Partnership in the Gospel

 

January 21, 2025

PHILIPPIANS 1:3-6

3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 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.

Gratitude is a spiritual practice, and like all spiritual practices, it must be put into action. Simply put, gratitude must be practiced for us to receive its graces and gifts. 

Paul knew the spiritual practice of gratitude well. On more than one occasion, he wrote heartfelt letters thanking the communities that had supported his calling and missional goals and who were partners with him through the struggles and the joys of his ministry. 

Paul reminds the Christian community in Philippi that partnership in the gospel can never be a one-person job. It is challenging communal work. Paul would never have been able to carry out the work of the gospel without the support of his faith communities. This is why Paul begins his letter with a word of thanks, a thank you for the Philippians ongoing commitment to the gospel, which demonstrated by their daily practices of love and care for one another. 

This love, that Paul speaks of, is love that is extended as a daily practice of caring for the most vulnerable and those in need. Because of what Paul himself has witnessed in them, and what he personally had received from this community, his message to them is one of assurance. He reminds his dear fellow believers in Philippi that they are already living into the gospel. God is already doing great things through them, and God will continue to do great things. 

Paul’s hope and prayer is that this community, a community that he holds so close and dear, will continue to grow in the love of God, which Paul identifies as a knowledge and depth of insight. It is a knowledge of God that moves us into action. 

As Paul assures his friends, we are likewise assured that God began a good work in us, and God will continue to perfect, mold, strengthen, and equip us. The purifying grace of Jesus is displayed in our daily practices toward one another.