So we started the series last week as we introduced the church in Philippi.
- A church Paul planted about 10 years prior to writing this letter which you can read about in Acts chapter 16.
- And its an amazing story where he is accused as he preaches the good news of Jesus, of causing an uproar in the city.
- Mainly because the owners of a slave girl who can fortell the future is delivered and they are furious at loosing their revenue stream…
- And there is this crazy scene where he is thrown into jail for preaching and demonstrating the gospel.
- And there is an earthquake, his jailer gets saved and Paul walks free.
So we started Philippians looking at the opening verses…
- And it is clear there is great affection between Paul and the church in Philippi.
- Paul had received a gift from them while in prison…
- He doesn’t hold back his feelings… unlike some bottled up men…
- Verse 3 “I thank my God every time I remember you… I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel.”
- And he reminds them that the God who started a good work in them will bring it to completion.
- So he is really grateful for the church in Philippi that he had planted… that was still going and partnering with him.
So today’s passage… Philippians 1:7-11
7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
So we are going to go through this prayer that Paul prays for the church…
- But before I get that… I wonder are there believers that are in your heart?
- People you long for with (Paul’s words) the affection of Jesus Christ?
- As I reflected on this… there are people who I am so grateful for who God placed in my life.
- Now obviously my parents… but that is a story for another day!
But I think of people like Andrew Rees who was my bible study leader in my last year or two of High School.
- And me and my mates were such pains in the butt…
- I mean one of them is now a leading Pediatric surgeon here in Sydney…
- But instead of doing a bible study, we would wrestle or sing Bon Jovi songs
- But he was so patient with us in helping us understand the grace of God
- And being a mentor to me and others so that we would get our feet… however falteringly on the solid rock of Christ!
I think of a guy named Alvin from my church in London. He was a super successful businessman.
- When I felt called to leave my corporate job and go and retrain for the ministry he got behind me…
- And became a major financial helper so that I could study in Canada and do what I am doing today.
- Or Greg here at Manly Life who is one of our elders… and he has been an amazing encourager and supporter and sounding board for ministry.
- Right? His inclination to my ideas has always been yes – give it a go… stretch out for the Kingdom of Heaven!
So who are those people for you, who have shaped you and shared with you in the grace of God? People who you have deep affection for in Christ?
- I find it interesting that Paul writes to them and articulates his gratitude…
- And I wonder for so many of us, do we take the time to do this.
- I remember writing to Alvin a few years ago, just including him in what has happened here in Manly, and thanking him for his partnership!
- Maybe you could text someone right now who you just want to say thank you to.
- Let’s do that… (PAUSE)…
OK, so I want to look today at this prayer that Paul prays for the church in Philippi.
- This is what he wants for them…
- And knowing that God is powerful to answer prayer, he doesn’t just tell them this is what he wants for them…
- He asks God…
- Why? Because this whole Gospel project is not natural, but supernatural.
- He wants to pray this into reality for the Philippians.
- When he thinks about them… this is what he prays for them!
I am not a great prayer… but I do pray…
- Often when I swim… on the way over I pray… finally get a bit of peace and quiet…
- Not so much on the way back to Manly when I race and really should be asking for forgiveness for pushing people onto the rocks…
- But on the way over, I pray… for the church, for people going through things, for my family.
- Most prayer that flows easily, comes from the natural relationships and affections we have for the people we do life with.
- Right? Paul prayed for these guys from prison because he cared for them…
- I am not saying don’t pray for world peace… that’s very noble of you!
But let your prayer for others come out of the affections you have for the people who are in your world…
- Interesting picture my friend Ger shared with us in Hawaii…
- Its about our capacity for connection and friendship… and the numbers aren’t meant to be exact…
- 5 loved ones… my deepest love is my family and you want to see me get moved to prayer… its these guys…
- Then its 15 or so good friends… people I’d drop everything for and who’d drop everything for me.
- 50 friends in life… now in church that is going to be your Life Group and ministry team people… people you do life with and you grow to care for!
