Philippians 1:3-8

 

To love and be loved

By: Scott Grant

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Context for relationships

 

            We all want friends. We all want to be part of a community. We come to church not only looking for God, but looking for a community. We would love to find a place where our presence kindles something in the hearts of others, and where their presence kindles something in our hearts. We hope that such things happen and we try to make them happen, but often we’re sadly disappointed.

            Part of our problem may be that we’re working so hard at building community that we’ve lost sight of why the community exists. The community exists to advance the gospel, to proclaim in word and deed that Jesus is Lord, to carry his love to an aching world. If we lose our outward focus, everything becomes about the relationships we have with each other, and surely we will find them wanting and spend all our time trying to create better relationships.

            There is something that can create better relationships. Although it is a tried and true method, it usually doesn’t occur to us. It usually doesn’t occur to us because it’s not really a method to create better relationships. It’s not even a method at all, really. It’s a purpose. That purpose is to advance the gospel. When the community has a purpose outside itself, a natural, non-forced avenue is created for relationships. The entire focus isn’t getting to know each other. You don’t come together and say, “Ready, relate!” In the context of coming together for a greater cause, you relate. That’s what happened between the Apostle Paul and the followers of Jesus in Philippi.

 

            Philippians 1:3-8:

            [3] I thank my God every time I remember you. [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, [6] 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. [7] It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. [8] God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

 

Extravagant feelings

 

            Look at the ways in which Paul describes his disposition toward these people. They make him continually thankful, prayerful and joyful. He is confident in their future as partners in the gospel. Even though his feelings are extravagant, he considers them right, or appropriate. These people occupy a secure spot in his heart. He longs for them with the affection of Jesus himself. In the last case, Paul presses the borders of the language in describing his feelings for them.

            Not only does he have such strong feelings for them, he’s eager for them to understand his strong feelings. It’s one thing to have strong feelings for someone; it’s another thing to express them, to let that person know how you feel.  I’m sure most of us have harbored a secret crush on someone of the opposite sex and wondered if we could ever muster the courage to tell the person. You plan and scheme to find just the right words and just the right time. You work up to it for weeks, maybe months. Years? When everything converges just as you had hoped, you can’t seem to pull the words out of your mouth. You conclude, “No, this isn’t the right time and place after all.” Then you start all over again. You plan and scheme and work up to it.

            If you have strong feelings for someone, why is it so difficult to tell that person how you feel? You’re afraid the other person won’t feel the same way, and you’re afraid of rejection. If your feelings are just an inkling, you probably won’t risk it. But if your feelings are strong, you’re more likely to find a way, however awkward, to make them known. Paul blurts it out. His feelings are such that he has to express them, even if he risks rejection.

            What is it that evokes in this man such feelings and such a willingness to express them? It’s not a career or a hobby or a concept. It’s not a doctrine or a philosophy or a policy. It’s people.

 

The power of partnership

 

            Why does Paul have such feelings for these particular people? He says it’s because of their “partnership in the gospel.” Another way of saying it is that they “share in God’s grace” as they support Paul in his efforts to advance the gospel. The word translated “share” (sunkoinonos ) is related to the word translated “partnership” (koinonia), which was a word used of business partnerships. They have signed on to advance the gospel, to proclaim and live out the truth that Jesus is Lord.

            Their involvement has staying power, having been from the first day, when Paul visited Philippi (Acts 16:11-40), until now. Having seen evidence of God’s work in them, and knowing that God finishes what he starts, Paul is confident that their partnership in the gospel will continue until the day of Christ Jesus, when he returns and his enthronement becomes visible to all. Specifically, they have partnered with Paul in his efforts to advance the gospel, even so far as standing by him as he is in prison for the faith that the gospel espouses. As Paul is in prison, the gospel itself is on trial, and he is an advocate for its defense and confirmation. Paul has been imprisoned by the powers of Rome. Philippi is a Roman colony. Their partnership with Paul, then, is a risky one. It has expressed itself, among other ways, in funding Paul in his efforts to advance the gospel (Philippians 4:15-16).

            What created this intense relationship between Paul and these people? It’s the gospel. They have all believed the good news that Jesus is Lord and have had a life-transforming encounter with him. The love of Christ has been poured into their hearts to such an extent that they will now do anything for him. Jesus has given them all the greatest mission known to humanity, to advance the gospel and thereby bring the love of God to a broken world. Having been transformed by the gospel, they want to see the gospel advance. They want to see others transformed as well. They want to see the world transformed. This common desire to advance the gospel has brought them together and created these intense relationships.

