This is a message preached at Hope Whangarei and was recorded in two parts part A and part B It was originally preached back in 2017 at St Peter's Church.
I don’t buy newspapers, like an ever growing number of
people these days I get my news via the internet and its various news feeds and
websites. One of things I’ve noticed is the way adverts are more and more interwoven
and packaged as articles on these news feeds or placed as links to similar
stories at the bottom of news articles. They usually have headlines that say
something like “this celebrity or that well known person shares their secrets
to beauty”, or “this is a secret that the rich don’t want you to know of how
they are able to accumulate wealth and so can you.” Or “the secret to having
great hair”… Adverts that offer secrets of how we can get or maintain the western
dream of being wealthy, healthy and attractive.
In the reading we had today Paul also offers us a secret he
has discovered for life. Not a secret hidden as a link to another web address,
or added on as a teaser at the end but freely and openly shared in the body of
his letter. A Secret which has been
hijacked in some quarters to reflect and fit in with our western worldview, but
which goes totally against the grain. As he thanks the church at Philippi for
their generous gift to him he tells them the secret he has that enables him to
face, keep faithful and have joy in times of plenty or in want, when he is well
feed or hungry. It is the secret to being content in all situations. I can do
all things through Him who strengthens me…
Over the last couple of months we have been working our way
through Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi. A letter written to thank that
church for its generous support for Paul while he is in prison. A letter
written to encourage the Church at Philippi to stand firm as partners in the
gospel, in the face of persecution from outside and trouble within. A letter written to exhort the church to Live
worthy of the gospel, being unified, having the mind of Christ where they put
each other’s needs above their own, where they guard against teaching that
would try and add human endeavour to the cross of Jesus Christ for salvation. A
letter where Paul assures them that the God of peace will guard their hearts
and minds if they keep focused on him. A
letter in which Paul encourages the church to know joy, a joy that transcends
situations, that is not tied to emotion or circumstance, but is founded in
being known by and knowing Jesus Christ.
A letter that speaks that same profound truth to the church here and now
as it did to the church then and there.
Today we are going to finish this series by looking at
Paul’s final words of thanks to the church(v10-19), a doxology or giving glory
of God, his final greetings (21-22) and his benediction or blessing (23). They
all have something to say to us of significance. It does seem that the letter
formally finishes with the doxology in verse 20, and it may be that Paul had
dictated the letter to someone and then he writes the last greetings and
blessing in his own hand writing. The
personal touch. Like with Paul’s letter we will focus most of our time on what
he has to say as he gives thanks to the Church for their gracious gift and deal
with the other two in passing.
Paul thanks the church at Philippi for their concern for him
and the gracious and generous gift which was sent by the church with
Epaphroditus. It was a gift of support which we assume was money. So he
thankful for the gift but is also concerned that there is no misunderstanding
about the gift as well.
Firstly, no misunderstanding about the nature of Paul’s
ministry. In the first century, there were travelling philosophers and teachers
who would make their living from their teaching. They would establish a group of
followers and there was the expectation that that group would then support them
and their work. A second century satirist Lucian speaks of them going house to
house to receive a payment, or as they call it ‘sharing the sheep’ and people
would give money out of respect for these travelling teachers or out of fear of
their harsh words if they didn’t.
Paul is not like that… In Paul’s mission journey, he had
supplemented his travel and preaching in long stays like in Athens by plying
his trade as a tentmaker. A term that is used by missions today for people who
go to countries for the sake of the gospel but work in those countries, usually
they are countries that do not allow people to come as missionaries. But as
they are there to work in their particular field they can witness to people
around them and encourage the local church. In fact is scrupulous about
handling money…when collecting for the poor in Jerusalem as well, making sure
that representatives from the donating churches went with him and the appeal
money to Jerusalem. Sadly today money is one of the things that can damage or
lead Christian ministries off the rails. We see TV evangelists demanding money
for extravagances, heavy handed methods for squeezing out so called “love
offerings’ for speakers. Paul wants to distance himself from that. In the Presbyterian
Church I actually like the way in which the minister’s stipend is linked to the
average wage in New Zealand.
Secondly. Paul wants the church to know that while he is
filled with joy at the Churches show of concern for him. It’s not because of
the money in his account but rather it is on account of what it says about the
church at Philippi. Their generosity is a sign that they are growing and mature
in their Christian love and desire to see the gospel shared and spread. Their
generosity is an expression of the generous love they have received from God in
Jesus Christ. They are generous partners in the gospel. That is full payment
says Paul, that is credit to your account, then turning from economic language
to the language of the old testament he likens it to a sacrifice given to God,
which is pleasing, fragrant and acceptable.
In scripture wealth is not seen in the same way as it is
often seen in our society, or even the church. It is seen as a blessing but
also coming with a warning, wealth itself can assume divine status in a
person’s life. Its pursuit can consume us, push out other important parts of
life: to keep the standard of living we desperately seek in the west today
actually demands a couple to work furiously, and to be exhausted at the end of
ever longer and pressured work weeks with little time left for family and less
for worship and witness and mission. The status and lifestyle that it provides
can push aside Christian discipleship, and it can lead us to not depending on
God. Proverbs 30:8 and 9 is not often quoted as a promise from scripture, but it
forms the basis of a prayer we say in church a prayer Jesus taught his
disciples to pray, and it sums up the situation very well “Give me neither
poverty or wealth but give me rather my daily bread. Otherwise I may have too
much and disown you and say ‘who is the LORD?’ But it also acknowledges the
depravations and temptations of poverty, “Or I may become poor and steal, and
so dishonour the name of my God.”
