WADING RIVER CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

SERMONS IN PRINT

Peter Vibert 4/30/06

Philippians 1:1-30 “Joy in the Faith”

If you asked a dozen people at random what they most wanted in life today, I suspect that high on their list would be peace and joy. We live in a hurried and harried place and time where few people find much relaxation, or time to enjoy their families, or the fruits of their labors, or at times much of anything. Stress, fatigue, burnout and depression are all too common. “What’s it all for?” is a question on too many lips.

Especially when hard or sad times come, it’s easy to become envious of the people who seem to sail through them with serenity. Of course some of this is just the way we are wired; there are stoic people who never seem to be upset, depressives who are frequently upset, and volatile people whose emotions go up and down daily or even hourly. But quite apart from temperament, we suspect that there are also positive attitudes and behaviors that can be learned – especially by Christians who are promised the help of the Holy Spirit. We all want to know how to live “on top of” rather than “underneath” the endless procession of good and bad things that come into our lives.

The Bible does not encourage us to psycho-analyze the people who walk through its pages, but we can’t help noticing some of their character traits, and how God in his grace works with all types of people to achieve his ends in their lives and his world. The Apostle Paul was certainly not a “quiet type” who was unruffled by his emotions. But he nonetheless often expresses contentment with the life he has in Christ. He sounds like a man of deep inner assurance who has faced many troubles but never been defeated by them. He writes his letter to the Christians in Philippi while in prison, we think in Rome in the early 60s AD, with not long to live before he will be executed under the Emperor Nero.

Paul has not seen the Philippian Christians in years, but he dearly remembers his days with them. He and Silas and Timothy and Luke had founded the church there in around AD 49. Responding to a vision, Paul had crossed the Bosphorus and taken the gospel of Jesus Christ into Europe. His first European convert was a woman named Lydia, a merchant and a “God-fearing” Gentile, in whose apparently spacious home the new church in Philippi had begun to meet. After a great beginning there, Paul and Silas had been imprisoned, only to be miraculously released when an earthquake destroyed the prison. Now Paul writes them a letter of friendship, with reassurance about his state and theirs, and with instruction on how to live as Christians in the Roman culture of their city.

1) Paul’s Perspectives

He wants them to develop some perspective on their lives; to let what they know theologically emerge in their attitudes, their lives, their behavior. Some of this he does by example. He wants them to grasp, for example, that his imprisonment has not stopped the spread of the gospel in Rome. In fact it has had very positive results: the whole Praetorian Guard now knows about Jesus through Paul’s imprisonment. Other Christians have been emboldened to speak about Jesus. And even some jealous Christians have found in Paul’s incarceration a new opportunity to speak publicly themselves. In all this, Paul rejoices that the mission of preaching the gospel in Rome has flourished. God’s power to act is not restricted by Roman guards or by Nero himself.

Secondly, we see that Paul faces death with equanimity. He is unconcerned whether he lives or dies. To live is fine: he is serving Christ, and he expects many more opportunities to minister – perhaps even in Philippi again. But if he dies, he goes to be with Christ, which is even better – he calls it a “gain.” He has no doubt that he will have the conscious and glorious experience of being in the presence of his Lord.

Thirdly, Paul may be alone, but he is not without friends. He remembers them, he is thankful for them, he prays for them. He is conscious of being part of a community of people who are bound together by the love that springs from their common faith in Jesus. Nothing about prison, or any other hardship, can shake Paul’s sense of being loved by Christ and by his people.

2) Living In Joy

How can we live with peace of mind, and even with joy, when times are tough? Here is my example, says Paul, and here too are things you can do.

Trust God to continue his work in you and among you, even when you might imagine he cannot. When times are tough, most of us think we are doing well to just “hold on” to what we have – even by our finger-tips. We hope not to be defeated, or to slide back; we just want to “get through it,” and would like God to help us survive. But that is not how God sees our situation. He knows this is in fact a time for growth and development. Hard times are growth times.

In difficult moments we learn - if we ever learn at all - to trust God more fully. When we are at the end of our ropes, he has new freedom to act in us and around us. It is precisely when our sense of self-confidence is at its lowest that he can work best in us. It is when – as Paul writes to the Corinthians – we see that we have “treasure in jars of clay” that we grasp that “the power belongs to God and not to us.” Recognizing that we are incapable of helping ourselves and are utterly dependent on him is the place where we can put our foot on the first rung of the ladder of recovery. For those who trust Jesus as Savior and Lord, no situation is beyond hope. Every crisis is a time when God can do a new thing in us and around us, and can lead us out into something that he knows is much better by far.

