Guaranteed Goal
Philippians 1:1-11 1/9/2000
Introduction
What would you be willing to attempt if you were guaranteed to win? It would probably change your goals, wouldn’t it? You’d be willing to take risks, because they wouldn’t be risks any more!
In this morning’s Scripture, Paul prays for his beloved friends in Philippi, and in his prayer, we see him reveal to them a seemingly impossible goal– but we also will see that they are guaranteed to achieve it.
This morning we’re beginning a series on the book of Philippians.
Why Philippians [Context]:
Philippians not a “typical” letter for Paul
Unlike most of his letters, Philippians was not written in order to correct some kind of false teaching, or to assert his apostolic authority
Instead it is, in part, a thank you letter,
As well as a letter of encouragement to press on in the faith
Finally it is a letter of JOY
The church in Philippi was a loving church
They had been had supported and loved Paul through thick and thin.
The church in Philippi was a generous church
Referring to the offering that Paul was taking on behalf of Christians suffering in Jerusalem, Paul uses these words in 2 Corinthians to boast of the Philippian church, among others:
8:2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 … they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. … 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints.
They were a giving church, and they gave not just financially, but they gave of themselves as well.
Finally, the church in Philippi wanted to grow in their faith and to be a part of what God was doing in their world.
Like Paul, they were committed to pressing ahead, both as a church and as individuals
So, Why are we going to study Philippians?
It seemed fitting to me that we should study Paul’s words to such a great church. I don’t know you well -- yet -- but I already know
that you, also, are a loving church,
that you, also, are a generous church
And I believe that you, also, are committed to pressing ahead, both as a church and as individuals.
And so we begin. By next Sunday, I will have a schedule in the bulletin of what we’ll be reading when, so you can read and meditate on the passage beforehand if you want.
But before we dig into Philippians itself, I’d like to look behind the scenes a little bit, so we can better understand this 1st century church we’re going to be visiting for the next few weeks.
Historical Context: behind the scenes info (from Acts 16)
In the 16th chapter of the book of Acts, we learn that when Paul went on his 2nd missionary journey, he had no intention of going to Philippi.
He wanted to go to Bithynia (to the east), but Acts says “the Spirit of Jesus” prevented them.
We’re not told exactly what that means. My guess is that some very natural reason like bad weather, lack of transportation or obstinate local officials prevented them.
And I’d also be willing to guess that Paul, being an agenda-oriented Type-A kind of guy, went to bed that night kind of frustrated – or even angry -- at having his plans thwarted. Maybe his responses were more “spiritual” than mine may have been. I obviously don’t know!
What I do know, is that Paul had a dream, the kind you just can’t shake when you get up in the morning. In that dream, a man from Macedonia (which was to the west – remember he had been trying to go east) appeared to him begging him, “Please, come over and help us.”
Paul realized that the reason he couldn’t go east was that God wanted him to go west!
So Paul headed off to the region of Macedonia, and the first Macedonian city he came to was Philippi.
With such a miraculous mandate from God, Paul might have expected a miraculous start to his ministry. Maybe he would meet the very man he had seen in his dream. Perhaps he envisioned crowds lining up to hear the message, as they had with Jesus.
But when he went to find the synagogue – which was always where Paul went to launch his ministry in a new city –he discovered there wasn’t one. To have a synagogue required at least 10 Jewish men. But in this supposedly “spiritually hungry” city, there were not even 10 men devout enough to meet for prayer.
What he did find was a women’s prayer group. Out of that group came Philippi’s first Christian: a businesswoman named Lydia.
And so the Philippian church was born.
While the founding of the church may not have seemed miraculous, Philippi had its fair share of miracles!
Paul & Silas freed a slave girl from an evil spirit
The problem was, that evil spirit had made her masters a pile of money and they liked it. Now they were stuck with just another ordinary slave girl.
Enraged, they brought false charges against Paul & Silas, who were whipped and thrown into jail.
I probably would’ve spent that night vowing never again to do anything based on a dream!
