Hello my friends,
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighbourhood monk in dogs.
Welcome back to these reflections through Paul's letter to the Philippians.
So over the past.
.
.
10 episodes with walk slowly through this beautiful letter.
We've listened to Paul's words from a prison cell.
We've discovered joy in suffering.
We've encountered the humility of Christ.
We reflected on the journey of becoming and learned the peace that guards the heart.
We've discovered the freedom of contentment and we've seen that the Christian life isn't just about believing certain truths.
It's about becoming a certain kind of person,
A person who's been shaped by Christ.
So today I thought it might be good.
To reflect a little bit on how Philippians might become a way of life.
I mean,
Scripture wasn't given us just to inform our heads.
It was given to transform our lives.
And the early Christian movement understood this.
They didn't approach the texts of scripture saying,
What does this mean?
They also asked,
How is this forming me and who is it forming me to become?
Today,
We're going to reflect on Philippians as a kind of rule of life,
A pattern,
A rhythm.
A way to allow the Spirit to shape us into the likeness of Christ.
Before we begin though,
As always,
Let's take a moment just to become still.
To bring ourselves fully into this moment together.
To take a slow breath.
And to place ourselves once again in the presence of God,
Praying,
Lord,
Form your life within me.
Now the first thing we discover.
.
.
In Philippians is that transformation begins with grace.
You remember Paul's very first words,
A grace and peace to you from God,
Our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
And near the end of the letter,
He wrote,
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
So grace surrounds the whole letter.
And the Christian life begins and ends with God's initiative.
And this is important because.
.
.
Quite often we approach spiritual growth and the spiritual life as though it entirely depends on us and what we do,
The goals we create,
The plans we make,
The disciplines we engage in.
You know,
We measure our progress.
But Paul begins in a completely different space.
In Paul's thinking,
God's already at work within us.
He writes,
He who began a good work in you will carry it on.
To completion.
A rule of life doesn't create God's presence but creates space to notice that the presence is already there.
Prayer doesn't make God come closer to us,
But awakens us to the God who's already near.
Formation.
Isn't so much about becoming someone worthy of God's love,
But learning to live from the love we've already received from God.
So we begin with grace.
And then this rule of life has Christ at the center.
The heart of Philippians is that great hymn of chapter 2.
Have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.
Everything else flows from that.
Formation isn't just about becoming a nice person,
It's becoming more like Jesus.
The question of spiritual maturity.
Is really,
Does my life increasingly resemble Jesus?
Have I become more humble,
More compassionate,
More generous,
More willing to serve,
More able to love?
So the goal is communion.
The life of Christ slowly taking shape.
Within us.
And then Philippians gives us a rhythm of life that forms our attention.
It's one of the most interesting themes.
In this letter.
Paul writes,
Whatever is true,
Whatever is noble,
Whatever is right,
Whatever is pure,
Whatever is lovely,
Think about such things.
It seems like Paul understands something that modern psychology is only just rediscovering.
That what we give our attention to informs us,
Our attention.
Becomes our direction.
What we repeatedly notice shapes what we desire and what we desire shapes who we become.
And this is why our spiritual practices matter.
Things like silence,
Prayer,
Scripture,
Gratitude,
Worship,
Sabbath.
These are ways of retraining our attention towards God,
So we mustn't think of them as obligations.
And a rule of life then.
Becomes a commitment to pay attention to what's forming.
Your soul.
And then we see that Philippians informs a rule of life that includes humility.
And service.
Paul doesn't present Christ's humility as just a theological idea or a nice virtue.
He presents it as a pattern.
He wrote,
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit,
But rather in humility,
Value others above yourself.
And so the mind of Christ becomes visible through service.
And this is where Philippians becomes a deeply practical book.
It gets us to ask ourselves questions like,
How do I respond when I'm overlooked?
How do I behave when I disagree?
How do I use whatever influence I have?
Do I grasp or do I give?
Do I seek to be served or do I seek to serve?
The kingdom of God's revealed through the downward movement of love.
Christ descends.
