On How Avarice and Ingratitude Anger God
January 19
(A Discourse on a Man Who Was Saved from Illness for the Sake of Almsgiving and, Having Repented Again, Died)
By Archpriest Victor Guryev
January 19
(A Discourse on a Man Who Was Saved from Illness for the Sake of Almsgiving and, Having Repented Again, Died)
By Archpriest Victor Guryev
In illnesses — and especially severe ones — even the miserly often become generous. Desiring to recover, yet having lost all hope of help from physicians, they, like everyone else, are ready to give up everything, if only they might rise from their sickbed and escape death, so they give alms with a liberal hand. But once the illness has passed, the generosity is as if it had never existed! The greedy lover of money forgets the mercy of God shown to him, grumbles over what seems to him his own prodigality, complains of his weakness of spirit, and is ready for anything — anything at all — only to recover what he gave away during his illness. Such ingratitude toward God is inexcusable! Such hard-heartedness is extreme!
Listen, brethren, to how the wrath of God sometimes overtakes such people, and learn to flee avarice and ingratitude toward God. A certain man living in Constantinople fell gravely ill and, seized by the terror of death, resolved to draw God’s mercy to himself through almsgiving. He distributed thirty litras of gold to the poor, and the alms indeed saved him. He recovered. What, after this, would one think remained for him to do but to thank God day and night for his deliverance? But no! He grieved bitterly over his gold, and the thought of the alms he had given during his illness did not allow him a moment’s peace. Tormented by this, he once went to one of his friends and revealed all his sorrow.
This friend was a pious and merciful man and wished to bring the lover of money to his senses. “Abandon,” he said to him, “this counsel of the devil, and do not anger God, who raised you up again for the sake of your almsgiving. Otherwise, who knows? He may strike you with sudden death, and then you will die without repentance.” But the miser was not corrected by these words. Then the friend said to him: “Well, if you will not listen to me, then come with me to the church: there I will return your money to you — only say before God that it was not you who gave alms during your illness, but I.”
The lover of money was very glad at such a proposal, and the two went to the church. There, having received the gold from his friend and having said what was required of him, the miser calmly set off for home. But — alas! — he was not destined to see his house again. At the church doors he suddenly fell and immediately breathed his last. Terror seized those present, who in the sudden death of the ungrateful miser clearly perceived God’s punishment for his avarice and ingratitude. The friend took back his gold from the deceased and at once distributed it to the poor.
In view of so striking an example of the ruinous consequences of avarice and ingratitude toward God, what shall we say, brethren, to those among you who feel themselves guilty of one or the other of these vices? Together with the case just mentioned, recall more often the words of the Gospel spoken to the man who wished to tear down his barns and build larger ones: “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have prepared?” (Luke 12:20); and the words of the Apostle James: “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you” (James 5:1–3). Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
