Dennis Prager once wrote a book entitled Happiness is a Serious Problem.[1] In the book Prager tells of a time when asked a man if he considered himself to be a pious person. The man said he did not consider himself to be deeply spiritual. Prager asked him why. The man said this: he didn’t think he was joyful enough to be considered devout. A truly pious person, the man answered, would be full of joy.
He went on to suggest that his lack of joy and the lack of joy of many Christians is a threat to the Christian faith. In response, Prager wrote these words:
“He was right; in fact, unhappy religious people pose a real challenge to faith. If their faith is so impressive, why aren’t these devoted adherents happy? There are only two possible reasons: either they are not practicing their faith correctly, or they are practicing their faith correctly and the religion itself is not conducive to happiness…Unhappy, let alone angry, religious people provide more persuasive arguments for atheism and secularism than do all the arguments of atheists.”
That’s a pretty strong statement: “Unhappy religious people provide more persuasive arguments for atheism and secularism than do all the arguments of atheists.” What do you think about that statement? Raise your hand if you think it’s true.
Regardless of the validity of the statement, it does raise the issue of faith and joy. It raises the tantalizing question of whether or not joy should be a defining characteristic of faith. Does the Christian faith lead to joy? If not, why not? Is it because we are not practicing Christianity correctly? Or is Christianity just not conducive to happiness? Should a truly spiritual person be genuinely joyful?
A man once approached me at the gym where I exercise. He asked an odd question: “When someone gets baptized at your church, do people clap?” This issue had come up at his church. Someone had clapped at a baptism as a gesture of joy. But my friend and others at his church were uncomfortable with it. He said, “We clap at ballgames not at baptisms.”
My exercise companion was saying that it’s proper to party when a grown man hits a ball with a stick but it’s wrong to revel when a person is washed by the Son, filled with the Spirit and embraced by the Father. Had I pressed him on this, I think he would have backed down. But this is what he said: “We clap at ballgames not at baptisms.”
Is joy compatible with the Christian faith? Should joy be supported in churches or should it be squelched in churches?
A few years ago Christian author Brennan Manning proposed that joy is the great divider in the United States. He wrote this: [2]
“I believe that the real difference in the American church is not between conservatives and liberals, fundamentalists and charismatics, nor between Republicans and Democrats. The real difference is between the aware and the unaware. When somebody is aware of that love—the same love that the Father has for Jesus—that person is just spontaneously grateful. Cries of thankfulness become the dominant characteristic of the interior life, and the byproduct of gratitude is joy.”
Manning suggests that the real separation among American Christians is between those who live with joy and those who do not.
Just how prevalent should joy be among Christians? Should it truly define us? If so, how is such joy even possible when life is often so impossible?
Paul’s letter to the Philippians provides an opportunity to explore this. The letter is written by and to people who are facing serious difficulties. And as most of us have experienced, difficulties in life often lead to despair—the very opposite of joy.
Paul, who writes this letter along with Timothy (1:1), is writing from a dark place. He’s facing at least three difficulties which could easily lead him to despair:
1. Paul is suffering physically. He is writing this letter during an imprisonment (1:13, 14). Most likely, it’s an imprisonment in the ancient city of Rome.[3] It may not have been a jail cell but may have been more like a house arrest. Nonetheless, it would have been uncomfortable. His physical setting would not be one any of us would welcome for even a short period of time. Paul was suffering physically.[4]
2. Paul was restrained from church planting. Not only did Paul’s imprisonment present physical difficulties, but ministry difficulties as well. It prevented Paul from progressing in his passion–planting churches in areas where the gospel had not yet spread (Rom. 15:20). That was what Paul loved to do. Yet trapped in prison or house arrest, he could plant no churches.
3. Paul was also prevented from pastoring. Paul’s imprisonment kept him from personally dealing with some of the difficulties being faced by the church in Philippi (e.g., 3:1-21; 4:2-3). [5] Paul felt especially close to this church in Philippi. He tells them in 1:7 that he holds them in his heart. But Paul cannot personally visit them and give a hands-on approach to any of the difficulties they are facing.
Any of these three difficulties could have easily led Paul to despair.
