{"author":null,"canonical_references":[],"database_sha256":"8cfbe7284c6936871d57c02dc6aa63ebbdfd4722422d539dd9f716e46e91112e","date_end":null,"date_start":null,"edition_year":null,"id":"sermonindex-ecf-1993","native_reference":{"book_number":540,"chapter_from":9,"chapter_to":9,"system":"MyBible module coordinates (mapping unverified)","verse_from":6,"verse_to":6},"public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"verse-keyed-module-record","review_required":["English edition and exact text","author/work attribution","dating","verse mapping and citation kind","reuse and attribution","split author quotations and deduplicate"],"review_status":"unreviewed","source_html":"<p><b>Ambrosiaster</b>: Paul is referring to misers when he talks about people who sow sparingly. He says this here because the Corinthians had promised to send something and had subsequently backtracked.<br/><i>— COMMENTARY ON PAUL'S EPISTLES</i></p><p><b>Augustine of Hippo</b>: And since the apostle himself says: \"Now this I say: he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly,\" you should understand that now is the time, while we are still in this life, to be swift and eager to purchase the gift of eternal life, for when the end of the world comes it will be given only to those who have bought it for themselves by faith before they were able to see it.<br/><i>— LETTER 268</i></p><p><b>Cyprian</b>: \"He who soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he who soweth in blessing shall reap also of blessing. But let every one do as he has proposed in his heart: not as if sorrowfully, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.\"<br/><i>— Treatise XII Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews</i></p><p><b>Desert Fathers</b>: A brother said to Poemen, 'If I give my brother something, for instance a piece of bread, the demons made the gift worthless by making me think that it was done to please men.' The hermit said to him, 'Even if it is done to please men, we still ought to give our brothers what they need.' He told him this parable: 'In a town there were two farmers. One of them sowed seed, and gathered a poor harvest; the other was idle and did not sow, and had no harvest to gather. If famine came, which of them would survive?' The brother answered, 'The one who sowed seed, even if the harvest was poor.' He said, 'It is the same for us. We sow a few seeds, and they are poor, but in the time of famine we shall not die.'<br/><i>— The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks</i></p><p><b>John Chrysostom</b>: Accordingly, let us not simply have the recipient in view in showing generosity in almsgiving, but consider who it is who takes as his the kindnesses shown to the poor person and who promises recompense for favors done; and thus let us direct our attention to him while showing all zeal in making offerings with complete enthusiasm, and let us sow generously in season so that we may also reap generously. Scripture says, remember, \"he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly.\" Let us consequently sow these good seeds generously so that in due season we may reap generously. Now, after all, is the time for sowing, which I beseech you not to ignore, so that on the day of harvesting we may gather the returns of what was sown here and be regaled with loving kindness from the Lord.<br/><i>— HOMILIES ON Genesis 34.8</i></p><p><b>John Chrysostom</b>: \"He that soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly; and he that soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.\" And he did not say niggardly, but a milder expression, employing the the name of the sparing. And he called the thing sowing; that thou mightest at once look unto the recompense, and having in mind the harvest, mightest feel that thou receivest more than thou givest. Wherefore he did not say, 'He that giveth,' but \"He that soweth:\" and he said not 'ye, if ye sow,' but made what he said general. Neither did he say, 'largely,' but \"bountifully,\" which is far greater than this. And again, he betakes himself to that former point of gladness.<br/><i>— Homily 19 on 2 Corinthians</i></p>","source_html_sha256":"eb622e2debcff8e90edc2e21f3d5ea7cf856db9c55616cfc8c97720a79bb3364","source_module":"ECF","source_row_id":1993,"source_url":"https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/ecf/","text_sha256":"6f8560019ba7540dfce492d6f037b94884f59d3ac090ee54776735b248ceb393","translator":null,"work":null}