Philippians 1:1-13
Our reading tonight is from Paul’s letter to the Philippians and I am reading from the English Standard Version translation:
1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,
4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy,
5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.
8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.
9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment,
10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,
11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
These words are the beginning of Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi, one of the congregations he planted in the eastern and northern Mediterranean during his missionary travels. It is one of his prison letters, written sometime between 50 and 60 CE. We know that Paul was imprisoned in Jerusalem and in Rome several different times during the years that he traveled, and “although his death is not recorded in the Bible, later traditions say that he was martyred near Rome, probably between 60-64 C.E., during Emperor Nero's reign.”[i]
As you listen to the words he has written, imagine that he is sitting in what was likely a crudely dug hole in the ground that served as a prison. He would have been dependent upon people who knew him to provide him with food and to be couriers for his correspondence.
But uncertainty and anxiety are not the emotions we hear in Paul’s words. Instead, his letters characteristically begin with thanksgiving. He gives thanks first to “all the saints” – not the ones who will be canonized in the church in future centuries, and not the ancient heroes of the faith whose names would have been known then, but the living and gathered saints who are all the people of this congregation right now.
He is in prison, locked up and separated from those whom he loves, but he has a deep well of thanksgiving that is grounded in their common Lord Jesus Christ.
Continuing his letter, Paul tells the Philippians that he is making his prayers for them with joy.
Beginning with the ashes we put on last Wednesday, traditionally, the season of Lent involves sober reflection, confession and repentance. In a Family Circus comic strip, Dorothy sees her mother holding a crucifix, where Jesus is hanging on the cross, and says, “I liked seeing Jesus in the manger better.” We expect joy in the Christmas story and certainly at Easter, after the resurrection, but reading Philippians, Methodist pastor and author Max Vincent suggests that joy belongs in Lent, too.
What do you think Paul means when he says he is praying with joy? (pause) Is it joy because they’re such wonderful friends, or because prayer is his favorite way to pass the time?
If I’m honest with myself, remembering that God already knows my heart, joy isn’t immediately what comes to mind when I think or talk about prayer. Sometimes, when I pray, it is with an agenda – God, please fix this situation or heal that person; other times, I pray because I promised I would and now I’m checking it off the to-do list. Other times, I might pray a familiar prayer like the Lord’s Prayer and my mind wanders or I worry if I’m saying the words everyone else knows. In another Family Circus comic, little Billy is on his knees praying when he tells his mother, “In case God is tired of the same old prayer, I recited Humpty Dumpty [tonight].”
Importantly, Paul’s pattern of joyful prayer begins and ends with God.[ii] He has witnessed how God is working already in the lives of his friends and he has confidence that God will continue to accomplish good work through them. His ability to give thanks and pray joyfully flows out of unity in Christ with the people in Philippi and in their shared partnership in the gospel.
This week, come before the Lord with joy as you make your prayers; maybe you can adopt a prayer of thanksgiving like Paul’s, or try another prayer practice just for this Lenten season.
Throughout Lent we will be reading Philippians together, learning more about the joy that Paul experiences in faith and expresses in this letter. Each week we’ll hear about a different discipline that Paul carries out – prayer, witness, humility, hospitality, asceticism and giving – and challenge ourselves to come to our discipline of Lent joyfully.
Let us pray…
Holy God,
Fill our mouths with laughter and our tongues with joy as we remember all you have done; (Ps. 126)
We come before you with thanksgiving for your Son Jesus Christ, and for your abundant mercy.
Help us know the joy we all have in salvation and teach us to rejoice with all Your saints, confident You are present with us in all circumstances.
We pray in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
[i] “Paul.” enterthebible.org Luther Seminary. http://www.enterthebible.org/newtestament.aspx?rid=9, accessed 3/12/2109
[ii] Max O. Vincent. Because of This I Rejoice. 34.
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