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.