Philippians 1:15-18 Christ is preached! (Who cares why?)

I’m back! I've been without home internet access, so instead of seeming a week behind, this seems almost two weeks behind my posted schedule for learning the rest of chapter one.  Here are my thoughts from this past Monday:

I had said that I might or might not memorize all of Philippians…but now that I’ve started, I really do want to memorize, rather than just look at, each paragraph.  So I’m changing my approach, and we’ll see how that works.  This afternoon, I’ve chosen what phrasing I want to memorize from verse 15 all the way to the end of chapter 1.  I’ve printed it out, and plan to carry it in my purse, so that each week when it’s time to start a new paragraph, I won’t wait to look at it until I have a chance to get to my computer or to multiple different versions of the Bible.

And I’m not going to spend time in this blog thinking aloud about phrasing choices.  Instead, I want to think about structure of each paragraph.  Repeated words or phrases (that might help me memorize).  I could even think about content! 

So let’s take a look at this week’s [=last week’s] passage:

¹⁵ It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry,

but others [do so] out of goodwill.
¹⁶ These proclaim Christ out of love,
knowing that I have been put here for the defense of the gospel;
¹⁷ the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely,
supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.
¹⁸ But what does it matter?
The important thing is that in every way,
whether from false motives or true,
Christ is preached.
And because of this I rejoice.

We probably want to remind ourselves of the paragraph immediately preceding this one.  (Which I have partly memorized, but not completely…especially verse 14.)  Philippians 1:1-11 hang together in a nice, cohesive unit, culminating in the benediction I love.  Then verse 12ff:

          ¹² Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters,

that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.

¹³ As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard

and to everyone else

that I am in chains for Christ.

¹⁴ And because of my chains,

most of the Christians here have become confident in the Lord,

and dare to proclaim the Word with greater boldness and without fear.

So we have a mental picture of the Christians near where Paul is imprisoned,

being empowered and proclaiming the gospel with more boldness than they previously had done.  In these next few verses, we’re going to talk about those brothers and sisters who are preaching the Word:

¹⁵ It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry,

but others [do so] out of goodwill.

¹⁶ These proclaim Christ out of love,

knowing that I have been put here for the defense of the gospel;

¹⁷ the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely,

supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 

What would happen if I would use color and/or indentation to help me remember who is being talked about when?  Suddenly this looks like a little chiasm:  an A section at the beginning of verse 15 corresponds to an A’ section in verse 17.  Both A sections talk about the same content, but A’ gives more detail.  And the (green) B and B’ sections follow the same pattern.  B introduces the subject matter [which is the opposite of A], and B’ gives more detail.

And then, after these verses that describe two different groups of people, both of whom are proclaiming the gospel, but for very different reasons, we have the verse that brings those two groups together:

¹⁸ But what does it matter?

The important thing is that in every way,

whether from false motives or true,

Christ is preached.

And because of this I rejoice.  

Let me just pull out some key words for each group of people:

envy, rivalry, selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing - stir up trouble; false motives

goodwill, love, defense of the gospel, true [motives]

And, while I’m playing with color, let me color-code those words (going from lighter to darker) based on whether they show up in the first (A or B) section, the second (A’ or B’) section, or the synthesis (What does it matter?) section:

envy, rivalry, selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing - stir up trouble; false motives

goodwill, love, defense of the gospel, true [motives]

Now let me re-rearrange them, inserting “preach the gospel” phrases where appropriate (and adding a few blue words about Paul):

preach Christ    envy, rivalry

    goodwill,

            proclaim Christ    love,

I = here        defense of the gospel,

proclaim Christ    selfish ambition, not sincerely,

supposing - stir up trouble     chains

What does it matter?   important thing

false motives   true,

Christ is preached.

I rejoice.

(Hmmm…there’s a neat little preach-proclaim-proclaim-preach pattern!)  I suspect that if I can remember all these key words, I’ll have this passage pretty well memorized!  And that last phrase, “because of this, I rejoice” will be a tie to the passage for next week.

Speaking of next week:  I’ve re-divided which verses to look at which week, so that it agrees more with the paragraph divisions in my Bible and so that I don’t end up doing two complete sections in one week.  So here’s the revised plan, along with the phrasing I’ve chosen:

Week of November 24, 2013 – Philippians 1:18d-21

Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,

¹⁹ for I know that through your prayers

and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.

