Perhaps the most obvious spiritual opportunity offered to us by society is that of performing good works. This opportunity is, in fact, so obvious that we will only devote a very short section to it here, and thus the length of this section is in inverse proportion to the significance of charity and good works in the Christian life. As for the subject, we will pay particular attention to acts of charity, taken as a broad category. That is to say that by “charity” we refer to situations in which we as Christians give something of ourselves, our resources, or our time to benefit others in needs. Such charity may be directed toward anyone in society, certainly including the poor, but also those around us who need help in one way or another at any given time.
The idea that doing good to other people is an important, indeed a necessary, component of Christian life is so central to the Conferences that it is rarely addressed explicitly. While the monks of the Conferences see the Gospels as documents rich in profound spiritual mysteries chat run much deeper than the surface meaning of a given passage, they equally see the teachings of Jesus on subjects like clothing the naked and feeding the hungry as simple and direct commands.
In at least one passage from the first conference, however, St John and St Germanus bring up the topic of charity with some trepidation in their voices. Having heard Abba Moses extol the importance of theoria over all other virtues, the two travelers raise concerns that such a teaching runs contrary to the Lord’s command to take up things like fasting, reading, mercy, hospitality and, indeed, charity. 14 Abba Moses, in his response, focuses on the importance of doing good works of charity, citing the Lord’s teaching that whoever gives so much as a cup of water in his name will receive the reward of the kingdom. 15 One of the key reasons that St John records this discourse is probably in order to defend monasticism in principle. Objections to monasticism on the grounds that it is untrue to the gospels in being too removed from works of charity are heard frequently today, and it appears likely that they were familiar to St John as well. If so, it seems that he wanted to be sure, in the very first conference, to make clear that the monks of the desert were well aware of the importance of charity and capable of participating in it.
Beyond this rhetorical point, Abba Moses proceeds in his discourse on charity in a way that is helpful for us here. For him, charity is absolutely critical in the fallen world, but the Christian must recognize that it is necessary only because the world is fallen. Acts of charity matter now, but cannot be construed as ultimately of the highest importance because they will no longer be necessary (or even possible) in the new kingdom.
As long, then, as this inequality lasts in this world, chis sort of work will be needful and useful to the man chat practices it, as it brings to a good purpose and a pious will the reward of an eternal inheritance: but it will come to an end in the life to come, where equality will reign, when there will be no longer inequality, on account of which these things must be done, but all men will pass from these manifold practical works to the love of God, and contemplation of heavenly things in continual purity of heart. 16
It is interesting to note that Abba Moses explicitly identifies the improper distribution of earthly resources as the cause of poverty and human suffering in the world, pointing to greed as the source of this problem. His moral indictment of the unchecked accumulation of wealth is, if anything, all the more relevant today. More central to our discussion in this chapter, however, is Abba Moses’ point that while works of charity will not be needed in the new kingdom, in the world as it exists here and now these works provide those already properly disposed toward God with an eternal reward. The implication is that acts of charity constitute a kind of final step taken by a person otherwise in good spiritual health—a capstone of their love for God.
The reason that Abba Moses sees good works in this way is implicit in another comment that he makes about the kind of spiritual transformation that is effected by various bodily works, including the diligent reading of scripture, stern fasting, and, indeed, works of charity. All of these, he says, are made necessary only in the fallen world, but still are needed because one cannot attain to love without them.17 Indeed, what good is there in developing an inward disposition of love toward God and humanity if such a disposition is not expressed by real charity toward others as well as by doing other things that make that love manifest? Love without outward acts of kindness is rather like an art museum that does not allow admittance to any visitors. Perhaps it is really there in some theoretical sense, but it is scarcely true to its real purpose.
~Daniel G. Opperwall, A Layman in the Desert
14 Conf. I.IX.
15 Mt 10.42.
16 Conf. I.X.4. Translation Gibson.
17 Conf. I.X.3.
