WADING RIVER CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

SERMONS IN PRINT

Peter Vibert 5/28/06

Philippians 4:2-23 “Peace”

One of the great attributes of God, which he promises to share with his people, is his “wholeness,” which includes such things as peace and joy. The Hebrew word for it is shalom – and in the OT it usually means long life, happiness, crops, harvests, children. We live in the NT era where it means harmonious relationships between people, and sense of God’s presence, an experience of his love and grace, and joy. It is usually translated in the NT as “peace”. I think I probably speak for everyone here if I say we could all do with more of it!

Paul concludes his letter to his Christian friends in Philippi with a “wish of peace” – the sort of “blessing of shalom” that is typical of the OT. In Paul’s writings it comes out as “May the peace of God guard you and keep you;” or “May the God of peace be with you.” It sounds wonderful, and our immediate question is “how do you get it?” Paul has touched on it in the three earlier chapters of his letter: gratitude for community, an attitude of looking out for the interests of others, having confidence in Christ and not in ourselves. But he tells us more, both directly and indirectly, in this closing passage.

1) In The Lord, Peace With God

First – though indirectly – it’s clear that you will find peace only if you are “in the Lord.” The gift of shalom comes to those who Paul calls “in Christ” – those who through personal faith and trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior have entered a new relationship with God that is marked by grace and reconciliation. In other words, if we are to know peace at all, it has to begin in “peace with God.” As Paul spells it out in Romans 5, when we become “justified by faith” we gain access into a state of grace and to “peace with God.”

This happens “through our Lord Jesus Christ” on the basis that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” For those who have faith in him, the result is that having been “justified by his blood... we are saved from God’s wrath... and reconciled to God through the death of his Son.” If we do not start here, we shall never know the “peace of God” or “the God of peace.” It is fundamental to Christian belief and Christian life that we must first be put in right relation to God before we can put anything else right. Knowing that we are reconciled to the Creator and Judge of the universe is foundational to Christian life and to finding peace and joy. If we have never entered this state, we have not yet begun.

2) At Peace With One Another

But if we are “in the Lord,” many other things follow of necessity. Because we have a new standing before God, certain obligations arise, but we are not asked to carry them out alone, but in the power of his Holy Spirit.

One is to be at peace with one another. Paul here enjoins two women leaders in the Philippian church (yes, there were women leaders in the churches of the 1^st C.), to “agree with each other in the Lord.” That does not mean they should have the same opinions on everything, but that “in the Lord” they should agree to “be of one mind;” that they should serve their flock in harmony, they should “have the same mindset” on what their calling is, and “set their minds on the same thing”: the advance of the gospel of Jesus. That will mean (as the rest of Paul’s letter has made plain) adopting attitudes of humility, looking out for other’s interests, enduring suffering.

Indeed Paul wants all the Christians to be known for their “gentleness,” their way of forbearing with one another. They should be renowned for it – and not, as Christians too often have been and are, for their contentiousness! And as the end of his letter makes plain, Paul believes that generosity is needed; that meeting the needs of other people with gladness ought to be a prominent feature of Christian life. There is no place in the Christian community for stinginess; that is not how God deals with us, and is not how we should deal with one another. Harmony, gentleness, and generosity should mark our communal life; and are steps to God’s peace and wholeness.

3) Pray Instead of Worrying

The next step to God’s shalom is learning to pray instead of worry. “In everything” we are to present our requests to God. The only way to get rid of the anxiety which so easily robs us of peace is to learn to pray and to trust God. We think we can conquer anxiety by controlling all the details so that things will come out right. But life teaches us that we can’t control things! The Bible teaches us to pray about everything to God, who does control all things!

We have to learn to pray with gratitude for all the goodness and grace God has shown us already. Because of that past, we know we can trust him with the issues of the present and the future. But we are tempted instead to worry – indeed for some of us, “worry” is our middle name! We tell ourselves we are just being responsible by thinking through the possibilities, and being prepared. In fact, we are showing God that we do not trust him to work for our good in future, even if he has in the past. We implicitly tell God we don’t trust him, and we are going to “figure it out.” This is not the path to peace!

