Proper 23, Yr A (2023) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
Proper 23, Yr A (2023) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
Philippians 4:1-9 St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
In the name of the one, holy, and living God:
Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifying Spirit. Amen.
Today we hear the end of Paul’s letter to the church community at Philippi,
but I want to back up to the beginning of that letter.
I invite you to hear these words addressed to you by me, your pastor:
“I thank my God every time I remember you,
constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you,
because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now.
“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.
“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…
in the defense and confirmation of the gospel….
“This is my prayer,
that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight
to help you to 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 Jesus Christ
for the glory and praise of God.” (Phil 1:3-11)
Paul’s letter to the Philippians is full of joy and hope and words of wisdom,
despite the fact that Paul, himself, was in prison at this time for his faith.
And Paul was addressing some people in conflict, or at least disagreement.
As such, I think these words are pertinent to the times in which we live.
We are a country that is divided,
and our public discourse is one that seems to become more polemical every day.
Our world is divided,
and war is all too often the response.
As a human community, we divide ourselves on so many fronts:
racial, political, economic, religious, status of citizenship, language, gender.
Here is where I love what Paul does in this letter…
Apparently, two in the community are of different minds, so he says to them:
Euodia, I urge you…
and Syntyche, I urge you…
to be of the same mind in the Lord.
And you…the rest of the community…help them!
Help them because we are all one community,
struggling together in the work of the gospel.
And then after Paul’s invitation follows his recipe for living in troubled community…
a recipe that I think we can take to heart during these troubled times:
Rejoice in God.
Let your gentleness be known to everyone
because God is near.
Do not worry about anything.
In everything by prayer and supplication,
with thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God.
And when you do this,
the peace of God will guard your hearts and your minds.
Finally, he says, do this:
Spend your time thinking about these things…the things that are:
true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable, worthy of excellence or praise.
These are the things upon which to focus our hearts and minds…
with gentleness.
It is difficult.
Every day I read or hear the news,
I find myself overwhelmed with sadness and grief.
Every day I read or hear the news,
I find myself getting angry.
Anger at harm and injustice is fine as long as I don’t lash out in that anger.
Anger can fuel action,
and we need action!
I wonder:
what might our debates or discussions look and feel like
if our anger was suffused with gentleness?
What might our newscasts or debates sound like if this were the focus?
How might we engage with people in our varying communities if we lead our conversations with gentleness while speaking what is true and just and honorable?
Paul says that if the community will continue in this way,
then the God of peace
will be with us.
Thomas Kelly, a Quaker mystic,
echoes Paul’s words to the Philippians in his book, A Testament of Devotion…
a book I highly recommend:
“The basic response of the soul to the Light is internal adoration and joy,
thanksgiving and worship,
self-surrender and listening.
“The secret places of the heart cease to be our noisy workshop.
“They become a holy sanctuary of adoration and of self-oblation,
where we are kept in perfect peace,
if our minds be stayed on [God]
who has found us in the inward springs of our life. . . .
“Powerfully are the springs of our will
moved to an abandon of singing love toward God;
“powerfully are we moved to a new and overcoming love
toward time-blinded human beings and all creation.
“In this Center of Creation all things are ours,
and we are Christ’s
and Christ is God’s.”
[Thomas R. Kelly, A Testament of Devotion (Harper San Francisco: 1992, ©1941), 9–10, 11.]
In this Center of Creation…all things belong to God.
We belong to God.
Dear friends,
as we move forward
in these dark and difficult and conflicted days,
I pray that the Peace of God at our center will ground us.
I pray that we may move forward together,
in gentleness with one another,
thinking about those things that are true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable…
things worthy of excellence and praise.
Let these be our guiding principles as we make decisions as a community of Christ,
gathered in this place in these times.
May we all live out our lives during these turbulent times from a center of Light…
and with gentleness.
If we do this,
we just may be able to change the course…
or at least the mode of discourse of the world…
or perhaps just our little community.
That is a great place to start.
Whatever is true,
whatever is honorable,
whatever is just,
whatever is pure,
whatever is pleasing,
whatever is commendable,
if there is any excellence
and if there is anything worthy of praise,
think about these things.
Let your gentleness be known to everyone.
God is near.
Do not worry about anything,
but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