But Paul and Silas spent the night praying out loud and singing while the other prisoners listened! To me, that in itself is a miracle!
But there was another miracle in Philippi that night
While they were singing and praying, the prison was shaken to its foundations. The bars flew open and the chains flew off – and the jailer was ready to kill himself. Instead, Paul and Silas preach to him, and get invited to his home, where he and his whole family are saved and then baptized.
God had a plan for the Philippian church, and He made sure it would be fulfilled.
Even when his chosen messengers were determined to go in the opposite direction.
Even when there weren’t enough faithful folks in town to have a real synagogue.
Even when opposition came and his messengers were persecuted and confined to prison.
Paul’s experience in Philippi taught him what it should teach us: Nothing stands in the way of God’s plan. Nothing.
The Relationship Between Paul and the Philippians
This letter was probably written about 12 years after the events of Acts 16.
Paul is writing from prison in Rome, awaiting a trial that could end in his death
And just as he prayed and sang in that prison cell in Philippi, now he is praying for -- and singing the praises of -- the church in Philippi.
The Reason Paul gives thanks
He is thankful because:
They have been his partners in ministry from day one (v. 5)
They’ve prayed for him
They have consistently supported him and his ministry, even while he was in jail
In many of the other churches, Paul has experienced both personal rejection as well as rejection of his leadership and his calling as an apostle.
Those he taught the life-giving message of the gospel have often rejected his teachings.
Those he has loved and served faithfully, at great personal sacrifice, have failed to love him in return;
some have simply forgotten him in his own time of need, written him off.
But not the Philippians. No wonder Paul is so thankful for them!
Throughout these verses, Paul expresses his thankfulness, his love and his JOY in this church. Everything that we read in this letter reflects this loving, joyous relationship.
The Prayer
The core of this passage is Paul’s prayer, found in verses 9-11.
Until now, we’ve talked a lot about background stuff, which has probably fascinated some of you and bored others of you silly.
But this is where we read what applies to us, as well.
You can learn a lot about a person from their prayers, for true prayer reveals our deepest desires.
Paul, being the godly man that he was, desired above all else, that the God he loved would be glorified in the people he loved, as well as in himself.
And so, of course, that is his prayer for the Philippians.
That is a pretty lofty goal. Perhaps it even sounds a little absurd! Certainly Paul’s life glorified God, but how can the God of the Universe receive glory from my puny little life out here in Punxsutawney, PA?
Fortunately for us, Paul doesn’t just pray some kind of vague prayer that we would glorify God, but he sees that as an end goal in a process. His prayer begins with something far more down to earth. This is Paul’s highest hope for his beloved friends in Philippi, and I believe it is our chief goal as well.
Real love Is smart love
The New International Version renders verse 9 this way, “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight.”
This has a slightly different emphasis than the Good News version:
“I pray that your love will keep on growing more and more, together with true knowledge and perfect judgment”
Paul has just told them that they are already a loving church
But he wants them to keep on growing in love
It’s interesting that he doesn’t say whether he means they should be growing in their love of God, in their love of one another in the church, or in their love for the lost. So which is it?
You’ve probably guessed it: I think it means all of those things.
If we truly grow in our love of God, our love for our brothers and sisters in Christ as well as for those who are outside of God’s family, will also grow
Ultimately, they are all one in the same
But Paul doesn’t leave the word “love” unqualified.
Maybe he knew that people just love to twist the word “love” to suit their own purposes
It has been used in the defense of everything from sex outside of marriage to abortion to the acceptance of the practice of homosexuality.
Being loving has been confused with just being nice or polite. And while I think loving people are usually nice and polite, there is more to love than that.
So he does not pray just for their love to grow, but, as the NIV has it “that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight”
Let’s take knowledge first. Again, Paul doesn’t specify knowledge of what, exactly. But what kind of knowledge enhances love?
Certainly, knowledge of the Word of God, and knowledge of God Himself. We will never grow in love except through relationship with God
I think it also means a knowledge of the people we are seeking to love.
