Phil 1 21-30
To me, and I could be really mistaken, high school is a time to make sure our choices with what we want to do with our lives can happen. We don’t want our options to be narrowed down, but rather, we want to do well enough that we can choose which college to go to, or which armed service to join or which trade to pursue. If we do poorly in high school our options are narrowed significantly; if we do well, our options are still open to everything.
When I graduated from high school I was blessed enough to have only good choices, only good options. I could have gone to several different colleges, all good, with really good options on what I could choose to learn about. Essentially, that is what being a Christian is about. That is one of the great rewards of being close to Jesus. We have only good options when we face situations of life and death. If we live, great, we get to keep on living for Christ, keep on serving Him. And if we die, our time of service is over and we get to enter into eternity with Him, heaven everlasting is our reward. So you see, there are only good choices.
The apostle Paul is facing a life and death situation, and he too understands he really only has good options. In the end he understands and wants the Philippians to understand that there is no one to impress but God. Phil 1:21-30, give a second to find.
21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. 23 But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; 24 yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. 25 And convinced of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again.
27 Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ; so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; 28 in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God. 29 For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, 30 experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.
Let’s pray.
The apostle Paul is writing this letter to his beloved Philippians, a church he planted beginning with a woman named Lydia, who dealt in rich fabrics. The first church services were likely at her house, and then the church expanded as more of the Philippians became believers. This is a good church. This is a church that gives Paul joy, not worry and trouble. And so this letter to the Philippians is full of joy, rather than warnings against doing something dumb or advice on how to handle awkward and downright troubling situations. And since Paul is not really addressing a particular issue that is dividing the church, like he is in many of the other letters he wrote, he is free to be a little more philosophical, a little more real. And so we get to glimpse Paul when he is thinking about his own mortality, and his place in the plan of salvation God has for the world. I must tell you, it is nice to read this letter and think about what Paul says in the midst of his troubles and trials.
Paul is thinking about his own mortality. He is in prison, awaiting his trial before the emperor, before Caesar who considered himself to be a god. Paul has avoided being killed by the Jews by moving his trial from Israel to Rome. Instead of letting the Jews ambush and kill him, Paul has appealed to Caesar himself, instead of staying with the courts in Israel. It appears from what Paul says earlier in chapter 1 about talking to the praetorian guards that Paul is in Rome. We know from history that He died in Rome, so it is very possible, and in fact likely, that Philippians is one of the last letters he wrote. Sitting in a cell, awaiting one’s day in court, must have made Paul think about his mortality. The odd thing is that he is thinking good thoughts. Paul starts off this very personal part of the letter by talking about the options, the possible outcomes before him, life or death.
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose.
Peterson translates these verses like this: “As long as I’m alive in this body, there is good work for me to do. If I had to choose right now, I hardly know which I’d choose.” You can see Paul saying to the Philippians, the choice is not mine, control of my life has been given over to Christ, completely. But if I did have control, if the choice was mine to make, I’m not sure which way I would choose. Either option is good. Paul either gets to keep proclaiming Christ, preaching and planting churches, or he gets to be with Christ. Eternity with the one you love isn’t a bad option either. So Paul is torn.
This hints at a fundamental truth of Christians, and it is this: This world is not our home. There is a great book by a professor at Duke’s Divinity School, Stanley Hauerwas called Resident Aliens. The title suggests the topic of the book, that is that we are living in a world, in a place that is not our home. We will get home someday, but it will not be by traveling anywhere on this planet. Paul knows there is work to do while he is allowed to remain, as do we know the same thing, but it is better to be with Christ for eternity. As Christians, believers and followers, our real home has changed. We belong with Christ in Heaven, but we have to wait until we finally get there, until we finally see Jesus face to face and hopefully hear, “Well done my good and faithful child.”