And, consider the difficulties faced by the Philippian church. Any of these difficulties could have led them to despair:
1. First, they are separated from Paul. Their beloved apostle is imprisoned. Though they’ve sent gifts (4:14-18) and a personal representative named Epaphroditus (4:18; 2:25) they are separated from him and fear for his life (1:20; 2:17). [6]
2. Second, they are grieving an illness. Epaphroditus-the church leader they sent to take their gifts to Paul in prison–fell deathly ill. The Philippians heard about this and were distressed (2:25-27). According to Paul in 2:28 they were anxious about all of this.
3. Third, they are plagued by conflict. The church was afflicted by internal and external forces threatening to rip the community apart. [7] For example, in 3:2ff we learn of a group causing conflict over doctrinal differences. In 4:2ff we learn of two church leaders named Euodia and Syntyche whose conflict with one another is impacting the entire church. And throughout the letter we hear of people driven by selfish ambition (2:3; 2:21).
Any of these difficulties could have led to despair. Any of these could have resulted in a joyless apostle and a joyless church. In fact, we might question whether or not it’s even possible for joy to endure in the face of such difficulties.
We too face difficulties which can easily lead to despair. For example, Joss Whedon is the screenwriter-producer behind films like “Toy Story” and “The Avengers.” He was recently interviewed. During the exchange, he was asked if he had hope that the human race is becoming smarter and better. Whedon said this: [8]
I think we’re actually becoming stupider and more petty … What’s going on in this country, and many countries, is beyond depressing. It’s terrifying. Sometimes I have to remember who I’m talking to. I’ll say something about how terrible things are, and meaningless, and the world is headed toward destruction and war and apocalypse. And at one point my daughter goes, “Hey! I’m 8!” She doesn’t want to hear that stuff. But I can’t believe anybody thinks we’re actually going to make it before we destroy the planet. I honestly think it’s inevitable. I have no hope …. I want to be wrong, more than anything. I hate to say it, it’s that line from The Lord of the Rings-“I give hope to men; I keep none for myself.”
It can be easy to witness and experience the brokenness in this world and feel utterly hopeless. It can be easy even for us Christians to struggle with despair.
This despair is captured is what is often called the shortest complete story in English.[9] Supposedly written by Ernest Hemingway, this story is only six words long: [PP text that follows] “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” It only takes six words to capture the reality of loss that pervades our world. This can easily lead to despair.
Which leaves us the question: is joy even possible in a world like ours? Is joy even possible in a world like Paul’s. A world where Paul and the Philippians are facing very serious difficulties.
Paul believes joy is possible. For example, notice how frequently Paul writes of joy in Philippians even in the midst of all the difficulties he is facing and the church is facing. Paul . . . [PP the list that follows]
• 1:4 prays with joy
• 1:18 rejoices that Christ is proclaimed
• 1:25 will keep working for the Philippians’ joy
• 2:2 asks the Philippians to complete his joy
• 2:17-18 is glad and rejoices with the Philippians
• 2:28 sends Epaphroditus that the Philippians might rejoice
• 2:29 tells the Philippians to receive Epaphroditus with joy
• 3:1 tells the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord
• 4:1 tells the Philippians they are his joy
• 4:4 tells the Philippians twice to rejoice in the Lord
• 4:10 rejoiced in the Lord at the Philippians’ concern for him.
True joy, Paul shows, is an abundant and relentless thing. It cannot be blown out by the harshest winds of life. It cannot be stopped by the biggest barriers of life. True joy presses forward and never dies. It is available even in the greatest difficulties of life. And in Philippians Paul shows how to access this joy. When practiced correctly, the Christian faith is the one faith in which laughing, passion, beauty and joy can be our new normal—even in the midst of difficulties like Paul’s and the Philippians’.
Where does such joy come from? How is such joy possible? This relentless joy grows out of Paul’s relentless focus on Jesus. For instances, Paul writes plainly in 4:4-5: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice…The Lord is at hand.” Paul urges us to rejoice “in the Lord.” There is a direct connection between the Lord—meaning Jesus—and our ability to rejoice. We gain the ability to rejoice by focusing on the Lord. And Paul reminds us that this Lord is “at hand. That is, he is nearby. [9] Even when difficulties are at hand we can know that Jesus is also at hand. And Jesus’ nearness makes it possible for us to find joy in him.
In fact, Paul goes on to show that the nearness of Jesus—the fact that he is “at hand”—inspires us to “not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (4:6). In prayer we can leave in the hands of Jesus all those difficulties which distress us. The result will be this: “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (4:7) [10] Because Jesus is near, we can find joy in him. We can lift up to him our stresses. And the result will be a very happy and relentless kind of peace.
