Christian Fellowship
THE 22ND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
From the first moments of creation, God declared that "it is not good for the man to be alone" (Gen 2:18). Human beings long for companionship, for someone to relate to, someone to desire the best for. This is not only a yearning for romantic love; humans are made for friendship. Therefore, God gave the woman to the man, thus, forever setting human existence necessarily in the reality of the other.
If we look to the scriptures, we won't necessarily find a concise definition of friendship; you won't find chapter and verse stating, "friendship is "... fill in the blank. Rather, in both the Old and New Testaments, we find vignettes, various instances, and characteristics of friendship, and the composite of these vignettes reveals friendship to be a trusting relationship between two people ranging from friendly association to loving companionship akin to the experience of friendship enjoyed by David and Jonathan.
In the New Testament, the predominant word for friend is Philos, derived from Philia, denoting fondness for another. Philos is affectionate love shared between companions, akin to the beautiful portrait of friendship Tolkein expresses between Frodo and Sam. Certainly, philos, or a deeply affectionate friendship, is at the heart of St. Paul's relationship with the Philippian Christians.
Consider why Paul wrote this very personal epistle to the saints in Philippi. Paul is locked up in a Roman prison, and unlike modern, humane prison systems, which provide prisoners with every need (three square meals, medical care, fitness facilities, etc.), the ancient Roman prison system didn't give prisoners meals, let alone furnish them with clean and safe prison cells. Consequentially, in ancient Rome, friends and family had to care for prisoners, or they would go hungry and dwell in increasingly harmful quarters.
Having learned about Paul's situation, the Philippians resolved to collect an offering from within their church to help Paul survive his incarceration. The fact that Christians from a different country would raise money and send one of their members named Epaphroditus (2:25) on the dangerous journey to carry it to their imprisoned friend, speaks volumes for the esteem and love in which they held St. Paul. The Philippians loved Paul, and he loved them. Surely they were friends.
Having received his friend Epaphroditus and the monetary gift from his Christian friends at Philippi, Paul responds by writing,
"Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, For your fellowship in the Gospel from the first day until now" (Phil 1:1-4).
You can feel his heart of gratitude and love bursting through the written word, sincerely grateful: "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, for your fellowship in the Gospel." Notice what he thanks them for: not for their friendship but for their fellowship, their κοινωνία. English Bibles translate the Greek word κοινωνία as fellowship (KJV), partnership (ESV), partners (NLT), and participation (NASB). Fellowship, or κοινωνία, certainly isn't less than friendship, but so much more than friendship: think of it as friendship plus!
"Fellowship" is the English translation of the Hebrew stem cheber and the Greek stem koin-. The Hebrew cheber expresses ideas such as a common or shared house as in Prov. 21:9, which says, "It is better to live in the corner of the housetop than in a house shared (kheh'-ber) with a quarrelsome wife. Kheh-ber is also understood in the context of "binding" or "joining" (Ex. 26:6) and for a "companion," as in Eccles. 4:9-10 which says, "Two people are better than one because they can reap more benefit from their labor. For if they fall, one will help his companion (kheh'-ber) up but pity the person who falls down and has no one to help him up." And, last but not least, it is used of a wife being a companion, as in Mal. 2:14 where the Lord chastises the men of Israel for being unfaithful to "the wife of [their] youth, to whom [they were] faithless, though she is your companion (kheh'-ber) and your wife by covenant" (Mal. 2:14).
This pastiche of scriptural vignettes shows us that Christian fellowship is primarily familial, a covenantal and participatory reality. So right out of the gate, fellowship, or koinonia, is a relationally stronger bond than friendship. Think of Koinonia in terms of Christian marriage, the sacrament of Holy Matrimony, where man and woman spiritually become one flesh. In the mystery of marriage, sacramental grace transports a man and woman far beyond mere friendship. Holy Matrimony forges a new, sacred reality of union through participation, mutually sharing self, body, and soul, and thereby enjoying nuptial communion as husband and wife. The bond of marriage is an unseen reality; it is sacramental, meaning the outward union of husband and wife is but the evidence of an unseen, shared participation in Jesus Christ. In an almost analogous manner, Christian fellowship (koinonia) is also a spiritual reality forged by the Gospel, a new reality and family (thicker than blood) participating in the Divine Life of God.
