On the Fast of the Tenth Month, Sixth Sermon

Dearly beloved, the teaching of the law gives great authority to the commands of the gospel, since certain things are carried over from the old ordinances to the new, and the very devotions of the church show that the Lord Jesus Christ “came not to destroy the law but to fulfill it.” For since the signs that announced our Savior’s coming have ceased, and the types have been done away in the presence of the Truth himself, the things our religion instituted, whether for the ordering of customs or for the simple worship of God, continue with us in the same form they had at the beginning, and what was in harmony with both Testaments has been altered by no change. Among these is the solemn fast of the tenth month, which we are now to keep according to the yearly custom, because it is altogether just and godly to give thanks to the divine generosity for the crops the earth has produced for human use under the guiding hand of the supreme Providence. And to show that we do this with a willing mind, we must practice not only the self-restraint of fasting but also diligence in almsgiving, so that from the soil of our heart too may spring the shoot of righteousness and the fruit of love, and so that we may deserve God’s mercy by showing mercy to his poor. For the prayer that is supported by works of devotion is most effective in prevailing with God, since he who does not turn his heart away from the poor soon turns himself to hear the Lord, as the Lord says: “Be merciful, as your Father also is merciful… release, and you will be released.” What is kinder than this justice? What is more merciful than this repayment, where the judge’s sentence lies in the power of the one who is to be judged? “Give,” he says, “and it will be given to you.” How quickly the misgivings of distrust and the delays of greed fall to the ground, when human kindness may spend without fear what the Truth himself pledges to repay. [a]

Be steadfast, Christian giver: give what you may receive, sow what you may reap, scatter what you may gather. Do not be afraid to spend; do not sigh over the uncertainty of the gain. Your wealth grows when it is wisely given out. Set your heart on the profits that mercy earns, and trade in eternal gains. The one who repays you wants you to be generous, and he who gives so that you may have commands you to spend, saying, “Give, and it will be given to you.” You must thankfully accept the terms of this promise. For although you have nothing that you did not receive, you cannot fail to have what you give. So the man who loves money and wants to multiply his wealth by excessive profits should rather practice this holy usury and grow rich by this kind of money-lending. He should not catch people who are hard pressed, and by treacherous help entangle them in debts they can never pay. Instead he should be the creditor and money-lender of the one who says, “Give, and it will be given to you,” and “With the measure you measure, it will be measured back to you.” But he is unfaithful and unfair even to himself who does not want to have forever what he considers desirable. Let him pile up what he can, let him hoard and store what he can; he will leave this world empty and in need, as David the prophet says: “For when he dies he will take nothing away, nor will his glory go down with him.” If he cared for his own soul, he would entrust his goods to him who is both the rightful guarantor for the poor and the generous repayer of loans. But unrighteous and shameless greed, which promises some kindness but slips out of it, does not trust God, whose promises never fail, and trusts man, who makes such hasty bargains. And while the greedy man counts the present more certain than the future, he often finds, and deservedly, that his greed for unjust gain is the cause of a loss that is anything but unjust. [c]

And so, whatever the outcome, the money-lender’s trade is always bad. It is a sin either to lessen or to increase the sum: if he loses what he lent, he is wretched, and if he takes back more than he lent, he is more wretched still. The wickedness of money-lending must be renounced absolutely, and gain that lacks all human kindness must be shunned. A man’s possessions are indeed multiplied by these unrighteous and miserable means, but the mind’s wealth decays, because usury of money is the death of the soul. For what God thinks of such men, the most holy prophet David makes clear. When he asks, “Lord, who will dwell in your tabernacle, or who will rest on your holy hill?” he receives the divine word in reply, and learns from it that the man who reaches eternal rest is one who, among other rules of holy living, “has not lent his money at interest.” Thus the man who gets deceitful gain from lending his money at interest is shown to be both a stranger to God’s tabernacle and an exile from his holy hill, and in seeking to enrich himself by others’ losses he deserves to be punished with eternal poverty. [d]

And so, dearly beloved, you who have put your trust in the Lord’s promises with your whole heart, flee from this unclean leprosy of greed, and use God’s gift devoutly and wisely. And since you rejoice in his generosity, take care that you have others to share in your joys. For many lack what you have in plenty, and the needs of some give you the opportunity to imitate the divine goodness, so that through you the divine benefits may pass on to others too, and so that by being wise stewards of your temporal goods you may gain eternal riches. On Wednesday and Friday next, therefore, let us fast, and on Saturday keep vigil with the most blessed apostle Peter, by whose prayers we may obtain the divine protection in all things, through Christ our Lord. Amen. [e]