Philippians 4:10–23

¹⁰ I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. ¹¹ Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. ¹² I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. ¹³ I can do all things through him who strengthens me. ¹⁴ Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. ¹⁵ And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. ¹⁶ Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. ¹⁷ Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. ¹⁸ I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. ¹⁹ And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. ²⁰ To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. ²¹ Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you. ²² All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household. ²³ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

One of the more fascinating articles I think I have ever read was written by Daniel Cordaro for Greater Good Magazine: Science-Based Insights for a Meaningful Life. It is entitled “What If You Pursued Contentment Rather Than Happiness?” In it, Cordaro discusses how, while at Yale University, he led a research team seeking to understand the human mind throughout time and culture.

In their research, one of the last groups they studied was a “remote group of former nomads high in the Himalayas of Eastern Bhutan.” This group was “one of three uncontacted villages on planet earth.” They traveled deep into the Himalayas and came to the village of around 200 families. There, they opened up their laptop and exposed the villagers “dozens of facial and vocal expressions.” These folks had “no electricity, no internet, no cell phones, no printed media—nothing.”

Cordaro and his team were impressed by how accurately these villagers identify the various emotions expressed in image and sound. He writes:

But there was one emotion that didn’t behave like all the others. It was different.

The emotion was contentment, and while we were working on translating our study, our guide, Dr. Dorji Wangchuk, stopped for a moment when we reached this word. “In our culture, this emotion is very special. It is the highest achievement of human well-being, and it is what the greatest enlightened masters have been writing about for thousands for years.” Now that was a conversation starter, and I asked him for the translation. “It’s hard to translate it exactly, but the closest word is chokkshay, which is a very deep and spiritual word that means ‘the knowledge of enough.’ It basically means that right here, right now, everything is perfect as it is, regardless of what you are experiencing outside.”

This was the moment when lightning struck for me, and I immediately felt chills down my entire body. No matter where I went on planet earth, all of the cultures I interacted with revered contentment as one of the highest states to cultivate in life. Yet in the West, we were obsessing about happiness—and feeling more anxious, depressed, and stressed. I decided to dig in and see what kind of ancient secrets could be revealed through a scientific investigation of the most underappreciated emotion in history: contentment.

In fact, Cordaro and his team finally concluded that human beings around the globe adopt one of two basic strategies for living life: “More Strategy” or “Enough Strategy.”

In “More Strategy,” people want more and more and more. The problem with “More Strategy,” he writes “is that it’s simply not sustainable.” In “Enough Strategy,” people are content. One more statement from Cordaro:

While poring through thousands of years of ancient wisdom traditions, my team and I were shocked to find that the ancients almost never used the word happiness when they were talking about what it means to be well. More than 90 percent of the time, they used the word contentment, and described it as a state of “unconditional wholeness,” regardless of what is happening externally.[1]

This is absolutely fascinating.

It seems to me that contentment is most challenged by two realities: lack and gain. When we have little. When we have much.

Interestingly, in the prison cell from which he wrote the letter to the Philippians, Paul experienced both of these realities. He experienced the lack that prison presents its occupants. And he experienced the gain of a very kind gift sent by the Philippians through their courier, Epaphroditus.

In our text, Paul concludes his letter by reflecting in the crucible of the collision between lack and gain. And what he says is profoundly helpful to us in the living of these days.

Contentment: A Necessary Perspective

Paul is in prison. And Paul has received a very generous gift. He is going to comment on the gift and its effects both on himself and on the Philippian believers who sent it. But, first, let us consider Paul’s great and grounding statement on contentment. He writes:

¹¹ Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. ¹² I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. ¹³ I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

It has been argued that Paul was influenced by Stoicism, and likely, this is the case. The Stoics prized contentment, among other virtues. I appreciate the writings of the modern day Stoic, Ryan Holiday and appreciate the wisdom I find there. Yet we must understand where Paul deviates in a profound way from philosophical Stoicism.

