Philippians 4:1-9

Philippians 4:1-9 (NRSV)

 ¹ Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.

² I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. ³ Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. ⁵ Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

⁸ Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. ⁹ Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

In Philippians 4:1, Paul concludes his warnings against errors that began in 3:1. Paul indicates his deep affection for those to whom he is writing. He is almost homesick. He writes his letter from prison. The Romans have kept him forcibly far away from those who offered him a spiritual home. They are his victory wreath at the end of the athletic competition that is discipleship. They are not to let anything cause them to lose their footing.

Philippians 4:2-9 is part of a section of Philippians that contains encouragements, appreciations, and greetings that concludes in verse 23.  

In Philippians 4: 2-3, the theme is Paul making an appeal to two women for unity. Sometimes it seems as if the church is drowning in a sea of trivialities. Personality conflicts, petty disputes, and small-minded people sometimes consume us. Paul urges Euodia and Syntyche to adopt the attitude or state of mind he urged in 2:2, where the whole church is to have the same mind as that of Christ. They ought to share in the humility and self-emptying attitude that Christ had. His sadness at their disagreement is clear. He writes to them as though they are on equal footing. They have struggled beside him in the work of the gospel. He places their efforts on a level footing with his own in forming the church in Philippi.  He describes Clement and the rest of his co-workers in the same way. God has recorded all of their names in the book of life, even if history passes them by. As often in his letters, his concern is for reconciliation and unity in the Lord. As we step back from these two verses, considering a contemporary issue, we can see that women were important in the churches Paul superintended. He considered them important in the missionary enterprise that captured his apostolic calling.[1] These women were some of the most visible and active leaders in the church. In Acts 16:14-15, the home of Lydia becomes the first meeting place for this congregation.

Philippians 4:4-9 is an appeal to prayer and virtue. Paul outlines the attitudinal characteristics that should be evident in the lives of those whose faith is in Christ. It reads like a combination of benediction and an exhortation to cheerfulness. Verses 4-7 are part of what some scholars call “Letter B” and verses 8-9 are part of “letter C,” for those who accept that canonical Philippians is a composite letter.

Aphorisms are short, pithy, memorable sayings intended to provide some guidance in life. Proverbs is full of them, but we find them scattered throughout the Bible. We also find them scattered throughout life. They can look at life from varying perspectives. Thus, “A rolling stone gathers no moss” suggests that we are to keep moving forward. Yet, “Look before you leap,” suggests pausing before you take the next step. Both are good bits of wisdom applied properly to specific situations. I came across a few more.

- Practice moderation in all things.

- Do not sweat the small stuff.

- Life is too short to hold a grudge.

- Do not ask others to do what you are not willing to do yourself.

- Give a day's work for a day's pay.

- Do what is right; two wrongs do not make a right.

- Pick your battles.

In Philippians 4:4-7, Paul offers some aphorisms. They become brief exhortations at the close of this letter. They are reminders of truths they already know.

He wants them to rejoice. These were not the best of times for Paul. He was in jail for his faith.[2]  These were not the best of times for the Philippian church. The local Roman government authorities persecuted them for their faith.

He encourages them toward gentleness. The word refers to kindness or magnanimity. The adjective the NRSV translates as “gentleness” here relates to the verb that translates into English as “to yield, to give way, to draw back, to retire.”[3] In II Corinthians 10:1, Christ is gentle. In I Timothy 3:3, bishops are to be gentle. In Titus 3:2, he is to encourage the people to be gentle and courteous to all. In James 3:17, gentleness is one of the characteristics of the wisdom from above. In I Peter 3:17, masters are to be gentle. Such behavior contrasts with violence, quarrelsomeness, and harshness. Gentleness is non-retaliatory.  It promotes peace. It suggests flexibility in the face of conflict. It even suggests a deliberate strategy of adaptability and accommodation that the situation of this congregation may demand. The persecution from their local government is an opportunity for the congregation to show gentleness! Many of us could think of other strategies in the midst of persecution, but that is the advice of Paul. Such a mindset is behind the introduction to the Christ hymn in 2:6-11, where he encourages the congregation toward compassion and tenderness, adopting the same attitude toward life as Christ had. Such a spirit of accommodation in the midst of a violent situation is always a risk. Other philosophical schools also emphasized this virtue. Such a virtue formed community solidarity. Paul proclaimed a new people, a new nation formed by Jesus Christ in which there were no longer Jew nor Greek, free or slave, male and female (see Galatians 3:28). The practice of adaptability was essential for the formation of a community made up of people quite used to making just such distinctions.[4]

