12-13-09

Philippians 4:1-9

● It seems that over the past few years, we have been offered this whole “sub-genre” of holiday movies which are directed toward the inner-family tensions. Holiday gatherings are portrayed as simply opening the old family wounds. There is apparently something very cathartic about watching someone else have an even more ‘dysfunctional Christmas’ than yours!

I guess it reminds us that we carry things into the season that are less than holy. We nurse old grudges, we suppress feelings, we ignore relational conflict, or at least hope that the seasonal- sentiment will serve as a temporary distraction.

● The text offered to us today may seem somewhat out-of-place, depending on how we approach it. We have to attempt to understand the flow and intent of the letter in spite of the addition of chapter and verse divisions.                                    

There’s no consensus as to whether this segment (verses 1-3) should be placed with what has preceded it or what follows.

● One cannot help but notice that Paul’s concern in the entire passage is “peace with God” (as it addresses reconciliation with him) and the “peace of God” (as it addresses the way that we are with each other).

Paul seems to feel that the issue of ‘disunity’ among the followers of Jesus is more detrimental than the potential for persecution.

Paul even said he was torn between life and death, but felt that it was more needful for him to stay alongside these followers of Jesus in order to help see to completion what God had started in them (Philippians 1:6).

● I don’t believe that Paul is just interrupting his ‘train of thought’ in order to quickly address some quibble between a couple of women in the community.                  

● He has clearly established “humility and inter-dependence” as themes in his letter.

            In chapter 2, he challenges them to “do everything without murmuring or complaining” and has warned them about attitudes of “selfish ambition” and “vain conceit”.

Likewise, in 1:27, he admonishes them to “conduct [themselves] in a manner worthy of the gospel” (1:27); in a manner that reflects the nature of the gospel message, “contending (fighting) as one man…”

● So, far from offering some fanciful sentiments which seem to disconnect us from the ‘real-world’, Paul sets us firmly in the context of our present reality…here and now.

            He is offering us a means of dealing with our present inner-personal conflicts in ways that are God-honoring and peaceable.

Paul sets the way of peace” in different contexts:

►First, Paul offers the way of peace in the context of ultimate things…ultimate reality: in the context of the grand-narrative and the restorative purposes of God for all of creation.

● Notice his tactic for re-direction: “…all  those whose names are in the book of life…” [allegorical book in which God is said to record the names of those who are righteous.  

● He re-directs them by suggesting their ‘dual-citizenship’. Philippi was a Roman colony. To be a citizen of Philippi was to be a citizen of Rome itself. It was an outpost of Rome, living under the same governing principles and under the same Caesar.

● Paul says that although they live Philippi, they belong to and are outposts of “another Kingdom”; a “heavenly citizenship” where God is King and where his desires become the rule of the day.

It’s hard to be “petty” and “contentious” in such a grand context as the Kingdom.

If your perspective is limited to the present conflict, all you will see is the obstruction (person) to be eliminated. But, in light of the ‘grand narrative’ of restoration (name in the book of life), the issues seem to ‘scale-down’ in perspective of what’s “real”.

►Next, Paul offers the way of peace in the context of the community.

            He pleads not only with the individuals to pursue peace, but with the community at large to help move them toward reconciliation.

● Paul reminds us that contention is not a private, inter-personal matter only, but a communal concern; it affects the testimony of the community as well as the reputation of the individuals.

Remember, these letters were typically sent to the gathering and read aloud (interesting to get ‘called-out’ in front of the community) as a means of communal appeal.

►Then, Paul speaks of the way of peace as it relates to our relationship with Jesus.

            “In the Lord” is the phrase he uses to characterize their interaction. He’s not just asking them to ‘agree’ concerning the issue; he is asking them to consider their response to one another in light of the larger claim that they make on Jesus and that Jesus has on them.

● Paul says, “Envision yourself as a participant in the welcoming, healing community of the Kingdom and then try to justify why you refuse to reconcile with another individual who identifies with the same rule of life”.

“Finally, brothers,…”

 Paul is not just ‘waxing poetic’ or rifling-off a bunch of religious ‘sound-bites’ or Christian sentiments. 

● This is not a temporary departure from the grand-story of restoration, but an integral part of the story. Paul is offering them a practical guide to the “way of peace”.

“Rejoice. Yes, I’ll say it again, rejoice”.

            Paul doesn’t speak of joy as an inherent response, but as an intentional approach to life. The word (rejoice) means ‘to thrive’, even amidst such unsettling circumstances.      

Paul seems to be saying, “The joy that seems to be have been suspended by this conflict… here’s the way to get it back.”      

“Let your gentleness be evident to all, the Lord is near”.

            The word “gentle” is often used in the scriptures in conjunction with “peace”. It’s a posture or demeanor that fosters peace and often interrupts the potential for conflict.

“Let your requests be known to God. And the peace of God…”

Paul identifies the peace of God as ‘transcendent’… extending beyond the limits of ordinary experience. Not only is God’s response toward us incomprehensible, so our response toward others should surpass the expected norms.

● The only path to peace is having first brought the conflict before God in order that his peace might guard your heart (attitude, motivation, posture, speech, etc.)

            Only then will you be in a condition which is conducive to peace. If you attempt confront the individual without having first assimilated the ‘peace of God’, you will simply be contributing to the disorder.

● You know what it’s like to confront the individual with that attitude; that tone (selfish ambition- used in NT times as the pursuit of political office by fractious means: winning by smear campaigning.  vain conceit- empty pride).

“Whatever is true, honest, just, etc.”

Imagine what the conflict has done to Euodia and Syntyche’s relationship? Here’s where we realize the distortion involved with conflict.

● Paul warns them against thought-patterns which contradict peace.

Once the conflict itself becomes the primary focus of the relationship, our thinking is dominated by “whatever is distorted, whatever is ugly, whatever is impure, …”

Conflict always prevents us from noticing what’s right in a flurry of all that’s wrong.

● What’s “true” is that you have been reconciled to God, in Christ and are now to ‘serve reconciliation’ (ministers). You have been brought near. You are a new person, in a new family, with a new way to live. You belong. Don’t let anything jeopardize that type of stability (joy).

“…what you have learned, received… heard, seen in me, practice…”

            If you have seen me respond peaceably in any situation, even those which suggested that I had the right to retaliate or lobby for my ‘rightness’, then put into practice the way of peace.

Given the profound nature of restoration offered toward us in Advent of Christ, at what point are we willing to consider any relationship ‘irreconcilable’?

“Make every effort…” (Ephesians 4:3; Hebrews 12:14; Romans 12:18, 14:19).

At the very core of our faith is a God who has “moved toward us”; who is not content with fractured relationships and who knows nothing of irreconcilable differences.

“Reconcile” (2 Cor.5) means ‘to receive one with favor’. Ours is to assume a posture of embrace, making room for the offending party in order to restore order and set them back in the way of peace.

Peace is not just a seasonal-sentiment, but a way of life for the apprentice of Jesus.

There is an “ethic of Advent”; an ordering (or re-ordering) our lives around an adopted set of values. For us, it’s the ethic of the Kingdom which re-aligns us and re-orients us toward God and each other.