- 150 meaningful contacts (and I know you have friends outside of church)… but in church this will be the people you go to the same service with who’d you call brothers and sisters… and work colleagues and so on…
- Then… 500 acquaintances… ohhh what do you think about this? Maybe that’s the broader church and people you used to do life with who might have moved away…
- And then finally 1500 people you can recognize… might be a bit more or a bit less…
But it actually goes to show our worlds are quite small…
- And so our prayers and affections and partnerships are actually so precious and worth keeping healthy and vibrant
- You can’t do life or be friends with 1000’s of people…
- But you can invest and partner and pray with your village, your church community.
- And that’s why it hurts when things go wrong. Our lives are not that big!
- So what do you think of that picture? It’s just a thought… not from scripture…
- But I think a good insight into our lives and what we should value and even how we might pray?
And so Paul prays and it gives a great insight into what he hopes our Christian life will look like… with the people we actually do life with!
Verse 9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
So let’s finish by diving into 3 things I see Paul praying for us as we do life with Christ, together.
Firstly, Paul’s prayer is that their love may abound more and more
- Paul prays that God will do a work in their hearts and minds, such that their love would keep on increasing…
- Keep on working itself out more and more in practical ways of service and grace.
- That their love would be the defining mark of their lives together as they follow Jesus.
- Love, having less to do with our rollercoaster of emotions or sentiments…
- And more to do with the laying down of their lives for one another, as Christ had laid down his life for them and us!
It can seem funny to talk about our love for God and one another in a way that doesn’t come across cliché.
- Even at weddings we read Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthians about what love is… and it seems overly familiar
- But there is nothing about Christian love… patient, kind… not self seeking, not easily angered, keeping no record of wrongs
- That is domesticated or easy or second nature…
- Christian love is the radical out-turning from selfishness, bitterness, unforgiveness…
- It is the greatest move that one can have, and one that comes through a deep following of Christ!
You know we live in a largely transactional world…
- We are so wired to be self centered, that the Christian idea of love as sacrifice and service and thinking of others above yourself has become a stark contrast.
- The Jewish scholar Martin Buber talked about I-It relationships and I-thou relationships…
- I-It being relationships that are transactional in nature… we treat others as objects we can get something from.
- Sometimes this can be fine… we don’t need a relationship with someone delivering takeaway to us.
- But often we end up seeing all interactions and people as I-It… someone that we can get something from…
But then we find in our closer relationships the need for I-Thou interactions.
- This is where we relate to one another authentically and without need to get anything from them.
- Indeed we relate in a way that seeks the others flourishing and well being.
- One of the most common refrains from Jesus, and in the letters from Paul, Peter and John in the bible is to love one another
- For as John says “love comes from God.”
- So Paul prays that the Philippians love would abound more and more…
- That they would interact in ways that were caring and merciful and other centered…
- And in doing so would make the grace and good news of the gospel tangible and real.
Secondly he prays for their discernment.
- Particularly that they will know what is best and may be pure and blameless.
- I find that really interesting… and I find it really interesting because increasingly we find ourselves in a culture that is more like the world Paul first preached in…
- With lax norms around sexuality, fidelity, attitudes towards power and money and the treatment of others.
- Than the Christianized one that is fading, that agreed on so many things around morality and ethics.
- Paul prays… that we might be discerning… and know what is best!
Here is what I have become convinced of… Christ’s way… whether that is in relation to sex, power, money, speech, forgiveness…
- Is the right way that leads to life….
- And the cultures attitudes to sex, power, money, speech and forgiveness leads to death.
- We need discernment in order that we don’t harm ourselves or those around us… and can know what is pure and blameless ways to live.
- It’s a mess out there… but there is a way that leads to life!
- Paul prays for their moral discernment… find it and stick to it!
So I wonder, as you grow in Christ, are you growing in your discernment over what is good and what is evil?
- Because we live in a world where moral issues are becoming blurred and distorted.
- Remember back to our Isaiah series… 2 years ago.
