How should Paul begin his letter to a confused and stressed-out church in Philippi? He immediately jumps into the deep end of his feelings for them, speaking of gratitude, joy, compassion and fellowship (Philippians 1:3-11). This fellowship comes from the Greek word koinonia, which on one level means, “we’re here together and I’ve got your back.” And on an even deeper level it means true oneness within the church, or as he’ll go on to say in chapter 2: “be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” (2:2)
As Paul uses the letter’s opening to build up the Philippian church, he quickly comes to something even more important than his own love for the church – God’s love for the church, and God’s work within the church. “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.” (1:6) Whatever can be said about Paul’s love for the church, and about the church’s perseverance through struggle, it all has to begin and end with the God who is faithful and active in the life of the church. God is working on something in Philippi and he has no intention of leaving that work unfinished. The day of Christ is on its way, the day when all of creation is finally remade in the image of Christ. And when that day comes, the Philippian church will be right there along with every other of God’s good works.
What is this good work? Paul expresses it in a prayer. “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 you may be pure and blameless on the day of Jesus Christ, having produced a harvest of righteousness.” Love, knowledge, discernment and wisdom all pouring into each other. We often think of love and knowledge, heart and mind, as belonging to separate spheres of life. I have my thoughts and theology over here, and my love, feelings and desires over there. But Paul prays for that distinction to disappear altogether. Paul prays for the complete unifying of the whole person and of the whole community, thus being made pure and blameless, and constantly producing the fruit of righteousness from now until the day of Christ.
This is the work God has started within the Church, and that work will reach its perfect end. We’re in the habit of piously saying that all things are possible for God. But do we truly believe God is capable of making us pure and blameless? It’s one thing to come to church and sing songs about how wonderful and powerful God is. It’s another thing to hear this good news in our moments of greatest disappointment, the times when we’re hardest on ourselves, when we’re most aware of our sin and brokenness. In those moments, do we believe God can make us pure and blameless, that God is in fact doing this?
Let the promise of Philippians 1 transport us to the future day of Christ when all things are remade in his image. And having been transported, let us hear this good news in the present, and let that good news heal the fracture between our love and knowledge, and let that good news bear in our lives the fruit of gratitude, joy, compassion and fellowship.
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