The IVP Bible Background Commentary observes:

Greek moralists, influenced by Stoic thought, praised those who could be content with little as well as with much. (Cynics went so far as to prove their contentment in little by making certain that was all they ever had.) It was said that the wise man needed no one but himself and was completely independent.[2]

Yes, that influence is likely present in Paul, yet the departure point, or, perhaps, more accurately, the fulfillment and completion of the Stoic idea of contentment, was found in Jesus. The Stoic was prized for having found within himself a contentment that could withstand the batterings of life. But, for Paul, verse 13 is key: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

For Paul, then, contentment was situated not in the self but in the Savior, not in his own steely resolve but in the transforming power of the cross of Christ, not in individual determination and conquest of the self but in the victory of Jesus’ empty tomb.

Scot McKnight translates verse 12 in this way:

I know [what it is] to be impoverished and I know also [what it is] to flow over. In all matters and in all ways I am initiated: to be satisfied and to hunger, to flow over and to lack.[3]

Yes, Paul is initiated in all matters and all ways…initiated in Christ. There is the difference.

The Christian grounds his or her contentment in Jesus Himself. The Christian finds a sufficient foundation for peace in the peace that Jesus gives.

And so I ask you, Christian: Are you content? Is Jesus enough? No, really: Is Jesus enough?

Are you content with your car? Your house? Your family?

None of this is to disparage buying a new house or car. It is certainly to disparage running out and getting a new family! But what I am talking about is the American obsession with more, more, more! Are you content with Jesus or must you have more? Do you buy into the “More Strategy” or the “Enough Strategy”?

American society seems to hate contentment. Our whole system is bent towards more! In fact, in our society, if a person says they are content they might just be challenged with, “Yeah, but why settle?” “Settling” is a condescending and materialistic way of rendering “contentment.” But contentment is not settling. Contentment is simply peace. Hear Paul again:

¹¹ Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. ¹² I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. ¹³ I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

I have been humbled.

I have been exalted.

I have been poor.

I have been rich.

I have had everything in the world happen to me.

But I have learned the secret to contentment: Jesus. I am content in Christ. He has given me peace! And I will rest in Him!

Concern: An Organic Fruit

Now we shift from the gift recipient to the gift givers: the Philippians. In a number of ways—albeit, as we will see, interesting ways—Paul expresses his gratitude for the Philippians and their generous gift to him while he was in prison.

¹⁰ I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity.

¹⁴ Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. ¹⁵ And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. ¹⁶ Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again.

¹⁸ I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.

It should be noted that many have seen an awkwardness in Paul’s response to the gift from the Philippians. First, there is the uncomfortable “I rejoiced…that now at length you have revived your concern for me” followed by his own articulation of the likely reason for their delay: “but you had no opportunity.” One is tempted to see a “Well, finally!” in Paul’s words, though that is likely uncharitable. Then there is the absence of an actual “Thank you!” Greek has a word of thanks and Paul does not use it. Some see his “Thank you!” as a bit circuitous here. Then there is the business-like air of Paul’s words. Fred Craddock summarizes well the various responses to Paul’s words.

One has to wonder how the church reacted to this response to their gift. Needless to say, commentators have been somewhat puzzled by it. Descriptions of 4:10–20 have included terms such as tense, detached, awkward, distant, and discourteous. The most generous comment spoke of the passage as evidence of Paul’s being human. Efforts to explain Paul’s writing in this vein have been many and varied. Some have accounted for Paul’s detached air by speculating that the Philippians had resented something Paul had said in an earlier note of thanks, a note now lost to us. This, they say, would explain Paul’s businesslike, “Here’s your receipt—paid in full.” Others have remarked upon Paul’s stoicism, never allowing his spirit to rise and fall with circumstance. Certainly Paul comes closer to stoicism here than elsewhere in his letters, even using a favorite expression of the Stoics, to be content (v. 11). Still others find here a residue of legalism in Paul and portray the apostle, for all his preaching of grace, still unable to receive a gift. This awkwardness, it is reasoned, accounts for Paul’s unusual language in this passage, five of his words appearing nowhere else in his letters or in the entire New Testament. In addition, quite a few writers have tried to justify Paul’s lack of intimacy by reminding us of the power of isolation in a prison cell to rob a person of zest, of appetite, of interest in anything. Under such conditions one cannot remain sensitive and vulnerable and still survive. Some hardened indifference cushions against pain, humiliation, and disappointment.[4]

Is all of this fair? We must keep in mind the great distance in time between us and the events behind this letter, especially when we are tempted to analyze Paul’s psychology. And let us not forgive the beautiful language with which Paul praises their gift: “a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.” So, yes, there is some awkwardness in his wording, and commentators can theorize until we stand before the Lord, but this much is true: The Philippians loved Paul and sent him a very kind gift and Paul was clearly appreciative.