Trust God, then, that the “work he has begun in you” he will carry to completion. If you have a little faith, he will work with you until your faith grows and one day brings you to heaven. If you have just “tasted that the Lord is good,” he will bring you to salvation if you place your faith in Jesus. What he is doing within you is a “good thing,” and he will bring it to completion.

Secondly, as well as trusting God, be thankful for your friends – especially the Christian ones. They are your extended family, and when times are hard you will value them. Even when your own family cannot support you any more, your Christian friends will be there for you. Be thankful to God for them, and pray for them always. Pray that they and you will come to love one another more and more, in the practical and helpful way that is the definition of Christian love. This is not an emotional feeling; this is a helpful attitude and practical work for the benefit of the other person.

Pray that you and your friends will grow not only in love but in wisdom, in insight, in discernment. What they and you – what we all – need is the God-given wisdom to discern what is “the best.” We need to know what decisions to make for our lives, for our families, for our children, for our work. There are a million options before us – at least compared to most people – and we need to know what to do. Should we move? Should we look for another job? Should we have surgery? Should we retire? What should we do about our children’s problems: keep out of them, give advice, challenge them? What – dear Lord – what is your will, what is best in this situation?

Pray for yourself, and pray for one another, that we would become wiser. Pray that the “fruits of righteousness” – that is, “right and good behavior” will grow in us. When you cannot decide what to do, when you cannot do anything else, pray!

Finally, discover joy. It is meant to be one of the distinctive marks of the Christian. Joy is not a feeling, it is an action. It is the way of living that is determined to “rejoice.” It is a way of living that places our deepest trust in God to work in and through every situation for our good and his glory. It is saying from deep in our hearts, as the prophet did long ago, “Though the fig tree does not bud, and there are no grapes on the vine; though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food; though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my savior.” (Hab 3:17-18).

Joy is the determination of the heart that we will trust God no matter what; that even when everything looks black, that light will dawn; that even in the depths of winter, roots are growing in the ground and will send out shoots again; that even when I am down, God is not. Joy is the certainty that nothing in heaven and earth can separate us from the love of God in Jesus. Joy is the trust that even though there is much in life we regret, much we would do differently if we had the chance to do it over, that we are still accepted and loved by God if we put our trust in Jesus. Joy is knowing deep in our hearts that we are not just sinners but forgiven sinners! Joy is knowing that we are not alone, but have God’s Spirit, God’s Word and God’s people to support us and guide us, always!

Joy, love, peace are fruits of a Christian life. They are God’s gifts, but they are also the result of feeding, cultivation, pruning. Fruits come during maturity, when the heat of summer is over and fall brings ripeness. The best fruit comes when God has had plenty of time to prune away the dead wood, the diseased wood, the twisted and crossed-over branches.

Joy comes when we act out what we know; when we dedicate ourselves to living in a way that reflects our calling, when we decide that the name “Christian” is one we bear proudly and want to bear worthily. Joy comes when what we do is consistent with what we claim to be. Joy comes when God surprises us with moments of transcendence while we are in the middle of simply doing what has to be done, of enduring what has to be endured. Joy comes when we recognize God’s grace is at work in our lives, in our families, in our church, in our community.

I don’t know what you are struggling with right now. Some of you face troubles that are so hard that you shrink from letting anyone else know about them, out of shame and embarrassment and fear of rejection. Some of you live with grief and sorrow for yourselves or for members of your family. Don’t give up! God can work in the worst of situations to bring out something new and better than before. You are surrounded by his love, and by people who have been touched by his love and from that have learned to love one another. You are surrounded by people who pray for you; people who daily echo Paul by saying “I thank my God every time I remember you.”

If you don’t already pray daily for your Christian friends; start now. There is not a morning that passes that we should not think of someone and say “Thank you, God, for this person... and bless them today, in whatever situation they may be. Bring to completion your good work in them, and give them joy and peace.” If you will do that, you will find that there are other people doing it for you.

Let us pray...