Last Sunday, Dave gave his “state of the church” address. And when Paul writes his letter to the Philippians, he giving the same kind of address. Like Dave, Paul is working with a church he and his co-workers and other leaders founded. Like Dave, Paul is writing to old friends with whom he has worked from the very beginning, to people with whom he has both suffered and prospered over the years, and he is writing to new friends who are just joining the community. And, like Dave, Paul affirms the state of the Philippians’ union, while also challenging them to deepen that union with one another as they grow in their communion with Christ.

       Now it may be a little presumptuous of me to compare Dave to Paul, but the union Dave described here at Moorpark, is very similar to the communion of Paul and his beloved friends at Philippi.

       Throughout this letter, Paul speaks of their union. The Greek word that Paul uses for union, or communion, is koinonia (koinonia). Many English Bibles translate koinonia as “fellowship” or “partnership.” But koinonia specifically refers to people or a community who share some thing, or many things, in common.

       In the ancient world, they referred to a group of friends as “those who have shared a barrel of salt together.” Now it’s not like a bunch of friends get together one evening and sit down to consume a whole barrel of salt! What the ancient people of Paul’s time meant was the salt that accumulated over time when friends gathered to eat a meal together. In other words, friendship, koinonia, is building relationships in intimate but regular settings over time.

       So, for example, we can describe ourselves here at Moorpark Presbyterian Church as people in koinonia because we share in worship, in tithing, in music, in ministry, in picnics and outings, in Bible study, building funds, blood drives, and all the other events and small groups and Sunday school classes like those listed in the bulletin.

       But what defines our koinonia first and foremost is Christ. We are in koinonia with one another because we share first Christ. The same is true for Paul and the Philippians.

       As we look at Paul’s letter this morning, I’d like to consider what he and the Philippians share, and in what ways they share these things.—so your bulletin outline may be a little different from the way the sermon unfolds . . . .

       The first thing Paul does in his letter to the Philippians is to give thanks for their koinonia:

       I give thanks to my God every time I remember you all—always in every one of my prayers for all of you, I am praying with joy, giving thanks for your koinonia in the gospel . . .

       In this passage, Paul is practically bubbling over. The words trip over themselves trying to jump off the page. Imagine giving thanks with this kind of joy every time you remembered someone in this congregation.

       Giving thanks for someone before we think any other thought can change how we look at one another, and even how we treat one another.

       And Paul doesn’t just give thanks once, but “every time” he remembers them. Giving thanks is a practice for him, like daily prayer. As we continue to grow here at Moorpark, I commend to us this practice of giving thanks to God with joy for one another.

       The focus of Paul’s thanks is the Philippians’ koinonia with him “in the gospel from the first day until now.” Like many of you here at Moorpark, many of the Philippians were with Paul from the beginnings of his ministry. They have a history together that goes way back. And, as many of you know, this history is not easy. There are bumps along the road, disagreements, personality clashes and all kinds of things that get in the way of sharing a whole barrel of salt.

       Ultimately, this history is only possible by God’s work.  Paul  tells us that koinonia is the product of  “the one who began a good work among you all . . .the one who will also bring it to completion.”

       Dave reminded us last week, that honest, open disagreement is healthy for a congregation. And Paul too writes that if there are personalities that have difficulty working together, or people have different ideas about the best course of action, “this too God will reveal to you.” Because our human fellowship in Christ is infused through-out with God’s work, we can trust one another in our disagreements.

       Furthermore, if God is the one working in koinonia to produce something good, and we want to be a part of what God is doing, then we need to be a part of one another.

      You can’t be a lone ranger Christian. There is no such thing as a koinonia of one.

       Paul is a great example: he never worked alone. He co-signed his letters with Timothy and Silvanus; he traveled with Barnabas for a time; he recommended and commended women missionaries who went out two at a time. And he certainly needed his communion with the Philippians. They shared in the mission of the gospel with him. In return, Paul prayed for his friends, sent them letters of encouragement, and spent time visiting with them whenever he could.

