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Sermon by John Tucker
A life worth living
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Introduction (v 4) I read a story this week about a man who long ago wanted to own a picture that perfectly expressed peace. He couldn't find it, so he announced a contest to produce the masterpiece. The challenge stirred the imagination of artists everywhere. On the day of the contest judges uncovered one painting after another, all pictures of beautiful soft scenes. Finally, just two pictures remained. The second to last one was uncovered. A mirror smooth lake reflecting a line of birch trees under the soft blush of an evening sky. Along the grassy foreshore a flock of sheep grazed quietly. Surely this picture was the winner. But then the last picture was unveiled. A thundering waterfall cascading down a rocky precipice. You could almost feel the bitter chill of the spray. Stormy grey clouds threatened to explode with rain or lightening. Clinging to rocks at the edge of the falls was a spindly tree. One of the branches reached out right in front of the torrential waters. In the elbow of the branch a little bird has built its nest. Content, undisturbed by the stormy surroundings, she nestles on her eggs, eyes closed. A peace that transcends her circumstances. Perfect peace. It was the winning painting. Have you seen the picture? Could that image be a picture of your life? Is that how you respond to the bitter chill, the thundering noise of stormy circumstances in your life? In his letter to the church at Philippi, the apostle Paul says that that kind of contentment and peace and settled joy - a joy irrespective of circumstances - should be the distinguishing mark of people who believe in Jesus. He says: "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" (v 4). But, of course, that's easier said that done. Paul is writing to believers who, because of their faith, are starting to feel the bitter of chill of persecution. Their future has clouded over with dark storm clouds. How can they rejoice? Well, we need to remember that Paul is not writing this letter from a holiday resort on the Gold Coast. He's writing it from prison in Rome, shackled to guards, awaiting a trial before the emperor, Nero, facing possible execution. His friends in Philippi are disagreeing with each other and he's not there to help. His opponents are threatening to undo his life's work. And yet he is rejoicing. "Rejoice in the Lord always." What's his secret? What are the secrets of a happy life? How can we rejoice in the Lord always? What's the secret to having a profound peace in the midst of life's circumstances? Paul gives us some clues. Forgive everyone who hurts you (v 5) A while back Duke University in the States conducted a study on "peace of mind" and the factors that contribute to emotional and mental stability. Do you know what was number one factor on their list? The absence of suspicion and resentment. Harbouring hurt was a major factor in unhappiness. Here Paul says, "Let your gentleness be evident to all." He's not saying to the Philippians that they should be known as wimps or wet dishcloths. That word "gentleness" would be better translated "gracious." Paul's saying, "Be gracious, merciful, forbearing in your attitude towards the faults and failings of others - those who are persecuting you, those who wrong or fail you." Give them the benefit of the doubt. The author Stephen Covey recalls an incident while riding a New York City subway one Saturday morning. A few passengers were reading the newspaper. Others were dozing. Until a man accompanied by several small children boarded the train. In less than a minute bedlam erupted. The kids ran up and down the aisle shouting, wrestling with one another on the floor. Yet the father made no attempt to intervene. Some passengers shuffled nervously. Covey waited for the man to do something. Eventually he couldn't stand it any longer and he burst out: "Look, will you do something about your kids!" And the man replied, "Sorry. I know I should do something. We've just come from the hospital where their mother died an hour ago. I just don't know what to do." Have you been hurt or wronged lately? Are you harbouring suspicion or resentment? Is it stealing your peace, your joy? Paul says let it go. "Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near," The Lord is coming soon. He will judge us all according to the measure we have used on others. Treat others as you want to be treated. Forgive everyone who hurts you. Besides suspicion and resentment, anxiety is another great thief of joy and peace. And the Philippians had plenty to worry about. So do we. Just turn on your TV screens at six o'clock tonight: the rise of violent crime among teenagers, the erosion of New Zealand families, the destruction of our natural environment by green-house gases, the threat of war between the Arab world and America. And when we turn the TV off, we have our crumbling bodies, fractured relationships, eroding bank accounts to worry about. So what's the antidote? Pray about everything that worries you (vv 6-7) Paul says the way to be anxious about nothing is to pray about everything: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" (v 6). "Why?" Some people will ask: "How would that make a difference? Does God really care about our problems? Does he really respond to our prayers?" Last Sunday night Ian Wishart observed that some people - like the cosmologist Stephen Hawking - have a deistic view of God. They believe that God created the world just like a man rolling a snowball down a hill. In other words, they say that God got the world started but has taken no subsequent interest in it or in our lives ever since. Can you pick the logical flaw in that view of God? If God lovingly created the world with a purpose, wouldn't he want to stay involved? Of course he would. So, Paul says, when you pray present to God your specific "petitions" and "requests." One by one leave them in