Sermon from 13th July 2008
Today, our Associate Vicar, John Itumu, preaches. His sermon is based on the reading from Philippians 4:1-9
New Resources
As we near the end of this beautiful letter that Paul wrote to this ancient 1st century church, we can’t help but marvel at the depth of friendship that radiates through it. Look at some of the statements he has made: 1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you… I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel… 2:2…be like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind…look out to the interest of others… Philippians is truly a letter of friendship, but what kind of friendship? The Greco-Roman world took letter writing very seriously. It is said that formal schooling would have included instruction in letter writing. Scholars classify over 21 different types of letters and this one fits the category of the friendly, familiar type of letter. It is the sort of letter that people who shared some core ideals, eg where there was giving and receiving of benefits (social reciprocity), wrote to each other. The mutual goodwill between Paul and this church shines through the letter. They are his partners in the gospel. And it is this deep affection that gives him the audacity to confront an issue that if not checked was going to undermine their relationships with each other and with Christ. It often takes a friend, and a sincere one, to confront our ugly side. 4:2I plead with Euodia and with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord Very little is known about these two ladies, except that their names roughly mean ‘success’ and ‘lucky’; names that indicate pagan origins. What we do however know is that Paul refers to them as his co-workers who have ‘contended by his side in the cause of the gospel’.v3 He devotes part of his letter to the church to urge these women to put aside their partisan quarrel and cultivate a spirit of gentleness and kindness toward each other. I don’t know about you but I find disagreements and arguments very energy draining. My mind keeps replaying the whole situation until it is resolved. If you have been unlucky to have had an argument with your spouse or a close friend then you know just how true this is. Do I speak a foreign language? We can easily fight and argue over lots of things – even in church. Now, we don't know what Euodia and Syntyche quarrelled about. Maybe, as someone once joked, they probably argued about whose name was harder to pronounce. But things had not always been so. Before this confrontation, these two women had co-operated and worked with Paul. Its worth remembering also that the church at Philippi initially began when women (like Lydia) gathered by the river on the Jewish Sabbath for prayer. Acts 16:13-15.There’s a good chance that Euodia and Syntyche were part of that original group, household leaders and therefore church leaders. Perhaps house congregations of Philippi still met in their homes. Common faith and desire to serve the Lord does not necessarily prevent us from having differences with each other. Sometimes very sincere people who love God and His work can disagree. And Paul does the brave thing. In the spirit of sincere friendship, he appeals to both women and refuses to take sides. He mobilises all possible resources of the church to mend this rift in their fellowship. V3 …Yes and I ask you, my true companion, help these women… No effort was too great to maintain the peace of the church. And he was right, because a quarrelling church is a church in which Christ has been shut out. Psalm 133. How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity…for there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life for evermore. And since Paul recognises that differences can often be very tough to resolve, he invokes the Lord’s name. He suggests that their lack of unity is no longer a personal matter between them but affects the gospel of Jesus Christ in the church at Philippi. This is reason enough to quickly resolve it. So he tells them, ..be of the same mind in the Lord. Sometimes, resolving conflict requires supernatural strength, the supernatural power of God. And Paul urges these two ladies to tap into that power source and agree in the Lord. Be encouraged that this awesome power of God, the power that can turn foes into friends, is always available. It is always switched on. Friends, the always available Jesus is the power source behind our ability to be in right relationship to one another. A commitment to His purposes is the common ground on which we ought to base all our relationships. Remember, issues do not make quarrels, people do, and we have a choice in this matter. Being like minded, having the same love and being one in spirit, these things perfectly imitate Christ’s humility, which climaxed at his being crucified on a cross. This mindset finds expression when we look out for one another’s interest, especially in the believing community. What a magnificent resource to help us stand firm in the Lord and in relationship with each other! So rejoice in the Lord always. And just in case you doubt I will say it again: rejoice. Paul concludes with these famous words by reminding us that in spite of the tough times that we go through in this life, being in the Lord ought to give us a reason to rejoice. But what does this mean? It means contemplating and longing for God’s presence in all situations we find ourselves in. It means pouring our hearts out to God in joy and prayer and thanksgiving. It means being aware of God’s presence while travelling, at work, at home and when we worship together like now. It means choosing to delight in God, regardless. The righteous will rejoice