Rejoice!

Rev. Debbie Cato
Acts 16:11-15 and Philippians 1:1-11
Fairfield Community Church
October 1, 2023

Bless us, O God, with ears to hear your truth, vision to see your path, and feet ready to move into action, responding to your call. Inspire us as we hear your Word read and proclaimed. Amen.

 

Rejoice!

 

Last week we finished our series on Jonah and today we are starting a series on Philippians.  Philippians is one of the letters the Apostle Paul wrote, and since we are starting a Soup & Study on the Life and Message of the Apostle Paul on Wednesday nights, I thought it might be interesting to focus on one of his letters.  Paul wrote thirteen of the twenty-seven books in the New Testament.  Philippians is one of them.

Philippi, in northern Greece, was the first place in Europe that heard the message about the crucified and risen Jesus of Nazareth.  Paul visited Philippi on his 2^nd missionary trip. (He took 4 trips) This letter he writes from prison makes it clear the church in Philippi gave Paul the most joy.  He loved all the churches he started, but this letter emits a confident trust and enjoyment which we don’t always find in other letters.[1]

For Paul, bringing the gospel to Greece was like a completely new beginning.  Paul had been preaching and planting churches in Asia Minor, which is now modern Turkey, for some time.  But he seems to have a sense that when he came into Europe he really was in new territory, and that if the gospel took root here it would prove just how powerful it was.  After all, Macedonians and Greeks had given the world one of its greatest cultures to date.  The Philippian church was the first of those churches on Greek soil.[2]

Imagine a drab little room surrounded by high walls.  Imagine we can peek into that room. There we’ll see a man seated on the floor.  He’s an older fellow, balding, with shoulders stooped.  Chains encircle his hands and feet.  And chained to him is a burly Roman guard.  This is the Apostle Paul.  The tireless church planter who has traveled all over the known world.  This is the preacher who has liberated people in every port.  The servant of God bound only by the will of God is now in chains – stuck in a dingy house – attached to a Roman officer.[3]

Paul has every reason to slump.  Every reason to complain.  He is restricted by walls and is in chains.   He is afflicted by those who want to “stir up trouble.” He is conflicted by the dangers he is facing – “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”[4]

 If we look closely, he is writing a  letter.  But it is not a letter of complaints or grievances.  Instead he is writing a letter to the church he planted in Philippi[5] to acknowledge their gift to him and express his joy in their continued partnership in sharing the gospel of Christ.  He wanted to explain the purpose and significance of his imprisonment.  And he wanted to address the issues of disunity that were arising in the church among the believers.  Those were the things that Paul was concerned about as he was shackled in prison.[6]

Paul begins every one of the letters he writes with the same salutation:  “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”  Paul is an apostle, sent by God to the gentiles to preach and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

 Writing with shackles on his hands and feet, Paul writes, “I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.”  Imagine how that sounded to the Philippians as Paul’s letter was read in church when they received it.  It makes me feel warm and loved and special and he wasn’t writing to me specifically.  I didn’t have a relationship with Paul like the church in Philippi did.  Imagine the encouragement just the opening of his letter had on that congregation.  “I thank my God every time I remember you.”  “In all my prayers for all of you.” “I always pray with joy”.

Doesn’t that give you warm fuzzies?  Paul is writing this from prison, folks.  He is shackled to a big, burly Roman soldier.  He is stuck in a drab room.  He can’t go where he wants to go or do what he wants to do.  Yet he is writing about joy.

One Thursday afternoon a month I lead a grief group up at PCAL.  About 15 residents gather to talk and enjoy goodies – often root beer floats. The residents know grief.  They have almost all lost spouses and most of their friends. Many of them don’t have people who come and visit.  They gave up their homes and most all their belongings when they moved into PCAL.  They gave up control of their finances, they no longer have the ability to drive, and they cannot eat what sounds good – they eat what’s prepared for them.  Many of them have chronic illnesses or at least aches and pains.   

But when I go on my Tuesday visits, we rarely talk about these things.  So a couple weeks ago during September Good Grief and Goodies, I asked this question as the topic of the day:  “How do you consciously choose joy every day?”

We had a wonderful discussion, and everyone participated. Waking up in the morning, see my friends that I have here, smiling, praying when I wake up, laughing, seeing the pictures of my family, my memories.  The list went on.  One woman said, “I have to choose to feel joy.  I don’t want to feel sad and lonely. So I choose to feel joy.”

