Sermon: Philippians 1: 1-11 Rejoicing in Gospel Partnership

So how are you coping with life in lockdown? Perhaps you’ve been able to find some positives in our current circumstances - more time at home with family; more time to get some things done that you’d been putting off; more time to read and pray. But for many of us, I suspect, this lockdown has been hard to bear - not being able to go the places you want; not being able to do the things you want; not being able to be with the people you want.

The apostle Paul knew what it was to be in lockdown, quite literally. Paul’s movement is completely restricted, because he is writing from prison, probably in Rome. And yet, as you read this letter to the Philippians, you wouldn’t think that he was in prison. We’ll see over the coming weeks how this letter is bursting with joy and rejoicing - in the midst of lockdown.

So how could this be? How is it that Paul is so full of joy and rejoicing when he’s locked up in a Roman prison cell? Could it be that we can also share in his joy, in the midst of our own lockdown? That’s hopefully what we’ll discover as we study this letter together.

As we begin to dive into the letter, it might be helpful to know that this is a thank you letter. You know the way you might write a thank you note for your Christmas presents, or your wedding presents? Paul is writing to say thank you to the church in Philippi for a gift to supply his needs while in prison. He is using the technology at hand - paper and ink - to encourage and bless his fellow Christians. And he does this as he rejoices in gospel partnership.

First of all, we see that there is thankfulness for gospel partnership. We come across that idea in verse 5, where Paul says that he prays with joy for them, ‘because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.’ It had been Paul who had arrived in the city of Philippi, bringing the good news of the gospel. You can read about it in Acts 16. And from that very first day, Lydia and the city jailer and his family, and the rest of the believers, had become partners in the gospel.

They joined with Paul in the work of the gospel. The word partnership here is also translated ‘fellowship’. And if you’ve sat through the very long Lord of the Rings movies or read the book, then you’ll know that the first film is called ‘The Fellowship of the Ring.’ An assortment of men, dwarves, elves, and hobbits united in a common purpose.

The Philippians were partners in the gospel - they were united with Paul and other believers in the common purpose of sharing the good news of the gospel. They were committed to the gospel, and for this Paul rejoices.

Now, I’ve said that this is a thank you letter, but did you notice who Paul thanks in verse 3? He says this: ‘I thank my God every time I remember you...’ He’s thankful for the Philippians and their partnership, but he says thank you to God for them.

He thanks God for them, but also lets them know. God is the giver of all good gifts, and so should be thanked - but how encouraging for the Philippians to know that Paul is thankful for them. Who is it that you’re thankful for? How might you let them know that you’re thanking God for them?

Paul is thankful for gospel partnership. And he is thankful that God always finishes what he starts. Maybe you’re a bit like me - you enthusiastically start a project, and you get so far, but then you set it down and think ‘I’ll get back to that later’. And maybe you’ve been finding all sorts of half-finished projects as you potter about the house. God is not like that!

Rather, God is like Magnus Magnusson or John Humphrys on Mastermind - God always says: ‘I’ve started, so I’ll finish.’

You see, the Philippians’ partnership in the gospel shows that God is at work in their lives, because only God can turn us around through the gospel. And what God has started, from the first day until now, he will finish: ‘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.’ (6)

How encouraging to know that when God starts working in our lives he will complete it. It brought Paul joy and made him thankful. What about you?

There is thankfulness for gospel partnership. But there is also a depth of feeling in gospel partnership. Paul was feeling it in his lockdown, and perhaps we’re feeling it more and more when we can’t meet together the way we would like.

Paul speaks of having the Philippians in his heart, and how ‘God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.’ (8) There’s a special bond that we have in the church family. Sometimes you see partnerships that come together in business. But that’s all it is - a business working relationship. You come together with the team, you get the job done, and it doesn’t really matter if you like the other team members. It might be easier, but it doesn’t matter, so long as you deliver the end result and get the sales and make a profit.

But it’s not like that in the church. Gospel partnership isn’t just about getting the gospel out - it’s personal; relational; affectionate. And we’ve been missing that as we’ve been moved online. It’s just not the same. I’m longing to see you all again, and to be together again - and I hope you feel the same way.

And what is that special bond in the church family? Paul tells us in verse 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.’ We share in God’s grace together. The grace that gives us what we don’t deserve; the grace that sustains us; the grace that causes God’s love to overflow for one another.

Could it be that God is reminding us of what we’ve maybe taken for granted? And even these online videos and zoom prayer meetings are growing in us a deeper affection for one another, and a greater desire to be together again in gospel partnership, and a greater appreciation of God’s grace to us and in us?

Gospel partners give thanks to God for his work in their lives; and gospel partners care deeply for one another as they share in God’s grace. Finally, gospel partners pray for one another.

Now, sometimes our prayers can remain in very general categories. Maybe you were taught to pray something like this: ‘God bless mummy and God bless daddy and God bless the cat.’ Those are good prayers, and God will answer them! But how about praying more specifically for people - into particular needs; or for particular and specific results.

Here’s how Paul prays for the Philippians: ‘that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight...’ He prays that their love will grow - love for God, and love for one another; that their love will grow as they grow in knowledge and depth of insight - as they get to know God better and better understand God’s ways. Now, why does he pray this?

‘...so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ - to the glory and praise of God.’ (10-11)

The growth in knowledge isn’t so that the Philippians can apply to go on Mastermind with a particular specialist subject and a wide-ranging general knowledge. No, it’s a growth in knowledge so that they will know what is best, and then do it. As they grow in love for God and knowledge of God, they will know what he loves, and love what he loves, and do what he loves, because they want to become more like Jesus. And as we do that, Jesus grows the fruit of his righteousness in us - for God’s glory and praise.

That’s what Paul was praying for his gospel partners, the people he was thankful for, the people he longed for with deep affection. Could it be that we need to be praying these same things, as we share in the gospel together?

Can you imagine how things would change as our love abounds more and more, as we pray for one another, and long for one another, and thank God for one another as we share in his grace, and are united as partners in the gospel - and God brings to completion the good work he has begun in us, to his praise and glory. Amen!