Those Who Keep What Is Theirs and Those Who Give Yet Seize

Admonition 22. Those who neither desire what belongs to others nor give what is their own, and those who give of what they have and yet do not stop seizing what belongs to others, are to be admonished differently. Those who neither desire what belongs to others nor give what is their own are to be admonished to consider carefully that the earth from which they were taken is common to all people, and so brings forth food for all in common. In vain, then, do those think themselves innocent who claim the common gift of God for their own private use; who, by not sharing what they have received, walk in the midst of their neighbors’ slaughter. For almost every day they kill as many people as there are poor dying whose means of life they keep shut up in their own possession. For when we give the needy what they need, of whatever kind, we do not give them what is ours; we give back to them what is theirs. We are paying a debt of justice rather than doing works of mercy. That is why the Truth himself, speaking of the care needed in showing mercy, says, “Take heed that you do not do your justice before men.” The psalmist also, in agreement with this saying, says, “He has scattered, he has given to the poor; his justice endures forever.” [a]

For having first spoken of generosity shown to the poor, he would not call this mercy, but rather justice; for it is surely just that whoever receives what is given by a common Lord should use it in common. That is why Solomon also says, “Whoever is just will give and will not hold back.” They are also to be admonished to note anxiously how the stern farmer complains of the fig tree that had no fruit, that it even wastes the ground. [b] For a fig tree without fruit wastes the ground when the soul of the stingy keeps uselessly what could have benefited many. A fig tree without fruit wastes the ground when the fool keeps barren, under the shade of laziness, a place that another could have cultivated under the sun of good works.

But these people sometimes say, “We use what has been granted to us; we do not seek what belongs to others; and if we do nothing worthy of the reward of mercy, we still do no wrong.” They think this because they close the ear of their heart to the words that come from heaven. For the rich man in the Gospel, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and feasted splendidly every day, is not said to have seized what belonged to others, but to have used what was his own without bearing fruit. And avenging hell received him after this life, not because he did anything unlawful, but because by unrestrained indulgence he gave himself wholly to what was lawful. [c]

The stingy are to be admonished to take note that, in the first place, they do God this wrong: to him who gives them everything they give back no sacrifice of mercy. That is why the psalmist says, “He will not give God his offering of atonement, nor the price of the redemption of his soul.” For to give the price of redemption is to return good deeds for the grace that went before us. That is why John cries out, saying, “Now the ax is laid to the root of the tree. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” So let those who think themselves guiltless because they do not seize what belongs to others look ahead to the stroke of the ax that is close at hand, and lay aside the sluggishness of careless ease; otherwise, while they neglect to bear the fruit of good deeds, they will be cut off from the present life completely, as it were from the greenness of the root. [d]

But on the other hand, those who both give what they have and do not stop seizing what belongs to others are to be admonished not to want to appear exceedingly generous, and so be made worse by the outward show of good. For these people, giving what is their own without discernment, not only fall into the grumbling of impatience, as we said above, but when want presses them, are swept along even into greed. What, then, is more wretched than the minds of those in whom greed is born of generosity, and a crop of sins is sown, as it were, from virtue? First, then, they are to be admonished to learn how to keep what is theirs reasonably, and only then not to go about getting what is another’s. For if the root of the fault is not burned out in the lavishness itself, the thorn of greed, growing rank through the branches, is never dried up. So the cause for seizing is taken away if the holding of possessions is first set in right order. But then, further, let those who are admonished be told how to give mercifully what they have, once they have learned not to confound the good of mercy by throwing into it the wickedness of robbery. For they extort by violence what they give in mercy. For it is one thing to show mercy because of our sins, and another to sin in order to show mercy. That can no longer even be called mercy, since it cannot grow into sweet fruit, being made bitter by the poison of its deadly root. That is why the Lord through the prophet rejects even sacrifices themselves, saying, “I the Lord love justice, and I hate robbery in a whole burnt offering.” And again he has said, “The sacrifices of the ungodly, which are offered from wickedness, are detestable.” Such people also often take from the needy what they give to God. [g]

But the Lord shows with what strong disapproval he disowns them when he says through a certain wise man, “Whoever offers a sacrifice from the goods of the poor is like one who kills a son before his father’s eyes.” For what can be more unbearable than the death of a son before his father’s eyes? So it is shown with what great anger this kind of sacrifice is looked upon, since it is compared to the grief of a bereaved father. And yet for the most part people carefully weigh how much they give, but neglect to consider how much they seize. They count, as it were, their wages, but refuse to consider their losses. So let them hear what is written: “Whoever has earned wages has put them into a bag with holes.” For money put into a bag with holes is seen when it is put in, but when it is lost it is not seen. Those, then, who keep an eye on how much they give but do not consider how much they seize put their wages into a bag with holes; for in truth they look at them as they gather them, hoping to be secure, but lose them without looking. [h]