Phil. 4:2-7 Nov. 22, 2009
I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (NIV)
Disagreement; it’s something that we have all been a part of at some time or another. We may as well admit it, we don’t always agree on everything. Whether it’s who get more time on the computer, or what we should have for diner, or how we should spend our money, or if we should even spend it at all. We disagree on paint colours, on hair-styles, on clothing, on vacation plans, on city planning, on politics, and on religious issues.
People disagree with friends, co-workers, their spouse, their children, their neighbours, their boss, their employees, and some folks just never seem to agree on anything.
Whatever it is we disagree about, or whom we disagree with, there is one certain result from having a disagreement, and that is division; division among family, friends, neighbours, nations, and yes, even within the family of God within the church.
As Paul comes to the end of his letter to the church in Philippi, he makes a very public statement to a couple of individuals who are in that church; two women to be specific. Euodia and Syntyche. These are two women who have worked with the apostle Paul, preaching the good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savour of the world. Together they have travelled and taught about the life-change that can happen only by putting your trust in Him. But at this particular point, they are in disagreement with each other. Why, what about, or for how long we don’t know. But for some reason, this little note about two women having a disagreement is included in a letter that has been read by millions of people; there must be a good reason for that, don’t you think? More on that in a minute…
Any two people, be they two women, two men, or a combination of the two, or maybe even a whole group of people may, at some times, disagree on things, be they of the church or not. The effects of these disagreements can be, again, summed up in one word, division. And division is not a good thing, especially when it comes to relationships. Division between people leads to mistrust, gossip, lost friendships, broken relationships, divorce, broken families, and even broken churches.
Division is when you take something that is whole, and break it into smaller and smaller bits and pieces. One of the devil’s schemes is to divide God’s people from each other, thus dividing us from God’s plans for the church. Paul would like to see this division among some of his friends to be cleared up so that there is no break in what God is trying to accomplish through them, the preaching of the gospel.
In 1 Corinthians 1:10, Paul writes a very clear answer on why we should agree with each other. He says this:
I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.(NIV)
But Paul doesn’t lay a big ‘heavy’ on these two ladies with his position of authority. He pleads with them to work it out, with the help of another of his friends, here named as a loyal yoke-fellow, or companion, or partner, or as also translated by name, Syzgus. Paul instructs another in the church to come alongside and help these two ladies solve their differences; these two who have served with him and a bunch of other Christians who have contended for the faith.
You see, it’s important that when we see two or more people in a disagreement that we help them figure it out. Why, because we love them! Would it be so kind to watch their friendship and their ministry suffer over some argument over anything? We need to come alongside and help them solve the problem, not with a judgemental attitude but with a gentle, loving offer of help, in any way we can. This way, not only will they see the love of God in us, but anyone else can see that we truly care for each other, enough to help and to love not just when things are going great, but also when we are struggling. Would that not be something you and I would want to be a part of? I know I would!
Rather than finding fault with others, inside or outside of the church, what we should be doing is rejoicing in the things that God is doing that bring us together. “Rejoice in the Lord always”, says Paul. In fact he says it again, “Rejoice!” On thing that I have picked up in my years of following Christ, and was reminded of at the CPC Congress in Calgary, is that we as the church shouldn’t spend so much time and effort trying to figure out what all the needs of the community are and then try to fulfill every one of those needs; we could never do all of it. What we should do, is find out what God is doing in the neighbourhood, and join up with it, increase it, help it, grow it, invite others to be part of it, and then watch how God makes it grow!
God has purposes, God has plans, God has many ways of doing things. We can read all about it in His Word. The church is one of the ways that God will see His purposes fulfilled. WE need to see that it’s not so much that God’s church has a mission, but that God’s mission has a church. Did you catch that? What God’s church does, what we do, may change over time. What we sing as worship songs, whether we even sing in church at all. The format of our services, the location, the time, the people who come (yeah, it won’t be ‘just us’ for all time!) All these things will change. But God’s mission, of saving humanity from the grip of hell and death, that mission will never change.
