Homily 15 — Philippians 4, verses 10 to 23

“But I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your thought for me. You did indeed take thought, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak because I am in need, for I have learned to be content in whatever state I am. I know how to be brought low, and I know also how to have plenty. In everything and in all things I have learned the secret, both of being full and of being hungry, both of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things in him who strengthens me. Still, you did well to share in my affliction.” [a]

I have often said that almsgiving was brought in not for the sake of those who receive but for the sake of those who give, for it is the givers who make the greater gain. Paul shows this here too. In what way? The Philippians had sent him something after a long time, and had entrusted it to Epaphroditus. See, then: as he is about to send Epaphroditus back as the bearer of this letter, he praises them, and shows that what they did met the need, not of the one who received, but of the givers. He does this so that those who had done him good would not be lifted up with arrogance; so that they would become more eager to do good, since it is themselves they benefit more; and so that those who receive would not rush forward to receive without fear, and so meet with condemnation. For “it is more blessed,” he says, “to give than to receive” (Acts 20, verse 35).

Why, then, does he say, “I rejoice in the Lord greatly”? Not with worldly rejoicing, he means, nor with the joy of this life, but in the Lord. “Not because I was refreshed, but because you made progress; for that is my refreshment.” That is why he also says “greatly”: this joy was not bodily, nor was it on account of his own refreshment, but because of their progress.

And see how, after gently rebuking them for the time that had gone by, he quickly draws a veil over it, and teaches them to keep on doing good, constantly and always. “Now at length,” he says. The words “at length” show that a long time had passed. “You have revived” — like plants that shot up, dried out, and afterward shot up again. Here he shows that at first they were in bloom, then faded, and then budded again. So the word “flourished again” carries both rebuke and praise, for it is no small thing for one who has withered to flourish again. He shows too that all this had happened to them through laziness. But here he indicates that even in earlier times they had been eager in these things. That is why he adds, “your thought for me, in which you did indeed take thought.” [b]

And so that you would not think that in other matters too they had once been eager and had then withered, and not in this one thing alone, see how he has added, “your thought for me.” I apply the words “now at length” to this alone; in other things it was not so.

Here someone may ask a question. He had said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20, verse 35), and, “These hands served my needs and the needs of those who were with me” (Acts 20, verse 34); and again, writing to the Corinthians, “It would be better for me to die than to have anyone make my boasting empty” (First Corinthians 9, verse 15). How, then, does he let his boasting be made empty? And how is it made empty? By receiving. For if his boast was that he did not receive, how does he now bring himself to do it? [c]

What, then, is the answer? Probably that back then he did not receive because of the false apostles: “so that in the matter they boast of,” he says, “they may be found to be just as we are” (Second Corinthians 11, verse 12). He did not say “in what they are,” but “in the matter they boast of,” for they did receive, only secretly. That is why he said, “in the matter they boast of.” That is also why he said, “No one will stop me from this boasting” (Second Corinthians 11, verse 10). And he did not simply say, “No one will stop me,” but what? “In the regions of Achaia.” And again: “I robbed other churches, taking wages from them in order to serve you” (Second Corinthians 11, verse 8). There he showed that he did receive.

But Paul received rightly, since he had so great a work — if indeed he did receive. Those who do no work, though — how can they receive? Someone says: “But I pray.” That is not work. Prayer can be done alongside work. “But I fast.” That is not work either. Look at this blessed man: he preached in many places, and worked as well.

“But you lacked opportunity.” What does “you lacked opportunity” mean? It did not come from laziness, he says, but from necessity. You did not have it in your hands; you were not in plenty. That is the meaning of “you lacked opportunity.” This is how most people talk when the things of this life do not flow in to them abundantly, and are in short supply.

