腓利門書講道 第 2 章

'I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers, hearing of your love and the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, that the fellowship of your faith may become effectual in the full knowledge of every good thing which is in us unto Christ Jesus.'

He does not immediately from the outset ask the favor, but first, having admired the man and praised him for his good deeds, and having shown no small proof of his own love in that he continually remembers him in his prayers, and having said that many find rest with him, and that he obeys and yields to all;

then last of all he sets down the request itself, chiefly putting him to shame by this.

For if others obtain what they ask, much more Paul;

if one who came before the others was worthy to obtain, much more one who comes after the others, and asks a thing that does not pertain to himself, but on behalf of another.

Then, lest he should seem to be writing only for this reason, and lest anyone should say, 'Had it not been for Onesimus, you would not have written,' see how he sets down other reasons for the letter also;

first, declaring his love; and then, also bidding that lodging be prepared for him.

'Hearing of your love,' he says.

This is a marvelous thing, and far greater than to see one present.

For it is clear that from its being surpassing, it also became conspicuous, and reached even to him;

and yet the distance between Rome and Phrygia was no small one;

for there, it seems to me, he is, judging from Archippus.

For the Colossians are of Phrygia, to whom writing he said, 'When this letter has been read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans, and that you also read the one from Laodicea.'

And this is a city of Phrygia.

'I pray,' he says, 'that the fellowship of your faith may become effectual.'

Do you see him giving before receiving, and before asking the favor, bestowing his own gift which is far greater? 'That,' he says, 'the fellowship of your faith may become effectual in the full knowledge of every good thing that is in you unto Christ Jesus.'

That is, that you may attain to every virtue, that nothing may be lacking.

For thus does faith become effectual, when it has works.

For without works faith is dead.

And he did not say, 'Your faith,' but, 'The fellowship of your faith,' joining him to himself, and showing them to be one body, and by this chiefly putting him to shame.

'If you are a partner,' he says, 'according to faith, you ought also to be a partner according to other things.'

'For we have joy and much comfort in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother.'

Nothing so puts one to shame as to bring forward the kindnesses shown to others, and especially when he is more worthy of reverence than they.

And he did not say, 'If you do it for others, much more for me.'

But he hinted at the same thing, yet handled it in another and more gentle way.

That is, 'You have given me boldness from the things done toward others.'

That is, 'We are not only delighted, but are also comforted';

'If, then, the harmony ought to be so great that, over the refreshment of others, those who are themselves in afflictions—even if they obtain nothing for themselves—rejoice on their account, as when one body has been benefited, much more shall I rejoice if you refresh me also.'

And he did not say, 'Because you yield, because you are persuaded,' but something more vehement

and more expressive: 'Because the hearts of the saints,' as though concerning a beloved and dearly cherished child that belongs to its parents.

Thus does love, tender affection, show him to be also greatly loved by them.

'Wherefore, though I have much boldness in Christ to enjoin upon you that which is fitting'

See how he takes precaution, lest anything even of the things spoken from vehement love should wound the hearer, so as to make him indignant.

Therefore, before saying, 'to enjoin upon you'—since it was a weighty thing, though, being spoken from love, it was rather sufficient to heal—he nevertheless, out of abundance, lays down much correction, saying, 'having boldness,' which was the mark of one showing Philemon to be great;

that is, 'You yourself have given us boldness';

and not only this, but also by adding, 'in Christ,' which is the mark of one declaring that it was not as being more illustrious in the world, nor as being more powerful, but through the faith which is in Christ;

and then he set down the phrase, 'to enjoin upon you,' and not only this, but also, 'that which is fitting,' that is, a reasonable thing.

And see from how many considerations he constructs it:

both myself, and for Christ's sake, and that the thing is reasonable, and that love grants it.

'For love's sake I rather beseech.'

As though he had said, 'I know indeed that even in commanding I accomplish it with much authority, from what has gone before;'

Nevertheless, since I take great pains over this matter, I entreat you.

He showed both things at once: that he has confidence toward him (for he might have given a command), and that he is deeply concerned for the matter.

'Being such a one,' he says, 'as Paul the aged.'

'Paul' — from the quality of the person.

From his age, that he is 'aged.'

From what is most just of all, that he is also 'a prisoner of Jesus Christ.'

For who would not receive with open arms the athlete and the crowned victor? Who, seeing one bound for Christ's sake, would not grant him countless favours? Having thus smoothed his soul beforehand with so many considerations, he did not even at once cast in the name, but, having made so great a request, he defers it.

