Philippians 1:12–26

12 Now I desire to have you know, brothers, that the things which happened to me have turned out rather to the progress of the Good News;  13 so that it became evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my bonds are in Christ;  14 and that most of the brothers in the Lord, being confident through my bonds, are more abundantly bold to speak the word of God without fear.  15 Some indeed preach Christ even out of envy and strife, and some also out of good will.  16 The former insincerely preach Christ from selfish ambition, thinking that they add affliction to my chains; 17 but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defence of the Good News. 

18 What does it matter? Only that in every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is proclaimed. I rejoice in this, yes, and will rejoice.  19 For I know that this will turn out to my salvation, through your prayers and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,  20 according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will in no way be disappointed, but with all boldness, as always, now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life, or by death. 

 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 But if I live on in the flesh, this will bring fruit from my work; yet I don’t know what I will choose.  23 But I am in a dilemma between the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.  24 Yet, to remain in the flesh is more needful for your sake.  25 Having this confidence, I know that I will remain, yes, and remain with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 that your rejoicing may abound in Christ Jesus in me through my presence with you again.

Commentary:

Read the first paragraph of the reading above again. I want to focus on it for a moment.

As I look back on my life, I can see so many things that have turned out just right for me. They didn’t always seem like that at the time, but with the passage of the years, I came to see that things which seemed to be a disaster at the time, turned out to have had side-effects or later consequences, for which I’ve been very grateful. Have you had similar experiences?

I’m not one of those Christians who think that I must constantly be asking God for guidance on what I should be doing next. This isn’t the time for that discussion, but in short, my view is that God gives us a great deal of freedom about our choices. As long as we choose within his moral will (i.e. we ought not choose to do something morally wrong), we have freedom to choose that career, buy this house, marry that person and so on. As a flow-on from that, I conclude that God doesn’t punish me for being “out of step with his will”.

While God gives us great freedom, he also allows bad things to happen to us from time to time. In case you doubted this, let me remind you that there has never been a Christian yet who did not get toothache, fell down a set of stairs, lost or was cheated out of some money, or eventually died. Yet, every older Christian I have ever asked about this, agrees that over their life, things have often just worked out well despite initial appearances. 

In past ages, our ancestors were more accustomed than we are to thinking about something called “the providence of God”. This concept refers to the actions of God which quietly but inevitably bring about good and positive things in our lives, despite many other bad or negative things. 

It is not that God actively interferes all the time, stopping bad things happening. It is just that he has the ability to so move pieces on the millions of chessboards of our lives that the very best outcome is attained – for all the players who are trusting in him.

In v13, Paul states that my bonds are in Christ. For Paul, his being imprisoned is within the general oversight or knowledge of Jesus Christ. If that is so, then, there really would be no reason to fear or be anxious. It did notmean that any pain or physical deprivation he was suffering as a result of the imprisonment would be removed. His suffering is real. But he is not alone! And, furthermore, he knows he is not alone!

This is a spiritual principle of great power which any of us, of any age, can adapt to our circumstances.

As a consequence of this realisation of how things have turned out for him in prison, Paul writes this: I rejoice in this, yes, and will rejoice (v18). This is the first of many occasions where Paul will use the signature word of this short letter: Rejoice!

It’s an interesting word, rejoice. You’ll notice that it starts with the prefix re-; this is a common English prefix meaning again or back, as in return, resend, reload…

The idea is that we were joyful once, but somehow we lost that joy. We need to find it again, so that we re-joice. We can be joyful again.

It’s easy to lose one’s joy in the rough and tumble of conflict, of illness or death or financial strain; to fall into the spiral of depression, of worry of anxiety. Jesus teaches us clearly that we should not worry about those things over which we have no control (Matthew 6:34). It’s OK to plan and occupy yourself with the worries of today so that you can manage them – but there’s no point in worrying about things that haven’t yet happened. Henri Nouwen calls that “living in the House of Fear”.

Knowing that the God who is in charge of all things has our good in mind is the best way to remember to be joyful again. 