Now, I want to say a few things about Christian koinonia: what it is and what it does. To begin with, Paul sets Christian koinonia, or fellowship, in both the personal and communal nature of the Gospel. By faith, we are first brought into fellowship with Jesus. St. Paul reminds and encourages the Christians in Corinth, writing, "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship (koinonia) of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord" (1 or 1:6). Our personal fellowship with Jesus by grace through faith, is Paul's favorite way of describing a believer's relationship with the risen Lord and the benefits of salvation which come through Him. Koinonia also has a communal dimension because believers share in the common fellowship of the Gospel. This is precisely why the apostle gives thanks to God for the Philippians' "fellowship (their shared participation) in the Gospel" (1:5), a spiritual reality akin to marriage, forged by Divine mystery. This new reality is solely experienced by Christians through the fellowship of the Holy Spirit as we partake of and live in the saving power and message of the Gospel (2 Cor. 13:14). And in Paul's mind, is the most significant bond of unity in the life of the church (2:1–4).
So, how is this most basic reality of Christian fellowship lived, nurtured, and protected? To begin with, thanksgiving is the air that koinonia breathes. "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you." Fellowship receives fellow believers as divine gifts and thanks the Giver for every single Christian within the fellowship without preference or partiality, as a gift worthy of our gratitude, for they are a brother or sister in Christ. And this bond of the spirit supersedes all earthly bonds, for Jesus says, "Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?" Pointing to His disciples, He said, "Here are My mother and My brothers. For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother" (Mt 12:48). A mutual eucharist should be continually offered among the lives of the saints.
Koinonia kneels before the Father in Heaven and joyfully makes requests on behalf of fellow believers: "I thank God, (says Paul), always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy." Christian fellowship is mindful of the needs of the other, taking concern both large and small to the throne room of God, and with joy, because we pray to a faithful Father who can do more than we can ask or imagine. And he is a faithful partner in the Gospel. Fellowship looks outward with care and concern for others, not at the expense of self, but with regard for those within the church, as beautifully exemplified by the Philippian’s great concern for Paul and a willingness to help him, though they incurred a material cost. And all of this... thanksgiving for others, sacrificial giving of self, intercession for the saints, concern for brothers and sisters in Christ... are offered sincerely. Paul says, "it is meet for me to think this of you all because I have you in my heart." In other words, genuine Christian koinonia originates from a sincere heart working out good intentions through love. Without agendas, without selfish ambition, desiring nothing but the experience of mutual joy.
There is another aspect of fellowship, one that, in many respects, is so very close to the heart of God: suffering. Not only do the Philippians partake and share in the refreshing Gospel with Paul, but also in his bonds and chains, his suffering for the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to how Paul describes his suffering in the third chapter of this same letter, as his koinonia or sharing/participating in the sufferings of Christ,
"I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship (koinonia) of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead" (3:8-10).
Gospel suffering is not an isolated affair; we never suffer alone. Paul's present prison tribulation is but a participation in Christ's suffering. And the Philippian believers, through the spirit's bond, share in the same mystery of his suffering. They are in Paul, as Paul is in Christ. Hear how Paul describes the suffering of fellowship when he says to the Corinthians, "And, apart from other things [external trials], there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?" (2 Cor 11:28). One flesh, one body, one soul.
What parent refuses to weep with a sorrowful child? How can a Bishop or priest remain unaffected by the discomfort of his people? Or is a Christian husband unaffected by the concerns of his wife? Do we not experience the victories and failures of our Christian brothers and sisters? No. We are all one in Christ, laughing and weeping, one with the other. But remember, Christian suffering is not in vain or insanity without meaning because the fellowship of suffering occurs within the Divine economy, in the koinonia of Christ, to conform us unto the death of Christ, so that (in the words of St. Paul, we "by any means might attain unto the resurrection of the dead."
Just as Jesus gave so completely of Himself for the sake of His people, so, too, are believers to give completely of themselves for the sake of the people of God (2 Cor. 4:7–12). The pattern of following Christ in suffering continues for the believer, in that just as Christ entered into glory following His suffering (2:9–11), so, too, will the believer in the future share in the glory of Christ if "we suffer with Him" (3:10–11).
Koinonia is a spiritually symbiotic reality, our fellowship with one another mirroring our fellowship with Christ. We love Jesus to the extent that we love his church and people. How and to what degree we love one another shows how and to what degree we love Jesus. St. John puts it this way, "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, cannot love God whom he hath not seen" (1 Jn 4:20).
Now, perhaps we better understand Paul's concluding prayer, "And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God." "That your love may abound in more knowledge and in all judgment."
Fellowship, Gospel-partnership, koinonia thrives and is protected by abounding love. Love knows what to say and what not to say. Love forces sincere relationships and bridles offenses. Love produces a bounty of righteous fruit, and this kind of church glorifies and praises God in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Love is the fruit produced by people who are thankful for the love of God and the gift of Christian brothers and sisters. And love, my friends, is the very thing that shows the world that we are Christians. Amen+
