For four weeks in a row, Paul’s Letter to the Philippians shows up in our lectionary, starting this Sunday. We have four weeks because there are four chapters in the letter, and the lectionary assigns an extract of each chapter to each week. Now the lectionary also gives liturgical teams the option to lengthen a lesson when they find it convenient, and that’s why I took the liberty to insert a reading of the whole chapter, instead of just a short passage. To stick with the time frame dedicated in our service to hearing the word, we will skip for now the reading of the Old Testament (which is also an option) and so by the end of next month, we will have read the whole Epistle. The idea behind that is really for us to take the opportunity to enter a bit more into Paul’s theology, his laying out of the Christian doctrine, or simply put: who Paul thought Christ to be, how he understood Christ’s mission and how he thought Christians should follow Jesus now they were forming congregations, now that Paul was building up the church.
It seems to me that the Letter to the Philippians is a good place to explore Paul’s theology: It’s not too lengthy or complicated (like Romans), there’s no polemic (like Corinthians), Paul is even in a good mood (unlike Galatians!), and so he keeps it simple and sort of down to earth. To give you a quick outline of the letter, after Paul expresses his beliefs about Christ and Christ’s mission (ch 2), he then invites the Philippians to imitate Christ more closely. Very simple indeed, and that’s what we will be talking about in the coming week. For now, we are in Chapter 1 which works as a preamble and gives us a little bit of context, so let’s start with that.
First, for the greater context: We probably need to know that Philippi was the first city where Paul started a Jesus community in Europe, in Macedonia to be precise (Greece). In the Book of Acts, we learn how Paul and his companions arrived in Philippi after Paul had a dream where he felt called to come evangelize the area. It wasn’t an easy task because Philippi was actually a Roman colony, there were a lot of military people and their devotion to the Emperor made it harder to preach Jesus as the king of kings! Yet we learn that, in spite of many obstacles, the Christian community in Philippi has remained faithful, we can even see that the church is growing and getting organized (Paul mentions bishops and deacons).
Now, for the immediate context: Paul sends a letter to the Philippians to thank them for a gift he has received from them (money, probably). Paul is in prison in Rome (or maybe just under house arrest). He has appealed to Caesar and he is waiting for his trial. So the first chapter is really about that: Paul send his thanks and blessings to the Philippians and tells them about his circumstances. If you have ever wondered, this is what makes the difference between a Letter and an Epistle. We generally use the two terms as synonyms in our liturgy, but originally a letter is understood as a written text sent to a person or a group of people with a specific purpose, generally to give some news. An Epistle is more of a literary genre if you will, a text or an essay in the form of a letter but its main purpose is to instruct, it can be sent to a specific person but it is meant to be read by different groups of people, like a book or maybe like a sermon. Among Paul’s writings, Romans is typically an Epistle, used as an opportunity for Paul to expose his theoretical views, overall it is rather anonymous. In Philippians, it looks like there is much more of a personal connection, and interestingly enough, this is from this personal connection that Paul’s theology will spring.
So let’s dive in!
1 – The first thing that we can really notice in this first Chapter, is the affection Paul expresses towards the church of Philippi. Paul starts his letter with telling the Philippians that he prays for them with thankfulness, joy and love. I think it is very important for us to pause there because for Paul, this is really what church is about and how the church is built: We pray for each other. And when Paul says he is praying for the Philippians, we can see that it is not out of politeness (a vague salutation), or out of habit (a sort of routine). Prayer for Paul is like holding people in his heart (his own expression) with “the affection of Jesus-Christ”. Although he misses all of them, his prayer is his way to be present with them and to continue the work they have started together (“the defense and confirmation of the Gospel”). When I hear that, I want to think about the way we pray for each other and for the church: Do we tell people we pray for them to be polite, because we don’t know what to say when they suffer, do we pray like a sort of routine, just saying names, or is prayer a way to hold people in our hearts, to be present to them and to love them with the affection of Christ? More deeply, do we believe that it’s actually prayer that builds the church rather than merely believing that prayer is something we do at church? It would be interesting to think about that now we discuss how we can share the Gospel with others. For Paul, prayer was really the foundation (and continuation) of this work of evangelization. Prayer for Paul always comes first.
Another question we can ask ourselves is, and that is connected with this, is: What do we pray for? Well, it’s also interesting to realize that Paul does not pray so much for the success of the church of Philippi, for their finances, or even for the well being of the people or for their health. Paul prays first of all that their “(…) love will abound more”, that they will learn to love with “knowledge and discernment”, to become “pure”, “blameless” and “filled with fruits of righteousness” for the day of Jesus-Christ. Among all the things we can ask God, this is to Paul the most important thing: that we may learn to love each other with God’s love (not in a selfish or even toxic way). When I read that, it reminds me that it is not enough for Christians to just believe in Jesus-Christ and to just enjoy each other’s company. We constantly have to work to perfect our love for God and for each other and to abound in this love so we may touch other people’s lives. This is really what church is about for Paul, it is like a spring of water or a fountain that pour out God’s love for people into the world. It’s not just a community of folks who share the same views and like to hang out together.
2 – Now Paul share about his circumstances. Interestingly, Paul does not just give information about what going on in his life, mainly he talks about his state of mind. And there is a big contrast between his circumstances (He is in detained), and his state of mind. Actually, the Letter to the Philippians is known as the Epistle of joy, because Paul mentions joy 17 times in this short text! And what is great for us is that Paul gives us the secret of his joy: He does not look at what his circumstances do for himself, rather he sees what his circumstances have done for the advancement of the Gospel, and it has has some positive effects. First, Paul thinks that his example is encouraging for other Christians, it can lead them to be bolder in their proclamation and also more hopeful in the sense that, if Paul is released, there probably will be less persecutions. Paul also rejoices that his detention is giving him the opportunity to share the Gospel with some influential people, including the praetorian guards (Imperial guards). Moreover, Paul says he does not mind if they are new people who preaches the Gospel out of ambition, his rivals probably taking advantage of the fact that Paul is away. Paul claims that the only thing that matters to him is that the Gospel is heard. Again, I think this is important for us to hear that now that we reflect about sharing the Gospel with others. To Paul, sharing is the Gospel is not only this is the most important thing we can do, but this is also what is going to bring us the most joy and also strength and confidence. Paul even says that he isn’t afraid of being executed. Rather, he claims that, selfishly, it would be the best outcome for him, because he would be with Christ.
Well, we may not be there yet, but I think it is important for us to notice that Paul’s perspective on his life (and death) is really the perspective given by the eyes of faith. Instead of looking at external circumstances, Paul tries to understand the spiritual meaning of what’s happening.Chapter 1 concludes then with Paul asking the Philippians to be firm in their faith, using his own example. It is also an invitation for us to focus on Christ and Christ’s interests in everything that happens to us. It looks like if our strength and our joy are found in glorifying God, we can be strong and rejoice in all circumstances because there is always a way to give glory to God, especially and maybe mainly in our suffering and that’s one of the main topic of the letter we will study. Before getting there, which can be very hard to do, we need to do this shift of perspective Paul wants to teach the Philippians, to see our circumstances with the eyes of faith, and this is really what the collect we have prayed today is about: “Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure“.