Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Philippians: The Blessing of the Church (1:1)

"To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi,
with the overseers and deacons..." (Philippians 1:1)

Paul implies in this verse that God does not intend us to do life alone. To follow Jesus is to gain a family. To learn from Christ is to do so with others. This family is made up of "saints" who do life in a particular place (who are at Philippi), with the spiritual guidance of "overseers" and the practical helps of "deacons." With that idea, Paul gives a description of the church in brief.

The Church is identified by His best not its worst moments
I realize that some fellow followers of Jesus are accustomed to thinking of saints as an elite class that stand above the rest of us ordinary believers. But Paul seems to have a different idea. According to Paul, every believer in Christ is a "saint." A "saint" is a person of the sacred. A consecrated or set apart holiness expresses the make-up and purpose of a saint. Paul himself was no saint. His name was changed to identify a new chapter in his life. But prior to being an apostle, Paul's name was, "Saul." Saul was ambitious, zealous and violent. Saul hurt people in the name of God. Even after Jesus found him, Paul still struggled to love God and neighbor well at times. Those in Philippi were no different. They too sometimes loved poorly. Why then are these persons who are known to be broken and to possess the capacity for breaking others, called "saints?" Because when God recovers us in Christ, He gives us a new identity. Actually, He recovers an old identity for us, an identity we lost when Eden fell. In Jesus, God identifies us as His best and no longer according to our worst moments. What does it mean for you that in genuine faith and true repentance and actual living in union with Jesus, He will treat you according His best rather than your worst moments? What does it mean that a Christian community is meant to treat its members in this way?

The Church does a global thing in a local way
A Christian Community has a new identity, but also a limited sphere of influence. We can only inhabit one place at one time. If those in Philippi try to focus on Ephesus, who will focus on Philippi? Our limits humble us. But our limits are noble. We can let those in Michigan or Arizona or Kenya or West Saint Louis, dwell Christianly for the grace of those localities, while we who dwell in Webster Groves, Rock Hill, Shrewsbury or Maplewood, can give ourselves fully to our own streets and shops for the gospel. In this way, each locality is saturated with the gospel. We are mindful of one another's places. We lend a helping hand. But Paul reminds us that a global thing is done in a local way. The best person to live Christianly for our particular neighborhood is the one who lives there. We are the missionaries we need to love our neighbors well.

The Church is led by shepherds and servants
The saints are meant to live out their local callings within the guidance of elders and deacons.
Jesus sent out twelve. The twelve appointed elders wherever they went. The presence of an elder has its roots in the Old Testament. In Christ, the elder is like a shepherd who tends the ministry of the word and prayer in the community. The shepherd nurtures the soul with spiritual direction, wise counsel and loving care. The deacon is a servant. The deacon provides tangeable help for the physicality of a person. Paul lays out the qualifications for these leaders in his letters to Timothy and Titus. God gives His people leaders who are gifted and called to create a mentoring community in which the people in a locality are equipped with what their bodies and souls most need. What does it mean for you that you are meant to do life in a place under the care and direction of shepherds and servants that God gives you for your learning, and care? Is that idea hard to receive? Why or why not?






Thursday, September 17, 2009

Philippians: The blessing of a friend (1:1)

Beginnings
I wonder if Paul and Timothy knew when they first met, the depth of friendship they would find together? I can imagine for Timothy, it must have felt like an honor for Paul to choose him. I can imagine Timothy's Mom, sharing with others as a proud mother would. She after all was a true follower of Jesus. She was a brave woman, marrying cross-culturally. She likely became a follower of Jesus later in their marriage, and he as yet, was less certain of what this Jesus business was all about. But one thing was certain, Timothy was being called to serve as a leader in the Christian community (Acts 16:1-3). Little did he know how hard that would prove to be. Little did he know how deep a friendship God would bless him with.

