God Alone is the Victor

 July 3 2020

1 Peter 4

A couple of weeks ago our annual assembly for the East Ohio District of the Church of the Nazarene was held. I was very blessed by participating in it. Our General Superintendent, Dr. Gustavo Crocker, brought much needed encouragement for the churches of our district who have been, to say the least, experiencing a couple of rough years on account of Covid. Dr. Crocker used scripture verses from the forty-third chapter of Isaiah to bring to us a message of hope, because we are to see that God is indeed doing a new thing. He spoke of how the Covid epidemic did not catch God by surprise but rather God knew of its coming and God was there for us in the epidemic and God is able to use this experience to bring about something new, something that will bring newness and growth within the church.  If God is doing a new thing then, Dr. Crocker, stated that we as the church, we must be ready to join God in this new work that he is bringing about. One of the things that keeps the church bound to the old ways of doing things is that we make sacred cows out of the methods that we use to do our ministry of the church. When Dr. Crocker told us this I could not but help to think of what someone has called the last seven words of a dying church, we’ve never done it that way before. We hold on to the old ways of doing things because we like the comfortable way those methods make us feel. As Dr. Crocker also said, the only one who likes change is a baby with a dirty diaper! So true!

As I meditated on what Dr. Crocker has conveyed to us, I also thought that another reason why we resist change in the church, especially in our methods, is that most of us who make up the church don’t really know just what is our purpose as the church. If we simply keep on, keeping on doing what we have always done, then we don’t have to stop and think just what is the purpose for what it is that we are doing. I think that the Covid epidemic though made a lot of people pause and reflect on just why it is that they were part of this thing called the church and unfortunately some of those people couldn’t come up with a good answer. So, if I were to ask you to write down on a piece of paper just what is our purpose as the church of Jesus Christ just what would your answer be? Perhaps you might say that the church is the place where people can hear the gospel so that they might experience life transformation. This would be very true but even that response is not the ultimate answer. You see the church is not just about right beliefs or the right way to live as good as those may be, and it isn’t just about making disciples or being a witness to the world around us as important as those two actions are. No, the ultimate purpose of the church, (drumroll, please), is to glorify God. To glorify God is the ultimate purpose of every believer, period. I mean, I gave you the answer to what the church’s purpose is in our scripture that I read from in the fourth chapter of Peter, where this best friend of Jesus tells us “in everything God is to be glorified through Jesus Christ for to him belong glory and power for all time. Amen.” Now, just so that you are certain that Peter is not alone in his emphasis on our glorifying God, we also read this same thing in the book of Romans. There, Paul lays out God’s entire plan of salvation, and he sums everything up at the beginning of the fifteenth chapter stating that what he prayed for this church at Rome is that the “God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together with one voice you glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” So, here again, we hear from Paul that as a church we are to be united together in our glorification of God.

Now, we probably would all agree, that, yes, glorifying God is our ultimate purpose as a church yet we, in the same breath, might also be hard pressed to explain just what does it mean for us to be a church that brings glory to God. What may help us figure out just what does it mean for us to glorify God is for us to look at the Hebrew word for glory, kabod and what we find is that its roots are found in words like weighty or heavy. This seems to be a bit strange until we consider that in battle those who had the heavier shields, these were the ones who would be victorious. So, there is a sense in this Hebrew word for glory, not just of honor, and exultation but that this comes about because of victory.

It is this sense that God’s glory is directly tied to his victory, that helps us understand what the prophet Isaiah writes in the eighth verse of the forty-second chapter. There we read, “I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.” What God is saying here is that it is he and he alone who is victorious. God is not going to allow the victory that he has rightfully won to be claimed by anyone else especially something people held to be a god which was nothing but a figment of their imagination. The point that God is making here is that when people worship idols they are seeking to claim a victory for themselves when the victory is rightfully God’s. People worship these so called gods only so that these gods might serve their needs and their desires because this is what the worshipers of false gods think life is all about. If these worshippers of false gods end up with all that they desire they think that their life is secure, that their gods have won the victory but we have to ask ourselves does such thinking really make sense?

You see, this is what Peter is getting at when he tells those who read his letter that they are to no longer to “live their remaining days in the flesh concerned about human desires”. Here we begin to understand that a life built on our desires is the only victory that some people want.Victory to them is nothing more than to stay alive, to determine one’s life as one sees fit through the power of one’s own capabilities. Yet it is exactly this idea of a victorious life that Peter is warning us against. You see, it is this mindset that Peter goes on to tell us is what the rest of the world is involved in, a mindset whose outcome is as Peter tells us is a life marked by a “life without limits, a life of unrestrained appetite, a life of excessive passions and partying and revolting worship of idols.” Peter goes on to say that this is a “flood of debauchery” which probably is pointing us back to the days of Noah. What Peter is addressing is this idea that we can live life on our own terms, that all life is is a seeking after our most basic desires so that we are comfortable and satisfied. Now, what cannot be forgotten is that Peter is not just speaking about the people in the world but rather Peter is speaking to us, we are the ones Peter points the finger at and tells us that we are the ones who must no longer live our remaining days in the flesh concerned about human desires. In doing so, Peter is once again pointing us back to the parable which has provided a framework for his letter, the parable of the sower. This parable is found in the thirteenth chapter of Matthew and it is there that we hear Jesus tell his disciples, which included Peter, a story about a farmer who went out to sow some seed. Jesus said that some of the seed fell along the path and the birds quickly came and snatched up the seed. Some of the seed fell upon rocky ground where it quickly sprouted but because it had no root, when the sun came up, the seed was scorched and withered away. Some of the seed also fell among the thorns and the thorns grew up and choked out the little seedlings. All was not lost though for some seed did fall upon good soil and some of that seed produced one hundred fold, some sixty fold and some thirty fold. The portion of this story that we need to focus on today is the part where the seed fell among the thorns. Jesus goes on to explain to his disciples that this was the one who heard the word of the kingdom but the anxiety of this age and the deception of plenty choke the word so that the word bears no fruit. You see,  Jesus has paid for our ransom, not with silver or gold, but with his precious blood and it would be a tragedy if we ended up with a life that did not end up bearing fruit. This is what will happen if the anxiety of this age and the deceitfulness of the plenty that we have, chokes out the word of the kingdom, the good news of Jesus Christ. This is why Peter is adamant when he tells us that we must not, in the time we have left, be those who live in the flesh concerned with human desires.

What is interesting about this parable that Jesus told is the word we translate as “choke”. We are told that the anxieties of this age and the deception of our riches choke the word which is in us. This word, “choke”, is a word which means to be joined with something which sucks the life out of you. This is a powerful description for what Jesus is describing. The anxieties of this age cause us to be divided in our loyalty to God. When life becomes difficult we begin to doubt and worry even though we know God is faithful. To ease our fears we store up our treasures believing, falsely, that this is the way that we can find some peace. The truth is that all that happens when we have treasures is that we fuss and fume about whether or not something is going to happen to them and we actually end up more anxious than we were when we first became anxious. So, we just keep on accumulating more stuff and when we become so dependent upon the stuff that we have accumulated, thinking that all of it is the source of our life, then we are drawn away from God who is the only true source of life. If we become so convinced that the way to an anxious free life comes about because of what we do, that the security of our life is determined by our smarts and our strength, then we are going to look for ways to manipulate the forces of the world so that they work in our favor; this is where false gods come into the picture. You see, when we think that because we come every Sunday and worship God, and we give him a little of what we got and we say a few prayers then God will help us in our pursuit of more stuff, what we consider is the perfect life, this is, in fact, nothing more than the worship of a false god because the one true living God never serves us to secure the victory we desire; no, we are to serve him in the power of the victory he has already won. So, it is abundantly true that when we seek a life apart from God, we are really choking to death because we have cut ourselves off from the one true source of life.

When we begin to understand what Jesus is teaching us in the parable of the sower it isn’t hard to hear the words from the fourth chapter of Zechariah, which says, that “it is not by might, nor by power but by my Spirit, says the Lord.” Life is not by our effort or our strength; life is not about the power that we might wield in order to survive. No, life is by the very Spirit of God. This is what Peter is telling us when he begins this fourth chapter of his letter by stating that “since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourself with the same way of thinking so that the one who has suffered in the flesh is finished with sin.” Here, Peter is referring to something that he had previously written at the end of the second chapter where he tells us that “Christ has suffered for us, leaving us an example, so that we might follow in his steps.” In these words, we cannot help but think of Peter’s first encounter with Jesus where Jesus told him to come and follow him. Peter goes on to tell us that “Jesus committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When Jesus was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten but continued trusting himself to him who judges justly.” So, just what is this way that Jesus thought about life that we are to follow, a way of thinking that we can arm ourselves with against being consumed with a concern for our human desires?This way of thinking is that Jesus continued trusting the one who judges justly, his Heavenly Father. The image that the original Greek word translated here as “trusting” gives to us is that of a person who allows themselves to be held in the hands of another. When we know this, then we are taken to that moment, recorded in the twenty-third chapter of Luke, where Jesus is there dying upon the cross and with a loud cry exclaims, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit”! The spirit of Jesus is his life, so here he is saying, “Father I lay my life in your hands.” This is how Jesus was able to be reviled yet not revile in return. This is how Jesus was able to suffer at the hands of others and not respond with threats of violence because Jesus knew that he was held safe in the hands of his Heavenly Father and his Heavenly Father would bring about the justice for the injustice done against him. Jesus knew that it was not by his strength, nor by his power but his life was living by the Spirit, the very Spirit by which he offered himself as a sacrifice without blemish to his Heavenly Father. This is why that John, in his gospel, writes that Jesus understood that when he was crucified that he would glorify his Heavenly Father as we hear in the seventeenth chapter. There on the cross the Heavenly Father was glorified because there the world saw the victory of our God, that a life held in the hands of the Father is eternally secure; this is the message confirmed by the resurrection. Jesus knew that victory happens when we yield our life into the hands of our Heavenly Father and he gives us this hope of victory in the tenth chapter of John when he tells us “I give you eternal life, and you will never perish, and no one will snatch you out of my hand. My Father, who has given you to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch you out of the Father’s hand.” You see, this is when God is glorified when we live knowing that our life is securely held in the hands of our Heavenly Father.