For you know the wrath of masters against runaway slaves, and especially when they have done this together with theft; even if they have kindly masters, how the anger swells.

This, then, he smoothed away beforehand by all these means.

And having first persuaded him to render every service readily, and having prepared his soul for all obedience, then he brings on the plea, and says:

'Concerning my child, whom I have begotten in my bonds.'

Again the bonds are appeals to reverence.

For not only did it quench his wrath, but it even made him rejoice.

'For I would not have called him a child,' he says, 'unless he were exceedingly useful.'

That very thing which I called Timothy, this too I call this man.

And in many ways showing his tender affection, he awakens shame by the moment of the travail-pains.

'As a prisoner I begot him,' he says.

So that for this reason also he is worthy to obtain great honour, because he was brought forth in the very contests, amid the trials endured for Christ.

'Onesimus, who was once unprofitable to you.'

See how great is his discernment: how he confesses the man's fault, and by this quenches his wrath.

'I know,' he says, 'that he was unprofitable.'

'But now he will be useful to you and to me.'

He did not say, 'But now he will be useful to you,' lest the other should contradict him; but he brought in his own person as well, that the hopes might be worthy of credit.

'But now,' he says, 'both to you and to me useful.'

For if he is useful to Paul, who requires such great strictness, much more to his master.

And by this too he quenched his wrath — by handing him back.

For masters are most of all angered when they are entreated on behalf of those who are absent.

So that by this very act he softened him the more.

'And do you receive him' — that is, my own bowels of compassion.

And again he does not set down the name bare, but with a word that stirs reverence, one warmer than 'child.'

So that it is likely he loved him especially, because he had begotten him amid trials.

For that we are most of all inflamed with love toward those children is plain, when we have escaped dangers and have begotten them in the very midst of them.

As when the Scripture says, 'Woe-son-in-glory' (Ichabod);

and again, when Rachel names Benjamin, 'Son,' she says, 'of my sorrow.'

'And do you receive him,' he says — that is, my own bowels of compassion.

He shows his great love.

He did not say, 'Accept him,' he did not say, 'Do not be angry,' but 'Receive him';

that is, he is worthy not only of pardon, but also of honour.

Why? He has become Paul's child.

'Whom I was minded to keep back for you, that he might minister to me in the bonds of the Gospel.'

Do you see how many things he set in place first, and then led him back to the honour due to his master? And observe this too, with what great wisdom it is done.

See how greatly he lays the one under obligation, and how he honours the other.

'You have found,' he says, 'a way to repay through him the service due to me.'

Here he shows that he had regard rather to his own interest than to the boy's, because he greatly reveres him.

'But apart from your consent,' he says, 'I was not willing to do anything, that your good deed might not be as of necessity, but of your own free will.'

This most of all uplifts the one honoured — when, though the matter is a useful one, it is brought to birth with his own consent.

For from this two good things result: the other gains, and this one is made more secure.

And he did not say, 'That it might not be of necessity,' but 'as of necessity.'

'For I knew indeed,' he says, 'that even without having learned it, but suddenly coming to know it, you would not have been indignant; yet nonetheless, out of greater abundance, that it might not be as of necessity.'

'For perhaps for this reason he was parted from you for a season, that you might have him back for ever, no longer as a slave.'

Well does he say 'perhaps,' that the master may yield.

For since the flight came of self-will and of a perverted mind, and not of deliberate purpose, he says 'perhaps.'

And he did not say, 'For this reason he fled,' but 'For this reason he was parted,' soothing him the more by a more auspicious word.

And he did not say, 'He parted himself,' but 'He was parted';

for it was not his own contrivance to withdraw for this end, nor for that.

This is what Joseph too, in making defence for his brothers, says: that 'God sent me here';

that is, He used their malice for a necessary end.

'For this reason he was parted,' he says, 'for a season.'

He both contracts the time, and confesses the fault, and turns the whole into a dispensation.

'That you might have him back for ever,' he says — not in the present time only, but also in that which is to come, that you might have him always, no longer as a slave, but as more precious than a slave;

for while he remains a slave, you will have him more full of goodwill than a brother.

So that you have gained both in time and in quality;

for henceforth he will not run away.

'That you might have him back for ever,' he says — meaning, 'that you might receive him again.'

'No longer as a slave, but above a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me.'