- You remember every word right?
- But remember that verse in Isaiah 5 where God is bringing judgement on his people… and one of the reasons is..
- Isaiah 5:20 “woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness.”
- Right? Beware your moral discernment over what is good and what is evil.
And I pray for all of us… not that we get swept up in culture wars… but that we as a church stick to what we know from God to be right!
- And I don’t like titles like conservative and progressive… because every Christian will want to conserve some things and see progress in other things…
- This goes much deeper than politics or partisanship!
You see we need to work out what should we as Christians know to be good and know to be evil…
- And then conform our own lives towards the truth and goodness of God
- And away from the lies and corruption of our culture and selfish natures…
- Let me give an example…
The Christian ethicist Carl Truman wrote an insightful book – The Rise of the Modern Self
- And in it he explains the cultural shift around identity that he sees as corrupting a generation as they come to understand themselves and what is good.
- He explains, we once defined ourselves in terms of our relationships, responsibilities and around empirical and moral truths.
- “I am Tim, married to Victoria, Father of Hope and Luca, responsible as a Pastor to the Baptist church in Manly and Haberfield…”
- Now we identify ourselves in terms of how we feel. That is the rise of the modern self…
- So I identify according to my feelings and trying to be true unto thy self.
- Now it’s a bit silly but there was a school in Melbourne that supported a student to identify as a cat.
Now that’s a bit of a silly example… but beware grounding our identity in feelings and not biology or responsibilities…
- We need to be people who know what is good and true and in line with how God has created us…
- So treat everyone with kindness and love but beware moral confusions…
- We need to be discerning about what will make us pure and blameless and know the difference between good and evil.
- And Paul prays for this because part of belonging to Christ is being set apart as people of goodness and truth!
Finally he prays for their righteousness…
- So having prayed for their love to abound more and more and their discernment to know what is pure and blameless…
- He prays (verse 11) that they may be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ
- That they may be filled to overflowing with the fruit of right living.
Now righteousness can be used as a word in a number of ways in the bible.
- One of the key usages of the word has to do with our right relating with God that comes through faith and fidelity…
- Right? We are declared righteous before God not because of our own good works, but because of the work of Christ on the cross
- And receiving grace through faith alone and not our works or good deeds….
- And that is all very interesting… but not relevant here…
Words can have different meanings depending on their context…
- In English this is called a homonym… who knew that?
- Squash can be a vegetable, a game with a racquet or what you do to my hopes and dreams with your pointy little tongue…
- So righteousness can mean right related-ness with God through faith… but it can also mean living wholly and uprightly…
- Jesus says blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled…
- And that’s about hungering for a pure and blameless, put together, flourishing life.
So Paul prays that our lives… the Philippian’s church’s life would bear the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ.
- He prays that they would live lives evident of their salvation through the quality and depth and goodness of their lives together.
- This would be evident in their love for one another
- This would be evident in their care and hospitality with one another
- This would be evident in their fidelity in marriage and chastity in singleness.
- This would be evident in their generosity and concern for the poor.
- Paul prays for the fruit of righteousness that comes from belonging to Jesus Christ.
Victoria and I went and saw Nick Cave on Friday night at the ICC Theatre in Darling Harbour.
- He has lived a colourful life of wild living… and is now a bit of national treasure…
- He has become a Christian… all be it a complicated one, and started going to church in London.
- And he was recently asked “No more booze or drugs, happily married. Do you miss you vices? (PAUSE)
- He answered: No…
To finish, and going back to last week… Paul did not consider coming to Christ to be a flash in the pan religious experience.
- His prayer is that this would go deep and be transformative… in order that the good work God had begun in them would be brought to completion.
- I wonder for you and I, what would Christ do in us, that we would be brought to completion in Christ?
- The hymn write John Newton prompted us to sing of “through dangers, toils and snares, I have already come”…
- My guess the path through is found in Paul’s prayer…
- Of abounding more in love, discerning what is best and bearing the fruit of righteousness!
Amen!