When we live knowing that our life is eternally secure in the hands of our Heavenly Father then our hands are free from grasping tightly to all that we think we need to live so that now are hands can reach out to serve others. In the hands of God we are set free to love with abandon. Such love offers grace, and mercy and forgiveness so that the destructive power of sin can never rear its ugly head. In the hands of God we can reach out our hands to welcome the stranger never having to be concerned about whether there will be enough for all. When we are held in the hands of God we can take the gifts that God has given to us and give them to those who need them and receive from others the gifts that God has given them. This is what it means for us to live in the household of God each one sharing with their brothers and sisters the richness laid out for us on the table our Heavenly Father has set for us. So, as we speak, we are to speak the very words God has given to us to build up and encourage one another. As we serve, we serve in the strength God supplies. This is a life that witnesses to the victory of God.

Peter goes on to tell us something that seems a bit strange to our modern ears, that we are to rejoice when we suffer. Why would he tell us such a mixed message? The point that Peter is making is that when we share in the sufferings of Christ this is when we once again become keenly aware that our life is not victorious through our strength, nor through our power but only through the Spirit of God. This is what Peter tells us, that it is when we share in the sufferings of Christ that we have the certainty that the same Holy Spirit through which he offered himself into the hands of his Heavenly Father is the same Holy Spirit resting upon us, laying us into the hands of the one with whom we can trust our very life. When we suffer for God, then, there is no disgrace because it is then we are witnessing to the victory that is ours in the name of Christ. This is when we do the will of our Heavenly Father doing the good we know to do, safe in the knowledge that we can trust the God who created us to hold us safe in this life he has given to us. So, God alone receives the glory; his alone is the victory. If we know this to be true then let us live as it is true. To God be the glory! Amen!

What are you sowing?

 June 26 2022

1 Peter 1:22-2:12

My wife, Jennifer, just recently got a new IPhone as her old one ended up having issues with the battery, surprise, surprise. It’s a great phone, and it probably has more features than she will ever know about but the weirdest part of the phone for me is that you can now change Siri’s voice. I am so used to Siri being a woman’s voice so it kind of freaks me out to hear an Australian male voice coming from the kitchen as if Crocodile Dundee himself is out there answering all of my wife’s questions.What is probably even more strange is that we think nothing at all about carrying on a conversation with our phones, I mean, we do it all the time. There is also Alexa, the voice activated device that you can speak to and it will do pretty much whatever you ask her to do. Through our voices we find the whole world at our fingertips. Who knew our common ordinary speech could have such power?!

This power of words, of ordinary common talking, this is what saturates this part of Peter’s first letter that we read today. God speaks a word and we when we hear that word and treasure that word we find that indeed that this word has power. Through this word that God speaks we discover that we are living life in a new place, a place of a very different existence, so very different that this existence can only be called new. This is the power of a word.

So, throughout this section of Peter’s first letter, we find a lot about words, words that we should put away, like malice and deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander and words we should pick up and most definitely say like the words which speak of the exalted wonder of Jesus. Peter also speaks of the evildoers who speak against us, those of us who have been made new through the word of God and how through the goodness brought about through the word of God living in us, the foolish people living in ignorance will end up finding themselves without words to speak. Thousands of years before Alexa ever came along, the notion that our words have power, power to create new worlds and bring down old ones was something Peter knew all so well.

Peter describes the living and abiding word that God speaks as being a seed that is imperishable, always abounding with life. It is not hard to imagine that Peter, in describing the word of God in this way that he is thinking back to the days when he walked with Jesus beside the Sea of Galilee. Peter would have remembered the story Jesus had told him and his friends about a farmer who went out to sow seed and some of the seed fell upon the path where the birds came and devoured these seeds before they even had a chance to grow. Some of the seed fell upon rocky ground and the seeds quickly sprouted but when the sun came out in full force the seeds were scorched because they had no root in them. Then some of the seed fell among the thorns which choked out the little seedlings. Yet all was not lost because some of the seed did fall upon good soil and produced grain, some a hundred fold, some sixty fold and some thirty fold. Now, the part of this story which we need to understand for today is this part which concerns the birds which snatch away the seeds before they can ever sprout. Jesus goes on to explain that the seed that is sown is the word of the kingdom. If the word of the kingdom is not understood, Jesus tells us, the evil one comes and snatches away this word which is sown in a person’s heart just as birds come and devour seed which lays upon a stony path.

So, this word that Peter speaks of as being an imperishable seed is the word of the kingdom, the kingdom of God which is at hand. This is the same word spoken of in the fifty-fifth chapter of Isaiah where God tells Isaiah, that “just as the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater so also, God says, my word that goes out  from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty. My word shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed for the very thing for which I sent it.” Jesus tells us that this word that God speaks is the word of the kingdom, a word that God speaks forth from heaven to bring his rule and reign here upon earth. We know what this word speaks to us because Peter tells us that if we are obedient to this word then there will be a sincere love between us as brothers and sisters in Christ, a love that seeks the best for others above what is best for oneself without worrying about how much is too much. The word used for “obedience” here means to give authority to this word which is heard. Another way to look at this then is to say that we heed this word of God because we treasure what God has spoken to us. This is the very same sentiment that we find in the one hundred and nineteenth Psalm where the Psalmist tells us that “he has treasured God’s word in his heart so that he might not sin against God.” The reason why we treasure the word of God which speaks forth of the love of heaven is that God first treasured us. This is what Peter spoke about before he speaks of obeying the word of God, that God has, through the precious blood of Christ, set us free from our slavery of sin. When we were held captive, in possession of the power of sin, God paid the ultimate price so that we might be his possession, his treasure. So, as God treasured us in so great a measure that he sent his Son from his heart to come to earth to set us free so now we, in response to such an act of love, are to treasure the word of God in our hearts.

This word that God speaks is that we are to love as he first loved us. As Jesus has done everything necessary so that we might share in the love relationship he has always had with his Father, now we can know and love God as our Father and love each other as brothers and sisters. As God sought our welfare above the welfare of his own Son so we too love others seeking first their welfare over our own. We can love with such abandon knowing that the God who loves us is also the God who is also faithful, the one who guards our imperishable inheritance that awaits us beyond this life.  This is what the new birth is all about, living our life now in the certainty of our tomorrow. Even if we love to the point of death we know that God is faithful and he will not let his servants see corruption. As we know that the word of God abides forever so we know that the God who speaks with us will abide with us forever and we will abide with him. This is our living hope.