²⁰ I eagerly expect and hope

that I will not be put to shame in any way,

but that by my speaking with all boldness,

Christ will be exalted now as always in my body,

whether by life or by death.

²¹ For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.

Week of December 1, 2013 - Philippians 1:22-26

²² If I am to go on living in the body,

this will mean fruitful labor for me.

Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!

²³ I am torn between the two:

I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far;

²⁴ but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

²⁵ Since I am convinced of this,

I know that I will remain

and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith,

²⁶ so that through my being with you again

your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.

Week of December 8, 2013 – Philippians 1:27-30

²⁷ Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ,

so that, whether I come and see you

or am absent and hear about you,

I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit,

striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel,

²⁸ and are in no way intimidated by your opponents.

This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed,

but that you will be saved –

and that by God.

²⁹ For you have been granted the privilege for Christ's sake

not only of believing in him

but of suffering for him as well;

³⁰ since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had,

and now hear that I still have.

Philippians 1:12-14 Good has come of this...

The benediction I love, found in Phil. 1:9-11, is not the last word.  In fact, Paul is just getting started.  So let’s look at Philippians 1:12-14.

¹² Now I want you to know, brothers,
that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.
¹³ As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard
and to everyone else
that I am in chains for Christ.
¹⁴ Because of my chains,
most of the brothers in the Lord
have been encouraged to speak the word of God
more courageously and fearlessly.

- New International Version (NIV)

The little New Testament I keep in my purse is NIV.  And in general, I like the NIV translation on these verses.  Verses 12-13 are quite readable and easy to understand.  I did find myself making two changes to the NIV: 

(a)  I changed “brothers” to “brothers and sisters,” because the Greek word includes both men and women.  And since the letter to the Philippians later addresses some women by name, we know that there are women in the group of people Paul addresses here as adelphoi. 

(b)  I found myself saying “actually” instead of “really” near the end of verse twelve.

This evening, I consulted TNIV and discovered, word-for-word, the text that I had been memorizing!

¹² Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters,

that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.

- Today’s New International Version (TNIV)

Now, how shall I approach verse 14? 
·         Can I say “brothers and sisters” in both verse 12 and verse 14 without sounding awkward?
·         How can I help my listener hear the difference between the “brothers and sisters” in verse 12 [the addressees of the letter] and the “brothers and sisters” in verse 14 [the Christians in contact with Paul who are preaching more courageously now that he is in prison]?
·         What does “in the Lord” refer to?  Are we talking about “brothers and sisters in the Lord,” or brothers and sisters who are “confident in the Lord”?
·         When do I want to say “chains” and when “imprisonment”?  “Imprisonment” would tie to verse 7 the way I’ve memorized it.  But “chains” is easier to internalize from hearing it.  I’m not sure I have to completely choose one or the other option.

¹³ As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else

that I am in chains for Christ.
¹⁴ And because of my chains,
most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord
and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.

- Today’s New International Version (TNIV)

¹³ so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to everyone else
that my imprisonment is for Christ;
¹⁴ and most of the brothers and sisters,
having been made confident in the Lord by my imprisonment,
dare to speak the word with greater boldness and without fear. 

- New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

¹³ For everyone here, including all the soldiers in the palace guard,

knows that I am in chains because of Christ.

¹⁴ And because of my imprisonment,

many of the Christians here have gained confidence and become more bold

in telling others about Christ. 

- New Living Translation (NLT)

I am going to borrow a bit from the New Living Translation, even though it’s not quite as literal a translation.  I want to say “the Christians here,” even though that’s not the actual word Paul used.  It gives the message of Paul’s letter, helping today’s listeners more clearly differentiate between Philippian “brothers” and the “brothers” who were made more bold by Paul’s imprisonment.

I like using “chains” in both verses 13-14.

I’m going to try this:

¹⁴ And because of my chains,

most of the Christians here have become confident in the Lord,

and dare to speak the word with greater boldness and without fear.