There is something drastically wrong with this world. We see it everyday in the newspapers. People think morality is relative; that there is no standard of right and wrong, and therefore, whatever feels good to them, whatever gets them ahead, that’s okay to do. We know differently. There is a standard of right, God Himself, and He sent His Son to teach us how to live well, to live in Himself. We read the Bible and we know that we aren’t of this world. Those in the world, who love the world and all its trappings have this sort of attitude: The world is about me first, the world revolves around me and everyone else should bow down to me. Ultimately, that’s the goal of folks who love this world, who are of this world. Complete control of their own destiny and fortune. Complete freedom to live however they want, to do whatever they want. We say no. This world is not about us; it is about the Creator. We were created to know the Creator. And when we finally meet the Creator, we know this world is not our final destination. There is something more coming, something good and pure, something worth waiting and fighting for. God’s presence is worth the sacrifices we make in this life.
That’s Paul’s attitude. God’s presence is what He seeks, whether in this life or the next. In facing death, he has only good options. Alive he is allowed to continue to bring people to God through Jesus; dead, he is finally with God. Finally. And that’s good too. Because that will mean Paul is going home.
But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; 24 yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. 25 And convinced of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again.
Paul is willing to stay as long as God wants. He is willing to continue to serve God, but he knows it would be better, more fun, he’d be more alive, finally the person he was created to be when with Christ. This is truly what it means to be a servant, to have a “servant’s heart”. Whatever God wants is fine with Paul. Paul has his preferences, but ultimately Paul has surrendered completely to God. That’s such a hard thing, and yet, it is what we are called to do, and called to be like. Paul is God’s servant, and no matter what, Paul will serve Christ to the very best of his ability. That doesn’t mean Paul was perfect, or that he didn’t get mad and say stupid things, or do stupid things or that Paul was free from sin. Far from it. Paul was a real human with all sorts of shortcomings, a lot like us.
But what made Paul different and wonderful was his complete commitment to God. Paul was “sold out” to Christ. Paul is willing to stay and continue the mission, even though he personally would benefit more from Heaven. Paul is willing to do what God wants, go where He wants, endure what God would have him endure in order to further the gospel. I see this attitude in some areas of the Christian church, but rarely in America. When the stakes are high, and one’s life is on the line, then we see the real us come out. People are jailed and persecuted and even killed all over the world.
Today, there will be dozens of people hurt or killed because of their faith in Christ. But we in this country aren’t sold out to Christ, aren’t completely committed because we don’t have to be. There is no one blocking your way to church. No one is threatening the life of your pastor. We don’t have to meet in secret lest our whole families be wiped out by government officials or marauding Muslims. We don’t have to sing hymns silently lest we get caught be officials trying to catch us, and kill us. We are blessed. We don’t have to be completely sold out to Christ. But we should be. I long for Christians in this country to be completely committed to Jesus, completely willing to do whatever He calls us to do. If we were completely sold out to Christ; This country, this state would look totally different. There would be a huge contingency trying not to get more money, more influence, more personal power, but rather people passionate about Christ and His message of hope and redemption infiltrating all levels and places within society, and we would be willing to endure hardship to take the message to people who haven’t yet heard, be they in NYC or the interior of South America. Paul was asked to complete a certain mission, which he did. We are asked to be completely sold out to Christ in a different context, a different time, but the attitude, the focus on Christ is still the same. Either we are bust getting along in this world, and this is our home, or we are busy proclaiming Christ in a foreign land, a land that is not our home, as people living here but not really belonging here.
Paul knows that Jesus gave everything for Him; His very life hanging on the cross. Paul responds appropriately to that sacrifice, to the price Jesus bought Paul with by offering everything back to Jesus. His whole life if God’s to command. That is the attitude we are striving toward, that is our goal. And I know that sounds scary and intimidating, but God is also gentle, and will lovingly move us where He wants us, giving us no more than we can handle at a particular time. It is good, I can certainly tell you that from my own life. It isn’t easy, but it is good. It isn’t always fun, but there is joy in serving God.
Paul continues in verse 27:
Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ; so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; 28 in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God.
Regardless of what happens to Paul personally, he exhorts the Philippians toward conduct worthy of their Master, conduct worthy of the gospel of Christ. Paul has heard enough of churches with people who are doing all sorts of unsavory things, like the Corinthian Church who was tolerating a man in the church who was sleeping with his father’s wife. Paul doesn’t want to hear those same sort of reports about the Philippian church. We tend to think of good conduct as being a very individual thing. But Paul talks about good conduct when he talks about the whole church. Paul wants to hear that they are united, that the church is striving together toward God’s will, that together they are living out and proclaiming the Word of God.
