Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear. (Philippians 1:12-14)   It is easy to become discouraged.  There is a constant flood of bad news that we confront each day:  Another shooting. Another country that bursts into internal conflict and war. Another disaster. Another political or cultural fight that sours our hope. Another health scare in our own family.  How quickly our horizon can become clouded with nothing but bad news.  We begin to despair.  There is nothing new under the sun, of course.  Even though we get more information faster and from further away, the Philippians certainly had their own flow of bad news. This new little Christian community was under threat and ostracized from their pagan neighbours already, and now news comes that their founding pastor, Paul, is in prison.  If Paul was jailed—when would their time come?  Was it really worth it to follow this Jesus? Suffering, or a prolonged exposure to the suffering of others (personally or through the news) can very quickly lead to despair and some pretty hard questions.  Fear begins to creep in.  Trust begins to erode.  Paul has already attempted to cut this hopelessness off at the roots by beginning his letter with prayers of thanks and joy for the Philippians.  Here he goes a step further by addressing the situation directly.  Yes, he's in prison.  But "I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel," he writes.  Paul's chains are not what they seem.  They have become an opportunity for witness—an opportunity to live in the humble, self-giving way of Christ—and others have taken notice.  Not only that, but the other Christians in the city—seeing that some of the worst of their fears have already happened in Paul's imprisonment—are now emboldened to risk losing more for Jesus' sake, the one who gave everything up for them.  Hopelessness, despair, and fear are always creeping up on us.  It is easy to become discouraged.  But the chains of Paul flip the narrative.  Paul lives in the power of Jesus, has everything he needs in Jesus, and remains in communion with the church through Jesus.  What might have become a context of lost hope now becomes the launching pad for it.  Because Jesus is alive, Paul does not need to fear death.  Because Jesus is alive, Paul has a good word of hope and life to speak, even to his captors.  Paul had already lost all things in Jesus, what more could Caesar do to him?  In that place, Paul was free to live for Jesus with joy and thanks, despite his chains—bearing an uncommon word of hope to all.  And that utterly unexpected, counter-cultural witness to Jesus in the way of Jesus, is what turned heads and empowered the church. These verses come to us to encourage us.  As Paul writes elsewhere: nothing can separate us from the love of God that is ours in Christ Jesus.  And as Jesus himself says: "I am with you always, to the very end of the age."  So as with Paul in his chains, take heart today and do not be afraid—Jesus is with you, no matter the suffering you face.  

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