A matter of the Heart …Unnatural Gratitude
Philippians 1:1-11
Slide – Affliction - Tree
It is an interesting coincidence that I happen to pick a Sermon topic and scripture and suddenly need to be bolstered with scriptural support in my life. What a stroke of Good Luck……
Let me stop and be clear. I don’t believe that there was any Luck involved in the sermon process….today or any day. I don’t often feel that the process is an easy one. I have a hard head and sometimes the Holy Spirit seems to have to really work on me.
In the last few weeks we have been looking at emotions like fear and bitterness and what scripture has to say about them. The general theme has been that every emotion is natural and is capable of good in our lives. However, all too often we allow them to get out of whack by single handedly attempting to keep control. My recommendation to you was the allow Jesus to be involved and to help you temper your emotions and keep them healthy.
Today we are looking at a track for an emotion that again is defined as a blend. We take the word Joy and we allow it to be mingled with several other words. Happiness is probably the first one that comes to mind. We all like happiness. We might also use the word excitement. We might even blend in some of the word contentment.
Happiness, Excitement and contentment can all be quenched quickly. Example, you are happy when you get a new car. Hopefully the arrival of the payment book does not kill the good feelings. But what happen if you have mechanical issues right off the bat. Or an accident that requires a major repair.
The happiness can quickly decrease or even turn into sadness or despair.
That is why I believe that Joy is something different.
I have a few pictures of expressions of Joy….
SLIDES
I believe that the blending of other good emotions with the definition of Joy is not really a bad thing. However I feel that it removes some of the purity that I find when I experience the gift of joy.
Joy is definitely a form of happiness, however; it is in my view a special spike or peak that shoots above happiness.
The feeling I had when Renee agreed to marry me. The smile that could not be removed from my face after our children arrived…
Pure Joy is an event that raises our emotional state no matter what happens to be going on at the moment.
Moments of Pure Joy are a form of happiness that from time to time we not only remember but we often feel the emotional energy rise again.
“Happiness, contentment and excitement can also be remembered; however, rarely does the memory generate a strong positive emotional connection. I also suggest that fortunately for “most people” happiness occurs enough that every moment can’t be remembered.
I feel that it is important that as Christians that we understand what it means to experience Joy in times of hardship and affliction. Not just for ourselves but especially for the culture around us.
The Letter to the Philippians is a document that inspires Christians to understand Joy in spite of life’s situations.
I was expecting to just focus on the topic of Joy and how it differs from happiness. But I believe that with the times that we live in and the different trials and needs that members of our church are facing….Joy is going to be our theme for the next couple of weeks.
Because it the presence of Joy in our lives in all situations makes us contrary to what the world expects and that is an important thing.
The general thought is that when we face afflictions and problems financially, family health we and the culture around us make a similar statement….
This is not the way it is supposed to be!
I think Christians tent to feel especially challenged when bad, horrible stuff happens as individuals. And as members of society we experiences the same stresses and problems as the majority of our culture…the economy, crime, accidents,
That feeling that thinking that things are supposed to be leads people with problems, afflictions , bad luck to ask why, Why did this happen?
Unfortunately, I don’t believe that anyone, Christian or not will ever be able to answer the why questions for several reasons. First we don’t like taking blame on our selves, , second we often can’t find another person to blame directly. So all we are left with is to blame God. God did this or at least did not protect us from it….
The why question seems inevitable for most people.
How are Christians supposed to answer that question?
I think that it starts by living as a contradiction. Living with a different attitude.
What I hope we can learn from this letter is how live a life that is comfortable with contradictions. Comfortable, trusting and hoping and even finding joy in spite of our individual situations.
So let’s see what we can find in the opening of this letter to the Philippians.
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is a common opening for Paul. Paul calls himself a slave instead of identifying himself as an apostle. He infers that he has voluntarily submitted himself to the master Jesus Christ… he as a slave is dependant on the master for his food and care and he is committed to obedience. His title indicates that he is owned.
He is not claiming his rightful position of power. So he writes to the saints… the church members…but he also addressed the leadership…..This is the only time where Paul specifically includes the leaders of any church. It makes me wonder if they are included because of the situations they are in as they struggle with their culture and government.
A very unassuming opening and greeting.
There is a significant detail that is made more apparent later in the letter. Paul the apostle is under house arrest in Rome. He is chained to a Roman soldier 24 hours a day. He is not allowed to go out and speak in public. His friends have a limited access to visit. This evangelist for God that has a passion to share the Gospel with the gentile people has made it all the way to Rome and is limited in how he can minister.
-- This wasn’t the way it was supposed to be….Here he was in the major city where his burden for gentiles could be put to maximum use and here he is locked away waiting on his trial before Cesar.
With all of his passion for sharing the good news don’t you think he had to wonder why? God way have you caused or at least permitted these circumstances to be like this???