I’m a little iffy about “speak the word”:  is it emphatic enough?  It’s a pretty literal translation of the Greek…but “preach” or “proclaim” are also shades of meaning.  “Proclaim the Word,” perhaps.  Or “proclaim the message,” or the gospel.  I think I’ll keep “Word” for now, but I want to pay attention to how “gospel” or “message” happen during the letter, and possibly modify this phrase depending on the rest of the letter…

¹² Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters,
that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.
¹³ As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard
and to everyone else
that I am in chains for Christ.
¹⁴ And because of my chains,
most of the Christians here have become confident in the Lord,
and dare to proclaim the Word with greater boldness and without fear.

That’s all for now.  I’ll do some thinking about verses 15-18 this coming Monday.

 

PHILIPPIANS TIMELINE, in case you’re interested in the plan for the rest of Chapter 1

Week of November 3, 2013 - Philippians 1:12-14
Week of November 10, 2013 – Philippians 1:15-18
Week of November 17, 2013 – Philippians 1:19-21
Week of November 24, 2013 – Philippians 1:22-24
Week of December 1, 2013 - Philippians 1:25-28a
Week of December 8, 2013 – Philippians 1:28b-30

Philippians 1:9-11 Beloved Benediction

Philippians 1:9-11    (Friday-Sunday benediction)

⁹ And this is my prayer,

that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight
¹⁰ to help you to determine what is best,
so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless,
¹¹ having produced the harvest of righteousness
that comes through Jesus Christ
for the glory and praise of God.

One way to internalize Scripture is to pray the same Scriptures on a regular basis.  I’m not always very good at remembering to pick up a prayer book and pray a set of daily prayers…so since Scripture memorization is important to me, I’ve set up my own rotation of memorized or nearly-memorized Scriptures.  If I remember, I can say these to myself in the evening before or after bedtime. 

Sunday is Psalm 8 and Colossians 3:12-17.  Tuesday is “In the beginning”:  Genesis 1:1-5 and John 1:1-14.  Wednesday is Psalm 23 and the “salt and light” passage from Matthew 5.  In addition to an Old Testament and New Testament memory passage for each day, I say a benediction.  (That is, if I’m still awake when I get to that point.  Of course, bathing oneself in Scripture is a pretty good way to go to sleep.)

Philippians 1:9-11 has been my Friday-Saturday benediction ever since I started this idea ten years ago.  (Actually, it’s my Sunday benediction, too, because I don’t really have Jude 24 memorized yet.)  I love this prayer.  I love the idea of having Paul (or anyone) pray this for me, because I know I need it.  I like praying this prayer for other people.  I have used it as a benediction in a worship service, and often add the words “for you”:

This is my prayer for you:
that your love may overflow more and more

with knowledge and depth of insight,

to help you determine what is best,

so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless,

having produced the harvest of righteousness

that comes through Christ Jesus,

for the glory and praise of God.

I hope, during the next few days, to also think about these words of benediction in the context in which they appear in Philippians.  But I won’t stop using them as a benediction on their own.  Even when we do have love for each other, we can always use more and more insight.  We can always use knowledge and perceptiveness, so that we can be attuned to the Spirit’s leading and determine what is best.  None of us are pure and blameless, but hopefully we are growing and moving in that direction.  May we bear fruit – the kind of bountiful harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus and gives glory and praise to God!

By the way, my other benedictions, in case you’re interested, are:

Ephesians 3:20-21   (Monday and Tuesday benediction)

²⁰ Now to him who by the power at work within us

is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine,

²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations,

forever and ever.     Amen

 

Numbers 6:24-26  (Wednesday and Thursday benediction)

²⁴ The LORD bless you and keep you;

²⁵ the LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;

²⁶ the LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

Philippians 1:7-8 I Have You in My Heart

I am still a week behind the suggested readings.  What’s my excuse?  Besides trying to spend some time getting ready for a workshop on biblical storytelling this weekend?  And the fact that I already have Philippians1:9-11 pretty well memorized? 

Well, I got sidetracked writing a hymn setting of Philippians 1:3-6.  I won’t post it here yet, because I’m hoping the words in verse 2 will still get a bit of fine tuning… but I now have a short, easily-singable, rhythmic/rhyming version of Phil. 1:3-6. 

