“A partnership that counts”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Monday, September 11, 2023
Philippians 1:1-11 (Forward, p. 44) CEV p. 1227
Of all the churches that the apostle Paul either founded or had associations with, it is the church in the Macedonian city of Philippi that is most precious to him. Not only was it the result of that strange vision he received at Troas while still in Asia (modern Turkey), a vision of a man imploring him to come over to Macedonia, and not only was it the first church that he founded in what is now Europe, but it was a church with a much storied and interesting history. It was here that he befriended Lydia, the seller of purple cloth, where there was as yet no synagogue. And it was here that he freed the demonized fortune teller from her affliction and was thrown into jail for his trouble. And it was here that he and Silas saved the jailer and his family from death and infamy to salvation in Christ Jesus. (See Acts 16 for a fuller treatment of these events.)
But what Paul picks up on in his letter to this church is their partnership--a partnership that was expressed tangibly in a number of ways. It was expressed in their sincere prayers for him and in their repeated gifts to his ministry. While these gifts may well have been food or garments—which would have been most welcome, given the conditions of jails back then—I am thinking that the gifts may well have been cash as well. We know from other records that friends and family were often called upon to help out those who were imprisoned, so this makes a lot of sense. In fact, the cash ‘may’ even have been useful in ‘greasing the palms’ of those in charge of the jail in order to make Paul’s life a bit more bearable. (Clearly this is what a Roman governor named Felix was hoping for—see Acts 24:26).
Now, I find all these references to the ways that the Philippians helped him out materially to be most interesting, interesting because Paul doesn’t mention any others of his churches doing the same. So, why might that be? Were they so ‘accustomed’ to Paul supporting his ministry by his own work as a tent-maker—the original by-vocational pastor? Or were they simply not alert or sensitive to his needs, as happens far too often with pastors and their congregations—that they simply didn’t even think about it or consider it?
Or maybe, just maybe, there’s another reason. Paul talks about their having ‘taken part with me in spreading the good news from the first day
you heard about it’ (verse 5). Paul doesn’t elaborate or say just how they have done this, but it is clear that these folks have embraced the spreading of the Gospel as something that they too were called to be part of. So, it wasn’t just Paul’s job but there’s as well. There was a sense of ownership in it, and thus, a sense of partnership as well, and so they willingly and happily gave themselves, both physically and materially, to further and promote it.
And maybe herein is the secret: when congregations see evangelism or pastoral care or spiritual nurture or worship leadership as something that someone else is tasked with and paid to do, then they are less likely to support it full-heartedly. But when they see it as part of their own ministry, part of a ministry that they share with others in some vital fashion, then there is no stopping them. It becomes truly a partnership that counts. I pray that we will have more and more of that. Amen.
Forward notes: “And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you determine what really matters, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless”
(verses 9-10).
“Paul puts this finger on a perennial issue in this prayer. How do people and communities ‘determine what really matters?’ The phrase in Greek connotes discernment as well as making evident, searching and assessing as well as showing. Paul expresses a twofold hope for the community gathering in Christ in Philippi: to perceive more clearly what matters most and to bear witness to what matters so that others may perceive it too.
“Every day I run into a multitude of messages about what to value. I gravitate towards tools like researching or taking time personal reflection when discernment is my goal. But Paul appeals to love, specifically the love among members of the Philippian church, as a vital guide for discerning what really matters. Communal love is the source of the knowledge that the community needs. Paul’s words encourage us to recognize that a community of love is not a means to discerning something else; it is the very knowledge we need.”
Moving Forward: “What tools do you use in discernment?”