WORDS FOR LIFE - A Life of Peace and Joy
July 22, 2018
Philippians 4:4-7 (p. 820)
Introduction:
I remember hearing my mentor Wayne Smith say more than once… “Ministry would be a whole lot easier if people weren’t involved…but it wouldn’t be as fun either.”
People are messy…moody…fickle and sometimes just plain mean. People are loving…giving…encouraging and sometime just plain awesome.
The truth is there has only been one perfect and loving person whose ever lived…and messy people crucified Him.
When you read the Bible it reveals the truth about people…the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Noah was the most righteous man on earth…obedient to God when asked to build an ark…and saved his entire family…and then Noah triumphantly left the ark and “got drunk and naked.”
What?!!! Yep…maybe life is a little more complicated for flood survivors than we thought, maybe even righteous Noah fought a battle with depression and loneliness.
I love what one of my favorite authors, Mike Yaconelli says about this in his book Messy Spirituality…
Why should I be surprised? Turns out all of the biblical characters were a complex mix of strengths and weaknesses. David, Abraham, Lot, Saul, Solomon, Rahab, and Sarah were God-loving, courageous, brilliant, fearless, loyal, passionate, committed holy men and women who were also murderers, adulterers, and manic depressives. They were men and women who could be gentle, holy, defenders of the faith one minute, and insecure, mentally unstable, unbelieving, shrewd, lying, grudge-holding tyrants the next.
The New Testament characters weren’t much better. Look who Jesus hung out with. Prostitutes, tax collectors, adulterers, mental cases, penniless riffraff, and losers of all kinds. His disciples were hardly models of saintliness. They were committed to Jesus, were ready to follow him anywhere (with one notable exception), but they were also troubled by infighting, always jockeying for position, suspicious of each other, accusatory, impulsive, selfish, lazy, and disloyal. Most of the time, they did not understand what Jesus was talking about, and when he died, they had no clue what to do next.
I love that my buddy Colleen Jones chose Philippians 4:4-7 as her Words for Life…I’ve know Colleen now for the better part of 20 years…and I’ve never met a more genuine person than Colleen…and she manages an Ice Cream shop!!!
Colleen’s life hasn’t always been easy…and it’s not now…but she is one of the most real and loving followers of Jesus I know…There is a true sense of peace and joy in her soul.
Here’s what Philippians 4:4-7 says:
PHILIPPIANS 4:4-7 (p. 820)
Paul understands that ministering to messy people is tough, but even more he understands he is one of those messy people himself.
He’s in prison when he writes to his followers in Philippi…and I believe these words for life he extends to them…are words he’s seeking to apply to his life in Christ as well.
These are tools in a survival kit. It’s as if Paul says…these characteristics are vital if you want to survive and thrive in this world with messy people as a messy person yourself…first:
I. BE JOYFUL
Paul writes: “Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice!!!”
Paul mentions the subject of joy 14 times in 4 chapters to the Philippians.
And we can probably guess why…because he sees this characteristic missing in the Philippian church.
Why had they lost their joy?
Well…like all messy people they were struggling with their pride…so Paul says:
PHILIPPIANS 2:3-5 (p. 819)
They had become argumentative…and critical so he says:
PHILIPPIANS 2:14-15 (p. 819)
Some had drawn up sides and were divided so he says:
PHILIPPIANS 4:2-3 (p. 820)
Notice that Paul commands them to be joyful..it’s not a suggestion…it’s an order… “Rejoice in the Lord Always!”
How do you command people to be joyful always?
That’s impossible, isn’t it?
What’s easy to forget is that no matter what circumstances we’re in, we can rejoice in the Lord.
Paul doesn’t just say…be joyful…Paul says…“Rejoice in the Lord.”
Joy doesn’t mean the absence of trouble or conflict. Joy is the presence of the Lord.
