Meditation on Philippians 4:1–9 (Pastor)
First Presbyterian Church of Smithtown, NY
Pastor Karen Crawford
Oct. 15, 2023
My son, Jacob, reached out to me by text message yesterday. “Hey, Mom. Can I call?”
Jacob moved to Colorado over Memorial Day Weekend. He had been living with us and going to college. Since then, he has lived with a friend, landed his first job in a CPA office, and moved into a studio apartment in Denver in August.
When I received his text, I called him. “Hi Jacob! How’s it going?” I asked.
“It’s going good,” he said. “But it’s getting cold. Did I leave a coat at the house?”
By the end of the call, I had ordered a winter coat on Amazon. I’m still his mother, right? He has had a few bumps in the road on his journey, making a new life in Colorado. His car didn’t pass emissions testing. He had to purchase a new catalytic converter. It was expensive. But he figured it out—found a mechanic and transportation when he was having his car repaired. He still likes his job, though he doesn’t want to do taxes forever, he said.
He has found a new hobby. He is learning sword fighting with his friend, the instructor, on Sunday afternoons. The important thing, he said, is to not be aggressive—to be gentle, so no one gets hurt.
When I hung up the phone, I laughed with relief. I was so worried when Jacob was moving out 5 months ago. Well, now I can truly say—our prayers have been answered. God has been faithful, and I am SO grateful. If only I could have seen ahead to this day—when I would know for sure that everything would be OK.
This passage in Philippians is one of my favorites in the Bible. Paul’s epistle to the Philippian church is a friendship letter at a time when letter writing was something of an art, taken seriously by ancient Greeks and Romans. This is hard for us to grasp in our culture of cell phones, text messages and emails, when few people sit down with pen and paper and take seriously the crafting of a letter.
Throughout all of Paul’s letters, we find a call to unity. This is no exception in Philippians, with his urging two women who are longtime friends and laborers for the gospel to be of the same mind and the one leading the church to help them reconcile.
If one theme could be chosen for this encouraging letter, it would be “joy.” This may be surprising when you consider that Paul wrote this letter when he was detained in a Roman prison, with no hope of release. He uses the Greek word Chara for joy twice in this passage and two more times for a word with the same root. “Rejoice,” he says. “Rejoice in the Lord.” This is number one for Paul’s instruction on how to live faithfully. Chara is a joy that is more than a happy feeling. It comes from the choice to trust that God will keep God’s promises. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit—a gift for believers who seek it.
Number two in Paul’s instructions is his call for a change in attitude, a new way of being and letting the world see we are different. “Let your gentleness be known to everyone,” he says. “The Lord is near.” Christ modeled gentleness in the face of aggression. In our society today, gentleness is seen as weakness. You and I now know it is a strength! Gentleness is also a gift from God.
Number three, “Be anxious for nothing,” he says. That’s a hard one to follow. People were anxious in the time of Christ, just like we are today. Jesus tells his followers in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear…. (and) who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” Jesus wouldn’t be telling people not to worry if they weren’t already worrying and didn’t have anything real to worry about. They did—just as we, too, have legitimate things to concern us today.
Number 4 in Paul’s instructions is, “But in everything (meaning every worrisome situation) by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving (trusting that God will hear your concern and respond) let your requests be made known to God.” I hear echoes of Jesus saying in Matthew 7:7, “Ask, and you shall receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door shall be opened for you.”
Here’s the promise when we let go of anxiety and choose to turn our worries into prayer, with thanksgiving: we will have the peace of God.
What caught my eye, studying this familiar and beloved passage this week, was that, along with telling us to turn our worries into prayers with thanksgiving, Paul tells us to take control of our thinking. Think on THESE things, he says. This was an AHAH! moment for me in seminary, when I was homesick and missing my husband and children. I don’t have to keep thinking the thoughts that make me sad or anxious. I can choose to think other thoughts. I can give the anxious thoughts to God.
Coming from a man in prison, with plenty of time to think about his situation, and remember all the mistakes in his life, especially the ones before his conversion, his advice is sound.