       In the same way, our communion is not something we can do by ourselves. As the body of Christ we are sustained by Christ’s Spirit and empowered by the living God. The one who began a good work among us continues to nurture us through our koinonia. God is building Christ in us, using in the common spaces and the common life that we share, using this union.

       Ok. We need a visual aid here.

       Could I have some volunteers come up front to show how this koinonia thing works?

We need at least 7, maybe 10 people.

[Invite volunteers from congregation to stand sideways in a tight circle, all facing clockwise around the circle, with one shoulder in the circle and the other out of the circle. Then invite them to sit down on the lap of the person behind them. Each person guides the person in front of her to sit on her lap.]

       Notice in our koinonia sculpture here that mutual effort and reciprocity are key. If one person decides not to participate, everyone is going down—the koinonia will be off balance. At the same time, no one is giving a seat to the same person who is giving them a seat. Everyone offers a seat to the person in front of them, and trusts that the person behind them will offer them a seat.

       The same thing happens in community. The Philippians share Paul’s imprisonment by sending him financial help and a minister. Paul calls this gift charis. In the Greek, charis means a “gift” or “grace.” In Paul’s letter, it has both meanings. Most Bibles translate the phrase “you shared with me by charis” as “you are my partners in God’s Grace.” Because of the context, this translation is possible, even though Paul doesn’t use the word “God.” The phrase can also simply be translated “you all shared a gift with me.”

       But if the Philippians offer Paul a financial gift to sustain him in prison, what can Paul give then in return? Notice that Paul’s reciprocal giving in koinonia is not the same as what the Philippians share with him. Instead, Paul gives thanks with joy for the Philippians; he prays for them; he preaches the gospel by their financial support, and he writes them letters of encouragement.

       Just as we saw in the human koinonia sculpture here in front of us, the mutuality of koinonia does not mean equal gifts or giving the same thing that we receive. It means reciprocal giving.

       At Moorpark we also practice reciprocal giving. One person offers their prayers or extra tithes, or time on a church work day and receives from someone else a scripture lesson, or Sunday school, or a visit in the hospital. When God is working in our koinonia, all of the gifts we have to share fit together, and there will be a seat for everyone.

       Another important part of reciprocity in koinonia is sharing Christ’s love. Paul tells the Philippians:

       “God is my witness how I am longing for all of you with the passion of Christ.”

The passion Paul has for this church is Christ’s passion. In other words, in relating to his friends, Paul imitates Christ and embodies Christ’s love for them. Later in the letter we learn that the Philippians too, love and care and long for one another and for Paul with Christ’s love. And, in verse 1.3 Paul writes “I have you in my heart.” But this Greek phrase has two different interpretations, because of the way Paul organizes the sentence. It can also be read “you all have me in your heart.” Paul and the Philippians share one heart—they share Christ’s love.

       Sharing Christ’s love is important to Paul because when we long for one another other with Christ’s longing, and we care for one another by acting out Christ’s love, we are physically embodying Christ to one another. This means that we can experience Christ’s touch and Christ’s love through the caring touch of the people in koinonia around us. Now we have to realize that any kind of human touch can be abused, but what I’m talking about is the hug or the hand, the gentle presence, or kind word that we extend to one another. When a church community is at its best, when Christ’s Spirit fills the koinonia, our communion with one another is simultaneously communion with Christ.

       After giving thanks, Paul prays for the Philippians.  “May your love (agape) still more and more, abound with insight and all knowledge”

       Here too, Paul emphasizes love, but then he adds reason!

       It sounds like an oxymoron to hold an emotion and a way of thinking together. I think Paul is speaking about an intelligent way of caring for another person by knowing and discerning clearly. This kind of love is not a passion that is haphazard or raw, unbridled, naive, or overwhelming and impulsive. Paul is describing a self-reflective love—a mindful heart. A mindful heart does not rush into a relationship blindly to try to fix people, or to take some action before assessing the situation. A mindful heart embraces another by inviting her opinions, discerning his needs, learning their ways. The Philippians need mindful hearts to love intelligently—the kind of shared love that abounds in insight to care for others.

       So do we.

       After we give thanks for one another with joy, lets also pray for intelligent love and mindful hearts.

