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Greek Orthodox Catechism
Constantine Callinicos, London, 1926
Part II. Ethical, 30. The Sermon on the Mount (continued)
Let us come now to the third part of the Sermon on the Mount, which deals with the motives of Christian morality. Say once more: What are they?
The avoidance of ostentatiousness, which seeks to please men, and the cultivation of a peaceful mind, trusting in God’s Providence.
What law, then, does our Lord lay down against ostentatiousness: and how does He explain His command with illustrations taken from the moral life of every day?
“Take heed,” He enjoins, “that ye do not your righteousness before men to be seen of them: else ye have no reward with your Father which is in Heaven. When therefore thou doest alms, sound not a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have received their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: that thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret shall recompense thee. And when ye pray, ye shall not be as the hypocrites: for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have received their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father Which is in secret, and thy Father Which seeth in secret shall recompense thee. Moreover, when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may be seen of men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have received their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face; that thou be not seen of men to fast, but of thy Father Which is in secret: and thy Father Which seeth in secret, shall recompense thee.”
And what does our Saviour teach us in His Sermon concerning the cultivation of a peaceful mind and the resting of all our hopes in the Providence of God?
“Lay not up for yourselves,” He teaches us, “treasures upon the earth. Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment? Behold the birds of the Heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto his stature? And why are ye anxious concerning raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God doth so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Be not therefore anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first His Kingdom, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”