Below is Margaret's posting for Week I:
Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians, written about the year 50 from Rome or Ephesus to the thoroughly Roman city of Philippi, which has within it some interesting political talk. In this political year, that might be helpful…..and perhaps unsettling.
We
started by thinking about words that popped into our heads when we contemplated
“politics.” Most of them were not
flattering—sanctimonious and manipulative were two of them, though somebody did
allow as to how some politicians might be motivated by service. Then we turned to reading this short
epistle, and considering how scholars have translated and found meaning in the
text.
In
Philippians, 1:27, Paul says, “Exercise your citizenship in a manner worthy of
the Gospel.” The Greek word he
uses is “politeuesthe”, an imperative verb
form whose root is polis, or city. In 3:20, he says, “Our commonwealth (politeuma)
is in heaven.” Does he mean that
the Philippians should disdain life in their Roman city? That would be thoroughly un-Pauline,
for this man, after all, was proud of his citizenship—both Hebrew and
Roman. Many commentators think
that Paul was proposing dual citizenship of earth and heaven at once. Probably, few of Paul’s converts were
citizens, but they are counseled to conduct their community lives as residents
of a Roman colony living by the values of the Gospel. In some very eloquent terms, which we will consider next
week, he speaks about those values.
An
open question, to which we will return this coming Sunday morning, is where we
find ourselves in this picture.
One of my objectives is to see if the reality of the political dialogue
in whose midst we live can be informed in any way by the values Paul espouses. I’ve thought for some time that the
Christian religious ground in political discussion has been claimed by the
evangelicals among us, and that is troubling because the voices are often
strident and uncompromising. I had
assumed that other Christians might find a voice for themselves that is more
tolerant of ambiguity and the nature of our democratic polity. There was resistance to this idea, and
I hope we will discuss it further.
On
Sunday we will finish reading the epistle and concentrate on koinonia--
community, or fellowship, or sharing—a rich Pauline construction about which we
already know a considerable amount at the Parish of St. Paul.
--Margaret Hummel
