Every Time I Think of You

Philippians 1:1-11
15th Sunday after Pentecost
September 10, 2023

 

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.

 

It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus.

 

And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

 

The letter was discovered in an antique cabinet, lodged in the back of the second drawer. Its location was easily forgotten. There’s no telling how long it had been there. The postmark had faded on the envelope. The letter inside was simply dated “Wednesday.” That Wednesday was a long ago. The stationary had yellowed with age.

And when she read it, was like entering a different world. Addressed to somebody she didn’t know, composed by people she had never met, yet she was drawn to it with a healthy curiosity. Who were these people? What were they talking about? What were the issues that prompted the letter? And what might any of this have to do with her?

I don’t know if you’ve had that experience. These days, many folks don’t write letters. They tap out text messages or send emails. Perhaps we receive greeting cards with handwritten notes in the margins. Or there’s that holiday letter, reproduced with a personal signature, all the while sharing the news of the latest grandchild, the best vacation, or the last diagnosis.

But think of that curious experience of reading somebody else’s mail. Who wrote it? Who received it? When and why is the letter written? And what does any of this have to do with us?

These are good questions, especially when we read the Christian Bible. Most of the documents in the New Testament are pieces of correspondence. Somebody is writing to somebody else. What are they saying? What is the occasion? How do they put together the words?

Imagine this: “Dear John, I’ve been concerned about you. I’ve sent three letters and not yet received a response. Are you OK? Are we OK? I realize it’s been a while since you passed through town, but I haven’t stopped thinking of that moment when you took me in my arms. And I’m wondering when that can happen again…”

Or imagine this note, actually addressed to our church: “Dear Mr. Church: We are notifying you that we have not heard from you about your account. This is the third attempt to reach you about our special discount offer. If you do not reply within the next seven days, we will be compelled to make this special offer to somebody else.” Those are two completely different letters, aren’t that?

Here’s a letter from the apostle Paul to the churches of southern Turkey: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. So if anybody should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed!” (Galatians 1:6-8) Whew, he’s angry! Sets the entire tone in the first paragraph. 

Contrast that to the opening words that we heard today: “I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.”

 

What do we hear from that? Affection. Appreciation. Gratitude. Confidence. And the very best of wishes. “I thank my God every time I remember you.” That’s the kind of letter any one of us would like to receive. It announces that there’s somebody out there who loves us, who has the highest regard for us, who wants the very best for us. And how remarkable it is that this is coming from the apostle Paul!

 

He’s writing from a prison cell. He was arrested and jailed when he was in Philippi. Now he’s been arrested and imprisoned, probably in the city of Ephesus. Paul wrote a lot of his letters from prison. Had a lot of time on his hands, I suppose, and he wanted to maintain his relationships from a distance. Out of sight, but not out of mind. And this letter is intended to create a bridge between his present circumstances and that small congregation that he initiated across the Aegean Sea.

 

“I remember you,” he says. He names some of them in the letter. He has kept in touch with their concerns. And he tells them outright that he is praying for them. There’s no greater bond than that.

 

Today, among the names on our prayer list, we will pray for Shirley and Steve. They’re two members of our church family and live a long distance away. The other day, Steve left a message on my voicemail at home. I returned the call and spoke with Shirley. She said, “Can you pray for us?” That’s the kind of request we can never turn down. Whether life is bumpy, or the road is clear, all of us are standing in the need of prayer. God know what we need – and when we pray for one another, we are participating in the grace of God.

Listen to Paul’s prayer: “I pray that your love may overflow more and more.” That’s good! “I pray you will have knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best.” That’s good too. “I pray that, in the day of Christ, you may be pure and blameless.” Wow – he wants what is best for them. That’s the essence of love. 

Likewise, he realizes that the people in Philippi remember him as well. We’re talking about a two-sided relationship, even though we have a one-sided letter. They have sent him a financial gift and he’s grateful. He says, “I know you hold me in your hearts, just as together we share in the grace of God.” There are no more affectionate words in the entire Bible. Take note of what we’re reading here. For he goes on to say, “I long for all of you in compassion of Jesus Christ.” In his day, they imagined that compassion was seated in the gut. Literally, “I long for you in the guts of Jesus Christ.” Can you tell that he loves these people? 

And how remarkable that it’s these people, the Philippian people! There’s trouble in that church. From what we can tell, there’s some competition among the members. That happens. I know a church where a couple of the key leaders are always trying to outdo one another. The way two of them is acting, it’s as if they are saying, “I can volunteer for more things than you can.”  And Paul says to the Philippians, “Knock it off. Be servants to one another as Christ has serve you.”

And then in chapter three, he’s starting to wind up the letter. He writes, “And finally…” Then he yawns and puts down the pen – and overnight, he hears about some troublemakers infiltrating the church, spreading some false doctrine, and acting squirrely. So in the morning, he picks up the pen and says, “Watch out for them!” He warns them because he loves them – and then he goes on for a good bit more.

Reminds me of an old church joke. Do you know what it means a preacher says, “And finally”? Not a darn thing.

And then, in chapter four, he calls out two women in that congregation who are fighting with one another. I’m sure you can’t imagine church people fighting, but there it is, beginning in chapter four: “I beg Euodia and Syntyche to stop arguing. Have the mind of Christ – and the rest of you, help them out.” And I’ve always wondered how Euodia and Syntyche felt when they realized the letter to the Philippians would become scripture and their names would be permanently enshrined as those two bickering ladies in Philippi.

But hey, if you know what churches can be like, if you know that churches are very human communities under the sign of the cross, you know that we are all unfinished, in process, and under construction. Which is precisely why Paul says, “I am confident that the One who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the final day.” He’s talking about Jesus, he’s talking to them, and he trusts that the Gospel is at work in them.

This is what we discover when we open an old letter. We don’t know any of these people, yet we know them all too well. And regardless of whether we know them or whether we like them, we can learn a lot about love by paying attention to their relationships. This is the overture to the sermons for this fall. We’ve going to take a deep dive into this epistle from the apostle. It’s a personal letter which means it’s intended for all of us. The church decided very early to hold tightly to this piece of correspondence, if only because it opens up the truth of what it looks like when we live as a very human community under the sign of the cross.

As a matter of introduction, let me give you a piece of homework. Take a pencil from the pew. Take your worship bulletin. Write down a name of somebody who comes to mind. Maybe somebody close at hand, maybe somebody far away. Maybe that person is in this room, maybe not. Can you picture someone in your imagination? Who is it? Why are they significant to you? How have they been a gift of God to you?

And then, your assignment is to write them a note sometime this week. When you do, begin with the words, “I thank my God every time I remember you…”

(c) William G. Carter. All rights reserved.