Philippians 4:4-7
You may be familiar with this passage from Philippians you may even be familiar with some of the content of the sermon as I preached on this passage as part of the ‘tools of the faith series’ half way through last year, this sermon however is a bit different due to our current circumstances. I think we can all do with this reminder about finding, ‘The Peace of God’. I’d like to say that as someone who’s been living as a Christian for two thirds of my life that I’ve got it completely sussed, that when it comes to tools of the faith I never forget to use the right one and that I know just how to use it. BUT!
Mate you’d worry sheep, they shoot dogs that worry, you’d be a worry, “your middle names not ‘Worry’ is it”, don’t be such a worry wart, Don’t worry you’ve got plenty of time, money, help, advice! These are all comments that at some stage or other have been aimed at me. Now this was probably because I’ve over the years had a few worries, caused a few worries and I’ve worried, and been anxious quite a lot.
Worry is an interesting thing the English word ‘worry’ comes from an Anglo-Saxon word that means “to strangle”, not a nice thought really.
Did you know that if we get anxious, which is according to Wikipedia ‘worry with an emotional content’. Physically three things happen: we start to sweat, our heart rates increase and there’s a rise in blood pressure. Straight up it’s not good for us to worry!
Well even the saints of old were not immune to these things. Paul writes to the Philippians about not being anxious, which when we look at the Greek word means ‘worry or concern’ because like all real people they had real issues going on in their lives.
Real issues authentic worries, they had them; even looking at the life of Paul we see that he went through a whole lot of persecution, here’s a bloke who for his witness for Jesus, his faith in God, had been imprisoned, flogged, had thirty nine lashes five times, been beaten with rods, stoned and ship wrecked in his journeys. Paul this bloke who had originally persecuted the Church, was willing to go through all this because of the Grace he had found in God through Jesus, here’s Paul a bloke who was living in constant danger and at the time of his writing this letter to the Philippians was under house arrest.
Things for Paul were often pretty miserable. Paul was a bloke who before meeting the Risen Saviour had it all, he had a useful trade, was a student of a leading Rabbi, which made him a Rabbi in his own right, he was part of a social strata that ensured success ‘a Pharisee’, a Roman citizen with all the privileges that that brought. Yet he was willing to put all that aside after encountering the Risen Jesus on the road to Damascus.
A man who had somehow discovered something in Jesus that trumped all those other things, this Jesus, the risen Saviour had taken all those big ticket items and made them pale into insignificance. This top flight gent was willing to become a nomad preacher for Jesus. What was it that he had found in Jesus that made him willing to do this?
I think there were quite a number of things; if you read his letters this becomes evident. But the one thing I am going to talk about today is peace, ‘The Peace of God!’
How did Paul find it, how did he instruct others to find this peace of God, a peace that transcends all understanding?
Transcends, lets have a wee look at that word for a start, it’s a word that in Greek means the same as what it does in English with a bit extra. In English it’s means beyond a limit that humans can grasp, an emotion beyond our grasp, to rise above or exceed. In the Greek it has this thing even beyond that, a governing authority, a greatness, and a thing that is better than the best. Transcends.
The steps to getting there, post earthquakes, post knowing the state of the Christchurch CBD, that some of us know people injured or killed last week, that we have damage, that some have lost their livelihoods, that things will take a long time to return to some sort of normal.
Philippians 4:4-6 gives the steps, among all this to finding the peace of God:
1) Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say again: Rejoice! (vs. 4)
2) Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. (vs. 5)
3) Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (vs.6)
Interestingly this part of the letter was addressed to a couple of ladies who were having a bit of a spat, I don’t know if it had become a right royal dummy spit but these two ladies were out of sorts, it must have been a good scrap for the news to have reached Paul.
Again the steps:
1) Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say again: Rejoice!
Not once but twice Paul said this, it seems strange that he would tell people in the middle of a drama to rejoice in the Lord. Rejoicing in God works, it takes our focus off ourselves and we are then able see what God has done for us, the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf, his word that brings us life, the community of our fellow believers, the forgiveness of our sins, our citizenship as citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, and the wonder of creation and the sustaining life giving environment we are blessed with, even though currently we seem to be a little out of sorts with one aspect of our planet.
When we rejoice in the Lord always our physical reality is able to be over shadowed by our spiritual reality, by our relationship with God. What we have in Christ is worthy of rejoicing in it goes beyond our present, beyond the here and now and in Jesus, we have hope, and we have the love of God, we have our relationship with God.
