Homily 5 — Philippians 2, verses 1 to 4

“If there is therefore any comfort in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassion, make my joy full, that you be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; doing nothing through faction or through empty glory, but in lowliness of mind each counting the other better than himself; each of you looking not to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.” [a]

There is nothing better, nothing more affectionate, than a spiritual teacher. Such a teacher goes beyond the kindness of any natural father. Just consider how this blessed man pleads with the Philippians about things that were for their own good. What does he say as he urges them toward harmony, the cause of all good things? See how earnestly, how forcefully, with how much fellow feeling he speaks: “If there is therefore any comfort in Christ.” That is, if you have any comfort in Christ. It is as if he had said, “If you think anything of me, if you have any care for me, if you have ever received any good at my hands, do this.”

We use this kind of earnestness when we are claiming something we value above everything else. If we did not value it above everything, we would not want to receive it as our recompense for all things, or say that all the rest is summed up in it. We, for our part, remind people of claims that belong to the flesh. A father, for example, might say, “If you have any respect for your father, if you remember any of my care in raising you, if you have any affection for me, if you remember any of the honor you have received from me, any of my kindness, do not be at odds with your brother.” That is: in return for all those things, this is what I ask.

But Paul does not do this. He reminds us of no benefits of the flesh; every one he names is spiritual. That is: if you want to give me any comfort in my trials, and any encouragement in Christ; if any consolation of love; if you want to show any fellowship in the Spirit; if you have any tender mercies and compassion — make my joy full. “If any tender mercies and compassion.” Paul speaks of the harmony of his disciples as compassion toward himself, and in this way he shows that the danger was extreme if they were not of one mind. If I can get comfort from you, if I can get any consolation from our love, if I can share with you in the Spirit, if I can have fellowship with you in the Lord, if I can find mercy and compassion at your hands — show by your love that you repay all this. I have gained all this if you love one another. [b]

Verse 2: “Make my joy full.” So that his urging would not seem to be addressed to people who were still falling short, see how he does not say, “Give me joy,” but “Make my joy full.” That is: you have begun to plant it in me; you have already given me some share of peace; but I want to reach its fullness. “Tell us, what do you want? That we rescue you from dangers? That we supply something you need?” Not that, but “that you be of the same mind, having the same love” — the love in which you have made a beginning — “being of one accord, of one mind.” Just see how often he repeats the same thing, because of his great affection! “That you be of the same mind” — or rather, “that you be of one mind.” For that is more than “the same.”

“Having the same love.” That is, let your agreement not be about the faith alone, but about everything else as well; for it is possible to be of the same mind and still not have love. “Having the same love” means: love and be loved alike. Do not enjoy a great deal of love while showing less, and so be greedy even in this. Do not allow that in yourself. “Of one accord,” he adds — that is, as though one soul possessed the bodies of all. Not in their nature, for that is impossible, but in purpose and intention: let everything go forward as though from one soul. And what does “of one accord” mean? He shows it when he says, “of one mind.” Let your mind be one, as if from one soul. [c]

Verse 3: “Doing nothing through faction.” At last he asks this of them, and tells them how it can be done.

“Doing nothing through faction or empty glory.” This, as I always say, is the cause of every evil. From it come fights and quarrels; from it come envy and strife. This is why love grows cold: we love people’s praise, we are slaves to the honor the crowd hands out. And it is not possible for a man to be the slave of praise and also a true servant of God. “How then are we to escape empty glory? You have not yet told us the way.” Then listen to what follows.

“But in lowliness of mind, each counting the other better than himself.” Oh, how full of true wisdom is the lesson he has set out, how complete a summing-up of our salvation! If you consider, he means, that another is greater than you, and persuade yourself of it — more than that, if you do not only say it but are fully convinced of it — then you give him the honor. And if you give him the honor, you will not be annoyed to see him honored by someone else. So do not think of him simply as greater than yourself, but as “better,” which is a very great superiority. Then you will not find it strange, or be hurt by it, when you see him honored. [d]

Even if he treats you with scorn, you bear it nobly, because you have counted him greater than yourself. If he insults you, you submit; if he mistreats you, you bear it in silence. For once the soul is fully convinced that the other is greater, it does not fall into anger when he mistreats it, nor into envy either. No one envies those who stand far above him; all of that goes with their superiority.