 

Cry of the heart

 

            The gospel, as we encounter Jesus Christ through it and partner with others to advance it, can create for us these kinds of relationships. This passage speaks to the deepest longings of our hearts. For when all pretensions are stripped away, we want two things: We want to love, and we want to be loved. We want to love the way Paul does, to be thankful and prayerful and joyful and confident toward others and eager to express our feelings for them. We want to love the way the Philippians loved Paul, standing by others in risky advocacy over the long haul. We also want to be loved in this way.

            But we really wonder about ourselves. We wonder if we have it in us to love in this way. We wonder if anyone could love us in this way. At one of my lowest moments, these words erupted from me: “I want to love and be loved!” Of course, my heart had been telling me that since the day I was born. One day it just decided to scream it.

            Is there an answer for such cries of the heart? What are we to do with our hearts that want to love but don’t think they can love, that want to be loved but don’t think they will be loved? We are to bring our hearts to Jesus Christ and to find in his gospel that we are loved more than we can possibly imagine. We are to then find, as we connect with Jesus, that he is transforming our hearts so that we are developing ever greater capacity to love and be loved. We are to seek out others who are undergoing similar transformation. We are to partner with them to advance the gospel, to introduce the love of Jesus to other hearts that are crying, “I want to love and be loved!”

            Then something really special happens when you partner with others to advance the gospel. Relationships happen. A common goal brings you together.

 

Common goal

 

            When I look back on my childhood, I can see that I became closer to the guys I played ball with than the people I sat next to in class. When I got to college, I was closer to the people I worked on the school newspaper with than any other group. Each of you could probably tell stories of how a common goal introduced you to other people and created relationships.

            Fighting a common enemy is perhaps the most unifying of goals. George C. Scott, playing the World War II general in the movie “Patton,” declares that “all other human endeavor pales in comparison” to war. Patton may have been a fanatic, but the intensity of war brings people together like nothing else.

            Paul uses a word common to business — “partnership” — to describe the relationships among people who come together to advance the gospel. It is like a business partnership, but it is something more. It’s like a team, but it’s something more. It’s more like a platoon. Paul himself says elsewhere that we’re in a war (Ephesians 6:10-20). It’s that intense. He uses warfare language to describe our struggle against the wicked spiritual forces led by the devil, who has “blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4). The gospel opens eyes so that people may see Jesus. We come together in our little platoons to advance the gospel so that people may see the love of Christ.

            With apologies to Patton, the spiritual war for the hearts and minds of men and women is the greater human endeavor. I’ve played on a lot of teams. I’ve worked for several newspapers. I’ve made a lot of friends along the way. But the bonds created by those efforts do not hold a candle to the connections I’ve made in the ministries in which I’ve participated. They pale in comparison.

            When you partner together to advance the gospel, this spark you felt, that maybe you could love better, becomes a flame. When you’re working side by side with people in the greatest human endeavor, when you find yourself in a fox hole with others in the war to advance the gospel, you find that you need each other. You can’t do it alone. You don’t want to do it alone. It’s no fun to do it alone. You need others to do what you can’t do, and you need others to support you and pray for you. Finding that you need each other, your hearts become open to each other. You share. You get to know each other. You feel that you’ve been through this “thing” together. The great gospel adventure inspires and nurtures the relationships we want.

            A normal response around here when you suggest that people get involved with ministry is this one: “I’m too busy.” Too busy for the greatest human adventure? Too busy for the relationships that we crave but can’t create? If the answer is “I’m too busy,” here’s a question you may consider asking yourself: “What do I really want?” Not, “What should I want?” If you ask the second question, you will answer out of guilt. God speaks to a much deeper place, to a place beneath all the “shoulds” and the “oughts.” When you get below the “shoulds” and the “oughts,” what do you find? You might just find a desire to be part of an adventure that carries the love of Jesus to the world. And you’re sure to find the desire to love and be loved. Partnering with others in the name of Jesus Christ, I found that I could love. I found that I could be loved.

 

Asking the Lord

 

            Pray the daily prayers I’m suggesting for the duration of this series in Philippians: 1) That the Lord would use me/us to advance the gospel. 2) Is there anything the Lord is asking me to do in order to advance the gospel?

            How might the Lord answer those prayers? He might take you to a deeper place of prayer. He might lead you to pray regularly for people on the front lines in the battle to advance the gospel. You may not be an evangelist or a missionary, but someone has to pray for the evangelists and missionaries. He might lead you to a ministry. He might lead you to create a ministry. He might lead you to take a trip somewhere. He might turn your small group into a platoon. He might do something you never could have imagined. I hope he leads us as a fellowship to be more welcoming and more outreaching. I hope we find that we can love and be loved.

            And I hope no one is left out. Three words appear together four times in this short section: “all of you.” The apostle feels strongly for all of these people because they have all partnered with him. We’re in this together.

 

SCG / 10-21-01

 

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