Category: Philippians - Wittenberg Door Campus Ministry

Philippians 1:2-11 - Lectionary for Advent 2C

12/5/2018

12/5/18
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

Philippians, often regarded as the friendliest of Paul’s letters, expresses a great confidence in God and a great hope for his work among his people. Paul fully expects, in verse six, that God, having begun a good work in the Philippians, will continue it, bringing it to completion. Where does Paul draw this confidence from? In verses eight and following, it is because the Holy Spirit has bound Paul and the Philippians together. They have heard about Paul’s various trials and have still stood with him. They have heard he is doing well and have not given up in thir care for him. Whether times are easy or difficult, there they are.

In Paul’s opinion, and we confess this text is inspired by the Holy Spirit, the love and care the Philippians have is from God and is not focused just on Paul but spreads to others. They are actively discerning what is good, and working in accord with that.

Does this mean we can safely assess godliness based on actions? No, we can’t say that. But we can get some indicators of character and encourage faithful dependence on Christ, just what Paul does here.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Philippians

6/28/2018

Thursdays are for the New Testament
6/28/18
Carson, D.A., and Douglas Moo An Introduction to the New Testament - Second Edition. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005. "New Testament Letters" Carson & Moo pp. 331-353
“Philippians” Carson & Moo pp. 498-515

After a brief survey of the contents of Philippians, Carson & Moo discuss the authorship of the book. Except for the passage in chapter 2 verses 5-11 the letter is almost uniformly ascribed to Paul. The remaining seven verses appear to be an insertion, possibly by Paul, of a text existing at the time of composition, possibly an early hymn. p. 500 “In an earlier day this was often taken as a solemn doctrinal pronouncement of the apostle and made the basis for kenotic theories of the incarnation. In more recent times close attention has been given to its form, and it is now widely agreed that we should see it both as poetry and as liturgy - in short, as a hymn.”

The book was written while Paul was a prisoner, traditionally assumed to be in Rome. Carson and Moo discuss other possibilities but still tend to consider Rome as the location of composition, probably about 61-62. The letter is occasional in nature. Paul writes to reassure the Philippians of the well-being of Epaphroditus. He also wishes to acknowledge the gift they had sent him and to thank them for their prayers. Paul also commends Timothy to the Philippians.

The letter, which has no significant textual questions, was adopted into the canon quite early without dispute. In recent study scholars have investigated the unity of the letter, looking for unifying features. There have also been attempts to identify Paul’s opponents and the kind of opposition he faced.

Philippians shows us a great deal about bringing encouragement to others in their faith and action. We can know that God works in his communities as they are knit together in Christ.

Philippians 2:5-11 - Lectionary for Passion Sunday, Series B

3/21/2018

""This is an encore post."

4/5/17
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

We love to be in charge. People in every culture and in every age strive for power and influence. We would rather be the person in charge of a small community than the second ranked person in a large community. Better the president than the vice president. Better the pilot than the co-pilot.

How did Jesus consider this? In Philippians 2:5-11 he considered bringing forgiveness and life to you and to me as more important than his role as God the Son, the second person of the Trinity. Although he was the very God of glory, he humbled himself to purchase salvation. With this done, of course, he took up his glory again. After all, he was and is God almighty.

Every one of us is important in some way, at least to some people. And every one is a very particular person for whom Jesus has died. Yet despite our importance and standing, there is someone we are to care for. The apostle Paul tells us to have the same mind that Jesus had. This means that we put our own desires aside. We humble ourselves. We reach out to others.

What are the cares and concerns of those around us? What needs are brought to our mind and heart on a daily basis? How can we humble ourselves, doing good for our community? Christians have been accused of irrelevance before. They will receive those accusations again. At the same time, they have been in the forefront of charitable works. They provide foster care and adopt children at a significantly higher rate than people who do not claim to be Christians. They are more likely to take work in charitable organizations, often at relatively low wages. On average, Christians do more charitable giving and participate in more community service than others. Why is this? It would be really nice to think it is because of Jesus’ example in Philippians 2. Maybe it is. Maybe not. But right now, we might not be able to tell. Why? Because there are people around us who need the love and care of Jesus, including that loving care that reaches out personally and helps feed and clothe them.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Philippians 4:4-13 - Lectionary for Pentecost 19A

10/11/2017

10/11/17

Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

It’s very easy, when reading our Epistle reading, to pile a bunch of commands onto ourselves. There are certainly a lot of demands from God. We are to rejoice, be gracious, confident, prayerful, thankful, and peaceful. We are to spend our time and energy thinking about things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and praiseworthy. We, like Paul, are to be content whether we have little or much. We’re told that Paul can do all things, and we ought to do the same.

It would be a natural step to feel inferior. It would be perfectly normal to despair. Yet that isn’t the purpose of this passage. Philippians is one of the most encouraging books of the New Testament! Why is that?

Let’s notice the promises. In verse seven we see that God’s peace will guard our hearts and minds. In verse nine we see that God will be with us. How is Paul content? He is content because in Christ he has all he needs.

