As Paul prays for the Philippian Christians, he does so with a confidence that is possible because he has his eye on God. I wonder if we keep an eye on God as we should?
Paul recognises that the good stuff within the lives of this supportive group of Christians is not something that they achieved on their own, but rather that it was initiated by God. More than that, what God has begun will not be left uncompleted. God will continue an involvement with these Christians that will enable them to develop their discipleship. As Marcus Bockmuehl (The Epistle to the Philippians) says: “This Christian confidence is rooted not in some assessment of intrinsic likelihood, but in the character of God who unfailingly accomplishes what he sets out to do.”
I wonder if we have the
confidence that we should. Relying on God ought to come easily, and we ought to
be able to cite examples of why we are confident in this – but perhaps we sometimes
lack Paul’s clarity?
The reference to ‘the
day of Jesus Christ’ provides an eschatological dimension. The early Christians
believed that time might be short and that provoked an element of urgency in
what they did. We may also validly suggest that time might be short, though we
will likely have a different understanding of what it means to say that. However,
it is always good to get on with God’s work. I wonder if we always do that as
we should?
Regardless of that, and
perhaps surprisingly, God values us and our contribution, and so we may share
God’s confidence that God is at work in our world and wants us to be engaged in
doing Kingdom things, be they big or small. An appropriate leaving of things
with God should, as Bockmuehl points out, free us “from both self-assurance and despondency.” I wonder if it does?
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