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November 2, 2003 |
"Philippians"
Knowing Him, Knowing Joy |
Pastor Brian Shimer
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"Saying, 'For to me, To live is Christ,' and meaning it"
Philippians 1: 12-30
| I.
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Let's get the facts straight:
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Paul is chained wrist to wrist to an elite Roman guard 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week, but writes to the Philippians to tell them how the Gospel is not chained with him. This guard was the private bodyguard of the emperor. There were 16,000 troops stationed in Rome in a fortified camp. They were called the "palace guard." When Paul was brought to Rome, he was placed in the care of their Commander who then had Paul's wrist chained to the wrist of a guard one at a time, day and night.
Imagine this. A different stranger chained to your wrist in shifts 365 days a year. A stranger who was probably antagonistic toward what you believed. A stranger who would not necessarily speak to you, but would hear all you said in prayer and conversation all day long. A stranger who would be awake while you slept, next to you in the bathroom, with you while you bathed.
Paul's guard heard Paul's thoughts as they were dictated for Timothy to write down this letter. He heard all about the Kingdom of God as Paul taught those who came to see him. He heard all about Jesus. And then would go back to the barracks and tell others what he had heard.
Through Paul's witness this whole palace guard and "everybody else," Paul says, knew Paul was in chains for Jesus.
And also, those who before had been afraid to boldly speak for Christ were freed up. Because Paul was preaching freely in front of Rome, with a guard there all the time, others were emboldened to do so as well. People were preaching outside of the prison more than before. Even though some did so out of rivalry to cause Paul more grief in prison, through all, the Gospel was going forth into every strata of society. And Paul rejoiced!
| | II.
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His chains were used to advance the Gospel.
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Have you ever thought of chains -- hard events in life -- as a total negative? Maybe it is the emotional chains of rejection, abandonment, hurt or depression, or physical chains of sickness or disabilities, or relational chains such as control, loneliness in singleness or in marriage, or the chains of your job in life, or other chains you think of.
Do chains mean God cannot work? Is God's Gospel ever chained?
Paul shouts NO resoundingly. God still works around us when we are chained to an enemy. And God works in us too, as we are open to him.
Some chains can come through sin. Then we need to confess, repent and be set free. These chains are so we can face our sin and repent. But, the chains Paul encountered were not due to sin. God allowed chains for a season to tie Paul down. And the Gospel went forth brilliantly!
The Gospel also went in. Paul was certain his deliverance would be forthcoming -- through prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit. By deliverance, Paul is not speaking of his release from chains, but of the whole work of salvation that God was furthering in Paul's soul. It was like saying: "this is good for me."
And prison brought Paul hope that no matter what came, whether death or life, he would have the courage needed in that hour to live or die and bring glory to God.
What a work God did in Paul so he could say with confidence: "For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain" and truly mean it.
| | III.
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Hey Paul, we could ask, What does that mean? What would it mean for
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us to say those words?
Paul is stating that his life, real life, began with Jesus not his parents. That day on the Damascus road was when Paul began true life. When you and I trusted Jesus for salvation, life began at that moment and not a moment before. For life, real life, begins with Jesus.
Jesus was the continuation of Paul's life too. There was not a moment after that beginning that Paul had not continued to live in the presence of Jesus. Jesus was with him all the way. It is no different for us. Is Jesus with me when I struggle? Hurt? Fear? Seek Him? Take a vacation? Yes!
And too, Christ was at the end of his earthly life-- that's why Paul writes: "to die is gain." When his body dies, he will enter into the glorious presence of Jesus just as he has lived in HIS presence in life. We are glory bound! The idea of departing, of leaving shore, of packing up camp and moving on, was attractive, so Paul did not fear the arena where he would die, but feared God alone, was closest to Christ Jesus, and looked forward to his entrance into Heaven.
Through Christ Jesus, Paul understood his task for life. Across the nation people are reading Rick Warren's book A Purpose Driven Life. This great Christian book is even on the NY Times bestseller list. It seems many are crying out for a life with meaning. Not just the routine, but the dynamic, spiritual life based upon and found in relationship to Jesus.
