[INTRODUCTION]
The Olympic contestants line up in the starting blocks for the hundred-meter dash. Anticipation has the crowd suspended on the edge of their seats. The starter raises his gun and fires. The athletes spring out of the starting blocks. As they do, it becomes obvious this is no ordinary race. You see, this is the Special Olympics – Special because the contestants are all developmentally and physically disabled.
The runners move down the track shoulder-to-shoulder, one young woman stumbles and falls headfirst on the track, crying from pain and embarrassment.
The rest of the contestants move on for ten or fifteen yards. Then, without a word spoken between them, they all stop, turnaround, and jog back to their fallen friend. They pick her up off the track, comfort her, and then arm in arm they run together to the finish line.
Now here’s the question I have for you: Who won? Maybe you’d say, “Everybody did!”
But from a competitive standpoint, nobody did. No individual demonstrated his or her superiority by crossing that finish line first. Which is what it means to win, right??
Did everybody win, or did nobody win? The answer depends on what your goal is.
To be the best and gain the glory, or to finish the race, together
(In this morning’s passage, Paul lays before the Philippians what is to be their ultimate goal and how they are to achieve it.
This is our third week in Philippians, and I’d like to… )
REVIEW WHERE WE’VE BEEN
Week 1: Guaranteed Goal
We started by looking upward – seeing that
God has a purpose for his people;
God has a purpose for his church –
and nothing is going to stand in the way of His fulfillment of His purposes.
Week 2: Win-Win Situation
We looked back and saw Paul’s perspective on his difficult circumstances. Although he’s
Under “house arrest,” chained to a Roman soldier 24 hours a day
Awaiting a trial that could put him to death
He is rejoicing because he can see that God is using his circumstances for the progress of the gospel.
Now we’re in Week 3:
We turn from Paul’s circumstances in Rome to the Philippians’ circumstances.
We listen to Paul counsel the Philippians about how their ultimate goal in life should shape the way they live,
and try to learn how our ultimate goal in life should shape the way we live.
Maybe you’ve never thought about what you’re ultimate goal in life is.
But Paul lays out what it should be for every follower of Jesus Christ.
(Our translation says “your way of life should be as the gospel of Christ requires,” but I think some of the other translations capture it better by saying that our ultimate goal is to…)
“LIVE A LIFE WORTHY OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST”
This is not a statement about rules & regulations, but about living a life suitable for a son or a daughter of the Creator and Ruler of the Universe, about living up to our high calling in Christ.
Paul tells them to live that way whether he comes back or not.
As we heard last week, he thinks he’ll get out of Rome alive, but he may not.
Maybe he’ll get to see them again and maybe he won’t
But that shouldn’t affect their manner of life.
He doesn’t want them to, “live a life worthy of the Apostle Paul, so when he comes he can be proud of you.”
What is most important is to “live a life worthy of the high and noble relationship into which you have been called by God.”
“Be the people God called you to be, not for Paul’s sake, but for the sake of the one who has called you.”
I am often hesitant to tell people I am a pastor. It’s not that I’m ashamed of it, but people sometimes act strangely when they realize they’re talking to a pastor.
They apologize and get all embarrassed if they had used a bad word or made an off-color remark – or if they had done anything else in my presence they thought might offend me.
It wasn’t that they were really so concerned about their behavior; they were just self-conscious that a “religious person” now knew about it.
I’d think “You don’t need to worry about me.
If you’re doing things you shouldn’t do, God’s the one to worry about – and He knows what you’re doing whether anybody else is watching or not.”
Who are you living your life to impress?
Does your behavior change depending on who’s watching?
Do you have a “church” personality and a “work” personality or a “home” personality?
And while this can be a problem for many of us as adults, it can be an even more difficult struggle for our young folks. Are you the same person in school as you are at home or in church? Do you change your values to fit the situation, or to fit in with those you’re with?
That’s not walking worthy of our call.
Paul doesn’t want the Philippians to adopt a pattern of life only if he’s around, but 24-7: no matter who’s watching.
(OK, so we’re supposed to live a life worthy of the gospel all the time, not just when somebody’s watching. But what does it mean to live a life worthy of the gospel?
