Week One

Philippians 1:1–11

1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ; To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and servants:  2 Grace to you, and peace from God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.  

 3 I thank my God whenever I remember you,  4 always in every request of mine on behalf of you all, making my requests with joy,  5 for your partnership in furtherance of the Good News from the first day until now;  6 being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.  

 7 It is even right for me to think this way on behalf of all of you, because I have you in my heart, because, both in my bonds and in the defence and confirmation of the Good News, you all are partakers with me of grace.  8 For God is my witness, how I long after all of you in the tender mercies of Christ Jesus. 

 9 This I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment;  10 so that you may approve the things that are excellent; that you may be sincere and without offense to the day of Christ;  11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Commentary:

Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter. He refers to his bonds and chains several times throughout the letter. There are four words used in the first verse, each of which may benefit from a brief explanation: 

Servants: (Greek: douloi). This word (doulos is the singular form) is a general word for a servant or a slave. It must have been one of the most common words in the ancient Greek world, simply because that whole culture revolved around servants and slaves. Of course, they were at the lowest level of society. They were the rung that everyone hoped to rise above. 

That Christians should have made it their ambition to be described as douloi is one of the marks of authenticity that shouts of the truth of Christianity. Of course, they did this because this is what their Saviour commanded:  

But Jesus summoned them, and said, “You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.  Whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant [doulos],even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25–28)

A bondservant is different from an indentured servant or a purchased slave. A bond servant is a servant who has served his time with a master but who, on being offered freedom, chooses instead to stay with that Master and serve him forever. We read about this social practice in the Old Testament books of Exodus and Deuteronomy:

If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, and serves you six years; then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. When you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty. You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your wine press. As Yahweh your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you. Therefore I command you this thing today. It shall be, if he tells you, “I will not go out from you,” because he loves you and your house, because he is well with you; then you shall take an awl, and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also to your female servant you shall do likewise. (Deut. 15:12–17)

This is a big topic not to be dived into just now, but note these things:

a)    A doulos (slave) entered this service willingly;

b)   The person was marked in the flesh (as Jesus, too, was marked with signs (stigmata) which bound him forever to the flesh of humanity). This sign (stigma) became a mark of his role and committed, faithful servanthood.

c)    In the process, blood marked the doorpost of the house, just as it did in the night of the Passover where all Israel was delivered from forced slavery.

Saints: (Greek: hagiois). This is a popular term for Paul, and he applies it generally to all of the Christians, the followers of The Way, the people of God. In our day, we’re inclined to think that a saint is especially pious or holy or good. But in biblical language, we’re all saints!

Overseers: (Greek: episkopois). The word is generally translated as bishops. Bishops were/are those who have been placed in charge over a region or a number of churches in a city or region. They were expected to be especially faithful and strong teachers and encouragers of the faithful – but also to exercise discipline when required.

Servants: (Greek: diakonois). The word is usually translated as deacons. Some versions use ministers. To use servants probably confuses it with douloi, which is a very low rung of servanthood – including slaves. Diakonois indicates a level of service in the local church whereby these people had a ministry of teaching and caring for the congregation.

It was Paul who had first brought the Gospel to the residents of Philippi. See Acts 16:11–40 for that story. So they held a firm place in his heart. He reminds them (vv3–6) of their beginnings together, and how he still prays for them. But he doesn’t take credit for his ministry. He notes that it was God who began this work, and expresses his faith that God will see it through to its end.

To bring this into our own zone of reference, it may be worth thinking about who it was that was responsible for you coming to know God. You might have more than one person on that list – though some will probably just name one particular person.

To be a person who introduces someone else to Jesus is one of the greatest gifts of being human. I’ve often told parents that they can't take anything to heaven with them – except their children. There are no pockets in shrouds – but there is the possibility of inviting your own children to give their lives to Jesus, and living with them, teaching them and training them in such ways that they will be inclined to follow your lead. 

Some people are gifted with the gift of evangelism. They seem to find it easy to witness to strangers about Jesus and often win people to salvation in God. I don’t have that gift, and you may not either. But you and I can at least do all these things: 

1.    We can do what we can to support an environment where people are able to encounter Jesus Christ and to meet with those who are gifted in evangelism.

2.    We can be willing to just talk about our faith in simple realistic ways.

3.    We can just be kind and compassionate to people.

4.    We can do some study and work to improve our capacity to answer questions that people might ask of us.

5.    We can practise being willing to be open about our faith in small ways. For example, when people ask us what we like to do or how we fill in our time, we can add that we go to church, along with talking about sport or study or work; or when the grocery checkout person asks us on Sunday morning after church how our morning has been, we can say “I've been to church – and it was good” instead of just saying, “Oh, yeah, pretty good thanks”, or “Haven't done much”.

6.    We can teach Sunday School, be friendly at after-church coffee, just be of use in our church environment.

In the concluding paragraph of this passage Paul lists a number of things that he hopes the Philippian believers will attain to. It’s worth asking ourselves, whether we have reached the point that Paul hopes for his fresh young believers in Philippi. Here are his benchmarks for a mature faith-life:

1.    Love will characterise our lives “in knowledge and discernment” (v9).

2.    We’ll be quick to discern what is pure and wholesome and what is not so, and actually choose to reject what is not wholesome for us (v10).

3.    We’ll gradually start to choose to do right and good things till they become our first and natural choice (v11).

Questions for Reflection

1.    Have you ever had an experience where you felt as though you were imprisoned or had your freedom restricted in some way? Most of us won't have been to prison, but we may have other life experiences where we experienced some restriction on our movement or out ability to express our thoughts, or even to think clearly. Share this with your group or your journal.

2.    We are all familiar with the idea of being servant-minded as Christians. But this is much easier to say than to do. How does this principle work itself out in your own life? Do you think you do it well enough? Are there areas for improvement?

3.    What do you take from the Deuteronomy passage quoted above in regard to how you should live your life for God?

4.    Are there any groups of Christians whom you pray for regularly and consistently? (See vv3–6)

5.    Reflect on the way that the church with which you are familiar, deals with the three roles of Saint (i.e.  member?), Overseer (Bishop), and Servant (Deacon, office-bearer?). Do you think that Paul (or Jesus?) would be entirely happy with what we have made of these roles in the church? Discuss this.

6.    Share with the group or your journal who were the people who were responsible for bringing you into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Who were they? What was their motive? Have you been able to thank them? Have you “paid their actions forward”? How do you feel about them now?

7.    Look again at the last three descriptors of how Paul wanted the Philippian Christians to develop. How well do you rate on these? What would you need to do to improve? How might you do this?

Passage for Memory:

Be confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. 1:6

Prayer Time:

Out of all the thoughts and ideas above, what would you like to say to God, now? Do you have points of thanks? Questions to ask him? Requests to make of him? Moments of praise? Try to draw your thoughts together in a time of prayer to him who loves you deeply. 

 Children’s Colouring-in Activity: See below!!