Paul writes further about how he has experienced this happy peace: “[F]or I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (4:11-13).
Paul testifies that has learned the rare ability—the secret—to remaining detached from external circumstances. Circumstances change. Paul’s faced circumstances when he had plenty and abundance. And he’s had circumstances when he was in hunger and in need. Yet Paul did not tie satisfaction to situation. [11] Instead, through Jesus, he found the strength to be content no matter the circumstance.
The fact that this is a “secret” indicates that it’s not surprising that we struggle with contentment. If you struggle with despair even through you are a Christian, that’s not unusual. It takes effort and grace to reach Paul’ point. But it is possible to get there. With the strength provided by Jesus, it is possible to be joyful in any and every situation.
Here’s Paul’s basic message: Jesus provides a joy that endures despite difficulties. Paul has experience this relentless joy that endures despite all difficulties. And he’s calling the Philippian church and us to experience it was well. It’s a joy that comes through a focus on Jesus.
This is why Paul values Jesus above all the other trappings of religion (3:1-11). Paul begins that section by saying “rejoice in the Lord” (3:1). But, sensing how easy it is for us to replace “Lord” with “religion,” Paul reveals that joy is best found only in Jesus, not in the rules and regulations that so often gain prominence in religion. We are to rejoice “in the Lord” not in the religious relics which some in Philippi have prioritized. [12]
To illustrate, Paul shares seven religious characteristics of his own life. These are 7 religious badges which any spiritual person in Paul’s day would have longed to have. Yet, Paul says, even these pale next to Jesus. Only Jesus, Paul says, can provide relentless joy. Here are the 7 religious qualities Paul might have tried to find joy in (3:5-6):
1) circumcised on the eighth day,
2) of the people of Israel,
3) of the tribe of Benjamin,
4) a Hebrew,
5) a Pharisee,
6) a zealous persecutor of the church, and
7) a blameless doer of the law (3:5-6).[13]
We don’t have time here to explore these in-depth. Suffice it to say that these were powerful pedigrees in the religious world in Paul’s day. But Paul says that he counts these things now as “loss”: “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Phil. 3:8). The word “loss” is a term referring to dung, muck, food gone bad, refuse, filth, and even lumps of manure. [14] Paul says when you compare the joy that is available through Jesus with the joy that is available through any other thing in life, even seemingly spiritual things, those other things don’t measure up at all. They are about as valuable as trash.
Here’s how the Bible translation called “The Message” puts this: “You know my pedigree: a legitimate birth, circumcised on the eighth day; an Israelite from the elite tribe of Benjamin; a strict and devout adherent to God’s law; a fiery defender of the purity of my religion, even to the point of persecuting the church; a meticulous observer of everything set down in God’s law Book. The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him.” (Phil. 4:5-9 The Message)
When you embrace Christ and are embraced by him, you discover a secret joy which lasts throughout any situation. You discover a treasure that makes everything else seem like trash.
But the challenge is that too often we mix up the treasure and the trash. We end up trying to find joy from things that really belong in the trash. And we end up trashing Jesus, the only one who can truly grant joy and peace.
In one of his books, Robert Fulghum tells when his daughter was a little girl and gave him a paper bag to take with him to work.[15] When he asked what was in the bag, she answered, “Just some stuff. Take it with you.” When he sat down for lunch at his desk the next day, he pulled out the paper bag and poured out its contents: two ribbons, three stones, a plastic dinosaur, a pencil stub, a tiny seashell, used lipstick, two chocolate Kisses, and thirteen pennies. He chuckled, finished his lunch, and swept everything off into the wastebasket.
When he arrived at home that evening, his daughter asked him where the bag was. “I left it at the office,” he replied. “Why?”
“Well,” she said, “those are my things in the sack, Daddy. The things I really like. I thought you might like to play with them, but now I want them back.”
When she saw him hesitate, tears welled up in her eyes. “You didn’t lose the bag, did you Daddy?”
He said he didn’t and that he would bring it home tomorrow. After she went to bed, he raced back to the office. Fulghum writes:
Molly had given me her treasures … all that a seven-year-old held dear. Love in a paper sack. And I missed it. Not just missed it. I had thrown it away. Nothing in there I needed. It wasn’t the first or last time I felt like my “Daddy Permit” was about to run out. I went back to my office, dumped all the wastebaskets out onto my desk. The janitor came in and asked, “Did you lose something?” “Yeah. My mind! It’s probably in there.”
