September 7, 2007

“I HAVE YOU IN MY HEART”

Philippians 1:1-11

Today we are beginning a new sermon series on Paul’s letter to the Philippians. For me, this is like a visit to an old friend after an absence of many years. Why do I say that? Philippians has always been my favorite among Paul’s letters. I am not really sure why. Maybe it’s because the tone of the letter is so warm and personal. I am convinced that the church at Philippi was one of the Paul’s favorite churches and this comes through in his positive tone, and loving exhortations.

As I said, my affection for this letter goes back a long ways. In fact, I was still in university when I decided to commit the whole letter to memory. Over the course of the next couple months, I memorized the entire book. I had a job that summer as a flag man on a road construction project. My posting was on a quiet country road where only a dozen or so cars came by in an hour. So I would take my New Testament along with me in my pocket, and in between cars, I would memorize verse after verse and by the end of the summer I could recite it all.

That September I started seminary. One of the first courses I took was New Testament Greek. To my great joy, the professor chose Philippians as the book we would analyze and do our reading from. So now I had the chance to go beneath the surface of the English translations and discover the nuances of meaning that the Greek language provided. Then when I had my first opportunity to preach a series of messages during a summer internship in Alaska, I naturally chose Philippians for my very first sermon series.

So Philippians is an old friend. But as I said, this is like a visit after an absence of many years. The last time I preached through this letter was 17 years ago. So it is like visiting a familiar neighborhood after a long absence. I am looking forward to revisiting some familiar truths like renewing acquaintance with old friends, but I am also looking forward to discovering new insights and viewing these passages from new perspectives.

In light of my history with Paul’s letter to the Philippians, I was delighted two years ago when Esther Ruth and I had a two day layover in Thessaloniki in Greece. The ruins of ancient Philippi are only a 2 hour drive from Thessaloniki. We caught a bus to the ancient port city of Neapolis (now called Kavalla). We were met there by some Greek Christians who had volunteered to show us around. They drove us the 10 miles or so to Philippi. The ruins of the city of Philippi are spread out over open countryside. There is no modern city or development in the vicinity. Now, as then, the city was divided into an upper and lower city by a major road. Now it is a modern highway. In Paul’s day it was the important thoroughfare known as the Egnatian way.

As we wandered through the ruins, we could see the river about half a mile away, winding through the countryside; the river where Paul and Silas would have met with the small group of Jewish worshippers on their first Sabbath day on the continent of Europe. We walked past the stalls of the marketplace, and looked at the raised platform that formed the ancient “bema seat” or place of judgment where court cases were heard. We peered into the ruins of what some traditions believe may have been the town jail where Paul and Silas spent that eventful night described in Acts 16.

As we walked through the ancient city, it wasn’t difficult to imagine the scene as it must have looked in about 61 AD when a man by the name of Epaphroditus walked into the town. I suspect the news spread quickly around the town: “Epaphroditus is back! He’s come back from Rome. He has a letter from Paul. We are going to read it together tonight at Lydia’s house. Tell the others.”

I can imagine the gathering that evening. Epaphroditus refreshed from his journey, possibly after a swim in the river; Lydia, as cool and elegant as ever, welcoming people to her home; the gruff, burly retired Roman officer who now served as the head jailer in town. The former slave girl, smiling shyly and acknowledging Lydia’s greeting. Then came Clement, followed by Euodias and then Syntyche and others until the room was filled.

When everyone was gathered, one of the church leaders stood up and said a word of welcome. Then he chuckled and said, “I know you didn’t come to hear me talk tonight. Here is what we’ve all come for.” He held the scroll high for all to see. Then he unrolled it and began to read…

(Read Philippians 1:1-11)

As we begin our study of this letter, it is natural and appropriate to ask the obvious question: What is this letter about? What is the theme, the main idea or topic of the letter? That is an interesting question, and not all preachers or Bible scholars agree on the answer. In surveying the whole letter, there are actually several themes running through it.

