MEDITATIONS ON PHILIPPIANS, part 3
Philippians 2
January 29, 2011
Rev. Janet Robertson Duggins
Philippians 2:1-4
1 If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy,
2 make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.
4 Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.
“IF THERE IS ANY
ENCOURAGEMENT IN CHRIST….”
IS there any encouragement in Christ?
When it’s hard to keep going? When you do the right thing and get only grief for it? When your efforts don’t seem to make a difference? When you feel hopeless about the future? When you are grieving or overwhelmed by life? When God feels far away? When you don’t know what to do?
Is there any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy?
Many of us would say yes. Why? Because we have experienced it.
In so many ways, we have known that encouragement. We have been consoled. We have found others who understand what we’re going through and people to listen to our confusion. We have been helped through illnesses, loneliness, and the challenges of parenthood. We gotten fresh perspectives on the meaning of life and faith. We’ve been prayed for. We’ve been reminded of the love of God.
Paul had experienced this, too. He’d experienced it in his relationship with
the Philippian church, in fact. Even
under arrest, far away in
Now, Paul knows that his friends in
He reminds them that they have not come together as a community around a trivial or temporary cause, around a few shared pursuits, around a catchy slogan, similar tastes, enthusiasm for the same entertainments, or even an ideology. They are a community whose identity is found in belonging to Jesus Christ; they are intended to embody his love and grace in the world. That’s much, much deeper than many other reasons that people come together; it’s also more difficult.
It means that, for each of them, the larger purposes of the body of Christ must be a more compelling motivation than their individual self interest. It means enough humility to recognize differing points of view. It means willingness to learn from one another. It means letting go, sometimes, of cherished expectations… without letting go of relationships. I think it would be fair to say that Paul knows that only a love which reflects and channels the love of Christ makes these kinds of relationships possible.
As he urges his friends to be committed to one another with this sense of unity and purpose, he offers them these words – a hymn or a poem, probably, maybe one they already knew – to reflect upon:
Philippians 2:5-11
5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited,
7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form,
8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death-- even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2: 12-18
12 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
13 for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
14 Do all things without murmuring and arguing,
15 so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world.
16 It is by your holding fast to the word of life that I can boast on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
17 But even if I am being poured out as a libation over the sacrifice and the offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you--
18 and in the same way you also must be glad and rejoice with me.
“GOD IS AT WORK….”
What does it mean to “work out your own salvation”?
It sounds as if Paul could be encouraging his friends to believe they can save themselves or get into the good graces of God by their own efforts, good deeds, acts of piety, following the rules, or obedience to God’s commandments. Except… we’ve read Paul before, and we know that all those ideas are as far as can be from his theology. Every one of his writings comes back again and again to the affirmation that what matters is the grace of God, not anything we do.
But I notice here that Paul does NOT say “earn” your salvation, just that you must “work it out.” “Work out” must mean something else.
Does it mean we need to ask hard questions about what really is defining our lives at this moment? Do we need to get more honest with ourselves about the things and the behaviors in our lives that keep us from really experiencing wholeness in Christ? Do we need to make a more wholehearted commitment?
Does it mean we need to ask, each of us, how God’s grace is making my life different? what does “Christ-like” look like, expressed through my gifts and in my circumstances and among my friends? am I paying close enough attention to God’s presence and guidance?
These are big questions… their answers have big implications. They can’t be approached lightly.
We don’t earn the grace of God … but we do have to work out the implications of that grace – not in general or abstract terms, but in our own very specific lives, in our own families and church – with the gifts and challenges and opportunities we have. God’s grace is so all-encompassing that it requires not just an acceptance on an emotional, intellectual, or spiritual level; it demands a practical, everyday response from us.
Paul is urging his friends not to latch on to any sort of “cheap grace” that denies the cost, the choices, the challenges, the call of Christ to a faithful life. There is no cheap grace in the Christian life.
But there IS grace. “God is at work.” I love this. GOD is at work. And it’s not “God has fixed you up,” but “God is at work.” In us! That is a rather amazing prospect when you think about it; maybe some fear and trembling is appropriate here. The grace is ongoing, the work is in process, we don’t know yet the entirety of what it’ll be.
Paul would never give his friends false assurances or simple answers. He won’t say, “if you have faith, God will make everything ok,” or “Just do whatever makes you happy.” The fact is, they live in a difficult, uncertain time. They face hard decisions about right and wrong, and their choices matter. Life is tough, the world is full of darkness… but, he says to them, “you shine like stars in the world.”
That is about as close as Paul comes to admitting that even
he has wrestled with discouragement. He
must have wondered sometimes if his ministry had accomplished anything; but he looks to his friends at
So he says, he’s able to be glad when he thinks about them - even if he is poured out as a libation. That seems like an odd expression to us. Perhaps the word “libation” conjures up images of happy hours and drinks with umbrellas, but Paul’s referring to something quite different. The image in his mind is an altar of sacrifice, where blood or maybe wine would be poured as an offering to the gods. His correspondents, residents in a diverse city in a pagan culture, would understand this in a way we probably can’t. They would know immediately that what Paul is talking about is his own death. But what a way to talk about it! The idea of sacrifice suggests that something of value is given and something else is gained. “Poured out” suggests a flowing generosity, a celebration almost. Maybe we think of wine for a special occasion… a cold drink on a hot day …. a shower of gifts … or baptism.
Paul wants to speak honestly to his friends about the very
real possibility of his death; he knows that, having already been caught up in
the off-again, on again persecutions of Christians in
He hopes that the Philippians will be able to see it like that too; that it will not cause them to lose heart or lose hope, but that they will be able to give thanks with him for all they have seen together of the grace of God.
Paul also wants his friends to know that even if he dies, the ministry he’s begun among them will go on. He wants to send Timothy to them; but for now he’s sending Epaphroditus … who they first sent to minister to him. The circle of mutual caring and ministry, in the name of Jesus, goes on. This is what Paul says about it:
Philippians 2:19-30
19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I may be cheered by news of you.
20 I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.
21 All of them are seeking their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
22 But Timothy's worth you know, how like a son with a father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.
23 I hope therefore to send him as soon as I see how things go with me;
24 and I trust in the Lord that I will also come soon.
25 Still, I think it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus--my brother and co-worker and fellow soldier, your messenger and minister to my need;
26 for he has been longing for all of you, and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill.
27 He was indeed so ill that he nearly died. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, so that I would not have one sorrow after another.
28 I am the more eager to send him, therefore, in order that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious.
29 Welcome him then in the Lord with all joy, and honor such people,
30 because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for those services that you could not give me.
Resources
Dwelling with Philippians: A conversation with Scripture, through image and Word, Elizabeth Steele Halstead, Paul Detterman, Joyce Borger, and John D. Witvliet, eds.
Philippians: Interpretation Commentary, Fred Craddock