Chuck Larsen

Paul explains how he will be “glad and rejoice” over the Philippians even if the price of their faith had to be paid for with his own life. It was well worth it! It would be nothing more than a libation, or a drink offering, that was poured out over the main burnt offering. According to Exodus the drink offering was wine. Not the sour vinegar wine that Jesus was offered on the cross, but a robust healthy wine. If you did a study of the Old Testament you’d see how this high quality wine was the symbol of joy. I like the thought of the symbolic joy of the drink offering and Paul’s claim that he was glad to offer himself for the cause of Christ to the Philippians to produce their faith and growth in Christ-likeness.

Up to now most of the references to Joy have been about how Paul, in spite of all his struggles, was still able to maintain his own joy. It’s mostly about Paul’s own joy. But then after expressing his own great joy again in verse 17, Paul goes on in Philippians 2:18 to address their joy. He writes, “Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.” Paul literally and liberally invites them to join his double-dose of joy with a double-dip of their own. If it was a song the “joy note” would show up like the chorus. We see it four times in the space of just these two verses (Philippians 2:17-18).

This is an imperative. We see these constructions as commands. So Hughes says, “Also, this first imperative was totally meshed with Paul’s joy and was a command to rejoice in the midst of suffering. What we have here is a partaking of the fellowship of the gospel at its deepest level (cf. 1:5, 7)—a fellowship rooted in the three-way bond of Paul, Christ, and the Philippians.” Suffering is a part of every life. Christ experienced what must have been the most profound physical, emotional and spiritual suffering of anyone. Paul rejoiced to share in the suffering of Christ. He didn’t go looking for the suffering. Christ did not do that either. But when it came, he made it an offering of joy. Christ suffered as the “whole burnt offering” for the sins of the world. Paul suffered as a drink offering added to the blood of Christ in order to advance the mission of Christ. Our suffering should be viewed in a similar way. In the midst of our sorrow, pain, loss, grief, and misery, let us lift up our eyes to God and offer it all as a second libation (drink offering) with joy in knowing we too are contributing to the joy and faith of others that will follow.

Paul really wanted the Philippians to feel the joy he himself had through all his trials and sufferings. He even used the imperative mood (mood of command) when he said they should be glad and rejoice with him. Christ was God’s whole burnt offering for the sins of the world. Christ had to suffer! He had to die in order for our salvation to be secured. Like the drink offerings of the Old Testament, Paul saw his life as a mere libation added to the great sacrifice of Christ. He offered himself with great joy and encouraged us also to consider all our pains and sorrows as fellowship with the sufferings of Christ. In that way no pain is ever wasted and we too can find meaning and purpose in the miseries of life. Paul wants them to find joy through all their sufferings just like he did.

Then in Philippians 2:19, Paul goes back to the things that bring him real joy in life. He and Timothy were on the team that planted the Church in Philippi years before. They knew Timothy well and Paul intended to send him to them knowing how they will be glad to see him again. But he adds a thought when he writes, “I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you.” They will be cheered upon seeing Timothy again, and Paul himself will be cheered when Timothy returns to Rome with news about how things are going in Philippi.

Paul is expecting the Best! I love this man! He knows of the struggles and divisions in the church and he addresses the need for each and every one, along with the elders and deacons, to cultivate the mind of Christ in all their dealings with each other. He expects them to receive his instructions with open and willing hearts. He expects the two women who had brought division and animosity to respond well. He expects the best from them! We don’t give our best to those who expect us to fail! We don’t get the best from those we expect to fail. It’s nearly a self-fulfilling prophecy. Christ teaches us to expect the best, but always be ready to forgive and restore when someone fails. We all do, and we all will again. So will others around us. I love what Max Lucado said in “No Wonder They Call Him The Savior.” He writes, “Expectations alone are the bullets that can kill; but buffered by acceptance and forgiveness, they can bring out the best.”

After Paul exhorts us to do things in community without grumbling, arguing and complaining he explains the result of having that humble obedient attitude of Christ. Philippians 2:15 explains, “that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.” Earlier I had compared Paul’s exhortation to us to do everything without “grumbling and complaining” to the episodes recorded in Exodus where all the Israelites grumbled, argued, and complained against the leadership throughout their journey to the Promised Land. None of the adults in that party were allowed to enter, but they all died in the wilderness. The phrase in this passage “crooked and twisted” is the same phrase used in Deuteronomy 32:5 to describe the generation that failed to inherit the land. Could Paul be contrasting a blameless church with a blameworthy Israel? One commentator took it further and observed, “Further, the church now constituted the children of God, and was the true Israel.” Paul wants us to be the “children of God” who are “without blemish” in such an environment.

Israel was called to be a light to the gentile nations. It failed! The world was to be illuminated by the presence of God’s people in such a way as to stand out against the darkness all around it. Christians are exhorted to let our lights shine also. Jesus’ attitude and demeanor of humble obedience and submission should be the guiding example for us. When that’s the case the whole world can be enlightened by the church. But unfortunately, from the very beginning as seen in this letter, the church has failed in many ways to do that, just as Israel did, because it has been riddled with dissension.

It’s easy to miss the point in this passage by focusing solely on the exhortation not to complain or argue with each other. But there’s a purpose behind it. We are to shine like stars in a black world where there are few examples of Christ. We are to have Christ’s attitude to stand out from the rest! This calling is a tall order! One commentator said it will require an “extreme makeover.” He writes, “How can we possibly do that? This gift of salvation also brings with it the gift of power. The power to change. We can no longer justify our behavior with ‘That’s just the way I am,’ because God empowers us to be new. Paul writes about this to the Corinthian church: ‘Therefore, whoever is in Christ is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!’ (2 Cor 5:17.) We don’t have to let our faults rule and ruin us. When we give our lives to Jesus and accept His powerful grace, He literally walks with us and makes us who we are intended to be.”

In previous devotions I’ve focused on Paul’s exhortations for believers in community to adopt the attitude of Jesus in humility and obedience. He then asserts that God is anxious to help produce in us the desire and ability to live out these traits in community. Paul’s purpose was to sustain a healthy, loving, and effective ministry in the church at Philippi. His words are inspired by God and addressed to us as well. Continuing in this line of thought Paul then instructs the Philippians and us in Philippians 2:14. He says, “Do all things without grumbling or disputing.”

For the biblically literate this phrase conjures up the sad story of the Israelites in the wilderness. All they did was grumble, complain and argue with Moses. It’s not a pretty picture and leads to nothing good for anyone. The grumblings in the wilderness were against the leadership. It’s the same thing at Philippi. This is probably why the “elders and deacons” where singled out by Paul in his introduction. We will also see specific people named as the source of conflict in the church in chapter 4.

Critical, grumbling, complaining and arguing spirits have been the bane of every church from Philippi to Philadelphia, from Boston to Blair and everywhere else. If I read Paul correctly, this issue is not a minor issue. It’s a central theme found in many of his epistles. He wants the church families everywhere to live healthy, wholesome, humble and obedient lives, filled with joy. Kent Hughes observes that this problem of grumbling, questioning and complaining is “a watershed state of the soul. Those who persist in such murmuring are not obedient to Christ and his gospel and are rejecting the divine call to work out your own salvation.’ They impede their own souls and the souls of their brothers and sisters in this matter. They are undertows to the body of Christ. So if you are one of these people, understand that when you finally stand before your Savior, you will answer with shame.”