A Story of Friendship
Over their years together, Paul would early call Timothy, his "helper" and "fellow-worker" (Acts 19:22, 16:21). Timothy was like a brother to Paul (2 Corinthians 1:1, Colossians 1:1)
Paul would come to regard Timothy as his "beloved and faithful child in the Lord" (I Corinthians 4:17). At the end of their lives and ministries, Timothy would feel scared about the cost of continuing on in the gospel. Death threats abounded. Paul himself was in prison. Paul seemed to know it. Maybe Timothy felt it. They were both about to be martyred for their faith. Paul writes from prison to encourage Timothy to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 2:1), to remember the grace he has known and that awaits him on the coming day of His Lord. According to history, Timothy was murdered in the streets of Ephesus faithful to serving God and neighbor through Christ. Paul was decapitated for the same crime. In different cities these friends lost their lives. But their story reminds us of what they found.

The Foundation and Purpose of Friendship

The beginning of this letter of Philippians hints at what they found. "Paul and Timothy" (the best of friends, brothers, feeling like a father and son), are "servants of Christ Jesus."
Those like C.S. Lewis who write about friendship, remind us that friendship is built on common purpose. Paul was direct, untiring, bold and could stand alone. Timothy was more gentle, less certain, and more needy of encouragement when the chips were down. Two men, different temperaments, made friends by their common interest to surrender their wills and lives over to the will of Christ. Two persons became servants. These servants became friends. Together they gave their lives. All these years later, we who follow Jesus, still give thanks for them.

Reflect:
  1. God calls us to serve but not alone or without help. God intends to give his servants friends.
  2. People are meant for service to Christ in the context of friendship.
  3. The nature of life under the sun makes this service as friends a blessing from God. We receive strength, joy, insight, and even loving rebuke to help us follow. We are helped and we help as we follow Jesus.
  4. What does this mean for you today as you think about your call as one who serves? What does it mean to be a friend as a servant of Christ? What does it mean to receive friendship from his other servants? What about Paul and Timothy's friendship in the direction of serving Christ, encourages you, makes you sad, or invites you to His grace for change?

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Philippians: Reasons for Joy

Sometimes causes for joy come in a whisper. To learn how to find joy is to learn how to notice what normally goes unnoticed. Joy names what is good and beautiful and right and noble. It then makes a glad celebration of the good. Joy, therefore, teaches us to see moments differently. Joy is less about waiting for the big moment of recognition and more about seeing traces of Jesus' work in the ordinary among friends. For this reason, circumstances can sting us and yet not take our capacity for joy. Where does Paul look for joy when he is unjustly treated and in prison?
  • The thought of his friends, their love for Jesus and their partnership with Paul (1:4-5)
  • That Christ has the last word even when people falter and illusion taunts us (1:18)
  • The prayers of friends in his hardship and the power of Christ for a different future (1:19)
  • The thought that his friends will grow and be strengthened by Jesus through Paul's life (1:25)
  • The thought of him being united with his friends for the gospel (2:2)
  • The thought that at the end of his life, he will be with Christ and his life will have mattered because of Christ (2:18)
  • That his friend who was sick got better and served the Lord (2:27, 29-30)
  • That the Lord is present in this very moment and at work (3:1)
  • The stories, testimony and hope that his friends have in Christ (4:1)
  • The Lord is present and true regardless of the present circumstances (4:4)
  • That his friends helped him in his time of material need (4:10)
It seems that joy is closely tied to gratitude doesn't it? We learn with Paul, to "thank my God in all remembrance" (1:3). We call to mind the good provisions of God for our friends, for ourselves and we become thankful. Thankful thoughts give birth to joy.