In this country we are highly individualized. We have been conditioned to be completely independent; anyone needing help or not completely independent really isn’t a real person. It is the persistent rugged individualism that has been both a blessing and a curse to this country. Many times I have heard people tell me that they don’t need church, that they worship on their own at home, that their relationship with God is completely private in nature. But I tell you, we are in this together. We need each other in the church. We need each other for teaching and insights. We need each other to remain accountable to someone. We need each other for encouragement when times get hard. We need each other to celebrate with when times are good.
Together we proclaim and live out the gospel. If you were in the church in the 70’s you probably sang the song “They will know we are Christians by our love”. It’s still true, even though we don’t sing that song anymore. People will see how we love each other or don’t love each other. We are to be unified, all heading the same direction, with the same overarching purpose. We are to be drawing people into hear and see the love of God. That is the basic purpose of any church. At the same time we are all being trained to better be ministers where we are. All of this we do together. We want people to know their options, and make the good choice to follow Christ, to invite Jesus into their hearts.
Paul finishes with this thought.
For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, 30 experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.
What are you willing to do, to put up with in order to follow Jesus? Are you willing to come to church a little early and go to Sunday School? Are you willing to teach Sunday School? Are you willing to take your Sunday attitude and stretch it into Monday? Are you willing to take your Christianity into your place of work? Are you willing to proclaim the hope you have in Christ to unbelievers? Are you willing to invite people to church? Are you willing to stick your neck out? What are living for: yourself or God? If you are living for yourself then the world can be a scary place, full of people who want to take what’s yours, full of people who are trying to trick you, make you do what they want. If the world is your home, and then is nothing coming after we die, then by all means buy anything and everything. Spend all your money different sorts of pleasures and pursuits.
But if you are living for God, and this world is not your home but there is something coming, if Heaven everlasting is your real home, your real desire, then live the completely sold out life. Pray and be rejuvenated, and sent out on the mission for Christ that He has for you. Read your Bibles everyday because that’s our handbook for living, it’s the way God speaks to us, words of encouragement and correction, words of commitment, trust and faith. Be filled with the Holy Spirit, pray for the HS to fill you up with love for God and others. Use the spiritual gifts you have been given to God’s glory, not your own. Live for God, not yourself.
I tell you, if we live like that, sold out completely to God, to Jesus and His message of hope and love, when we reach critical points in our lives we too will only have good options. We too will wonder which way we might choose if we had the option. Would it be better to stay and continue to minister, to continue to introduce people to Christ, or to leave and begin to enjoy eternity with Him? Even though the choice is not ours to make, it is my prayer and desire for all of us that we see this life like high school, that we come out with only good choices.
This life is sort of like high school. In high school it was really hard to imagine life beyond high school; we’d get glimpses of it when our older siblings came home for vacations or when college recruiters stopped by. But for the most part, in high school we were, or at least I was, focused on high school, working hard hoping my studying would pay off with a good college admission. I was focused on the drama of high school, who was dating who and why…were we going to win the next football game or basketball game. And then when I left school, all that stuff faded away. It wasn’t important. Whether TO high school won their football games didn’t matter to me at all. All the drama of high school was completely uninteresting. I was in college, I had moved up to a better place.
In the same way, we are preparing for what comes next. We are studying to be better students of the master, we are waiting for what comes next. There is something better beyond this life, some place more real, some place where we belong. It is our job to tell as many people as possible that this place, this high school, is not all there is. There is more coming, it is more than here and so much better. I remember those kids whose life was completely wrapped up in high school; it was the best time of their lives. Graduation was the low point in their lives because they hadn’t prepared for what comes next. They were lost and drifted after high school. We don’t want our friends and family to be lost and drifting, to be away from God after this life. We want them to graduate up, not down. There is something more coming, and it is going to be great. Invite all the people you can because if you liked high school, if you liked this life, what’s coming is infinitely better.
Let’s pray.
