Wealth and poverty
Some reflections from John Chrysostom
In his much-quoted Athanasian preface, C. S. Lewis argued forcefully that “we need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means the old books.”
And I wonder if one of the areas where we particularly need critical friends from history is in our attitudes towards money and possessions. I’ve certainly been convicted by listening to the voice of John Chrysostom, as found in his Popular Patristics volume On Wealth and Poverty.
John Chrysostom (or Johnny C for short) lived a long time ago, and spent many years serving the church in Antioch. John became personally acquainted with the poorer inhabitants of the city when he was involved in distributing alms. He was ordained as priest in 386, and a few years into his ministry, he preached a series of sermons on the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). Six of these are collected in edited form in On Wealth and Poverty.
There are many spiritual truths that John harvested in these sermons, some of which are slightly bizarre. If you keep reading, you’ll discover some of his reflections that most struck me.
Masks
One of John Chrysostom’s favourite analogies in these sermons is his depiction of poverty and wealth as masks in a play: “The present world is a theater, the conditions of men are roles: wealth and poverty, ruler and ruled, and so forth.”1 These masks hide the real character of life’s actors.
So, the rich man in the parable is like a homeless beggar taking the stage in the role of a king, wearing a royal mask. In outward appearances, he is rich. But the reality behind the mask is very different. The rich man is in fact desperately poor. In his life there is a “great poverty of virtue”.2 And there is a poverty of hope, as he is heading towards “inexorable judgement”.3
One day, the final curtain will come down, and “then the truly rich and the truly poor are revealed.” The rich man heads off stage into misery: “after his rich table punishment and retribution, after his comfort unbearable anguish.” But Lazarus leaves the theatre of this life as one who is richly blessed: “after hunger limitless prosperity, after tribulation perpetual comfort.”4
As a church, we’re currently journeying through James, who challenges his hearers over their financially-rooted favouritism. In the face of this partiality, James asks, “has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?” (2:5) Behind the mask of poverty lies spiritual wealth. And John Chrysostom brings us a pertinent challenge: are we in danger of obsessing too much over the masks we wear, and focussing too little on the character we’ll display at the final curtain?
Dreams
The sixth instalment in the sermon series was prompted by the arrival of an earthquake, which John Chrysostom saw as a sign of God’s power and love: “His power, because He shook the world; His love, because He made the tottering world firm again.”5 And John also saw it as a good opportunity to reflect on the mortality of humans and the fleeting nature of wealth.
In the rubble of the disaster, he asked: “How long does money last? How long does wealth? How long ostentatious houses?”6 These sources of security were snatched away, suddenly, without warning, by forces outside of their owners’ control. On more than one occasion, he compares the brevity of life and its possessions to a dream: “They were a dream—and when day came, the dream departed. They were a shadow—the truth came, and the shadow fled away.”7
Like the image of the mask, this language challenges us to reflect on what we’re investing in. Elsewhere, John mentions another parable, that of the rich fool. The money was stored up, the house extensions were planned, but then the divine voice came: “Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” (Luke 12:20).
Through Jesus, we are wonderfully able to make eternal, unshakeable investments, to store up treasure in heaven, to prepare for life beyond the earthquake. John Chrysostom’s sermons are a powerful call to make more of that opportunity.
Luxury
What does the good life look like? If you asked John Chrysostom that question, he might have responded: “We must exercise ourselves every day with fasting, austerity, cheap nourishment, and a frugal table, always avoiding sumptuousness; otherwise we cannot please God.”8
I imagine this is the sort of language that might raise some middle-class eyebrows. In the context of a cost-of-living crisis, more of us may become familiar with “cheap nourishment, and a frugal table,” but probably out of necessity rather than choice. It would be easy to dismiss John as unfairly maligning people who shop in Waitrose.
But John is not actually against all luxury, and nor is he advocating enforced poverty. Wealth is good for its possessor “if he enjoys luxury in moderation and distributes the rest to the stomachs of the poor.”9 His concerns are the spiritual danger of wealth and the right stewardship of resources.
In terms of spiritual danger, “luxury often leads to forgetfulness”, and neglect of God. This is exactly what God warns his people as they prepared to enter a land of “houses full of all good things” (Deuteronomy 6:11). Of course, the Israelites weren’t required to downsize in order to remember God, and nor are we. But they were called to have a different outlook from those around them, and so are we. John Chrysostom’s provocative endorsements of a simpler lifestyle might have something to teach us, if we’re willing to listen.
Theft
What is theft? A simple question, which for John Chrysostom had a simple answer. “The failure to share one’s own goods with others is theft and swindle and defraudation.”10 Or again, “not to share our own wealth with the poor is theft from the poor and deprivation of their means of life.”11
I suspect this isn’t part of the definition we would give. But for John, this is just an outworking of the fact that “our money is the Lord’s, however we may have gathered it.”12 And part of the reason the Lord has entrusted us with money is so that we can share it with those in need: “You have obtained more than others have, and you have received it, not to spend it for yourself, but to become a good steward for others as well.”13
His use of the language of theft brings to mind a statement in Ephesians 4:28: “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labour, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” Notice the reason why the thief should gain an honest living — not just to avoid causing harm, but so that he will have resources to share with others. Or, as John Chrysostom might say, so that he can “become a good steward for others as well.”
It’s easy for us to say that everything we have comes from the Lord, and that we should steward it according to His priorities. But it’s much harder to consistently live with that attitude, when our sinful instincts are to be very protective of our possessions and our money. John Chrysostom’s sermons have been a challenging prompt for me to reflect on whether I’m a “good steward” of all that the Lord has given me.
It has been good to have John Chrysostom as a teacher recently. There is still much more for me to learn in the school of Christ about the right stewardship of resources. I imagine that’s true for you as well. And in all our learning, let us never forget the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for our sake he became poor, so that we by his poverty might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).
Shopping list
There are two editions of On Wealth and Poverty published in the Popular Patristics series. Both use the same translation by Catherine P. Roth, but the 2020 edition has some edited text and a new foreword. You can buy copies of the newer edition from Eden, or digitally from Logos.
Sixth sermon, page 109.
Second sermon, page 47.
First sermon, page 37.
Sixth sermon, page 110.
Sixth sermon, page 97.
Sixth sermon, page 99.
Sixth sermon, page 110.
Third sermon, page 75.
Seventh sermon, page 137.
Second sermon, page 49.
Second sermon, page 55.
Second sermon, page 49.
Second sermon, page 50.