The Instructor 2.3.38

See how great this error is, how great the love of display. The Lord ate from a cheap bowl, made his disciples recline on the grass on the ground, and washed their feet, girded with a towel, the unpretentious God and Lord of all, not bringing a silver foot-basin down from heaven. He asked the Samaritan woman for a drink as she drew it up from the well in an earthenware vessel, not seeking royal gold, but teaching us to quench thirst simply; for he set need as his aim, not ignorant display. He ate and drank at feasts, not digging up metals from the earth, nor using vessels of silver and gold, that is, reeking of rust, such as [the rust] the pretentious material gives off. In general, food, clothing, vessels, and everything else in the house, in a word, must be in keeping with the Christian's way of life, suited appropriately to the person, the age, the occupation, and the occasion. For being servants of one God, our possessions and the furnishings with them must show the tokens of one good life, and each person, by undivided faith, this single-minded way of life, must make what follows appear consistent and in harmony with the one disposition. What we acquire without difficulty, use easily, praise, keep readily, and share easily, is better. Useful things are better, and cheaper things surely better than costly ones.