What brings you joy? Joy is a feeling you can feel in the midst of grief, in the midst of stress and crises.  Joy can creep in when we least expect it.  We can wake up in the morning and like the resident at PCAL, we can choose to feel joy.  It’s amazing how just smiling at someone can get a grumpy spirit to change into a joyful one for me.  It’s like magic.

I think Paul chooses to be joyful too.  He is in prison.  He can’t leave.  He’s chained to a burly soldier and yet he writes about joy.  A little later in this first chapter he says to “Rejoice!”  In fact, he talks about rejoicing twice just in this first chapter.  Paul finds joy in the growing faith of others and in watching the gospel of Jesus Christ spread.  He finds joy in remembering people he shared bread and wine with as he planted churches and built relationships.

⁴ In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy ⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.  Paul is full of joy for the church in Philippi because of their partnership in the gospel.  This letter is all about partnership – one of the most important words in Paul’s vocabulary.  We like to use the word fellowship rather than partnership but partnership meant something deeper to Paul.  Often fellowship is social.  We talk about “fellowship time” after church when we eat food and visit.  But by using the word partnership Paul means something more.  To him it means sharing in doing the work on one hand and the financial responsibilities on the other.[7] 

 When people were put in prison in Paul’s world, they were not normally given food by their captors; they had to rely on friends to help them.  The Philippian Christians sent a delegation to give Paul a financial gift of money, presumably a substantial gift, since it would not have been worthwhile sending a delegation with a small amount.  The fact that people from a different country would raise money and send some of their members on the dangerous journey to carry the gift to an imprisoned friend, speaks volumes for the esteem and love which they had for Paul.  One of the reasons Paul writes this letter is to say a heartfelt “thank you.”  And he applauds them for their partnership in the work of the gospel  - both in their church and his own, since he believes his imprisonment is furthering his work in the gospel.[8] 

 So let’s consider our community – Fairfield Community Church.  Would you say that you are in partnership for the gospel or are you here for fellowship?  Do you come to church for the social aspect because it’s an opportunity to see friends and extended family or do you come to church to grow your faith and help with the work?  Do you consider the financial responsibilities of this church your responsibilities as you consider your giving or are they not your concern?  Hard questions but Paul isn’t one to beat around the bush. 

The Philippian’s partnership with Paul brings him much joy.  And he ends his salutation – remember – we are still only at the beginning of this letter, we are still just at the salutation, Paul writes,  “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,  filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”

Paul prays that their love grows.  Why?  So that it brings about more knowledge and depth of insight into their faith.  Why?  So they can discern what is best and pure and blameless for the day of Christ.  So they may be filled with the fruit of righteousness which for Paul means as right living.  It is the behavior that results from both God’s faithfulness and the status of being forgiven family members.[9] He wants them to live the right way through Jesus Christ for the glory and the praise of God.  That is a powerful prayer!

Wow!  It sounds like for Paul, the whole goal is to grow so strong in our faith that our knowledge gives us wisdom and discernment to recognize what is good and pure and be able to live that way and to do it all for the glory of God.  That’s a lot friends!  But if we are in partnership with one another, that gives us strength and support knowing that we are in this together. And we can be filled with joy. Thanks Be to God.  Amen.

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[1] Philippians:  8 Studies for Individuals and Group.  N.T. Wright.  InterVarsity Press. 2009.  Pg. 7.
[2] Philippians:  8 Studies for Individuals and Group.  N.T. Wright.  InterVarsity Press. 2009.  Pg. 7.
[3] Life Lessons from Philippians.  Max Lucado. HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.  2018. P. viiii.
[4] Life Lessons from Philippians.  Max Lucado. HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.  2018. P. viiii
[5] Life Lessons from Philippians.  Max Lucado. HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.  2018. P. x
[6] Life Lessons from Philippians.  Max Lucado. HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.  2018. P. x
[7] Philippians:  8 Studies for Individuals and Group.  N.T. Wright.  InterVarsity Press. 2009.  Pg. 14.
[8] Philippians:  8 Studies for Individuals and Group.  N.T. Wright.  InterVarsity Press. 2009.  Pg. 8.
[9] Philippians:  8 Studies for Individuals and Group.  N.T. Wright.  InterVarsity Press. 2009.  Pg. 15.