Greetings my friends,
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighbourhood monk in dogs.
Welcome back to our journey through Paul's letter to the Philippians.
Now yesterday we stood before one of the most beautiful passages in all of scripture,
The great hymn of Christ who emptied himself,
Took the form of a servant and was exalted by God.
It's one thing to admire that vision,
But it's another thing entirely to live it.
And that's exactly where Paul takes us today.
The great danger with passages like yesterday's is that we leave inspired,
But we don't let it change us inside.
Paul refuses to let that happen.
He immediately says,
If this is who Christ is,
Then what does that look like in the life of the world?
And so today's passage is incredibly practical.
It's about what happens when the mind of Christ begins to take shape.
In ordinary people like you and me.
So before we begin,
As always,
I advise you just to take a moment to still yourself.
To take a nice deep breath in.
.
.
And out.
To bring yourself fully into this moment,
Mind,
Body and heart.
As we listen to the words of Paul in Philippians chapter 2 verses 12 to 18.
Pool ruts.
Therefore,
My beloved,
Just as you have always obeyed me,
Not only in my presence,
But much more now in my absence,
Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,
For it is God who is at work in you,
Enabling you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
Do all things without murmuring and arguing.
So that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generationοΏ½ in which you shine like stars in the world.
It is by your holding fast to the Word of Life that I can boast on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labour in vain,
But even if I am being poured out as a libation over the sacrifice and the offering of your faith,
I am glad and rejoice with all of you and in the same way you also must be glad and rejoice with me.
Now,
There's a sentence in this passage that can make us feel uneasy.
Paul writes,
Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Now over the years,
Thousands of people from simple readers of the text to great theologians have said,
Is Paul saying here that we have to earn our salvation?
Is Paul saying that everything does depend on us?
Well,
If you have a look carefully,
What we discover is that Paul says something very,
Very different here.
He's not saying work for your salvation.
He says work out your salvation.
And there's a very important difference.
Imagine someone planting a seed.
Now the life is already there.
When you plant a seed,
You don't have to try and manufacture the life.
The task is to cultivate it.
You water it,
You tend to the ground and you wait for the life to bring the tree and therefore the fruit.
Or think of an apprentice learning a new craft.
Now,
The gift has been given.
Now it needs to be practiced.
The person who's taught and now the person who's been taught continues to work on that until it shapes who they are and they become a master craftsman just like the person who taught them.
And Paul's saying something very similar.
The grace of God is already with us.
Now you need to let that grace permeate every corner of your being.
To work it through,
To allow it to become visible.
To let it take flesh in your attitudes,
Your relationships,
Your decisions,
Your habits,
Everything.
Formation is simply learning to live outwardly.
What God has already begun within.
And then Paul adds one of the most reassuring sentences,
I think,
That's in this whole letter.
He says,
And I love the balance that we see here.
Paul tells us to work and then immediately reminds us that God is already working.
So while there is some effort that we put out,
God's grace always comes first.
And that's the rhythm of the Christ following life.
Grace,
Response,
Grace,
Response,
Always grace first,
Because grace has always been there.
Saint Augustine once prayed,
Give what you command.
And command what you will.
In other words,
Lord,
If you ask something of me,
You will also give me the grace to become the person I need to be to do that.
And that's Paul's confidence here.
God doesn't stand at a distance waiting to see whether we succeed or not.
But God is actively working within us,
So even desire to grow becomes a gift of grace.
The next verse seems incredibly ordinary.
Do everything without grumbling or arguing.
I mean.
.
.
Really for,
The soaring theology of yesterday.
This is where we come now,
No grumbling,
No complaining,
No arguments.
But maybe this is exactly the point,
The mind of Christ is revealed.
Not just in the extraordinary moments of life but also and probably more so in the ordinary.
And especially ordinary conversations.
And this whole grumbling thing really echoes Israel's journey through the wilderness.
Again and again,
Israel complained.
Life was difficult,
Yeah,
But they forgot that within that difficulty,
God's faithfulness was with them.
And so grumbling is really a symptom of distrust.
So Paul's warning the Philippians not to repeat that pattern.
Notice that he doesn't tell them never to lament.
Scripture's full of lament.
The Psalms teach us to bring our sorrow honestly before God,
But grumbling something different.
