The Song of the Good Son

Philippians 2:1-13

Pentecost 18, September 27, 2026

Holy Trinity Cathedral

“The Song of the Good Son”

In the 1420s, Europe was beginning to undergo one of the most agonizing periods in its history.  The authority of the Church was being contended by different individuals claiming to be the bishop of Rome. There was corruption and dissension amongst spiritual and temporal leaders.  The common people suffered under taxes and wars and the spread of the Black death.  Amid the confusion over who was the pope or the anti-pope, reformers were beginning to call for a return to obedience in God and the Bible. One of them, a lay preacher named Gerhard Groote, began a monastic community called “The Brothers of the Common Life” in the Netherlands. It was there that a young boy known as Thomas à Kempis was sent by his parents to learn to be a good son.  At first, he tried to copy the other monks in good works to bring him salvation.  But he soon learned that it was no use to copy them. He must trust in Christ alone.

When angry citizens evicted the monks from their monastery in Zwolle after the Pope had forbidden sacraments to the people, Thomas watched his brother, also a monk, slowly waste away and die.  He struggled with how to follow Christ when bad things happen to good people. The inner turmoil led him to write one of the most influential devotional books ever printed.  We know it as “Of the Imitation of Christ”.  Thomas realized that he could not be good in himself or even want what is good apart from Christ.  Jesus alone is the good Son, obedient to the Father’s will.  And it is by God’s grace that we learn to be faithful in his strength.

The apostle Paul, in his letter to the church community gathered at Philippi, picks up this theme.  The people of God are to be of the same mind, having the same love, as their Lord Jesus.  This is a communal work.  It’s not individual.  When one person claims to be good, it’s usually because we are comparing ourselves to somebody else. Someone whom we would label as “not good”.  Families and communities have been torn apart by individuals that claim they know best and therefore should have the authority to act.  Paul doesn’t want this to happen to the Church.  He reminds us that Jesus didn’t operate with this kind of authoritarian attitude. He doesn’t just tell us what to do.  He shows us.  And because of his life, death, and resurrection, he makes it possible for us to follow.

We are to imitate Christ’s humility.  Instead of being driven by individual wants, or ambitions, we are counselled to remember that there are the interests of others to be considered. That which strengthens the whole is to be pursued.  In Jesus’ parable of the farmer and his two sons, the lazy child gets a move on to help when he recollects that the harvest needs to be gathered for the good of all.  The son who promises to pitch in but doesn’t follow up puts his own desires and comfort above the needs of the family. Obedience is about more than initially saying yes- it’s about following through as best we can, with God’s help.

The words of Philippians 2:6-11 could be called, “the Song of the Good Son”.  The scripture is likely based on an early church hymn that describes the choice of Jesus to be obedient to God’s will rather than exercising the divine power and privilege that was his. He “did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited [or grasped at] but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death- even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8).  This act of self-limiting or self-emptying is called by the Greek term ‘kenosis’. In it, God’s love in Jesus benefits all of humanity.  Through the cross, that love flows to each of us.

We can’t be a good son or daughter simply by our own actions.  Not all the time, anyway.  We make some good choices. But we make a lot of hurtful ones too.  We fall short both in word and action. That’s a problem.  Who can be good? What we cannot do on our own, Jesus can do for us and in us.  As Paul says, “it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” We call upon the Good Son. When we struggle with ours and others’ pride, selfishness, ambition, or arrogance, the spirit of Christ can help mold us as servants.

Saints and sinners have known for many generations that we live in a world of hurt and broken relationships.  No human can ever heal them by force.  But the people of God together can hold the power of love to serve.  The work of salvation continues until all creation is reconciled. 

In a reversal of faith producing works, Thomas à Kempis suggests that if we are weary in our souls, we might try carrying out the tasks of a servant. 

Chapter 51:

“My son, thou art not able always to continue in the more fervent desire of all that is virtuous, nor to persist in the higher pitch of contemplation… as long as thou carriest a mortal body, thou shalt feel weariness and heaviness of heart… then is is expedient for thee to flee to humble and exterior works, and to refresh thyself with good actions; to expect with a firm confidence my coming and heavenly visitation; to bear patiently the banishment and dryness of thy mind, till I shall again visit thee, and set thee free from all anxieties. For I will cause thee to forget thy painful toils and enjoy thorough inner quietness. I will spread open before thee the pleasant fields of the Scriptures, that with an enlarged heart thou mayest begin to run the way of My commandment. And thou shalt say, ‘the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the future glory that shall be revealed to us.’

By practicing humility in the care of others, our own hearts will be gladdened and refreshed from within.  In this way, we are imitating Christ while inviting his presence in our daily lives. We are not good in ourselves.  But we may be vessels to receive the Good Son.  Amen.