At my ordination service in December, my friend Pastor Don Bradley gave the ordination sermon. In it, he urged me to “Remember Dorothy.” It’s all right, I didn’t know what he was talking about either.
He told us a story about a woman who was in nursing school. One day the Prof. came in and said those 7 words students hate to hear, “We’re going to have a pop quiz!”
She made it through the quiz, until she got to the last question. It read, “What is the name of the woman who cleans the school?” She thought she read it wrong! She had seen an older lady who cleaned, but how was she supposed to know her name?
After the quiz, one student asked, “Is that last question going to count?”
“Yes, it’s going to count. You’re going to meet a lot of people when you get out in this field. You may be tempted to treat them as diseases instead of as people. But each one is important and each one has a name. And by the way, her name is Dorothy.”
There are a lot of Dorothys out there. If we are going to fulfill God’s purposes for us and for them, we’ll need to love them. Which requires at least a little bit of knowledge.
The more we know them, the more we can love them. (The more they can drive us crazy, too, but that’s another issue!)
And what about the phrase translated in the Good News as perfect judgment – in the NIV as “depth of insight.”
The word “refers to the ability to make proper moral decisions in the midst of a vast array of choices” [Rienecker, Rogers & Rogers] Something hard to come by in our age.
How does love tie in to making proper moral choices?
Again, our culture has often implied that love is its own morality – that as long as we are doing something (by our own accounting) in love, then we can pretty much do what we please.
But choices made in private often have wide-reaching effects.
Contrary to popular belief, there is no conflict between love on the one hand and knowledge and judgment on the other.
I often cringe when I hear some conservative Christians taking a stand for righteousness in such a way that it blocks out any trace of love
Those who wink at sin, thinking that love means never saying, “That’s wrong,” do our society untold damage. And in the end act neither from love nor from knowledge and discernment.
To have love without knowledge and discernment leads to a squishy political correctness that in the end, fails to offer real love to others.
To have knowledge and discernment of right and wrong without love leads to self-righteous legalism, which has little or nothing to do with real Christian faith
So press on in your love for God, your love for one another and your love for the lost, but let it be a love which abounds in knowledge and in moral discernment.
Love is the road
We are often exhorted to love, but Paul tells us why, or perhaps more accurately, what that will do for us.
Perhaps it would be fairly obvious that Paul would want us to be discerning not just that we might know what’s best, but that we should choose what’s best.
And here’s the “why:” “so that you will be free from all impurity and blame on the Day of Christ.”
I don’t know what that sentence does to you. I don’t really like to think about the Day of Christ, about judgment, because I’m so aware of the many areas of sin and weakness that I have.
I’d love to be free from all impurity and blame, but that seems like an unreachable goal. And by our own strength, it is an unreachable goal
But there are two verses in this chapter that turned the unreachable goal into a guaranteed goal.
One of them is the last verse of the passage, verse 11:
“Your lives will be filled with the truly good qualities which only Jesus Christ can produce.”
Friends, we can’t produce love in our own hearts any more than we can turn bottle caps into gold bullion (by the way, if there’s anyone here who can do that, please see me after the service).
God is doing a work in you and in us that he is determined to finish. Which is exactly what is said in verse 6 – a verse many of you may have memorized, and which I frequently cling to:
Paul says that he is “confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
God is doing a good work in you, friends.
Earlier, I said that God had a plan for the Philippian church, and He made sure it would be fulfilled. There were several reasons to think that Philippi would not be the home of a thriving church
But Paul learned then, if he didn’t already know, that Nothing stands in the way of God’s plan. Nothing.
He will fulfill His purpose for you; He will fulfill His purpose for this church.
And the end result is that God will get all the praise and glory, as verse 11 says. That’s reason for joy! That’s a guaranteed goal
Conclusion
I started out this morning by asking you what you would do if you were guaranteed to succeed.
I said you’d probably set your goals higher than ever before.
It is time to set your sights on the highest goal of all: that God would be glorified in your life and in the life of our church.
It’s the highest goal of all, but set your sights there, because you are guaranteed to succeed.