You see joy isn’t automatic…life is hard, Satan is ruthless, people are messy. There are hard things we have to deal with in this life…the death of someone we love, illness, the loss of a job, family troubles, being robbed, or maybe like Paul, being in prison.
So Satan would turn the believers’ focus on all those circumstances, the pain and the troubles…how big these are.
And Paul would remind us in Christ…that joy is an “inside” job.
That Jesus is bigger than the world and has overcome it…and lives in you…He has promised so much to us…he is aware of what is happening…and He is greater than what is happening.
Paul’s command to the Philippians and us…open your survival kit…choose to focus on Jesus who can and will help us through everything. If you lose that focus…pride, a grumbling spirit, and divisiveness lie right around the corner…Instead “Rejoice in the Lord Always…I’ll say it again: Rejoice!”
Joy is one of the most important tools in the Christian’s survival kit.
In the next verse Paul writes: “Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.”
II. BE GENTLE
The word for gentle here in the Greek is so rich in it’s meaning it’s translated in five other ways in scripture… “Soft, Patient, Forbearance, Graciousness, Reasonableness.”
It’s a word so full of meaning one English word can’t capture its full depth.
In William Barclay’s translation he chose two words to capture it’s meaning and says, “Let your gracious gentleness be evident to all.”
Paul is saying treat people gently…with patience and with grace.
We know there were relational problems plaguing the church at Philippi…and people had damaged one another along the way.
So Paul’s remedy…The survival tool he says we need is “gracious gentleness.”
We live in a culture that is looking for a fight…And sometimes that culture can invade the church…Here’s the question…Will we let the harsh world shape us…or Christ’s attitude?
One presses on us constantly from the outside…and one tries to renew us daily from the inside out.
It’s why Paul tells the Romans this:
ROMANS 12:1-3 (p. 789)
We live in a time and culture that has lost touch with gracious gentleness and civility. Would we say any fruit produced by the Holy Spirit is no longer needed for a believer? We want love, joy, and peace…but how about gentleness and self control?
I like the little boy’s prayer which said, “Lord, make all the bad people good and all the good people nice!”
Paul links a statement to our gentleness and graciousness…He says, “The Lord is near.”
Even the most hardened redneck’s not gonna cuss if his momma’s standing there.
Paul says, the nearness of our Lord should hold us accountable to how we treat people even more.
Harsh, impatient bullies will never have godly relationships…“You can always speak truth…but make sure you speak it with love!”
I want people to see my tears and pain over their lostness…not my anger and happiness that they’re going to hell.
Life is hard…be gracious and gentle to people because you really have no real idea of what they’ve been through or are going through.
It’s exactly why Jesus said, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest…take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28)
May we learn from Jesus how to survive this world with gentle graciousness.
And the final tool in our survival kit:
III. BE PEACEFUL
We can be anxious about everything that happens…or we can pray about everything. We can continually worry about how horrible it’s going to be…or we can pray with thanksgiving about what God is going to do.
We can let anxiety open the floodgates to doubt, fear, and confusion…or we can let the peace of God guard our hearts and minds in Christ.
[It is impossible not to think about things that affect us and concern us…There are trials we’ll go through that are severe and heartbreaking.
Jesus told us…“In this world you will have trouble, but take heart…I have overcome the world.”
I spoke and prayed with a man named Aubrey this week whose daughter had been killed by her boyfriend and then he killed himself…Aubrey has served the Lord on the mission field his whole life…He is a gentle and sweet soul that loves Jesus with all his heart…I cannot imagine all that he and his family are dealing with…but he said…“We love and trust Jesus…please pray for us.” “He is with us.”
I cannot imagine the battle taking place in his heart…but I know he is not fighting it alone…Peace isn’t the absence of difficulty…Peace is the presence of God with us while we’re in the storm…It’s His presence that guards us…It’s His voice that speaks “Peace, be still” when the storm rages…I know that’s true for Aubrey…and I also know that’s true for Rick Burdette, Colleen Jones and every one of you.]