So, the word of the kingdom, in a nutshell, is love. Love is how the kingdom of heaven becomes a reality on earth and this just makes sense because if God is love and God dwells in heaven then his kingdom simply must be all about love. This Peter rightly understood I believe, and he also understood the meaning of the parable of the sower that he remembered Jesus had explained to him. We know this because after he speaks of the word of God being like an imperishable seed he goes on to speak of how we who are born again through this seed, we are to crave the right understanding of God’s word just as a newborn baby craves milk. The word translated often as being spiritual is better understood as being the reasoning of the word. In other words, we as those who are born again, living in the kingdom now that will come in full in the future, we are to long for and desire more than anything else the logic of love. It goes without saying that to love to the extremes required by God seems to be just the opposite of logical. Paul writes in the first chapter of First Corinthians that the cross was a stone that tripped up the Jews and utter foolishness to the Greeks. As we learn in the sixteenth chapter of Matthew, Peter himself, at one time, also did not understand the logic of love. We read how “when Jesus told him that he was going to Jerusalem to carry his cross, Peter got in the face of Jesus and  told him that there was no way that this was going to happen. Jesus responded to this outburst of Peter by telling him to, “ Get behind me Satan! You are a hindrance to me!” You see, at this point in his walk with Jesus, Peter simply did not understand the logic of love. I mean, who would bring about a kingdom without wars and division and fighting? Yet, this is exactly what God has done through his love for us and Peter tells us as people who are born again that we need to grasp just how this word of love does its work so that we remain pure. The word that we read here at the beginning of this second chapter of Peter’s letter as being pure is a word which means “without bait” which I believe is very appropriate. You see, when we understand the way that God’s love works in bringing his kingdom to fruition then we will be people who don’t take the bait, finding ourselves ensnared by the evil one. When we see just what Peter is trying to tell us here it isn’t hard to hear some very similar words that Paul speaks found in the fourth chapter of the book of Ephesians where we read, “Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on those things which provoke you to anger; give no room for the devil to be in your life.” Yes, we can be angry but what we cannot do is to let those things which irritate us, those things which set us off, to fester and in doing so invite Satan himself to take up residence in our life. No, we have to crave a life free from taking the bait, a life that doesn’t focus on the things that irritate us but instead focuses on the one who loves us and gave his life for us. You see, we don’t want the bait anymore because now we have found that which used to tempt us as no longer very appetizing; now we have tasted the Lord and he is what is good to us. Peter here is quoting from the thirty-fourth Psalm. The writer of this Psalm experienced the goodness of God when in his poverty, he cried out to God and the Lord heard him and saved him out of his troubles. You see, as we grow in our salvation, as the reality of our salvation increases in us, that in our poverty, our weakness of our flesh, when we cried out to God, the Lord heard our words and he saved us out of his great mercy and love for us, this is when we know our God is good. When we taste the sweetness of our freedom, this is when we know the great goodness of our God, this is the goodness that we now crave.

When we understand that it is the goodness of God which now is what we seek it isn’t hard to understand that we are to take off all evil speech like an old, filthy coat. Peter writes that we are to be done with all outward expressions of evil; we are to be finished with defrauding others and deceit; we are to no longer be seeking the ill-will of another person, or to be upset at another person’s good fortune or to find pleasure in another’s pain; we are to put behind us all evil speaking, backbiting, mocking others, reviling others, or seeking to ruin the reputation of another person. Peter here seems to be taking us over to the sink and giving our mouths a good scrubbing with some soap. To understand the logic of love we have to know just why all these wrong and evil ways that we speak to one another need to be left behind us as we grow up in our salvation. The answer that Peter gives us is that what the word of God is doing is building a spiritual house. Jesus, is the first living stone, the precious, chosen, cornerstone of God, the one who is our foundation that sets the course for all those who are built upon him. If God’s word is building up this new spiritual dwelling place, his great and glorious Temple, then if we were to come along and speak malice, deceit, hypocritical words, and if we were envious of others, casually slandering others then we would be tearing apart what God is putting together. Where the word of God, his imperishable seed is sowing unity, our words would be sowing discord. You see, to believe in Jesus Christ is to have faith that his word of love, this is the foundation for our lives, the very rock on which our life is built. When we don’t see this, when we look to some other means to live our life we will stumble over this cornerstone called Christ. When we seek to tear down others through our words, then instead of finding a foundation for our life we will find a rock which makes us fall. This is why Peter once again insists that we must be thoroughly persuaded that God’s word of love is the way of Christ, the rock upon which to build our lives. When we understand that it is on Christ that we build our lives we then become people who turn and build up one another, never tearing them down through the words we speak.

As Peter writes about how Christ is our foundation, the very bedrock of the house that God is speaking into existence, he motivates us to be God’s living stones by reminding us just who we now are. Peter harkens back to the exodus story, when God rescued the people of Israel from slavery down in Egypt. When these people arrived at Mt. Sinai to enter into a covenant relationship with the God who  had saved them, God first spoke to his people declaring to them their true identity. In the 19th chapter of Exodus we read how God told Moses to tell the people that if now they obeyed his voice and kept his covenant they would be his treasured possession among all peoples for all the earth is God’s; and they would be to him a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. You see, what God was doing with his people is that now that they had been sent free from slavery they were no longer to think of themselves as being slaves. No longer were they to cower in fear never certain of their fate or their future; no, they were now a treasured possession of God. No longer was their worth to be determined by how hard they could work, or how what it is is that they could do; no, their worth was determined by the God who had rescued them. No longer were they to work for the glory of their masters but instead they would be holy as God is holy, serving him by being his priests who bore his name out into the world. As God has once declared this identity upon the people of Israel, now, Peter states, God is declaring this same identity on all of those that God called out of the darkness of the slavery of sin into the awesome, marvelous, amazing light of the love of God through his word. No more, Peter tells us, are we to think of ourselves as being a bunch of nobodies because we now know ourselves as being somebody to God because of his steadfast love and mercy. Now we can know that God has chosen us, elected us to be his people. Now, we can know ourselves as priests to God, servants set aside for the holy work of bearing the name, the very reputation of God to the world. Now, we are part of a new nation, the holy nation of God, the people who know themselves as the most treasured possession of God. Our worth has been forever determined by our Heavenly Father giving his Son in exchange for us so that we might at last be free therefore we must live as those who are free no longer bound by the power of sin. Now, the Holy Spirit dwells within us as we are now the new Temple of God where the presence of God can be known. Once we are aware of our new identity then once again come new words for us to speak for now, Peter tells us, we are to proclaim and declare how excellent and wonderful is the our Savior, Jesus, whose word has called us into his light. Our desire should now be as the song, “I Speak Jesus” sings to us so wonderfully, “I just want to speak the name of Jesus, over every heart and mind. Cause I know there is peace in your presence! I speak Jesus. I just want to speak the name of Jesus, till every dark addiction starts to break. Declaring hope and freedom! I speak Jesus. I just want to speak the name of Jesus, over fear and anxiety. To every soul held captive by depression, I speak Jesus!

You see, when we live out in the world we need to speak Jesus, living a life which resounds of his goodness because as Peter tells us it is the goodness that we speak and do which will bring those who speak evil of us to come to glorify Jesus when he returns. You see our words matter. By doing good and speaking Jesus we take the words right out of the mouths who do not yet understand the logic of the love of God. We must not forget that words are like seeds. So, just what is it that you are sowing, discord or unity in love? May we keep on speaking Jesus to his honor and glory! Amen!

Bearing Fruit Begins with Roots

 June 19 2022

1 Peter 1:1-21

When I take my dog for walks in the woods beside our house I notice that the blackberry bushes are already loaded with tiny unripe fruit. For me, seeing that picking blackberries is just around the corner, I can’t help but think about when I was a kid and my Dad would load our family up to go black berry picking. To a young kid, such an adventure was always approached with a sense of dread. I mean, there you are, on a hot and humid evening, sweating profusely, the mosquitoes swarming all over you and you are told to go in the middle of a large briar patch full of thorns that scratch at you every time you turn around. You have been given a cleaned out plastic gallon milk jug which the top has been cut off with a piece of twine strung through the handle so that it can be tied around your waist. What was implied was that we could all go home when the jug was full of berries; ugh! I mean, to a young kid trying to fill that jug in the midst of the sweltering heat and the scratchy thorns seemed to take forever. You would pick and pick and look down at the bucket to find that you had barely enough berries to cover the bottom of the jug. Yet you knew that you had to keep on picking because you didn’t want to hear the call to go home and find that everyone else had jugs brimming to the top with nice luscious berries and you barely had your jug half full. No matter how miserable you were what could only make matters worse is the long drive home knowing that you had not pulled your weight!

What also brought this experience to mind this week was something that is written in this first letter that Peter wrote. There at the end of the first chapter of his letter, Peter tells us that we, meaning those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ, have been ransomed from the empty way of life of our forefathers. The word translated here as “empty” is also translated as being futile as it was written in our scripture for today. This word actually comes from the experience one had when they went out with a basket to pick some fruit but they ended up going home empty. I believe that this conveys more of what Peter is attempting to say to us here. You see, the forefathers Peter is referring to is the nation of Israel of which Peter was a member of. They prided themselves on being known as the people of God. The one true living God is the one who had rescued them out of slavery  and had led them to Mt. Sinai where Moses received the law from God. God through Moses led the people through the wilderness all the way to the land which God had promised to Abraham, their descendant. Yet in spite of all that God had done on their behalf, there before the people of Israel entered the Promised Land, God still warned his people that they eventually would end up in exile, thrown out of this paradise God had provided for them. They would end up being under the rule of other nations because their hearts would go after the idols of those nations. In the end, God tells his people, as recorded at the end of the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy, that among the nations they would find no respite, no resting place for the sole of their foot , but instead the Lord would give them a trembling heart, failing eyes and a languishing soul. Your life, God continues, will hang in doubt before you. To understand what Peter means when he says that his forefathers came up empty, that what God had started with them had ended up being an exercise in futility, this is what he is referring to.

Now, the point of beginning here in order to grasp what Peter is writing about is so that we understand that this empty life, this is what Jesus has ransomed us from with his blood. We as the people that God has created, we were not brought to life just so that after all is said and done that we end up being people who come up empty handed. We were never meant to be people who are unsettled, unsatisfied, anxious people whose hearts tremble, people whose lives are uninspired. We were never meant to be people whose lives are plagued by doubt and uncertainty. You see, once we figure out that this is what Peter is speaking to us about then we realize that even though this letter is centuries old it still has something to say to us today.