“Not that I speak because I am in need.” I said “now at length,” he means, and I rebuked you, not seeking my own, nor finding fault with you on this account as though I were in need. It was not for that reason that I sought it. [d]

How is it clear, Paul, that you are not making an empty boast? To the Corinthians he says, “We write nothing to you other than what you read and acknowledge” (Second Corinthians 1, verse 13). And here too he would not have spoken to them in a way that could be proved false; had he been boasting, he would not have spoken as he did. He was speaking to people who knew the facts, and with them being found out would have been the greater disgrace.

“For I have learned,” he says, “to be content in whatever state I am.” So this is a matter of training, of exercise and of effort. It is not easily reached; it is very hard, and something new. “In whatever state I am,” he says, “to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know also how to have plenty. In everything and in all things I have learned the secret.” That is: I know how to make do with little, how to bear hunger and want.

“Both of having plenty and of being in need.” Someone says: “But no wisdom or virtue is needed in order to have plenty.” Great virtue is needed, no less than in the other case. For as want leads us to do many evil things, so too does plenty. Many people, coming into plenty, have often grown lazy and have not known how to bear their good fortune. Many have taken it as a reason to stop working. But Paul did not do so. What he received he spent on others, and emptied himself for them. That is what it is to know how. He was not slackened in any way, nor did he exult over his plenty. He was the same in want and in plenty: neither crushed by the one nor made a boaster by the other. [e]

“Both of being full,” he says, “and of being hungry, both of having plenty and of being in need.” Many do not know how to be full — the Israelites, for example, who “ate, and kicked” (Deuteronomy 32, verse 15). “But I am equally well ordered in all of it.” He shows that he is not elated now, and was not grieved before; or if he did grieve, it was on their account, not his own, for he himself felt the same either way.

“In everything,” he says, “and in all things I have learned the secret.” That is, over this long time I have had experience of all things, and all of them have gone well with me. But since boasting might seem to have a place here, see how quickly he checks it, and says, “I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me.” The success is not mine, but his who has given me strength. [f]

Now when those who do good to others see the receiver not well disposed toward them, but despising their gifts, they themselves grow slacker, for they thought of themselves as giving a benefit and refreshment. So if Paul despises the refreshment, they are bound to grow slack. To keep this from happening, see how he heals it again. By what he said above he brought down their proud thoughts; by what follows he makes their eagerness revive, saying, “Still, you did well to share in my affliction.” Do you see how he set himself apart from them, and then joined himself to them again? That is what true, spiritual friendship does. “Do not think,” he says, “that because I was not in want, I had no need of this act of yours. I need it for your sake.”

How, then, did they share his afflictions? In this way. As he said when he was in chains, “You are all sharers with me in grace” (Philippians 1, verse 7). For it is a grace to suffer for Christ, as he says in another place: “For to you it has been given from God not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him” (Philippians 1, verse 29). Since those earlier words of his, taken by themselves, might have made them careless, he comforts them for this reason, welcomes them, and praises them again. And he does it with restraint. He did not say “gave,” but “shared,” to show that they too profited by becoming partners in his labors. He did not say, “You lightened my affliction,” but, “You shared in my affliction,” which was something loftier.

Do you see Paul’s humility? Do you see his noble nature? Once he has shown that he had no need of their gifts for his own sake, he afterward freely uses the humble words of people who make a request: “since you are in the habit of giving.” For he shrinks from nothing, whether in deed or in word. That is: “Do not think that my words — in which I find fault with you and say, ‘Now at length you have revived’ — show a lack of shame, or are the words of someone in need. I do not speak this way because I am in need. Why, then? From my great confidence in you; and you yourselves are the cause of that too.” Do you see how he soothes them? How are you the cause? In that you hurried to the work ahead of all the others, and have given me confidence to remind you of these things. And notice his lofty spirit. He does not find fault with them while they were not sending, so that he would not seem to be looking to his own benefit. But once they had sent, then he rebuked them for the time past, and they accepted it, for after that he could not seem to be looking to his own benefit.