From Paul it seems that each day as a follower of Jesus is mixed with sorrow and joy. We learn to candidly embrace the sorrows. But we equally are meant to learn to give thanks for the presence of what is good in the ordinary. Jesus intends to teach us this. He who spoke of his joy while on the verge of betrayal and unjust crucifixion (John 17), teaches Paul. From Paul, we too can learn to smile untritely amid tears and darkness. He is faithful and joy invites your notice today.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Philippians: Reasons for Disillusion

If Paul became disillusioned or cynical with life it would make sense. As you read through his letter to the Philippians, reasons for disappointment are plain. In 1:12, Paul begins to talk about "what has happened" to him. Telling this story of happenings to him is not a bright sunset with dew on the roses.
  • Paul is in prison unjustly (1:13)
  • Some so called Christians are trying to add to his pain because they see his trial as an opportunity for their rise to more prominence (1:15-17)
  • "Conflict" is the word to describe his present season of life (1:30)
  • The cultural situation is morally broken and dark (2:15)
  • Paul is physically suffering (2:17)
  • One of his dearest friends has been near death and Paul helpless to do anything about it (2:27)
  • A sort of "lobby group" has been following Paul around to do him harm (3:2)
  • He is pained by those who consider themselves his enemies (3:18)
  • Two of his dear friends are fighting one another (4:2)
  • Paul had to endure scarcity of money and food (4:14)
Today:
1. God: God is able to lead His people and love them without making the hard stuff of this life go away. What does this mean for you about who God is?
2. People: People are not always at their best. Sometimes our difficulty is used by others to prop themselves up. Sometimes they misunderstand us and treat us wrongly. Sometimes we are tempted to do this to others. But in Christ, people can find the existence and strength of joy even amid real trial.
3. Life: Life is not always grand. Sometimes it is hard. The follower of Jesus is not naive about this.
4. Ourselves: Notice that Paul is transparent about these difficulties in his life. He does not pretend that life is all ocean breezes. Yet, he speaks of these real difficulties as if Jesus, and not these circumstances, will have the last word in his life. What trials would you list today? What list do you have that give you reason for disappointment? Lay these before Jesus today and ask Him for His joy and perspective.

Tomorrow, we begin to take a look at what Paul says joy is and how he can talk about it in the midst of real difficulty.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Beauty for the Cynic: Learning from Philippians

In our next few weeks together, we'll spend time thinking about a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the people who lived in a place called Philippi (sounds like the word Philadelphia coupled with the word hippo, with a capital "I" at the end).

When We Are Rough Around the Edges
Those who are newer to the Bible often care very little for the Apostle Paul. Jesus often (not exclusively) uses the language of poetry and common life. He talks about lilies and shepherds. He asks disruptive questions and feels often free to leave them unanswered. But Paul often speaks more like a professor would. He knows this about himself. He often asks people to pray for him so that he would speak in a way that is plain and understandable (Colossians 4:4). Even Peter acknowledges that Paul's words are sometimes hard to understand (2 Peter 3:16). But humbled as he is, Paul seeks to be faithful to what he believes God gave Him to say, and Peter and others recognize that God does speak through Paul (2 Peter 3:16, "note that Peter call's Paul's words, "scriptures").

There is Grace for our Incompleteness
I feel glad that Paul did push through what humbled him to write and speak. Paul's story gives him every reason to be a cynical, bitter, suspicious, rightly cautious and grumbling sort of man. At this point in his story, he is in prison, and not because he did anything wrong. Yet, amid the repeated trauma's of his story, Paul speaks of the existence and reality of joy.

I feel I can relate in some way. Can you? I have known traumatic and broken moments. I want an equal familiarity with what joy is. If joy truly exists, how can it outlast such darkness and trauma in our lives, and how it was that this man Paul found it when he followed Jesus? I hope you will join me in our study and learn with me.

Consider Your Story
As you enter this weekend, and prepare to meet with God and persons on Sunday morning, consider the following questions:
1. Where have you learned about joy? Who or what in your life would make you cynical about it?
2. What ideas of joy do you doubt?
3. What would you hope would be true about joy if it is real?
4. Do you know anyone that seems truly joyful while remaining real about life?
5. Notice on the commercials, movies and songs you watch or listen to this weekend. What visions of joy are represented there?

Until next time,
He is faithful.