The Philippians expressed concern for Paul. I say that concern is an “organic” fruit in the sense that it does not need any outside chemicals to make it so: It should grow naturally out of the soil of a redeemed and Christ-shaped heart.

Paul’s language reflects a deep knowledge of the Philippians’ Christlikeness. For instance, Paul refers to this church as “sharing his trouble” (v.14). They stepped into his pain, his trial, his trouble, with help and love. What is more, their gift is “a fragrant offering” and an acceptable “sacrifice” that is “pleasing to God” (v.18). These images—sharing trouble, offering, sacrifice—show that the Philippian concern for Paul was not contrived, was not posturing, was not fake. Rather, their concern grew out of their walk with Jesus. Their brother was suffering, and they, through Epaphroditus and the sent gift, stepped into that suffering!

How about you? How about me? Do we have natural concern for the hurting? Do we care for the suffering church? Do we care for the suffering lost? Do we care?

Blessing: The Paradoxical Reward

There is something else here as well, something that we dare not miss, and it has to do with the paradoxical nature of giving, of blessing others through care and generosity. The paradox is this: To give is to receive, to bless is to be blessed. In ways that are hard to understand, when we bless others we are blessed in unbelievable ways!

Paul establishes this principle in verse 17.

¹⁷ Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.

Paul acknowledges that in giving the gift, the Philippians themselves receive “fruit” that “increases” to their “credit.” In giving, then, they receive. In blessing, they bless.

We must be careful here. This is precisely the kind of verse that the health-wealth-prosperity TV preachers use to fleece people. They will point to a verse like this and say, “See? If you call in with your credit card and make a donation, God will give you an even bigger donation!” In this way they weaponize and mechanize a beautiful principle!

Shame on them!

Paul never asked the Philippians for their generosity. Nor did they bless him with any thought of getting an increase themselves. No, what Paul is talking about is a work of God: God blesses the blesser, God gives to the giver. But this is a far cry from the kind of shenanigans we see in the public manipulators who say on the front end: “Give to me and you will get!”

Nor is it a given that the “fruit” the blesser receives “to their credit” is necessarily financial. Of course, it might be! But then it might not be. God might bless in other ways!

So beware of that kind of twisting of the word. But in your caution, do not miss the very real principle of giving: The blesser is blessed and the giver is given to in the Kingdom! God rewards in His own ways and in His own timing the one who blesses others. That is God’s gift to give, not our gift to seek! If you give with a thought of reward, then you give impurely. Is it not enough to know that giving is its own reward…and then God does so much more!

Now, Paul concludes:

¹⁹ And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. ²⁰ To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. ²¹ Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you. ²² All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household. ²³ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

The letter ends with another expression of the goodness of God toward the giver (“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”), with a recognition of the fact that all who are in Christ are saints (“Greet every saint in Christ Jesus” and “All the saints greet you…”), with a statement about the spread of the gospel throughout Rome (“All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household.”), and with a final statement about the “grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Indeed, is all of grace, and grace is the first and last note of the letter of our lives.

What a beautiful and powerful and soul-stirring letter Philippians is!

Rest in the grace of God in Christ! Live out of that grace, blessing others and being blessed by God!

 

[1] https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/what_if_you_pursued_contentment_rather_than_happiness

[2] Keener, Craig S. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (IVP Bible Background Commentary Set) (p. 566). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

[3] McKnight, Scot. The Second Testament (p. 217). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

[4] Craddock, Fred B.; Craddock, Fred B. Philippians (Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching) (pp. 76-77). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.