This idea that Peter holds out the good news that instead of coming up empty we can be fruit bearing people, is also, I believe the hidden message that simmers underneath this first chapter. In the sixth verse of this first chapter, Peter writes, that in the salvation provided for us through the mercy of Jesus, this is the source of his audiences joy. Now, to use the word “joy” here for the Greek word that Peter uses is a real understatement. The word used here is not the usual word that we translate as being joy but rather it is a word which means much jumping and leaping. In other words, when these people were born from above, given a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus, knowing that they had an inheritance that was waiting for them, they couldn’t help but leaping and shouting praises to God for such wondrous grace. Sometimes, I wonder if we are a little too reserved in our response to Jesus.

While Peter loves to hear of their jumping and shouting on account of the Lord, what concerns him is just what will these exuberant believers do when they experience sorrow and suffering on account of their faith. They are going to have to go from the most wondrous mountain top experience to the very pits of hurt and pain and Peter is rightly concerned. When we hear of this situation where those who rejoice at the good news of Jesus but are nonetheless called on to suffer for their faith, I believe that this should bring to mind a parable that Jesus had taught not only to Peter but the rest of the disciples as well. This parable is the parable of the sower and we find it in the thirteenth chapter of Matthew. This parable is a story that Jesus told that spoke to just why the good news doesn’t always seem to have the same result on those who hear it.  On the face of it, the story Jesus told is just about a farmer who went out to sow some seed, and some fell along the path and the birds came and ate the seed. Some of the seed fell on rocky ground and immediately the seeds sprang up since there was not much soil but when the sun beat down on the seedlings they were scorched. Other seeds fell among the thorns and the thorns choked out the seed. Yet, all was not lost because some seed did fall on good soil and produced grain. Now, the scenario that concerns us at the moment is the one where the seed fell upon the rocky ground. Jesus explains that this is an image of the person who hears the word and immediately receives that word with joy. Does this sound familiar? Well, Jesus continues, this person has no root in themselves, so they do endure for a while but when tribulation and persecution arises on account of the word, these people immediately get tripped up. Are you beginning to understand the concern of Peter. These people have been ransomed from a life barren of fruit, an empty life yet if their life has no root, no anchor for when the storms come then they also will be people whose lives come up empty.

So, we are left wondering just what is this root, this anchor that is needed in order for these believers and ourselves that can enable us to withstand the heat when it comes? When we think about a root we know that it is a part of the plant which goes out from the plant itself to go to where water and nutrients are and then become a way for those necessary elements of life to be taken up by the plant. If the plant cannot or will not reach out to where the water is then it is going to die. In much the same way, we need to reach out to a source of life beyond ourselves, to anchor our life in the very faithfulness of God. This is the life from above that we are born into, this living hope, that we have been given through the resurrection of Jesus. This hope is a life that is ours in the world to come, the new creation, that the resurrection of Jesus is but the first fruit. This is the inheritance the Peter speaks of that is imperishable, undefined and unfading. Now, what makes our hope certain is this, that all that we are hoping in is being guarded by the power of God, it is his faithfulness that is keeping our salvation ready to be revealed to us on the last day. It is the faithfulness of God which secures what we hope in and out of this hope comes our faith which makes what we hope in a reality for us.

So, everything about our faith depends entirely upon the faithfulness of God. Now, here is where the problem lies; the faithfulness of God is not determined by our circumstances. In our joy, it is easy to know and experience the faithfulness of God. There on the mountain top the distance between heaven and earth is close, we can feel the very presence of God and we serve before the face of God which shines on us. But what do we do when we tumble down the mountain, when we find ourselves in the valley, far from God it would seem, hurting and suffering, on account of the very message which assured us of the faithfulness of God? Here is when we like the Psalmist cry out, “God, why have you forsaken me? We wonder just where is God when we hurt, when life is hard and painful, when opposition is at every turn? We like the people of Israel when faced with seems like the end of the road begin to wonder is God with us or not? This is when we, like a plant in rocky soil, have a hard time getting our roots to reach out to God, our anchor, our sure and steady source of life.

You see, our circumstances are the worst possible way for us to be certain of the faithfulness of God. This is why Peter begins his letter by stating that his audience, those who found themselves as second class citizens in this world, people who were looking forward to going home, these were people who were right where they were supposed to be because of the foreknowledge of God. What Peter is saying here is that God has a plan, he has always had a plan, and the plan is working itself out just as it is supposed to be because God is faithful. As Peter states in the tenth verse of this first chapter, the prophets who had the Spirit of Christ within them prophesied of the grace that is ours today. They sought out and searched diligently, Peter says, to find out just when the moment would be when God’s anointed one would come and suffer and then go onto glory. This prophesy was revealed to them by God, he is the one who spoke to them of his plan and it is this prophesy that was the good news that was preached to those who believed. So, God had a plan, and he revealed this plan to the prophets who spoke of this plan and then just as the plan laid it out, God’s anointed one appeared. His name was Jesus and he did suffer just as the plan said that he would. God is faithful. Jesus not only suffered but he shed his blood for us upon the cross. This is what Peter writes at the beginning of his letter that these refugees, were God’s chosen people according to the foreknowledge, the plan of God, being set apart from the rest of the world by the holy making Spirit and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, which is grace and peace in overflowing measure. This sprinkling of the blood of Christ sounds like a strange way of speaking of the sacrifice of Jesus but what Peter is referring to here is something that happened when the people of Israel ratified the covenant that they made with God at the foot of Mt. Sinai. In the twenty-fourth chapter of Exodus, we read of how Moses offered up burnt offerings to God, then he read the Covenant which the people had made with God. The people responded by saying that “all that the Lord had spoken they would do; we will be obedient.” Then Moses took the blood from the burnt offerings and half of it he poured upon the altar and the other half he sprinkled upon the people telling them, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with these words.” So, the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus is Peter’s way of speaking of the new covenant that God has made with all people.  The pouring out of the blood is the pouring out of the life of God for us; this is how far the faithfulness of God is willing to go on our behalf. Now, because of this new covenant, the very presence of God, his Spirit, is faithfully and forever with us, making us holy, making us obedient. The plan that God has always known, the plan that was revealed to the prophets, the plan which is the good news that we have heard, the plan of God’s anointed Son suffering, bleeding and dying for us to enact a new covenant between us and God, this plan is now a reality in us. This is how we know God is faithful. Beyond our circumstances there is a cross. There on the cross is one who knew the faithfulness of his Father, who knew the power of the Spirit even in his suffering, even in his pain. It is this faithfulness of God, the Father, which would not let his servant see corruption. This is the very hope of the resurrection.

So, yes, as Peter says, we right now do not see Jesus but nonetheless we love him. We do not see Jesus but nonetheless we still place our faith in him because we know that what we have placed our hope in is being guarded by the very faithfulness of God. This is why we rejoice with a joy that is beyond words, a joy full of glory and out of this world because when Jesus returns we will be rewarded for our reliance upon the faithfulness of God. This is our living hope. This hope is the welcome of Jesus when he returns. Peter tells us that this is what we have to focus our minds, our thoughts on. You see, it takes effort to take our minds, all of our thoughts, and to not be caught up in what’s going on in the world but instead to be caught up with what life will be like in the world to come. Peter insists that we are to gird up the loins of our minds. To gird means that those who wore the long robes as they did in Peter’s day, would reach down and take their garment and tuck it in their belt, so that they could go to work. To us a better phrase might be to say that we need to roll up our sleeves and get to work. In any case, the point is that once we are settled in the hope that is ours, the hope which is surely guarded by the faithfulness of God, then we need to get on doing our part of the plan of God. No longer are we to be people who are driven by our desires, living for the moment as if there was nothing more to live for. No, we are to be holy in our conduct because the one who has called us is holy. God’s holiness is what sets him apart, makes him utterly different from us, and this otherness is, of course his steadfast love and faithfulness. So, as God’s faithfulness has made us faithful, anchoring our lives in the hope which awaits us this then sets us free to love others with the steadfast love of God. As people experience the love of God flowing from our lives they too will want to know the source of this love and so they too will come to know the God who is faithful, a God who has a living hope for them as well, which is theirs through the resurrection of Jesus. As they discover a life anchored in the faithfulness of God then they too will be set free to love others with the steadfast love of God. This is what it means to bear fruit, to live a life which has eternal consequences. This fruit bearing life is the life we have been created to live. This is why our Father redeemed us from the slavery of an empty life, not with gold or silver but with the precious blood of Jesus. We are God’s chosen people only because first, before the foundations of the world, Christ was chosen so that through him we might know the faithfulness of God and come to place our faith in God, the God who raised Christ from the dead and glorified him. This was God’s plan, faithfully executed, all so that we might be faithful, so that we might have a living hope. Amen.

