Last Sunday, as we gathered together amongst all the sirens, horns, whistles, and even that one random trumpet playing outside; we looked at the fact that it is a great privilege to be part of the body of Christ. We also noted that with that great privilege, comes with it great responsibilities. We talked about how the Apostle Paul had laid out for us some very practical steps to fulfilling our responsibilities as Christians. We stand firm in one spirit for the faith while seeking the advancement of the gospel. Do you remember those things? Well, I know that last Sunday I felt a little overwhelmed with what Paul has called us to do thus far. During our study of chapter 1 alone Paul has already told us to proclaim the word always, to rejoice in our sufferings, to not be divisive, and the list goes on-and-on. After stepping back and realizing all that the Apostle had said to do just in these first 30 verses, I was feeling a little exhausted, and I can imagine that the Philippians were feeling that way too. I mean, they were probably expecting something from Paul about his imprisonment, but that isn’t really the letter they got. Sure he makes brief mention about his imprisonment, but he quickly pulls an “enough about that now back to the task at hand” maneuver. So, Paul, having a good idea that we might feel this way, offers some much needed words of encouragement. “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, and participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy.”
Now I want to stop right there for a moment, because this statement just grabs at me so pointedly. Why does he say complete my joy? What does it mean? I understand phrases like, “be joyful” or “have joy among you”, but complete my joy? Well, it isn’t as if the Apostle is saying that he is upset with the Philippians and he wants them to fix whatever is wrong. No, in fact, he is quite happy with them. Remember, his reason for writing to them was to express his joy for them. So what he’s saying is “I’m happy and joyful for you, but you are still capable of more.” He’s letting them know that even though they are a great church and they have accomplished so much, there is still more to be done. There is still work to be done for the sake of the gospel.
I love having discussions about the difference between good and great. I particularly love having these types of discussions when it comes to sports. You never hear these types of discussions more than you do when it comes time for hall of fame voting. It’s often said that it’s the hall of fame, not the hall of really good. So the problem for voters comes in distinguishing between what’s good and what’s great. They have to decide who should be forever memorialized with a bronze bust and who should be keep out and possibly forgotten years after their career is done. Sometimes the difference between two individuals is miniscule, but one is remembered as an all-time great, while the other is remembered as just a really nice player.
And to me, that distinction between good and great is exactly what Paul is dealing with here. The church at Philippi is a really good church, but they could be great. And isn’t greatness what we should always strive for when it comes to our faith and our God. Paul is telling them that even though they have done some good things, that have given him great joy, he wants them to complete that joy. He wants them to increase that joy even more by becoming an even greater congregation. And Paul gives the Philippian Christians, and us too, some guidelines for taking this next step. He tells us just how his joy can be made complete.
The first thing that Paul tells us needs to be done to complete his joy is something so strong that he doesn’t use just one word to convey his thoughts. “Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” In other words, Paul is calling for unity. He is calling for us to work together, not against one another. You may notice, that in almost every text that we have looked at over the last month and a half that there is at least some hint of Paul calling for unity among Christians. That unity comes in the task of proclaiming the gospel. And it makes sense when you think about it in common sense terms. How many different sayings do we hear on a regular basis about the importance of teamwork and unity? “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” “Two heads are better than one.” We could keep going with such phrases, but you get the idea.
Another phrase that flows out of this idea is the old sports adage of “there’s no i in team.” You see, Paul is calling us to work for the good of others. The popular movie “The Book of Eli” is about a man who is given a task by God in a world that is 30 years removed from a nuclear apocalypse. That task is to take a copy of the Bible, the last copy, across the country to a place where it can be reproduced and reprinted. Eli, played by Denzel Washington, reads this copy of the Bible every day. At the end of his journey, he sums up his notions of Scripture as being, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Well, I wouldn’t say that Eli has the central message of the Bible down pat, the primary message of Scripture is the story of how a loving God redeemed a fallen people. But one of the primary principles within Scripture is this very notion. Paul calls us to serve.