You lost a slave for a little while, and you will find a brother for ever — a brother not yours only, but mine also.

Here too the excellence is great.

But if he is my brother, you also will not be ashamed of him.

By the word 'child,' then, he showed his tender affection; but by 'brother,' his great goodwill and his esteeming him as an equal.

These things were not written idly, but that we masters may not despair of our servants, nor bear down too hard upon them, but may learn to forgive the faults of such servants, that we may not always be harsh, that we may not be ashamed on account of their servile condition to take them as partakers with us in all things, whenever they are good.

For if Paul was not ashamed to call him his child, and his very heart, and his brother, and beloved, how could we be ashamed? And why do I speak of Paul? The Master of Paul is not ashamed to call our slaves His own brethren; and shall we be ashamed? See how He honors us:

He calls our slaves His own brethren, and friends, and joint-heirs.

If we should do this, shall we have accomplished the whole? We shall be able to do nothing at all; but to whatever height of humility we may come, by far the greater part of it still remains beyond us.

Whatever you may do, you do it toward your fellow-servant; but your Master has done it toward His own servants.

Never be lifted up on account of your humility.

Perhaps you laugh at what has been said, that humility should lift a man up;

yet it does lift a man up, whenever it is not genuine.

How, and in what way? When it is practiced in order to win the approval of men, and not of God; when it is directed toward being praised and toward high-mindedness.

For just as many, by trying not to be vainglorious, become vainglorious,

so also through humbling themselves they are lifted up, on account of their being high-minded about it.

For example: a brother came, or even a household servant; you received him, you washed his feet, and at once you became high-minded.

'I have done,' you say, 'what no one else has done; I have achieved humility.'

How then may a man abide in humility? If he remembers the commandment of Christ that says:

'When you have done all things, say, We are unprofitable servants;'

and again, when the Teacher of the whole world says:

'I do not count myself to have apprehended.'

He who has persuaded himself that he has accomplished nothing great, however much he may do, he alone is able to be humble-minded, being the man who does not suppose that he has arrived at the goal.

Many have been lifted up on account of their humility.

But let us not suffer this.

Have you done some lowly deed? Do not be high-minded, for you have destroyed the whole of it.

He was lifted up, because he gave tithes to the poor, and thereby he destroyed the whole.

Hear Paul again, saying:

'I know nothing against myself, yet I am not thereby justified.'

Do you see that this did not lift him up, but in every way he restrained and humbled himself, and that too when he had ascended to the very topmost summit? And the three children were in the fire, and in the midst of the furnace, and what did they say? 'We have sinned, we have transgressed together with our fathers.'

This is to have a contrite heart.

For this reason they were able to say:

'But with a contrite heart and a spirit of humility may we be accepted.'

Thus also, after they had been cast into the furnace, they were exceedingly humbled, and more so than before they were cast in.

For when they beheld the miracle that had come to pass, deeming themselves unworthy of their deliverance, they were brought down into humility.

For whenever we are persuaded that we have been greatly benefited beyond our deserving, then most of all are we brought low.

And yet, in what way were they benefited beyond their deserving? They gave themselves up to the furnace, they had been led into captivity when others had sinned (for they were still young), and they did not murmur, nor were they angry, nor did they say:

'Indeed, what good is it to us that we serve God? What have we profited by worshiping Him? This man is impious, and yet he has become our master;'

'we are punished together with idolaters by an idolater; we have been led into captivity, we have fallen away from our homeland, from our freedom, from all our ancestral possessions; we have become captives and slaves, we serve a barbarian king.'

But what did they say instead? 'We have sinned, we have transgressed;'

and they make their supplication not even on their own behalf, but on behalf of others.

'Because,' they say, 'You have delivered us over to a most hateful and most wicked king.'

Again Daniel, having been cast a second time into the pit, said:

Why, O Daniel, would you not make mention of the time when you glorified Him before the king, saying:

'And as for me, it is not by any wisdom that is in me;'

but rather when you were cast into the den of lions because you would not obey that most wicked decree—why would you not make mention of that? For this very reason.

'Is it not for His sake that you have now been cast in?' 'Yes,' he says, 'but I am a debtor for many things.'

But if that man spoke such things after so great a virtue, what then are we to say for the rest? But hear what David says:

'I have no delight in you—behold, here am I—let Him do to me what is pleasing in His sight;'

and this, though he had countless deeds of righteousness of his own that he could have named.