Keeping our future in mind

 June 12 2022

Philippians 4:4-9

This past week I have been thinking about Disney World, of all things, because it was seventeen years ago, in 2005, that my in-laws took our family there to celebrate their fiftieth wedding anniversary. They had a motor home to travel in which was fun but since it only slept five people that meant that two people had to sleep in a tent. So, yes, Jennifer and I had a wonderful time spending a week in what could only be called a sweat lodge because as any one who has been to Orlando can attest, June can be a hot and humid time of the year. I mean, after you have stood for close to an hour on hot pavement to hop on a ride that lasts not much more than a few minutes you can understand why Disney world is called the most magical place in the world. Needless to say, I haven’t been back since. But, this week, I did think about one of the attractions that we visited there which was the Carousel of Progress. This was a ride which displayed the progress that technology has made in our lives, starting at the turn of the century and then showing the changes in the twenties and the forties and finally ending in the present day. Back in 2005 they thought we would have virtual reality games and a home where everything would be voice activated; I guess they messed up on that, didn’t they? What I also remembered was the theme song that was continually playing which was “It’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow”. This song helped convey the overall ideal of the Carousel of Progress, that through technology the world is just going to get better and better, each tomorrow will be better than today. I’d say that’s a rather optimistic view, don’t you?

I was thinking about this great big beautiful tomorrow because this is exactly what Paul writes about as he wraps up his letter to the church at Philippi. Now, Paul doesn’t come right out and talk about tomorrow but we know that this is on his mind because he tells his audience to not be anxious. Anxiety, like worry is a condition of the heart which comes about because of the uncertainty of our tomorrows. There is a very important reason why Paul addresses this issue of anxiety here, as he closes his letter, and that is that it is anxiety which is where the life of a Jesus follower begins to unravel. The Greek word Paul uses here for anxiety is a word which means to be divided or to go to pieces, which is exactly what worry and anxiety do to us. It is anxiety and worry about our future that causes us to believe that we need to set aside a portion of what we have today just in case something goes off the rails tomorrow. We can’t help but think of the phrase, “to squirrel something away”, because this is what we really are acting like, busy squirrels who are burying some of the nuts that they find so that someday in the future they might find them and be thankful that they had the foresight to be prepared. Yet, what those squirrels also know is that very often when they go back to find their buried treasure what they find is that those nuts have begun to rot, or some other animal has found them and found them very delicious. In a very same way, when we try and store up treasures for tomorrow, what we find is that it is very difficult to keep our treasure safe so that what happens is that we actually become more anxious because now, instead of worrying about tomorrow we instead are worried about the treasure that we hope will give us some peace about tomorrow. So, our treasures become our focus, so much so, that when faced with the needs of those around us we find that we treasure our treasures above another person who stands in need of what we treasure. Instead of forgiving what others owe us, but can not pay back, we instead seek to wring out of them the very last coin that is ours because the treasure is to be treasured above all else. This is the lie of Satan who seeks to kill, steal and destroy and he does so by causing us to believe that it is alright to not love another when we have the means to do so even though Jesus teaches us that to hate someone else is the same thing as murder. Satan also whispers in our ear that it is okay to withhold from those who need it even though to do so is taking what is rightfully theirs in the eyes of God. So, what happens is that because of our treasuring our treasures we tear apart, we destroy the unity that God is at work to bring in to reality. So, even though we may speak of our love and devotion to God in reality when we mistreat people on account of our obsession with our treasures we actually are going against the God we state that we love. Are you beginning to see why anxiety means to be divided because we end up divided in our loyalty to God and his purposes. Not only that but we also become people who are focused on self-preservation instead of being people who overflow with God’s self-giving love which is the ultimate tragedy because then we no longer bear the image of God out into the world.

So, what’s the big deal about anxiety, well, in a word, everything. This is why Paul is addressing it here before he signs off.  The good news, as Paul tells us is that the Lord is near, he is at hand. Take a look at your hand and know that the God who searches hearts, the one who knows of our concerns before we speak them, our God is this close to you. This is the God with whom we can cry out to with our wishes, with our needs knowing that we can do so because of the good grace of God. It is the faithfulness of God, this is the source of this peace which is from above that Paul writes about, this peace which Paul states will guard our hearts and our minds. Yet, even so Paul understands that it is not enough to tell us that all we need is to don’t worry, be happy because God is faithful.  Sure, God is near to us in the here and now but what about tomorrow? Our minds are seized by all of the things that we might have to face in our future and you know, Paul is aware of this. This is why he insists that we instead focus our minds on a reality that he outlines in a string of words. Now, I do not believe that Paul just strung together some very powerful words randomly. No, I believe that what Paul is describing here is that great, big, beautiful tomorrow that God is bringing about that through the Holy Spirit we can live in here today. Paul could relate to what the writer of Hebrews says in the second chapter of his letter, where he tells us that “…now in putting everything in subjection to Jesus, God, the Father, has left nothing outside of the control of Jesus. At present, though, we do not see everything in subjection to the reign and rule of Jesus. As we look around our world today we can say emphatically, “Amen”, to what the writer of Hebrews is saying. Even so, a great, big, beautiful tomorrow is coming because even though we might not see everything under the rule and reign of Jesus nonetheless, he is in control and the future that he has for us is a certainty. How can we state this with such faith? We can have faith that at the end of all things, there is going to be a wonderful tomorrow because that tomorrow is to be lived in the here and now, right here in the church through the working of the Holy Spirit who brings that future into our present through his presence.

As we ponder on just what that future day will be like when at last Jesus will put everything in subjection to his will, what words pop into your head? How might you describe this ultimate future that God is preparing for us to live in? Just what will it be like when at last heaven and earth are one? Well, we do not have to speculate on the matter because heaven and earth were one in the life of Jesus. This is why I believe Paul begins by telling us to think on that which is true. Now, I don’t believe that Paul is telling us to think on various truths that we might know but rather as we look at the way that this word is defined in the Greek we discover that what the word means is a reality that can not be hidden, something that is undeniable, a fact. This is how the early followers spoke of their experience with Jesus. There, as they walked and talked with Jesus these first disciples began to be aware that here in this very earthly man was the undeniable reality of heaven. Jesus was not some great teacher; no, he is God and not only God the Son but he also is one with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. This is what was revealed upon the cross for there Jesus the Son was offered up as the perfect sacrifice of love to his Heavenly Father through the power of the Holy Spirit. This reality of Jesus was confirmed when three days later when through the power of the Holy Spirit by the will of his Heavenly Father, Jesus arose from the dead. Jesus is this reality of heaven united with earth that cannot be denied. So, if we wonder about the reality of heaven and earth being united at the end of days, we just have to look to Jesus to see that, yes, this is a reality already, a reality that we experience when the Holy Spirit is present with us speaking to us the words of Jesus who does the will of his Heavenly Father. This is the truth we can live in, a truth that is undeniable.

Paul also states that we are to think about that which is honorable. Many translators miss the mark by translating the Greek in this manner. The word used here by Paul means to revere, to be in awe, to behold the majesty of God, to worship him. This fits much better with the understanding that Paul is having us focus our minds on that great, big, beautiful, tomorrow which is on its way. What will we be doing when Jesus returns? The answer is that we will worship the Lamb, the one we are in awe of, the one whose glory will overwhelm us. This is what John saw in his vision of heaven, as found in the fifth chapter of the book of Revelation where he writes that he looked around  and there before the throne were the “living creatures and the elders and the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads, thousands upon thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power, and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” Can you imagine such a glorious day when we will join in the vast assembly before the throne of our king in worship of our him? This is what Paul tells us that should fill our minds with wonder.

Paul also goes on to speak of justice. This is a clue that what Paul is speaking about is that day when heaven is united with earth because it is on that day, as the prophet Amos foretold, justice will roll down like waters and righteousness will be an ever flowing stream. There will be justice because all will have to stand before the righteous judge and those who have refused to offer mercy and grace to the least of these will find themselves unable to enter the new reality that is coming. On that day it will be discovered that when we fed those who were hungry, and clothed those who needed it and cared for the sick and in prison, that we had done so to Jesus. So, yes, there are many who live as if their evil has no consequence but Paul tells us not to focus on the injustices of this world but rather hold fast to the truth that justice is coming and be certain that we who know this live as if this knowledge makes all the difference.

The difference that is to mark are lives is what is often translated as being pure but the word is also variously translated as being holy. This is what Paul spoke about in the third chapter of his letter to the Philippians. There he spoke of the importance of being disciplined by our Heavenly Father so that we might share in his holiness. This holiness of God is his steadfast love and faithfulness. As we wait for the justice of God to be revealed we know that in these times of injustice we may be called on to suffer for the gospel. In these moments we must remember that this is when God is disciplining us, bringing us to maturity so that we might more fully reflect his steadfast love and faithfulness in our witness. This holiness is as the writer of Hebrews also tells us in the twelfth chapter of his letter, what we must be if we are to see the Lord, to be a part of that glorious day of his return.

So, on the day that heaven and earth are at last fully united then Paul tells us the world will be a place of affectionate caring for one another, intimate friendship will abound as we will all live out what it means to be a part of the family of God. Think about what the world will be like when each person is known to be someone worthy of the greatest expression of love?