This is the second idea that Paul is trying to convey to us here is that we are here to serve. And our service is not one that should be done out of some sense of obligation, but out of a sense of love. “Do nothing from rivalry, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” In one of the men’s Sunday school classes we talked briefly about this principle. We were talking about tithing and being a cheerful giver and saying that our giving ought to be out of love and not out of obligation. Well, much in the same sense, I don’t think there is really anything wrong with doing something simply because it is what we know we are supposed to do. The issue comes in our attitude. When we give, when we do for others, what is our attitude? Do we feel like we have some inflated self-worth? Do we view ourselves as being any better after the act than we did before? Well, the truth of the matter is, that we ought to view it as us being servants, and faithful servants at that. You see, it’s not about us. It’s not about how we feel. It’s about fulfilling our responsibilities as members of the body of Christ; those same responsibilities that we spoke of last Sunday, as well as all other commands that Christ has given to us. We are to humble ourselves before our God. That’s what Christian service is all about. We don’t have time to talk completely about the issue of humility this week, I hope that you can join us next Sunday as we dive into Christ’s model of humility in much greater depth. Just a little advertisement of what’s to come next Sunday, and hopefully an encouragement for you to be back here next week.
A third thing that Paul mentions here that will take a church from good to great is being helpful. Perhaps an even better way to phrase this would be a call to be selflessness; a call to be giving of ourselves. Now this could be connected with serving, but it goes a little deeper. We are all part of the Church, we are all part of the body of Christ. We ought to be concerned with the welfare of others. Now I’m not saying that we take care of those who refuse to take care of themselves. I’m talking about getting away from our self-serving desires that so often creep into our minds without us even being aware of it. We live in a self-centered world, and it is self-centered by philosophy, but it’s also self-centered sociologically. There is stuff that tempts us to self-centeredness that we don’t even realize is tempting us towards such a mindset. You know, parents wanting to give to their children and wanting to give the best to their children is a noble thing. It’s what my parents desire for me and what I in turn desire for my children. It can’t tell you how many times the phrase has been said to Amy and I, “Well, when you have grandchildren and great-grandchildren of your own, then you can spoil them, but until then it’s our turn.” I’ll give you one guess who we’ve heard that from. But this desire to give so much to our children can often unwittingly create people that think that the world is built around them. We laugh at these folks when their kids, but then they grow up. These people get married, and they enter into a marriage with another person who thinks that the world is built around him or her. And you know what happens? It’s not very pretty. Because two people who think that the world is centered around them are offended morally by that other person, who doesn’t think that the world is built around him or her. And that’s not even getting into the notion that Christ ought to be at the center of their universe instead of themselves or anything else.
We are all blessed beyond measure. God has, out of his mercy and loving-kindness, bestowed upon us more than we could ever imagine. It is our responsibility now, to give to others. It is our task to share our blessings with those around us, and to place their needs above our wants. It’s a tough task. So many times it feels like everyone is penalizing us for our successes in life and asking for more. I understand, but I just want to ask you one simple question about this, “Do you really deserve all that you have been given?” I know I don’t. No one is calling you to take a vow of poverty and give up all that you have in this world, but we are called to be faithful stewards of what God has given to us. We are called to use the blessings and the gifts that we have been given to glorify God.
As we prepare our hearts to receive the Lord’s Supper today, I want us to ask ourselves one fundamental question: “Are we settling for good when we should be striving for great?” We’re called to examine our hearts before taking part in this sacrament. So in your examining of yourself, can you say that you have done all that you can do for the sake of the gospel? Have you given all that you have for Christ’s sake? Or have you simply let yourself be content with giving only what was required by man? Having you settled for giving your faith the bare minimum? As we receive these elements here in just a moment, I encourage you to commit yourself to taking that next step. I encourage you, as your pastor, your friend, your brother in Christ, to grow your faith. Take your faith from good to great. Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment