"I thank my God.. .being
confident of this very thing, that he who hath begun a good work in you
will perfom it until the day of Jesus Christ." - Phil. 1,3 - 6
Today's Epistle lesson comes from
St. Paul's letter to the Church at Philippi. Along with Colossians,
Ephesians and Philemon, the Epistle to the Philippians belongs to the time
of St. Paul's final imprisonment, in Rome, and in today's lesson, he refers
to the “bonds” of that captivity. The Christians at Philippi had sent him a
gift, by the hands of Epaphroditus, together with news of their community,
and his letter is basically an acknowledgement of the gift, and a response
to the news. It's a very personal letter, really, full of affection and
thanksgiving and confidence.
Philippi was a city in eastern
Macedonia, founded by King Philip, the father of Alexander the Great, in the
4th century, B.C. Later on, it was a Roman colony, and, in 4 B.C., it was
the scene of a decisive battle in which Anthony and Octavian - defeated
Brutus and Cassius. The city had great strategic importance, because it
stood at a break in the mountains, through which all traffic from Asia Minor
to Europe would normally pass. St. Paul first visited it in the course of
his second missionary journey. Perhaps you remember the story in Acts 16,
which tells how he had a vision, calling him to Macedonia, and how he and
Barnabas immediately set out, for Philippi. That is really one of the great
dramatic moments in the history of Christian and European civilization: St.
Paul crosses over from Asia to Europe and the seed of the Gospel is first
planted in European soil.
Now, at the end of all his
missionary journeys, a captive in Rome, and soon to be a martyr, he writes
to the Philippians, and the letter is full of thanksgiving and confidence -
thankful, not only for their gift, but, above all for their “fellowship
in the Gospel from the first day until now”, and confident that "he
who has begun a good work in them will perform it until the day of Jesus
Christ." He urges them to make their conduct worthy of the Gospel of
Christ, to give up the rivalries and personal vanities which mar their
fellowship. He sets before them the example of the humility of Christ, who
“took the form of a servant and became obedient unto death.” In that
spirit, they must be forgiving and forbearing in their love for one another.
The same teaching is presented in
today's Gospel lesson, when Jesus, in his parable of the debtors, speaks of
our heavenly Father's compassion and forgiveness as an example for us in our
dealings with one another. Should we forgive seven times, as the Law
requires? No, until seventy times seven – until we have lost all count. So
great is God's mercy towards us.
These Epistle and Gospel lessons
seem to have a particular significance just now, as we draw near the
conclusion of the Church's year. The lessons for the last few Sundays after
Trinity seem to offer a kind of summing up, a reflecting on the past, and a
looking forward to Advent, to “the day of Jesus Christ.” We look
back with thankfulness for a good work begun in us, for the word of the
Gospel established in us, planted and growing in our hearts.
No doubt our Christian life has
been marred by mistakes, and deficiencies and perversions of one kind and
another, perhaps by rivalries and personal vanities, as with the Christians
at Philippi; at any rate, blemished by personal failures of one kind and
another, causes of our own and others' sufferings. Perhaps it seems to us
that we have learned very little, and achieved very little in our Christian
profession.
But God has begun a good work in
us: he has sown the seed of eternal life in our hearts, and he has brought
us together in a community of faith. For all that, we must be infinitely
thankful. His compassions fail not, his love is new every morning.
Beside what God has done for us, beside the riches of his mercy, how stupid
and silly and petty – how unspeakably petty – are our discouragements and
our complaints. To be sure, God's work is not complete or perfect in us. As
St. Paul tells the Philippians, “Not as though I had already attained,
either were already perfect, but I follow after.” Not that we have
already attained – no, but a beginning has been made, a seed has been
planted, the seed of new life, the seed of God's Kingdom. That seed, says
Jesus, is like the mustard seed – the least of all seeds, so tiny we can
hardly see it. But when it sprouts and grows up, it becomes a great tree,
so that the birds of the air come to lodge in its branches. The seed of
God's Kingdom is tiny and hidden; only by faith do we discern it at all. It
seems the least of all seeds. But give thanks for that seed. Cherish it
and nourish it: it is God's good work begun in us. It will spring up, and
all the virtues of heaven will lodge in its branches, so that, as St. Paul
says in today's lesson, “our love may abound yet more and more in
knowledge and in all judgement: that we may approve things that are
excellent; that we may be sincere, and without offence, till the day of
Christ: being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus
Christ unto the glory and praise of God.”
Certainly there's plenty to
complain about; if we have a mind to complain: we can complain endlessly
about one another, about one another's stupidity, or insensitivity, or
perversity; we can complain about a Church which seems often mixed-up and
not very Christian; we can complain endlessly about ourselves, and our own
failures and deficiencies; we can complain about how little progress we seem
to be making. But today's lessons urge us to a different perspective:
rather, give thanks, for what God has done for us and in us, and let that
consideration be the basis of our life together.
William Cowper, an
eighteenth-century poet, puts it nicely:
Have we no words? ah, think again;
Words flow apace when we complain,
And fill our fellow-creature 's ear
With the sad tale of all our care.
Were half the breath thus vainly spent
To heaven in supplication sent,
Our cheerful song would oftener be
'Hear what the Lord hath done for me. '
Thank God, who has indeed begun a
good work in us, and will perform it 'till the day of Jesus Christ.