But on to Philippians 1:7-8!  These, by the way, are verses I often skip or skim over.  I wonder why.  I love verse 6…really, that whole paragraph from 3-6.  And I love verses 9-11.  Am I missing something of substance in between those two beloved paragraphs?  Why did an upcoming conference for women in ministry (which I won’t be attending) choose these two verses as their theme?

⁷ 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.
⁸ God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
                                                - New International Version (NIV)

If I look at verse 7, at least in NIV, the first half of it flows naturally from what precedes it.  Paul has just spent a whole paragraph giving thanks for the believers in Philippi.  Now he says, “It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart.”  But what’s up with that next phrase?  I could fluently say,

It is right for me to feel this way about all of you,

since I have you in my heart;

for all of you share in God’s grace with me.

The phrase about sharing in God’s grace has ties to the bit about sharing in the Gospel from the first day until now (v.5), and to the mention of grace in the salutation (v.2).  And, knowing Paul, I suspect “grace” might show up again before this letter is over.  Of course, we know (if we’ve looked ahead) that the theme of imprisonment is going to come up.  Paul wrote this letter from prison.  But the insertion of that “whether I’m in chains or out of them” contrast here seems quite abrupt…and disrupts the flow of what I want to memorize.

I had thought that for convenience’ sake, I might just go with NIV on verses 7-8.  After all, the tiny New Testament that fits in the purse I carry most frequently is NIV.  That’s what I’m likely to pull out and consult while I’m waiting for school to let out.  But maybe I better consult some other versions, after all!

⁷ It is right for me to think this way about all of you,

because you hold me in your heart,
for all of you share in God’s grace with me,
both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.
⁸ For God is my witness,
how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus.

- New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

In the NRSV, by the way, the entire chunk from verse 3 to the end of verse 11 is one paragraph.  In NIV, those verses are three paragraphs.  In some of the other versions I have sometimes quoted, I’m consulting an electronic text that doesn’t show me paragraph divisions.  (Which, in any case, wouldn’t have been in the original Greek texts.)

I think these two versions will suffice, this week, to represent the breadth of the versions I’ve looked at.  Except I have to quote the King James of verse 8, just as an example of a place where the 400-year-old English probably obscures the meaning, at least to today’s listeners/readers:

⁸ For God is my record,
how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.

- King James Version (KJV)

I think I won’t memorize that version.

So, what will I memorize?

As a whole, I like the flow – the progression of ideas – in NRSV much better than NIV.  All three of the phrases that I want to group together are grouped together.  Then the “both in prison and out of it” idea comes in…and it makes sense to me, the way it’s presented in NRSV, as a subordinate idea that follows the main thoughts.  Also as foreshadowing of what will come up after verses 9-11 (Paul’s prayer for the Philippians, which I’ve often adapted into either a public benediction or a private benediction/prayer during my own devotions).  NIV more closely follows the Greek word order here, but in this instance I don’t want to keep the Greek word order.  I want to say what flows more naturally to me in English.

Do I want to memorize exclusively NRSV, or do I want to adjust any words or phrases?

“It is right for me to think this way about all of you…” (NRSV)  Most of the other versions I looked at said feel instead of think.  The Greek word is more often translated “think,” I think…but it seems that “feel” would be at least as appropriate here; perhaps more so.  In the Myers-Briggs personality test, I’m borderline between “thinking” and “feeling,” so maybe I’ll simply allow myself to fluctuate between the two words and say whatever comes out at the time.

The next question is a weightier one, and I suspect it’s one I can’t answer.  Who is in whose heart?  NIV and most other translations say, “I hold you in my heart,” or some such thing.  NRSV reverses that:  “you hold me in your heart.”   But there’s a footnote saying that “I hold you in my heart” is another possible reading.  I looked at the Greek, but everything is in accusative case, and participles are involved; and if biblical scholars at their best haven’t come up with a definitive translation, then I suspect a sleepy me is also not going to figure out exactly what Paul meant.  I wonder if both meanings could have been intended.  I’m inclined to go with “I hold you…” …but it doesn’t hurt to also think about the other way around.  Being held in someone’s heart gives you a warm, cared-about feeling.

For the next two phrases, I’m going to choose pure NRSV.  I realize that I can’t choose what to memorize based on what I want to memorize rather than what the Bible says!  But these thoughts, presented in this order, make so much more sense to me than the NIV. 

