Discernment – Philippians 1:3-11

A text – Philippians 1:3-11

³ I thank my God for every remembrance of you, ⁴ always in every one of my prayers for all of you, praying with joy ⁵ for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶ I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. ⁷ It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I hold you in my heart, for all of you are my partners in God’s grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. ⁸ For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the tender affection of Christ Jesus. ⁹ And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight ¹⁰ to help you to determine what really matters, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, ¹¹ having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

A reflection:

Paul’s letter to the Philippians is one I have spent a great deal of time in. One of its themes is faithful partnership. Paul writes of his joy in meeting the congregation and coming to love them as brothers and sisters in Christ. He knows they are facing a difficulty – an internal conflict – and there are multiple possible ways to solve it. Paul is praying for the Holy Spirit to bring this church “knowledge and full insight to help them determine” what to do to live into the future God is calling them toward.

This word determine is less about a cut-and-dried vote and more about dynamic conversation. We might use the word discernment for such a process. To really seek God’s guidance on how to “produce the harvest of righteousness” we are all called to accomplish in life, as we are a part of God’s life, we have to be open to what the Holy Spirit and our neighbors need. This requires a different posture than the usual congregational meeting posture we might be used to. Spiritual discernment requires deep listening and openness to what we may hear and feel called as a community to do.

Why is this text an Advent text? I think it’s because discernment is about waiting, maybe in silence and even darkness, for the Word of God to become apparent, to shine in the darkness of our confusion or even our hot-tempered pre-decision about what we might want. We are waiting on the Holy Spirit to help us make choices that will let our work be a helpful part of the Kingdom of God, about to come near us once again. We are waiting, watching, listening – for God and for one another. Help us be patient in that waiting and keep our eyes on the prize of even a small role in God’s work.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for the relationship between Paul and the Philippian congregation. Thank you for his advice to them written in this beautiful letter. Thank you for teaching us, through them, that you want us to discern with you our future in your Kingdom. Help us to wait for it, wait for it, until your preferred future for us becomes clear. Amen.