This understanding that our future is going to be one of great love and affection for every person leads quite naturally to Paul’s next thought which is that we are to have our minds focused on what is commendable. When you dissect the Greek word that is used here, what you find is that it means to bring the good to light. When we find this out then it is not hard for us to hear what Paul wrote in the fifth chapter of Ephesians where he writes that the church of Ephesus was once darkness but now they were light in the Lord. Therefore because they were the light they were to walk as children of the light for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Can we comprehend what our world will be like when what is spoken is only good, only righteous, and only the truth? As hard as it may be for us to wrap our minds around it, this is exactly what Paul tells us we must consider and think about because that day is soon approaching.

Lastly, Paul writes that we are to have our minds set upon what is excellent. This means that we are to think about that which is the highest form of virtue, that which is the most praise worthy of what we can set our mind upon. In other words, just as Paul began his list with Jesus, here is he is ending his list with Jesus. As Paul taught in the third chapter of this letter, we are to pursue the life of Jesus as a hunter goes after their prey. We are to seek after Jesus and his life because he and he alone is worthy of the price of our life. His life is the life of heavenly virtue that we are to make a reality in our life.

Now, as great as our imaginations are, it is still difficult for us to fully able to behold the wonder, the splendor, the richness of that day when heaven and earth are finally united, the new creation at last eclipsing the old. Yet, I believe that Paul also understood this because Paul also understood that the church, in a very limited way, was to be the place where the last day is lived out today. You see, in the midst of the church there is to be the truth the undeniable reality of heaven. Here, in the presence of God’s people is to be known the very presence of God himself, earth and heaven here as one. Here, as the people of God gather together, there is awe and reverence for the Lamb who was slain, he alone is worthy to receive our power and our wealth and our wisdom and our honor and our glory and our blessing not just then but here and now. Here, among us is justice to be found. We do not judge because we know the mercy of our righteous judge and because of his being merciful to us upon the cross we extend mercy, grace and forgiveness to all. Here, among us, the people of God, is a holiness unto the Lord. We are people who are being disciplined by our Heavenly Father so that as his children his holiness might be seen in us, his steadfast love and faithfulness might mark our life. Here is where the world can see people who sincerely care for one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. Here, we who were once darkness, now live as the light bringing everything to light through how we live and speak. Here, we live as people who hold as our one pursuit to be a little more like Jesus today than we were yesterday, to strive to follow his upward call. You see, when Paul says that we are to think on these things what he is really telling us is that we are to live with an awareness of who we are as the church, the place where our great, big, beautiful tomorrow is being lived today. When we focus our minds on who we are as a church this is when we experience the peace that is from above, a peace that our minds cannot fully comprehend. You see, when we experience what will be our inheritance in just a small way in the here and now, we can rest our hearts because we know that the best is yet to come. As we live out this future God has for us in the here and now, this gives us the assurance that if God is bringing about the most wonderful and glorious future in ever greater measure then he most certainly can handle whatever tomorrow can bring. Think on these things! To the glory of God!Amen!

Pressing Matters

 June 5 2022

Philippians 3:10-21

As I have come to the end of the required classes that were necessary for my ordination, I find myself reminiscing about the teachers that I have spent hours with, learning from them not just what was required but so very much more. The teacher I had in my last series of classes, Ryan, was twenty years younger than me and lived in Wisconsin. To say that Zoom, (the video sharing app) is a game changer is an understatement. He is a very scholarly person and has had several of his works published. He was always suggesting this or that book for us to look into which let me know that we both enjoyed a good read. The teacher I had before Ryan, was Walt, who resides in Zanesville. Now, he was also a very learned man but because he was closer in age to myself he seemed to lead with what he had learned through his many years in pastoral ministry. One thing that he repeated often that has stuck with me is that most of the problems in our churches today are the result of a breakdown in discipleship. His theory is that when the church fails to work at discipling those who have placed their faith in Christ then the church will inevitably run into problems.  For some reason, what he said just seems to make so much sense. I guess it is a lot like raising children in that if you don’t take time to discipline your children then, yes, there will be problems down the road. This same analogy is used in the book of Hebrews, the twelfth chapter where the writer of this letter tells his audience that “it is for discipline that they have to endure. God is treating you as his sons and daughters. For what child is there that doesn’t have a Father who disciplines them?” Further, in this section about discipline, the writer goes on to conclude that “God, our Father, disciplines us for our good, that we may share the very holiness of God. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather, than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” So, I guess the point of this is that  our suffering on account of our belief in Jesus is the means that God uses to train us in order that we can take on the very characteristic of God, his holiness. Not only that, we are also told that it produces as the writer states, the “peaceful fruit of righteousness”.  To be righteous means that we are one of God’s people, and so the peace we have is that, in time, as we endure, we come to know that it is with God that we belong, it is his way of life, this being holy, this life, we can say, is our life too. So, I guess it makes sense that if people aren’t being discipled in the church then it just figures that the way of following Jesus becomes hard then people are going to wonder just what went wrong and act out against this difficulty instead of understanding that this is a situation that God is using to bring certainty into their life that they are indeed united with God.

This being united with God, what we know in the Greek as being koininia, this common life that we have with God and each other, this appears again and again in Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi. Paul wrote in the first chapter of this letter, that he thanked God for this little church at Philippi, for their koininia, the partnership, the fellowship, this common life they had with him in the good news of Jesus Christ. Then, in the second chapter, Paul again writes that what is certain to be found in this church at Philippi, is koininia, in the Spirit. This is a life that they were living together, a life bound in unity by the very Spirit of God. And here in the third chapter, in the verses that precede the ones that were read in todays reading, Paul again speaks of koininia, stating that because he now understands that he is one of God’s people because of the faith he has in Christ, Paul now desires to know Jesus, to know the power of the resurrection of Jesus, to know the koininia, the fellowship, the common life of the suffering of Jesus so that he might take on the same form of Jesus in his death. This reference to the form of Jesus is a reminder to what Paul wrote in the second chapter of this letter, where he wrote about Jesus taking on the form of a servant, willing to serve us even unto death. Paul knows that only by his being united with Jesus as a servant, only as he holds to this way of life all the way to the end of life will he at last be able to come face to face with Jesus, who is our resurrection and our life.

So, for Paul, this koininia, is a way of speaking of life, together, with each other and with God. Koininia, is this unity that binds them all together, they are one because of the message of good news of Jesus Christ that they have heard and believed in; they are one in the Spirit of God that Jesus has baptized them with; they are one in serving and suffering, taking on the same form of Jesus, knowing that beyond this momentary affliction they will come face-to-face with Jesus, their resurrection. This at least is what Paul knows about himself and his hope is that those he writes to will also understand that this is where they should be as well. 

As we read this third chapter of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, it is quite apparent that Paul is speaking to the issue of discipleship within the life of the church. In the eleventh verse of this chapter, Paul speaks about being mature, as being people who have reached the goal, who have become people who, as we heard in the book of Hebrews, have become people who have been transformed because they have seized ahold of, and have made the very characteristic of God, his holiness, their very own. This holiness of God, this unchanging nature of God is his steadfast love and faithfulness. This steadfast love and faithfulness, this holiness of God, this is embodied in the life of Jesus. To know Jesus is to know what the very holiness of God is all about. In Jesus, we come face-to-face with the steadfast love of God, and with the faithfulness of God. The faithfulness of God is the very power of the resurrection, that God in his faithfulness would not allow his servant to see the corruption of death. The steadfast love of God formed the life of Jesus so that being a servant is the only life he could come and live among us. Jesus loved us with the very steadfast love, faithful all the way to the cross on which he died. Paul wanted to know Jesus so that he could live a life that showed that he knew Jesus, that showed that the faithfulness of God, and the steadfast love of God were visibly present in his life.