Verse 15: “You yourselves also know, you Philippians, that in the beginning of the good news, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you only.” [h]

See how great this praise is! The Corinthians and the Romans are stirred up by hearing these things from him, while the Philippians did it without any other church having made a start. For “in the beginning of the good news,” he says, they showed such zeal toward the holy apostle that they themselves were the first to begin bearing this fruit, with no example to follow. And no one can say that they did these things because he was staying with them, or for their own benefit; for he says, “When I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you only.”

What does “receiving” mean, and what does “shared” mean? Why did he not say, “No church gave to me,” but, “shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving”? Because it is a matter of sharing. He says, “If we sowed spiritual things among you, is it a great matter if we reap your material things?” (First Corinthians 9, verse 11). And again, “So that your abundance may supply their want” (Second Corinthians 8, verse 14). How did they share? In giving material things and receiving spiritual ones. For as those who sell and buy share with each other, each giving the other what he has — and this is sharing — so it is here too.

For there is nothing more profitable than this trade and commerce. It is carried out on earth, but completed in heaven. The buyers are on earth, but they buy and strike their bargain for heavenly things, while they lay down an earthly price. But do not lose heart. Heavenly things are not bought with money; riches cannot buy them. What buys them is the purpose of the one who gives the money: his true wisdom, his rising above earthly things, his kindness to others, his mercy. For if money could buy it, the woman who threw in the two small coins would have gained nothing great. But since it was not the money but the purpose that counted, she who showed a whole-hearted purpose received everything. So let us not say that the kingdom can be bought with money. It is not by money, but by the purpose of mind that the money shows. Someone will answer: “Then there is no need of money?” There is no need of money, but of the disposition. If you have this, you will be able to buy heaven even with two small coins. Where this is missing, not even ten thousand talents of gold will be able to do what the two small coins could. Why? Because if you who have much throw in only a small part, you have given alms indeed, but not as much as the widow did, for you did not throw it in with the same readiness as she. She stripped herself of everything she had — or rather, she did not strip herself; she gave it all as a free gift to herself.

It is not for a cup of cold water that God has promised the kingdom, but for readiness of heart; not for death, but for purpose of mind. For in itself it is no great thing. What is it to give one life? That is giving one human being, and one human being is not worth enough.

Verse 16: “For even in Thessalonica you sent once and again to my need.” [l]

Here again is great praise: that he, while living in the chief city, should be fed by a small city. He had already shown by so many proofs that he is not in want; and so that by always pulling away from any suggestion of want he would not, as I said at first, make them slack, here he touches on it with a single word, saying “need.” And he did not say “my need,” but simply “the need,” guarding his dignity. And not only this, but what follows too. Since he was aware that it was a very humble thing to say, he secures it again by adding a correction, verse 17: “Not that I seek the gift.”

As he said above, “Not that I speak because I am in need” — and that was stronger than this. For it is one thing for a man in want not to seek, and another for a man in want not even to think himself in want. “Not that I seek the gift,” he says, “but I seek the fruit that increases to your account.” Not to mine. Do you see that the fruit is produced for them? I say this for your sake, he means, not for my own; for your salvation. For I gain nothing when I receive; the grace belongs to the givers. The reward is stored up in the world to come for those who give, but the gifts are used up here by those who receive. Again, even his asking is joined with praise and fellow feeling.

When he had said, “I do not seek,” so that he would not make them slack again, he adds, verse 18: “But I have all things, and abound.” [m]

That is: through this gift you have made up what was lacking — words that would make them more eager. For benefactors, the wiser they are, the more they look for gratitude from those they have helped. That is: you have not only filled up what was lacking before; you have gone beyond it. For so that these words would not seem to accuse them, see how he seals it all up. After he had said, “Not that I seek the gift,” and “now at length,” and had shown that what they did was a debt — for this is the meaning of “I have all” — he shows again that they had done more than was due, and says, “I have all things and abound; I am filled.” I do not say this at random, or only from my own feeling. What, then? “Having received from Epaphroditus the things that came from you, a fragrant aroma, a sacrifice acceptable and well pleasing to God.”