       If one quality of a mindful heart is Christ’s love. Another quality is Christ’s humility. Paul describes Christ’s way of reasoning with humility—in the passage Dave read: Phil 2.5-11. In this passage Paul holds up Christ’s example as someone who knew he was equal to God, that indeed he was God, and yet did not need to “grasp” at that status. The kind of “grasping” for status and position that Christ ignores is ubiquitous in our society —particularly in the LA area. People stretch their bank accounts to afford  a house, or new car, or new clothes that are beyond their means, all to impress their clients, or the media cameras, or their political constituents.

       The only way to relax and not grasp at that which is already ours is to know that it is ours. When we know and trust that we are beloved of God, we can stand in communion with one another in confidence, and we can love one another with abounding wisdom and insight.

       To share Christ’s humility in koinonia means to consider things the same way, have the same love, share in one life, consider one thing, not according to selfishness or vanity, but with that humility by which you all regard others before you regard yourselves, not focused on your affairs only, but also focused on the affairs of others. Koinonia is built on Christ’s passion and humility.

       The same is true in our communion. I have to trust that as I love and attend to someone else’s concerns and needs, there will be someone behind me, loving and attending to my concerns and needs.

       It is also important to say that Paul is not talking about a passive humility, where I just let anyone walk all over me—or “sit” on me as the case may be. The Christ-humility that Paul writes about is an active humility that invites someone else to sit down and makes herself available because we have been invited to sit down and someone else has made himself available. This is a communion build on wise passion, intelligent love, and mindful hearts. This is a communion that embodies Christ’s love in active humility that looks to others concerns before asserting one’s own. This is a communion that practices giving thanks upon every remembrance of the other with joy when we make our prayers.

       Paul demonstrates Christ’s humility as choosing between two goods. Competing goods. I experience this at CLU where any day of the week there is a special lecture, movie, event, service project or student celebration, debate, or movie in progress. Competing goods. This happens particularly in a thriving congregation like ours where there are three amazing adult Sunday school offerings all going on at the same time! Which to choose? The job of the mindful heart in Paul’s prayer is to discern and determine the best of many goods. The role of the love that abounds in all insight and knowledge is to choose well.

       Later in the letter Paul demonstrates this way of discerning with a mindful heart and active humility. He writes from prison, and he tells the Philippians that no matter what happens to him—even if the extreme possibility of life or death occurs—he will rejoice. And here’s why. Paul says if I had to choose between life and death—I would choose death, because I am ready to be with Christ, I want nothing more than to be in direct communion with him before God forever. That is my deepest desire and it is a profound good. But, he says, it is also a profound good to be here in communion with you Philippians. Both possibilities seem very good to me. But when I engage my mindful heart, and when I discern with wise love, I know that the best choice is to remain here with you all—because that is the best good FOR YOU.

       Paul discerns between two indisputable goods—dying and rising with Christ, and living in communion with the Philippians. He chooses what is best for them over what he most desires. Notice the active humility in Paul’s discernment. He is not choosing something that is wrong or bad or hurtful for himself but good for someone else. That would be passive humility that invites being walked all over like a floor mat.

       Instead, Paul chooses between two goods, where there are equal benefits to himself and to Christ—and his final criterion for making the choice is “what does the community need?” What is the benefit to the other in my choosing one good or the other? Paul does not give up Christ—that is never on the table. Nor does Paul choose something that would harm himself, or harm Christ. He uses his mindful heart to choose according to what is best for the people with whom he is in relationship. He discerns what will benefit the body of Christ. This is Christ’s active humility in the mindful heart.

       Finally, Paul blesses the Philippians and encourages them with these words: “Work out your own salvation, for God is the one working in you both to will and to work God’s good pleasure.” When we live with mind-ful hearts and express Christ’s passion and Christ’s humility in our communion with one another, we are embodying Christ to each other through our actions and practices. This is the touch of Christ here and now, our taste of salvation. The citizenship that we will have with Christ in heaven is a citizenship that begins on earth in our koinonia with each other. And, by our communion with one another, we are in communion with Christ.

       This Christ koinonia is our “taste of salvation” right here and right now.        AMEN.