When Fulghum found the bag, he uncrumpled it, and filled it again with his daughter’s items: two ribbons, three stones, a plastic dinosaur, a pencil stub, a tiny seashell, used lipstick, two chocolate Kisses, and thirteen pennies. He took the bag home, sat down with Molly, and had her tell him the story of every treasure in the bag. Then he writes:
To my surprise, Molly gave me the bag once again several days later. Same ratty bag. Same stuff inside. I felt forgiven. Over several months, the bag went with me from time to time. It was never clear to me why I did or did not get it on a certain day. I began to think of it as the “Daddy Prize,” and I tried to be good the night before so I could be given it on the next morning.
In time, Molly turned her attention to other things, lost interest in the game, grew up. Me … I was left holding the bag. She gave it to me one morning and never asked for it back. It sits in my office still, left over from when a child said, “Here. This is the best I’ve got. Take it. It’s yours.” I missed it the first time, but it’s my bag now.
That’s what Paul’s describing. We’re so apt to throw away what is truly the best. We’re so apt to find joy and satisfaction in things that really are trash and to trash the one thing that is the only source of relentless joy and satisfaction.
So often we miss it. Especially when difficulties hit. But the truth is this: no matter how bad things are in life, God’s already given us the best he’s got. His own son. Take him, God says. He’s yours. And if you do, you can learn the secret of a contentment that doesn’t rely upon any circumstance or situation. You can come to see how everything else truly is trash when compared to the peace and joy that only Jesus brings.
I want to encourage you to trash those other things you tie your joy to. So many of us tie our joy to things like this: our finances, our romance, our health, our kids or our parents, our friends, our church, our weight, our religious activities, how well we are doing in avoiding certain sins, our career or our fishing or hunting. When these things are good, we’re happy. When they’re not, we’re sad. But this morning I want to urge you to trash these as ultimate sources of joy. And to rely on Jesus as the one unchanging and unstoppable source of joy.
Do this by writing one thing on a piece of paper which you tie your joy to besides Jesus. Crumple that up and toss it in the trash. And let that be a commitment you’re making this week to find joy in Jesus.
—————————————–
[1] Dennis Prager, Happiness Is a Serious Problem (Regan Books, 1998), 4.
[2] The Dick Staub Interview: Brennan Manning on Ruthless Trust,” ChristianityToday.com (12-10-02)
[3] “Rome is thus the more likely city from which Paul wrote Philippians, connecting the writing of this letter with the imprisonment noted in Acts 28: 14– 31. Not only does Rome fit most naturally with the mention of the Praetorian Guard, but it also explains the numerous believers near Paul, some of whom have no apparent loyalty to the apostle (1: 15– 17). Additionally, those of “Caesar’s household” (4: 22) most likely hail from Rome. Moreover, travel between Philippi and Rome was quick by ancient standards, given that the well-traveled Via Egnatia ran right through the city and on to points east to Byzantium and west to the port city of Dyrrhachium on the Adriatic Sea. A typical courier using a chariot could make eighty kilometers a day, and a person walking could average thirty kilometers. Sea travel was much faster; travel by boat from the port at Neapolis (twelve miles from Philippi) to Rome via Corinth was a matter of a week or so. Perhaps Epaphroditus traveled by road to western Greece, and from there by ship to Brundisium, a port city on the eastern coast of Italy, a day trip if the winds were good. From there it was about a three-week journey west to Rome (approximately 350 miles). Then, as now, it is not merely the miles that one travels, but the accessibility to good roads and ships that determines travel times. Philippi to Rome would have presented many options for travel and courier service, making communication relatively simple between the two cities during Paul’s two years of imprisonment in Rome.” (Cohick, Lynn. Philippians. The Story of God Bible Commentary. (2013).)
