Gospel Partnership

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 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” (Philippians 1:3-6).

As Pastor Michael mentioned in yesterday’s reflection, it was common for letters written in the ancient world to begin with a formulaic greeting, including an expression of gratitude. Paul’s thanksgiving sections, often longer than other ancient letters, contain an encouragement for the believers which is also exhortative in nature, calling them to continue to live according to the pattern for which he is expressing thankfulness. 

In the thanksgiving section of this letter to the church in Philippi, Paul–who is writing from prison–pens a letter that New Testament scholar NT Wright describes as “overflowing with effervescent joy” and “sparkling with the delight of family affection.” Part of the occasion for this letter and its joyful tone is Paul’s gratitude for the Philippian church’s financial aid of his ministry, what he describes in today's verses as their “partnership in the gospel.” However, this is not the whole story.

Although Paul expresses joy on behalf of the Philippian church, it was not without its difficulties. It was a relatively small church, started in a Roman colony without a sizable Jewish population like some of the other churches Paul founded, and it experienced significant persecution, some of which is detailed in Luke’s account of Paul’s own experience there in Acts 16. And yet, Paul expresses his confidence in spite of his personal circumstances and those of the community to which he writes that God’s work, begun among them through his ministry, would continue. His gratitude is both an encouragement and an exhortation to the church that they continue in this pattern, holding fast to their hope.

What Paul models for the church in Philippi falls strangely on our ears. Perhaps you have heard stories of the persecuted church in other parts of the world. Or maybe you have seen the headlines in the news, but couldn’t even bring yourself to contemplate the details. Maybe, although we here in the west do not face persecution like Paul and the Philippian church or like our siblings in Christ around the world today, perhaps you feel some anxiety about the place of the church in your context, wondering how to navigate your conviction that Christ is King when many around you aren’t convinced. Certainly, in my time in Egypt, in close proximity to the Coptic Orthodox church which proudly declares itself the “Church of the Martyrs,” and where close friends of mine faced the threat of authorities, I struggled to read Paul’s words in today’s verses. Joy, gratitude, and confidence are not a natural response to the suffering of Christ’s church. It’s not a natural response to our own suffering, and indeed, it would be inappropriate if our only response to suffering was joy. We must wrestle with and deeply honour the reality of pain which is not God’s intention for his people.

And yet, it is critical that we note that Paul’s words are addressed to a community of believers, bound together in their suffering for Christ. It is this too, then, and not only their financial contribution to Paul’s ministry, which causes Paul to give thanks for their “partnership in the gospel.” Their suffering, the suffering of the church today, because of Christ’s own suffering, becomes a mechanism by which we find identity in Christ and are transformed into a community of those worthy of partnership in witness to the truth of the gospel. It is this reality which allows Paul to pray with joy for the Philippian church, and which in turn allows us to pray in kind for ourselves as God’s people and for those suffering for Christ with whom we are united around the world. 

So go forth as people of joy and confidence, people of steadfast prayer for the suffering, in the hope of our Saviour, for “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”