First of all, it is not an individual pursuit: We are to stand together in one spirit
As Christians, we have a unity that comes from our relationship to Holy Spirit
If HS lives in my heart and HS lives in [NAME] heart and in [NAME] heart – then we “share” one spirit, spread out over 3 people
That is a powerful basis for unity
And we’re told that our unity is to be used as we fight together for the gospel.
(Not that we “fight together” but that fight together for the gospel)
What in the world does that mean?
Last week, we saw how Paul’s only concern was the progress of the gospel:
outwardly in evangelism - that more people would know Christ
inwardly in discipleship – that people would know Christ more
It was that passion that put him in jail.
The Philippians had also experienced persecution
Although located in Greece, the people of Philippi had been granted Roman citizenship by Caesar, which was quite a source of pride to the people in that city.
Caesar would have been honored at every public gathering – that meant having the participants proclaim that Caesar is Lord, something which Christians could not do
Because they held a loyalty that was higher than Caesar, Philippians were suspected of being disloyal to the empire, which resulted in persecution by the Roman authorities, just as Paul was experiencing persecution in Rome.
Paul says, “You know that the progress of the gospel has not been easy for me. You know I’ve had to suffer because of it. You know I’ve had to fight for it…
“Now you, do the same”
Have one purpose, one goal that together you work for with everything you’ve got
And even though it’s unlikely that we will experience the kind of persecution that Paul and the Philippians did, the task is still too hard not to do it together.
THE ONLY WAY TO REACH GOD’S GOAL IS TO REACH IT TOGETHER. To work together for the progress of the gospel.
I read a story that made me think of the unifying power of purpose.
Maybe you remember hearing a few years ago about the “The Three Tenors.” Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, and Jose Carreras, three of the world’s most renowned voices. They performed together at a concert in L.A.
In a press conference, one reporter tried to stir up a little competition between the three, maybe hoping to liven up his story.
Refusing to take the bait, Placido Domingo told him, "You have to put all of your concentration into opening your heart to the music. You can’t be rivals when you’re together making music."
(When people are united by the Holy Spirit and are seeking a common goal, petty rivalries cease to matter.
And if we want to see God move in our midst, we need to stand united in purpose and in the Holy Spirit.
THE ONLY WAY TO REACH GOD’S GOAL IS TO REACH IT TOGETHER.
We’re told that we must Refuse to fear our enemies (lit = “the ones who oppose you”)
The word refers to something which is set in opposition to something else, for example, it is used to talk about how our sinful nature and the Holy Spirit are opposed to one another.
They both want to move in opposite directions
This word is also used twice in the NT to refer to our chief adversary, Satan himself.
And he is a formidable enemy.
But when the church of Jesus Christ stands united in purpose and in the Holy Spirit, the gates of hell cannot prevail against us
In fact, Paul says that our unity is a visible sign that we will win the battle.
And if we have that kind of power, lesser enemies will surely be conquered as well
(So, to live a life worthy of the gospel of Christ is not simply an individual pursuit. It involves standing together, united by the Holy Spirit seeking together one purpose: the progress of the gospel, in our lives and in others’ lives.
These words were not written to an American church, living in religious freedom. It was written to a persecuted church. And they were probably wondering, if God wanted further the gospel so much, why was it so hard? Why did they have to suffer so much Paul gives them an amazing answer:
What God has graciously given us, is the chance to not just believe in Jesus, but to suffer in His behalf.
Not a gift many of us have prayed for, I imagine
But Paul was even able to look at His sufferings as a gift from the hand of God.
Now he tells the Philippians, “You saw me suffering for the sake of the gospel, and you know I still am – and now God has allowed you to have the same struggles
I won’t pretend to fully understand this, but I do know that God accomplishes things through suffering that may not be possible to accomplish in any other way
A. W. Tozer describes the process this way,
“A sculptor does not use a manicure set to reduce the rude, unshapely marble to a thing of beauty. The saw, the hammer and the chisel are cruel tools, but without them the rough stone must remain forever formless and unbeautiful.”
We may not appreciate the “gift” of suffering now, but some day, I suspect we will.
(Paul has tried to show us that:
THE ONLY WAY TO REACH GOD’S GOAL IS TO REACH IT TOGETHER
A PLEA FOR UNITY
Now he moves from teaching to pleading. The statements in verse 1 in are usually stated as conditions:
If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ,
if any comfort from his love,
if any fellowship with the Spirit,
if any tenderness and compassion,
Paul is expecting that any Christian will answer “of course we have encouragement, comfort and so on through Christ.”