The Holy Spirit is with us as our helper, comforter, encourager and friend.
When we rejoice in God, when we allow Him His rightful place in our lives, we are on our way to finding His peace.
Step two is an interesting one; this is one for all of us, but blokes may struggle with this a little. Most of us blokes aren’t that gentle, we slam the door without trying, we bruise fruit, most of us are a bit oafish. Is this what it’s about?
2) ‘Let your gentleness be evident to all’. William Barclay uses the word moderation instead of gentleness saying that the Greek word used here is one of the most untranslatable words in the Bible.
“The word used explains the quality of the man who knows that regulations are not the last word, and knows when not to apply the letter of the law. “
The example of Jesus in this, ‘is the woman who was brought to him having been caught in the very act of adultery’. He did not judge her by the law but extending grace and forgiveness.
I would like to make a call on what this gentleness is about, what this moderation should look like.
It is about us extending grace to one another, to ourselves about being a little chilled in our current circumstances. Not relaxing our own moral standards but how we might react to people around us. Why the line, “The Lord is near” that finishes this request to be gentle. I believe that it is due to the fact that it is his place to judge, it is the place of God alone to judge, it is his place to hold others accountable. Practice gentleness and allow him to be God. [By allowing God to be God, you will be well on your way to finding his peace in your lives. (SBI)]
Chill a little or for the teens here chill-ax! Chill-axing can be done like this.
3) Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. By prayer and petition…Paul gives us the solution to worry and anxiousness in verse six, “by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” You see that the solution was to put everything, all concerns before God with prayer and petition.
I’ve said this before so excuse me for repeating it, “Worry is like a rocking horse; it gives you something to do but gets you nowhere.” (Glenn Turner)
In Luke’s gospel Jesus himself pointed out that, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” and “Since you cannot do this little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” (Luke 12:25-26)
I’ve already said this before also that worry is hazardous to your health its also destructive to individuals and relationships.
Paul makes it clear in addition to rejoicing we should come before God with Prayer and Petition, Prayer is powerful. Petition is not something you sign in this case to get the government to do something, in this case Paul is talking about ‘petition’ or being ’specific’ about what you are praying about.
God answers prayer, let me repeat that God answers prayers! Mind you not always how we would like them answered. Paul is pointing out to take all concerns before God in prayer and petition. [Allow God to be God, this brings about his peace in your situation, in your lives. (SBI)]
That is pray about those concerns and be specific. What does Paul say? In verse six he points out to do it this way. “Do not be anxious about anything, but with prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
So what I should be doing is rounding up my prayer with a word of thanks, what for? Well for a start that I can come before the creator of the universe with my concerns, that he has taken the time to make himself known to me, that he has forgiven my sins, that he is now known to me through the Holy Spirit who comforts me at times like this, that he has a plan for my life.
But I like this bit; that no matter what happens now that it is in his hands, not mine (repeat) and that I have been able to take all my concerns before God in prayer and petition. That my concerns are known to him and that as he answers prayer; he will deal with my concerns. [As I allow God to be God, this brings about his peace in my situation, in my life. (SBI)]
This is how we should approach God about all or worries, all our concerns all those things that cause upset and turmoil in our lives and all those aftershocks. Not by having a fight over it, not by having a tizzy, punching the wall, running around in a blind panic, weeping on the couch or standing in a puddle of tears.
We should rejoice in our knowledge of God, be chilled in our thinking, pray with our requests listed and thank God that our concerns have been heard! That certainly sounds to me to be the best outcome, that God has heard our prayers. [Allow God to be God, this brings about his peace in your situation, in your lives. (SBI)]
As a result “the peace of God”, which is beyond our understanding, “will” and I have underlined and bolded the ‘will’ here because this is a huge thing, “will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”.
When we pray, when we are specific, when we are able to acknowledge the power, the wisdom and the love of God for us, when we are able to allow him to be God in our lives he does give us a peace beyond all our understanding a peace that is a guarding peace, a great peace, and a peace that is better than the rest. His Peace!
“This peace will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
So let’s give God his rightful place in our lives, taking our concerns, our worries in prayer to him, submitting to his will, allowing him to be God… and accept the peace that he gives, a peace that is beyond our understanding. [Prayer]
