Paul starts off this letter making it clear that the letter is going up be about Christ, and that all believers are unified in Him.
The next section is Paul expressing his thankfulness for the Philippians. Ancient letters often started with a note of gratefulness for the recipients, but Paul’s gratitude goes so deep.
Some of this is the bond between Paul and the Philippians, driven by the partnership they have had together in both spiritual and material things over the past years, even as he has not been in Philippi for some years.
All this works together with the grace of God to bubble over in the joy that permeates this letter. Paul yearns for the Philippians with “all his guts.” It’s a reminder that church is about more than the worship or the teaching, but it’s about the connections between people, the love of Christ working its way out and through and among the people of His church. People are not God’s Plan B, but the primary mechanism by which He accomplishes His will. We are brought together to learn to love in real life – not always easy, but if eternal worth.
This also means there is value to building true relationships within the church, not merely acquaintances who we say hi to on Sunday. Once of the silver linings of this quarantine is that we are learning not to take our relationships and interactions with people for granted.