Well, then, “be one”
What’s rendered here as “Have the same thoughts,” can mean “be concerned for the one thing” – and what do you think the one thing is?
What he’s been saying all along, the progress of the gospel
Church is not the place for seeking our own agendas (if there is such a place!).
Here, we are to seek God’s agenda
We are to give up our goals for God’s goals.
But it’s so tempting to promote our own preferences, because they really seem so much better than the alternatives.
What we like OR
what we’re used to
But we need to focus on the goal of the progress of the gospel
(1) Both outwardly – to the world
(2) And inwardly – through discipleship
Sometimes that means embracing things that we don’t particularly like in order to consider others’ needs.
Sometimes that takes some major rethinking.
In a book called “Rethinking the Church,” James Emery White tells this story. He was speaking at a conference where he mentioned using contemporary music to help those who haven’t grown up in the church to receive the truth of the gospel.
Afterward, an elderly woman came up to speak to him. With the help of a cane, she had slowly worked her way up to the front.
She stood in front of Mr. White and said, "Young man, I want to have a word with you about what you said tonight."
And he’s thinking, “Oh no, here it comes.”
"Are you trying to tell me churches should use contemporary music to reach people today?"
Now, he’d just spent a good deal of effort saying exactly that, but after taking a look at that cane, he very politely said, "Well, ma’am, I don’t know, it might help -- what do you think?"
She said, "Young man, I want you to know that Montovani is about as contemporary as I get -- unless it’s a weekend -- and then maybe Lawrence Welk!"
Then she held up her cane, pointed it right at his face and said, “So if rock ’n roll is what it takes to get people back to church, all I’ve got to say is . . . ’Let’s Boogie!’ It’s not my style of music, but if it will reach people for my Jesus, I like it.”
And then she said, “Besides, the church doesn’t exist for my needs. It exists to win the world."
I want to clarify why I’m telling that story.
It is NOT because I want to bring a rock ‘n roll band into church from now on, although I would like to go back to doing some choruses as you’ve done in the past, to play my guitar a little bit.
But that’s not why I told the story
I also don’t want you to think the church exists only to evangelize and not for the care and nurture of its members, because those things – and others – are also an integral part of the church’s mission.
I told this story because it’s a perfect example of Paul’s words in these first four verses of chapter 2.
That woman was willing to lay aside her personal preferences for the sake of others and for the sake of the greater goal of the church.
She was looking out for the interests of others.
That is seeking common goal; that is participating in the common purpose.
What’s our goal? – the progress of the gospel, inside & outside of our church building.
Like those kids at the special Olympics, sometimes we’ll need to stop and pick others up, so that we can move forward together
Because:
THE ONLY WAY TO REACH GOD’S GOAL IS TO REACH IT TOGETHER.
CONCLUSION
If you visit Hot Springs, Arkansas, you’ll probably see the Morris Antique Mall. If you browse around, you won’t find anything to distinguish it from dozens of other antique stores in Hot Springs. It’s got that musty smell and heaping piles of dusty relics from the past.
But if you walk around the outside of the Morris Antique Mall, you’ll see that it does have one distinguishing characteristic in its architecture. Before the Morris Antique Mall was an antique store, it was a church.
What causes a church to move from housing a living, vibrant community of God’s people to becoming just a resting place for rusty relics?
Should the Lord delay His return, what do you want this church to be like not just in 5 years or 10 years, but in 50 or 100 years? Living, vibrant, worshipping God and communicating the gospel to people in ways that are relevant and meaningful to their lives? Or an antique store? A place where people go to see how things used to be a long, long time ago? What choices do we need to make to end up in the first place, and not in the second?
There’s no such thing as a static Christian – who just remains in one place spiritually – there are only Christians who are pressing onwards, growing towards Christ, or Christians who are growing away from him.
The same is true of churches – they are either moving together toward fulfilling the purposes of God, or moving toward becoming antique stores.
Our challenge is to be a people, to be a church which is continuously moving toward the goal God has placed before us, to live a life worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ -- and to move together. Because --
THE ONLY WAY TO REACH GOD’S GOAL IS TO REACH IT TOGETHER.
May God grant that this church would fulfill His purposes for us, and that we would indeed, reach God’s goal together.