Now, Paul was honest to admit that he had not yet fully obtained such a life. In the Greek, the way Paul speaks of it is that he has not yet actively fully laid ahold of this life of Jesus. This knowing Jesus by living the life of Jesus, this Paul says is the goal which he desired to reach more than anything else, this is why he goes on to say that he pressed on to make such a life his own. A better way of putting what Paul is saying here is to say that he is pursuing the life of Jesus like a hunter going after their prey. This for me is a better way of thinking about what Paul is trying to get across than to just state that we are to make the life of Jesus a pressing matter. No, we are to go after this life of Jesus in the same way that my dog, Mazy, goes after whatever animal is on her radar at the moment.  This means that if what you are hunting is in a hollow log than you contort your body and crawl in there after it. If that possum needs eliminated than you just go down the hole in the ground after them even if it means that you end up underground yourself. If said possum comes across your path late at night then you just stay with them even if it means staying up to 2 in the morning. This, I think, conveys more of the meaning of how Paul believes we should pursue the life of Jesus, with reckless abandon. The reason we should be so driven to take hold of this life of Jesus according to Paul is this: Jesus first pursued us with reckless abandon and has seized ahold of us. Jesus has grabbed ahold of us and has let us know that we are his possession. He has given everything in order that he might call us his very own. This is why Paul goes on to say that he is going to have total amnesia about his past, he no longer is focusing on the woulda, coulda, shoulda’s of life instead Paul is focused on laying hold of Jesus just as Jesus had first laid hold of him. Paul, again, writes, that he is in hot pursuit of the life of Jesus. In very interesting terms, Paul states that this is a life that he can see, using the Greek word from which we get our word for scope. A scope is used to see a distant object and this is what Paul is implying that we need to keep our eyes upon Jesus. Then Paul emphasizes that Jesus is something physical, real, that we can take hold of when he uses the Greek word for prize or trophy. Then Paul leads us to understand that Jesus is the one we can hear, the one whose voice is speaking to us, calling out to us from above. What Paul has written here, is similar to what John wrote at the beginning of his first letter, where he said of Jesus that he “is the one who was from the beginning, the one which we have heard, the one we have seen with our eyes, the one we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life-the life which was made real to us”.  You see, if we are pursuing the life of Jesus, then we just need to keep our eyes on Jesus, we need to reach out and keep in touch with Jesus, we need to attune our ears so that we can hear the voice of Jesus speaking to us above the noise of this world.

Pursuing after Jesus, pressing on to take hold of the life of the one who has already taken hold of us, this is the way Paul says that we become children of God who have been seized by the holiness of God, his steadfast love and faithfulness and have found that this same steadfast love and faithfulness are now living in us. This, Paul teaches us is to be our frame of mind, the way we have now re-oriented the way we think about the world. We are to think differently, Paul tells us, than the rest of the world and the reason why we are to be people who don’t conform to the rest of the world’s mindset is that now our life is to be ordered by what has already been given to us by God. We are left wondering for the moment just what Paul is referring to when he states that we are to be a different kind of people all because now we are ordering our lives around something that God has already given to us. The answer is given to us after Paul first takes us aside and warns us to not live, in his terms, as enemies of the cross. For people who oppose the cross of Jesus, their goal is their very destruction, their focus of their worship is their gut and they find their glory in their shameful behavior. And what is the source of such a life? Where such a downward spiraling life begins is with a frame of mind set on earthly matters. In our everyday language, these are people whose minds really are in the gutter. Now, what must be remembered when we read of these who are living a life as adversary’s of the cross is that these were people that Paul knew personally, people who at one time had been good Jesus loving folk not people who had never known or had never placed their faith in Jesus. This is why we must pause and consider just how people who had once said, yes, to Jesus could now be found be people who are going to be eventually far from him. The answer is found in what Jesus promises us, this hope of heaven. The problem is that what people want is the glory and goodness that awaits us as our reward to be given to them in the here and now. These are people who are unwilling to wait, to endure, but like children who have been brought up without discipline want what they want and they want it now.  The tragedy is that what they desire is what God gives instead of desiring the God who does the giving. When people become fixated on what’s in it for them, what God can give them here and now, their lives become so inward turned that they are indeed, polar opposite of the life which demonstrated self-giving love upon the cross. Such a life will face destruction because it is a life which has never known the faithfulness of God which is the power of the resurrection. Theirs is a life that will miss out on the glory that awaits those who pursued the life of Jesus instead of pursuing now what is promised for us later. What is wanted by those whose minds are set on earthly things is not a life that kneels in the dirt to wash the feet of others, a life whose love is steadfast and faithful to loving others even unto death. These are people who simply can not comprehend that there is no crown apart from the cross. This is why Paul wept for those he knew who would not pursue the life of Jesus and instead pursued the life they expected Jesus to give to them in exchange for their faith.

So, understanding how misguided people can be when Paul speaks about us having a frame of mind situated in heaven, just what does it mean for us to have as he puts it, to understand that our citizenship is in heaven? Paul here is telling us that our life is safe because it is securely held in the faithfulness of God who dwells in heaven. The importance for us to know that our lives our secure in heaven is not so that we can experience the wonder and splendor of heaven in the here and now but rather so that we are at last able to love with the self-giving love of Jesus. Only as we know that it is the faithfulness of God that preserves our life and not anything we might do to try and keep ourselves safe, only then will we be able to take on the form of Jesus, to have his life live in us, to give ourselves to others without reserve. You see, only as we understand that heaven is our hometown, that there is where our heart, indeed our very life is, only then can we really know Jesus, really know his love because we at last can love as he loved. Only as we rely upon the faithfulness of God which is the power of the resurrection can we share in the common life, the koininia of the suffering of Jesus, becoming like him in his death. This is the utter importance of our faith that heaven is ours not so that we can somehow believe that the goodness and glory that wait us can somehow be ours to revel in right now but rather when heaven is ours this is when we can witness to the world that we know Jesus because his life and his love are seen in us.

You see, Paul kind of turns how we normally think about heaven on its head because he tells us to consider that our life is already at home in heaven, right now. We are already home, Paul insists, so go and live like it. This is what he means when he tells us to order our lives according to what we have already been given. So, if we know that our future is already set then doesn’t it make sense that this understanding is going to change the way we live in the present? The faithfulness of God who anchors our life will cause that same faithfulness to be in us. Our suffering on account of Jesus then will witness to the world that we do think differently than the world. Life is not just about self-protection and self-glorification but it is rather about pursuing the life of Jesus, a life of steadfast self-giving love and faithfulness even unto death. When we take on the form of Jesus, the form of a servant, when his love has become our life then one day we shall be face-to face with Jesus, who is our resurrection because he is our very life. This is when we are told that our lowly bodies will then take the form of the glorious body of Jesus. It is the power of the resurrection, the utter faithfulness of God which assures us that this will be our reality and not only that but through that same power, through the faithfulness of God, one day all things will come under the rule and reign of God. This is what we hope for; this is what we wait for, knowing that right now this life is not yet ours. Instead we have more pressing matters, we must be on the hunt, actively pursuing the life of Jesus. Are your eyes focused on him? Can you feel the prize that will be yours? Are you listening for the upward call of Jesus who is ever leading us ever homeward? Then by all means, press on!Amen.

Working Out Our Salvation

 May 29 2022

Philippians 2:1-18

Well, here we are at the end of May celebrating yet another Memorial Day. This is when we, as a country, take time to honor those who have given their lives in the service of our nation. Memorial Day began in 1868 to remember those who had fought and died in the Civil War and has been observed ever since. The sacrifices of those who died are tragic and important yet what becomes so apparent is that while the victories of the wars that were fought can be celebrated, the root cause of those wars still remains very much alive. We can’t help but think of the Civil War which was fought to abolish slavery but the root cause that necessitated this war, that some do not feel that all people are created equal still rears its ugly head as we just recently witnessed in Buffalo, New York. The two world wars were fought because of the disrespect of international boundaries of nations and still today we are witnessing this again with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. So, yes we do honor those who gave their lives but we must also remember that wars such as the ones that have been fought are never the final answer as to establishing an honest peace because peace will never prevail until the war within each individuals heart has at last been settled. In that war, the war that rages within all of us, there is only two deaths which matter, the death of Christ and the death of ourselves so that the risen Christ might live in us. Only as Christ lives, by faith in us, can we experience something far greater to live for and if need be, die for, than any earthly cause which is the glory that is to come. While this is Paul’s concern as we come to the second chapter of his letter to the Philippians we might be a little surprised that he also speaks about having to work out our faith, which seems to be holding two opposite ideas together because we often hear that either one is saved by faith or they believe that they can be saved by their works. So, we are left wondering just how is it that Paul can speak of working out our faith.

We begin our search into just what Paul is getting at right at the beginning of the second chapter of Philippians where we find that we must first deal with the very first word of this chapter which is often translated, “so”, but is, perhaps, better translated, “therefore”. I prefer “therefore”, because when I read this word it begs the question just what is the, “therefore”, there for? We have to know what Paul is referring to in order to make sense of what he is about to write in the rest of the second chapter of Philippians. So, when we look back at the first chapter of Philippians we find that what Paul is concerned about is that the members of this little church are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, not being frightened by their opponents. This, Paul writes, is a clear sign of their salvation. Now, when we think of salvation we may think of it being just a simple prayer we once made where we accepted Jesus into our hearts, but for Paul, salvation is being able to remain faithful and loyal to Jesus, even if doing so requires suffering. In fact, at the end of this first chapter, Paul goes on to say that the members of this church had not only been granted or given faith to believe in Jesus for the sake of Christ but they also had been granted or given to suffer for his sake as well. How often would any of us consider that our suffering for Jesus is a gift that has been given to us by him? As strange as this might sound to our ears, this is exactly what Paul is insinuating here. You see, one of the most difficult aspects of Paul’s letter to the Philippians is that for them suffering was not only expected but it was also understood as a badge of honor that they would be called on to do so. For us, living in the land of the free, we seem to be exempt from suffering at all for the cause of Christ so much so that I suppose that if we were called to suffer for Christ we would most likely be shocked. For Paul though, suffering for Christ was extremely important because his suffering was a message to a watching world that his relationship with Christ was worth the loss of everything, all worldly comforts, all rights and privileges, even the loss of his very life; this is how much Paul treasured Jesus the Savior who treasured him. Yet, even so, what Paul was concerned about was that the members of this little church at Philippi would be able to hold on to their faith clear to the end, and so be assured of their salvation. This is what Paul is going to address here in the second chapter of his letter to them.

