DIVINE PURPOSE

Philippians 1:12-21

January 22, 2012 – Rev. Jerry Duggins

 

 

It’s not that Paul is trying to put the best face on his imprisonment. He genuinely sees some good in it. And he believes that God is at work in it.

 

I wonder if you remember the story of Joseph, how his brothers sold him into slavery eventually resulting in being imprisoned in an Egyptian cell. You’ll recall that he interpreted Pharaoh’s dream and then managed the harvests so that Egypt survived a period of severe famine. During that famine, his brothers come to Egypt for food, and there encounter Joseph again. Fearing for their lives, they fall down before him and beg for mercy. Joseph makes this interesting reply: “Even though you intended to do harm, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today” (Gen. 50:20).

 

After making clear to the church at Philippi that he is not in prison for some crime, but for preaching the gospel, Paul rejoices that his example has encouraged others to proclaim Christ more boldly. Oddly enough, he is not bothered that the motivation of some is a little suspect. In fact he is eager to see what God will accomplish through this bold and expanding witness.

 

We don’t often reflect on the activity of God in our lives. When we do, it takes the form of either a brief acknowledgment of God’s blessings or an implicit complaint concerning God’s failure to order our lives in the way that we deserve. At most, we might consider God for best supporting actor in the drama of life.

 

We would never put it like this of course, but we are not Joseph, and many of us in fact would take offense at Joseph’s understanding. We are not Paul, whom we also feel free to criticize on a number of points. We belong to the 21st century and we have a far better understanding of the universe. Many things previously assigned to the workings of God, we know to be quite “natural” phenomena in the world.

 

Dietrich Bonnhoeffer remarked in a letter from yet a different prison that it was our responsibility to act in the world as though “God did not exist.” He meant by this not to encourage atheism, but to move the followers of Christ to take full responsibility for justice and the welfare of the earth. This was part of his rationale for participating in a plot to assassinate Hitler.

 

I find myself sympathetic to his point of view and consider his words very good advice for those whose only interest in religion is the pass key to heaven. I can’t imagine that Jesus would be very pleased if we left the world to its own devices.

 

But I am also aware that this “secular” approach to faith cannot sustain itself. The work will wear us out if we tackle it alone. And even with human companions mutually engaged in the work of justice, we will in the end give up. If we must at times suspend our belief in God in order to take seriously our responsibility to the world, so also we must suspend our skepticism about God at work in the world if we are to find the strength, courage and hope to stay the course.

 

It is an odd thing to view imprisonment as opportunity, but this is precisely how Paul sees his circumstances and he wants his friends in Philippi to rejoice with him. He wants them to find joy in serving the purposes of God in the world.

 

I wonder: could we find time each day to reflect on the purposes of God in our world? Could we ask ourselves: “What is God doing? How do our lives serve Christ? How do our actions serve the good news of the gospel?”

 

 

 

STANDING FIRM

Philippians 1:22-30

 

 

“Only live in a manner worthy of the gospel.” This is Paul’s fervent desire for his friends at Philippi. Paul, himself lives for the gospel. He is currently suffering for the gospel. His prayer is that the gospel will impact lives, will undermine business as usual, will offer an alternative to the self-seeking, destructive ways of the world.

 

“Live in a manner worthy of the gospel.” I almost don’t want to say anything about this phrase. I certainly don’t want to reduce it to an academic understanding of its meaning. The important questions are: “What does it look like in your life?” and “How does one go about doing it?”

 

“Live in a manner worthy of the gospel.” One thing it isn’t: being a good moral person. Paul doesn’t say worthy of the law, but worthy of the gospel. Jean ValJean steals the bishop’s silver candlesticks. When the police bring him before the bishop with the evidence, the bishop lies and tells them that he gave the candlesticks to the ex-con. This act of mercy changes ValJean. I would say that the life that follows this event in Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables is “worthy of the gospel. His life is marked by goodness, but what one notices mostly is the presence of grace.

 

“Live in a manner worthy of the gospel.” Such a life is also not about getting one’s doctrine right, not about cornering the market on truth. Gospel means good news. Nowhere do I read in the words of Jesus that the good news is that God blesses us with all the right answers. No the good news is that God loves us even when we get it wrong. How does one honor this kind of love in one’s life?

 

“Live in a manner worthy of the gospel.” This word “worthy” may be a little misleading. It might lead some to think that the life one leads upon hearing the gospel is somehow meritorious. But the good news is not about a different kind of obligation. It’s about freedom, about seeing opportunities to reflect and exhibit kingdom values: mercy, forgiveness, peace, and joy. These are the things that are “worthy” of the gospel.

 

But what does mercy look like in our lives?

 

What does forgiveness look like?

 

What does peace look like”

 

What does joy look like”

 

How do we go about doing these things?