If you know anything
about Paul's letter to the Philippians, it's probably that it's a letter that
overflows with a sense of joy. Make a
note of how often he writes about 'joy' or 'rejoicing' and you'll see that there
are references everywhere. However, the reason for this is not that Paul was
writing to endear himself to a particularly 'happy-clappy' bunch of Christians.
No, as Paul had asked the Galatians, so he might similarly have asked the
Philippians: "What has happened to all your joy?" (Gal 4:15). The
epistle to the Philippians is full of encouragements to rejoice because they
had lost their joy. The Galatians, you
may remember, had lost their sense of 'joy in the Lord' because of a
lemon-sucking legalism that imposed an impossibly heavy burden of religious
rules and rituals on the people to maintain their righteousness before the
Lord. Here, the Philippians have lost their
joy because of internal tensions and friction among the church fellowship
arising from external pressure bearing down upon them in the form of hostile
antagonism and opposition from the society around them (1:29-30) and by
Judaising zealots who wish to impose a stricter code of religious practice
(3:2-3).
Paul is writing
under house arrest, possibly in Rome (1:12), but he nonetheless affirms God's
providential hand in his circumstances, because despite everything, the Gospel
is being advanced. Inside, the palace guard have been evangelised (v13), while
outside, the church members have been mobilised for evangelism (v14). However, some of these street preachers are
serving with mixed motives (v15): some,
to bring greater glory to God (v16); others, to bring more trouble to Paul
(v17). It seems, however, that Paul is
not too concerned - in this instance - as to the reasons why the right thing to
do is being done (v16-18): what matters to Paul and which causes him to rejoice
(v18) is the conscious certainty that God is at work in his life (v18-20).
In fact, Paul
appears to view life and live his life very differently from the rest of us
(v20): for his 'bottom line' is to always live and then die so that Christ will
be exalted (v21). In a sense, for Paul,
the prospect of death changes nothing of anything significant. The longing of his heart is to be with Christ
(v23); however, he is even content to forgo the experience of the joy of heaven
for a while if it means that the Philippians can grow in their faith and in
their present, joy-filled experience of the Lord (v24-25). The 'bottom line' for the Philippians is that
they conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel (v27). Gospel living - which is cruciform, that is
'cross shaped' - flows from Gospel embracing and believing. Where there is no
significant transformation of life, this is evidence that there is next to no
true believing the Gospel.
Relationship-meltdown
within the church fellowship has arisen from egotistical pride and conceit
(2:3) and so they cannot be said to be living Gospel-shaped, Gospel-worthy
lives. Christlike attitudes such as selflessness, foregoing rights, humility,
servant-heartedness, compassion, willingness to die for others (2:5-8), these
organic characteristics of Spirit-led believers seem to have dried up in their
hearts. They should take their exemplary
cue not merely from the Lord himself, but also see how that is worked out in
the everyday life models of Paul (1:18,24-25; 2:17), Timothy (2:19-23) and
Epaphroditus (2:25-30). Just in passing,
interestingly, Paul uses a 'gambling' term to describe how Epaphroditus 'risked
his life' - almost dying - for the work of Christ (v30). Only those whose lives
are radically transformed by the power of the Gospel, who are full of the joy
of the Lord, are willing to take such risks in life for the cause of the King
and kingdom. When we find or look for
joy in life in things or passions other than in Jesus then, when we rejoice in
these, to our shame, we play life safe - and fail in in our faith to risk for what
really counts (3:8).
The threat (and even
to some, the appeal) of imposing circumcision and other forms of Jewish
regulation of establishing mature Christ-focussed spirituality, is another
potentially pernicious source of tension within the church fellowship which
Paul strenuously says to avoid (3:1-3).
Paul could tick every box of Jewish privilege and performance (v4-7),
but these he counted as "rubbish" (v8) compared to the one, truly
great passion and pursuit of his life, knowing Jesus more (v8-10). This is the mark of what it is to rejoice in
the Lord.
To "rejoice in
the Lord - not some of the time, but - always" (3:1; 4:4) restores relational
breakdown (4:2); instils peace in our anxious, troubled hearts and minds (v6-7);
stimulates our prayer lives (v6); reorientates our values and goals in life from
the trivial to the treasured (v8); encourages perseverance amid problems (v11)
and brings contentedness despite circumstances (v12); strengthens our
commitment to obey and serve (v13); enables us to selflessly live and give for
the good of others (v14-16); that is, in all, to reflect Christ's character as
- with joy - we live out His 'cross-shaped' life.
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