Philippians 2:1-2
If
I had to pick one word to describe the state of our world today, it would be
division. I know that this is an election year, and that goes with the
territory, with each side seeking to show how they are the better choice, but
the divisions that I see go way beyond politics. Coke or Pepsi, omnivore or
vegetarian, big car or small car, football or soccer, Apple or IBM??. Growing
up in Chicago, we had two baseball teams, now there is only one and a half, but
because I lived on the south side and liked the White Sox, I couldn’t say
anything nice about the Cubs. (This has come in handy since moving to St.
Louis.) It extends to many areas of life. It seems as if people make up their
minds about what is right and if someone disagree’s, that is grounds for
rejecting them.
Dr.
Eugene Brice tells a delightful but disturbing story about a minister who returned
to visit a church he had once served. He ran into Bill, who had been an elder
and leader in the church, but who wasn't around anymore. The pastor asked,
"Bill, what happened? You used to be there every time the doors
opened." "Well, Pastor," said Bill, "a difference of
opinion arose in the church. Some of us couldn't accept the final decision and
we established a church of our own." "Is that where you worship
now?" asked the pastor. "No," answered Bill, "we found that
there, too, the people were not faithful and a small group of us began meeting
in a rented hall at night." "Has that proven satisfactory?"
asked the minister. "No, I can't say that it has," Bill responded.
"Satan was active even in that fellowship, so my wife and I withdrew and
began to worship on Sunday at home by ourselves." "Then at last you
have found inner peace?" asked the pastor. "No, I'm afraid we haven't," said Bill. "Even my wife began to
develop ideas I was not comfortable with, so now she worships in the northeast
corner of the living room, and I am in the southwest." (King Duncan,
quoting Eugene Brice, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com)
This
is much of what Paul is addressing in his letter to the Philippians. This
church had a very special place in Paul’s heart. If you will remember, Paul
came to Philippi on his second missionary journey. His first converts to
Christianity were from the household of a woman named Lydia, who was part of
the upperclass. She was a wealthy merchant. While he was in Philippi he became
the target of a false accusation and he and his traveling partner, Silas, were
beaten and put in stocks in the jail. As they sang and prayed, out loud, in the
jail that night, an earthquake hit , throwing the doors to the jail open and
causing the stocks where Paul and Silas had been locked to come open, giving
them the chance to escape. Not only do they not escape, but they convinced all
of the other prisoners to stay put as well. The jailer, who was most likely a
member of the Roman military, would have been required to forfeit his life for
failure to keep his prisoners locked up, came ready to kill himself, but Paul
stopped him, by informing him that all of the prisoners were still in there.
Paul, never missing an opportunity to tell someone about Jesus, invited him to
become a Christian. Acts 16 tells us that he believed and he and his whole
family were baptized that night.
So,
the church at Philippi had both believing Jews and gentiles, citizens of the
town and members of the invading army, rich and poor, people with authority,
and probably slaves, all worshiping Christ together and united in their love
for Him. They were, at least in the beginning, a wonderful picture of what
Jesus wants the church to be. And Paul loved them deeply and they loved him. So
much so, that they had sent two of their own people to go to Paul, who at the
time of the letter, was being held under house arrest in Rome, to care for him.
As
is the case in all places that human beings gather, conflicts arose. Of course
when you look at the wide diversity of people and stations in life brought
together in this church, it is amazing that there was not a great deal more.
This conflict revolved around two people, Euodia and Syntyche, who were at odds
with each other and wanting the rest of the church to choose sides. Paul sets
out to remind, not only the two women, but the whole church why they need to
set aside those differences by looking at what should unite them.
Paul
does this by first reminding them of what they have received through their
relationship with Christ. There are four things that he highlights. First, he
says I want you to think about the encouragement that you have received through
your relationship with Christ. Through your relationship with Him, you have
ultimate peace, knowing that He has removed everything that could possibly keep
us away from God. The penalty for our sin has been paid. As we accept that
forgiveness, we can let the guilt go and not feel like we have to come
groveling to God. We can now walk boldly into God’s presence. That means that
no matter what I face in this life I do not need to fear anything because, as
my favorite bumper sticker says, “I’ve seen the future. God wins.” and if God
wins, I have nothing to fear. Now that is encouragement, all because of Christ.
Second,
he tells them to remember the motive behind what Christ did. It was because of
love for them. Eric was had been a member of the youth group I led during my
years in Seminary. Now he was in his freshman year at Colorado University. He
called me and asked if we could meet. We sat down in a Mc Donald’s on a snowy
November afternoon and he proceeded to tell me he was afraid I was going to
hell. He had been roped in by a group that had convinced him that when it came
to Jesus and the forgiveness he offered, that every one else had gotten it
wrong. The only way to receive that forgiveness and get into heaven was if he
were to be baptized by one of their pastors into their church. Anyone who was
not, was going to hell. I looked at him and quoted John 3:16 to him and then
asked why did Jesus say he had come to Earth? He answered because God so loved
the world. So why then I asked would God reject people because of a
technicality, that they were not baptized by the right person? You see, God is
not limited by our rules around love. God is love and God loves us. There is
nothing we can do to make Him stop loving us. Isn’t that great. We know that
because of our relationship with Christ.
Third,
Paul tells them to remember that because of their relationship with Christ,
they have Fellowship with the Spirit. If you remember, on the night that He was
betrayed, after the supper was done, Jesus opened his heart to his disciples.
One of the things that he told them was that he would not leave them alone.
After he returned to heaven, he would send them the Holy Spirit to walk with
them and guide them through the this life. It is this same Spirit that connects
us with other Christians. You have heard me talk about the mission trips to
Mexico that I had the privilege of leading. I still remember the first trip as
if it were yesterday. I was in this strange land with hardly any workable
Spanish available to me, the work was hard, the days were hot, I wasn’t a big
fan of Mexican food, yet on that trip I met a group of Christians in a
Presbyterian church in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, that I feel a connection to,
to this day. Dr. Jorge Pasos, Marta, Jenny, Evon, Jorge Jr., and that wonderful
congregation that we worshiped with and sang with and prayed with and ate with,
we had very little in common, except our connection through Jesus. That is the
Fellowship that the Spirit gives us. It is that same Spirit that connects us.
That
leads to the fourth thing that Paul invites them to remember, the affection and
compassion that comes as a result of what Christ has done for us. Truly
understanding all that Christ has done for us makes us more willing to show
that same affection and compassion for others. What is it we just prayed, “Forgive
us our debts, our sins, as we forgive our debtors, those that sin against us.”
It is so much easier to ask for forgiveness from God than to offer it to
another human being, but if we understand the price that was paid for our sin,
how can we not feel affection and compassion on those that need Christ’s
forgiveness and ours as well.
Here
we see how brilliant Paul is in approaching the divisions that were hurting
their church. You see, as I recognize all that I receive in my relationship
with Christ, I am forced to acknowledge that if all of this is true for me, it
is true for that person in the church that I disagree with as well. They have
the same encouragement in Christ, consolation of love, fellowship of the
Spirit, and the same affection and compassion available to them that I have in
my relationship with God. That even though we disagree with each other on some
issues, there is so many more ways and more important ways that we are united.
So,
when we find ourselves at odds with a brother or sister in Christ, the first
thing we need to do is remember all that we have because of Christ Jesus. But
how then do we get past these divisions? We will look at that next week.
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