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4:1 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends! 2 I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:1-9 NIV)
Happy Tuesday the 6th! May you bless the Lord this day is my prayer and your assignment! Seek to make blessings a part of your joy! The world needs joy from joyful people! And guess what? You're one!
We should stand in amazement at the boldness of this man. HIghly trained, and superbly educated by the finest teachers of his day; and yet, when called by Jesus, his boldness increased and his willingness to serve was beyond measure. He stood when many of us are afraid to stand. He spoke when most of us freeze and hem and haw and know not what to say. He led when most people would retreat; and yet he faced the greatest of challenges to enter into an already religious world with new teachings and ideas that rocked the establishment; all because he loved Jesus! He started churches, mended tents to support himself, and on and on he went. We fight just to make ourselves go to church... Here is a letter to his favorite church, and as we read, not even our favorite churches get along with each other. You can smile here. Okay, enough smiling; start to pray!
Paul opens this passage by calling the Philippians his joy and crown, which is a beautiful thing to say to a church — and then, almost immediately, he names two people in that church by name and asks them to please, for the love of all that is holy, get along with each other. Euodia and Syntyche are not getting along. We don't know what the disagreement is about. We don't know whose fault it is. We don't know how long it has been going on. What we do know is that it has risen to the level of Paul hearing about it from prison and deciding it needed to be addressed in a letter that would be read aloud to the entire congregation — which, if you've ever had a conflict with someone at church, is approximately the most uncomfortable thing that could happen to you short of a skywriting campaign. Whatever they were disagreeing about, it was significant enough to threaten the unity of a community Paul loved deeply, and he wasn't going to let it slide.
But notice what he says to them: I urge them to be of the same mind in the Lord. Not "I urge Euodia to apologize." Not "I urge Syntyche to see reason." Both of them. Same mind. In the Lord. The resolution Paul is pointing them toward is not the victory of one position over another but the shared orientation that comes when both people stop looking at each other and start looking at the same thing — the Lord in whom they both stand, the gospel for which they have both contended, the community that is being damaged by their division. He even asks his true companion — whoever that is, and scholars have been guessing for centuries — to help them. Reconciliation, in Paul's understanding of the church, is a community project. It doesn't happen just between two people. It happens in the context of a community that cares enough to help.
And then Paul, having addressed the interpersonal crisis, moves to the interior life, and the shift is not as abrupt as it might appear. Because the same condition that makes Euodia and Syntyche's conflict damaging is the condition Paul is about to address — the anxious, grasping, self-focused interior that produces conflict, that lies awake rehearsing grievances, that cannot find peace because it is looking for it in the wrong places. Rejoice in the Lord always, he says. And then, apparently aware that this sounds like an unreasonably cheerful instruction, he says it again: I will say it again — rejoice. The repetition is not accidental. The first time might be inspiration. The second time is instruction. This is something you do, not just something you feel.
Do not be anxious about anything, Paul says — which is either the most liberating sentence in the letter or the most impossible one, depending on what kind of week you're having. But he doesn't leave it as a prohibition without a prescription. Instead, he gives the alternative: in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Not some situations. Every situation. The ones that seem too small to bring to God and the ones that seem too large for God to handle — both of those are wrong, and Paul is gently correcting both at once. And the thanksgiving is not an afterthought. It's not "pray, petition, and then if things go well, give thanks." The thanksgiving goes in before the answer arrives — which is the posture of a person who trusts the character of the God they are praying to more than they trust the resolution of the circumstances they are praying about.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. That word guard is a military term — a sentinel posted at the door, keeping watch. The peace of God is not a pleasant feeling that descends when the circumstances improve. It is a presence that stands watch at the door of the heart and mind, in the middle of the circumstances, before they have resolved. And it transcends all understanding, which means it will not always make sense to the people watching from the outside. They will look at your situation and wonder how you are still standing. That is the testimony of the peace that guards.
Finally, Paul tells them — and us — what to think about. Whatever is true. Whatever is noble. Whatever is right, pure, lovely, admirable. If anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things. This is not naive positive thinking that pretends the hard things aren't real. It is the deliberate, disciplined, Spirit-assisted practice of feeding the mind on what is true and good rather than on what is anxious and destructive. And the promise that follows is the richest in the passage: the God of peace will be with you. Not just the peace of God as a resource you access. The God of peace Himself — present, personal, accompanying — will be with you.
Rejoice. Pray with thanksgiving. Think about what is true and noble and right and lovely. And the God of peace, who is Himself everything you're looking for, will be with you.
PRAYER: Lord, fill us with the peace that only You can give, guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, and help us to think on what is true and noble and worthy of praise in the days ahead. This we pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! OUR CALL TO ACTION: Write down three things today that are true, noble, and worthy of praise in your life right now — and let that list be the beginning of the practice Paul is recommending.
I love you and I thank God for you! You matter to God and you matter to me! Send a nice note to someone with the recommendations of the Call to Action; all in hopes and prayers of winning the world for Jesus!
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