In the last part of this passage, Paul ponders on whether it would be better for him to be dead or alive. He can see advantages in being dead and being with Christ, but he recognises the great service he can render to others while he is alive.

In this time of a global pandemic, I want to share a long poem written by a young medical doctor in Wuhan, Dr Li Wen Liang. He was the doctor who alerted the Chinese authorities to the coronavirus and who gave his life for others, dying of the same virus, on February 7, 2020. The Chinese government arrested him as a whistle-blower, for “spreading rumours” about this virus.

He was survived by a young son and his wife, who also became infected while eight months pregnant with their second child. It has been widely reported that Dr Li Wen Liang wrote a poem, translated here, of how he would miss all of these earthly things he was leaving behind. I've learned over the years to be cautious about emotional Christian stories on the electronic media, so let’s be prepared to be cautious about the facts around this, while still letting the story touch our hearts and souls.

For the purpose of this study, we will assume that he was a Christian man, as at the end of the poem, he quotes from 2 Timothy 4:7. Whatever the truth turns out to be, the poem still stands by itself. This is his poem.[1]

I don’t want to be a hero.
I still have my parents,
And my children,
And my pregnant wife who’s about to give birth,
And many of my patients in the ward.

Though my integrity cannot be exchanged for the goodness of others,
Despite my loss and confusion,
I should proceed anyway.

Who let me choose this country and this family?
How many grievances do I have?
When this battle is over,
I will look up to the sky,
With tears like rain.

I don’t want to be a hero.
But as a doctor,
I cannot just see this unknown virus
Hurting my peers
And so many innocent people.

Though they are dying,
They are always looking at me in their eyes,
With their hope of life.

Who would have ever realised that I was going to die?
My soul is in heaven,
Looking at the white bed,
On which lies my own body,
With the same familiar face.

Where are my parents?
And my dear wife,
The lady I once had a hard time chasing?

There is a light in the sky!
At the end of that light is the heaven that people often talk about.

But I’d rather not go there.
I’d rather go back to my hometown in Wuhan.
I have my new house there,
For which I still have to pay off the loan every month.
How can I give up?
How can I give up?
For my parents without their son,
How sad must it be?
For my sweetheart without her husband,
How can she face the vicissitudes in her future?

I am already gone.
I see them taking my body,
Putting it into a bag,
With which lie many compatriots
Gone like me,
Being pushed into the fire in the hearth
At dawn.

Goodbye, my dear ones.
Farewell, Wuhan, my hometown.
Hopefully, after the disaster,
You’ll remember someone once
Tried to let you know the truth as soon as possible.
Hopefully, after the disaster,
You’ll learn what it means to be righteous.
No more good people
Should suffer from endless fear,
And helpless sadness.

“I have fought the good fight.
I have finished the race.
I have kept the faith.
Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness.” 2 Timothy 4:7

Group or Individual Questions for Reflection

1.    Share with others or write down in your journal some of those events or moments where you are aware of the providence of God in your life.

2.    Find a part of the Bible passage which seems especially encouraging to you in terms of God taking care of you and your family in the times of great need.

3.    Think again about Paul saying, my bonds are in Christ. What can you now say about your life, those big or small issues that were causing you anxiety? Place them in this sentence: My ……. are in Christ.

4.    What are the things that stop you from rejoicing more? Try listing them down, and then assessing how to better manage your response to them.

5.    How is it true that to live is Christ and to die is gain? 

6.    Who are the people who really depend on you, and for whom you would like to stay alive? Have you talked about that with them? Would it be beneficial to do so? 

Passage for Memory:

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 1:21

Prayer Time:

1.    Pray for the widow of Dr Li Wen Liang. There are credible reports that she survived the virus and is now living in Wuhan, as a widow. No doubt, her life will not be easy.

2.    Ask God for the grace to perceive more of his providence in your life.

3.    Pray for those whom you love to serve and who you think are to some extent dependent on you.

(Children’s colouring-in on following page)

[1]This is taken from News Weekly, March 7, 2020.