[4] “The single window opening into his bedroom was small and covered with oilcloth. Set high in the wall to afford a measure of privacy from the tenants across the way, it watched over the camber within…As windows go, it had its problems. Rain seeped through the cloth to collect in puddles on the sill and floor. When the wind blew sharply (or neighborhood children through rocks), the cloth tore and needed replacement. In the cold, it turned the smoke of the stove back into the room but retrained none of the heat…He rose slowly from the floor, taking time to stretch his legs and unkink his back. When at last he stood upright, he still stopped noticeably, leaning to the right and canting his head to balance. He was a crooked man, all angles and curves, with hardly a plumb line to his person. He had not always been so–in his youth he’d stood erect enough. But time and injury had bent him beyond straightening.” (Woodroof, Tim. A Distant Presence: The Story Behind Paul’s Letter to the Philippians. (2001) (7-9))
For another perspective on ancient prison: John McRay wrote in Christian History:
“Roman imprisonment was preceded by being stripped naked and then flogged—a humiliating, painful, and bloody ordeal. The bleeding wounds went untreated as prisoners sat in painful leg or wrist chains. Mutilated, bloodstained clothing was not replaced, even in the cold of winter.
Most cells were dark, especially the inner cells of a prison, like the one Paul and Silas inhabited in Philippi. Unbearable cold, lack of water, cramped quarters, and sickening stench from few toilets made sleeping difficult and waking hours miserable. Because of the miserable conditions, many prisoners begged for a speedy death. Others simply committed suicide.”
Elesha Coffman, Christian History Connection (6-1-02), from Christian History (issue 47)
[5] “Again, service providers and shopkeepers lived a precarious economic existence, inasmuch as they were beholden to their trade guilds and to patrons. Confessing Christ was one way to scare away patrons and often resulted in the believer leaving the pagan trade guild or being ostracized from others doing similar work. In other words, economic hardships were a real dilemma for these earliest Gentile believers. The cost of following Jesus was not only in broken familial and professional relationships, but had a steep price tag attached in jobs lost.” (Cohick, Lynn. Philippians. The Story of God Bible Commentary. (2013). Kindle 538-543).
“One theory argues that the opponents are Gentiles promoting Roman imperial propaganda, who persecute the believers. This theory draws on the verb politeuomai (meaning “live as citizens”) in 1: 27.58 The verb carries the sense of being part of a commonwealth or civic group; a similar noun, politeuma (“ citizenship”) is used in 3: 20.59 This theory suggests that Paul draws on Philippi’s special status as a Roman colony with Italian citizen privileges in distinguishing Gentile opponents from the church’s primary allegiance to Christ. This reading makes good sense of these two rare terms in Paul by connecting them with the political and social reality in Philippi. It also stresses the real struggle the early church faced against paganism, including the growing imperial cult. (Cohick, Lynn. Philippians. The Story of God Bible Commentary. (2013), Kindle, 551-558)
A second theory suggests that Jewish agitators promoting circumcision for Gentile believers are stirring up trouble within Paul’s congregation. The specific evidence includes Paul’s statements about the “dogs” that are a threat (3: 2). In this theory, they are “enemies of the cross,” who have twisted the gospel message to their own destruction (3: 18– 19). They have their minds on earthly things, while Paul stresses one’s citizenship is in heaven. Thus the language of politeuma (“ citizenship”) is related to Diaspora Jewish experience, not to Roman citizenship. This theory accounts for Paul’s lengthy discussion of Judaism in chapter 3 and connects these agitators with a similar group that invaded the Galatian churches. [Bockmuehl, Philippians, 186, notes that the opponents who promote circumcision could be Gentile believers who had undergone circumcision to join the synagogue. These men now resent Paul’s gospel message that Gentiles need not be circumcised to join God’s family.] But it does not explain the opponents in 1: 28 who appear to be frightening the Philippians with hardships and sufferings. In the end, I suggest that Paul has in mind two different groups, but gives a similar response to both. (Cohick, Lynn. Philippians. The Story of God Bible Commentary. (2013), Kindle 560-568).
