Introducing Joy

The Book

We are beginning a four-part series on the book of Philippians. Far too short, but we will do a chapter a week for the next four Sundays. Many years ago, as a young pastor in Pennsylvania, I spent six months preaching through Philippians, paragraph by paragraph. It was a wonderful experience, and I can recommend taking time to read and re-read this short letter from Paul. But we are taking a brief dive into it over the next month.

I have two preliminary impressions of the letter that serve as our starting point this morning. One is the note of joy and confidence that pervades the letter. Warren Wiersbe was an American pastor who wrote a series of fifty books (so Wikipedia tells me) with titles like “Be free” (a study of Galatians), “Be rich” (a study of Ephesians), “Be right” (a study of Romans), and “Be mature” (a study of James). Then he delved into the Old Testament with “Be patient” (a study of Job) and others. His title for studying Philippians? “Be joyful.” The second is the fact that Philippians is one of four letters that Paul wrote from prison, with Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon.

These two notes – the distress of being in prison and the confidence and joy of living in Christ – lead me to wonder how Paul did it? How could he move from distress to delight in this way? Imprisonment, with the threat in his case of being executed, could have left him in despair, but instead he invites the Philippians to join him in the confidence of joy. We will return to this dynamic as we look at the text.

Background

We think of Paul as one of the great founders of the Christian church. The church is, of course, built on the foundation of Jesus Christ, so that Jesus is Lord and founder and Saviour and builder. Within that fundamental understanding, his disciples (who then become the apostles) provided leadership within the institution that grew out of Jesus’ earthly ministry.

The core leadership group appears to have been Peter, James, and John: Three whom Jesus gathered around him during his ministry. James and John were brothers, and the death of James is recorded in Acts 12, the first of the apostles to be killed by the political authorities of the day. Another James rose to prominence in the young church; he was the younger brother of the Messiah Jesus and probably wrote out book of James. Paul was a latecomer on the scene and something of an outsider. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul records different people to whom Jesus appeared after his resurrection – Peter, the Twelve, more than 500 brothers and sisters gathered together, “and”, says Paul, “last of all he appeared to me also.” He continues, “I am the least of the apostles.”

Paul was a complex person – born in Tarsus, still a major city of modern Turkey. At that time it was the capital of the Roman Province of Cilicia, and Paul was born into a Jewish family that held Roman citizenship (cf. Acts 22: 22-29). In Philippians 3, Paul lays out his Jewish credentials: of Israel; of Benjamin; trained as a Pharisee; zealous for the Law (Torah); persecuting followers of Christ. Acts 22 records his statement to the people of Jerusalem who wanted him arrested: “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel [a noted Pharisee] and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors.” He continues with his conversion as he chased disciples of Jesus to Damascus and met the risen Lord on the way.

In that experience, Paul received his call to carry the gospel to the Gentiles. He remained a Pharisee – the word means “set apart”, they were set apart for Torah, for the Law given by Moses; but now he was a Pharisee for Jesus, set apart for the gospel of God (Romans 1:1). His encounter with the Risen Lord changed him forever, and he joined the Jesus movement, becoming one of Jesus’ followers.

This change put him on the outside of his identity as a Pharisee, as the Jews rejected him and his teaching. It put him on the outside of his identity as a Roman citizen, as Rome scrutinized emerging sects like the Christian church with great suspicion. He was really only inside with the church, but even with the church he faced suspicion and questions. People wondered at first if his conversion was genuine, and then he took up the cause of the Gentiles, setting circumcision aside in favour of baptism into the death of Christ. [I know that’s an oversimplification, but I think it is generally accurate.]

Philippi was also an important city – located in northern Greece, i.e., Macedonia. It was very much a Roman city (although it has a pre-Roman history as well), where Roman citizens who did not want the overcrowded conditions of Rome might move. Acts 16 records what may have been Paul’s first visit to Philippe. He and Silas entered the city on a preaching mission, telling people about the resurrection of Jesus. Acts 16 records the first converts, among whom was a wealthy businesswoman named Lydia. She and her household formed the nucleus of the first church in Philippi, which met in her home.