in the Lord… Psalm 64:10 These moral imperatives are true marks of believers. A Christian’s joy is not of the temporal kind that is there when we open a gift and is gone in minutes. It is an abiding deeply spiritual quality of life. Rejoicing, we are reminded is not an option, but a command. Rejoicing is to mark the individual and corporate lives of all in Philippi. Rejoicing in the Lord is a command for us today in Herne Hill. And what more qualified person to remind us this than Paul who writes these words while in prison! Rejoicing, yet another resource for us! Brothers and sisters, whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy – think about such things. Fill your mind with such things. We are to choose to refocus our minds and put them to work contemplating who God is - and what He can do. The prophet Isaiah 26:3 reminds us that People with their minds set on God, He keeps completely whole. Let us learn to focus our minds on Godly thoughts.; allow God to change the way we think. Encountering God is affirmative, but also transformative. It confronts our corrupt and fallen human nature. It confronts our sin. Unfortunately, we live in modern times when even Christians cannot agree on what sin is. The supremacy of Christ and authority of scripture has been questioned. It seems to me that we believe what we want depending on where we come from. It is at such a time that we urgently need to go back to this word which was bequeathed to us by God through the people He inspired to write it. Living in 21st century Britain is no excuse to invalidate what the bible encourages and admonishes. Psalm 19:7-9 reminds us that the precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. Anyone who dares fill their heart and mind with God's word will have a built-in radar for detecting and filtering out wrong thoughts. I can testify that one result of frequent (if not daily) meditation on God’s word is a renewed mind. Don’t even make it you goal to always look out for fault; we can all do that. fill your mind with praiseworthy thoughts. Surround yourself with optimistic people who look at life through Christ's eyes. Christ brings hope. Brothers and sisters, whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy – think about such things. Fill your mind with such things. These resources are yours and mine, at our disposal. But what do we do with the depressing epidemic of knife stabbings, you ask. It just fills up our minds. Well, let it cause us to pray and cry to God and join with other Christians who are trying to do something about it. Ask God to reveal to you how you can help. Now, all this is not a naive behaviour for the believer. It's not ignoring the bad in our world. No, it is simply remembering that God is in control, and because He is at the helm, He can make all things work for our good, however impossible it seems. Amen.
New Resources
As we near the end of this beautiful letter that Paul wrote to this ancient 1st century church, we can’t help but marvel at the depth of friendship that radiates through it. Look at some of the statements he has made: 1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you… I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel… 2:2…be like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind…look out to the interest of others… Philippians is truly a letter of friendship, but what kind of friendship? The Greco-Roman world took letter writing very seriously. It is said that formal schooling would have included instruction in letter writing. Scholars classify over 21 different types of letters and this one fits the category of the friendly, familiar type of letter. It is the sort of letter that people who shared some core ideals, eg where there was giving and receiving of benefits (social reciprocity), wrote to each other. The mutual goodwill between Paul and this church shines through the letter. They are his partners in the gospel. And it is this deep affection that gives him the audacity to confront an issue that if not checked was going to undermine their relationships with each other and with Christ. It often takes a friend, and a sincere one, to confront our ugly side. 4:2I plead with Euodia and with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord Very little is known about these two ladies, except that their names roughly mean ‘success’ and ‘lucky’; names that indicate pagan origins. What we do however know is that Paul refers to them as his co-workers who have ‘contended by his side in the cause of the gospel’.v3 He devotes part of his letter to the church to urge these women to put aside their partisan quarrel and cultivate a spirit of gentleness and kindness toward each other. I don’t know about you but I find disagreements and arguments very energy draining. My mind keeps replaying the whole situation until it is resolved. If you have been unlucky to have had an argument with your spouse or a close friend then you know just how true this is. Do I speak a foreign language? We can easily fight and argue over lots of things – even in church. Now, we don't know what Euodia and Syntyche quarrelled about. Maybe, as someone once joked, they probably argued about whose name was harder to pronounce. But things had not always been so. Before this confrontation, these two women had co-operated and worked with Paul. Its worth remembering also that the church at Philippi initially began when women (like Lydia) gathered by the river on the Jewish Sabbath for prayer. Acts 16:13-15.There’s a good chance that Euodia and Syntyche were part of that original group, household leaders and therefore church leaders. Perhaps house congregations of Philippi still met in their homes. Common