The Sunnyside of Prison - Philippians 1:1-19

It appears that Philippians is going to be a different kind of letter and that is kind of exciting. For some background, we find that this letter from Paul to the saints in Philippi (Macedonia) while Paul is in his first imprisonment in Rome. The saints in Philippi were the first contacts that Paul had in Europe during his first ministry so they held a special place in his heart. According to the article on this chapter from gospeldoctrine.com, when the saints in Philippi found out that Paul was in prison in Rome, they “had sent Epaphroditus to Rome to take gifts to Paul and to minister to his needs.” Epaphroditus became very ill while in Rome and almost died, and after he recovered Paul could tell that he was homesick, so Paul sent him back home with this letter. The article continues, “Unlike most of Paul’s other epistles, this one did not seem to be prompted by major doctrinal squabbles or moral difficulties among the saints, but was rather ‘a letter of friendship, full of affection, confidence, good counsel and good cheer. It is the happiest of St. Paul’s writings, for the Philippians were the dearest of his children in the faith.’” I haven’t gotten into Philippians yet, but I think it’s interesting the different kinds of people who came to Paul while he was in prison. When someone is incarcerated, they clearly aren’t having a good time themselves, so to then be bombarded with people constantly bringing problems to you, it’s exhausting and difficult to deal with. Contrasting that to the gifts and tokens to lift Paul’s spirit, because they sent that instead of problems, they got to experience a completely different side of Paul and his ministry than the other people did. What I’m meaning to say with all this, is that when we try to lightened burdens instead of adding to them, then we get to have unique experiences, insights, and knowledge that don’t necessarily come to others. 1:1-11 - Paul begins this epistle by introducing both himself and Timotheus, and although Timotheus might have served as the scribe, it is almost universally accepted that Paul is the sole author of this epistle. He greets the three main groups of his audience, “all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.” He wishes God’s grace upon them and tells them basically that he’s grateful to God for them and always prays for them with joy, “for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.” I think this is like when I tell my friends, “I’m so grateful to have you in my life. 1:12-14 - He then shifts to an interesting topic, and that is the positives that have come out of his being in prison, kind of like a “hey is hasn’t been all bad.” The IM says, “He then pointed out some positive consequences that had come from his imprisonment- specifically the ‘furtherance of the gospel.’ The Greek term translated as ‘furtherance’ can refer to an army’s cutting away of undergrowth or removing other barriers that impede their progress.” It’s really difficult to be experiencing hardship and look on the bright side, especially for me because I am definitely not a “look on the bright side” kind of person. But when reflecting back on many bad things that have happened to me over my lifetime, I can see God’s hand in most of it, protecting me, guiding me, making ways for me to prosper. It’s really difficult to do, but it’s very helpful and faith building to see the ways that God is with your during trying time and see how he’s creating a way for you to be prosperous when relief comes. Some of the ways God used Paul’s imprisonment to further his work include: “my bond in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places.” The IM says that this means Paul’s “bonds in Christ” “became known in the ‘palace’ or military headquarters.” The Romans had extensive experience keeping prisoners, but they probably had very few who didn’t try to escape or who were imprisoned for their beliefs. They probably had prisoners who were guilty of all types of crimes who were terrified of punishment or who were manipulative, or violent, etc. A well-mannered, educated, docile, inmate there for religious reasons was probably pretty unusual and gave Paul legitimacy in his message and surely there were some who were anxious to hear this unusual message. It probably put a “spotlight” on Paul and his message because of his unusual circumstances and personality. Another positive that came out of Paul’s imprisonment is that “many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the world without fear.” The IM comments, “other church members drew courage from Paul’s example and became ‘much more bold to speak the word.’” It’s one of those things where you think, “what’s the worst that could happen? Could they whip me? They already whipped Paul 5 times. Could they put me in prison? Paul’s already in prison. Could they kill me? They’ve already killed Jesus, James, Stephen, and will probably kill Paul too.” The article makes an excellent point saying “My appealing his rights of Roman citizenship, Paul had been brought to Rome to stand trial before Nero’s court. There in a hired residence near the Imperial Palace on the Palatine hill, and for two whole years, Paul was confined to house arrest… Paul used those years to build in Rome the cause of the Master. He was guarded day and night by a sequence of soldiers, many of whom, together with others from the royal household, became convinced by the steady faith and persuasions of Paul that Jesus was indeed the Lord and Redeemer whom they should serve. His preaching in those years was incessant, and his letters to the church never tired.” We see just how extensive and successful Paul’s missionary efforts were while in prison in Rome at the end of this epistle when he notes in chapter 4 verse 22 “All the Saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar’s household.” The article continues, “And thus while the great preacher was himself fettered and circumscribed in his movements, the word of God was not bound, but circulated freely, accomplishing the purposes of the Almighty, and penetrating into the very threshold of the Csar.” At this time, the Roman empire expanded through most of the known world, and here was Paul basically sitting in the court of the leader of the whole world for two years. 1:15-19 - As kind of a side note to those who are emboldened to preach the gospel, Paul notes that there are two different types of preaching going on. First, “some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife… the one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds.” I’m not sure if this means that some people preached the gospel aggressively hoping to make Paul upset, which doesn’t really make a lot of sense, or if it just means that they were preaching the gospel in a way that didn’t respect the free will of others. Paul noted that there were many who preached, “also of good will… of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.” I wonder if this just means that some where preaching the gospel out of obligation or basically just weren’t doing it out of love. I have two main missionary mottos for myself, first is that “no one cares how much you know until they know how much you care,” and the other one is “live your life so that those who don’t know Christ will want to know him because they know you,” or something like that. It’s basically the idea that if we love people and respect their free will and opinions, then whether they join the church or not, we still have a friendship. Getting them to join the church can never be the basis of our relationship, it always has to be love and friendship. It sounds like some of the people preaching the gospel during Paul’s time in prison weren’t doing so out of love and wanting to share the good word of God, and that always must be the focus. But I guess ultimately, God is able to take his message into the heart of the listener, because Paul adds, “notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretense, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.”