The Lord is near (o kurioV egguV). We might try understanding the phrase as an ontological statement. God is always as near as it takes to drop to your knees in prayer. The nearness of God is not temporal but eternal, and it is precisely through prayer that one recognizes God as near. Of course, with Jesus and Paul, we must always seriously consider the eschatological interpretation. The Lord Jesus would then be near in the sense that the final consummation of human history is near. However, in this context, I would suggest the ontological statement is closer to what Paul means. Thus, based upon the fact that the Lord is always near, they are not to worry. We might think of worry or anxiety as lack of trust, based upon Matthew 6:25-34. We might even think of Paul as offering a practical commentary on these words of Jesus. The logic is that since the Lord is near, they do not need to worry about anything. He will use the same word in a positive sense of concern for others in I Corinthians 12:25, Philippians 2:20, and II Corinthians 11:28, and even concern for the things of the Lord in I Corinthians 7:32-34. However, the type of worry or anxiety to which Paul refers to here is not a positive thing. Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it does not get you very far.[5] Worry can function like an addiction. We are familiar with worry so it feels safer than real life does. If we worry, we must think that at some level the bad things we imagine will not happen. For example, we have already given ourselves the pain of failure through our worry, so we might escape such pain in real life. The contrasting behavior to worry is to pray. He refers to prayer in general, to the specific type of prayer that arises out of a sense of need and makes a request of God, and to the type of prayer that offers gratitude. In fact, the way Paul words himself, we could say that all proper Christian prayer has the starting point and context of gratitude.[6] Once we entrust the matters that worry us to God in prayer, we can have the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. Such prayer will guard hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Such peace flows from confident well-being. Given the situation of Paul in prison, such peace does not arise out of a change of circumstance, but from the intimate connection with the Infinite and Eternal God that we have established through our prayers. The peace of which Paul writes arises out of our personal faith relationship with God.

We live in a therapeutic climate. At one level, we can read the advice of Paul as addressing such a climate. Yet, his advice as a whole is a movement against the non-religious aspect of the secular climate of our culture. People do not hunger for personal salvation. Rather, they want the feeling, understood as the illusion of the moment, of personal well-being, health, and psychic security.[7]

Paul wants something deeper to happen to us and in us than an alteration of our feelings for the moment. He believes we can make a deeper change in our lives if we open ourselves to a new relationship with the Infinite and Eternal God. Regardless of the stress that circumstances bring, we can be at peace. I think of the 17th-century devotional classic titled The Practice of the Presence of God, written by a lay monk named Nicholas Herman but known in the monastery as Brother Lawrence. He received the assignment to work in the monastery's kitchen, and while there, he decided to try to pay attention to God's presence even while going about his duties. He says he became more and more able to do this. He eventually found the time of business did not differ from the time of prayer. He found this true in the noise and clatter of his kitchen. Other people call for different circumstances. He enjoys God in his daily tasks with greater tranquility, as if he were upon his knees to receive the sacrament.

Guiding principles are a bit broader than an aphorism. They intend to provide guidance broadly and deeply in the life of a person. Paul suggests that in anxious times, in our worrying moments, we should return to the Timeless, to the things that count. Most of us have received some guiding principles in our lives.

- Be responsible.

- Respect others.

- Value family.

- When you make a mistake, apologize.

- Support charitable work.

In Colin Powell's book, It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership (Harper, 2012), the four-star general and former secretary of state shares the 13 rules he lives by and tells how he learned them. They include:

- It ain't as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning. 

- Get mad, then get over it.

- Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it.

- It can be done.

- Be careful what you choose: You may get it.

- Don't let adverse facts stand in the way of a good decision.

- You can't make someone else's decisions. You shouldn't let someone else make yours.

- Check small things.

- Share credit.

- Remain calm. Be kind.

- Have a vision. Be demanding.

- Don't take counsel of your fears or naysayers. 

- Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.

In Philippians 4:8-9, Paul makes an appeal for virtue. He will emphasize a close connection in Christian life between thought and action, doctrine and practice. We can think of this list as part of the various lists of virtues Paul will present in his letters. He wants his readers to strive to make these virtues part of their lives. Such lists were part of the first century moral philosopher’s method of teaching.

They are to focus on what is true. As Churchill put it, people occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened. They are to focus on virtues like honorability, justice, purity, pleasing, commendable, and excellence. In fact, they are to think of anything worthy of praise. Paul seems to think that human beings generally have it in them to think and act in these ways. He does not see the Christian life as separate from good thinking and behavior in the world. He saw some overlap with the moral philosophy of the day. He might even have thought of Proverbs 23:7, which suggested that as people think in their hearts, so they are in their lives. If we focus on thinking, we are focusing upon that to which our minds give attention. If we give it attention, we will at least consider doing it. If we do not give it attention, we will dismiss it. If we can give our attention to it continually, we will believe. If we believe, we will do.[8] I would urge prayerful reflection and meditation on such virtues, asking the simple question of whether they are growing in our lives.

Paul is able to conclude such an exhortation by saying that they should keep on doing what they have learned, received, heard, and seen in Paul. If they do, the God of peace will be with them.

However, perhaps the most significant trouble with guiding principles is how easy it is to forget them, or at least forget to put them into practice when we need them. The circumstances of life can so bog us down and overwhelm us that our hard-won bits of wisdom do not spring to mind. Such is the challenge of aphorisms and guiding principles, which is also, why we need such simple, memorable reminders of the persons God wants us to be.

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[1] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 3, 390.

[2] Paul wrote this letter to the Philippians from a prison cell.  His greatest desire, to continue traveling and preaching the gospel in new and distant places, was apparently a lost cause.  He sat old and ill in a jail, only able to write letters of encouragement and counsel to those he had already reached. 

[3] (Joachim Gnilka, Der Philipperbrief 3rd edition [Herder: Freiburg, 1980], 169).

[4] (See Clarence E. Glad, Paul and Philodemus: Adaptability in Epicurean and Early Christian Psychagogy, vol. 81 in Supplements to Novum Testamentum [Leiden and New York: Brill, 1995], 1-14.)

[5] Jodi Picoult, Sing You Home: A Novel (Simon & Schuster, 2011), 322.

[6] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 3, 207.

[7] Christopher Lasch, The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations (Norton, 1991), 7.

[8] Nelson Price, How to Find Out Who You Are.