Chrysostom
Beloved of All
I hear in your prayer a great torrent of words and verses, a soul eager to draw down every heavenly blessing upon yourself and your household. But I must ask you: do you listen with the same eagerness with which you speak? For the Lord said, “Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear,” meaning not the eyes of the body but the seeing of the mind. Many recite the Scriptures, yet their inner man remains blind and deaf, because they do not submit their will to what they read. Take care, then, that this outpouring of petitions does not become an empty noise, but a true offering from a heart that is first resolved to obey.
You ask for renewed minds and for transformation, and rightly so, for the Apostle says, “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” But consider what that renewal means. It is not the mouthing of verses or a passing feeling of devotion. To be renewed is to have the same soul, but stripped of its old habits, changed from one thing into another. If you have the Spirit, you will perform no old deed, for the Spirit cannot endure old deeds. Examine yourself, then, whether you have put off bitterness, envy, love of money, soft living. A man who prays for a renewed mind while clinging to worldly vanities is like one who asks for health but refuses to stop feeding his disease.
You ask for bodily health and prosperity, leaning on the words, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” But note well the order: first the soul must prosper. When the soul is healthy, the body’s condition becomes a matter of secondary importance. I do not forbid providing for the flesh; indeed, Paul told Timothy to use a little wine for his stomach’s sake. But there is a strict boundary: make provision for the flesh to the point of health, and not to fulfill its lusts. Are your longings for health and provision truly for the sake of serving God without hindrance? Or have they slipped into a desire for ease, for indulgence, for the soft life which makes the soul effeminate? Let each one examine his own heart on this point.
Concerning the honor you wish to show your patriarchal and matriarchal figures, that command is indeed from God and carries a promise. Yet remember also how Christ corrected the multitudes when they began to honor John the Baptist more than was fitting. To honor a human being above measure is to eclipse the honor due to Christ. Let your honoring of parents and elders be in the Lord, always looking to see that no earthly figure steals the reverence of your soul. For if you do everything out of love for Christ, then even your honoring of men will be a fragrant offering; but if the eye is fixed primarily on the family and not on the Master, you risk falling into an idolatry of kinship.
You speak of rebuking sickness and restraining evil ones, and you point to the power given to the apostles. Yet I hear little of repentance, little of deep humility. The man who has learned to despise death, who has trained his soul to say “the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away,” that man needs no constant clamor for deliverance from harm. For God often permits sickness and trial precisely to wean us from this dreamlike life. The present life is a sleep, and all its goods and ills are no more substantial than dreams. When a poor man dreams he is rich, he wakes to find his poverty more bitter; so the man who clings to earthly comforts will find his awakening at death full of terror. But he who has stored up treasure in heaven can face any loss and any sickness with joy.
You ask for fresh truths day and night. The truth is not an ever-changing novelty; it is the eternal Word of God, once delivered to the saints. The mind of Christ is not a novel doctrine whispered in secret, but the mind that considers others better than oneself, that embraces the Cross, that dies to this world. If you crave the sincere milk of the Word, then set yourself to do the Word. Be not a hearer only, deceiving your own self. For when a man hears a rebuke and does not act, he disgraces first himself and then makes himself dull of hearing, so that even plain things become hard to explain.
Let your prayer, then, become simpler and more solid. Ask for one thing above all: a true and working knowledge of Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. Labor to have your soul prosper in humility, in love for the poor, in purity of heart. Then bodily health, if it comes, will be a help to your service; if it tarries, you will possess a greater treasure in patience. Honor your parents by a holy life that brings them no shame. Read the Scriptures with the reverence of a doer, not the haste of a collector of texts. And when you ask God for anything, let your first word be: “Have mercy on me, a sinner.” For it is to the humble that grace is given.
You ask for renewed minds and for transformation, and rightly so, for the Apostle says, “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” But consider what that renewal means. It is not the mouthing of verses or a passing feeling of devotion. To be renewed is to have the same soul, but stripped of its old habits, changed from one thing into another. If you have the Spirit, you will perform no old deed, for the Spirit cannot endure old deeds. Examine yourself, then, whether you have put off bitterness, envy, love of money, soft living. A man who prays for a renewed mind while clinging to worldly vanities is like one who asks for health but refuses to stop feeding his disease.
You ask for bodily health and prosperity, leaning on the words, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” But note well the order: first the soul must prosper. When the soul is healthy, the body’s condition becomes a matter of secondary importance. I do not forbid providing for the flesh; indeed, Paul told Timothy to use a little wine for his stomach’s sake. But there is a strict boundary: make provision for the flesh to the point of health, and not to fulfill its lusts. Are your longings for health and provision truly for the sake of serving God without hindrance? Or have they slipped into a desire for ease, for indulgence, for the soft life which makes the soul effeminate? Let each one examine his own heart on this point.
Concerning the honor you wish to show your patriarchal and matriarchal figures, that command is indeed from God and carries a promise. Yet remember also how Christ corrected the multitudes when they began to honor John the Baptist more than was fitting. To honor a human being above measure is to eclipse the honor due to Christ. Let your honoring of parents and elders be in the Lord, always looking to see that no earthly figure steals the reverence of your soul. For if you do everything out of love for Christ, then even your honoring of men will be a fragrant offering; but if the eye is fixed primarily on the family and not on the Master, you risk falling into an idolatry of kinship.
You speak of rebuking sickness and restraining evil ones, and you point to the power given to the apostles. Yet I hear little of repentance, little of deep humility. The man who has learned to despise death, who has trained his soul to say “the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away,” that man needs no constant clamor for deliverance from harm. For God often permits sickness and trial precisely to wean us from this dreamlike life. The present life is a sleep, and all its goods and ills are no more substantial than dreams. When a poor man dreams he is rich, he wakes to find his poverty more bitter; so the man who clings to earthly comforts will find his awakening at death full of terror. But he who has stored up treasure in heaven can face any loss and any sickness with joy.
You ask for fresh truths day and night. The truth is not an ever-changing novelty; it is the eternal Word of God, once delivered to the saints. The mind of Christ is not a novel doctrine whispered in secret, but the mind that considers others better than oneself, that embraces the Cross, that dies to this world. If you crave the sincere milk of the Word, then set yourself to do the Word. Be not a hearer only, deceiving your own self. For when a man hears a rebuke and does not act, he disgraces first himself and then makes himself dull of hearing, so that even plain things become hard to explain.
Let your prayer, then, become simpler and more solid. Ask for one thing above all: a true and working knowledge of Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. Labor to have your soul prosper in humility, in love for the poor, in purity of heart. Then bodily health, if it comes, will be a help to your service; if it tarries, you will possess a greater treasure in patience. Honor your parents by a holy life that brings them no shame. Read the Scriptures with the reverence of a doer, not the haste of a collector of texts. And when you ask God for anything, let your first word be: “Have mercy on me, a sinner.” For it is to the humble that grace is given.
