upon us and disturbs everything, it causes our thoughts, which until then were sound and calm, to float like dead things on the surface of our soul.
Having learned from these examples how great the harm of over-satiety is, let us stop calling blessed those whom we ought to consider wretched. Let us stop lamenting ourselves for what should make us call ourselves blessed. Let us love moderation.
Do you not know the saying of the physicians, that want is the mother of health? I will say that want is the mother not only of bodily health, but also of the soul's health. Paul, that true physician, teaches the same when he says, "Having food and clothing, let us be content with these" (1 Tim 6:8).
Let us obey him, so that in health we may do what must be done, in Christ Jesus our Lord. With Him, to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, dominion, and honor, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.