If we can learn to trust God more, and to pray more, we shall learn Paul’s “secret of being content in all circumstances.” He has discovered that he is entirely in God’s hands, for good or ill, and that in wealth or poverty, in sickness or in health, he must trust God. So he goes through life with an equanimity that most of us can only envy. But the lesson is, don’t envy it; learn to trust God. He has your best interests and my best interests at heart, and he is capable of working “all things together for good” for those who love and trust him. If we want God’s shalom, we shall have to learn to trust him (not ourselves), to pray more (with gratitude), and to worry less.

4) Think About And Copy The Good

What else can we do? Paul says we can think about, consider, and make use of, what is best in the world God has put us in. We can let our minds and hearts and lives and actions be influenced by “whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy.”

Take what is best in your culture – and not what is worst – and use it to build up your sense of the goodness of God. Do not be dragged down by the sordid, the violent, the depraved, the trivial, and the purely material things of the world. Think about the good, pursue the good, encourage the good, emulate the good, produce the good yourself. Make your corner of the world a “better” place, adding to what is “true, noble, right, pure, lovely, excellent, admirable.”

And don’t forget to copy good people too. Paul is not afraid to tell people to “imitate him as he imitates Christ.” How many of us would dare to say that? But it matters who our role models are, who are peers are. We should choose them wisely, as we wish our children would. We should ask ourselves who and what we give our attention to: what TV shows, what movies, what videos, what web sites fill our heads and hearts? Are these good examples of what we want to become, or want our families to become?

5) God’s Strength And Supply

Next, Paul indicates, we need to learn to rest on God’s strength and on God’s supply. “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Too often we don’t feel that at all; we doubt we can do what we need to do, or what God is calling us to do, or what our family or our job or our church need and want from us.

When we feel overwhelmed by the demands that are made on us, this is the answer: “I can do all the things that are needed by the strength that God will give me.” We shall not find peace if we are weary beyond words and cannot imagine how to do all that is needed, and with a right spirit. But we can learn to find strength in God for the things he wants us to do, and to be able to endure the things that life throws at us.

Paul is grateful for the Philippians’ generosity to him, which he says is like a “fragrant offering” whose “aroma pleases God.” And knowing God, he says he is sure that “my God will meet all your needs” in return. Out of “God’s riches” their needs will be met abundantly.

6) Rejoice In The Lord!

There is one more thing to say about the path to peace, to wholeness, to shalom. To get there you have to “Rejoice in the Lord.”

Paul’s whole letter is full of the words “joy” and “rejoice.” Joy is a gift of God, a fruit of his Spirit’s presence and work in our lives. But “to rejoice” is a verb; it is something you do, and it is an imperative: “rejoice in the Lord!” Learn to praise and thank God for his goodness, for his mercy, for his grace. Recognize that – as King David wrote long ago – “the lines have fallen for us in pleasant places.” Grasp just how blessed you and I are to live here and now, and to enjoy all the beauty, the health and wealth, the opportunity and experiences that we take for granted.

Learn to be grateful, to see each day as a gift, to believe that “this is the day the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it.” Learn not to grumble, to criticize, to envy. Learn to be content. Learn to endure hardship without complaining. Learn to trust that a good and loving God is in charge of your life. Learn to rejoice! A miserable Christian is a contradiction in terms!

Yes, there are sorrows in life that take the smile off our faces. Yes, some of us are wired to be more pessimistic, more readily depressed. All that is right and true, and deserves respect and not condemnation. But even the most depressive of us need to learn at some deep level to keep our trust, our faith, our hope and our joy in God and his goodness and grace. He does not treat us as we deserve, and we should be daily grateful for that. We should rest, deep in our souls, on his promises of forgiveness and redemption and restoration to those who have faith in him, who truly love him from their hearts, who have embraced his Son as their Savior. So let us learn to “rejoice in the Lord.” It is an action, and it is a choice.

If we will do all these things: live harmoniously, pray often, encourage the good, rely on God, choose to rejoice; then “the peace of God which transcends human understanding” can come into our lives and guide and guard them. You know, as I do, that some people seem to live in that kind of peace, a level of shalom that defies human explanation or their life circumstances. One of the most beautiful, joyous and peaceful people I have ever been around was someone in this congregation who was dying slowly of cancer. But I have never enjoyed visiting anyone more.

“Rejoice in the Lord always; I will say it again: ‘Rejoice!’” If we will do it, we shall find the reward of God’s joy, and of God’s peace “which transcends all understanding” for those who are “in Christ Jesus.”

Let us pray...