ACC ~ 1 Thessalonians 2 v4

THE COMPOSURE OF THE TRUE MARTYR. IGNATIUS: Since God has answered my prayer to see you godly people, I have proceeded to ask for more. I mean, it is as a prisoner for Christ Jesus that I hope to greet you, if indeed it be [God’s] will that I should deserve to meet my end. Things are off to a good start. May I have the good fortune to meet my fate without interference! What I fear is your generosity which may prove detrimental to me. For you can easily do what you want to, whereas it is hard for me to get to God unless you leave me alone. I do not want you to please men but to please God, just as you are doing. For I shall never again have such a chance to get to God, nor can you, if you keep quiet, get credit for a finer deed. For if you quietly let me alone, people will see in me God’s word. But if you are enamored of my mere bodily presence, I shall, on the contrary, be a meaningless noise. Grant me no more than to be a sacrifice for God while there is an altar at hand. TO THE ROMANS 1.1—2.2.

NOT SEEKING PRAISE. AUGUSTINE: Therefore, our good Master has taught us by his apostle not to live right and to do right in order to be praised by men,that is, not to make the praise of men our motive for doing right, yet for the sake of men we are to seek what is worthy of praise. Even when good men are praised, the benefit falls more on those who praise than on those who are praised. For, as far as the latter are concerned, it is enough for them that they are good. But the former, whose advantage it is to imitate the good, are to praise the good because they give evidence that those whom they praise sincerely are pleasing to them. Thus the apostle says in a certain passage: “If I pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” In another passage he says: “Please all men in all things as I also in all things please all men,” but he gives the reason: “not seeking that which is profitable to myself but to many that they may be saved.” LETTERS 231.1.4.

MOTIVATION THE KEY. FULGENTIUS OF RUSPE: In all good works, be careful lest you be stirred by desire for human praise. You ought to be praised in your good works, but insofar as you do them, you ought not to expect human praises. The human tongue may praise you, but desire praise from God alone. And thus it may come about that while you do not seek human praise, God may be praised in your deeds. Recall how much the Lord forbids us to do our righteous works to garner human praise, saying, “take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.”Therefore, when he says that we should look out lest we do our righteous deeds before human beings, that we may be seen by them, and again he commands that our light shine before human beings, is he not commanding contrary things? Certainly not, but he commands that good deeds be done in such a way that we wish, not that we ourselves but that God be praised in our works. For the apostle too avoided human glory in his works but sought God’s glory. So he says, writing to the Thessalonians, “Nor, indeed, did we ever appear with flattering speech, as you know, or with a pretext for greed—God is witness—nor did we seek praise from human beings, either from you or from others.” LETTERS 2.35.

1 Thess