Euodia and Syntyche
St. Paul’s United Methodist Church
Philippians 4: 1-9, Rev. Marianne Niesen, February 22, 2009
It doesn’t get much better than Paul’s letter to the Philippians. The words are beautiful. The sentiment is sincere. The vision is lofty. Paul loved the Philippians dearly. Earlier in the letter he wrote that he gave thanks for them and prayed constantly ‘with joy’ for them. Paul had founded the church at Philippi. He had risked his life to preach the gospel there. Philippi was full of people he knew personally and loved deeply. The letter is evidence of that love. Read it some time and you’ll see what I mean.
Having said that, there is one part of the letter that gives a thoughtful reader pause. You just heard it. What are we to do with the troublesome little interlude in the letter that publically singles out two of the leaders in the community for quarreling? It is a strange moment in an otherwise lofty letter . . . I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, (we aren’t sure who that is) to help these women for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel. The Message recounts it this way: I urge Euodia and Syntyche to iron out their differences and make up. God doesn't want (us) holding grudges.
Of course, no one here is surprised that there was disagreement in that early Christian community. There has never been a shortage of controversial issues among Christians . . . abortion, homosexuality, clapping in church, contemporary music, guitars, the war in Iraq, the opening and closing of the curtains. Some of the issues are big and some not so big but all of them can divide. What was it between Euodia and Syntyche? It might have been theological. Maybe Euodia believed Christians could eat any food and Syntyche kept kosher. Perhaps the difference was political - after all, Syntyche had always been Republican and Euodia was a blue dog Democrat. Or perhaps it was children - with Euodia hopelessly blind to her eldest son’s behavior and becoming angry with Syntyche for correcting him in public. Whatever the issue, it was threatening the very heart of the community at Philippi. Still, all of you sitting here have a reasonable expectation that even if I bring up an issue from the pulpit, I will not use names.
Will Willimon tells the story of meeting the pastor of another church one day on the streets of the city where they both served. He said his colleague was obviously troubled. "What’s wrong?" inquired Willimon.
"Well, it got ugly at church last night. The Board of Deacons was downright nasty to me."
"I’m sorry . . . what happened?"
"They got upset with me because, during the sermon, I happened to mention that George Jones was messing around . . . you know, committing adultery. And he caused such a terrible fuss and people were rude to me."
"You said this in a sermon?"
"Well, I said it with love," he replied firmly."
I’m not sure that ‘loving intent’ helped George Jones much. Paul’s love probably didn’t help Euodia and Syntyche either. And love them, he did. So why did he do it? What on earth got into Paul that he would mention such a personal disagreement in public? Stand firm in the Lord, my beloved! (For goodness sake, Euodia and Syntyche, get along!!) Oh, and, rejoice in the Lord always! What possessed Paul?
I think I know. It is something that got clearer to me during our recent trip to Israel. Some of you, by the way, have mentioned that you hoped you’d hear about our trip in a sermon. And, you will - but not as a travelogue. I’ll share things in bits and pieces. And here is a bit. The people from St. Paul’s and Helena were part of a group known as the ‘Blue Bus.’ Our name tags were blue and there was a sign on the bus windshield that said ‘Blue Bus.’ That became our ‘group.’ We had a Palestinian Muslim driver named Achmed and an Israeli guide named Doron. We also had a bus captain - that was me. There were 34 of us on this bus. I have made a lot of trips with many different groups and I know that it is usually true that people on a bus try to get along . . . but inevitably there is someone - Euodia or Syntyche or Eugene or Sam - someone who, by the end of the trip, has succeeded in alienating almost everyone. He or she usually does it by being regularly late or inconsiderate with their camera or dominating every conversation or constantly complaining. It’s usually not big stuff, it’s little stuff. Two years ago, we had someone on the trip who wanted absolutely nothing to do with listening to the guide, being with the group or riding on the bus. He wanted nothing to do with what we were doing so he’d usually disappear from the time we arrived somewhere to the time we got back. One time, the entire bus load of people waited an hour and a half because he didn’t show up by the appointed time - and had told no one where he was going. When he eventually did arrive, he apologized but the behavior changed little. It is that ordinary little stuff that can eat away at the fabric of community - even a bus community - and make life miserable.