In Christ Paul encountered life, so he modeled his way of living after how Jesus lived. Did Jesus spend time reading the Scriptures? Yes. Therefore, Paul read, studied, memorized the Scriptures. "To live is Christ".
Did Jesus Pray? Yes. So, Paul prayed, constantly, unceasingly, with thanksgiving and praise. Did Jesus fast? Yes. So, Paul abstained with Jesus in order to "buffet his body and make it his slave" and not be enslaved to gluttony. "To live is Christ."
Did Jesus feast? Yes. So, Paul would celebrate and feast and enjoy God's bounty. "To live is Christ!"
Did Jesus practice solitude, silence, as well as serving those around him, raising the dead, healing the sick, casting out demons? Yes. So, Paul did so as well as he lived by faith, following Jesus.
So, we can begin to have meaning in the statement: "for to me, to live is Christ," as we model our lives, one step at a time, after Christ and Paul. We do what they did. Jesus said the wise man built his house upon the rock as he did what Jesus said.
We can also begin to say the words. "For to me, to live is Christ." Try it.
How does that sound from your lips? Strange? To begin to speak truth helps us enter it. For as we say it, we begin to think it and experience it.
When we are struggling with temptation, would it make a difference to remember that Jesus was living in us at that instant. It is not just a temptation that we sin but a temptation to drag Jesus into sin with us in our bodies. Paul asks the Corinthians, "Shall I take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute?" And he answers: "Never!" (1 Corinthians 6:16).
Christ is living in you and in me. My life is His life just as your life is His life. He sees through our eyes, hears through our ears, touches this hurting world through our hands, speaks through our mouths, walks on our feet.
So, "to live is Christ" simply is a true reality no matter how poorly we feel we are at it. He is eating the meal with us. He is drinking the drink with us. He is speaking to our friend, our spouse, our neighbor through us.
This week a woman came into the office and told me her testimony. She told me: "I pretended through 50 years of my life. I put on a face that I was in control, that everything was great, but inside I had packed down all my true feelings, my reactions to the hurts I had experienced." All those packed in feelings, the resentments, the bitterness, the unforgiveness, the hurts, had been stored and were rotting within, while she pretended everything was fine.
Well, do you resemble this woman more, or Paul? At this point, she could say the words: "for to me, to live is Christ," but could never mean it.
"You are a great performer," her insightful pastor told her once and she wanted to hit him, but instead, the truth had hit her heart. Not long after that, she began to pray that God would show her the truth about herself. It was like she stepped off a high cliff and fell headlong into an abyss. A series of five crises came into her life in 1989 and she fell into a pit of despair and depression that was so black and dark she went numb for three months.
"Was I ever happy?" "Did we ever laugh?" She would ask her husband. She could hardly speak, but she could write. So, she wrote and wrote all the pain she remembered and sent it with her husband to give to the church counselor. The counselor told her husband, "Your wife is filled with resentment and unforgiveness. One of these days it is all going to come out. Will you be man enough to take it?"
50 years of pain did come pouring out and her husband took it, and asked forgiveness for those places he had failed her; her pastor took it and asked forgiveness for the clergy that had hurt her; her counselor took it and God brought her to life.
Today this woman can tell you honestly that for her to live is Christ-- He is her best friend, a constant companion, "her husband" since her human spouse died. She says, "I live in this wonderful house out in the country, and my friends ask, 'Aren't you afraid living way out here all by yourself?'" "But I am never alone! I am loved much by the best.
"For to me, to live is Christ" I want to be able to say and mean it! How about you?
This is communion Sunday. This is a day we share in a meal that commemorates a reality: that Jesus really shed His blood so that you and
I could be forgiven, could enter that life. It is a meal that links us to Christians like Paul and the Philippians, who have lived before us, and to those who will follow us. In this meal Jesus meets us in a tangible way, through ordinary, everyday items, picturing how He also meets us daily through ordinary, everyday events. I pray that He will meet you in extraordinary ways today. That you will crack any door in your soul that needs cracking. That you will open to him more than before. That as you pray the prayer of confession you will discover Him in new ways meeting you.
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