And for verse 8, I also like the NRSV phrasing better than NIV, at least at the beginning of the verse.  “Compassion” and “affection” are both good, and I would be comfortable using either, but I suspect that “compassion” will come to my mind more readily.

So I think I have come up with the text of what I want to memorize.  I already have the first two phrases by memory; and choosing this arrangement of thoughts should get me past the road block of what comes after “I hold you in my heart.”  I don’t have any hymns or musical settings of these two verses.  (This may be part of why I skip these two verses and gravitate toward the ones that do show up in musical settings.)  Should I add a few verses to the Philippians 1:3-6 hymn I just wrote?  If so, I’d want to include verses 9-11, as well.

⁷ It is right for me to feel this way about all of you,

because I hold you in my heart;
for all of you share in God’s grace with me,
both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.
⁸ For God is my witness,
how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:5-6 He's Still Working on Me

The summer I turned fifteen, I attended my first nation-wide church youth conference.  Thousands of Mennonite youth converged.  The worship services included some music I knew, and some I didn’t.  Our theme song for the week – probably because Phil. 1:3-6 was our theme Scripture, but I’m not sure of that – was a musical setting of Phil. 1:6.  Maybe you know it:

I’m confident of this very thing:     (echo)

That he                                         (echo)
who has begun                             (echo)
a good work                                  (echo)
in you                                            (echo)
He shall perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.  (sing all together, 4 times)

I looked for this song online, so I could give credit to the composer, etc.  But it’s a little tricky to find a song with a title like “Phil. 1:6” – or, maybe, “I’m confident of this very thing” – especially when there are other musical settings out there of the same Bible verse.  For example, Steve Green’s song “He Who Began a Good Work in You.”  (For a more complete list of the music I found, see the “Hymn alert” at the bottom of this blog post.)  To the best of my knowledge, the above song is anonymous and in the public domain.

The message of Philippians 1:6 is important.  It’s the basis for the familiar saying, “Have patience.  God isn’t finished with me yet.”  Another musical reference:  when I was growing up, I used to listen to a Gaither record that contained the song, “He’s still working on me.”  The chorus lyrics are:

He’s still working on me,
to make me what I ought to be.
It took Him just a week to make the moon and the stars,
the sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars.
How loving and patient He must be,
‘Cause He’s still working on me.

So, what is this good work that God has begun in me but has not yet brought to completion?  That answer will be different for each of us.  What are my spiritual gifts?  What do I care passionately about?  What is my personality type, and how does that interact with my spiritual gifts and my passions?  These questions, by the way, come from a book called What You Do Best in the Body of Christ, by Bruce Bugbee.  The church I belong to studied this book a year or so ago:  I thought about those questions then, but I would like to put some more thought into them at some point.

Browsing through the book, and reviewing the descriptions of spiritual gifts like “teaching” and “creative communication,” I can think of ways I am using those.  One thing I feel pretty strongly about – passionate, you might say – is Scripture memory.  Partly because what you store in your heart is more likely to be accessible to you if you don’t have a Bible handy or if you start losing your eyesight or ability to physically hold a book.  And partly because Scripture that is told, rather than read, engages much more fully with the listener.  I’m leading a workshop on biblical storytelling the first weekend in November:  I’m looking forward to it.  (First time I’ve led a workshop on such a thing, so any prayers for me will be appreciated!)

And “creative communication” – “the divine enablement to communicate God’s truth through a variety of art forms” – you’ve surely noticed, by now, that music comes to my mind quite readily.  I preached yesterday (2 Tim. 3:14-4:5):  it was going to be a regular sermon.  But late Thursday evening, I got the idea of comparing God’s presence in our lives to the ever-constant, ever-present repeating bass line of Pachelbel’s Canon in D.  I could have just stood up in the pulpit and told people to listen for God’s leading in their lives.  But I think they’ll remember the message better – certainly in a different way – because I asked them to listen for that bass theme (relabeled "the God-theme") as our pianist played sections of the Pachelbel piece.

Enough about me.  What about you?

Philippians 1:3-6 as a whole

Now, regarding the actual memorization of this entire chunk of Scripture.  (You may have surmised, correctly, that always staying on schedule, when missing the deadline is not catastrophic, is not my strongest point…probably because I commit to as much as I think [or hope] I can do, and then things sometimes converge to make one week intensely busy.)

