1 The Lord is among us. A sermon preached as part of a series on Philippians on February 24, 2019 at St. Giles Presbyterian Church, Prince George, BC by Rev. Herb Hilder. Lessons; EXODUS 17:1-7 PHILIPPIANS 2:12-18 MATTHEW 6:25-34 This morning s Philippian reading picks up from Paul s great hymn of praise. Paul has written about the marvel of God in Christ In this morning s lesson, Paul urges his readers then and now to take advantage of the moment. Consider the beauty of Christ Consider the promise of God in Christ. Let the reality of Christ s love and grace saturate your reality. How necessary that is to do on a regular basis. Question: when was the last time you were truly silent, mind and heart, before God? How easy was it to stay focused on God alone? What distracted you? Do distractions keep you removed from the reality of the presence of God OR do distractions simply keep you isolated from a deeper experience of being in God s presence? What might you be missing?
These are questions that demand an answer for we live in a world that seeks to pull us, draw us, beguile us away from a world where God is the centre, Where his ways, THE WAY, to live daily. A world that entices us to practice such bad habits like making us believe we have no time for God Or that any time with God, Thinking in a Godly way is NOT to our best interests nor terribly important. In verse 14, Paul strongly counsels his readers to do everything without what? Complaining or arguing. Some translations say murmuring, quarreling or grumbling. Frankly, I do not believe it is an overstatement to say that there are few other things that lead to such havoc in the Christian life as a spirit of murmuring, complaining, arguing, grumbling and quarreling. I do not believe Paul here is addressing or speaking about complaining in the light of obvious injustice, taking advantage of others based upon colour, gender, sexual orientation, age, nationality The sort of injustice and just plain wrongness that Irish statesman of the 18 th century, Edmund Burke meant when he made his still sobering comment 2
3 The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. That is not the sort of complaining Paul is addressing here in Philippians. Rather, he is addressing the petty, draining negativism, The chirps and whistles of individuals who just like to find fault or weakness, Without offering solutions or alternate ways. Even though they have been benefactors of God s lavish generosity. Individuals who always expect more and who always are disappointed with less and so the first reaction is to complain, to murmur, to grumble or to grouse because somehow their wants have not been met in a way they think to be appropriate or fitting! Murmuring, complaining, grousing are just the symptoms. Like all behaviours, good and bad, They point beyond themselves. They reveal the attitudes of our hearts Often, Murmuring originates from a self-perception of insignificance a feeling of being undervalued and overlooked. The verses from Exodus that William read describe the Israelites at their murmuring worse!!
You remember the context. The Lord miraculously delivered the Israelites from the pursing Egyptian army Once their foe had been destroyed the Hebrews feared the Lord and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses (Ex. 14:31b) The story goes on to add that the people expressed their gratitude to God by singing to Him a song of praise. Miriam, Aaron s sister responds Sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted The horse and his rider He has hurled into the sea (15:20-21) What a day of rejoicing this was for God s people! But this time of praise did not last long! Within a month and a half after their miraculous departure from Egypt, They are complaining about the barrenness of the land, They long for the food of Egypt They forgot or disregarded the mighty ways God had met their needs. Then comes the complaint about no food. Even Moses and Aaron s counsel to the people that their grumblings are actually directed against God, not them, Does not cut it with the grumblers. 4
THAT is a sobering thought that murmurers today need to consider How much is their grumbling directed to God ministers, music directors, lay leaders, family, other congregants are just collateral damage! Well back to the Exodus story The Lord hears their complaints and abundantly satisfies their hunger quails/manna Yet even though they never went hungry the Hebrews still manage to murmur or grouse about the lack of variety in the food God supplies for them! 5 We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; 6 but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at. (Num 11:5-6) The Hebrews had grown so accustomed to Egyptian cuisine that they regarded with contempt the Lord s basic provision for their hunger. Then this morning s reading they are thirsty They grouse to Moses They command him to give them water Talk about unappreciative and unaware!!! 5
Once again says the text the Lord answered Moses prayer and miraculously met the physical need of the Israelites. Incredibly blessed by God Lavishly provided for by God. And yet, what does the scripture recount after a short time, the Hebrews murmur, complain, grouse about God s provision!! You you, me, each of us may not forget as quickly as did the Hebrews in Exodus, but forget about God s provision in our lives, we often do! The causes of such forgetfulness are many and varied, Yet the end result is the same We begin to murmur, complain, grouse, and grumble more than we ever need to. Without careful self-correction, grumbling is a poison that seeps into our bodies to infect our minds so that we are not happy with anything in this life. This in turn spills over into everyday living and into every relationship we have including those in our faith community. Over the years, I have seen in both church communities and the wider world good work compromised, stilted or ruined owing to grousing people 6
I have seen people good, faithful, competent and dedicated people just walk away or leave owing to grumbling and murmuring of others. I have seen even more individuals become cynical and peg all Christians as grumblers I have seen individuals cease to listen to honest and justifiable correction owing to it coming from a person known only for his/her/their grousing. And what is really tragic is that it does not have to be this way, It should not be this way, if only we would follow the counsel of St. Paul Do everything without complaining or arguing! Hear me! None of us are going to be able to do this consistently and constantly without the help of God s Holy Spirit And that is not spiritual weakness to pray for that help. Quite the contrary dependence on the Lord and His Spirit is a position of incredible spiritual strength! Bad habits cannot just be changed permanently in human strength alone. So in the Spirit s strength and by his guidance, Pray daily that you are reminded of the character of God. God is holy and just. 7
God is incapable of doing anything unkind or unfair. If you are a Christian, then God is your Father and He is a Father who loves you and is concerned about you. Whatever your situation and however little you may understand what is happening around you, Say to yourself words like those found in the chorus No longer slaves I am no longer a slave to fear I am a child of God. Keep reminding yourself that God loves you and is concerned about YOU God is interested in ME and is watching over me. Daily pray and be reminded of the greatness of God. God knows the whole picture we only dimly know a very small bit of the picture Pray to accept the truth that no matter what may happen in our lives, each of us are in God s hands! Daily pray and reflect deeply and with heartfelt thanks on the days and times you have been served by God s loving mercies The dark nights through which you have come, The sinister things from which you have been delivered The sins forgiven, 8
The shame unpublished, The many things that you feared, yet by God s mercy never came to pass The clear evidence you have when you think about it of God s provision for all your needs and many of your wants. You see, When we begin to understand truly and personally God s grace, We begin to experience God s peace And murmuring and arguing will if not stop, then no longer become a poison that infects our very souls. When we finally begin to understand that God loves us more than we can ever possibly know, We will begin to realize we have nothing about which to complain. When we finally realize God s unconditional love is offered with equal affection to everyone who deserves it, We will be at peace with each other and with God Our deepest desires will be filled because we will desire nothing more than we desire God. Good people of St. Giles THAT is when the Good News begins to shine That is the call and that is the challenge always before us. AMEN 9