Then events turned ugly. Paul and Silas ventured into the city, where they saw a female slave who made a lot of money for her owners by predicting the future. She was possessed by an evil spirit, and she followed Paul and Silas around shouting that they were servants of the most high God. In response, Paul and Silas exorcized the spirit. She became quiet, which meant that her owners also lost their source of revenue. They went to the authorities, who arrested Paul and Silas and put them in prison. That night an earthquake opened the prison doors. The jailer in charge of the prison assumed that he would be put to death and prepared to take his own life. Paul stopped him, showing that they were all still there and had not tried to escape. The jailer and his whole family were the next converts, as the young church grew.

This background suggests that Paul and the Philippian church were bound together intimately. They knew what persecution meant, and they supported and strengthened each other as they faced the dangers of following Christ in the first century.

The Text

So we come to chapter one.

Verses 1 and 2: A formal greeting, showing who is writing (Paul and Timothy) and who they are writing to (to the first Christians and their leaders in Philippi). We don’t know how many people were in the church. Gordon Zerbe suggests perhaps around 50, but it may have been 500. We simply don’t know. They may have been one small house church (30 to 50 people), or two such groups, or ten. In any case, Paul sent the letter to one of the house churches in Philippi, and we can assume that it was passed around to all of them and read aloud in their service. [Perhaps that’s what we should have done this morning for the sermon!]

Verses 3 to 11: Paul describes his constant prayer for the Philippians. He prays that their confidence, love, and joy will grow whatever their outer circumstances are. One notes especially the intimacy of their relationship as Paul emphasises their union in the gospel. He uses several different words that share the root word “koinonia”: especially the words “partners” and “partnership”.

This fellowship or partnership is significant. The members of the Philippian church include Lydia, a wealthy businesswoman – probably middle class in the Philippian context. It also included many who were from the lowest class of that city. The highest class were the Roman citizens who ran the city and benefitted most from its status within the Roman Empire. Next on the social ladder were the Greek-speaking intelligentsia. Then came the business community, and finally at the bottom of the ladder were the artisans (like Paul himself) and the slaves.

But whatever their status in the surrounding society, in the church they were simply brothers and sisters. Paul was the apostle, but he was also simply one of them. Lydia had financial resources, but she was also simply one of them. Even the slaves in their group, at the bottom of the social ladder, were simply brothers and sisters in the church.

I experienced this relativizing of social status in my own baptism and entering the church. About 60 years ago, I was baptized into the Brethren in Christ Church in Zimbabwe. Baptism made me a member, and the first thing we all did was participate in our first feetwashing service. I remember sitting in a circle of men and taking off my shoes and socks. The man beside me knelt in front of me and washed my feet. Then he dried them and we embraced. I took the towel and knelt in front of the next man. I washed and dried his feet and then we embraced.

That man was the servant in our house. Society at that time was segregated White from Black. In society I was part of White privilege. As a black man, he was my servant. In the church we were simply brothers and I washed his feet. The church often looks weak and unstable, while government look like they will last forever. But in fact, the government of Southern Rhodesia has disappeared, while the church at Mpopoma continues. Paul knew this reality – that Rome looked all-powerful, but Jesus is Lord!

Verses 12 to 26: This brings Paul to his own situation – in prison on religious and political charges. New Testament scholars have worked hard to determine when and where this imprisonment was – either in Ephesus (another Roman capital) or in Rome itself. I have read some of the arguments for both places and cannot say which it was. I both cases, Paul was near the end of his life (nearer in Rome than in Ephesus). His imprisonment appears to have been a kind of house arrest, in which he was able to receive visitors and write and send letters. At the same time, the charges that led to his arrest included the possibility of a kind of treason against Caesar. They had the potential to lead to his death, and Paul knew it.

While he was in prison, his opponents (within the church) worked to gain greater influence and displace him. He notes this pattern and says that, since they are preaching Christ, he remains hopeful and committed to the gospel. He notes again the danger of dying – those political charges! Death would unite him with Christ, but separate him from the Philippians. Being acquitted and staying alive would provide him with more opportunities to preach the gospel. What looks like a desperate situation is in fact a win-win situation.

