28) Strength in Suffering Series
A lady came to the church building because she needed food. As she was given groceries, she couldn’t thank the church members enough. “It’s hard, being a single mom. You just don’t know what this means.” She was alone. In her mind, she had no one to count on but herself to care for her children. She looked at the gift that came out of the church pantry as a form of support, a hand to help her. The alone-ness she felt is exactly the opposite of the meaning of fellowship. Paul addresses this idea of fellowship when he talks about the reaction of individual churches while he is in prison.
Howbeit ye did well that ye had fellowship with my affliction. And ye yourselves also know, ye Philippians, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church had fellowship with me in the matter of giving and receiving but ye only; for even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my need.
Philippians 4:14-16
When Paul states, “I can do all things in him that strengtheneth me,” in the passage right before this one, he is making a clear statement about who he belongs to. “In him,” he says, and this is where he belongs. There is a connection that Paul confidently tells the Philippian Christians exists between him and his loving God. That connection is shared and it fans out into his connections with the others who are in Christ.
This connection or “fellowship” includes more than sitting down and eating a meal together, singing, and/or worshiping together. Paul reveals that the ones who reached out from the church at Philippi to send Paul aid in Rome are in fellowship with him in his suffering. They are partakers in his suffering. That’s how he views their thoughtful concern for him. This concept, found in the beginning of Paul’s letter, is repeated here: that though we don’t all undergo the same trials and situations, we do share together in the suffering of the Church. We, the Church, suffer as a whole as we come against the forces of death and sin in this world. Now, Paul takes this idea of connected suffering further by explaining that when someone reaches out to a Christian to aid them or support them or comfort them in their work, their act connects them to the work itself. These Christians were suffering along with Paul. They were teaching along with Paul. They were beside him as he was constrained by Roman soldiers. Have you ever thought about the comfort you try to give someone in hardship as a way of suffering with them?
Paul tells them in these short verses that he hasn’t forgotten their connection with him because they’ve kept on reminding him. He says they helped him in Rome, they helped him when the church at Philippi was just getting on its feet (“in the beginning of the gospel”), and they sent to supply his need “once and again” while he was in Thessalonica. Paul felt their presence with him every time he received help and support from them—and he doesn’t say in what manner that support came except that they sent Epaphroditus to him in Rome with “the things that came from you” (Phil. 4:18). They walked beside him in his work. What an encouragement that must have been, and how he must have loved them! No wonder he prays so fervently about their spiritual endurance. No wonder he writes to warn them about the trouble they are facing and the importance of staying steadfast in the truth they’ve been taught. He is coming up beside them, fellowshipping in their suffering just as they are fellowshipping in his suffering.
Not that I seek for the gift; but I seek for the fruit that increaseth to your account.
Philippians 4:17
Just in case some reader gets the impression that Paul is looking for presents from the Philippians, he makes it clear that the gift itself is not the part he values. It’s their support in Christ that he values. The gift expresses their love; it is the open display of where their thoughts are directed. Their thoughts are on Paul and his ministry. Their thoughts are on supporting the gospel of Christ through Paul’s imprisonment. Their thoughts are on sustaining a brother in his hour of need. Their gift says all these things. And Paul writes, “I was looking for the evidence, and here it is.” Fruit is evidence, and their fruit is adding up. Their gift shows they are faithful and abounding in God’s kingdom. God is showing Paul how rich they are. The Church in Philippi is rich in togetherness, not just with each other but in their love for the saints like Paul. The people they can’t be with are still on their minds and in their hearts. They are spiritually with them when they can’t physically be there. This is what “communion” looks like. It is the interconnection Paul is experiencing with them. It is the oneness Jesus talks about in John 17 when he prays for those who “shall believe on me” through the words of his apostles (John 17:20-21).
There are times that I don’t know what to do for someone who is facing a situation I’ve never faced. Certainly, the Philippians weren’t always sure what they could do to help Paul, but they didn’t let not being sure what to give cause them not to send anything. I’ve been guilty of this. I’ve thought about someone and wanted to send them something, but as I mulled over what to send, I let the idea grow cold until I forgot to do anything at all. But these Christians had a way of reminding Paul that he was not forgotten. He was loved, and he belonged in their hearts. Paul had to have felt alone while he was under house arrest. He couldn’t go and visit his fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. They had to come to him. The Philippians found a way to visit him by sending their brother to him. It can be challenging to find ways to let others know they are in our hearts and thoughts and prayers, most especially when we are dealing with our own struggles. Please, dear sister, consider how Paul remembered every effort these Christians made. You are not alone, Christian. Look for evidence of the love that brings hearts together in genuine fellowship.
The final post will give us the last words of Paul’s letter, in which he gives hope and encouragement.