RESTORING JOY TO THE CHURCH
Philippians 2:1-11
September 15, 2002
INTRODUCTION:
The book of Philippians is a book about joy. Over and over again the apostle Paul writes of joy and rejoicing in this little book. In the section we are studying today Paul tells the Philippians how they can make his joy complete and I believe by implication how they can make their joy complete as well.
Men have pursued joy in every avenue imaginable. Some have successfully found it while others have not. Perhaps it would be easier to describe where joy cannot be found:
Not in unbelief -- Voltaire was an infidel of the most pronounced type. He wrote: “I wish I had never been born.”
Not in pleasure -- Lord Byron lived a life of pleasure if anyone did. He wrote: “The worm, canker, and grief are mine alone.”
Not in money -- Jay Gould, the American millionaire, had plenty of that. When dying, he said, “I suppose I am the most miserable man on earth.”
Not in position and fame -- Lord Beaconsfield enjoyed more than his share of both. He wrote: “Youth is a mistake; manhood a struggle; old age a regret.”
Not in military might -- Alexander the Great conquered the know world in his day. Having done so, he wept in his tent, before he said, “There are no more worlds to conquer.”
Where then can we find real joy? The Bible teaches us that God is our source of joy. So why then is there so little joy in the church today? We could ask ourselves the same question Paul asked of the Galatian church: “What has happened to your joy” (Galatians 4:15)? In the case of the Philippian church the answer was conflict. One commentator said, “The danger of disunity seems to have been the only factor threatening the Philippian congregation at this time” (Beacon Bible Expositions, p. 60). Paul says that rather than being divided by conflict they were to be “one in spirit” (v. 2). The Greek behind that phrase literally means ‘sharing the same soul.’ “The Philippians are to act together as if one soul activated them” (BBE, p. 62). Instead they each had there own purpose for the church, they each looked out for there own personal interests and they did not have the attitude of Christ.
If the church does not correct these causes of conflict it will crumble. Jesus said, “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come” (Mark 3:24-26). Allow me to paraphrase that while applying the truth to the church. “If a church is divided against itself, that church cannot stand; it’s end has come.” If the church is filled with conflict it cannot at the same time be filled with joy so we must correct the causes of conflict before we crumble.
CORRECTING THE CAUSES OF CONFLICT:
1. We must share the same purpose. (v. 2)
The quickest way to have conflict in any organization is for the members of that organization to have different purposes for the organization. When that happens each group within the organization is fighting against the other groups in an effort to see that their purpose is fulfilled and the result is that nothing is accomplished other than fighting. It is sad how very often this very thing happens in the church. Having one purpose focuses our energy and gives us power, but having different purposes diffuses our power and leaves us impotent.
In a Peanuts cartoon Lucy demanded that Linus change TV channels, threatening him with her fist if he didn’t. “What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?” asks Linus. “These five fingers,” says Lucy. “Individually they’re nothing but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold.” “Which channel to you want?” asks Linus. Turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, “Why can’t you guys get organized like that?” (Charles Shultz) Can’t you just see God looking down on us from heaven and saying, “Why can’t you guys get organized?”
Why do we need to get organized around one purpose? Because there is great power in unity of purpose just as there was in the unity of Lucy’s fingers forming a fist. Vesta Kelley said, “Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but just look what they can do when they stick together.” When snowflakes stick together they have the power to shut down airports, stop traffic and close businesses. But individually they are powerless. So it is with us in the church. If each of us are pulling in our own direction we will literally pull the church apart and nothing good will be accomplished. But if we will come together as one body activated by one soul we will discover the power to accomplish the purpose for which we are on this earth -- the fulfillment of the Great Commission.
Why do we need to get organized around one purpose? Because that is the only way we will every experience true joy in our church again. George Bernard Shaw said, “This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one: the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap, and being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.”
How do we go about discovering God’s purpose and plan for our church? We look for it. “Both the hummingbird and the vulture fly over our nation’s deserts. All vultures see is rotting meat, because that is what they look for. They thrive on that diet. But hummingbirds ignore the smelly flesh of dead animals. Instead, they look for the colorful blossoms of desert plants. The vultures live on what was. They live on the past. They fill themselves with what is dead and gone. But hummingbirds live on what is. They seek new life. They fill themselves with freshness and life. Each bird finds what it is looking for. We all do.” (Steve Goodier, Quote Magazine, in Reader’s Digest, May, 1990) The prophet Jeremiah said it this way: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (29:13). God is in effect telling us that we will find what we are looking for and so we will only find Him and His purpose for us if that is what we are looking for with all our hearts. We must start seeking God’s purpose in this manner because it is only when we unite around God’s purpose that we have the power to fulfill that purpose which results in our being filled with joy.
2. We must look to the interests of others. (vv. 3-4)
Throughout the scriptures it is taught that the Christian religion is an others-centered religion and not a self-centered religion. Jesus taught us this most plainly. “Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave -- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25-28).
