Philippians 1:27-30 – “Cosmic Glue”
By James Galbraith
First Baptist Church, Port Alberni
October 1st, 2006
Text
27Whatever happens, as citizens of heaven live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.
Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence,
I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together with one accord for the faith of the gospel 28 without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God.
29For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.
Introduction
An atom is a curious thing. A stable atom is almost impossible to split apart. The force that holds the atom together has been nicknamed “cosmic glue”, and cosmic glue is incredibly hard to break. We have to build huge, multi-million dollar machines to split atoms apart.
In contrast to the strength of stable atoms,
we can take small quantities of unstable atoms and use them to cause obscene amounts of damage. Long term exposure to substances composed of unstable atoms causes birth defects, cancer, sterility, etc..
Worse, when we manipulate unstable atoms we can produce horrific results. The heart of a nuclear weapon is a few kilograms of uranium or plutonium, which consists of unstable atoms. One only needs to see the detonation of a nuclear weapon to see what happens when we manipulate unstable atoms.
What does all this have to do with our passage today? Well, I believe that Paul is talking about something in these words that rivals the power of the “cosmic glue” that holds the atom together.
Let’s review just a bit before we look into this…
REVIEW
Paul has finished discussing his own affairs, explaining that no matter what comes, he is ready to serve the Lord. He’s locked up in prison, but he sees the outcome of his trial as being released to rejoin his friends in Philippi.
He now turns his attention to what’s going on within the church in Philippi. In this one brief paragraph he manages to encapsulate the thrust of his entire message to them.
He orders them live in a way which brings glory to God,
to do this by striving to work together,
and he also encourages them to thrive under the opposition they face
from the hostile majority of the people they live with.
LIVE WORTHY
READ VERSE 27A - Whatever happens, as citizens of heaven live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.
Once in a while, trying to communicate the intention of a biblical writer can become very difficult. Since the original words are not English, they have to be translated.
As anyone fluent in two or more languages can tell you,
sometimes the power or passion of a statement can lose itself in translation, even if word for word the translation is correct.
The words I just read to you are, word for word, correct and reliable.
But they represent so much more than can be seen on a printed page.
Paul wants to tell his readers that come hell or high water,
they had better behave as those who have been saved by the good news, non fiction message of Jesus born, died and resurrected.
He’s the teacher delivering his ultimate challenge,
he’s the parent challenging his child to be the best he can be,
he’s the minister preaching his fundamental truth.
Live worthy of what you believe.
You have become part of something bigger and better than the world has ever seen, heard or believed, now let your lives prove to others the power of the gospel message.
Now, when we hear commands from the Bible we tend to get a little defensive. “I’m doing my best”; “I can’t do it”; “That’s easy for him to say”; etc., etc., etc.
We all have our own set of defence phrases for when we’re told to do something. Mine run along the lines of “I know I should, but…”
We need to do ourselves a favour and take Paul’s words for what they are - a calling. They are not a club to bash people with when they make a mistake, nor are they simply good advice for living.
No, the purpose of these words are to call the Philippians and all others who may read them, to live as if they really believe that Jesus Christ is alive and well and saving souls!
Do you believe in Jesus Christ born of a virgin, dead on the cross and resurrected by God? LIVE IT!
Do you believe in forgiveness of sin? LIVE IT!
Do you believe in the reality of Heaven? LIVE IT!
LIVE IT - LIVE IT - LIVE IT!
That is what Paul is calling them to. And he wants them to live so well that, if for some reason he does not actually manage to return to Philippi,
he will hear about how they are
“conducting themselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ”.
READ 27B Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together with one accord for the faith of the gospel
Paul does expect to be released from prison. His plan after his release is come join them in Philippi for a time of reunion and renewal.
This is still the plan, but we have to remember that as he is writing this letter he is still in prison, still awaiting trial and still unsure of the outcome.
SO he plans to join them again,
but he can’t be sure until it actually happens.
Thus the seeming uncertainty in this verse.
That said, regardless of his release or not, he wants the church to be able to live strong, healthy Christian lives independent of his presence.
Paul never sought to have “groupies” who dressed like him, talked like him and tried to emulate him above all others.
He sought to produce Christians who lived like Christ and emulate him above all others. He wants the Philippians to know that whether he returns to them or not they are still called to “live worthy of the gospel of Christ”
STRIVING FOR UNITY
Now after calling them to live worthy lives, he then explains how.
There are many different ways we live out a Christian faith,
but Paul has a particular thing in mind.
Every letter Paul wrote addresses a problem that the receiving church was dealing with. In the Philippians case, the struggle was unity, or working together.
The problem must have been in a early stage,
because Paul has waited for an entire chapter in this letter to bring it up.
But it is still an emerging problem, and Paul wants to address the issue strongly before disunity is allowed to take root.
The reason that he now brings his attention to this issue of unity is that he knows the power of a church that is unified in worship and purpose.
Unity in the church is like the invisible force that holds the atom together.
Unity in the church is like the cosmic glue I shared about earlier.
When we work together it is almost impossible to be broken up. A church that finds itself bonding together under the love and power of God is a fearsome, awesome thing that God can use to do great things.
Dissent in the church, on the other hand, destabilizes it and makes it prone to blow apart.
And, just like the unstable atom, the effect of dissent can also cause obscene amounts of damage.
Left untended, it slowly eats away at the integrity of the church. Manipulated, it can blow a church apart.
Hence the passion behind Paul’s commands –
LIVE WORTHY –
STAND FIRM IN ONE SPIRIT –
CONTEND AS ONE FOR THE FAITH OF THE GOSPEL”
He knew that unity would empower them and that dissent would kill them.