There is the theme of “joy”. This is probably the one most often mentioned by preachers and commentaries, and with good reason. The words for joy and rejoice occur 16 times in the letter. The letter to the Philippians is full of joy.

Another word that keeps popping up is Gospel, the good news. The Greek word for Gospel, “evangelion”, occurs nine times in the letter.

Then there is the word for “fellowship”. Some of these words are not as easy to spot in the English translations, but different forms of the Greek word “koinonia” or fellowship occurs five times in the text. In a little more subtle indication of the importance of this theme, there is the little Greek preposition “with” which occurs four times on its own, but also occurs in combination with other words over ten times; words like fellow soldier and fellow worker.

We could also add the word for “thinking”. Again, this one isn’t easy to pick out in the English translations, because it’s translated differently in different verses, but the Greek word for thinking actually occurs ten times in this letter.

Finally, it wouldn’t be hard to make a case that all of these suggestions ultimately fall short of the mark. We might say that the real theme or topic of the letter is Jesus Christ himself. 37 times, an average of more than once in every three verses, Paul refers to the Christ, Jesus Christ, or the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you don’t mind, I’d like to keep the theme of the letter an open question for now. We will explore all five of these themes as they appear in the text, and see where our journey takes us over the next few months.

As we approach this opening paragraph of the letter, we actually find all five themes introduced. But if there is one that emerges as the dominant idea of the paragraph, I would say that it is the theme of fellowship. Throughout the paragraph, Paul expresses his thankfulness and joy over the fellowship he has enjoyed with the believers in Philippi. In the process, we learn some valuable lessons about what true, Biblical fellowship really is.

I need to say at the very beginning that if we are going to understand what Paul is saying, we are going to have to go well past the modern, watered down idea of fellowship. This is more than coffee and tea and conversation in the so-called “fellowship hall” after church. This is more than having friends and being friendly at church.

The Greek word for fellowship, as I said, is “koinonia” and it comes from the root word “koinos”, meaning “common.” It is based on the idea of having something that is shared or “in common.” Many English villages once were built around a “commons” which was a large green field or meadow or lawn which belonged to everyone and where anyone could gather. It was shared by the “community”, which is another word that is based on the word “common.” One definition for fellowship reads like this: “A joint participation in a common interest and activity.”

This is the way Paul uses the word, and as we explore this theme in the opening paragraph, we find five truths about Biblical fellowship.

1. Biblical fellowship is grounded in the Gospel of Christ.

When we speak of Biblical fellowship, what is it that we have in common? What is our common interest and activity? It is the Gospel of Christ. In verse 5, Paul expresses his joy at the Philippians’ “partnership in the gospel.” That is the Greek word “koinonia.” What is it that binds us together and gives us a common identity and a common cause? It is the Gospel, the good news about Jesus Christ. There are all kinds of clubs in the world. People can get together for all kinds of reasons: stamp clubs, sailing clubs, golf clubs, bridge clubs. The church is much more than a club, but if we wanted to use the word, we would call it the Gospel club. That’s our common interest, our common purpose. That’s why we have the word Evangelical in our church name. The word Evangelical comes from the Greek word “evangelion” which means “gospel”. That is our common ground and purpose.

2. Biblical fellowship has a beginning point.

Look at how Paul describes it in verse 5: because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. Do you see that? There was a first day. There was a beginning point. For the Philippian church as a whole, that was the founding of the church during Paul’s initial visit, described in Acts 16. There was no Gospel fellowship in Philippi until Paul came and preached the Gospel! But when he preached, and people believed the Gospel, the Gospel fellowship in Philippi came into being. That was the “first day” and Paul says, we’ve been in this partnership/fellowship ever since. For the individuals in the Philippian church, their first day would be the day they individually came to Christ and became part of the fellowship which had the Gospel in common.

