Scripture: Philippians 4:1-9 (Call to worship - Psalm 23)
Title: P. S. - You Need These!
Paul is sharing with his dear brothers and sister in Philippi three things that they need to be complete -
1. They need to learn how to CELEBRATE
2. They need to learn how to PRAY
3. They need to learn how to Think Straight
Theme: These Three Things - Celebration/Prayer/Straight Thinking
INTRO:
Grace and peace from God our Father and from Jesus Christ who came to take away the sin of the world!
In the last few years we have witnessed the dying gasps of a once honored and treasured tradition in our country. That tradition being the sending and receiving of a personal handwritten letter. Today, the United States Postal Service delivers more junk mail than they do First Class mail. An overwhelmingly majority of people today choose to use an email or a text to do most of their interpersonal communication. It is estimated that over 200 billion emails are sent and/or received every day with nearly half of them being spam or what we could call junk emails. On top of that there are more than 15 billion text messages that are sent each and every day as well and none of that includes the billions of messages and or videos that are shared on Facebook , Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
So, it appears that we humans are communicating with one another but we are no longer using handwritten letters or notes to accomplish that task. Even those who do use personal handwritten letters over the years have reduced them down to one or two pages at most. Most personal handwritten letters are actually personal handwritten cards or notes. Believe it or not some 50 years ago the average handwritten letter was somewhere between 10 - 20 pages. Now, that is a lot of handwriting and a lot of pages. Much more than most people want to do today.
Many of us here this morning either have or may know someone who has a shoe box or some drawer that have some personal letters stored. However, if the current trend continues that too will become a thing of the past. And aside from a quick note or two through email or through a text deep and meaningful conversations will also be a thing of the past as well. We are rapidly becoming a society that attempts to communicate in 20 words or less or merely with an emogi or a giff.
Hopefully, we will see some type of renaissance of personal handwriting. It is difficult for a text or for an email to carry the emotions or the personality that one's handwriting does on a page or two of paper. Siobhan (shiv + awn) Philips is an associate professor of English at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania and she believes that there is something very special about sending a personal handwritten note or letter:
"Words on paper bring something that one person has touched to the touch of another; they metonymically1 ( met' e nim'ik ally) figure the human body by transporting its combination of persistence and perishability".
In other words a handwritten letter has the ability to touch someone physically and emotionally in a way that a email, a text or a giff is unable. A letter is able to take on a sender's personality and personhood.
The Apostle Paul would agree. Of course, in his day there was no email, twitter or texting. Paul had to do things the real old fashion way. Paul had to use parchment, a reed pen and some black ink made from soot. He would either have to write the letter himself or use a secretary which in that day was called an amanuensis. We know that towards the end of his life Paul depended more and more on an amanuensis because of the treatment he suffered from his persecutors. Bible scholars tell us that the bones in Paul's hands were broken more than once. His persecutors thought that one of the ways Paul could be stopped was by breaking the bones of his hands. If Paul couldn't write or hold a scroll it would deter his ability to teach and share the message of Jesus across the known world. We also know that later in his life Paul continued to suffer from some severe eye troubles as well. Sometimes we forget how committed and how dedicated Paul was for the cause of Jesus. He didn't let his weakened eyes nor his broken fingers and hands stop him from sharing the message of Jesus.
In almost everyone of his letters Paul had a knack for adding some extra message at the end. A type of P.S. (Postscript) . He would begin a conclusion and almost bring the letter to an end and then he would remember something that he wanted to share and would then add one or two more little postscripts. Paul had so much love for his congregations that it was hard for him to stop writing without wanting to share one more insight, one more revelation or one more challenge for them do. It's like what happens when most parents are sending their child off to college for the first time. They say good bye but then they think of one more thing that they want to share - one more piece of advice, one more "I love you" or one more time to remind them to drive carefully, go to class, do their homework and wash their clothes.
Our passage is one of those postscripts this morning. Some believe that Paul begins his conclusion as early as chapter three while others point to the beginning of chapter four. With the Apostle Paul it is sometimes difficult because he uses the word finally or a similar word several times towards the end of his letters.
