Philippians 4.1-9

Philippians 4.1-9 (NRSV)

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

Exhortations

² I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.³Yes, 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. ⁵Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. ⁶Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷And 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 honourable, 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. ⁹Keep 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.

I refer to A M Hunter’s short commentary to begin our reflections on this lovely epistle.

My text is written in Philippians 4:7:

^…  the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

Paul exhorts us to stand firm, for the crown or garland of victory will someday be ours. At this point, Paul remembers something that had happened to specific people and where there had been disagreement – more than this we know nothing about them – other than that they had quarrelled. What a terrible thought, to be remembered for this alone! Paul encourages them to ‘agree in the Lord.’ When we realise our common bond in Christ, reconciliation will not be far away, but sometimes we need the intervention of a third party to help us along the way. Who this was remains an unsolved mystery. There is nothing sadder than when Christians fall out with each other; sadder still when people have died and there has not been peace with others.

From verse 4, Paul returns to one of his favourite themes: ‘Rejoice in the Lord ...’ He repeats himself in order to convince his readers, ‘... and again I say ...’ that joy can accompany afflictions. A M Hunter suggests that the Greek in verse 5 can be translated using Matthew Arnold’s famous ‘sweet reasonableness’ referring to what the Greeks saw as justice and something better – what the NRSV translates as gentleness. Hunter explains: ‘... It describes the person who knows when to relax justice and let mercy come breaking in ...’ and we do this because ‘... the Lord is near ...’ echoing the words of the Psalmist (145.18) ‘... the Lord is near to all who call upon him ...’

Do not worry about anything. Wow, if only I could learn this lesson for it has consumed so much of my life! Jesus made the same exhortation (Matthew 6.25; Luke 12.22). Paul continues to explain suggesting that true prayer and anxiety cannot (or should not) coexist ‘... the way to be anxious about nothing is to pray about everything ...’(Hunter) The word ‘supplication’ refers to the cry of personal need. When we pray and make our requests known to God we should always add thanksgiving. If we do this, Paul promises us in verse 7 that we will know God’s true and rich peace.

Paul promises the ‘peace of God’ which passes all understanding’ – something that is beyond human comprehension will keep, literally garrison their hearts and their minds. Hunter explains: ‘The paragraph began with joy; it ends with peace. Is Paul saying that if we have not God’s peace in our hearts we cannot have his song on our lips?’

Verses 8-9 are apparently unique to Paul because they contain words that are not found anywhere else in his letters – or even anywhere else in the New Testament – but also because they commend virtues that are more akin to those found in Greek philosophy, especially the stress on ‘truth’, ‘justice’, ‘excellence’ and what is ‘worthy of praise’. Why did Paul emphasise and want his readers to reflect on these ethical virtues?

It is not impossible that the church in Philippi were not willing to acknowledge anything good in the values of those outside the church, so what Paul is commending here is that we should acknowledge and even commend all those things that are ‘good’ no matter where we might find them and to ‘take them into account’ when deciding what to do.

Paul then ends with a return to what he had taught them as well ‘...learned and received and heard and seen in me ...’ i.e. what he had taught and what he had revealed to them by his personal example. Hunter concludes: ‘If the Philippians do this, “the God of peace”, the God who is the Author and Source of peace ... will be with them ...’

I echo these thoughts in my own experience. For nearly 20 years I have been teaching in the United Kingdom, many things including history and the philosophy of history, Renaissance and Reformation Theology, New Testament, Philosophy of Mind, Religion and most recently Ethics and now religious authority: in the process I have needed to explore things both inside and outside the Christian faith. Until recently I have also been teaching Buddhism as well. All these things have enriched me and I am grateful for the privilege of sharing these things with pre University young people who have kept me on my toes. While I always return to the fundamentals of the faith in Scripture, I know that I need to take all these things ‘... into account ...’ and am blessed with peace in the process; if for no other reason that the glimpses of truth that these other ways have always seem to me to refresh my understanding in the ultimate and compete truth that is only available in our Lord, Jesus Christ.

A few thoughts from J H Holden’s commentary on the Prison Letters.

This passage of Paul’s writing is a detailed commendation of virtue as a Greek would have seen it. Holden suggests that Paul, ‘... unselfconsciously acts upon that positive evaluation of pagan ethics which he gives in Romans 2.14: ‘When Gentiles, who do not possess the Law, do instinctively what the Law requires, these, though not having the Law, are a law to themselves. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, to which their own conscience bears witness ...’

The non-believer is perfectly capable of knowing the main ethical principles by which humans are meant to live, and when people behave in this way, they enter the presence of God as Paul explains in verse 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.’

St Francis of Assisi is reputed to have said: “Preach the Gospel everywhere and only when necessary, use words.”

Nothing can be more attractive than a holy and pure life, not a ‘holier than thou life’. We have all met judgemental people who think they have all the answers and who are always critical of others. Nothing can be more off-putting. But we have also all had the privilege of meeting people whose lives are filled with the joy of the Lord, those who rejoice. What is a characteristic of the life of love is gentleness, prayerful living and peace, even in the midst of terrible things. Paul exhorts us today to live in this way and then we will know God’s peace and fulfilment and we will attract others to become disciples of Jesus. And he also gives us a very practical way of doing this, and that is to prayerfully fill our minds with whatever is:

·         True

·         Honourable

·         Just

·         Pure

·         Pleasing

·         Commendable

·         Excellence

·         Worthy of praise

Is this characteristic of what we watch on television, film, what we look at on the internet, the books we read, the music we listen to, and what we study?

If we seek to live in this way and with God’s grace and with the aid of the Holy Spirit, for none of this can we ever achieve in our own strength, we all can know what Paul speaks of in verse 7 in our own lives:

^…  the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

Amen.