God's in-tray, on his desk, for him to action as he knows best. Towards the end of this week the pile of worries on the desk of my mind was getting rather big. So I sat down and specifically listed on a piece of paper everything that was worrying me and left them all with God, in his in-tray. They're on his "to-do" list now. It was so liberating. When was the last time you prayed explicitly and at length about the things that are worrying you? Leave them with God. He really does care. They say the best defense is offence. Paul says we need to go on the offence against worry: present your requests "with thanksgiving." In other words, deliberately recall God's goodness and mercy towards you: in Jesus God died for you, set you free, assured you of life with him forever. Recollect his graciousness to you in the past. Remember that every good thing we have comes as a gift from him. And as we do that Paul assures us that, just like the soldiers guarding him in Rome, just like the Roman sentries standing watch in Philippi, God's peace will also stand guard over our hearts and minds. "Finally," Paul says, "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things" (v 8). That's the third secret of a happy life: Think only those thoughts that will free you (vv 8-9) Ever since the Tall Blacks' extraordinary result at the world basketball championships, their coach Tab Baldwin has been under intense media scrutiny. They're saying that one of his greatest assets is his ability to inspire his team, to change the way they think. It's commonly known that what we think shapes how we feel, and act, and live. Arnold Palmer, the great golfer, said, "If you think you're beaten, you are." Today, elite athletes like Michael Campbell even have personal mind coaches to guide their thinking. Our thoughts are that important. They'll tie us up or set us free. Have you ever had the little red fuel light on the dashboard of your car flash wildly when you are driving along the motorway, miles from the nearest service station? I guess negative emotions are a lot like that fuel light. They're a warning that something needs attention. Whenever they flash, we need to ask ourselves, "Why am I feeling this way? Is it related to what I'm thinking? And is what am I thinking true? What does God say about it?" We need to fill up on the truth. One of the great truths that Paul recalls later in this chapter is this: "I can do everything through him who gives me strength" (v 13). That, he says, is "the secret of being content in any and every situation" (v 12). But this verse is often misconstrued, isn't it? I remember Evander Holyfield, the American heavyweight boxer, appearing for a prizefight in a white gown with that verse emblazoned across the back. He seemed to think that Jesus promises us the strength to do anything we want, like winning boxing matches, or healing every sickness. But Jesus doesn't promise us that. He promises us that he will strengthen us to do whatever it is that he wants us to do. What is he requiring you to do at the moment? Care for a sick family member, face an operation, endure financial stress, live with the pain of loneliness, release thoughts of resentment. "I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Paul concludes, "Follow my example. Think only those thoughts that will free you, thoughts that are true and noble and right, and the God of peace will be with you" (v 9). Conclusion Let me tell you about Michael, a guy who knew what it was like to go through a storm. One day he fell sixty feet from a communications tower. It was a very serious accident. He was badly injured. As he lay there, the first thought to flash through his mind was the welfare of his soon to be born daughter. When the paramedics arrived they assured him he was going to be fine. And he decided he was going to live. He was going to give it his best shot. But when the doctors gathered around him in the ER he could see the look in their eyes: "He's a dead man," they were thinking, "It's hopeless." So as they wheeled him into the operating theatre Michael whispered to them: "I am choosing to live. I'm not dead. Operate on me as if I was the healthiest person you've ever seen. I am choosing to live." After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from hospital with rods in his back, but alive. He didn't just lie down and die. He didn't let his circumstances, his emotions rule him. We all facer difficult circumstances. God says, "Stand up, stand out for me. In the midst of your storm, rejoice in me. Forgive everyone whose hurt you. Pray about anything that worries you. And think only those thoughts that will free you. And be like that little sparrow besides the thunderous waterfall. Resting with a quiet joy, a profound peace, in the midst of the storm.
One ship sails east, and another sails
west
Like the winds of the sea are the waves
of fate
Study Questions 1. Does that picture of the bird by the falls - peace and contentment - represent your life? What tends to get you down? What are you worried about at the moment? 2. Is there someone to whom you need to show gentleness - graciousness, forgiveness - this week? 3. What do you think of Stephen Hawking's "deistic" view of God? How have you seen God answer your requests lately? 4. Selwyn Hughes writes: "Drawing on my counseling experience, I can tell you this: people who go through the most stress are those whose thoughts are not under control. They don't think. Well, they do think, but not in the way the Bible instructs us to. They fail to think about what God says ... their thinking is not according to Scripture." Do you agree? Why? 5. How is the red fuel light flashing in your life at the moment? How do your emotions reflect a need to "fill up" on the truth? |
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All quotations are taken
from the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible.
An on-line resource with various translations into a
variety of languages see: http://bible.gospelcom.net/ |