God is Near: We Can rely on God in all Situations
When I think of the book of Philippians, the words that come to my mind first are poetry and inspiration and prayer. There are so many memorable expressions and images. It is almost flowery at times. I have loved some of the phrases and combinations of words that we lift out of this book. There is a spirit of encouragement and reassurance that permeates Philippians. It is inspiring, and we have some of those phrases here in our passage for today. What I sometimes forget is that this was an actual letter, penned and written by a real leader with all his passions and advice and concern, to a very real congregation, with all its joys and struggles, in the midst of the chaotic and tumultuous time they lived in, not unlike where we find ourselves today in our time. The inspiring words and phrases of the letter rise above the original listeners and truly are the good news gospel in this letter, but it is also important to pay attention to what lies underneath that spurned on these words by Paul. If you pay attention, you start to sift out the context of this particular congregation, and better understand what is going on, and why Paul chose his words, and why that makes them even more powerful and profound.
This letter was written by the Apostle Paul, to a congregation in Philippi that he had founded and had a close, warm relationship with, and perhaps the closest partnership and fondness for of all the congregations. (historical information from Gordon Zerbe’s Philippians Commentary (Believer’s Church Bible Commentary, Herald Press, 2016) Recently, perhaps within the month, they had heard of Paul’s imprisonment by Roman imperial authorities in Ephesus, and in response had sent Epaphroditus, one of their own members, to assist Paul and deliver some financial support, but he had fallen severely ill and almost died. Gordon Zerbe, CMU Professor, who wrote the Believer’s Church Bible Commentary on Philippians, imagines this small congregation all gathering now to hear this personalized letter that had just arrived from Paul read out loud to them, and receiving its message of resilience and hope. It was an anxious time for the congregation. There was mounting pressure and persecution by the Roman elite and ruling authorities in this highly socially stratified culture and society. But those class divisions and hierarchies had seeped into the church too, and there were growing signs of internal conflict and disagreement. It felt like they were in a crisis, and their leader Paul in prison was in crisis too. This is the context of Paul’s poetry and encouragement.
I had almost missed, in my first reading of our Chapter 4 passage, that it starts by naming that there has been a conflict between two of their female leaders, Euodia (yoo-OH-dee-ah) and Syntyche (SIN ti-kee), and that some reconciliation is needed. Note first that there are recognized and named female leaders here in this church. Commentators speculate on what the conflict between them, and perhaps whole factions of the church, was about – how best to respond to persecution, what missional priorities to have, are there social status differences? or maybe it is just a personality clash. What I love, is that the reason is not named and maybe is not even so important. Conflict simply happens in every group of people. Paul starts somewhere else. First, Paul affirms them both as being beloved, and that they have worked hard beside him, sharing the gospel. They are valued members of the team.
And then there is this interesting phrase – from the NRSV – I urge them ‘to be of the same mind in the Lord.’ What does it mean to be of the same mind? In the Lord? Does that mean that you have to agree on everything, believe everything the same? Think the same? Be uniform? I don’t think so? It is more about how you approach the other, how you relate, especially if you disagree. It is about your attitude and disposition to the other. It is about showing love to the other. It is about all the virtues that follow these words, and I will get to those in a moment. But Paul has already used this phrase twice earlier in the letter. In chapter 3, he talks about pressing towards the goal of the call of Christ Jesus, the bigger picture, and ‘let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind, and if you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you. Only let us hold fast to what we have attained.’ (15-16) And in Chapter 2, maybe the strongest message – ‘if then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourself. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. (then the phrase repeats) Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus… and it launches into the famous Christ hymn – who emptied himself, humbled himself, taking on human form and becoming obedient to the point of death on a cross. That’s what it means to be of the same mind. It is not about convincing and arguing with the other until they get it right and agree with you, about winning. It is about relationships, love, humility, compassion, joy, regarding the other with respect, and ultimately, sacrificing and laying down oneself for the other, as Christ did.