See how high he has raised their gift! It was not I who received it, he says, but God, through me. So even though I am not in need, do not think little of it; for God had no need either, and yet he received gifts from human hands in such a way that the holy Scriptures did not shrink from saying, “God smelled a pleasing aroma” (Genesis 8, verse 21), words that describe one who is pleased. For you know — yes, you know — how our soul is affected by pleasant aromas: how it is pleased, how it is delighted. So the Scriptures did not shrink from applying to God a word so human and so lowly, so that they might show people that their gifts had become acceptable. For it was not the fat, not the smoke, that made them acceptable, but the purpose of mind that offered them. Had it been otherwise, Cain’s offering too would have been accepted.

So it says both that he is pleased and how he is pleased, for without this people could not have learned it. He who has no need, then, says that he is pleased in this way, so that they would not grow slack because he has no need. And afterward, when they cared nothing for the other virtues and trusted in their offerings alone, see how he sets them right again, saying, “Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?” (Psalm 50, verse 13). Paul says this too: “Not that I seek the gift.”

Verse 19: “And may my God fulfill every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” [o]

See how he calls down blessings on them, as poor people do. But if even Paul blesses those who give, much more should we not be ashamed to do this when we receive. Let us not receive as though we ourselves were in need; let us not rejoice on our own account, but on account of the givers. In this way we who receive will also have a reward, if we rejoice for their sake. In this way we will not take it hard when people do not give, but will rather grieve for their sake. So we will make them more eager, if we teach them that we do not act this way for our own sake.

“But may my God fulfill every need of yours” — or “every grace,” or “every joy.” If the second is right, “every grace,” he means not only the alms, which are of the earth, but every excellence. If the first, “every need of yours” — which I too think should rather be read — this is what he means to show. Since he had said, “you lacked opportunity,” he adds this here, as he does in the letter to the Corinthians, saying, “And may he who supplies seed to the sower supply bread for food, and multiply your seed for sowing, and increase the fruits of your righteousness” (Second Corinthians 9, verse 10). He calls down blessings on them so that they may have plenty, and have something to sow.

And he blesses them, not simply that they may have plenty, but “according to his riches,” so this too is done with restraint. Had they been as he was — so truly wise, so crucified — he would not have done this. But since they were men who worked with their hands, poor, with wives, raising children, heading households, who had given these very gifts out of small means, and who had some desires for the things of this world, he blesses them in a way suited to them. For it is not unfitting to ask sufficiency and plenty for those who use them this way. See too what he said. He did not say, “May he make you rich and give you great abundance,” but what? “May he fulfill every need of yours,” so that you may not be in want, but have what you need. Christ too, when he gave us a form of prayer, put this into the prayer as well, when he taught us to say, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6, verse 11).

“According to his riches.” That is, according to his free gift; that is, it is easy for him, and possible, and quick. And since I have spoken of need, do not think that he will drive you into hardship. That is why he added, “according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” So everything will be supplied to you in abundance, so that you may have it for his glory. Or: you lack nothing — for it is written, “Great grace was upon them all, and there was no one among them who lacked” (Acts 4, verse 33). Or: so as to do everything for his glory, as if he had said, so that you may use your plenty for his glory. [p]

Verse 20: “Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

The glory he speaks of belongs not only to the Son but to the Father too; for when the Son is glorified, then the Father is glorified as well. When he had said, “This is done to the glory of Christ,” so that no one would suppose it was to his glory alone, he went on, “To our God and Father be the glory” — the glory that is paid to the Son.

Verse 21: “Greet every saint in Christ Jesus.” [q]

This too is no small thing, for it is a sign of great goodwill to greet them by letter. “The brothers who are with me greet you.” And yet you said, Paul, that you have “no one like-minded, who will truly care for your state.” How then do you now say, “the brothers who are with me”? Either he says “the brothers who are with me” because he has no one like-minded among those who are with him (and in saying that, he was not speaking of the believers in the city, for how could they be compelled to take on the business of the apostles?); or else he did not refuse to call even those men brothers.

