One of the dangers of confronting sin is that it becomes the center of our thought. As a pastor, both personally and professionally, I have seen the danger of focusing on sin by either trying to excuse sin (while the Bible may say "No" to X, when I do X, it is not a violation of God's revealed will) for whatever reason or concentrating so thoroughly on the turning away from sin that the more important part of repentance, the turn to God is forgotten.
Whether one glories in sin by indulging the flesh or focuses on sin by seeking its eradication, the result is the same--sin is the center. This simply will not do for the sinner redeemed by Christ.
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is
commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise,
think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen
in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you." -Philippians 4:8-9 ESV
In contrast to the centrality of sin, the Apostle Paul told the Philippians to think on what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely and commendable, adding excellence and praiseworthiness. Further, as we saw in an earlier post, the Apostle puts himself forward as a positive example. What is being commended is not merely positive thoughts for hard times, but rather a rewiring of the brain as a practice. We concentrate not on sin (in any way), but rather on the one who is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and praiseworthy, i.e. our Triune God.
Joy and peace come when we receive what we desire and we tend to focus on the object of our desire with almost singular attention. The call, then is to place the focus on God in whom we delight and find that His peace washes over us. Who can you encourage today? What sin can you confront and turn back to your focus upon God?
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As the Apostle Paul called the Philippians to unity in Christ through the settling of disagreement he thought it was a good opportunity for the Church to show its reasonableness in witness. As disagreements can often lead to explosive display of base emotions, so agreement should lead to a calming display of reason. What follows this idea is the reason that reasonableness should be on display in the church:
"Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." -Philippians 4:5-7 ESV
The Philippians were to know that the Lord was near. This nearness could refer to time or space, but in the current context I lean toward the space understanding. When the Lord Jesus Christ draws near in Scripture to people who are afraid, anxious or worried, he brings peace. Indeed, in the upper room following his resurrection he repeats that he is giving peace twice (John 20:19-21), bringing the calm of his authentic presence into a tense situation.
So how do we practice the nearness of the Lord? The Apostle's short answer is prayer. We pray to our God let him know our need, giving thanks for His provision, and lifting up the needs of others. Never underestimate the power of prayer. Just today I was speaking with a man who was thankful for the prayers on his behalf from our congregation. He endured quite the ordeal in hospital for over two months, but he credited the prayers of the faithful for both the peace he had with the Lord and his survival. Prayer is the means by which God ordains to give us what He wills and this should bring peace.
Peace is exactly what the Apostle says is the consequential state of the Christian in prayer. This peace of the nearness of our God, even when it seems to defy all outside reason, is what we need to remain in Christ Jesus in both heart and mind. The peace of God that comes through prayer is like a guard that keeps secure in the presence of our God. Are you anxious today? Pray and let God set that guard of peace, holding you close to Jesus.
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One point I find myself making often is that most of the Scripture, especially the letters of the New Testament are written to a plural audience. Many of those 'you' statements in Scripture are plural. Our friends in the south would say, "y'all" and our friends in the northeast would say, "yous guys." This is especially important to remember when we approach commands in the New Testament, like we have in our quite famous passage this week:
"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice." -Philippians 4:4 ESV
After urging the Philippians to greater unity (see last week's post), the Apostle turns to exhortation and begins with rejoicing. To be sure, he is writing to a community that is going through deep conflict and seeking resolution. In my experience, following resolution of conflict what I long for is rest and perhaps retreat. Yet, and this is crucial, the Apostle says that not just at the resolution of conflict, but perhaps even in the midst of it, we are to rejoice.
So what if I do not feel much like rejoicing? Ah, this is where the plural becomes important. I once had a friend going through an extremely difficult period in his life. As we talked together, it became apparent that he was not doing much praying, let alone much rejoicing. As a brother in Christ I encouraged him to pray and even to find reasons to rejoice in the Lord, yet even if he could not, I assured him that the Church would be praying and rejoicing on his behalf until such time as the Spirit restored his joy.