“Paul gives us only tantalizing hints about who “Euodia” and “Syntyche” are, and from those commentators try to fill out the picture. The fact that they are named suggests that they are important in the community…Perhaps the church in Philippi met in several houses, much as it did in Corinth. If so, these women may have led their respective house churches. We hear of Nympha (Col 4: 15), Lydia (Acts 16: 15, 40), and Priscilla and Aquila (Rom 16: 3– 5) having churches meet in their homes…In the first century, the social system of patronage was strong, and Paul drew on that when he stayed with Lydia on his first visit to Philippi. She opened her house to Paul and his group, giving them shelter, food, and safety. Patrons had responsibilities toward their clients (friends), and the latter were expected to show public honor in return..there is no doubt that Paul calls them his “co-workers,” who have labored alongside him in efforts for the gospel. Other people identified as Paul’s coworkers include Timothy, Titus, Priscilla and Aquila, Apollos, Philemon, Urbanus, Epaphroditus, Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke. 15 Within this group, some traveled and preached, some remained in towns to disciple and lead house churches, and some served as Paul’s liaisons with the churches…Paul enjoins these women “to be of the same mind.” Most commentators hold that these two women were in disagreement with each other. But a few have recently argued that these women were together against Paul. Joseph Marchal argues that Paul tends to distinguish his views from others and to stress sameness, with himself as the model. These women, who hold influence in the church, have drifted from Paul’s teachings or expectations, and Paul entreats them to return to their former close relationship…a related possibility is that these women are in a court battle. Peterlin postulates that we might have here a situation similar to that found in 1 Corinthians 6: 1– 8, wherein believers were taking each other to court. 21 Supporting this view is the fact that Paul calls for a mediator, much as he does in the Corinthian situation. Finally, perhaps these women disputed over administering social aid to the poor in their midst. If they were patrons and deacons, they would likely have been responsible for aid to the destitute in their midst. Perhaps a situation similar to Acts 6 arose in Philippi, maybe between the two house churches led by Euodia and Syntyche…The strange Greek word syzygos has puzzled translators and commentators. Paul indicates that this genuine “companion” (“ yokefellow”) will help rebuild the relationship between Euodia and Syntyche. We have no evidence that the Greek word is a proper name, Syzygos; most likely it refers to a person well-known by the Philippians. Suggestions include Epaphroditus, who is likely bringing this letter with him, so he would understand Paul’s concerns and be able to convey them well to the women. Another option is Timothy, though he is arriving later than Epaphroditus. Fee suggests Luke, who probably stayed in Philippi for several years, based on inferences from the “we” passages in Acts 16 and 20.22.” Cohick, Lynn H. Philippians (The Story of God Bible Commentary) (Kindle Locations 4838-4843). Zondervan. 2013. Kindle locations 4747-4843).
[6] “[K]eeping up with Paul had proven a frustrating and elusive endeavor for the Philippians. Six silent years had passed since his last visit through their city. During those years, every passing missionary, every peripatetic stranger with any connection to the Way was questioned close and squeezed for the smallest trickle of news: ‘Have you heard anything about Paul? Do you know where he is? How goes it with him?’ But information was scarce and sketchy…Some said Paul had been arrested in Judea and was a prisoner of the roman governor in Caesarea. Others claimed he was dead, killed by a band of angry fanatics in Jerusalem…For the Philippians it was maddening, all this hearsay and so few hard facts…the mix of gossip and secondhand information and sheer fancy passed on by wayfarers served only to deepen their sense of separation from the Apostle.” (Woodroof, Tim. A Distant Presence: The Story Behind Paul’s Letter to the Philippians. (2001), 27-28.)
AD 49 (spring) Paul begins his 2nd missionary journey.
AD 49 (summer) Paul spends 2 months in Philippi.
AD 49 (fall) Paul spends time in Thessalonica.
AD 50-51 Paul spends 18 months in Corinth.
AD 53 Paul begins his 3rd missionary journey. He spends over 2 years in Ephesus.
AD 55-56 Paul visits Philippi on the way to and from Corinth.
AD 57-59 Paul is imprisoned in Caesarea for 2 years.
AD 60-62 Paul is imprisoned in Rome for 2 years.
AD 62 (January) Philippians receive word that Paul is in Rome. Epaphroditus journeys there.
AD 62 (February/ March) Paul writes the letter to the Philippians.
AD 62 (late April) Epaphroditus returns to Philippi with the letter.
(Woodroof, Tim. A Distant Presence: The Story Behind Paul’s Letter to the Philippians. (2001), 336-337).
