Having said that, there was a cornucopia of delights in what is a very tough passage. At first blush, it seems that Paul is advocating a 'works' theology - 2:12 says 'work out your salvation with fear and trembling.' But the passage is rich with Old Testament allusions, and has taught me much.
One of the major questions on view is this - how can the church live in the midst of this broken and sordid generation? A quick search of Google trends yesterday revealed that the top searches and websites accessed included various sites dealing with shopaholism [sic], pictures of a celebrity breastfeeding, and a Major League Baseball player who knowingly had unprotected sex with his girlfriend whilst HIV positive. What does the church do in this generation?
vv12-13 ... Work it Out!
I suspect these verses are prone to much misunderstanding - Paul's leading line, after all, is to work out your salvation. So often, though, Paul uses the language of salvation to represent a future blessing for God's people, as well as a current one. We're often pretty loose with our theological terminology - but Paul seems to have on view the salvation of Romans 13:11, which is nearer to us now than when we first believed. To be nearer now than then, we can't have it yet! Anyway, it seems that Paul is commanding Christians to work hard in concert with God's Spirit to live in a way that's moving towards our final destination - salvation and eternity with Jesus - and not away from it. The obedience of faith, as Paul describes it often in Romans.
And we're only able to do that because God energises us. We need God's energising both to will and to do. That is - to want to do what is pleasing to God, and then to do what we now want to do! Paul is clear in Romans 3 that no-one, of their own volition, wants to seek after God, to do what is pleasing to Him. So we need God's energy to want to do what is pleasing to Him. But in Romans 7, and Matthew 26:41, even when our spirit is willing, our flesh may be weak ... so we need God's energy to actually do what's pleasing to Him, too.
All of this harks back to Ezekiel 36, where God promises a radical heart transplant - only then will His people truly and voluntarily walk God's way.
But for us living between the final two waymarkers of Salvation History - Jesus' ascension and his return to judge the living and the dead - we are living with new hearts, but fighting against the remains of our old life. We need God's energy for this fight, but we need to 'get our head straight and get stuck into' the battle to live God's way, too. It's tiring, it's awkward, it's unpleasant. But it's what god empowers us to do. We do it with fear and trembling, because we are conscious now of the reality that everyone will see later - that the Jesus who has steralised the instruments for God's heart transplant is the Lord of the universe (2:9-11), and so deserves humble honour.
vv14-18 ... Old Israel, True Israel
Clearly underpinning these verses is the identity and purpose of Israel - God's Old Testament special people. Paul warns the Philippians not to grumble, mumble and question, reminiscent of Exodus 16. The problem there was not simple doubt nor humble question-asking - but rather outright failure of trust. The questions they asked stemmed from doubting God's goodness and forgetting his deliverance. When that goes, everything else is up for grabs. That's why grumbling is a symptom of something serious in the church - it generally stems from disbelieving God's goodness and forgetting his salvation. It can rip a church apart - leadership is questioned, sin is tolerated, power games are played. That's why it's such a serious issue.
But instead of being like old Israel, the Philippians are exhorted to be like true Israel. Paul implicitly recalls Isaiah 49:5-6, where the Lord's servant Israel is painted as having a bigger mission than just building up God's existing saints. He is meant to be a 'light to the nations,' so that whoever is willing to join himself to the LORD can be brought into covenant relationship with Him. Israel is to be separate from the world, yes; but separate so that the world can see the wonder of being able to live at peace with the God of the universe, and want to join in! Israel singularly failed at this, but Jesus succeeded. Recognised by Simeon in Luke 2, he proclaimed himself the Light of the World (John 8), but here, that role is passed onto Christ's people in the world.
The generation they (and we!) sit in was both twisted ('crooked,' ESV) in that it is angled away from God, but also twisting ('twisted', ESV) in that it actively seeks to turn others away from God. It is Generation Twister. But the way God's people are to deal with that? Neither withdrawal, smugness and condemnation, nor immersion, compromise and ultimately being twisted away from God. But to behave as God's special people were always meant to - to stay separate, in order to draw outsiders into the people of God! Woah. What a truth, what a role.
And when that starts to happen, it's vindication that the gospel is working as its meant to. There's nothing more frustrating in Ultimate Frisbee than running fifty or sixty yards, being in the clear, and looking back to see no throw coming your way. Similarly, Paul doesn't want to get to the endzone (when Jesus comes back again), and see that the effort in gospel work is pointless. But conversely, if Philippi Presbyterian starts working not like Old Israel but true Israel ... well, that's a cause to cheer. Even if, to get to the endzone, it means him giving up his life.
That's the importance of gospel work. And that's a shocking reminder to all of us involved in ministry (read: every Christian) not to give up at the least discouragement, or weariness. We do that all too easily. After all, it's not worth it? No, Paul says, it's worth it and more - invest in gospel work, so that when you present your charges to Jesus, the gospel is seen to be effective. Don't let yourself get in the way of it!
Humbling.
Paul gives two case studies, well known to the Philippians. First, Timothy, who was proof positive that gospel work was not wasted - that it had proved effective in his life (and he exhibited 'the mind of Christ' mentioned in 2:1-4). Second, Epaphroditus, who was a living example of someone who understood that gospel work must progress, even if what it takes for the message to progress is the death of the messenger. Kobe Bryant played a game for the LA Lakers last week with severe flu, and still put up 19 points against the form team in the league, needing IV fluids at half time. But he knew this match was too important to deprive his team of their best chance. Same goes for the people of God. The gospel is too important to stop its progress because I can't take one for the team. That's why Paul highlights Epaphroditus.
I guess there's lots in this passage, and it's not comfortable for us. But it is vital transformative information as we learn how to live not on our own, but as Christ's church in Generation Twister. We look forward to the day of salvation, when we can say:
'New heart - check. The will to please God - check. The ability to act out that will - check. Gospel work - that's not been in vain. I've seen that every effort I've put up, no matter how weak and insignificant has been taken up by God and multiplied a hundredfold in terms of Kingdom effect. What a mighty God we serve!'
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