A Gift And A Loan

Ἀκούετε, οἱ πλοὺσιοι, ὁποῖα συμβουλεύομεν τοῖς πτωχοῖς διὰ τὴν ὑμετέραν ἀπανθρωπίαν· ἐκαρτερεῖν μᾶλλον τοῖς δεινοῖς, ἢ τὰς ἐκ τῶν τὸκων συμφορὰς ὑποδέχεσθαι. Εἰ δὲ ἐπείθεσθε τῷ Κυριῳ, τίς χρεία τῶν λόγων τούτων; Τίς δέ ἐστιν ἡ συμβουλὴ τοῦ Δεσπότου; Δανείζετε παρ’ ὦν οὐκ ἐλπίζετε ἀπολαβεῖν. Καὶ ποῖον, φησὶ, τοῦτο δάνεισμα, ὦ τῆς ἀποδόσεως ἐλπὶς οὐ συνέζευκται; Νόησον τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ ῥητοῦ, καὶ θαυμάσεις τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν τοῦ νομοθετου. Ὅταν πτωχῷ παρέχειν μέλλυς διὰ τὸν Κύριον, τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ δῶρόν ἐστι καὶ δάνεισμα· δῶρόν μὲν διὰ τὴν ἀνελμιστίαν τῆς ἀπολήψεως, δάνεισμα δὲ διὰ τὴν μεγαλοδωρεὰν τοῦ Δεσπότου τοῦ ἀποτιννύντος ὑπερ αὐτοῦ, ὃς, μικρὰ λαβὼν διὰ τοῦ πένητος, μεγάλα ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἀποδώσει. Ὁ γάρ ἐλεῶν πτωχόν δανείζει Θεῷ.   Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ὁμιλία Ἐις Τους Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμός ΙΔ'

Listen, you rich folk, to the counsel we give to the poor on account of your inhumanity: better for you to persevere in wretchedness than to welcome the sufferings of usury. But if you are obedient to the Lord, what need of these words? What is the counsel of the Master? Lend to those from whom you do not hope to receive. 'And what sort of loan is it,' you may say, ' to which there is no hope of return attached?' Consider the power of the statement and you will wonder at the kindness of the lawmaker. Whenever you intend to provide for a poor man for the Lord's sake, the same thing is a gift and a loan; a gift because repayment is not sought, but a loan because of the great gift of the Master who pays in his place, He who, receiving a little thing through a needy man, will give great things for it. He that has mercy on the poor, gives to God. Saint Basil of Caesarea, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 14