faith and desire to serve the Lord does not necessarily prevent us from having differences with each other. Sometimes very sincere people who love God and His work can disagree. And Paul does the brave thing. In the spirit of sincere friendship, he appeals to both women and refuses to take sides. He mobilises all possible resources of the church to mend this rift in their fellowship. V3 …Yes and I ask you, my true companion, help these women… No effort was too great to maintain the peace of the church. And he was right, because a quarrelling church is a church in which Christ has been shut out. Psalm 133. How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity…for there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life for evermore. And since Paul recognises that differences can often be very tough to resolve, he invokes the Lord’s name. He suggests that their lack of unity is no longer a personal matter between them but affects the gospel of Jesus Christ in the church at Philippi. This is reason enough to quickly resolve it. So he tells them, ..be of the same mind in the Lord. Sometimes, resolving conflict requires supernatural strength, the supernatural power of God. And Paul urges these two ladies to tap into that power source and agree in the Lord. Be encouraged that this awesome power of God, the power that can turn foes into friends, is always available. It is always switched on. Friends, the always available Jesus is the power source behind our ability to be in right relationship to one another. A commitment to His purposes is the common ground on which we ought to base all our relationships. Remember, issues do not make quarrels, people do, and we have a choice in this matter. Being like minded, having the same love and being one in spirit, these things perfectly imitate Christ’s humility, which climaxed at his being crucified on a cross. This mindset finds expression when we look out for one another’s interest, especially in the believing community. What a magnificent resource to help us stand firm in the Lord and in relationship with each other! So rejoice in the Lord always. And just in case you doubt I will say it again: rejoice. Paul concludes with these famous words by reminding us that in spite of the tough times that we go through in this life, being in the Lord ought to give us a reason to rejoice. But what does this mean? It means contemplating and longing for God’s presence in all situations we find ourselves in. It means pouring our hearts out to God in joy and prayer and thanksgiving. It means being aware of God’s presence while travelling, at work, at home and when we worship together like now. It means choosing to delight in God, regardless. The righteous will rejoice in the Lord… Psalm 64:10 These moral imperatives are true marks of believers. A Christian’s joy is not of the temporal kind that is there when we open a gift and is gone in minutes. It is an abiding deeply spiritual quality of life. Rejoicing, we are reminded is not an option, but a command. Rejoicing is to mark the individual and corporate lives of all in Philippi. Rejoicing in the Lord is a command for us today in Herne Hill. And what more qualified person to remind us this than Paul who writes these words while in prison! Rejoicing, yet another resource for us! Brothers and sisters, whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy – think about such things. Fill your mind with such things. We are to choose to refocus our minds and put them to work contemplating who God is - and what He can do. The prophet Isaiah 26:3 reminds us that People with their minds set on God, He keeps completely whole. Let us learn to focus our minds on Godly thoughts.; allow God to change the way we think. Encountering God is affirmative, but also transformative. It confronts our corrupt and fallen human nature. It confronts our sin. Unfortunately, we live in modern times when even Christians cannot agree on what sin is. The supremacy of Christ and authority of scripture has been questioned. It seems to me that we believe what we want depending on where we come from. It is at such a time that we urgently need to go back to this word which was bequeathed to us by God through the people He inspired to write it. Living in 21st century Britain is no excuse to invalidate what the bible encourages and admonishes. Psalm 19:7-9 reminds us that the precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. Anyone who dares fill their heart and mind with God's word will have a built-in radar for detecting and filtering out wrong thoughts. I can testify that one result of frequent (if not daily) meditation on God’s word is a renewed mind. Don’t even make it you goal to always look out for fault; we can all do that. fill your mind with praiseworthy thoughts. Surround yourself with optimistic people who look at life through Christ's eyes. Christ brings hope. Brothers and sisters, whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy – think about such things. Fill your mind with such things. These resources are yours and mine, at our disposal. But what do we do with the depressing epidemic of knife stabbings, you ask. It just fills up our minds. Well, let it cause us to pray and cry to God and join with other Christians who are trying to do something about it. Ask God to reveal to you how you can help. Now, all this is not a naive behaviour for the believer. It's not ignoring the bad in our world. No, it is simply remembering that God is in control, and because He is at the helm, He can make all things work for our good, however impossible it seems. Amen.
posted by Parish Administrator at 12:21 pm
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