In our text Paul tells us that nothing is to be done out of “selfish ambition.” This term is translated as ‘rivalry’ by the NEB and Phillips and as ‘faction’ by the ASV. The phrase denotes party squabbles, petty and self-seeking conceits. One commentator says, “The church at Philippi has not been affected by heresy. Rather, there is a threat to the fellowship on account of the self-preoccupation of certain individuals who have formed cliques or parties within the church” (BBE, p. 63). Paul says that if there is to be true joy in the church these groups must stop fighting for there own rights and start looking out for the needs and interests of the other groups. All of us are willing to be served, but few of us are willing to serve.
Franklin Roosevelt’s closest adviser during much of his presidency was a man named Harry Hopkins. During World War II, when his influence with Roosevelt was at its peak, Hopkins held no official Cabinet position. Moreover, Hopkin’s closeness to Roosevelt caused many to regard him as a shadowy, sinister figure. As a result he was a major political liability to the President. A political foe once asked Roosevelt, “Why do you keep Hopkins so close to you? You surely realize that people distrust him and resent his influence.” Roosevelt replied, “Someday you may well be sitting here where I am now as President of the United States. And when you are, you’ll be looking at that door over there and knowing that practically everybody who walks through it wants something out of you. You’ll learn what a lonely job this is, and you’ll discover the need for somebody like Harry Hopkins, who asks for nothing except to serve you.” Winston Churchill rated Hopkins as one of the half-dozen most powerful men in the world in the early 1940’s. And the sole source of Hopkins’ power was his willingness to serve.” (Discipleship Journal, Issue 39, 1987, p. 5) Like Harry Hopkins, our true power for greatness comes from our willingness to selflessly serve others. As long as we are seeking our own personal enjoyment we will never find joy. But the moment we begin seeking to bring joy to others rather than ourselves we will find it.
Years ago, the Salvation Army was holding an international convention and their founder, General William Booth, could not attend because of physical weakness. He cabled his convention message to them. It was one word: “OTHERS.”
3. We must develop the attitude of Christ. (vv. 5-11)
Christ’s attitude as revealed in this beautiful passage was one of humble obedience. He was humble in that He did not grasp after or fight for His rights. He willing set aside all of the glories that were rightly due Him in heaven and “made himself nothing.” We usually do just the opposite. We fight for our rights in a vain effort to make something of ourselves.
This humility led him to commit the ultimate act of obedience. He submitted to a death on the cross -- the most humiliating and painful form of death ever known. Once again we usually do the opposite. We obey when it feels good to do so. But when obedience is painful or costly we opt out.
Christ’s attitude of humble obedience resulted in his exaltation to the right hand of God the Father where one day every knee will bow before him in worship. Without his humiliation Christ never would have experienced this exaltation. We always seem to be trying to find a short cut that takes us to the exaltation without first passing through the humiliation. But that short cut doesn’t exist. James tells us: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (4:6), and again: “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” (4:10).
Your attitude toward your God, your church, and your fellow man will make all the difference in the world. The noted English architect Sir Christopher Wren was supervising the construction of a magnificent cathedral in London. A journalist thought it would be interesting to interview some of the workers, so he chose three and asked them this question, “What are you doing?” The first replied, “I’m cutting stone for 10 shillings a day.” The next answered, “I’m putting in 10 hours a day on this job.” But the third said, “I’m helping Sir Christopher Wren construct one of London’s greatest cathedrals.” What are you doing? Are you playing an instrument? Are you teaching a class with only a handful of students? Are you vacuuming carpet and scrubbing toilets? Or are you helping God construct one of the greatest churches in Colorado Springs? It all depends on your attitude.
Jesus’ attitude led him to make the ultimate sacrifice for the cause. A chaplain was speaking to a soldier on a cot in a hospital. “You lost an arm in the great cause,” he said. “No,” said the soldier with a smile. “I didn’t lose it -- I gave it.” Have you lost something or have you given something for the cause? It all depends on your attitude. Without this attitude of humble obedience you cannot experience true joy because joy is the byproduct of obedience.
CONCLUSION:
I would like to close with a quote from A.W. Tozer. “Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all turned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers [meeting] together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become ‘unity’ conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship” (The Pursuit of God).
And so it is the responsibility of each person to get there eyes off of themselves and off of the other person and on to God. For when we get our eyes fixed on God we will be drawn to Him and transformed into the image of His Son Jesus Christ. And when we are all tuned into Jesus we will all be tuned in to one another. But when we find a body of believers who are not in tune with one another we may be sure that it is because the individuals are not in tune with Jesus. In the words of one commentator, “When one lives in spiritual discord with another, one gives evidence that the life of the Spirit is not present” (BBE, p. 61). But, if we will correct the causes of conflict by tuning into Jesus, there can be joy in the church once again.
Steve Dow
Heritage Wesleyan Church
www.forministry.com/80909hwc
heritagewesleyan@hotmail.com
Please email me if you use this sermon or a revision of it. Thank you.
Study Guide:
RESTORING JOY TO THE CHURCH
Philippians 2:1-11
September 15, 2002
“What has happened to your joy?” Galatians 4:15
“If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come.” Mark 3:24-26
Correcting The Causes Of Conflict:
1. We must share the ____________________. (v. 2)
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13
2. We must look to the ____________________.
(vv. 3-4)
“Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave -- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:25-28
3. We must develop the ____________________.
(vv. 5-11)
“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6
“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”
James 4:10
