You Win Either Way Series

You Win Either Way

Philippians 1:19-26

Rev. Brian Bill

February 1-2, 2025

This week, Tim Challies wrote a provocative post called, “If I Could Change Anything about the Modern Church.” That title got my attention.

There is one thing churches used to do that they no longer do, and I often wish we could recover it. So, if I could change anything about the modern church, perhaps it would be this: I would return the graveyard to the churchyard.

It used to be customary for churches to have a graveyard…people who once worshipped inside are now buried outside. In this way, there was an ongoing link between…the congregants in heaven and the congregants on earth. Imagine that as you arrived at church to worship God on a Sunday morning, you first walked past the graves of friends who had served the church faithfully before going to their rest…

Imagine if there was an empty plot that was waiting for you, a spot in which you would be laid…How would it change your worship if you were constantly confronted with the reality of death in this way yet also comforted by the proximity and the nearness of those who had gone before? How would it change your understanding of the church if the living and the dead maintained such a close distance? How would it change the way you prepare your heart to worship and prepare yourself to die? Speaking personally, I think it would be deeply moving and spiritually comforting. It would be a blessing to worship where my people are buried and to be buried where my people worship.

As I read and studied Philippians 1:19-26 in preparation for the sermon today, I couldn’t stop thinking about a man named Gerber Hackett. Gerber and his wife Donna were members of our previous church. When Gerber entered hospice care, I went to his home and read this passage to him.

“Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. [At this point, Gerber shouted out: “That’s the horns of my dilemma. I want to go and be with Jesus, but I don’t want to leave Donna Mae!”] My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.”

When I was done reading, Gerber suddenly broke out into a song: “Ready to go, ready to stay…ready to do His will.” With tears in my eyes, I prayed for him. We talked a little more and then he put his head back, closed his eyes and started singing another song:

This world is not my home; I’m just a passing through,

My treasure and my hopes are all beyond the blue.

Gerber was right. This world is not our home. What he was really saying was that he was in a no-lose situation because he knew he would win either way. When it was his time to die, he would get to be with Jesus. Until that happened, he was still with Jesus right where he was, and he was able to spend time with his wife.

Here’s our main idea: You win either way when you live God’s way.

As we pick up the last phrase of verse 18, we see again how Paul was on a journey to joy: “Yes, and I will rejoice.” Verse 19 begins with the word, “for,” which is a conjunction, which makes me think of the Schoolhouse Rock jingle, “Conjunction junction, what’s your function?” You’re welcome for the earworm! The function of “for” here is to explain the reason for his rejoicing.

I’m going to borrow another pastor’s outline of this passage because I like how it captures the flow.

1. Paul’s confidence. Verse 19 tells us that Paul was joyful in part because of the prayers of God’s people and the provision of the Holy Spirit: “For I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance.” It gave him great comfort to know that Christians were praying for him because when they prayed, the Holy Spirit provided care and comfort to Paul. The word “help” refers to “sufficient supply of all that is necessary” and has to do with generous giving.