[7] The phrase “the Lord is near” puzzles commentators because the range of “near” extends from temporal (coming soon) to spatial (next to me). Paul does not speak with apocalyptic fervor in Philippians, though in 1: 10 he does mention the “day of Christ,” and in 3: 20– 21 he encourages believers that the Savior Christ will return from heaven to conform them to his glorious body. In these two cases, the emphasis is on a future date at which time Christ’s full power will be revealed…However, since Paul mentions prayers in verse 6, the spatial sense of God’s presence attending a believer’s prayers should be considered. In this sense, Paul’s words are similar to Psalm 145: 18, “The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth” (see also 119: 151).Cohick, Lynn H. (2013-10-29). Philippians (The Story of God Bible Commentary) (Kindle Locations 4987-4994). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
[8] James Hibberd, “Joss Whedon on killing an Avenger and why Loki’s not in sequel,” Entertainment Weekly (8-27-13)
[9] Gene C. Fant, Jr., God As Author (B & H Academic, 2010), p. 177
[10] The result of such prayers is not a bigger house, more money in the bank, success at work, and good health news. The result is priceless — “the peace of God.” Such peace knows no earthly parallel and often defies explanation, because it is unrelated to external circumstances. Cohick, Lynn H. (2013-10-29). Philippians (The Story of God Bible Commentary) (Kindle Locations 5019-5021). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
[11] He has learned the secret of deep peace based on detachment from his outward circumstances. In whatever conditions of life he finds himself, he discovers the will of God for his situation. This is not a fatalism or indolent acquiescence which cuts the nerve of ambition or smothers endeavour, as AV/KJV might suggest. It is, on the contrary, a detachment from anxious concern about the outward features of his life. This, in turn, arises from his concentration upon the really important things, the invisible and eternal (2 Cor. 4:16–18) and, above all, upon the closeness of his fellowship with Christ on whose strength he constantly draws (v. 13). Martin, R. P. (1987). Philippians: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 11, p. 181). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
The word “content” was used in ancient literature to talk about self-sufficiency, finding within oneself the resources to live. Paul uses it to describe how he’s found within Jesus the resources to live. N. T. Wright Paul for Everyone The Prison Letters (Westminster John Knox Press, 2004), 134.
[12] Paul writes one of his strongest rhetorical statements in 3: 2, repeating the verb “watch out” three times. He describes the people whom the Philippians should avoid as “dogs,” “evildoers,” and “mutilators of the flesh.” Most likely these dangerous people are believers who hold that Gentiles should become Jewish to participate fully as members of God’s people, the church (see Acts 15: 1, 5). Cohick, Lynn H. (2013-10-29). Philippians (The Story of God Bible Commentary) (Kindle Locations 3775-3778). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
Paul’s rhetoric sends a fiery blast against his opponents. In both Jewish and Greek literature, dogs were seen as scavengers, exhibiting behavior unfit for human society. Proverbs 26: 11 uses a dog returning to its vomit as an image for the fool who returns to foolish behaviors. Even more in the Jewish context, dogs ate anything; they did not distinguish between clean and unclean. Paul’s contention drips with irony — those who would make Gentiles “clean” through circumcision are themselves unclean like dogs. Moreover, they are “evildoers.” This phrase is found nowhere else in Paul, but similar language is used in 2 Corinthians 11: 13 in describing the “deceitful workers” who were “masquerading as apostles of Christ.” Finally, Paul labels them “mutilators,” which in Greek sounds similar to the term “circumcision.” Circumcision served as the identity marker for Jewish men throughout the Roman empire; it signaled their status as members of God’s family. Paul argues with his play on words that Gentiles can be full members of God’s people if they are in Christ.; Cohick, Lynn H. (2013-10-29). Philippians (The Story of God Bible Commentary) (Kindle Locations 3806-3814). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
