Philippians 1:27-30
March 1
David A. Davis
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Only. The word is either lost on the scripture’s page or maybe it leaps off the scripture’s page. Only. In the Greek text, this only. Only this. Only. Sort of a strange way to start a sentence. If I have done my homework well, it is not at all that common a way to start a sentence on the scripture’s page either. Only. The very few times I could find a sentence starting with only in the New Testament, were in the writings of Paul. Paul, here in Philippians. Here in what I read to you from chapter 1. And in chapter 3 at verse 16, Paul writes, “Only let us hold fast to what we have attained.” Only. In II Timothy, Paul writes, “Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you.” But that’s a different meaning. Only. “Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” The translation on the bulletin cover this morning is from the Common English Bible: “Most important, live together in a manner worthy of Christ’s gospel.” In his commentary on The Epistle to the Philippians, Karl Barth offers this translation of the Greek text: “Just one thing!” “Just one thing! Live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.”
Just one thing. Here in Chapter 1 of Philippians, the Apostle Paul expresses his deep gratitude for the church. Thanking God for their sharing the gospel. He tells them of his confidence that Christ is at work among them, doing good work. He writes of his profound love and compassion for them and prays that their love would overflow more and more. He shares with the church that his imprisonment has actually served to spread the gospel and that, even in chains, he and others will not stop boldly proclaiming the gospel without fear. All that matters is that Christ is proclaimed. Early on in his letter to the Philippians, Paul wrestles with the imminent possibility of his own death while insisting that he continues to rejoice. Christ shall be exalted either in his life or in his death. “For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.” Paul knows his life and his death are in God’s hands and he expresses his desire to see them again so that together they can boast, and bask, and live in Christ.
After all of that, just here in the first chapter of Philippians- the church’s faithfulness, love and compassion for one another, his imprisonment, the bold proclamation of the gospel, life and death, and life together in Christ- after all of that. Only. Only. Just one thing. Most important. “Live your live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” We should not forget that the Apostle Paul is the one who writes in Romans about the remnant chosen by grace. “If it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace.” (Rom 11:8). And as I quoted from Ephesians last week: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God- not the results of works, so that no one may boast.” The Apostle Paul on saved by grace, not by works. But Paul continues there in the 2nd chapter of Ephesians, “For we are what God has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” Or in other words, “Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ!” Only.
It’s not just about belief or doctrine or piety or religiosity. According to Paul, it’s about how you live. And living a life worthy of the gospel is not just about the individual. A life worthy of the gospel includes life together as the body of Christ. Paul’s exhortation to the Body of Christ at Philippi is to live a common life together worthy of the gospel. “So that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel…” Standing firm by God’s Spirit along with others. Side by side. Maybe not agreeing about everything, but when it comes to the faith of the gospel, being of one mind. A congregation’s life together is a reflection of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As is so often said in the words of welcome, “we seek to embody the love of God in word and deed in our life together and individually in our life in the world.”
Back in the fall, Cathy and I drove down for the 275th anniversary of my first congregation, The First Presbyterian Church of Blackwood. At the luncheon, I was talking to the pastor who succeeded me there. As we chatted over lunch, he shared that he was no longer serving a church. He was working as a hospice chaplain. He went on to explain that the pandemic ripped apart the church we went to serve after he left Blackwood. That church is not far from here, over in Hunterdon County. He said there were many strong opinions about protocols and COVID-related decisions, and whatever he and the session decided upset someone, and all sides took it out on him. “Dave, they ate me up and spit me out,” he said. It won’t shock you to know that congregations don’t always stand side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel. Here at Nassau, I know that not everyone agreed with all the decisions, the protocols, and the timing that were made in those days. But I can tell you, I am the only pastor I know, seriously, who did not have a member of their congregation yelling at them. For which I remain deeply grateful to you and to God. The Apostle Paul makes it very clear that living a life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ has everything to do with the collective life of the community of faith.
“I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, and are in no way intimidated by your opponents….This is God’s doing. For God ha graciously granted you the privilege of believing in Christ, but of suffering for Christ as well—since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.” What can’t be known here is the specifics of what Paul is referring to when it comes to the suffering, the struggle. The struggle Paul is “having now” is clearly a reference to his imprisonment. But his reference to others having the privilege of not just believing in Christ but suffering, struggling for Christ as well, is less clear. And yes, wrapping one’s head and heart around the notion of you and me suffering for Christ is a longer conversation with a whole lot more to ponder historically, theologically, biblically, pastorally.
What I do now, today, this morning, this week, these days, is that it is not hard to ponder the Apostle’s plea for the one thing, the most important, the only. It is not difficult in one’s sacred imagination to ponder living a life in a manner worthy of the gospel and the call not to be intimidated by opponents. It is not difficult these days to acknowledge that you and I have the privilege of not only believing in Christ, but struggling for him as well. Because living our faith, living the faith of Jesus Christ, living the faith in Jesus Christ today, this week, this morning, is difficult. It is a challenge. It isn’t hard to know what to believe but it is really hard to know what to do. And when Paul affirms that it is God’s doing, yes, our salvation is God’s doing. Yes, living in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ is also God’s doing. And living the faith in the face of opponents and the ever-present darkness of the powers and principalities is God’s doing. Believing in Christ and suffering/struggling for him is God’s doing. It’s all God’s doing. God’s doing in Paul’s words. Or in the words of Professor Nancy Lammers Gross, shared in the children’s time in the last few weeks. “God’s got this!” Say that with me, “God’s got this.” Affirming that God’s got this, that it is God’s doing, is the only way I know to live.
As we study one of Paul’s letters this Lent, I want to share with you that I signed a letter this Lent. An open letter signed by hundreds and hundreds of Christian faith leaders around the nation. It is entitled “A Call to Christians in A Crisis of Faith and Democracy”. It is a call for a courageous and faithful witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ today, this week, these days. It was released on Ash Wednesday. Early on, it reads, “As Christians in the United States, representing the breadth of Christian traditions and one part of our nation’s religiously plural society, we are compelled to speak out more boldly at this time.” Later in the letter: “We refuse to baptize domination. We refuse to sanctify cruelty. We refuse to confuse authoritarian power with divine authority. We choose to resist, calling forth the righteous demands of our faith rooted in the teachings of Jesus. Religion should not be used to deify politicians or justify their abuses. When it is, faith ceases to be faithful and becomes a weapon of both heresy and hypocrisy.”
Near the conclusion, several commitments are listed. They are so simple, so Sunday School-like, so basic gospel-like, that it reminds me of how often I have said to you that when it gets harder and harder in the world and the nation to live the faith, the simplest parts of the gospel become all the more clear and compelling. The list of commitments? Protect and stand with vulnerable people. Love our neighbors. Speak truth to power. Seek peace. Do justice. Strengthen democracy. Practice hope. Ground discipleship in love and prayer.
Yes, clear and compelling. Not complicated, yet not really debatable when it comes to the teaching of Jesus and the writing of Paul. It occurs to me that it is sort of a primer on how to do, how to live, how to be “only”. David Buttrick, who taught and wrote about preaching for a generation at Vanderbilt, once said that the best measure of faithful preaching is the redemptive life of the community of faith. Not the rhetoric, not the sermonic flourish, not the biblical interpretive twists, not the memorable illustration. No, the faithfulness of the lives of those in the pew.
Most important. Just one thing. “Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ…”
Only. Remember the only. Never forget the only. Together Body of Christ at Nassau Church, today, this week, these days, let’s lean into, let’s commit, let’s live the only.