He also knew that they were in a particular situation where dissent was especially harmful and unity would be especially helpful.
READ VERSE 28 - 28 without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God.
The Philippians had a lot to fear from “those who oppose them”.
Their Christian faith caused them to stand out for a variety of reasons.
1. The freedom of association between slave and citizens, men and women and different social classes was very unusual and very suspect.
2. The practice of communion, referred to as the eating of Christ’s body and blood, was mistaken for cannibalism.
3. Added to all this was their refusal to worship the emperor of Rome, which was expected of all inhabitants of the Empire, and the Christians were easy targets for abuse and scorn.
It would be impossible to bear this kind of pressure alone;
they needed to be there for each other in this time of crisis.
Sticking together was not optional - it was essential!
Unity would help them help each other, and it would also make a powerful argument to their enemies for the legitimacy of their faith.
Take a minute to imagine that you were one of the “hostile majority”,
one of the citizens people in this loyal Roman city,
and you wanted to find out more about those upstart Christians.
You watch these people who call themselves the “followers of the way”,
or “Christians”, or whatever label was used in that time.
One or two of your friends has spoken about them, and soon you find out that they have begun meeting in the house next to your own!
You take a moment to eavesdrop on their meeting.
You press your ear to the wall and listen.
Now, if you heard them bickering and arguing and fighting over who was the most important amongst them, what would you think?
WHAT A JOKE! - SOUNDS LIKE THE MARKET PLACE!
I’M CALLING FOR THE GUARDS
But what if you heard them praying for one another and sharing the word, and giving to each other as they had need.
What if you heard them sharing stories about Jesus?
What if you heard them singing praises to God?
Well, who knows?!
You might still call the guards, but you might just let them be,
since they weren’t causing you any harm.
And if you were drawn in by their love and compassion, you just might knock on the door and join them!
I dare say that if you heard them being the church as it should be,
you would at least tempted to take them more seriously.
That is what Paul’s getting at.
He wants the church to use their common bond to stand out from the crowd, and be a sign to those who oppose them that they have something special - something worth suffering for and something even worth dying for!
If the early believers snap at each other and bicker about who brought the best wine to the love feast than no one will take them seriously,
but if they grow and thrive as a united group of believers they will bring positive attention to the gospel.
This positive attention will come at a price, though.
READ VERSES 29-30 - 29For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.
Paul is reminding them that suffering is part and parcel of the Christian faith.
Do you ever see these people on TV promising you wealth and prosperity if you only have faith? They are so far from the truth.
They take the riches of salvation and twist it into a false hope of riches on earth. They obviously skip some of Paul’s harder word’s, not to mention the teachings of Jesus himself.
Remember the beatitudes, the “blessed are the ….”’s, in the gospel of Matthew? Listen to how they end:
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
In these verses Jesus warns that Christians will face opposition because they believe in him.
Listen to Peter talking about the possible price of doing good:
But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
Paul, here and elsewhere, tells his readers to expect hostility for simply being a Christian. It’s part of the package. Why?
Well, it’s because the gospel scares those who would rather have people follow another way of living.
It takes business away from powerful interests,
it defies the entrenched social order,
it reveals the poverty of the alternatives
and it creates life in a dying world.
Those who benefit from the depravity of the world do not like anything that threatens their well being, so they fight it.
They fought it in Paul’s day with open persecution, and that continues to this day in many countries. The advancement of time and technology has not made us a more humane race - countless Christians are currently suffering as living proof of that.
Those of us who live in more so-called “civilized” countries can see opposition as well. We not being tossed to the lions quite yet,
but practicing our faith in our communities is not getting any easier.
The ongoing issue of same-sex marriage is just one of many issues in Canada that is placing the church in opposition to the direction our country is going.
I don’t want to go into a rant about the evils of the government, the media and everybody else who is seen by some as the enemies of the faith.
However, I will this - if a Canadian church see fit to follow the social norm and serve as a feel-good chaplain to the public, then it will probably not get a lot of flak.
However, if a church was to make a public stand on an issue that goes against the flow - watch out! Taking a stand is what we need to do, but it also makes us easier targets.
Paul’s last words in this paragraph simply back this up with a observation from his own life- you saw me suffering for my faith, and now you know that I am still suffering for my faith - just like what you’re going through.
It’s the type of assertion that makes Paul’s words that much more authentic. He’s not preaching about opposition from a cozy church hall, he’s writing about it from a Roman prison. He’s taken the whippings, suffered the loss of freedom, felt the anger of the mobs - he’s been there.
And like anyone who’s experienced something significant - he’s worth listening too.
So what are these words saying to us today?
Paul’s warning the Philippians that they can not afford to let dissent fester in the ranks are words that we need to hear.
We need all the cohesiveness that we can muster if we want to be a force for God in this city, for it is only in unity that we can thrive and grow as his church.
If we spend out time bickering and nattering about each other, instead of working with each other, we will find that our witness in this community will erode away. And once it’s worn down, it’s very hard to rebuild.
But if can show our neighbours, our friends, our families that this church is ready to stand as one for the sake of the gospel, than we will not be able to keep up with what God wants to do through us and to us!
Unity within the church ties us together with God’s love and will,
and that’s something harder to break than even the cosmic glue that holds the atom together.
We will also need to know unity if we are to stand up for the gospel in an increasingly anti-gospel environment.
We can thank God that we live in a nation where freedom of worship is still a primary value, but we must never take this for granted.
Not only this, but we must not be afraid to confront the society we live in when it takes a direction that is against the will of God for all people.
Paul’s final words in this paragraph are words that boil down to this:
Live worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and do it as a family - together.