Before getting into section of the passage we want to lift up this morning it is important that we notice a couple of quick things. One is that Paul wants to one more time remind his friends how important it is for them to be stand firm in the LORD and to be unified heart, mind and soul. Secondly, Paul takes some time to address a bit of a row ( an argument) that was going on between two individuals named Euodia and Syntyche. No doubt his little piece of advice for them raised some eyebrows as those gathered together listened to Paul's letter being read out loud. Can you imagine today a letter being read out loud from one of our General Church leaders that calls out two people that we have in attendance? I am sure Paul's words caused a little stir among those gathered together in Philippi.
With all of that being said then let's turn our attention this morning to what we find in verses 4 -9. It is here that we find the Apostle Paul wants us to focus on three vital things that he believes that his readers should make a reality in their lives. Three things that Paul believes will help us become better followers and disciples of Jesus.
I. First of all, the Apostle Paul wants us to Focus on Celebrating - On Rejoicing!!!
"Celebrate joyfully in the LORD, all the time. I'll say it again: Celebrate!" (v. 4 KNT)
THE WESTMINSTER SHORTER CATECHISM tells us:
"THE CHIEF END AND DUTY OF MAN IS TO LOVE GOD AND TO ENJOY HIM FOREVER"
That is not always easy for us to do as evangelicals who also believe in holiness (sanctification). More often than not rejoicing and celebrating in our services has taken a back seat. It seems that one of the hazards of trying to live a holy life is that we can all too often become stuffy bores. We focus too much on the intellectual side of the Gospel than we do the heart/emotional side of the Gospel. We are more likely to be uptight and have a holy but reverent lid on our emotions than for us to let loose for a time of rejoicing and celebrating in our church settings.
However, celebrating and rejoicing is at the heart of what it means to follow Jesus.
+From the first moment Jesus entered into our world we hear these words concerning Him:
"Don't be afraid, the angel said to them (the shepherds). Look, I've got good news for you, news which will make everybody very happy. Today a savior has been born for you - the Messiah, the Lord! - in David's town." ( Luke 2:10 - 11 KNT with some personal parentheses)
+Listen to how Jesus describes His Own Ministry
"The Spirit of the LORD is upon me because he has anointed me to tell the poor the good news. He has sent me to announce release to the prisoners and sight to the blind, to set the wounded victims free, to announce the year of God's Special favor." (Luke 4:18 - 19 KNT)
+Listen to how Others described Jesus as they complained about his celebrating -
"When the son of man came, eating and drinking, you say, 'Look! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!" (Luke 7:34 KNT)
+One of the last things that Jesus told His Disciples was:
"I've said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and so that your joy may be full" (John 15:11 KNT)
So, let's put all those verses together. Jesus' birth came with celebration and rejoicing. Jesus tells us that His ministry was going to be full of celebration and rejoicing. After all who doesn't rejoice when they have been given back their sight, been freed from captivity or been healed of some disease?
Furthermore one of the things that the Pharisees and scribes had against Jesus the most was that he was around to many parties and party types. Jesus loved to be around people who were celebrating and having a good time whether it was at a wedding or at someone's house party. And as we just read one of the things that Jesus wanted most of all for his followers was that they would be filled with Joy.
It has only been within the last 30 years or so that pictures of Jesus smiling have become common. For hundreds of years most Christian art either portrayed Jesus with a very stern look or a look of pain as in the Garden of Gethsemane or on the cross. Thankfully, while we do have those pictures more and more are being created that show Jesus as a real person - one who can play with children, smile at others and even join in a dance at a wedding. For that is the real Jesus that we read about in the Gospels. It is a Jesus who knew how to celebrate and rejoice. It's a Jesus that came to die for our sins but at the same time came to enjoy His Good Creation as well.
In fact, celebrating and rejoicing are a part of the DNA of what it means to be Jewish and live like a Jew. Jesus grew up going to the three main Jewish festivals in which most of the time was spent praying, worshipping and celebrating around food and drink. Listen to some verses that describe a little bit of Jewish worship:
Psalm 150:3-5 “Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.”
Isaiah 55:12 “For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”
Psalm 68:3 “But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice.”
Psalm 27:6 “And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.”
From everything we know about Jewish faith, the Festivals, the wedding Jesus attended and the various parties that he attended I think we can be safe to say that the Creator of the Universe enjoyed his human life here on earth. He knew how to dance and celebrate with the best of them. That is not to make light of the seriousness of his message nor of his suffering. It is to remind us that we while we are to be a holy people we are also to be a people of rejoicing and celebration.