Paul is pleased for the gift but what pleases him more is
that the church at Philippi have not fallen into the trap of worshipping
wealth. Jacques Ellul, a noted Christian anarchist, refelects ““There is one
act par excellence which profanes money by going directly against the law of
money, an act for which money is not made. This act is giving.” Generosity…
Paul is not a conman or consumed by money he is content. So what
is Paul’s secret of being content in all situations, in plenty or with naught,
a full stomach or amidst the growling pangs of hunger. It is says Paul… Christ.
The word content come from stoic philosophy and it means self-sufficiency , not
dependant on the things of the world around you for pleasure or joy and Paul
borrows it here to say that he is able to face all these different and
difficult situations through Christ who strengthens him. He is content because
it is Christ who is sufficient for him. We can be content because Christ is
sufficient for us.
On one level it is that Paul sees and focuses in his life on
a higher good, that allows him to put what is going on around him in to
perspective. Our focus can be on what we do or do not have but Paul has learned
to find his joy and his peace and his wellbeing in knowing and serving
Christ. There are times when God
provides in the midst of his life, the gift from Philippi is one of those
times. Just as God was able to provide for Paul as he plied his trade as a
tentmaker. But he’s also aware that to follow Christ is the road of the cross,
that pain and suffering are not signs of the absence of God’s presence, or
blessing but the reality of living out Christ like love and sacrifice.
On another level it is that Paul knows God has provided for
far more than simply his physical needs. The greater need of humanity
salvation, forgiveness of sin and relationship with God are met in Jesus
Christ. meaning and purpose in life are met in following Jesus Christ.
Being content does not mean you can’t work to change your
circumstances, when people come to Christ there is often what is called a
redemptive lift. That as people’s priorities change and their lives become more
straightened out their finances benefit from that.
Paul’s secret is then able to be handed on to the church at
Philippi and to us. That just as Paul can do all things in Christ who
strengthens him so he says ‘God is able to meet all our needs according to his
riches in glory.’ We too can find
contentment in knowing our God is for us and able to meet our needs, our
spiritual needs and grant us our daily bread. So Paul finishes his exhortation
to the church at Philippi the way he started it by assuring them that God is
able to bring to completion the work that he had begun in them by assuring them
that God is able to meet all their needs. The same assurance that we have
regardless of our situation or circumstance.
Paul then moves to bring greeting to the church at Philippi.
He had started his letter by greeting the saints and now he expands that to be
all God’s people. The unity they have the joy they have the assurance that God
has is not just for them but for all God’s people. That includes us as well as God’s timeless
word speaks into our world as much as it did to the church at Philippi. Paul
reinforces the idea of the universal family of God.
It's interesting that while the church at Philippi was
suffering for the gospel in a roman colony that Paul should also take the
opportunity to encourage them by sharing greetings from believers within
Caesar’s household. The gospel was having an impact at the very heart of the
powers that were opposing them. It speaks to us of the world wide family of God
being a source of comfort and help and support for those struggling under
persecution and pressure. That in the west where we find ourselves feeling like
the world is becoming more and more post Christian and resilient to the gospel
that we can be encouraged by hearing and seeing that the Spirit of God is at
work all over the world. I found myself in tears as I watched a video of the 25th
anniversary of the Harvest evangelism crusade by Greg Laurie (whom I’d never
heard of before) in Southern California. I was amazed at the cost and the
technology and effort that went into this event, but the thing that got to me
was the testimonies of so many people who had had their lives transformed by
meeting Jesus Christ, from alcoholism, dysfunctional families, drug addiction,
abusive situations, despair and depression, atheism and nomalism to a saving
new life in Jesus Christ, we don’t always see it in our little corner but the
gospel is unchained and Christ is alive and moving in people’s lives by the
holy spirit. Recently I’ve found myself
in tears as I hear the stories of Christian aid workers in refugee camps in the
middle-east who at the risk of their lives share their faith and see lives
changed. Even in the face of tragedy the willingness to forgive of a small
Coptic village in Egypt whose twelve men were beheaded by IsIs fighters, a couple of years ago, in a video put up on
the internet, but the grieving widows, mothers, fathers and families chose to
forgive. The power of the gospel in the face of hatred and persecution.
Finally Paul’s blessing on his readers is that the grace of
the Lord Jesus Christ might be with your Spirit. Here is the thing that is the
centre of Paul’s Joy, here is the foundation of Paul’s hope, the strength of
his assurance that he who has started a good work in you will bring it to
completion in Christ Jesus. Here is the secret of his contentment, that I can
do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Here is the reason for
Christian unity and the means to preserve it, that we have the mind of Christ.
Here is the greatest Blessing. That we might know the grace of Jesus Christ in
our lives. In the end it’s no secret, it is the person, the life, death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ, present in our lives by the Holy Spirit.
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