Philippians

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, rejoice!” is a famous quote from Paul, found in the book of Phlippians in the Bible. The artistic presentation with its beautiful composition, balance of fonts, color, and placement of the most ornate style is likely meant to be inspirational. We all feel good when joy is present, right? But the context that inspired this quote was far from an inspirational mountain-top moment of blessing. Paul says this from prison to a community of Christians who will likely find themselves in the same or similar circumstances. The message is not “rejoice now while its good.” The message is “rejoice even when its not good.”

Now through April 2 New Vision is reading the book of Philippians together. This isn’t a “series” on Philippians. Our pastor comes to the gathering with a little more study, a few more insights, and a plan to facilitate a discussion, but the heart of the gathering is the conversation: what does this letter say? what does it mean? How is it supposed to impact us today?

In the first decades after Jesus’ ministry, a man named Paul had an encounter with Jesus so powerful he was transformed from one who hunted down Christians to kill them to one who was regularly mocked, threatened with violence, and imprisoned for traveling around the Roman Empire circulating the teachings of Jesus. When he entered a new city he would often start by attending a local synagogue with the message that the Jewish Messiah had come. He had discerned that his life’s mission was to take the message as widely as his body and years would allow.

On one of those journeys (the orange line on the map), Paul had wanted to travel through Asia but was not able to. After a potent dream, he and his companions discerned that they should continue west toward Macedonia, the southern region of modern Europe. Acts 16 tells the story of their stop in a principal city of the region: Philippi. As was his custom, Paul went looking for Jewish believers gathering on the Sabbath. In Philippi, he found a group of women gathering outside the city, one of whom knew something of the Jewish God. Her name was Lydia, and the story goes on to say that she “opened her heart” to Paul’s message. The narrator doesn’t record much about Paul’s words or rhetorical style; the details simply report that it was the right time for God to do the work in Lydia’s heart. That encounter led to an invitation to Lydia’s home which allowed Paul to remain in Philippi a little longer.

A string of events leads to Paul’s imprisonment where Paul takes the lemons and “makes lemonade” so to speak. In prison, he and a companion are praying and singing. Then, an earthquake offers the opportunity to escape, but in an expression of selfless love for the guard they stayed. If you are in suspense go read the story for yourself!

The seeds of the Philippian faith story are in this experience. When Paul finds himself imprisoned again, he writes a letter to the Philippians (Philippians 1-4) and it is clear he has the same attitude. Prison looks bad on the outside, but God, again, is using it both for the advancement of the message and for Paul himself. Paul has learned to see his struggle through God’s eyes. A divine perspective shift transforms Paul’s struggle into a reason for rejoicing and transforms the appearance of failure into an uncovering of truth that will strengthen the Philippian believers’ faith in the face of their own unknown future. Paul’s letter does not offer a promise of a secure outcome but is bursting with affection and wisdom for the Philippians as they carry on the work that God started on Paul’s first visit.

We will be looking at the letter more in-depth on Sunday evenings through April 2. While we at New Vision don’t anticipate being imprisoned any time soon (!), we can certainly learn to see our circumstances with God’s eyes and foster the heart attitudes that make transformation and partnership in ministry possible.

Philippians will be the topic of our gatherings on February 26, March 5, 12, 26, and April 2. We are prepared for visitors and children. You may just show up, or you can give our Pastor a heads-up with a message to newvisionbic@gmail.com. You are welcome to participate as little or as much in the conversation as you are comfortable.