Whatever is…
Phil 4:8-9, Feb 27, 2011
Intro:
For most of us, the word “meditation” conjures up a mental picture of someone in baggy pants, sitting on the floor with their legs wrapped up like a pretzel, arms comfortably outstretched, middle finger and thumb together, saying “oommm” over and over. It’s because we in the western world have associated meditation with eastern religions, and largely given up the practice in Christianity. And that is really too bad…
If we strip it right back, the actual practice of meditation doesn’t differ much – it is about getting quiet, being physically comfortable but alert, and allowing extended time in this place. However the aim of Christian meditation is exactly the opposite of eastern meditation – in eastern meditation the goal is to empty oneself, and so join with the great emptiness. Last year I heard a very gentle Buddhist monk explain how one of the key elements of Buddhism is the idea of “nothingness”, and how we need to understand and grasp and embrace and become one with the nothingness. The road to peace is simply acceptance of the vast nothingness. Christian meditation, however, has exactly the opposite goal – it is not that we might be emptied, but that we might be filled. Filled with the Holy Spirit, filled with peace, filled with love and compassion, and filled with power to fight for real change rather than just accept things as they are and be at some inner peace in the midst of chaos. We believe the Kingdom of God breaks into the chaos and brings healing, reconciliation, change, and newness.
Context:
This idea of transformation, of breaking into the “now” and bringing change and newness is one we’ve seen as a major theme throughout Philippians, as Paul has called us to live differently – differently from how we used to live, and differently from the culture around us. We’ve talked about our change in citizenship, and how that transforms us. We’ve talked about how our human effort is nothing but “worthless, worthless garbage” and that as we receive by faith, the Spirit of God transforms us from within. We’ve talked about how that inner transformation then spurs us to live and act in ways that are worthy of our heavenly citizenship, not to try to earn it but rather out of deep gratitude for who God is and how He loves us. We talked about “pressing on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me”, and last week in the first half of chapter 4 we saw five examples of a transformed life leading up to how a life of prayer transforms us from people of worry to people of peace.
Getting Practical…
But when we get right down to it, do we really understand this transformed life, and what God’s part is and what our part is? We, of course, can’t transform ourselves – this is the work of God the Spirit in us. But neither can we simply keep on living however we please and expect God to snap His fingers and transform us. But if all our effort is nothing more than “worthless, worthless garbage”, should we not try at all until God changes us and makes us want to do right? Should we sit back, continue to fill our minds and lives with whatever our culture serves up, passively waiting until God whacks us over the head with His love, forgives our sin, sets us free from any desire we might have to sin and protects us from every future temptation? Of course not! But what, then, are we to do? How about this…
Phil 4:8-9 (NIV 2010)
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
The Road To Transformation:
You often hear me talking about creating space in our lives for God to work. I talked about that last week in regards to worry and prayer – about growing our prayer life and creating space for God to speak as we be quiet in prayer and listen to God, so that He can bring peace which over-powers our worry. This week, the idea is about creating space through the choice of what we put into our minds and what we choose to think about. Which brings up an obvious question: what do you think about most? I’m going to give you a few moments in quiet, right now, to answer that question on your own. What thoughts most often are in your mind?
A Borrowed List:
This passage in Philippians is really quite beautiful. Paul piles up 6 terms, introducing each one with the word “whatever” – whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable. The scholars tell me this list is unusual for Paul, but has many things in common with some Roman/Greek philosophy, leading us to recognize that Paul would have been reminding the Philippians of things that were common in their culture, and giving them a strong endorsement. It is a sideline point, but an important one especially for us as I often talk about our culture in contrast to the Kingdom of God. And while much IS in contrast (or opposition, even…), certainly not all is. And wherever there are parts that affirm life and justice and beauty, we should embrace and celebrate those as Paul here commands his readers.
The List:
Let’s take a quick walk through the list, and for each I’m going to make you do some of the hard work and come up with some examples or stories that illustrate the point. Now, for all of them we could answer “Jesus”… and “the Bible”, and both are excellent things upon which to meditate. But let’s think a little further and see if we can share examples or stories from things we have seen this week, because I believe they are there for us to notice.