[13] The seven advantages he enjoyed are in two categories, and they are retailed, as Bengel says quaintly, as though Paul were numbering them concisely and pointedly on the fingers of his hands. Four items in the catalogue were his possessions by involuntary heredity; the other three were his by personal choice and conviction. Circumcised on the eighth day, lit. ‘as to circumcision, eight days old’, proves both his parents’ conformity to the letter of the law (Lev. 12:3) and his true ‘Jewishness’. He was no proselyte, circumcised in later life as some of his enemies might have been if they were adult converts to Jewish Christianity; nor was he an Ishmaelite who was circumcised after the thirteenth year of his life (Gen. 17:25; cf. Josephus, Antiquities, 1.12, 2). claim is put first: he is a true-blooded Jew from the cradle, and nursed in the ancestral faith. Therefore he speaks with an authority which none can challenge, least of all the opponents whose main tenet in their expected approach to the Philippian church may have been the need of circumcision. Paul would counter this false notion by placing circumcision at the head of his list to show that he has the right to be heard on the true significance of the rite. From correct observation of the Jewish national badge the apostle next reviews his favoured position as belonging to the people of Israel. Here Israel is the covenant name of the elect race, and Paul is proud to claim membership of it (cf. 2 Cor. 11:22; Rom. 11:1) as a ‘full-blooded Jew’ (Gnilka). Within the national life of God’s chosen people he claimed adherence to a special tribe, that of Benjamin. This tribe was regarded with particular esteem, in spite of its smallness (‘little tribe of Benjamin’, Ps. 68:27), and various reasons for its place of honour are suggested. Situated in the south it may have resisted the encroachments of paganism from the north (so Gnilka). It had the unique privilege of containing the holy city and the temple within its confines. It remained loyal to the house of David after the disruption of the monarchy, and earlier, in the field of battle, it held the post of honour (Judg. 5:14; Hos. 5:8). One suspects, however, that it was the fact that Israel’s first king was drawn from its ranks (1 Sam. 9:1–2, 21; 10:1, 20–25) and that this king had the apostle’s original Hebrew name which gave him special pride in his tribal association (so Beare). A Hebrew of Hebrews carries the meaning as given in Moffatt’s translation, ‘the Hebrew son of Hebrew parents’, and informs us that the language in which he was reared and taught was the ancestral mother-tongue of his race. Ability to speak the ancient languages (Hebrew and Aramaic) was a mark of faithfulness to the old culture, and commanded special attention, as we know from the scene in Acts 22:2 when Paul addressed the crowd in Aramaic. Jerome preserves a tradition that Paul’s family fled to Tarsus in Cilicia (Acts 21:39; 22:3) from a town in Galilee when the Romans devastated Palestine. If there is substance in this tradition it would be a further claim to racial purity, but it seems likely that Jerome’s tradition took its rise from this text. The apostle now mentions the three privileges which he could boast of as his personal acquirement. In regard to his devotion to the law, the venerable Torah which the Jews prized so highly, he could own his membership of the strictest sect of his religion (Acts 26:5), the Pharisees (Gal. 1:14). 6. His zeal as a Pharisee is shown in his self-confessed hatred of the Nazarenes, i.e. the early Christians, and his active persecution of their communities at Jerusalem and Damascus (see Acts 22:3ff.; 26:10ff.; 1 Cor. 15:9; Gal. 1:13; 1 Tim. 1:13). Paul seems never to have been able to forget his persecuting activity, based on that misdirected zeal for God (Acts 22:3; cf. Rom. 10:2) and his cause, of which he speaks here. The memory of it continually haunts him; so much so that he uses the present participle of the verb, di?k?n, persecuting, as if the action were before his eyes at the time of writing. But he does know, too, the mercy of God in forgiveness and conversion (1 Tim. 1:12–13) which turned the arch-persecutor into the faithful apostle and fearless missionary of the one whom he had opposed in persecuting the church (Acts 9:4–5). The use of the word ‘church’ here shows that the term embraces not simply various local communities of Christians but rather the church of God (‘of God’ is read by some MSS) in the ‘ecumenical’ sense of the one body of Christ which, in the words of K. L. Schmidt, ‘is truly present in its wholeness in every company of believers, however small’. Judged by the standard of legal righteousness he was, in his own eyes, faultless, amemptos (cf. the same word in 2:15). It is important to remember the standard by which he is measuring his past life. The carefully worded criterion is ‘righteousness under the law’ (RSV), and it is only by reference to the observance of this law that his verdict can be recorded as faultless. Paul, as a Christian, never acquiesced in that judgment upon his past life as we know from Romans 7 and Galatians 2. Here he says nothing of the inner conflict and tension which his life under the law provoked because his viewpoint is completely different. This verse is only part of the story and must be supplemented and corrected by the true picture the apostle paints elsewhere. There is evidence that some rabbis held out the possibility of blamelessness through a strict observance of the law, provided the performance were punctilious and complete. Paul here claims to have qualified—by that standard. Martin, R. P. (1987). Philippians: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 11, pp. 150–152). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
[14] Gerald F. Hawthorne, Philippians Word Biblical Commentary, (Word, 1983), 139.
[15] Robert Fulghum, It Was On Fire When I Laid Down On It (Villard, 1990), 19-22
