Paul’s Letter to the Philippians is one of the four letters associated with his time in prison. He has an upbeat attitude that’s infectious, especially considering his surroundings and predicament. The first verse of this week’s passage from this letter demonstrates that attitude well:
Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say, rejoice. — Phil 4:4 (LEB)
He offers this encouragement after dealing with a conflict in the church in Philippi a few sentences before:
So then, my beloved and greatly desired brothers, my joy and crown, thus stand firm in the Lord, dear friends. 2 I appeal to Euodia and I appeal to Syntyche to be in agreement in the Lord. 3 Yes, I ask also you, true yokefellow, help them, who struggled along with me in the gospel with both Clement and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life. — Phil 4:1–3
One of the things that we may not notice in those few verses is Paul’s reference to the two women as workers with him in sharing the Gospel: struggled along with me in the gospel … whose names are in the book of life. That’s an unusual level of empowerment for women in ministry in a patriarchal society, especially by someone so castigated by modern commentators as a misogynist.
Apparently, someone sent Paul a letter (or told him in person) that the church in Philippi was going through conflict in his absence, so despite the hardship he himself is facing, he writes back to encourage them to work together.
Ironically, the women weren’t living up to the meanings of their names. Euodia means prosperous journey and Syntyche means pleasant acquaintance. Paul specifically asks them to come together as one mind in their service to Jesus Christ, so apparently, they were causing some type of dissension in the church. By not mentioning the specific problem, Paul is giving us all a perpetual admonition to work together for our common goal in Christ and not to let petty differences interfere. We don’t know if they were arguing about the worship music or potluck signup sheets, or whether newly baptized Christians should be sprinkled or dunked. Paul considered the topic of the argument much less important than the effect it was having on the congregation.
He asked another Christian leader to intercede and dispel the conflict between Euodia and Syntyche. We can’t tell who he was addressing, but in our application today, we can infer it means any of us as disciples in our own congregations. We are being asked to help eliminate any conflict we see that is having a negative effect. We don’t have to be in total agreement about every issue, but our different views should be able to work together, much like a symphony has many notes that fit together well, played at the same time, rather than one single note played by all the instruments at once. In fact, one of the words used for agreement in the Bible is symphoneo.
It’s against this background of healing the dissension in the assembly that Paul then encourages them to rejoice in everything and worry about nothing.
Let your gentleness be made known to all people. The Lord is near. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. — Phil 4:5–7
Part of prayer requires a willingness to do what God directs you to do. Many secular people see prayer as lazy Christians turning everything over to God for him to do instead of them taking action themselves. It’s not. It’s turning things over to God to solve; which usually results in him handing them back to us to act upon.
Worrying is not prayer; it’s sin. We don’t like thinking of it that way, but Jesus specifically tells us not to worry (Matt 6:25-33) and doing what Jesus tells us not to do is called sin. There are no exemptions for parents, or for things we think are really important, or even for our finances. We’re told to be responsible (stewardship) and take the appropriate measures as needed in caring for ourselves and our families, but action is not worry.
If you have time to worry, you have time to pray. And Paul tells us to pray continually about everything, in thanksgiving. We’re not used to being thankful for adversity, but he tells us to be. And Paul has some strong bona fides in this matter as he’s telling to be thankful like he is, while he’s in prison waiting for his execution.
Praying with thanksgiving requires us to trust God. Paul uses four words to describe how to do it. Prayer (proseuchē) describes how we approach God. Petition (deēsei) is our request regarding a problem or need. Thanksgiving (eucharistias) is the attitude we should always have deep in our hearts that accompany our prayers. Requests (aitēmata) are for definite and specific things that we’re asking for.
Prayer changes things (most notably us). Our prayers align us to God’s will, not the other way around, and enable us to endure any situation. Prayer provides a comfort and a resting in God’s grace that worry erodes.
Christian reaction to life’s difficulties is a bright light to an unbelieving world that shows the power of faith in our lives. Prayer is what connects that light to its power source.
In all things, pray without ceasing and with true thanksgiving!
Your Brother in Christ,
Fr. Austin