Look at what Paul says in verse 6: being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion. The good work is the work of salvation which took place when people in Philippi believed. The one who began the good work is God himself. But the point still is, there was a beginning point when God started something in an individual life or in a group and began forming another cell in the “fellowship of the Gospel.”

3. Biblical fellowship creates deep relational bonds.

I struggled with how to word this one, and I’m still not sure I’ve got it right. But here is what I am trying to say. The commonality we share because of the Gospel message comes first. Relational bonds grow out of that, not the other way around. But true Biblical fellowship does affect us powerfully, both emotionally and relationally. Look at the emotions and deep relationships that Paul describes in this paragraph. I thank my God every time I remember you…I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the Gospel…I have you in my heart…God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus…There is deep emotion and strong relationship here, growing out of gospel partnership. This is true fellowship.

4. Biblical fellowship has practical results.

The fellowship that Paul describes here is not just about feelings and emotions. It also has a very practical side. One practical result is prayer. “I am always praying for you,” Paul says. Prayer is one very natural and very powerful expression of our common bond in Christ.

There is something more here. Many scholars point out that one of the reasons Paul wrote this letter was to thank the Philippians for a gift, an offering they had sent to him in Rome. We’ll look at this more when we get there, but just let me read Philippians 4:18: I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. In that same paragraph Paul points out that they had sent him aid again and again. So their sense of oneness with him in the Gospel had found an expression in the very practical form of monetary gifts.

I think we see the same kind of practical expression of fellowship in the very writing of this letter and in the travels of Epaphroditus back and forth to Rome. As they experience the oneness of their fellowship in the Gospel, they are moved to find very practical ways of expressing that fellowship and continuing their partnership.

5. Biblical fellowship is sharing a journey toward a destination.

It is not a stagnant or stationary fellowship. We are a fellowship on the move. We have a destination. “Fellow travelers” is a good way to describe us. But where are we going? First of all, Paul gives us hints in this passage that a. our ultimate destination is an eternal one. Look at verse 5 again: being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.  He says it again in verse 10: that you may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ. Now, depending on our doctrine of eschatology or the end times, we might define the “day of Christ Jesus” in different ways, but in the ultimate sense we know that every member of the “fellowship of the Gospel” will one day gather around Christ’s throne to love and serve him forever. That is our eternal destination.

But we are also to be a fellowship on the move in another sense. We also see here that

b. our earthly goal is increasing spiritual maturity. We see this in the last three verses of the paragraph as Paul summarizes his prayer on behalf of the believers in Philippi.

Read Philippians 1:9-11. Paul is really praying for their spiritual growth. We don’t have time to explore this at length, but I would just point out that this prayer for spiritual growth includes three areas. i. Growth in love. He wants them to experience the full relational impact of being in the fellowship of the gospel. ii. Growth in discernment. The phrase “discern what is best” in verse 10 could also be translated “the things that really matter” or “the things that make a difference.” How much of our lives do we waste on things that really don’t matter? They may not be evil in and of themselves. But when measured against kingdom values, they just aren’t important. Finally, he prays for iii. Growth in righteousness. Filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God. (v. 11) The Bible tells us that we are declared righteous in God’s sight because of Christ’s sacrifice for us on the cross. That is the gospel message. Now Paul prays that we will be filled with the fruit of that righteousness, becoming like Christ in our actions and attitudes and words.

Well, we’ve covered a lot of territory. I just want to close with two closing challenges. First, are you part of the fellowship of the Gospel? Remember I said earlier that Biblical fellowship has a beginning point. That point for each individual is when we put our faith in Christ and believe the Gospel. Have you done that? Or has your journey not yet begun? If you are not sure of the answer to that question, we would love to discuss the matter with you.

Second, if you are a part of the fellowship, are you growing? Are you on the move? Or have you become stagnant? Do you need to make some new commitments this year, to join a home fellowship or one of the Bible studies, get involved in new avenues of service, join yourself more closely to your fellow travelers as together we grow toward maturity in love, discernment and righteousness?