Philippians 1:1-2, Midweek Musings

I thought I had it.  I thought I had those two verses memorized.  Then I realized yesterday that I had been omitting the “bishops and elders” phrase.  Why?  I value church leadership.  I’m part of church leadership:  right now, I’m at a retreat and continuing education event for pastors and other church leaders.  So why did I skip that line when I was saying these verses to myself?

Maybe it was because the previous line does not roll easily off my tongue.  I have to think hard about each word of “all God’s holy people.”  “To all the saints” would be much easier to say.  But not so easy to understand.  So I’m going to keep it as it is, and just try to say it aloud as much as possible, rather than silently, so that it starts to flow better.  And then I have a tendency to want to forget “in Christ Jesus” and go directly to “[who are] in Philippi.”  Not sure I want to explore the theological implications of that!  Actually, it’s probably because I look back on this letter that was written almost 2000 years ago and I automatically assume that of course the recipients believed in Christ Jesus.  The informational part, for me, is the location of the church being addressed.  So Philippi is important to say.

To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi…

Actually, I’m pretty sure the reason I had been skipping the “bishops and elders” line is that I had already mentioned everybody!  All the saints…all God’s holy ones who are in Philippi…I’ve already mentioned every single member of the group of believers at Philippi.  It simply didn’t occur to me to consider that I might mention some of the believers a second time.

For that matter, am I sure that the bishops and elders all lived in Philippi and were part of the group of Philippian “saints” addressed?  Maybe the elders were part of the Philippian group, but the “bishops” or “overseers” moved around between multiple congregations???  I’d have to look it up in church history or a commentary or something, and I don’t want to go prowling around the library right now (even though it’s a good library!).

Christ Jesus or Jesus Christ?

Another thing that took up some of my concentration this week was sorting out the three occurrences (within two verses) of Jesus’ name.  It’s always coupled with “Christ,” which means “Messiah,” the anointed one.  But which comes first, “Christ” or “Jesus”?

In verse 1, it’s Christ both times.  In verse 2, it’s Jesus.

In verse 1, Paul and Timothy are servants/slaves of Christ Jesus.  To be a servant of the Anointed One…that might be considered a big deal!  Similarly, the recipients of the letter are “all God’s holy people” [set-apart-for-God people] in Christ Jesus.  Again, the emphasis is on the Messiah, the anointed one.

In verse 2, on the other hand, “Jesus” is sandwiched between “Lord” and “Christ.”  Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  With emphasis on Jesus’ lordship as well as the fact that he’s the Messiah.

Grace to you.  And peace.

Speaking of verse 2…it was super-easy to memorize because I know a song with those lyrics.  The rhythm of the song even matches the way you would normally read the verse.

But then it occurred to me, Tuesday or so, that perhaps I could help people better hear the meanings of “grace” and “peace” if I added some extra-long pauses.

Grace to you.  And peace.  From God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

It works, I think.  Except it messes with my ability to recite the verse!  For several days, I would get to “peace” and then I couldn’t think what came next.  This is one example of the fact that knowing a song for something can be a mixed blessing!

Well, now you know some of what happened when the theory of memorizing Philippians 1:1-2 encountered the practicalities of actually trying to do so.

I must admit, I’ve also been thinking ahead a bit – I love the “I thank God every time I think of you” part that’s coming up!  So tune in Monday, and hopefully I’ll have a chance to look at that in some detail.