For Joy is one of the major characteristics of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Joy/rejoicing/celebrating enables us to have more energy and makes us stronger. Joy is a result of us being obedient to the LORD. For the more we obey the LORD the more we are able to experience joy.
It is anxiety, worry, fretting, over planning, trying to control everything, trying to be overly careful, focusing on every material thing that robs us of our joy. It is looking at things from a human point of view that can cause us to have dour faces and unhappy hearts.
Paul wanted his readers to understand that with God's amazing grace comes great joy. With the Holy Spirit comes celebration. Rejoicing is a byproduct of the New Birth.
Life is tough. Life can be really cruel. The presence of sin can get us all down. The Devil wants to create a world filled with chaos, destruction and death. Jesus tells us in John chapter 10:10 that the Devil comes to "steal, and kill and destroy." Now that is heavy. But in that same verse Jesus tells us "I came so that they could have life - yes, and have it full to overflowing."
So, Paul reminds everyone that we are to make sure that praise/rejoicing/celebrating are a part of our worship services. For let's be real - do we really thing that Jesus died for us so that our services could look like and feel more like funeral parlors than birthing arenas and healing areas. We all know how people celebrate when a new baby is born and we know how people celebrate when they find out that they have been healed of some dreaded disease. The more you read the New Testament the more you see how each time Jesus brought salvation, healing, anointing and cleansing they were filled with celebrations and rejoicing. We need today to celebrate more.
II. Secondly, the Apostle wants us to focus on Prayer that result in Peace
Once again we come to our old friend prayer. For it is only through prayer that we can experience God's presence and it is through experiencing God's presence that we discover true and lasting peace. A peace that the Bible tells us that passes all understanding.
For the truth this morning is this - the more we talk to God the more we will experience peace. For the more we talk to God and spend time in His presence the more we will experience God's rest or God's peace as it is called in this passage.
Our spiritual ancestors called this type of peace - "Sabbath rest". Sabbath rest was much more than merely not working or doing unnecessary work on Sunday. Sabbath rest does not focus on inactivity but instead focuses on "dependent activity" (Richard Foster's term). After all it is impossible for us or creation itself to be perfectly still on the Sabbath or any other time as well. Each Sabbath we see that the sun rises and sets, the plants grow, the cows graze, the fish of the sea swim, the rain fall, we ourselves breath, we walk, we talk and we gather together for praise and worship."
Instead, we are to take to heart Jesus words in Matthew 11:29 - "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest(peace) in your souls."
We are therefore to put ourselves in a place of quietness and simply receive God's rest and God's peace. Some years ago a woman was having difficulty doing this very thing2. Her life was full of anxiety, worry and unrest. A friend suggested to her to try a little experiment. He suggested that she get alone away from all the noise and take her knitting with her. The woman loved to knit so for 15 minutes a day she was to just knit and be quiet before the LORD. She didn't have to do anything aside from knitting and being quiet. If she felt like talking to the LORD she would encouraged to do so. But more than anything she was encouraged to just find some time to quieten down her heart and life.
It took her a little time but in just a little while those 15 minutes sitting quietly and knitting became a wonderful spiritual encounter between here and the LORD. She learned what it meant to be quiet before the LORD. She learned how to open up her mind and her heart to the LORD. She learned what it meant to experience some "Sabbath rest". She learned what it meant to receive God's goodness, grace and peace. Because while she was knitting something together the LORD was using that time to heal her heart and life. The Lord was knitting into her heart, mind and soul some much needed peace and comfort.
For us to experience the peace that we need today we must do something very similar. We must get away and be quiet in God's Presence. Too often we are tempted to do the very opposite. Instead of taking time to be quiet we think that we have to do something. We think that we have to plan something, control something, fix something, clean something or at least gather all the information we can on something. It is hard for us to wait on the leading of the Holy Spirit. It is hard for us to get quiet before the LORD.
But we must get quiet so we can hear what the LORD wants to say to us. We have to get quiet so we can receive the gift of peace that God has for us. For when we pray we never pray alone. The Bible is clear in telling us that Jesus is praying for us and that the Holy Spirit is praying with us.