Having said that, we had a remarkable group this time . . . occasionally someone was late or wandered off - and one time someone had to be told rather firmly to put their camera away at a border crossing as they had been asked to do. But, overall, life on the Blue Bus was quite pleasant. We learned a lot about the Holy Land and we experienced a lot together and our collective journey was made richer because of the community we built. We would not have been able to do as much as we did if everyone hadn’t been committed to being considerate, thoughtful and looking out for one another. We were made up of United Methodists, Catholics, a Jewish man, a Lutheran and a few skeptics - and we did fine.
I believe that the reason Paul addressed the quarrel between Euodia and Syntyche in the midst of his wonderful letter to his beloved Philippians was precisely because it matters how we treat one another. In the buses and busyness of life. Despite very real and sometimes challenging differences, we can learn to treat one another with respect and love. And it is only when we do that in the little things that we have a chance to make a difference in the big things.
When Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians, he was in prison - probably in Ephesus. That was where he heard about the Euodia and Syntyche issue. In other words, whatever it was, it was affecting things. He could have written a private letter but he didn’t - probably because he knew, if he had heard about it, the quarrel itself wasn’t really private. Make no mistake - the Christians of Philippi faced big issues. For one thing, they lived in a city given over to the worship of the emperor. He was the lord of lords and king of kings. Philippi was a Roman city where the cult of the emperor was strong. Christians who called Jesus lord would have been risking their lives for their faith. They could not afford quarreling and back-biting. They were to be different. They were to live in stark contrast to the violence of Rome. And so Paul reminded Euodia and Syntyche that a lot depended on how they treated one another. He also reminded the Philippians that the quarrel between Euodia and Syntyche was everyone’s concern. He wanted the entire community to help in peacemaking. They were not to do what others did. They were not to write off Euodia and Syntyche. They were not to gossip about them. They were not to punish them. No, Paul was clear - they were all in this together and they needed one another and they were to make it work. All of them.
Paul followed his admonition to Euodia and Syntyche and the community with these words . . . finally, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, . . . think on these things - and the God of peace will be with you. Our daily choices make a difference! Let’s face it, it is easy at times to get overwhelmed with the problems of the day. War, the economy, political bickering, backbiting. And, while big solutions are necessary, it is equally necessary for the likes of you and me to do what we can among ourselves to be decent. To be kind. To be forgiving. To do whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable. Those are the ‘rules’ for being a Christian. We are not to join in the bickering - we are to live together with love and respect. Christians are supposed to stick out - not through crusades but through kindness. We’ve certainly gotten this wrong through the years - but we still have time to improve. Just like Euodia and Syntyche. And it will take all of us Philippians working together to make it happen.
Our own United Methodist bishop Will Willimon said it like this: The kingdom of God rises and falls on what happens between Euodia and Syntyche; on how well or poorly we are able to embody, in our everyday, ordinary little lives, the love of Christ.
Just last Friday, the American Profile insert in the Independent Record carried a remarkable story. It was about a 15 year old boy, McKay Hatch, from California, who is on a mission to eliminate profanity in everyday conversation. He just got tired of all the swearing and bad language that was common around him so he finally told his friends that he didn’t want to hear it. "I challenged my friends: ‘if you want to hang around me, I don’t want to hear cussing. They stopped and it was really cool.’" That got him thinking that maybe he could effect greater change. In 2007, he organized the No Cussing Club to encourage students in his school to stop using foul language. Today, the No Cussing Club has 30 chapters around the world and an estimated 100,000 people have taken the No Cussing Challenge on Hatch’s website.
Remarkable as that is, what really grabbed me was at the very end of the article. Hatch is quoted as saying ‘I’m going to start off with the little things, like cussing. Once we get rid of cussing, then we can go off to the next thing - violence. Most fights start with words - cussing at each other and making each other angry.’ Indeed . . .
It matters how we treat each other. The words we use, the attitudes we foster, the quarrels we continue, the accusations we make - matter. And peace will be possible on a global level when we learn to make peace locally. It doesn’t matter if it’s at school or at the work place or in the halls of Congress. What starts with words too often ends in violence and guns.
In November I was at the meeting of the National Council of Churches and one of the speakers addressed the challenge of race relations in the church and how often there has been conflict. I don’t remember the details of the talk except for this . . . at one point he said ‘the Christian life is a lot like jazz. With jazz music, you have a bunch of instruments playing together that shouldn’t necessarily be together - or at least that usually aren’t together. But when each contributes its part, it makes the whole better - and amazing music besides. Music that can’t happen any other way.’ That’s what we want - in jazz and in life! And just like jazz, it takes practice to make it work . But, when it works, there’s nothing like it!