Maybe we need to be sure we are thinking of God’s demands in light of his promises. What’s the source of our rejoicing? It’s the Lord who is near (verse 5). Where do we find graciousness, confidence, a desire to prayer, thanksgiving, and peace? It’s from the Lord who has rescued us from sin, death, and the power of hell. When we are burdened, when we are troubled, whatever our circumstances, we can call upon the Lord Jesus, who gives us all we need. When we see our failure, we look to him as the forgiving and restoring Lord. When we see our weakness, we look to him as our strength. When we think nobody cares, we look to him and realize that he cared for us when we didn’t even know who he was. All thanks be to God.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Philippians 3:4b-14 - Lectionary for Pentecost 18A

10/4/2017

10/4/17
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

In our Epistle reading from Philippians chapter 3, the apostle Paul makes a startling confession. He is someone of illustrious parentage. He has lived an exemplary life. He is, in fact, one of the more brilliant lights in his society. It did him no good.

Did Paul really waste all his time and effort earlier in life? Does he cast it all away as refuse? In fact, he doesn’t. He learns from it. But it’s a very hard lesson. He has to realize that all he was doing, all his goals, all his priorities, it all counted for nothing. Anything that separated Paul from Jesus, anything that stood in the way of his trusting God rather than trusting himself, it must be put behind him.

We also fall into the trap of trusting ourselves. Yet Paul tells very clearly that our trust in ourselves will do absolutely no good. It will simply hinder us. If we persist in trusting ourselves God’s response is that we can go ahead and earn our own salvation by being absolutely perfect. This is something we can never do. Rather, by grace, we learn to trust in Jesus and his perfection. That is eternal life.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Philippians 2:1-4, 14-18 - Lectionary for Pentecost 17A

9/27/2017

9/27/17
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

Our Epistle reading for this week, from Philippians 2, is often used almost like a motivational speech. If we have any fellowship in Christ, we should find unity, love, and purpose. We just need to get along. And we do it without grumbling!

What’s all this predicated on? It is all dependent on fellowship in Christ. We’re consoled by His love, not by our own. We look to the Holy Spirit for our unity. We don’t look at our own spirit. That will only lead us to trust ourselves and enter into strife and animosity. No, we trust in the Lord. He’s the one who has reconciled us to God the Father. He’s the one who reconciles us to one another.

At every point, as we look at the Epistle lesson, we can ask ourselves how we are doing. We realize that we fall short of the perfect obecience the Lord would require. And we turn to him in repentance to find his forgiveness and grace. Then we see that all of the characteristics the apostle mentions are those of our Lord and Savior. He, in turn, has given his nature to us. We live in him and he lives in us. Thanks be to God.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Philippians 1:12-14, 19-30 - Lectionary for Pentecost 16A

9/20/2017

9/20/17
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

In our Epistle reading for this week, from Philippians chapter 1, the apostle Paul is in prison. Sadly, this is not an unusual situation for him. In the Book of Acts, Paul seems to spend a good bit of time recovering from assault, being imprisoned, or otherwise being detained somewhere.

Although I said it was a common situation “sadly,” Paul doesn’t seem to view it that way. Certainly he didn’t enjoy being locked up in prison. There are things any of us would rather do than receive a beating or have stones thrown at us. Yet Paul seemed to take it in stride.

Behind this attitude of confidence and steadfastness in suffering is a powerful reason. Paul says he is all right with suffering because it is allowing him to be present for those around him. The Gospel is being proclaimed. His guards and other people are seeing the way he lives as a servant of Christ. He hopes to be released from prison and have opportunity to serve the Christian communities wherever he can go.

Would it be better for Paul if he were to die and be with Christ? It certainly would. However, Paul will accept his imprisonment and torture so as to be available to his Christian brothers and sisters. There will come a time when he will die and be with Christ. But for now, he is content to be of assistance in this earth.

This was, after all, the mind of Christ. He laid down heavenly glory to come for our benefit, living and dying on our behalf. May the Lord give us the same mind, that we would live for our neighbor so long as we live on this earth, and then we would live for God in eternity.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.

Philippians 2:5-11 - Lectionary for Palm Sunday, Series A

4/5/2017

4/5/17
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.

We love to be in charge. People in every culture and in every age strive for power and influence. We would rather be the person in charge of a small community than the second ranked person in a large community. Better the president than the vice president. Better the pilot than the co-pilot.

How did Jesus consider this? In Philippians 2:5-11 he considered bringing forgiveness and life to you and to me as more important than his role as God the Son, the second person of the Trinity. Although he was the very God of glory, he humbled himself to purchase salvation. With this done, of course, he took up his glory again. After all, he was and is God almighty.

Every one of us is important in some way, at least to some people. And every one is a very particular person for whom Jesus has died. Yet despite our importance and standing, there is someone we are to care for. The apostle Paul tells us to have the same mind that Jesus had. This means that we put our own desires aside. We humble ourselves. We reach out to others.

What are the cares and concerns of those around us? What needs are brought to our mind and heart on a daily basis? How can we humble ourselves, doing good for our community? Christians have been accused of irrelevance before. They will receive those accusations again. At the same time, they have been in the forefront of charitable works. They provide foster care and adopt children at a significantly higher rate than people who do not claim to be Christians. They are more likely to take work in charitable organizations, often at relatively low wages. On average, Christians do more charitable giving and participate in more community service than others. Why is this? It would be really nice to think it is because of Jesus’ example in Philippians 2. Maybe it is. Maybe not. But right now, we might not be able to tell. Why? Because there are people around us who need the love and care of Jesus, including that loving care that reaches out personally and helps feed and clothe them.

If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.