Lessons: PSALM 145:1-8 PHILIPPIANS 1:27-30

Transcription

1 1 Living a life, worthily. A sermon preached as part of series on Philippians, February 3, 2019, at St. Giles Presbyterian Church, Prince George, BC by Rev. Herb Hilder. Lessons: PSALM 145:1-8 PHILIPPIANS 1:27-30 One of what must be an unenviable responsibility in any denomination is to sit on a hymn book committee and decide which hymns to add, which hymns stay and which to cut. As well to decide which hymns need to be altered to make them more politically correct! What I know as the new hymn book (1996) the one currently in your chair backs and power pointed week by week has many good additions And mercifully many cuts from its predecessor (1971) We could at another time debate this, but there are a few hymns which I wish had not been dropped from the 1971 book. One of these hymns is the strong and no nonsense, aye ready aye hymn by George Duffield Stand Up stand up for Jesus It is a hymn I always enjoyed singing It s a hymn made especially for active little boys With percussion instruments which we have here and were not part of my childhood in church,

2 2 It would have sounded better as the congregation sang, Stand up, stand up for Jesus, Ye soldiers of the cross Lift high his royal banner, it shall not suffer loss; From victory unto victory His army He shall lead, Till every foe is vanquished and Christ is Lord indeed Duffield was an American Presbyterian minister in Philadelphia. The words inspired by Paul s description of the Armour of God in Ephesians 6 and also written as a tribute to a minister colleague who had died tragically in a farming accident. It is a hymn that clearly centres on the church militant Militant about the enemy it faces. For the church has always only faced one enemy. The enemy is known by many names the Devil, the evil one, Lucifer, Satan But his weapons and ways to undermine and weaken the faith of God s people are many. Outright and full frontal attack, Temptation, busyness, indifference, apathy, discouragement, fear, worry, anxiety. Any and everything that take our hearts, minds, focus and souls off the Risen Lord.

3 3 The verses that Veronica read moments ago are not as full a treatment as Paul writes to the Ephesians in chapter 6. Nevertheless I believe the language of vs makes it quite clearer that the Philippians then and we today are engaged in a struggle to as Paul here phrases Live your you, me, our life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. It matters not whether Paul returns to Philippi or not They/we are to live a life worthy of the Gospel of Christ. ONLY vs 27 a transition verse. Paul moves from a description of himself and his condition to an appeal to the members of the church at Philippi. What follows is very practical You remember Paul has been reassuring the Philippians who are concerned about his being in prison. He has shown them that what appeared to be so bad at first has turned out, Under God s blessing, to be something wonderful. His imprisonment has encouraged the preaching of Christ. Further, Paul has begun to develop his philosophy of life and death living is Christ and dying is gain (1:21)

4 If pressed, his own personal preference would be to say that he would desire to depart and to be with Christ because that is far better (1:23). Yet, he knows that for the sake of the members of the church at Philippi it is preferred that he should remain in order that he may help them to understand the gospel still better. Only live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ In a sense, here Paul is saying to the Philippians then and to us today let your conduct be such that it is fitting, That it is becoming to the character that you claim for yourselves as Christian people Let it match the thing that you are claiming for yourself. Let it conform to the king of person that you say you are, and that other people think you are. Paul is under no illusion though about the reality and ongoing nature of the struggle to live lives in a manner worthy of the gospel. We too ought to be under no such illusion either. How often do we think we have got this Christian living worthy of the Gospel of Christ in place, when often where we least expect it we are called to trust God in a way we never expected, To say God will provide for all my needs and a considerable number of our wants, 4

5 To live the promise The Lord is my shepherd, UI shall not want, How often are we called to deal with some very difficult people in a Christian way? How often are we called to forgive some very unforgiveable people who have done unforgiveable things? How often do I want my inside voice of ejit, jerk, whip head to be the last word about an individual. Then also how often does another inside voice remind me Herb, Jesus died on a cross as much for that person, as He died for you. Humbling and sobering!! This is an ongoing struggle is it not? Centre back on the words and phrases of this morning s reading from Philippians 27 Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, 28 and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God s doing. 29 For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well 30 since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. 5

6 Certainly Paul will develop further this reality of battle and fight against the enemy of the faithful to Christ (Eph 6:1 Here we have the seeds of that image of the armour of God. We could say this is all theory, however much you Herb claim Paul is being practical We could say all this talk about battle and conflict is reading something into the text that is not there. We could say that was then this is now! Paul wrote to a pre-modern people. Yes, he did however based upon the scriptures, personal, pastoral and parish experience, reading, prayer and study, I can tell you without apology that the battle and the struggle Paul addresses here is all too real, All too close and all too destructive to a vibrant faith in the Risen Lord. I am not so foolish to forecast the future foresight was not taught at Knox College However the days will come when we shall know what we read of in the New Testament in a literal and physical sense. Live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, 6

7 Paul does not tell us specifically here how to do this living. His letters are peppered with the how to do Permit me though to prime the pump as it were. Not an exhaustive list by the way Practice regular self-examination Not navel gazing self-examination. Use the discipline of the Examen we spoke about in the fall where you review the day Where have you felt close to God? Where have you felt distant from Him? Are there matters between you and God, you and others or another you need to resolve in order to move forward? A lot of us too many of us carry things, incidents from the past that we have not thoroughly dealt with. Until we do, we cannot move on we will be in time consumed by the hurts and slights of the past! 7 Be aware- eyes wide open. The siren and beguiling voices of materialism, consumerism, and retail therapy are all around us. Those voices if we allow them will take our minds and our hearts, even our souls, off the risen Christ faster than you could ever imagine!

8 Glossy pictures, not so subtle advertising by professionals who are hired and paid big dollars to convince you to buy or have that which you really do not need. You deserve You need You owe it to yourself Your life cannot be complete until Big sale never again at such a low price. Observation I learned years ago and I pass onto you Do you know how much the world thinks is enough? $10.00 more than you have at present. Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder. Have you ever noticed that no matter how many wonderful, positive, up building things happen in our lives? Often it only takes one complaint, criticism or negative comment to throw us into an emotional tailspin. We worry, fret, and dwell on that one negative comment We replay what that negative comment and criticism said. Yes? That one negative comment so often colours our perception, clouds our vision and can make our whole life view miserable for ourselves and the ones closest to us 8

9 Some hold onto those negative comments and criticisms tenaciously just waiting for the one who made the comment to step out of line and then pow verbal or physical attack!! This is most assuredly NOT your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ Look, We will all experience criticism, personal complaints and negativity from others and from within ourselves. I think it is part of the fallenness of the human condition to experience it and to feel it is our right to be critical, complaining and negative!! By God s help, and by His Spirit, learn to put those negative, critical and nasty actions, words and comments into perspective. If they are legitimate, then deal with them. Do not rationalize, self-justify or ignore them. Consider their source. You know that some people are never satisfied, never content unless they can find fault. Consider the context of what was said, when and by whom were you having a no good very bad day or was the other person or people For, if you (collective) dwell overly on the negative you will miss the positive, glorious, wonderful all around you. 9

10 The Talmud the collection of Jewish law and tradition contains great wisdom even today Among the wisdom and perspective contained is the following counsel In the world to come, each of us will be held to account for all the good things God placed on this earth that we failed to enjoy. Ouch! Paul s directive to the Philippians and to us who read the letter today is very clear Live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Did Paul think this would be easy? No, which is one reason he begins by the struggle imagery. He does not want any of his readers then or now to be too easily discouraged or disappointed when things do not go as planned or hoped. Was such a life worth the personal effort and energy? Paul would say NO QUESTION!!! Amen, let us pray 10