Teammates in Grace

“It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the Gospel. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:7-8).

The soldiers of “Easy” company went to hell and back during World War II. Thanks to historian Stephen Ambrose, we know these battle-hardened boys as the Band of Brothers. Their shared experience and commitment to a cause bigger than themselves sealed their relationships forever. That’s the kind of bond Paul has with his friends back in Philippi. They’ve been to hell and back. As a matter of fact, the apostle is still there. He’s more than 800 miles away, stuck in a prison cell in Rome. Yet he makes it clear that there’s nothing that can tear them out of his heart. They are a Band of Brothers. Because once you’re teammates of grace, you’re always teammates of grace.

Paul makes it clear that it’s “right for me to feel this way about you” (v7). He’s already told them how he thanks God as he remembers them (Phil 1:3). He’s always overjoyed to pray for them (Phil 1:4). They’ve been his partners in sharing the Good News from the very first day (Phil 1:5). Paul and the Philippians have been through the ringer together. God sent the apostle and his team to this Roman seaport during his second world tour. Dr. Luke was a member of that expedition and wrote all about their crazy days in Philippi in Acts 16:12-40. 

Jesus works through Paul to open the heart of a fashionista named Lydia, then freed a young lady from both demon possession and human trafficking, and even a grizzled prison warden and his family. It just goes to show you that Jesus doesn’t need a team of five-star, blue chip, first round draft picks to build a winning team! In the process, the Gospel turns Philippi upside down. There are riots that make Ferguson look tame. Paul and his traveling team go from shackled in chains to given the key to the city. Yeah, it’s a CRAZY story! Their shared experience in sharing the Good News makes them teammates of grace forever.

Fast forward some ten years later to somewhere around AD 61. Paul’s been in Roman custody for more than four years. After spending some time in Palestine, he’s appealed his case to Caesar. Now he’s in the capital of the empire waiting for his hearing. All the while, his Philippian teammates have never turned their backs on their friend and founder of their church. That’s why he tells them, “It is right for me to feel tho way about you all, because I hold you in my heart” (v7). Once a teammate, always a teammate.

The apostle calls his buddies “partakers with me of grace” (v7). Grace. Ah, there’s that word again. Jesus absolutely rocked Paul’s world with His descending one-way love. Grace isn’t just some throwaway Bible word. It describes God’s amazing goodness to His enemies. And if you’re wondering who those enemies would be, we would be them. You don’t have to tell Paul twice about grace. Once known as Saul, he was a one-man wrecking crew dedicated to wiping Jesus’ followers off the face of the earth. But a funny thing happened on one particular mission. Christ blindsides the man from Tarsus. The the number one murderer of Christ’s disciples becomes the number one missionary of His Gospel. You can’t make this stuff up! Grace became such overwhelming theme in his life that he starts and ends every letter with grace. Philippians is not exception (Phil 1:2; 4:23). 

Paul loves his teammates. They’re “partakers with me of grace” (v7). He uses a Greek term (Gr. sugknoinonos) that describes a joint partner, a fellow participant, or a teammate. In his letter to Roman believers, the apostle talks about how God grafted Gentiles into the goodness of His kingdom and we all now “share (Gr. sugknoinonos) in the nourishing” (Rom 11:17). In another letter, he tells the Corinthians that he will use every trick in the book in order to tell others about Jesus, “that I may share (Gr. sugknoinonos) with them in its blessings” (1Cor 9:23). Grace makes for interesting teammates. Grace makes for timeless teammates.

The man from Tarsus is in the joint (Acts 26:29; Col 4:18; Phm 10, 13). He makes it very clear that he’s a “prisoner for Jesus” (Eph 3:1). But his friends back in Philippi always had his back and are right there with their founding pastor every step of the way (Phil 4:14). While he’s behind bars, the Philippians show their love for Paul in very practical and tangible ways. They not only send him money but as their pastor too in order support the man that God used to tell them about Jesus (Phil 2:25). Because God has given them so much, they give so much in their generosity to Paul. That’s what it looks like to be teammates in grace.  

They’ve been there all throughout his “defense and confirmation of the Gospel” (v7) These are two legal and judicial terms. The Philippians stand by Paul during his seemingly endless wait for trial. But the apostle understands that his legal defense is actually so much more than that. It’s also the defense of his faith in Jesus. His buddy Peter encourages every follower of Christ to “always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” (1Pet 3:15). It may not be in a court of law, but let’s all be locked and loaded to tell anyone who asks about the One who has come to our rescue.

Just in case the Philippians may have underestimated Paul’s feelings for them, he lays it all on the line. “I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus” (v8). This is not just a warm fuzzy feeling. We’re not talking Hallmark greeting card sentimentality here. While most translations use the term “affection,” it’s actually a little more graphic than that. Paul uses the Greek anatomical term splagchnon. It means bowels, intestines, or guts. In the Greco-Roman world, this word describes the human seat of passion. The apostle is expressing a gut-busting, life-sacrificing love for his Philippian family.

So who has God used to stand by you during dark days and hard times? Who has been there through the wars? Through the storms? Through the bankruptcies? Through the divorce? Through the chemo? Who has shown you gut-busting love? Who are your teammates in grace? And let’s turn it around. Who has Jesus placed in your life to stand with when life kicks the crap out of them? When the fecal matter hits the whirling device for a friend, that’s NOT the time to walk away and say “stinks to be you.” Stand with them. Sit with them. Be there. In another letter, Paul tells folks that God helps us through our mess so that we can be there with others in their mess (2Cor 1:3-5). That’s what it means to be a teammate of grace. Because once you’re teammates of grace, you’re always teammates of grace.