Whatever is true…
Whatever is noble…
Whatever is right…
Whatever is pure…
Whatever is lovely…
Whatever is admirable…
Excellent and Praiseworthy:
Following the list of six are two terms that are a little broader but still along the same lines: “If anything is excellent or praiseworthy…” Anything that reflects excellence, like an elite athlete making a play, or a musician bringing life to a piece with precision and emotion, or a well crafted and presented idea. Or anything that merits praise, like a well-done assignment, or an act of compassion, or the obedience of a child, or a beautifully prepared plate of food.
Think about such things…
Here at the end of the verse we see where Paul is going: we are to “think on these things” – in other words, “meditate”. Do you see the difference here between how I talked about eastern meditation’s point being to empty and Christian meditation’s point of being filled? Choosing to do as we did a moment ago, and look for things that are true and noble and right and pure and lovely and admirable will fill our minds with a whole bunch of things that are good and full of life. And these things will point us in God’s direction, as the author and originator of all these things that are excellent and praiseworthy in the first place. It lifts our minds and our spirits, it elevates our thoughts and even our emotions. That’s understandable, right?
Now, let’s differentiate here between personality and obedience to commands of Scripture. There are those with a natural, God-given personality that makes it easier for them to obey. We might use a word like “optimist” to describe the kind of personality that most often sees things in the best light possible. Others, however, would describe themselves personality-wise in a different way – as usually seeing potential (or real) problems, or as being always aware of how things might be better. Both are legitimate God-given personalities, but just because it might be easier for an optimist to “think on these things” does not mean that the rest of us don’t have to obey this command! It is the same as someone who has a personality that gets angry fast – they are not therefore allowed to go around and punch people in the face whenever they feel angry and then excuse it by saying “that’s my personality”. In the context of the verse, then, we recognize that some personalities might find it harder to learn to meditate on things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, or admirable; but nonetheless we must learn.
Practical tips…
How, then, do we practice Christian meditation. Here are a few thoughts:
1. Choose an intentional time, make it regular, and stick to it.
2. Choose a place – where you won’t likely be interrupted, or have competing desires for your attention.
3. Make sure you are physically comfortable but still alert.
4. Give yourself as much time as you are able, and don’t stress about it “being long enough” or “not long enough”
5. Next, start with this list and do the exercise we just did – think over the past day or two, or even the whole week, and with a pen in hand jot down the places where you have seen whatever is true, pure, right, noble, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy. And very prayerfully think about these things. Turn them into opportunities for God to speak to you, to show you more of Himself through these things. The point is not to “get one from each category”, but instead to identify the places where God has been manifest to you through something that fits the category, and where God has been trying to get your attention through something that fits the category, and then to stop and listen and appreciate and respond.
6. Along with reading life and our experiences, we also meditate on Scripture the same way, we meditate with music or art that lifts us to God and use those as tools to help us focus our attention.
7. My final practical tip takes us out of these set-aside times and into the rest of life. See, I don’t want us to think of meditation (and obedience to the command in this passage) as something to do 2-3 times/week for 30-45 mins and then be done. So it is this: in your conversations with others, listen for and comment on anything that fits Paul’s descriptions here. Just point it out – “I read in the paper today about a high school drama production that was reportedly done with a great deal of excellence, isn’t it great when our young people really pour themselves into something, practice and learn and give it everything they can, and then really pull it off.” Or, “I just want to thank you for your honesty in that situation at work where it would have been easy to lie, your choice for truth was a good one”… etc…
Obey and Know the God of Peace:
I want to make just a brief comment about vs 9 before my concluding challenge: “Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.” Once again, it is the promise of peace (which we saw last week in vs. 7, “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”). And once again, experiencing this promise of peace follows our action. This demonstrates, once again, that it is God that does the work of transforming us as we obey and create space in our lives for God to give us these incredible gifts, such as peace.
Conclusion:
Verse 9 calls us to action – “keep putting into practice”, so I’m going to end there also. God, through Paul, has commanded us to meditate – a practice of choosing to think about things that are excellent and praiseworthy, so let me ask a very practical question: when are you going to give it a try? Pull up your schedule and make an appointment for yourself right now to try this out – I’ve given you some practical hints to get started, but it is now up to you to do something about it and that starts with a decision now, a setting aside now, of a time or times to begin. Take a moment to do that now, while Pastor Sue comes to close our service.