Christians all around the world have situations that we feel unable to blame ourselves or blame others….we usually end up feeling that we have to blame God for what happens to us. It would be hard to imagine that Paul would not do the same….
But these opening remarks writing to friends with a God honoring, Christ centered letter. This letter shows that his faith is strong and has not changed even when his situation is undesirable and uncomfortable.
It seems that his response is not natural…..it is supernatural. Even though the Lord has permitted this limited existence in his life. Paul is grateful for the Lord and for others.
If I were in a similar situation my letter probably would not be focused the same way. My letter from prison would be ME centered.
I would be seeking prayers from my Brothers and Sisters to get me out of these restrictions and to be able to get to work in ministry they way I know how to do it. I would at least want to share the problems I am facing.
I have my gospel war stories and now I am a prisoner because this is where Jesus wants me to be here…..even though I can’t understand why…..
However, Paul is not self centered and instead he shares that he is grateful for others., grateful for the church in Philippi.
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
In 5 verses Paul thanks God for them and their partnership with him in God’s Grace and how he longs to be with them 8 times. In those 5 verses he in passing admits that he is grateful with he is in chains or free doing ministry.
Let me give you a hint, if you read through the rest of this letter you won’t find a pity party any place in here. This isn’t right. It isn’t normal that when you are in trouble that you focus more on others than yourself.
It is likely that when Paul speaks of being partners with him in grace he is talking about the financial help however he may also be addressing people that also are sharing chains for their faith in a Philippi jail.
He sez that he prays with Joy for these people. In my definition, he prays with a positive emotional feeling in spite of his circumstances. In his memory and his attitude he is raised because of the blessing that God has performed through theses brothers and Sisters.
This joy reminds him of the confidence that He has in the lord.
“that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
That is such a gem of scripture. The God, who began a good work will be faithful to complete it.
It is interesting to note that Paul put in some sweat equity in starting that church. He spent time in Jail for his efforts but he does not claim any credit ….not at all for their faith. He acknowledges that It was God’s work in them that would be completed upon Christ Jesus Return… None of us will ever be perfect here…. The process of sanctification will be under way in our lives until Jesus comes back.
This Letter is woven with the thread of joy and happiness that holds this encouraging letter together. Looking at Paul as an example of an existence that is far worse than anything I have physically experienced tells me that God/Jesus/ The holy spirit works in spite of our situation. The work of the Lord can draw us to moments of joy, faith and expectation that far exceed our ability to expect and know.
In this letter Paul’s comments are contrary to what he is experiencing. While he is detained and unable to share the good news with the masses in Rome he does not even complain to his friends. No mention about the pagan, smelly guard, or bad food, or any discomfort….it seems unnatural.
Using Paul as an example of a person facing hard times, it makes my situations seem really mild. And perhaps I need to also to exhibit unnatural responses to the situations I experience. A good attitude even on the worst of days. A grateful spirit even when others let me down.
This letter has several odd things compared with other letters from Paul. One is that there are no moral or spiritual issues that he feels the need to deal with. Being that Paul was never shy about addressing issues for the good for the churches, that tells us something good about the saints in Pagan Philippi.
Paul shares a prayer here in the opening of the letter.
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
That prayer sounds strange to me. What seems strange is what he does not say.
There is no mention of a rescue from imprisonment.
No mention of health and long life.
He says nothing about change of circumstances.
No statement of physical protection.
No seeking of any earthly comfort
-- It doesn’t involve the removal of affliction or hardship for himself or saints in Philippi…
Prayer is about character, blamelessness, knowledge, discernment and righteousness that comes from the Gospel of Jesus.
He is writing to people of faith that know the Gospel is true. People that know that their lives have been influenced and changed by the live and knowledge of God offered through Jesus Christ. Our relationship sustains us in our suffering because we know that what ever it is … is temporary on god’s time line.
The prayer is asking for God’s abundance of Love and knowledge, wisdom to help the saints in their faith journey.
A funny thing happened in Darlington, Maryland several years ago. Edith, a mother of eight, was coming home from a neighbor’s house one Saturday afternoon. As she walked into the living room, she saw five of her youngest children huddled together, concentrating with intense interest on something. As she slipped near them, trying to discover the center of attraction, she couldn’t believe her eyes. Right dab in the middle were five baby skunks. She screamed at the top of her voice, ‘CHILDREN, RUN!!!” Each child grabbed a skunk and ran in a different direction.
Life’s like that sometimes. You are going along minding our own business and the world come crashing in….We can’t fix it, we did not expect it. All we can do is deal with it.
Looking at this letter from Paul demonstrates that The key to survival is something that is contrary, it is abnormal, and I t can only come about when we understand that we also are slaves and totally dependant on god…
Our eternal joy enables us to be grateful for others regardless of our current situation. Because unlike happiness, Joy has an eternal connection.
All glory be to God!