This past Wednesday, I attended the early early 7am in the morning packed Interfaith Community Breakfast at Bingemans, the 50th year of this event, which started as a Christian prayer breakfast, but over 20 years ago became multi-faith. Jim Erb, Mennonite funeral director, and Misha Birmiwal, a young Hindu highschool student, shared the stage, spoke back and forth, and spoke passionately about the values of community, engagement, mentors, cooperation, and giving people voice, and about what gives roots and wings, love moving us forward. At my table, there happened to be someone of United Church background, the mayor of Kitchener, my Mom, and two young adults from the Church of Latter-day Saints and we soon engaged in great conversation and finding commonalitiese. Around me at other nearby tables and represented with prayers and music from the front, were folks from Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish, Sikh, Humanist, Baha’I, Indigenous and other backgrounds. We certainly do not all believe the same thing or express faith in the same way. And yet, there is a commitment to respect, learning and listening from each other, to love and cooperation, and common goals. All these groups and backgrounds together in one room like that is truly remarkable in our divided and polarized and often religiously politicized world. What I saw were smiles and hugs and conversations and so much mutual respect. So were we of the same mind. Most definitely.
In our passage, after urging the two women and all of us, to be of the same mind, Paul launches into this poetic and profound description of what it means for the Lord to be near. He starts with Joy, as he does throughout this letter – Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice. So interesting that joy is so central, in this tumultuous time, writing from Prison. Joy is not the same as happiness, but rather a deep abiding trust in God, who can bring joy and new life into our lives, even in the midst of hardship and suffering. He writes about gentleness, about not being anxious, about the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. He writes about holding integrity – whatever is honorable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable. And he wraps this all together with prayer and supplication and making your thanksgivings known to God. Prayer undergirds everything. Our passage ends with some reflections on being content with whatever one has – Paul both acknowledging the financial gifts he has received, but at times also having been without – yet in plenty or in need, he has learned to be content. His summary statement: ‘I can do all things through him who strengthens me.’ I read all of this, and almost forget that it started with addressing a conflict between two people. It has been put into such a different perspective by Paul.
This afternoon, I will be preaching at the ordination service of Zac Klassen, pastor of Bloomingdale Mennonite Church. I was his MCEC pastoral mentor, and in many ways, as a congregation, we encouraged and grew and sent and commissioned him from SJMC to pastor elsewhere, something we do rather well – a gift to the broader church. It was an honour to be asked to preach. As I prepared for the sermon, I found myself stepping back and asking about what is really at the heart of ministry, whether that is as a pastor, but also for all of us, as God equips the saints, as it reads in the Ephesians 4 passage for this afternoon. That passage talks about the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, the one body and the gifts given to all. In its core form, ministry has to do with being more than with doing. It has to do with our character and spiritual centre, with who we are, more than how competent we are and how able we are to use the gifts we have been given, as important as those might be. It has to do with our walk with God, our relationship with the one who strengthens us to do all things. It is about relationships, loving our congregation, walking with people through mystery and pain and joy, about trusting and naming where God is present. It is about worship and prayer. It has to do with dying to ourselves, and letting God work through us, and often despite us, drawing on that image from Zac’s other scripture that ‘unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies it bears much fruit.’ (John 12:24) To me, this all sounded very similar to Paul’s words to the church in Philippi, which at its core named that God is near. And that when we are grounded in God, through prayer and worship, we can experience joy, gentleness, peace and contentment, being rather than doing, having the same mind that was in Christ Jesus. This truly is good news! Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say Rejoice. Amen.
Paul calls us to prayer, and so even now in our songs of response, we already begin our prayer time by singing two prayer hymns. We sang these two together at the May Long weekend hymn sing. Voices Together number 679 – Come, Bring your Burdens to God, and on the other side of the prayer 680 – Calm Me, Lord as you calmed the storm… Enfold me in your peace. We will sing them each three times.