Homilies on Philippians

<!--<span class="stiki"></span>-->Philippians 1:22-26

“Then what I shall choose I know not. But I am in a strait between the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ; which is very far better: yet to abide in the flesh is more needful for your sake. And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide, yea and abide with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith; that your glorying may abound in Jesus Christ in me, through my presence with you again.”

Nothing can be more blessed than the spirit of Paul, for the reason that nothing is more noble. We all shudder at death, I am wont to say, some by reason of our many sins, of whom I too am one, others from love of life, and cowardice, of whom may I never be one; for they who are subject to this fear are mere animals. This then, which we all shudder at, he prayed for, and hasted toward Him; saying, “To depart is very far better.” What do you say? When you are about to change from earth to heaven, and to be with Christ, do you not know what to choose? Nay, far is this from the spirit of Paul; for if such an offer were made to any one on sure grounds, would he not straightway seize it? Yes, for as it is not ours “to depart and be with Christ,” neither, if we were able to attain to this, were it ours to remain here. Both are of Paul, and of his spirit. He was confidently persuaded. What? Are you about to be with Christ? And do you say, “What I shall choose I know not”? And not this only, but do you choose that which is here, “to abide in the flesh”? What in the world? Did you not live an exceeding bitter life, in “watchings,” in shipwrecks, in “hunger and thirst,” and “nakedness,” in cares and anxiety? “with the weak” thou were “weak,” and for those who “were made to stumble” you “burn.” “In much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in fastings, in pureness.” “Five times” did you “receive forty stripes save one,” “thrice” were you “beaten with rods, once” were you “stoned” “a night and a day” you have “been in the deep, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils among false brethren.” Did you not, when the whole nation of the Galatians returned to the observance of the law, did you not cry aloud, and say, “Whosoever of you would be justified by the law, you are fallen away from grace”? How great was then your grief, and still do you desire this perishing life? Had none of these things befallen you, but had your success, wherever success attended you, been without fear, and full of delight, yet should not thou hasten to some harbor, from fear of the uncertain future? For tell me, what trader, whose vessel is full of untold wealth, when he may run into port, and be at rest, would prefer to be still at sea? What wrestler, when he might be crowned, would prefer to contend? What boxer, when he might put on his crown, would choose to enter afresh into the contest, and offer his head to wounds? What general is there, who when he might be quit of war with good report, and trophies, and might with the king refresh himself in the palace, would choose still to toil, and to stand in battle array? How then do you, who livest a life so exceeding bitter, wish to remain still here? Did you not say, I am in dread, “lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected?” If for no other cause, yet surely for this, you ought to desire your release; were the present full of innumerable goods, yet for the sake of Christ your Desire.

Oh that spirit of Paul! nothing was ever like it, nor ever will be! Thou fearest the future, you are compassed by innumerable dreadful things, and will you not be with Christ? No, he answers, and this for Christ's sake, that I may render more loving unto Him those whom I have made his servants, that I may make the plot which I have planted bear much fruit.. Did you not hear me, when I declared that I sought not “that which profited myself”, but my neighbor? Heardest thou not these words, “I could wish that I myself were anathema from Christ”, that many might come unto Him? I, who chose that part, shall I not much rather choose this, shall I not with pleasure harm myself by this delay and postponement, that they may be saved?

“Who shall utter Your mighty acts, O Lord”, because You suffered not Paul to be hidden, because You made manifest to the world such a man? All the Angels of God praised You with one accord, when You made the stars, and so too surely when You made the sun, but not so much as when You manifested Paul to the whole world. By this, the earth was made more brilliant than the heaven, for he is brighter than the solar light, he has shot forth more brilliant rays, he has shed abroad more joyous beams. What fruit has this man borne for us! not by making fat our grain, not by nurturing our pomegranates, but by producing and perfecting the fruit of holiness, and when falling to pieces, continually recovering them. For the sun itself can nothing profit fruits that are once decayed, but Paul has called out of their sins those who had manifold decays. And it gives place to the night, but he had mastery over the Devil. Nothing ever subdued him, nothing mastered him. The sun, when it mounts the heavens, darts down its rays, but he, as he rose from beneath, filled not the mid space of heaven and earth with light, but as soon as he opened his mouth, filled the Angels with exceeding joy. For if “there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repents”, while he at his first address caught multitudes, does he not fill with joy the Powers above? What say I? It suffices that Paul should only be named, and the heavens leap for joy. For if when the Israelites “went forth out of Egypt, the mountains skipped like rams”, how great, do you think, was the joy, when men ascended from earth to heaven!

Ver. 24. For this cause “to abide in the flesh is more needful for your sake.”

And what excuse is left to us? ofttimes it happens that a man who possesses a little and poor city, chooses not to depart to another place, preferring his own rest. Paul might depart to Christ, and would not, (Christ whom he so desired, as for his sake to choose even hell,) but still remained in the contest on behalf of man. What excuse shall we have? May we then even make mention of Paul? Look to his deeds. He showed that to depart was better, persuading himself not to grieve: he showed them, that if he remained, he remained for their sake, that it proceeded not from wickedness of those who plotted against him. He subjoined also the reason, that he might secure their belief. For if this is necessary, that is, I shall by all means remain, and I will not “remain” simply, but “will remain with you.” For this is the meaning of the word, “and I shall abide with,” i.e. I shall see you. For what cause? “For your progress and joy in the faith.” Here too he rouses them, to take heed unto themselves. If, says he, for your sakes I abide, see that you shame not my abiding. “For your progress,” I have chosen to remain, when I was about to see Christ. I have chosen to remain, because my presence advances both your faith and your joy. What then? Did he remain for the sake of the Philippians only? He stayed not for their sake only; but this he says, that he may show regard to them. And how were they to “progress” in “the faith”? That you may be more strengthened, like young fowl, who need their mother until their feathers are set. This is a proof of his great love. In like sort, we also rouse some of you, when we say, for your sake have I remained, that I may make you good.

Ver. 26. “That your glorying may abound in Christ Jesus in me, through my presence with you again.”