Of the two forms of sympathy which are here enjoined, the former is
the harder. To 'rejoice with them that do rejoice' makes a greater
demand on unselfish love than to 'weep with them that weep.' Those
who are glad feel less need of sympathy than do the sorrowful, and
envy is apt to creep in and mar the completeness of sympathetic joy.
But even the latter of the two injunctions is not altogether easy.
The cynic has said that there is 'something not wholly displeasing in
the misfortunes of our best friends'; and, though that is an utterly
worldly and unchristian remark, it must be confessed not to be
altogether wanting in truth.
But for obedience to both of these injunctions, a heart at leisure
from itself is needed to sympathise; and not less needed is a
sedulous cultivation of the power of sympathy. No doubt temperament
has much to do with the degree of our obedience; but this whole
context goes on the assumption that the grace of God working on
temperament strengthens natural endowments by turning them into
'gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us.' Though
we live in that awful individuality of ours, and are each, as it
were, is landed in ourselves 'with echoing straits between us thrown,'
it is possible for us, as the result of close communion with Jesus
Christ, to bridge the chasms, and to enter into the joy of a
brother's joy. He who groaned in Himself as He drew near to the grave
of Lazarus, and was moved to weep with the weeping sisters, will help
us, in the measure in which we dwell in Him and He in us, that we too
may look 'not every man on his own things, but every man also on the
things of others.'
On the whole, love to Jesus is the basis of love to man, and love to
man is the practical worship of Christianity. As in all things, so in
the exhortations which we have now been considering, Jesus is our
pattern and power. He Himself communicates with our necessities, and
opens His heart to give us hospitable welcome there. He Himself has
shown us how to meet and overcome hatred with love, and hurt with
blessing. He shares our griefs, and by sharing lessens them. He
shares our joys, and by sharing hallows them. The summing up of all
these specific injunctions is, 'Let that mind be in you which was
also in Christ Jesus.'