^1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you,

⁴ constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you,
⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel
          from the (very) first day until now,
⁶ being confident of this,
that the One who began a good work among you
will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

I like “your partnership in the gospel” (NIV, New Jerusalem…) better than “your sharing in the gospel” (NRSV).  Partnership gives more ownership, perhaps more equality; it seems to imply that the Philippians were not just on the receiving end of the Good News, but also worked alongside Paul in telling it to others…

Last question:  what phrasing should I choose for verse 6?  I could always use the exact lyrics of the song I know so well.  If I’m memorizing this just for myself, that will give the content of the verse well enough.  But if at some point I tell this Scripture to other people, I’m not sure I want to use the phrase “He will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”  (In the song, God’s continuing action is signified by singing the phrase four times…but I don’t want to do that if I’m saying this verse aloud.)  Look at the shades of expression in different Bible translations:

NRSV:  ⁶ I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.

NIV/TNIV:  ⁶ 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.

NJB:  ⁶ I am quite confident that the One who began a good work in you will go on completing it until the Day of Jesus Christ comes.

NLT:  ⁶ And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again. 

I like saying “the one” or “the One” rather than “he”:  it’s not cumbersome, and it’s probably more reflective of the Greek than the traditional “he.”  (But will I be able to get it to roll off my tongue, when I’m so used to saying “he”?)  I’m also OK with following the lead of the New Living Translation here, and specifying “God,” since we know that’s who we’re talking about.

I strongly prefer “among” rather than “in.”  I learned “in,” so the same difficulty in changing my memory might apply; but “among” has the connotation of community.  God has begun a good work among the Christians in Philippi.  And God will carry that to completion.  “In,” at least to 21^st-century Western ears, implies that God is working within an individual.  “Within” (New Living) gives that impression even more strongly.  And if you look back at all my above reflections, they show that Western bias.  But the culture in Philippi was not based on the individual, but on the community.  I really think I need to train myself to say “among.”  And we might all want to reflect on how “among” leads to meanings in this verse that we may have neglected.

Moving toward completion…  Of the four translations I looked at:  I like them all.  I like the shade of meaning expressed in NRSV…but really, I like them all.  And in this instance, the NIV looks a little more similar to the Greek than the NRSV – most noticeably, in the use of “Christ Jesus” rather than “Jesus Christ.”  Since I may want to pay attention to when Paul says “Christ” first and when he says “Jesus” first, during this entire letter, I’m going to choose the NIV phrasing.

So, how long until I have this whole paragraph memorized?  I haven’t really been working on it the last half of this past week.  (And it’s really already time to be looking at verses 8-9.)  The basic structure, for my purposes, is:

          I thank my God for you
                        how

why

song

I already know the thanking-God verse; and I’m pretty close on the how.  Why shouldn’t take too long, IF I actually copy this onto an index card I can have with me when I’m waiting for school to let out.  Then it’s just a matter of how picky I want to be about phrasing of verse 6.

So stay tuned:  hopefully we’ll look at verses 7-8 later this week.

Hymn alerts: 
·         Phil. 1:6  “I’m Confident of This Very Thing” (sometimes simply called “Phil. 1:6”), camp-type song; probably anonymous and in the public domain.
·         “He Who Began a Good Work in You,” Steve Green.
·         “He’s Still Working on Me” – I thought this was by the Gaithers, but I guess words and music are by Joel Hemphill.
·         Brentwood Kids Music has a “Phil. 1:6” song on the CD/DVD Crazy Praize, Vol. 1.  But it’s not the same tune I was thinking of for the first song I mentioned.
·         There’s a Bible memory program (Fighter Verses) that includes a CD of songs:  word-for-word Bible verses set to music.  Phil. 1:6 is on the CD Fighter Verse Songs, Set 1, but I don’t know the tune. (http://fighterverses.com)

Hymnary.org suggests quite a few hymns for Phil. 1:6.  (Most are thematic connections, some more direct than others.)  Two that caught my eye (partly because I know and love them) are:

·         Lord of Our Growing Years
·         I Was There To Hear Your Borning Cry

Belated addition:  "I Thank My God," my own hymn setting of Philippians 1:3-6 (late October 2013)