If there was anyone who had reason to complain and avoid rejoicing, the Apostle Paul had more. Indeed, even as he wrote to the Philippians he was imprisoned awaiting a trial with an uncertain outcome, but could very well result in his execution. Yet, it is the Apostle who urges rejoicing. It is the same Apostle who assured the Romans, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." [Romans 8:18]. With that assurance, the Apostle had every reason to rejoice even in the midst of suffering and conflict because he knew that he had a bright hope in the resurrection in the Kingdom of God.
So what in your life is keeping you from rejoicing? Do you need someone to come alongside you in prayer and support to rejoice with you? Do you need to seek the Spirit to restore your sense of joy in salvation in Christ. Whatever the case, listen to the Apostle and rejoice in the Lord again and again.
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Last night as I cared for my youngest who is sick I finished reading Donald Fortson's "Liberty in Non-Essentials," a history of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, my denomination and the denomination of the congregation I serve since 2013. I knew much of the theology of the EPC, but understanding how this denomination arrived at the present moment since its inception in 1980 has really helped me to understand the ethos of our denomination. As we explored the EPC I was initially attracted to its motto, "In Essentials...Unity. In Non-Essentials...Liberty. In All Things...Charity." This quote is usually attributed to Augustine, who never seemed to say this exactly, but in a letter to Januarius he said something similar in the second paragraph (though he was surely referencing practice and not doctrine). The actual quote seems to come from the Reformation era, but who said it first seems to be a matter of debate, but most agree that it was made popular by Rupertus Meldenius, a German Lutheran theologian.
Throughout its life, the EPC has struggled to maintain the bond of unity in the midst of disagreements. Matters of spiritual gifts, women's ordination and the right place of the Westminster Confession in the life of the denomination have threatened to splinter our little Presbyterian tribe. Yet, over and again, what bonds us together, absolute and complete trust in Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior, has allowed for creative ways to practice liberty (a least that's Fortson's argument, but also my experience over these last four years). Lest we think this is a modern problem brought on by the Enlightenment's (and thus Modernity's) distrust of authority and its twin, the hermeneutic of suspicion, we find that even in the little congregation in Philippi in the early days of the church there was disagreement and threatened disunity.
"I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life." -Philippians 4:2-3
We do not have a full picture of what caused these women, Euodia and Syntche, to be in conflict, but we do have the Apostle's full prescription in Philippians 2:2, "complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind." I commented on this text some time back, but let me summarize that the Apostle encouraged the Philippians to unite around Christ Jesus, their humble and exalted Lord. The Apostle further asked the rest of the Church to come together to assist these women in finding once more the mind of Christ and coming to unity and agreement in Him. As a Church it should be this same aim that we seek in the midst of conflict with each other.
In essence, there are two approaches to church unity. The first is to only allow in those who are in complete and total agreement with yourself. Such unity requires a constant policing of the borders of faith and practice, making sure to exclude any who would stray from the flock. This is the negative form of fundamentalism that usually transgresses into a petty legalism and only apparent unity. The disunity and conflict are pushed out of the particular congregation or denomination, but it is not really resolved. One of the reasons we left our former denomination is that we met a kind of theologically liberal version of this fundamentalism and we wanted nothing more to do with it. The Apostle's call to the Philippians in our passage today is nonsense in this approach to church unity and, over time, this kind of unity fails to produce vibrant faith.
The approach to unity is to concentrate on the center. The Apostle Paul claimed in Colossians 1:17, "And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Jesus is the reason for all things and the reason all things hold together. In short, Christ must be at the center. Real unity begins with putting Christ at the center of one's life and at the life of the local church, not to mention at the denomination level. There are markers of belonging and not belonging to Christ that cannot be ignored, but unity begins and ends with Christ at the center. Unity grows when we recognize we share the Church as our names are in the Book of Life and that moving to the center, where Christ is, is a team sport. As a Church we are united in Christ. There will be areas of disagreement, but not in the matter of Christ, our center.
Let this serve as an encouragement to you to make peace and build the unity of the Church in Christ Jesus our Lord.
News for You:
Camp Chelan registration is open for all students completing 6th-12th grade in June to join us for a week of fun, fellowship and maybe something deeper. Check out more: http://cpcomak.org/Camp-Chelan-2017