Paul, knowing that as believers in Christ they must stand firm together, begins by stating those things that these Christ followers knew to be certain of no matter what. They knew that Christ was their parakletes, their Advocate, the one who walked along side of them through the Holy Spirit, and spoke on their behalf. Paul knew that Satan is the accuser, the one who speaks lies and deceit into the ears of the believers causing them to question their belief in Jesus. Yet, Paul also knew that Christ was right there with them speaking against the lies of Satan, speaking the truth, countering the false claims that threatened them; this was a rock solid certainty that they could count on.

Paul also knew that they could be certain of the love that bound them together as a church, a love that had a heavenly quality, a love which sought the good for others over the good for oneself, the love which was displayed upon the cross. Out of this love, each member could be counted on to walk alongside each other, speaking words of encouragement and comfort. This is what the writer of Hebrews also wrote of to his church when he told them in the third chapter of his letter that they were to encourage one another every day so that none of them might be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

So, as we begin to see the image that Paul is describing for us, that as they went about their life together, there was Jesus walking and speaking to them and their they were, each believer listening and speaking encouraging words to each other as well, that it is not a stretch to follow that Paul next speaks of the certainty of their one life together in the Spirit. Here again, just like he did in the first chapter, Paul uses the word, koininia, which is often translated fellowship but perhaps is better understood as the common life that is shared by all of the believers, a common life that is a life that is drawn into the life of love held by the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit. This is the very certain experience of eternal life that is shared together today by believers in Christ.

Out of this experience of union with the Father and the Son through the Spirit then it is not difficult to understand that Paul also writes that the believers can also be certain of an affection for one another that is deep and abiding, a compassion that not only rejoices with those who rejoice but also weeps with those who weep. The words Paul uses here are words that describe great passion, feelings which arise from the gut-level. This is what Paul insists that these believers he writes to can be certain of, that those around them would not just deal with them on a superficial level but instead they would feel for each other in a powerful and meaningful manner.

This life that Paul has described here, one where Jesus and the members of this church walk alongside each other, sharing a common life with one another in deep affection and compassion for each other, this is the result of Paul planting the word of the gospel within their hearts. Now, Paul exclaims, he wants to see this gospel word grow and bear fruit so that he might be full of joy from the resulting harvest. This harvest in a word was unity. They were to be people who thought with one mind, people who loved with one love, the very love of God, people who had one soul, one life together, people who had one frame of mind, or understanding about life. This frame of mind that they had among themselves was to be one of great humility. This frame of mind is important to hang on to because this is the basis of how this little hometown of heaven will maintain some semblance of order. As in any society, there has to be an order to how things get done and Paul uses a word here in the third verse of the second chapter which refers to leadership or governance.  So, what Paul is implying is that the way that one leads in this heavenly city is that they do so by putting another’s needs ahead of their own, to consider that those one encounters are of more importance than they are. Now, this teaching of Paul sounds very counter-intuitive to us I suppose, but what Paul is saying here is exactly the teaching of Jesus who in the ninth chapter of Mark tells his disciples, “If anyone would be first, if anyone wants to lead, they must be last of all and the servant of all.” Jesus, of course, would teach this because this is the very essence of the love of God, this agape love which seeks to care for another no matter what the cost. Yet, if they were to have this mindset among them they had to make sure that they did nothing for one’s personal gain or for one’s personal honor. To do so would be to tear apart the unity that Christ through the Holy Spirit was bringing to fruition among them. Paul states, that it is Christ, this is who the church is supposed to look to to figure out just what their frame of mind is supposed to be when we interact with each other.

For the people that Paul writes to, the church at Philippi and us as well, to grasp the very frame of mind of Christ, Paul sets forth what is most likely a poem or a song of the early church. There is much evidence that this poem is an adaptation of the song of the Suffering Servant found in the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah. Just as Paul writes about the form of Jesus, that at one time he has the very form of God,  Isaiah also spoke of the Servant but he states that the he was one who had no form, no beauty, there was nothing noble about him. This contrast of having once had the form of God to having no form, no beauty or nobility about him, happened because of the work that Jesus, the Servant, felt compelled to accomplish. This work began when, as Paul writes, Jesus did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. There are many ways that this has been interpreted over the years however the best that I have come across is that Jesus did not want to claim this life of unity with his Heavenly Father for his very own, to seize a hold of this life so that it would be his alone. No, Jesus desired that we might experience this life, the life that he had experienced in heaven for all eternity, here on earth. The way that he accomplished this is to give himself over completely to our need, the need we have for someone to come and take upon themselves our sickness and our sin as is written of in Isaiah because this is a burden all of us are unable to bear. Jesus came to give us not what we deserve but instead he came to give us what we desired, which is mercy, grace and forgiveness. This is exactly what Jesus did. Jesus came as a servant being born in the likeness of men. When Jesus came in our likeness, this is when the truth of Isaiah becomes apparent for when Jesus put on our human flesh this then is when Jesus had no beauty or nobility that set him apart. He did not come to be set apart from us but rather he came to be united with us, to be one with our dishonor, our suffering and our affliction. Jesus came as a servant and he did so that we might be free. Now, that seems like an odd understanding doesn’t it, but in the days in which Paul wrote his letter the people of his day would have understood this statement. You see, people acquired slaves to do the menial chores that took up their time so that they might be free to pursue leisure activities. In like fashion, Jesus, as our servant, took upon himself, our sickness and our sin and carried them all the way to death forever, setting us free from us having to forever bear them within us. As Paul writes in the fifth chapter of Romans, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. So, yes, we have been set free from our sins so that we might at last be able to rule but then we must ask just how is it that we are to rule? The answer is that we rule, we lead, by being a servant. Jesus, who came as a servant on our behalf, lifted from us our burden of sin so that we are freed at last, no longer having to be focused on bearing that which weighted us down. Now, because of Jesus, our hands no longer carry the heavy load of our sin so that now we are at last freed up to be able to bear the burdens of others. As we take the lead and serve others bearing up their burdens then they are set free to go and bear someone else’s burdens. In this way the very life of heaven comes upon the earth when we in our freedom follow Jesus and give to people not what they deserve but rather when we give others what they desire, mercy, grace and forgiveness.This is the way of God, this is the life found in the life of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the life that Jesus could not keep to himself. No, he came as one of us so that we might be like him, freed at last to serve and so set others free to serve. This is why Paul writes that God the Father has highly exalted Jesus and bestowed upon Jesus the name that is above every other name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth. Here, Paul quotes from another passage from Isaiah, this time from the forty-fifth chapter where Isaiah writes, “Turn to me and be saved all the ends of the earth! For I am God and there is no other. By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness, a word that shall not return: To me every knee shall bow and every tongue shall swear allegiance.” So, what Paul is getting at is that our allegiance to Christ, our allegiance to his way of life, this is our salvation. When we bow our knees in service to others, this is when we bow our knees before Jesus our king who rules by serving even unto death. When our life reflects the life of Christ doing to others as Christ has done so to us, this is when the name, the fundamental character of Christ, that of being a servant is exalted and glorified.

It is only when we understand that Jesus has come from heaven as a servant so that we might be set free to be servants, that this is the eternal life of heaven, only when we understand this can we at last figure out just what he means that we are to continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Our salvation all depends on our being able to hold fast to our faith all the way of our life here on earth even if this means suffering on account of the gospel. The question Paul is attempting to answer is just how we can continue to strengthen our faith  even in the midst of adversity? The answer he gives is that we are to follow the lead of Jesus and live the life of a humble servant of others, bearing their burdens, forgetting about ourselves. You see, for Paul, faith means having a deep love for the servant life that Jesus has set us free to live. Faith is being so caught up in serving others, so focused upon giving to others the mercy, grace and forgiveness that they desire that any other way of life becomes unimaginable. Faith then is when we might say, that this life of Jesus has come to possess us deep within ourselves. What we find is that the more that we do the work of serving others, the more joy we receive as we, good and faithful servants, enter and live in the joy of our master. This is a foretaste of our eternal glory which tempers our momentary afflictions. When we come before the presence of our master with awe and trembling we do so because his love overwhelms us. This love is the presence of the Holy Spirit, the God who pours out upon us the very love of heaven which motivates us to do the will of our Heavenly Father here on earth as it is in heaven, doing the work of a servant to all that we meet because this is what our faith in Christ is all about. When we do the good works which bring glory to our Heavenly Father, this is when we are the light of the world, this is when we, as Paul exclaims that we shine like stars in a dark world. So, are you ready to shine? Do you, like Jesus, desire to show the world the life of service that sets people free? Are you ready to follow Jesus and enter into the joy of your master and hear him say to you, well done, good and faithful servant? Amen!