Verses 27 to 30: In the last verses of the chapter, Paul returns to the note of partnership. The Philippians share his danger just as they have shared his joys. He prays that they will remain committed to Jesus and grow in their relationship with God. These verses serve as a transition to chapter two, so we leave them aside for next week.

Distress to Delight

How does Paul hold on to joy and confidence in the midst of prison and distress? I started with that question, and it’s time to give a brief answer. The answer is brief, quite simple really: Through his commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

What is the gospel? The word means “good message”, a message so good and powerful that it changes the world completely. Modern examples from American history might be the Declaration of Independence or the Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slaves. Life after the Emancipation Proclamation was different and could never simply be the same again.

The proclamation Paul is referring to is the fact that God has entered our world in the person of Jesus the Messiah, and that this Messiah died on a Roman cross and rose from the dead to set us free from the power of sin. Embracing this message brings confidence and hope as we enter into God’s reign, filled with God’s Spirit, as one with God’s People.

This is why he can deal with opposition from others preaching the gospel. Think of Steinbach. We have a lot of churches, and we preach Christ in different ways. Some think that we emphasise the social effects of the gospel too much. We may think that others are too focussed on staying out of hell. When I say, “preach the gospel!” you may reasonably ask, “Which gospel?” In all the fuss, we can rejoice with Paul that Christ is preached.

Prem Pradhan

I can illustrate the power of the gospel with a story that Jon Bonk has told. It’s recorded in a journal called Missiology, back in April 2000. Here it is:

Read from article the section on Prem Pradhan. [The story describes the work of Prem Pradhan, “the apostle to Nepal”, imprisoned repeatedly for preaching and baptizing in Nepal. Under his 40-year ministry, a few converts (nine adults with their children: imprisoned together when Pradhan baptized them) grew into a church of several hundred, and by 2000, when the article was written, had become a church of more than 100,000. I encourage finding a copy of Missiology, April 2000 and reading Jon Bonk’s original article.]

You see the power of the gospel? Paul placed his confidence in the power of the gospel, which transformed his distress into delight. We can do the same.

7 April 2024

Steinbach Mennonite Church 

Philippians 1

Salutation

1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus. To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: ² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul’s Prayer for the Philippians

³ I thank my God for every remembrance of you, ⁴ always in every one of my prayers for all of you, praying with joy ⁵ for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶ I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. ⁷ It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I hold you in my heart, for all of you are my partners in God’s grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. ⁸ For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the tender affection of Christ Jesus. ⁹ And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight ¹⁰ to help you to determine what really matters, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, ¹¹ having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

Paul’s Present Circumstances

¹² I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually resulted in the progress of the gospel, ¹³ so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to everyone else that my imprisonment is for Christ, ¹⁴ and most of the brothers and sisters, having been made confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, dare to speak the word with greater boldness and without fear.

¹⁵ Some proclaim Christ from envy and rivalry but others from goodwill. ¹⁶ These proclaim Christ out of love, knowing that I have been put here for the defense of the gospel; ¹⁷ the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but intending to increase my suffering in my imprisonment. ¹⁸ What does it matter? Just this, that Christ is proclaimed in every way, whether out of false motives or true, and in that I rejoice.

Yes, and I will rejoice, ¹⁹ for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my salvation. ²⁰ It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be put to shame in any way but that by my speaking with all boldness Christ will be exalted now as always in my body, whether by life or by death. ²¹ For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. ²² If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me, yet I cannot say which I will choose. ²³ I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better, ²⁴ but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. ²⁵ Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, ²⁶ so that, by my presence again with you, your boast might abound in Christ Jesus because of me.

²⁷ Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel ²⁸ and in no way frightened by those opposing you. For them, this is evidence of their destruction but of your salvation. And this is God’s doing. ²⁹ For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ but of suffering for him as well, ³⁰ since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.