Here, then, he teaches the one person to think this way. But when the other, who receives such honor from you, feels the same way toward you, consider what a double wall of gentle forbearance is built up. When you count him so worthy of honor, and he counts you the same, nothing painful can possibly arise. If this conduct, shown by one person, is enough to put an end to all strife, who will break down the defense when it is shown by both? Not even the devil himself. The defense is threefold, fourfold, indeed manifold, for humility is the cause of every good. [e]

And so that you may learn this, listen to the prophet saying, “Had you desired sacrifice, I would have given it; you will not delight in burnt offerings. The sacrifice for God is a broken spirit; a broken and crushed heart God will not despise” (Psalm 51, verses 16 and 17). Not simply humility, but intense humility. With physical things, what is broken does not rise up against what is solid; however much it suffers, it will perish itself sooner than attack the other. So too the soul: even when it suffers wrong constantly, it will choose to die rather than take revenge by attacking.

How long will we go on being puffed up so ridiculously? We laugh when we see children drawing themselves up and putting on a haughty look, or picking up stones and throwing them. In the same way, human haughtiness belongs to a childish intellect and an unformed mind. “Why are earth and ashes proud?” (Sirach 10, verse 9). Are you high-minded, my friend? Why? Tell me, what do you gain by it? What makes you high-minded toward those of your own kind? Do you not share the same nature? The same life? Have you not received the same honor from God? But you are wise? Then you ought to be thankful, not puffed up. Haughtiness is the first act of ingratitude, because it denies the gift of grace. The man who is puffed up is puffed up as though he had excelled by his own strength, and the man who thinks he has excelled that way is ungrateful to the one who gave him that honor. Do you have anything good? Thank the one who gave it. [h]

Listen to what Joseph said, and what Daniel said. The king of Egypt sent for Joseph, and in front of his whole court asked him about the matter in which the Egyptians — the most learned of people in such things — had given up the field. Joseph was on the point of carrying off everything from them, of appearing wiser than the astrologers, the enchanters, the magicians and all the wise men of those times — and that straight out of captivity and slavery, and he only a youth. (That made his glory all the greater. It is not the same thing to shine when you are already known as to shine against all expectation; the very surprise of it made him more admirable.) What then, when he came before Pharaoh? Did he say, “Yes, I know”? What did he say? With no one pressing him to it, out of his own excellent spirit he said, “Do not interpretations belong to God?” See how at once he gave the glory to his Master — and that is why he was glorified.

And this too is no small thing. For God’s having revealed it to him was a far greater thing than if he had excelled by himself. It showed that his words deserved to be believed, and it was a very great proof of his closeness to God. There is nothing as good as being God’s close friend. “For if Abraham was counted righteous by works,” says the Scripture, “he has something to boast about, but not before God” (Romans 4, verse 2). For if the one who has been granted grace boasts in God — that he is loved by him, because his sins are forgiven — and the one who works also has something to boast about, but not before God as the other has (for that is a proof of our great weakness), then how much more admirable is the one who has received wisdom from God? He gives glory to God and is glorified by him, for God says, “Those who honor me I will honor” (First Samuel 2, verse 30).

Again, listen to the one who came after Joseph, a man than whom no one was wiser. “Are you wiser,” it says, “than Daniel?” (Ezekiel 28, verse 3). All the wise men in Babylon — the astrologers, the prophets, the magicians, the enchanters, the whole of their wisdom — were not only about to be exposed but to be wiped out altogether; and their being destroyed was clear proof that they had been deceiving people all along. Then this Daniel came forward. As he prepared to answer the king’s question, he did not take the honor for himself, but first gave the whole of it to God, saying, “But as for me, O king, this was not revealed to me because of any wisdom I have beyond all men” (Daniel 2, verse 30). And “the king worshiped him, and commanded that they should present an offering” (Daniel 2, verse 46). Do you see his humility? Do you see his excellent spirit? Do you see this habit of lowliness? [j]

Listen to the apostles too, saying at one time, “Why do you fix your eyes on us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?” (Acts 3, verse 12). And again, “We too are men, with the same feelings as you” (Acts 14, verse 15). These men, through the humility and power of Christ, did greater works than Christ — for he says, “He who believes in me will do greater works than those that I do” (John 14, verse 12). If they refused the honors paid to them, shall not we, wretched and miserable as we are, do the same? We cannot even beat away gnats, much less demons. We have no power to do good to a single person, much less to the whole world. And yet we think so much of ourselves that not even the devil himself is like us.