This isn’t the first time Paul has talked about the battle for our minds and how we may fight back. In Colossians chapter 3, he says, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” In Second Cor. 10:5, he tells the church, “we take every thought captive to Christ.” In Second Cor. 2:16, he assures us that we have “the mind of Christ.”
Another way of thinking of this list of things to think about is seeing it like a filter in a search engine. Have you ever used filters in a search engine on your computer? You put in key words and phrases and your search is narrowed to include these key words and phrases, while leaving out the results without those key words and phrases. So, when Paul says, “Think on THESE THINGS,” he means don’t think about anything that isn’t these things and especially don’t think about what is opposite of these things:
- “whatever is honorable,
- “whatever is just,
- “whatever is pure,
- “whatever is pleasing,
- “whatever is commendable,
- “if there is any excellence, and if there is anything worthy of praise, think on THESE things.”
Friends, what is the promise? Peace. In Greek, this is eirene. Not a human peace that we create for ourselves. This is the peace of God that is a gift of God, a peace of mind that arises from our reconciliation with God in Christ. This is a peace that surpasses all understanding—meaning it isn’t logical to human beings. It doesn’t make sense to have peace when you are Paul, detained in chains in a Roman prison, unless it is eirene, reconciliation with God, which no one can ever take away from us! What a beautiful image Paul supplies in this letter of friendship of the peace of God guarding our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.
The call from Jacob was truly a gift after an anxious week. If you know me well, you know that I am a worrier, especially when my plate is full and I am not allowing myself enough rest. Is that true for you? Anxiety is worse when you are tired? Rest today, dear friends, rest and receive Christ’s peace. I will do my best to rest, as well.
Sometimes, the scriptures that are our favorites are the ones that speak to our own struggles. In this passage in Philippians, we find hope that we aren’t the only ones who struggle with anxiety. This has been a problem for thousands of years.
We are living in anxious times, brothers and sisters. We will have anxious thoughts every day. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be human beings. Remember Paul’s list of what to think about when you are tempted to be anxious or let your thoughts drift to negative things. They have to pass this test:
Are the thoughts honorable, just, pure, pleasing, or commendable? If not, let them go. They aren’t God’s will for you! The same goes for what people are saying to you. If the words aren’t honorable, just, pure, pleasing, or commendable, excellent or worthy of praise, change the subject to something more positive and uplifting for both of you. If that still doesn’t work, then politely end the conversation. It’s not good for you or for them to continue with that kind of talk.
When the worries come, as they will, turn them into prayers, the kind where you are listening for God and opening your heart for God’s healing. Don’t just pray the kind of prayers where you are going on and on about your problems and the problems of the world—and getting yourself more and more upset. Pray for the Lord to help you carry your burden of anxiety. Then, let the Lord carry your burden. Better, yet, leave it at the foot of the cross.
If only we could face every anxiety-provoking situation with the hope that God’s got this! It may take time, and there will be surprises. The future is unknown to us. But we can trust our loving God and all the promises in Scripture. If only I could remember how God has answered so many prayers for me in my life so far, including the one for Jacob’s wellbeing.
God has been faithful, and we are SO grateful. If only I could have seen ahead to this day—when everything would be OK.
With Paul, I say, “Rejoice in the Lord. Again,” I say, “rejoice!” And, “may the peace of God guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Will you pray with me?
Let us pray.
God of peace, we thank you for the letters of Paul, his encouragement for churches of every time and place. Thank you for your faithfulness —helping us with every anxious situation and your promise of always being there with us in our daily struggles. Give us, as Paul says, the mind of Christ; let us be united as Christ’s Body, not allowing any harmful, divisive spirit to dwell with us in our congregation. Remind us, today and always, when we are tempted to be negative or anxious that you have a good future planned, waiting to unfold. And that we will be OK. Today is the day to rejoice in the Lord, no matter our circumstances. Again, I say, “Rejoice!” We pray in Christ, with thanksgiving. Amen.
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