How to Partner For the Gospel
December 4, 2024
Fr. John Riccardo
Brothers and sisters: I pray always with joy in my every prayer for all of you, because of your partnership for the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer: that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God
(Phil 1:4-6, 8-11).
I often hear people lament that their parish “isn’t doing enough.” Oftentimes, it’s a heartfelt cry from people who desire their parish to be ever more active in the work of evangelization, making an intentional effort to reach those who are living the nightmare that is life apart from God.
But what if the parish isn’t supposed to be the place where evangelization happens? What if that responsibility falls primarily not to the clergy and those who work for the Church but to the laity and to the home? Might this be one way to pray about what Paul means when he thanks the Lord for the “partnership for the gospel” he shares with the Christians in Philippi?
Philippi was a Roman city of major importance at the time of Paul. Originally settled by the father of Alexander the Great, it was the place where Octavian and Mark Antony defeated Brutus and Cassius after the assassination of Julius Caesar. Octavian, later Augustus, then settled scores of veterans of the Roman Legion there. By the time Paul visited Philippi around the year 50, it was a Roman Colony, strategically located on a major trade route. Philippi was also the first Church in Europe. Unlike the other places where Paul had gone to preach, it was largely Gentile, with only a sparse Jewish population, and replete with the worship of many deities, including worship of the Emperor.
There are many passages from Philippians that are probably familiar, especially the beautiful “hymn” to Jesus in 2:5-11. However, for the past few months, we in ACTS XXIX have been praying intensely with what immediately follows that hymn. It is a passage, we think, often misunderstood. It offers a vision especially for the wondrous mission God has entrusted to the lay faithful, who are very much in partnership for the gospel with the clergy.
Paul writes: “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling…Do everything without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world, as you hold onto the word of life…” (Phil 2:12-16). These words are not intended to cause consternation about our salvation, as they are often understood, but are instead outward, missionary focused and full of confidence in the Lordship of Jesus.
Whenever we read Paul, we need to be mindful of the dominant power on the world stage, namely, the Roman Empire. We also need to keep in mind that Paul is thoroughly Jewish, and has come to see that every promise God made was shockingly and unexpectedly fulfilled in the person of Jesus. Whereas Rome imposed its will on every people it conquered, first by the Legion and then by its culture and politics, the gospel advanced by proposing something that the Empire promised but could never actually deliver: peace, unity, freedom, salvation, and more.
Paul is exhorting the small Christian community in Philippi, and us, to continue ”working out” what salvation means. That is, we are to wrestle with how the gospel has changed not how we see some things but how we see and understand everything, including our mission as disciples.
The backdrop for this passage is the exodus, God’s dramatic rescue of the people of Israel from slavery. That exodus happened amidst signs and wonders that God performed (thus, the “fear and trembling”), which prefigured the even more dramatic rescue from slavery that Jesus accomplished by His death and resurrection, when He defeated the powers of Sin, Death and Satan. Paul exhorts the Christians, and us, mindful of the mighty power of God, paradoxically displayed in Jesus’ seemingly scandalous death on a cross, to not hide our light under a basket but instead to “shine like stars”! “Hold out,” he writes — more than “hold onto” — “the word of life” to those who are still living in slavery to fear, anxiety, Sin, Death, and all those other things that God has delivered us from in Jesus.
It is the Church’s role to give hope, to rescue from despair, and to bring real freedom, peace and unity. Neither the Roman Empire in Paul’s day nor any political party in the United States or elsewhere in our day can do this. Politics is about governing well. The gospel is about transformation!
Advent, providentially, takes place, at least in our hemisphere, when the days are short, darkness is vast, and light is oh so precious. This reality is a helpful image for us as Christians living in a culture that is crying for hope but does not know where to find it. The answer, the only answer, is God and the extraordinary things He has done for us in His Son. He is the light, and He wants to shine forth in and through us. The honest reality is that most people are not going to come to know this hope by walking into a Church on their own, at least not before they encounter Christians who live differently.
This actually happened in Paul’s day. It didn’t happen because parishes were “vibrant” and offered all sorts of programs, although by all means we need vibrant parishes and there’s nothing wrong with good programs. It did happen because men and women who heard the gospel and encountered Jesus surrendered their lives to Him in faith and lived attractively different lives. They forgave. They saw those who had nothing in common with them as brothers and sisters and loved them in reality, not just in words. They welcomed strangers. They cared for the poor and the sick. They saw women and men as absolutely equal in dignity. And more.
The early Church won people to the Lord Jesus by being immensely attractive and by showing forth a different way of being human. It was usually only after those encounters with Christians that those who did not know God came into the Church to be baptized, feast on the Eucharist, and join the community of believers. It will almost certainly be the same now.
ACTS XXIX Prayer Intentions
December 2024
For a gathering of priests joining us early this month for a few days of prayer, fellowship, and rest, seeking what is on the Father’s heart for them and their parish families.
For the mission in Grand Rapids, that many will be mobilized for mission to evangelize and recreate this world that God so loves.
For our time at the first European SEEK Conference in Germany at the end of the month as well as for meetings with partners in the UK in early January.
For a joyful Advent and Christmas season for our Episcopal Advisory Committee, Board members, benefactors, prayer partners and all those running The Rescue Project in their parishes, homes and college campuses.
For God’s protection upon Fr. John Riccardo and the ACTS XXIX family.