While Jesus was here on this earth we know that he prayed for both his current disciples and the disciples that he would have in the future:
+Jesus prayed for Simon:
Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail." (Luke 22:31-32 ESV)
+Jesus prayed the High Priestly Prayer that we find recorded in John 17
"I'm praying for them. I'm not praying for the world, but for the people you've given me. They belong to you. All mind are yours, all yours are mind; and I'm glorified in them." - verses 9-10 (KNT)
"I'm not praying simply for them. I'm praying, too, for the people who will come to believe in me because of their word. I am praying that they all may be one - just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they too may be in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me." - verses 20 -21 (KNT)
+The Bible tells us that right now Jesus is praying for all of us:
34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who wasraised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. - Romans 8:34
+The Bible also tells us that the Holy Spirit is busying helping us pray
"In the same way, too, the spirit comes alongside and helps us in our weakness. We don't know what to pray for as we ought to; but that same spirit pleads on our behalf, with groanings to deep for words." - Romans 8:26 (KNT)
While it is true that pray is hard work - for it is hard at times to focus our minds, hearts and soul on the LORD. It is hard at times to push away the world and to resist the temptation to just get busy doing something. It is hard for us to put things into God's hands for that means we have to trust and obey. The truth is we are all tempted to mimic prayer and then get busy pushing and shoving our way for things to get done.
We must understand that when we pray we are joining the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We are not in opposition or in a battle. Rather we are in communion. The more time we spend with the LORD the more we think His thoughts, desire what He desires and as a result we experience more peace and harmony. The more we pray the less we are overwhelmed by worry and anxiety. The more we pray the more we will find ourselves at peace in the midst of a world that is filled with chaos.
Nearly all of us have at one time been anxious concerning another person who perhaps is traveling or who is going through a struggle or a battle. Usually we believe that if we can just hear their voice of get to spend some time with them that we will feel better. And usually we do. The same is even more true when it comes to the LORD. When we begin to feel anxious or when we feel restless it is not time to merely get busy. More often than not it is time to get our minds, our hearts and our souls centered in the LORD. For God promises to bring us peace and that peace comes through prayer.
III. Thirdly, Paul wants us to adjust our patterns of thought - STRAIGHT THINKING
Paul reminds us one more time that how we think determines a great deal how we live. Or as John Maxwell puts it - Attitude determines altitude.
It is easy to read verse eight but it is very hard to put verse eight into our everyday practical lives.
"For the rest, my dear family, these are the things you should think through: whatever is true, whatever is holy, whatever is upright, whatever is pure, whatever is attractive, whatever has a good reputation; anything virtuous, anything praiseworthy." (KNT)
Each of those words run counter (direct opposite) to where our modern media wants us to go. All you have to do is turn on the TV, grab a newspaper, a magazine or surf the net and you are overwhelmed with things that display and uplift the very opposite of verse eight. More often than not our modern day media focuses on things that are untrue, unholy, unjust, impure, ugly, of evil repute, laced with hate and malice, vindictive and that blames others is what is seen, heard or in print. It is those things that grab our attention and our minds.
However, do we in the church of Jesus Christ really need to hear one more piece of vulgar speech, read one more immoral story or see one more person that doesn't believe in modesty? Do we really need to allow these things to come into our lives? Do we really need to spend the precious moments that we have on this earth combing through all of this garbage?
It's one thing when they happen by accident or when they are unavoidable. It is another thing when we decide to watch a show, movie, read a book or article that is full of the direct opposite things that Paul talks about here in verse eight.
When we do that - when we allow those things to come into our vision, come into our lives and our minds they have a cumulative effect. They begin to refocus our attention on things of this world instead of on things that are holy. All of that stuff begins to make us lose faith in our world, in Christ and in one another. We get so use to hearing bad things that we begin to question if any person is really good or holy.
It's possible for us today to hear some negative news about someone and before we know it we are taking it as the truth. When a great deal of the time it is "FAKE NEWS". What we really need to do is to go and talk to that person or pray for that person and then keep our mouths shut.
This morning, if you are friends with someone please don't let other people say something negative about them without doing some questioning. And don't talk about them without them being present. As Christ followers we must put an end to gossip and slanderous speech.
This morning, how in the world are we ever going to show the world the light of Christ if we continue to stay in the darkness of the world? How are we going to celebrate the goodness of creation if we constantly allow the world to fill our minds with negative news, fake news, no news and immoral news?
This morning, why does Paul want us to do these three things?
Why does the Apostle want us to be able to celebrate, to pray so that we may enjoy peace beyond understanding and to be very careful about all the things we think about?
He wants us to join him in being an example for others.