There is nothing so foreign to a Christian soul as haughtiness. Haughtiness, I say — not boldness or courage, for these are at home in it. These are one thing, and haughtiness is another. In the same way, humility is one thing, and servility, flattery and fawning are another. [l]

I will now, if you like, give you examples of all these qualities. For these opposites seem somehow to be planted close together, like the weeds beside the wheat and the thorns beside the rose. Little children might easily be fooled, but those who are grown men in truth, and skilled in spiritual farming, know how to separate what is truly good from what is bad. So let me set before you examples of these qualities from the Scriptures.

What are flattery, servility and fawning? Ziba flattered David at the wrong time, and falsely slandered his master (Second Samuel 16, verses 1 to 3). Ahithophel flattered Absalom far more (Second Samuel 17, verses 1 to 4). But David was not like that; he was humble. For the deceitful are flatterers, as when they say, “O king, live forever” (Daniel 2, verse 4). And again, what flatterers the magicians are!

We will find plenty to illustrate this in the case of Paul in Acts. When he argued with the Jews he did not flatter them, but he was humble-minded (for he also knew how to speak boldly), as when he says, “Brothers, though I had done nothing against the people or the customs of our fathers, I was handed over as a prisoner from Jerusalem” (Acts 28, verse 17).

To see that these were words of humility, listen to how he rebukes them in what follows: “The Holy Spirit spoke rightly: ‘Hearing, you will hear and will never understand; and seeing, you will see and will never perceive’” (Acts 28, verses 25 and 26). [n]

Do you see his courage? Look also at the courage of John the Baptist, which he showed before Herod when he said, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother Philip’s wife” (Mark 6, verse 18). This was boldness; this was courage. Not so the words of Shimei when he said, “Get out, you man of blood!” (Second Samuel 16, verse 7). He too spoke boldly; yet this is not courage, but audacity and insolence and an unbridled tongue. Jezebel too reproached Jehu when she said, “The murderer of his master!” (Second Kings 9, verse 31); but this was audacity, not boldness.

Elijah too reproached, but this was boldness and courage: “I do not trouble Israel, but you and your father’s house do” (First Kings 18, verse 18). And again, Elijah spoke boldly to the whole people, saying, “How long will you go lame on both your thighs?” (First Kings 18, verse 21, in the Greek Old Testament). To rebuke like that was boldness and courage. The prophets did this too; but the other was audacity.

Would you like to see words that are humble and yet not flattering? Listen to Paul saying, “But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you, or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I know nothing against myself, yet that does not show me to be in the right” (First Corinthians 4, verses 3 and 4). This comes from a spirit fitting for a Christian. And again: “Does any of you, having a matter against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?” (First Corinthians 6, verse 1). [o]

Would you like to see the flattery of the foolish Jews? Listen to them saying, “We have no king but Caesar” (John 19, verse 15). Would you like to see humility? Listen to Paul again when he says, “For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake” (Second Corinthians 4, verse 5). Would you like to see both flattery and audacity? There is audacity in Nabal (First Samuel 25, verse 10), and flattery in the Ziphites (First Samuel 23, verse 20), for by their scheme they betrayed David. Would you like to see wisdom, and not flattery? Look at David’s: how he got Saul into his power and yet spared him (First Samuel 26, verses 5 to 12). Would you like to see the flattery of the men who murdered Mephibosheth, and whom David in turn put to death?

In short, to sketch it in outline and sum it all up: audacity is when someone flies into a rage and insults another for no just cause, either to take revenge or out of some other injustice. Boldness and courage are when we dare to face dangers and deaths, and think nothing of friendships and enmities for the sake of what pleases God. Again, flattery and servility are when someone courts another not for any right purpose, but in pursuit of some of the things of this life. Humility is when someone does this for the sake of what pleases God, and comes down from his own proper rank in order to do something great and admirable.

If we know these things, happy are we if we do them. For knowing them is not enough. Scripture says, “Not the hearers of a law, but the doers of a law will be counted righteous” (Romans 2, verse 13). Indeed, knowledge itself condemns, when it comes without action and deeds of virtue. So, that we may escape that condemnation, let us pursue the practice, so that we may obtain the good things promised to us, by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ.