The Philippian Rickroll

“Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble” (Philippians 4:14).

Nobody likes to be under pressure. Oh, there are a few people who perform well when the chips are down. Let’s be honest, there’s not a person on the planet who has a smile on their face when they suffering is inevitable. We’ve given it a variety of names. Oppression. Affliction. Distress. Misery. Hardship. No matter what we call it, it’s still unwelcome and unwanted. 

Yet here’s the deal when we’re in the meat grinder of life. It reveals who are true friends are. It sorts out who’s really standing by our side. Remember the words of Ulysses Everett McGill in “O Brother Where Art Thou?”. “I guess hard times flush the chumps.” Let’s face facts. Life is anything but rainbows, unicorns, and an endless supply of Skittles. It’s hard. Sometimes VERY hard. When you get the crap kicked out of you, who’s there to pick you back up? 

Paul knows about pressure. He writes his letter to the church in Philippi from a cellblock of Caesar’s Supermax in Rome (Phil 1:7, 17). All indications are that he’s been locked up for about five years. He tells his friends how he’s uncovered the secret of satisfaction no matter his situation (Phil 4:11-12). Because he has everything he’ll ever need in Jesus, no one can ever take away his contentment (Phil 4:13). Because the Philippians have gone out of their to help their brother out (Phil 2:25; 4:18), the apostle wants them to know he’s INCREDIBLY grateful for all they’ve done. “Yet it was very kind of you to share my trouble” (v4). When people put the squeeze on the former Pharisee, he found out quickly that his friends back in Philippi wouldn’t ditch him. They are partners under pressure.

The apostle points out how he didn’t have to do his prison bid all alone. Despite being 800 miles away from their founding pastor, the Philippians “share” in his situation. He uses the Greek verb sugkoinoneo, a compound word that we can literally translate as teammates together. It describes how we participate together in something or take part in a joint activity. This term paints a picture of faithful partnership and sympathetic attitude. 

Think of a football team. When the opposing receiver beats the cornerback on a deep ball for a touchdown, the entire defense gives up the points. You win as a team. You lose as a team. That’s exactly how Paul sees his relationship with his brothers and sisters back in Macedonia. They win together. They lose together. They are his teammates in spreading the amazing story of Jesus to everyone who will listen. 

The apostle thanks the Philippians for standing strong by his side in “my trouble” (v14). I’m sorry, but “trouble” seems to be a serious understatement of his situation. The Greek word here (Gr. thlipsis) describes intense pressure. This is suffering brought about by outward circumstances. We’re talking affliction, oppression, distress, suffering, and hard times. Remember, Paul is behind bars. We do know that for part of his two years in Rome, he lived under house arrest but was chained to a prison guard (Acts 28:16, 30). But Paul’s still a prisoner who’s feeling the pressure. 

It was just a few years back that Paul was known as Saul and was personally putting the squeeze on the followers of Jesus. The up and coming Jewish superstar from Tarsus ran the coat check table at Stephen’s stoning (Acts 7:58-8:1). He then became a one-man wrecking crew against the Way (Acts 8:3). Dr. Luke uses the very same word when describing “the persecution (Gr. thlipsis) that arose over Stephen” (Acts 11:19). At one point, Saul applies the pressure. It won’t be long before Paul is feeling the pressure. 

But a funny thing happens to the apostle. He comes to understand that God won’t waste one bit of the stress and strain of these hard times on His children. “We rejoice in our sufferings (Gr. thlipsis), knowing that the suffering (Gr. thlipsis) produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Rom 5:3-5). And a big part of that is because we don’t face it alone. We have partners under pressure.

Long before Rick Astley musically pledged his faithfulness, Paul’s spiritual family showed their love and support over the long haul. “Never gonna give you up. Never gonna let you down. Never gonna run around and desert you. Never gonna make you cry. Never gonna say goodbye. Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you.” Call it the Philippian Rickroll. 

Who’s always there for you and stays there with you? Who’s that friend you always find at your side not just when the bottom falls out but stays out for a long, long time? Turn it around. Are you the one who hangs in there for the long haul? When a buddy finds himself between a rock and a hard place, do you crawl in there with him and stay awhile? 

We do this because Jesus promises to never ditch us or turn His back on us (Mt 28:20). Our Savior didn’t just swing by for a quick drive-by rescue. He’s Immanuel, the God who is with us right here, right now (Mt 1:23). He’s right by our side when we “walk through the valley of the shadow of death” (Ps 23:4). Christ is never gonna give you up. He’s never gonna let you down. Never gonna run around and desert you. He’s your Partner under pressure.

Call it the Philippian Rickroll.