I’m working on my sermon for Sunday at the moment. We’re starting a new series entitled “Abounding Love” which will run through to the beginning of Lent. I’m kicking off the series from Philippians 1.3-11 with the title “The Challenge of Love”. Here’s a Wordle of the passage:
Wordle: Philippians 1.3-11 (TNIV)
And here’s a photo of my desk as I work on the sermon:
At the moment, my thoughts are around the partnership in the gospel/sharing in grace as being the work that has been started in the Philippians – these are the Pauline term koinonia which normally means the fellowship of believers. One of the new non-Paul uses of the word is at the end of Acts 2 where we see that the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship.
In the ‘secular’ world of Paul’s day, it was used to indicate a business partnership (Tom Wright, Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters, 2002, p. 85), sharing financial responsibility. The fellowship aspect of koinonia along with this sense make it clear that Paul is talking about the financial gift the Philippian believers had sent to him in prison. Part of their love abounding.
But Paul’s prayer is that this love, this koinonia-agape would abound more and more and that this would lead to a deeper understanding of right-living (v.v. 9-10). Is it easy to demonstrate love to those who are far away, to send a gift to Paul, to sponsor a child in Africa, to make a donation online for Haiti and yet ignore the true challenge of love which is to live rightly together. Is the true challenge of love to live as a community that reflects 1 Corinthians 13.4-8a?
Imagine what the world would think if it saw a church that was patient and kind to each other. One that didn’t envy, didn’t boast, wasn’t proud. A community of believers that didn’t dishonour others, seek its own benefit, become easily angered or keep a record of its members’ wrongs – or those of outsiders! A body of Christ that rejoiced always in the truth rather than delighting in evil and always protected each other, trusted each other, hoped for each other and persevered with each other.
Imagine.
I think that all people might then know we were disciples of the Messiah because we loved each other.