Christ serves.
Christ gives themselves.
And slowly Christ teaches us to do the same.
And then what's important about a rule of life.
Is that it creates stability.
And in the letter Paul repeatedly returns.
To one invitation.
Stand firm.
And he doesn't want us to do this because it's easy to.
Of course it's not.
But because Christ is faithful.
And so a good rule of life will give us stability.
Rootedness,
Depth.
And this is one of the great gifts of my Benedictine tradition.
Saint Benedict understood that transformation happens through faithful attention to ordinary life.
And so the monk doesn't become holy because we've run away to a monastery.
We become holy by learning to encounter God within everyday life through prayer and work and community and rest and hospitality again and again and again,
Which is why one of the vows we take of the three vows,
We take a vow of obedience.
We take a vow of commitment to monastic life or conversion in our life.
And that third vow,
Stability,
A commitment to stay.
And when that happens,
The ordinary,
Everyday occurrences become the places where grace forms within us.
And then.
.
.
This is a rule of life.
That cultivates contentment.
Paul says in the letter,
I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation.
Situation and again I draw you to that word learned.
Contentment is something that is formed.
It grows,
It develops,
It comes from discovering that Christ is enough.
A rule of life helps us resist that constant invitation to believe something more will finally make me whole.
Whatever that happens to be,
Success,
Recognition,
Possessions,
Wealth,
Experiences.
Those that follow in the way of Jesus learn another way.
Receiving,
Trusting,
Giving thanks,
Resting in God,
Contentment.
And then one of the beautiful lessons of Philippians is that this is a rule of life that's lived in community.
We don't become like Christ by ourselves.
Paul writes to a community.
He names individuals,
Gives thanks for their partnership.
Formation happens among other people through encouragement,
Forgiveness,
And patience,
And yeah,
Love.
This is why the early desert mothers and fathers who went out into the desert to seek after God We think of them as being out there all by themselves,
But they actually form themselves into communities where,
Yes,
They did spend some time.
On their own,
Praying,
Working,
Whatever,
But they also spent time together with others.
And a little bit later on,
Pocomius the Great was the one who said,
You just can't.
Do this following Jesus thing on your own.
You must be in community.
You must be living with others.
How do you serve your neighbor?
When your neighbor's not there.
We need others.
Who remind us who we're becoming.
And we're called to become that person.
For other people.
So what might a Philippians-shaped rule of life look like?
Well,
Maybe it's something very simple,
That every morning,
Begin with grace.
Lord,
Thank you that you've begun a good work in me.
A moment of surrender.
And then during the day.
Attention.
What am I allowing to form my mind and heart?
That practice of noticing.
In our relationships,
That's where we exercise humility.
How can I reflect the mind of Christ in this encounter right now?
That downward movement of service and love.
In difficult times,
Trust.
Remember Paul wrote,
The Lord is near.
This is a return to peace,
Even in the midst of the most difficult circumstances.
And at the end of the day,
Gratitude.
Where did I see Christ today?
That recognition of grace that's come through the day.
So ultimately this letter of Paul to the Philippians is really a letter of becoming like Christ.
The letter begins with grace,
Moves through transformation,
Ends with blessings.
To Paul,
The Christian life isn't about accomplishment,
It's about reception.
It's something we receive,
A life into which we're continually invited to live in humility and joy and peace and love,
All because we've been shaped by Christ.
So let's try it.
Lord God.
You've called us to believe,
Yes,
But also to become.
To become more like Christ.
Form that mind of Christ within us.
Shape our desires.
Transform our attention,
Teach us humility,
Teach us joy.
Teaches contentment and teaches love.
May our ordinary lives become places where your grace is revealed.
May we become living expressions of your gospel.
May the good work that you've begun in us continue until the day of completion.
And may grace,
Peace and love go with us and remain with us today and always.
Amen.
So as you go into your day-to-day,
Friend,
Just carry this prayer,
Lord,
Form your life within me and see what happens as that life is expressed.
Grace and peace be with you,
Friend.
Bye for now.
