Sermon series: A love letter from jail
Sunday's message: Press toward the goal
Philippians is a love letter from jail. Paul writes and speaks of his “imprisonment and… the defense and confirmation of the gospel.” Yet it is not by any means and embittered letter. It is steeped in a conspicuous love of a pastor for his congregation.
Philippians contains a “kenosis” hymn that has become a confession of faith about the Christ who come down, suffered and died, and was raised again. It also contains verses and phrases familiar to churchgoing people. Philippians is a treasure trove of Christian devotional material. And Paul wrote it from jail.
Come join us, and let Paul’s love letter flow into your soul.
Last Sunday and this Sunday we'll be taking large chunks of Paul's letter for reading and preaching.
One of my resources for this preaching series is Fred Craddock's 1985 commentary in the Interpretation series. Craddock's analysis of the contents shows two consecutive sections of the letter where an "autobiographical disclosure" — words about Paul and his circumstances — are followed by "exhortations for the meantime". For each of the next two Sundays we'll take those two larger sections in turn. I promise I won't try to cover every verse!
Craddock also notes that those two larger sections themselves sit between words of thanksgiving. As if thanksgiving were the context for everything that Paul writes from death row.
Autobiographical disclosure
If we had forgotten, this is the point where we remember that we're reading a letter, a written communication between particular persons (Paul and Timothy) and a particular congregation in a particular time and situation. Paul speaks of travel plans for his associates and, he hopes, for himself.
Timothy will be Paul's successor. He is an apostle-in-waiting, so to speak. Paul hopes soon to send Timothy to Philippi; but he must wait, because Timothy must be present when Paul's sentence is finally pronounced and executed.
Epaphroditus was sent by the church at Philippi to take items to Paul in prison. Remember that, until very recent times, persons in prison were expected to have their food and clothing and other necessities provided by family and friends, not by the Department of Corrections. That was still true in John Wesley's time. Having brought him those things, Epaphroditus was to stay and minister to Paul's needs. Imagine our congregation doing the same for one of our members in jail or prison.
But Epaphroditus became ill, and almost died himself. For everyone's benefit, Paul now sends him back to Philippi with thanks and a glowing summary of his work. Probably Epaphroditus carried the letter we are reading back to Philippi with him.
So what? Exhortations for the meantime
Turning to exhortations for the congregation, Paul uses the word "rejoice" as a sort of bookend (3:1, 4:4). Which is interesting, and perhaps necessary, considering the abrupt turn the letter takes at 3:2.
Paul proceeds to speak of two groups of what he considers enemies. The first may be called Judaizers, those who contended that Christians still had to keep Torah ("the Law") in order to be fully Christian; that one's relationship with God depended upon Torah as well as upon recognition of Jesus as Lord and Messiah. Paul vigorously disagreed with this; and the Reformation in the 16th century arose to affirm that disagreement. One's relationship to God through Christ was a matter of God's grace alone, appropriated by faith (trust), not on fulfilling religious obligations or on anything else we ourselves accomplish.
These Judaziers may have been converts from paganism who had joined the synagogue — as many good and thoughtful pagans did in those times — and had eventually come to regard Jesus as the Messiah. They were trying, perhaps, to get others to follow their own path.
Instead of putting down Judaism, Paul ups the ante on religious well-doing, giving his resume as a native and religiously zealous Jew. Then he says two remarkable things:
- Despite how good (not, how bad!) his past has been, he has been willing to put it all behind him, counting gain as loss, "because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." He hasn't traded bad for good. He has traded excellent for better.
Important note: Paul never calls Torah bad. Paul, in his own mind a faithful Jew, considers Torah a gift from God — as should we. Paul's point is that we don't earn our place in God's heart by what we do. - Paul claims he hasn't arrived yet: "Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal." Paul sits in prison, on the verge of possible execution, and claims that his walk with Christ is not yet completed. He is pressing forward still for the prize, even then, even there.
And then he invites the Philippians to imitate this mindset. What would it have been like to hear this letter read in church in Philippi?
A second group now gets Paul's disapproval. "...their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things." That could be our own contemporary society! But Paul is talking, not about the pagan Roman culture around the church at Philippi, but about people who are actually a part of that congregation. Perhaps these believed that, since Christ has freed us from the strictures of Torah, we are free to live in our bodies as we choose. After all, we will one day be free of these bodies and our free spirits will dwell with Christ. Paul has two problems with this:
- As he writes to another of his congregations, with not a little heat: "For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another." (Galatians 5:13) Our Christian freedom is not libertarian license.
- Paul does not believe that at death we are freed from the shackles of a physical body and released as free spirits. That's not Christian belief, that's pagan Greek philosophy. Paul believes in Resurrection — in a body. "He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself."
Two of Paul's friends, leaders in the Philippian congregation, are now called out to relove the differences between themselves. Paul praises their work instead of denouncing their behavior, and asks, as he has asked the whole congregation, "to be of the same mind in the Lord." (Note well: These two Christian leaders are women. Don't let anyone tell you women should not lead in churches and then cite Paul as their source.)
And then we reach the other rejoice bookend. Conflict is not the final reality. Joy in the Lord is the final reality.
The final paragraph, beginning at 4:8, is interesting. The things Paul wants them (and us) to think about are not the usual Christian ideas. They are ideas from the best of pagan philosophy. As if God is at work, not just among us, but universally. Then, Paul says, press on with "the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen". And the God of peace will be with you.
Press forward toward the goal. And I'll see you Sunday morning.
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