“Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ” (Phil. 1:27).
St. Paul brings into bold relief the principal point he wants to make in our reading today. Without the benefit of italic, underlining, or bullet points (things they didn’t have in the ancient world), he uses the word “only” to emphasize his main message. He wants his readers and listeners to understand the takeaway, the thing to remember, the punch line on which everything else depends. Even if they have dozed off, Paul wants them to wake up now at this moment and hear the crucial communication.
“Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ” (Phil. 1:27). The singularity of this “only” is St. Paul’s way of indicating the thing on which everything else depends. The word “only,” as Paul uses it here in the letter, indicates a unique communication. The Christians in Philippi, and those of us who are listening in, must live our lives in accordance with the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
It turns out that there is more to living your life than meets the eye. In this one place in his letters, St. Paul uses a unique word for living your life that means more than just existence. For people who lived in the small cities of the ancient world, people like Paul and the people who lived in Philippi, the community was where words and deeds were shared and preserved, where life was meaningful. People in his time believed it was in community with others that excellence could be pursued. The place you lived was more than just an address, but a space for cooperation and celebration in common with others.
As St. Paul conceives it, living your life in accordance with the Gospel is about more than minding your manners. Just as citizens of the ancient world aimed at excellence, so Paul exhorts members of the Christian community to aim at imitating Christ. “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1), he writes in First Corinthians. “Strive for the greater gifts” (1 Cor. 12:31), he says there, as he outlines the way of love. “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude” (1 Cor. 13:4-5). This is Christian excellence; the “more excellent way” that Paul points out to the Church in Corinth.
In our reading today, to the Philippians, there are two other clues to the nature of what it means for us to live our life in a manner worthy of Christ. The first is “standing firm in one spirit” (Phil. 1:27). The image here as developed by Paul is of soldiers in a rank, bound together in mutual cooperation and preservation. If one of the fellowship abandons the line of battle, in the close quarter combat of the ancient world, the whole army collapses. Comrades in the ranks rely upon each other, and cannot afford to run away. They must have “one spirit,” an esprit de corps that binds them together.
The second clue is in the words, “striving side by side with one mind” (Phil. 1:27). Here St. Paul borrows, as he does in other places, from the world of athletic competition. He uses once again a fairly rare word that refers to team competition. The athletes are striving alongside each other, toward a common goal, with a common purpose. They have to have one mind, and a common attention to the one who is setting the pace. Like rowers in a boat who have to coordinate their stroke in order to move ahead, Christians have to work together. If you miss your stroke, the boat can smash up. Likewise, runners in a race have to pay attention when to pass the baton, instead of running past each other.
These are good lessons for us today, as we reaffirm our faith and renew our baptismal vows. Members of the Church are doing this in the context of this community, and receiving the laying on of hands with prayer for the gift of the Holy Spirit. We’re passing the baton, if you will. We at Holy Cross and in our diocese will need to stand firm in the spirit and to strive with one mind if we are going to live in a manner worthy of Christ.
As St. Paul reminds us, we are in this together. Here, in this community, the deeds and words of Christ are recalled and remembered, as we seek to imitate him. We are his followers, members of his Church. We rely on each other as we lead a life worthy of this high calling. Above all, we rely on Christ Jesus, crucified and risen from the dead.