The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus 4:8 Ulasan

The wisest of people understands the avarice and pride of human nature. He considers the nature of poverty and its terrible power to depress even the most generous spirit and to induce it often to act without shame. And so, in order that a person should not be irritated when accosted or be provoked by the continual placing of demands on him so that he becomes an enemy when he ought to bring help, such a person is instructed to be affable and accessible to the one who is asking him for things by the words, “Incline your ear to the poor, and answer him peaceably and gently.” And passing over the case of one who succeeds in exasperating—for what can one say to him who is overcome?—he addresses the person who is able to bear the other’s infirmity, exhorting him before he bestows his gift to correct the suppliant by the gentleness of his countenance and the mildness of his words.

The divine voice admonishes each one of us through the language of the holy Scriptures, “Honor the Lord with your belongings.” In another passage it says, “Pay your debt.” God is a tender and mild master. He invites us to spend the goods of our earthly belongings! He says, “Honor the Lord with your belongings.” Everything that is given to us is his, and yet, he affirms that it is ours so that we can give it away. Thus, he calls the ownership of these possessions ours so that there may be a greater reward for work since we spend more time and effort on possessions that belong to us, and in this way the worker necessarily receives a considerably greater reward for his labor.The Lord has said that the ownership is ours. However, in order that our soul not become too proud, he adds, “Pay back your debt.” If a person is not induced to be generous from his devotion, however, he will be constrained to pay from necessity. If faith is of no help to persuade a saint to operate, that which obliges him to satisfy his debt will motivate him. First he says, “Honor the Lord with your possessions,” and then, “Pay your debt,” so that, if you are devoted, you should give as though it belonged to you; if you are not, provide restitution as though it were not yours. Thus, God has rightly fixed in the law both the will to give and the necessity to pay. He wants to say to everyone, “You are invited with persuasive words or constricted by contracted debt to do holy deeds. Give, if you want; provide restitution in the contrary case.” The apostle also provided similar teaching when he ordered the rich not to be proud, not to put hope on the uncertainty of riches but on God, who, he says, “gives us everything in abundance, which we can enjoy in the will to do good works.’ ” It is one phrase, but with this the apostle teaches us who is the benefactor and what is the reason for the possessions that have been given.