Verses 22 and 23: “All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.”

He lifted them up and strengthened them by showing that his preaching had reached even the king’s household. For if those in the king’s palace despised everything for the sake of the King of heaven, much more ought they to do so. This too was a proof of Paul’s love: he had told many things about them and said great things of them, so that he had even led those in the palace to long for them, and people who had never seen them sent them greetings. His love was all the greater because believers were then in affliction. Those who were apart from one another were joined as closely as real limbs. The poor man felt the same toward the rich, and the rich toward the poor, and no one ranked above another, since they were all equally hated and driven out, and for the same cause. When captives taken from different cities come together in the same towns, they eagerly embrace one another, their common disaster binding them together. So too at that time they had great love for one another, the sharing of their afflictions and persecutions uniting them.

Affliction is an unbroken bond. It makes love grow, and it gives occasion for a pierced heart and for reverence toward God. Listen to David’s words: “It is good for me that I have been afflicted, so that I might learn your statutes” (Psalm 119, verse 71). And again another prophet, who says, “It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth” (Lamentations 3, verse 27). And again: “Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O Lord” (Psalm 94, verse 12). And another who says, “Do not despise the discipline of the Lord” (Proverbs 3, verse 11). And: “If you come to serve the Lord, prepare your soul for trial” (Sirach 2, verse 1). Christ too said to his disciples, “In the world you will have distress, but take heart” (John 16, verse 33). And again, “You will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice” (John 16, verse 20). And again, “Narrow and hard is the way” (Matthew 7, verse 14). [s]

Do you see how distress is praised everywhere, and everywhere taken for granted as something we need? In the contests of this world no one receives the crown without it, unless he strengthens himself by hard work, by keeping away from rich food, by living by strict rule, by going without sleep, and by countless other things. How much more is this so here!

Whom will you name as an example? The king? Not even he lives a life free from care; his life is weighed down with much distress and anxiety. Do not look at his diadem, but at the sea of cares out of which that crown is made for him. Do not look at his purple robe, but at his soul, which is darker than that purple. His crown does not bind his brow as tightly as care binds his soul. Do not look at the crowd of his spearmen, but at the crowd of his troubles. You cannot find a private house loaded with as many cares as a king’s palace. Violent death is expected every day, and visions of blood appear to them as they sit down to eat and drink. We cannot say how often he is disturbed in the night and leaps up, haunted by visions. And all this in peacetime! But if war overtakes him, what could be more pitiable than such a life? And what evils he suffers from his own people, I mean those under his rule! Indeed, the floor of a king’s palace is always full of blood, and the blood of his own relatives.

If you like, I will tell you some cases as well, and you will see at once: mostly older events, though some have happened in our own times and are still remembered. One king, it is said, suspected his wife of adultery, and had her bound naked on mules and exposed to wild beasts, though she had already borne him many princes. What sort of life, do you think, could that man have lived? He would not have broken out into such vengeance unless that distress had cut him deeply. This same man killed his own son as well — or rather, his brother did. Of his sons, one killed himself when he was seized by a usurper. Another put to death his cousin, whom he had appointed his colleague in ruling the kingdom, and he saw his own wife killed by fertility drugs. When she bore no children, a wretched and miserable woman — and so she truly was, since she thought she could supply God’s gift by her own cleverness — gave her the drugs, and killed the queen, and perished along with her herself. This man too is said to have killed his own brother.

Another again, his successor, was killed by harmful drugs: his cup was no longer drink to him, but death. And his son had an eye put out, for fear of what might follow, though he had done no wrong. How another ended his life miserably it is not fitting to mention. After them, one was burned like some miserable wretch, among horses and beams and all sorts of things, and left his wife a widow. It is impossible to tell the woes he was forced to endure in his lifetime . . . when he rose up in revolt. And he who rules now — from the time he received the crown, has he not lived in toil, in danger, in grief, in dejection, in misfortune, exposed to plots?