In verse nine the Apostle Paul gives one of the most demanding ethical commands that we can find in scripture. He wants his readers to look at his life and then pattern their life after his. And then he wants them to live in such a way so that others might pattern their lives after them.
Now, that is quite a challenge and quite a commitment to high living.
But it is no higher than what Jesus teaches back in the Sermon on the Mount -
" You're the light of the world! A city can't be hidden if it's on top of a hill. People don't light a lamp and put it under a bucket; they put it on a lamp stand. Then it gives light to everybody in the house. That's how you must shine your light in front of people! Then they will see what wonderful things you do, and they'll give glory to your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:14 - 16 KNT)
"This is how everybody will know you are my disciples, if you have love for each other" (John 13:35 KNT)
N. T. Wright brings all of this home by asking one simple question - "Which of us could say, after staying in a town for a few weeks, that he way to be a good Christian was to do exactly what we ourselves had done?" (Paul - The Prison Letters - Paul for Everyone)
While that is a high challenge it is not one that is unreasonable. It is merely a part of the Great Commission as well. Because the only way we can do that is to rely completely on the power of the Holy Spirit to infill us, cleanse us and transform us.
We may never be perfect but it does not mean that we cannot strive towards Christian maturity. Earlier in this same letter Paul says this:
"I'm not implying that I've already received "resurrection" or that I've already become complete and mature! No; I'm hurrying on, eager to overtake it, because King Jesus has overtaken me. My dear family, I don't reckon that I have yet overtaken it. But this is my one aim: to forget everything that's behind, and to strain every nerve to go after what's ahead. I mean to chare on toward the finishing post, where the prize waiting for me is the upward call of God in King Jesus." - Philippians 3:12 - 14 (KNT)
Paul knew that his young church needed some examples of what it meant to have a life in Christ. They need people who would serve as models and mentors. He knew that people needed some tangible witnesses of what it meant to be a rescued, redeemed and restored person in Christ. And while the Apostle Paul never said that he was perfect, he did believe that it was possible for a person to be so close to Jesus that they would reflect Jesus' glory, honor and majesty. That was Paul's aim. Paul wanted to be a living example of what a disciple of Jesus was to look like, smell like, talk like, do like and be like in his day and age.
Today, we need people who will take up the same challenge. We need people who will take up the challenge of being a mentor and model of what it means to be a Christ follower in the 21st Century. We need people who even though they may never be perfect they can nonetheless show what it means to be a mature person in Christ. We need people who can show what it means to live a life of progressive holiness.
I remember our high school drama department back in Eastern Kentucky. Our teachers did more than just get us to read a book or to verbally coach us. They showed us how to act. They mentored and model before us how to act. They displayed how we were to play certain parts and then they allowed us to bring our own personality into our roles. But if we went over board or did not rise to a certain standard then they would sit us down and coach us, correct us and encourage us. They were our examples - we learned from them.
In the same way we who have been following Jesus for any length of time are called to do the same. We are called to be His ambassadors, His examples of what living an authentic genuine Christian life looks like in the here and now. We are to be His examples of what it means to be filled with His Holy Spirit. We are to be His examples of what it means to:
+Celebrate our faith and rejoice in that faith
+Be a person of prayer who through obedience lives a life of obedience, peace and joy
+Be a person whose mind is being so renewed by the LORD that they become a light for others to see and follow
Whoa! That's a lot. That is more than we can do in our own strength. It will take a life committed to Christ and one that is committed to allowing His Holy Spirit to continually work in and through our lives. It will take us to be a perpetual state of spiritual transformation.
But what an adventure to experience and what a way to live. What a way to be a witness for the power of Christ in a person's life.
Today, are we up for the challenge? Are we willing to take up these three things
+To be a person of celebration
+To be a person of prayer that leads to obedience and peace
+To be a person whose mind, heart and soul is being renewed
This morning as we close will you commit to the LORD that He can use you to be a person who can show others how to celebrate in the LORD? Will you commit to being a person of prayer? Commit to putting aside some time each day and just be quiet before the LORD? Will you commit to do all you can to have straight thinking - even if it means to limit your time on the internet, listening to the news or sharing a negative story? Will you commit to taking up the challenge to be a mentor and a model of what it means to follow Jesus in the 21st Century?
Closing Hymn/Open Altar/Prayer Time
1metonymy - use of the name for one thing for that of another associated with or suggested by it - example - "the White House" for "President"
2Story taken from Richard Foster's Book - PRAYER
