Advent 2 Wed Philippians 1:2-11 Lord, fill My Heart 

To all the saints in Christ Jesus here at Our Savior Lutheran Church: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

When Paul first came to Philippi, a city of mostly gentiles, there was no synagogue.  So rather than preaching inside a building, Paul preached in a large clearing down by the river.   Since there were very few Jews in the city, Paul encountered very little opposition.  Many of the Philippians embraced Paul’s words with enthusiasm and formed a congregation.

By the time Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians however, he was under house arrest, awaiting the outcome of his appeal to Caesar.  Paul believed that he would be freed but as he said later in his letter to the Philippians (1:20-21), “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Whether the outcome of his appeal would mean life or death, he was not certain but he was certain that he still belonged to Christ whether he lived or died.

 This certainty of his salvation gave him an inner joy and contentment even in the middle of imprisonment and we can see the wisdom of God in allowing Paul to be imprisoned. For if Paul would not have been detained, he would not have written letters to the churches for all of us to read and thereby increase our knowledge of God.

Despite Paul’s imprisonment, his joy speaks volumes for the power of the gospel message to comfort those who are overwhelmed with life’s burdens. Paul is a reminder to all of us to look past the trails of this life and to keep our eyes focused on our Lord and His promise of a better life when he returns.

Furthermore, when Paul could not accomplish all he wanted to do himself, he thanked God for those who diligently labored for the gospel.

Paul did not thank just a few however.  He did not single out anyone for special praises.  Surely there were some in the church that worked harder than others and others who hardly worked. Still, Paul gave thanks for all of them.

Listen closely to what he wrote, “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.”  Once again, Paul gives us an indication of how a strong faith in Jesus Christ can help us look past our own sinful emotions.

When we focus too narrowly on our daily lives, it is easy to find things to criticize in our fellow believers.  The better and more intimately we know them, the more we see all their faults and shortcomings.  Add our sinful nature and a few sarcastic words from the devil and we eagerly pick out of the faults of others.  When we focus on them rather than on our own faults, they appear so much worse than ourselves.

 When we look at those around us in this manner, it robs us of the joy we might have in seeing the great things God by His grace can do in the lives of His people. Paul looked past the individual faults of each and every one of the members of the Philippian congregation and saw the joy that was to come. Paul looked at the Philippian Christians and saw an impressive Christian forest filled with trees of all sorts and thanked God for all of them.

How could Paul speak with so much praise for the Philippian church? Because Paul’s heart was filled with the gospel of Jesus Christ. That gospel filled Paul’s heart so much that he saw the love that God has for all people.

 As John 3:16 & 17 tells us, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

We hear that verse quoted so many times we sometimes forget just how much love God really has for the world.  Jesus gave up not only His life for you, but He also endured God’s entire wrath as punishment for all of our sins from the beginning of time until the end of time itself.  Paul understood the great depth and unlimited love of Christ’s work and the Holy Spirit filled him with the love of God. So when Paul looked at fellow believers, he saw them as beloved children of God the Father.

The entire congregation had a share in the good news by believing it was true.  It was not just good news in general, but their individual faith had brought them to the point where they could say, “This is good news for me.” Since they had a share in the Gospel, they also supported Paul in his work of sharing the gospel with others.  They kept him in their prayers, they sent people to visit and encourage him and they supported him with gifts to help him though his time in prison. 

But Paul was not giving them praise for the help they were giving him. Paul saw that the Philippian congregation had the same love of the gospel, the same love for Christ as he had. Once they understood that Christ’s love carried out on the cross was for them personally, then they wanted to share His love with others. They knew that the One who died for them died for all. They became united with other Christians in the work of telling the good news to all.  You all hold this work in common, just as the gospel is our common possession.  Each and every one of you in the same way whether it is in a small way or a large part have a share in proclaiming the gospel. 

As your understanding of the love of Christ increases, your love in Christ for those around you grows. This love is not necessarily a human affection for them. Rather you see them as one who is a sinner just like you who has the potential to grow in their faith.

That is the love that Paul means when he says, “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart.”  The “good work” Paul refers to is our sanctification as we continue to grow in faith and in conduct. Our responsive actions embrace not only God’s work of creating faith in our hearts but also His work of preserving it there as the vital power behind our good works.  This means that all glory for what we are and what we will become belongs to Him alone.

Paul’s confidence did not rest in the abilities and powers of the Philippian congregation. Rather his eagerness was based on the power and promises of the One who “had begun a good work” in them. He chose you to be His own in eternity. So also God will not leave His work on you unfinished.  In your own lifetime He called you to faith by the gospel. You are still a work in progress; making mistakes but still growing in His love.  And in His own time, God will complete His work by bringing you home to Himself on “the day of Jesus Christ.” Until that day, you all will be a work in progress. 

Remembering his fellow Christians gave Paul a genuine joy in knowing that one day he would see all of God’s people in heavenly paradise.  Paul remembered all of his fellow believers as part of his regular prayer life and he thanked God for each and every one of them in his prayers.

Each time a Christian says “Our Father in the Lord’s prayer, he is thereby declaring that he comes before God as one of many with whom he is joined by faith. Frankly, it is not possible for a faithful Christian to forget the needs, hopes and sorrows of fellow believers in their prayers.

So until that day all of you will be in my prayers.  I will pray  those same prayers that Paul said, “that your love may abound more and more with  knowledge and discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ filled with the fruit of righteousness that come through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.”

   In Jesus name, Amen.