'The Lord Himself will do what is pleasing in His sight.'

This is the mark of grateful servants: not only in benefits,

but also in chastisements and in punishments, to yield up the whole matter to Him.

For how is it not absurd, if we permit masters to strike their household servants, knowing that they spare them, inasmuch as those servants are their own, and yet God when He chastises shall not spare? This too Paul intimated when he said:

'Whether we live, or whether we die, we are the Lord's.'

'He does not wish,' he says, 'His riches to be diminished; He knows how to chastise; it is His own children whom He chastises.'

None of us spares Him more than He spares us—He who brought us from non-being into being, who causes the sun to rise, who sends the rain, who breathes the soul into us, who gave His own Son for us.

But, as I said, and for the sake of which all these things have been spoken by me: let us be humble-minded as we ought, let us be moderate as we ought;

let not this become for us an occasion of self-exaltation.

Are you humble, and more lowly than all men? Do not on that account be high-minded, nor reproach others, lest you lose your ground of boasting.

For this reason you practice humility: that you may be delivered from arrogance.

If then through humility itself you fall into arrogance, it were better not to be humble-minded at all.

For hear Paul saying:

'Through that which is good it works death in me, that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.'

Whenever you come to the thought of admiring yourself on account of your humility, consider your Master, to what a depth He descended, and you will no longer admire yourself nor praise yourself, but you will even laugh at yourself as one who has done nothing.

By all means, consider yourself to be a debtor.

Whatever you may do, call to mind that parable: 'Which of you,' He says, 'having a servant, will say to him when he comes in, Sit down to meat? Does he not rather say, Stand and serve me?'

Do we feel gratitude toward our household servants when they wait upon us? By no means.

But God feels gratitude toward us, not because we wait upon Him, but because we do what is profitable for ourselves.

Nevertheless, let us not be so disposed as if He were feeling gratitude to us, in order that He may feel it the more, but as though we were discharging a debt;

for indeed the matter is truly a debt, and everything that we may do is of the nature of a debt.

For if, when we buy servants with silver, we wish them to live wholly for us, and to have whatever they possess for us, how much more He who brought us from non-being into being, who afterward purchased us with His precious blood? He paid a price on our behalf such as no one would consent to pay even for his own child; He poured out His own blood.

If then, having ten thousand souls, we should lay them all down, shall we render an equal return? By no means.

Why? Because He did this for us when He owed us nothing, but the whole was of grace; whereas we, for our part, are debtors.

And He, being Himself God, became a servant, and though He was not subject to death, He became subject to death in the flesh;

but as for us, even if we do not lay down our lives for His sake, by the law of nature we shall assuredly lay them down, and even against our will we shall a little later depart from them.

So too it is with our possessions: even if we do not give them for His sake, we shall yet surrender them by the necessity of death.

So too it is with humility: even if we do not practice lowliness for His sake, we shall yet be humbled by afflictions, by calamities, and by the powers that oppress us.

Do you see, then, how great is the grace? He did not say:

'For what great thing do the martyrs do? Even if they do not die for My sake, they will assuredly die in any case';

but rather He acknowledges great gratitude toward them, because they willingly lay down that which afterward, by nature, they were destined to lose unwillingly.

For what great thing do those who pour out their wealth accomplish? They will assuredly lay it aside even against their will; yet He acknowledges great gratitude toward these also, and is not ashamed to confess before all that the Master was fed by His servants.

For indeed this too is the glory of a master, to have grateful household servants;

and this is the glory of a master, that his servants should love him thus;

and this is the glory of a master, to make their concerns his own;

and this is the glory of a master, not to be ashamed to confess it before all.

Let us therefore stand in awe of so great a love of Christ; let us be kindled with this affection.

Even though a man be lowly, even though he be of no account, yet if we hear that he loves us, we most of all

are warmed toward him, and hold him in vehement honor;

and we love him. But when our Master loves us so greatly, do we not rouse ourselves? Let us not, I beseech you, let us not be so slothful concerning the salvation of our own souls; but let us both love according to our power, and pour out everything for His love—soul, and possessions, and glory, and whatsoever else—with joy, with gladness, with eagerness, not as though rendering something to Him, but as to ourselves.

For such is the law of those who love.

They count it a benefit to suffer, when they suffer for the sake of those whom they love.

Let us therefore also be so disposed toward our Master, that we may attain the good things to come, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom to the Father be glory, together with the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.