The kingdom of heaven is not like that. Once it is received, there is peace, life, joy, delight. But as I said, this life cannot be lived without pain. If in the affairs of this world even the one thought happiest of all, the king, is weighed down with so many misfortunes, what do you suppose must be true of private life? I cannot tell how many other evils there are! How many stories have been woven on these themes, over and over! Nearly all the tragedies of the stage, and the old myths as well, take kings as their subjects. Most of these stories are made from things that really happened; that is how they please their audiences. Take, for example, the banquet of Thyestes, and the ruin that came on that whole family through its misfortunes.

These things we know from the writers outside. But if you like, I will bring you examples from the Scriptures too. Saul was the first king, and you know how he perished after suffering countless evils. After him, David, Solomon, Abijah, Hezekiah and Josiah fared the same way. It is not possible to pass through this present life without affliction and toil and dejection of mind. [ac]

But let us be downcast, not over the things that grieve kings, but over the things from which we gain a great deal. “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation, a repentance that brings no regret” (Second Corinthians 7, verse 10). These are the things we should grieve over, these we should be pained about, these should pierce us to the heart. This is how Paul grieved for sinners; this is how he wept: “For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears” (Second Corinthians 2, verse 4). When he had no cause for grief on his own account, he grieved on account of others — or rather, he counted their troubles his own, at least as far as grief went. Others were made to stumble, and he burned; others were weak, and he was weak.

Grief like this is good; it is better than all the joy of the world. The one who grieves this way I prefer to anyone — or rather, the Lord himself calls blessed those who grieve like this, who feel for others. I do not admire Paul so much in his dangers — or rather, I do not admire him less for the dangers in which he died daily — but this wins me over still more. For it came from a soul devoted to God and full of affection, from the love Christ himself looks for, from a brotherly and a fatherly fellow feeling — or rather, from one greater than both. This is how we should be moved, this is how we should weep. Tears like these are full of great delight; grief like this is the ground of joy.

And do not say to me: “What do the people I grieve for gain by it?” Even if we do them no good at all, we will at any rate profit ourselves. Whoever grieves like this over others will do so far more over himself. Whoever weeps like this for the sins of others will not pass over his own wrongdoing unwept — or rather, he will not be quick to sin. But this is the dreadful thing: though we are commanded to grieve like this for those who sin, we do not show any repentance even for our own sins. When we sin we stay without feeling, and we care about and take account of anything rather than our own sins. That is why we rejoice with a worthless joy, the joy of the world, which is put out at once and gives birth to countless griefs.

Let us, then, grieve with the grief that is the mother of joy, and let us not rejoice with the joy that gives birth to grief. Let us shed the tears that are the seeds of great joy, and not laugh with the laughter that brings forth gnashing of teeth for us. Let us be afflicted with the affliction from which ease springs up, and let us not seek the luxury from which great affliction and pain are born. Let us toil a little while on earth, so that we may have unending enjoyment in heaven. Let us afflict ourselves in this passing life, so that we may reach rest in the life that has no end. Let us not be slack in this short life, or we will groan in the life that has no end.

Do you not see how many here are in affliction for the sake of worldly things? Consider that you too are one of them, and bear your affliction and your pain, feeding on the hope of what is to come. You are not better than Paul or Peter, who never obtained rest, who spent their whole lives in hunger and thirst and nakedness. If you want to reach the same things they did, why are you traveling along the opposite road? If you want to arrive at that city which they were counted worthy of, walk along the path that leads there. The way of ease does not lead there; the way of affliction does. The one is broad, the other narrow. Let us walk along this one, so that we may attain eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom, to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be honor, might, and power, now and always, and forever and ever. Amen. [ae]