Philippians 2:1-2

Posted by DJL on Oct 26, 2012 in Daily Bread | 0 comments

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

Sometimes we mean more than we say. That’s what’s going on here. Paul isn’t really posing a question about whether there is any encouragement in Christ and so forth. He’s assuming it. So we might read this as, “If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy – and we all know there is – then make my joy complete.”

Paul is reminding the Philippians of the gifts they have received as a community of faith. He’s reminding them, that is, of what’s possible.

Which is absolutely crucial because we live in a world that most often gives far more attention to limitations than to possibilities. So in the case of the Philippians, they may find themselves so overwhelmed by their struggles – folks are ridiculing them or worse, perhaps members of the community are wavering in the faith, and Paul is not there to help – that they can no longer remember what is possible. And so Paul reminds them: encouragement, consolation, sharing, compassion and sympathy – these things are all still available to you!

So also with us. We may get so overwhelmed by our struggles – loneliness, loss of a job, the end of a relationship, fear about the future – that we forget what is possible, what is available, right in front of us.

This doesn’t mean these things aren’t hard. What the Philippians faced was real, and it was hard, and so it was real hard! So also with the things that plague us. This isn’t about pretending the Christian life spells an end to hardship and struggle. Rather, this is about affirming that these challenges are not our only reality. More than that, they are not the last word. Because God has raised Jesus from the dead we know that there is always one more word. And that word is life. That word is love. That word is hope.

Notice, now, what Paul goes on to say. After reminding the Philippians of what is possible, he challenges them to be of one mind or, perhaps more to the point, to live together in accord. Why? Because it is in the community that we are reminded of who we are – really, of whose we are – and in this way of all that is available to us and possible for us. It is so easy, when we feel beleaguered, either to neglect our participation in the community or to take out our frustrations and fears on other community members. And when we do so we tear at the fabric of the very group that can help us surmount the difficulties that are causing us so much trouble.

Tend your communal life, Paul instructs, because it is only in community that we find the strength to persevere amid life’s challenges. And in order to help them do just that, Paul reminds the Philippians – and us – of what is possible: encouragement, consolation, sharing, compassion, sympathy, and more!

Prayer: Dear God, remind us that all things are possible with you that we might be renewed in our faith, hope, and love and encourage those who are around us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.