Grumbling is the habit of allowing discontent to shape our whole way of seeing.
And when that happens,
It erodes gratitude,
It damages community,
And it blinds us to grace.
I wonder what would happen.
If Christians,
Followers of Christ,
Became known,
Not for pretending everything's perfect,
But for carrying that beautiful spirit of gratitude.
A deep confidence that God remains present even when life is difficult.
That kind of person and that kind of community would shine and that's exactly Paul's next image.
Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.
What a beautiful picture.
Paul,
Again,
Not asking those who follow the way of Jesus to do anything else except to shine.
Think about stars.
They do nothing else except give light.
And they do so most clearly in the darkest of places.
And I think this is perhaps the deepest calling of those who follow Jesus,
Not to dominate but to illuminate the culture that you're in.
And to do that through presence and through hope.
And through lives that are being every day quietly transformed.
By the life of Jesus.
The image of light runs throughout scripture.
God says,
Let there be light.
Israel's called a light to the nations.
Jesus says,
You're the light of the world.
And now Paul reminds the Philippians that they shine because they're holding firmly to the word of life.
Notice that they're not generating the light themselves.
The Moon has no light of its own,
It just reflects the light of the Sun.
And maybe those who follow Jesus are something like that.
We reflect the life that Jesus showed us to live and the more closely that we remain turned towards that life,
The more visible that light is through us.
And then Paul finishes this section by speaking about his own life.
He says that even if he's being poured out like a drink offering,
He rejoices.
This image comes from the worship of ancient Israel.
Wine would sometimes be poured beside an altar as an offering to God.
Paul imagines his entire life becoming an offering like that.
Notice the pattern again.
Not holding on,
Not grasping,
But letting go,
Giving.
Not preserving himself at all costs,
But allowing himself to be poured out in love.
And this echoes the hymn that we looked at yesterday.
Paul isn't the sort to just admire Christ,
He wants to follow Christ,
And what that looks like is change within.
And a changed life pattern.
As the life of Jesus gradually becomes our own.
So what's this passage asking of us today?
Well,
Maybe it begins with a question.
What atmosphere do I carry into the places I inhabit?
Every single person carries some sort of spiritual climate.
The question is,
What are you carrying?
Have you noticed that when some people enter a room.
.
.
They bring discord.
Or criticism.
Where others seem to bring peace.
I wonder,
What do you bring?
What do I bring?
Paul's Invitation.
Is to become so rooted in Christ that.
.
.
That presence quietly changes the atmosphere around us.
And this can happen everywhere,
In offices,
In families,
In workplaces.
Church communities,
In neighborhoods,
In classrooms.
One conversation.
At a time.
There's another question here too,
Where's God already working within you?
Paul begins with the God who's already at work in you.
And so rather than looking at the places where you might try and work harder,
The invitation here is to simply seek what God's already doing and cooperating and participating with what the Spirit is already doing in your life.
So as you go through your day-to-day,
Just pay attention to your words.
Just be aware of what you're saying or even the words that you're thinking.
Notice when you're tempted to complain.
Notice when frustration begins to shape your speech.
Notice when you become aware of it and then pause.
Take a slow breath and then quietly pray,
Lord,
Let me reflect your light.
You might still need to speak honestly.
You may still need to address a problem,
But let your words become an expression of grace.
Rather than an irritation.
Let's close in prayer.
Gracious God,
Thank you that you're already at work within us.
When we become discouraged,
Remind us that your spirit hasn't ceased that work.
Teach us to cooperate with your grace.
Free us from habits that diminish our joy.
Help us to become people of gratitude,
People of peace.
People who quietly reflect the light of Christ.
May our lives shine in such a way that others glimpse your goodness through us.
And may grace,
Peace and love go with us and remain with us today and always.
Amen.
Thanks again for being with me today.
We're going to meet two people,
One whose name will be familiar and one whose name we often overlook.
The two people are Timothy.
And Epaphroditus.
But Paul holds these two people up as living examples of everything that he's been teaching here.
They'll remind us that holiness.
.
.
Is usually found.
In the ordinary faithfulness of everyday life.
So until then.
May you shine today.
By quietly reflecting the light of Christ.
Wherever you go.
Bye for now.