And God will use the church, He will use individuals, He will use music, drama, conferences, coffee shops, fishing boats, pubs, television, radio, and even the world-wide-web to get the message to His creation that He loves us and He wants us to come home! AMEN?
The church is just one tool in God’s toolbox of ways to communicate that to a world that at times, refuses to hear Him call. We just need to do what He asks us to do, in the way He leads us to do it. We just need to trust, obey, and follow Him wherever He leads. Are we willing to do that, for the sake of those who are not yet part of the family of God?
But as Paul said, do it gently. Let your gentleness be evident to all. I think we would all be in agreement if I were to repeat the old quote that one can never argue someone into the kingdom of God, right? I could yell till I’m blue in the face that every person in the West Shore should give their life to Christ, but how would they respond to a hard-nosed, pulpit-pounding, hell, fire and brimstone preaching pastor? I don’t think that would work so well today. Some days, maybe, but most days, not so much.
But if we are gentle, loving, compassionate, caring, and truly concerned for others, will that not be a powerful testimony that Jesus has really made a difference in our lives? Will a gentle spirit not be more effective than a harsh, judgemental holier-than-thou attitude? There are times to take a stand for God, but not in a way that would contradict His character.
The Lord is near. That has two meaning for me. First, God is close to us. He’s not far away. He’s concerned about our situation, He’s not just sitting back watching us fall to pieces. He’s close enough to hear our prayers, even the prayers we don’t utter with words. He knows everything about us, and He loves us very much. That’s a comfort for us.
Secondly, He’s coming back soon. That puts a sense of urgency about things; things like reaching my neighbourhood with the good news about Jesus. Time is something that we have now, but really don’t know if we’ll have tomorrow, or next week, or when we think we have more than enough time to decide to follow God or not.
Verse 6 is one that we could talk about for a long time; there’s so much in this sentence. Read it again: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Simply put, what we’re told here is that we need to leave things in God’s hands, and under His control. We have things we want, and long for, to happen. We want to see the sick healed, jobs for the unemployed, our kids to grow up safely, lost souls to come home to the Father, and for Jesus to return someday soon. There are HUNDREDS of things we can ask God for, and you know what…that’s exactly what we are to do…ask…pray.
Sometimes we pray and we simply bring a shopping list of things to God. Lord, bless my breakfast, help me be a good person, keep me safe on the roads, protect my kids in school, bring us all home safe, bless our dinner, give me sweet dream, see you tomorrow Lord…simple prayers, and really, there’s nothing wrong with simple prayers, they are better than no prayers, right?
Sometimes though, we need to petition God. A petition is when a whole bunch of people agree that they want to see something done, so they all sign their name to a letter and present it to the authorities, be they local or federal governments. Have you ever signed a petition? Have we ever petitioned God? Have we ever all agreed we’d like to see something happen, and then put all of our names to it? I think we have. When we come together, such as we do each week here, and ask for prayer requests, we then pray and agree as a body of believers that God will answer those prayers. We pray for all sorts of things, and God does answer. Sometimes the answer is yes, other times no, but He does answer.
And when we leave these things in His hands, and trust He will answer in His time, we get a peace that only comes from faith in our heavenly Father. I can’t explain it, I only know that when I fully trust in the Lord, all things seem to be easier to take, easier to walk through, and even easier to suffer (when it comes to that), because I know that God is in control of my life, and whatever should happen to me and my circumstances, knowing that at the end of all things, I am His child and will be with Him forever; that just puts life into perspective, and that gives me peace.
Do you know that peace today, right now? Do you know in the deepest part of your heart, at the very core of who you are, that you are a child of the King of kings and Lord of lords? Do you know, without any doubt at all, that your sins are forgiven, and that you serve the Lord Jesus with every breath that you breathe? Have you come to the realization that your life, your purpose can only be found in God, that you have died to your self, and that you live for Him? Do you have the kind of peace in your soul, that if you were to die today, that you would step across the threshold of death into the arms of your saviour Jesus Christ? If not, I invite you to make that commitment right now. 2 Cor. 6 tells us that today is the day of salvation. Today is the day to receive the Lord. Today can be the first day of real peace and the end of disagreeing with God. Will you pray with me…?
