JOIN US ON MARCH 28TH AT 5:30PM FOR A SOUP SUPPER FOLLOWED AT 7:00PM FOR A MAUNDY THURSDAY WORSHIP SERVICE.

WE ALSO INVITE EVERYONE TO EASTER WORSHIP ON MARCH 31ST AT 10:00AM TO CELEBRATE THE RESURRECTION OF OUR SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST.

xclose menu

"Work Out"

October 25, 2020 Speaker: Pastor Bob Davis

Passage: Philippians 2:12–30

Remembering that this was a very personal letter that Paul wrote to friends in Philippi, I am going to reverse the order of the verses for the sermon today. Verses 19-30 remind us how intimately Paul knew these folks. In a very friendly manner, he sent them a stern, strong note about what he expected from them: to work through their issues to be united in Christ.

Paul explained how he was going to send Timothy to them as an emissary. Timothy would report back to Paul how things were going. Paul reminded his friends how special Timothy was to him – and to them. He tagged on – almost as a throw-away line, “and…oh, yeah…I trust in the Lord that I will also come soon.” That sounds like a throw-away line or just an aside; however, it is anything but a frivolous statement. This was Paul’s not-so-subtle way of declaring that he was going to visit and that he expected them to make sure things were good. 

Why was this not-so-veiled warning necessary? It was necessary because Paul was sending home the Philippian’s gift to him: Epaphroditus. The Philippians had sent Epaphroditus to look after Paul while Paul was in prison. Because Epaphroditus was returning unexpectedly in Philippi, the church would be subject to divisiveness over what happened to make Paul send him back.

Paul knew that some of the Philippians would be disappointed to see Epaphroditus return home thinking he must have failed. Others would understand and be glad to see him. Certainly, his arrival would generate conversation. People would be prone to end up having opinions about Epaphroditus – and about those who held different opinions about Epaphroditus. This was Paul’s concern.

Paul understood people and he understood churches. Relationships are messy. Churches are full of messy relationships. Christians are real people with all the brokenness and all the foibles that everyone else has. So, what we see here is Paul’s initiative to nip problems in the bud. Look at what he wrote:

  • “my brother and co-worker and fellow soldier, your messenger and minister to my need” – in other words, “He did well. He was a blessing to me.”
  • “He’s longing for you and has been distressed because you heard he was ill.” He loves you.
  • Verse 27, “It bothered me, too; so much that I am grateful that God had mercy and is letting me give him back to you.” I love him, and I love you, too.
  • Verse 28, “I am sending him back to you so I do not worry about your being anxious for him.”
  • Then, verse 29,, “Welcome him then in the Lord with all joy, and honor such people, because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for those services that you could not give me.” And, remember, I am coming to see that you do welcome him.

This appears to have been the context for Paul’s writing the letter urging unity in Christ. It was the reason for his pep talk. He was stressing the importance of unity and persisting through the hard work of sorting out their differences to be unified. In short: work it out so that you are unified.

I. The Privilege is Suffering For Christ; not simply suffering

That takes us back to the first half of our verses. Unity within the body is so important because the walk of faith can be hard.  We need each other; we need to support each other. We need each other because we know the world will reject the gospel we are called to share. Thus, together, we are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling;  for it is God who is at work in us, enabling us both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Us. All of us. Together.

Paul’s exhortation for unity began and concluded with the idea that suffering is to be expected. Further, he considered it a privilege to suffer for Jesus. In Philippians 2:17-18, he wrote, “But even if I am being poured out as a libation over the sacrifice and the offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you – and in the same way you also must be glad and rejoice with me.”

What was he saying? Was Paul saying that virtue is found in suffering? Does that mean that the universal experience of suffering is good in and of itself? Life is hard. That will not be news to any of you. We struggle. We hurt. We get ill. We grow older. We experience loss – over and over. All of these are true for everyone. Suffering is a part of every life. Does that mean we are all virtuous?

No. The generalized hardship of life is not what Paul was describing for the Philippians. Hard times do not make people Christian any more than good times are a reflection of God’s unconditional blessing.

Paul was being specific about how suffering for Jesus is a privilege. In some way, suffering for Jesus means we are blessed to participate in the mystery of God’s eternal plan for redemption and salvation. We are not earning our salvation – it is still and always a gift – however, there is some sort of mysterious way in which God uses our suffering for his name’s sake in a priestly fashion to be working out some eternal element of the crucifixion and justification.

The role of disciple somehow includes taking on the burden of the communities to which they have been sent: to bear the rejection and derision of the world, to be willing to risk everything for the gospel, and to offer up prayers of intercession, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

Throughout Scripture  – before and after Jesus Christ – there have been people who have willingly suffered for having their first allegiance and loyalty with God. In Hebrews 11, there is a catalogue of those who suffered: Abraham, Moses, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets; and this great Hall of Fame of Faith concludes with,

[these individuals] who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection.

If we were to stop there, it would sound a little like the prosperity gospel: believe and good things will happen to you. If you believe enough, you will get everything you want. However, the writer of Hebrews did not stop there. Instead:

Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented – [that does not sound like fun] – of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

For the writer of Hebrews, these were examples of people who lived by faith, waiting for the Messiah to come. They were privileged to suffer for God. Paul looked to Christ – “who emptied himself, being born in human likeness; and being found in human form, humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” The life and suffering of Christ were holy to the LORD.

The life and suffering of those who bear the name of Christ also are holy to the Lord. Paul carried with him the memory of Stephen, an early deacon, who proclaimed Christ to the leaders in Jerusalem. A pre-converted Paul held the coats of those who stoned Stephen to death. “While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them. When he had said this, he died. And Saul [Paul] approved of their killing him.” Acts 7:59-8:1.

After Paul’s Damascus road encounter with the post-crucifixion risen Lord Jesus, Christ declared, “I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” (Acts 9:16). Paul remembered with his readers his time in Philippi, where he was attacked by a crowd, stripped of his clothing, beaten with rods, and thrown in prison – all for proclaiming the gospel. (Acts 16:20-24).

But that was then – and this is now. The world does not treat believers that way any longer, right?

Well, online this week was the following headline, “Adult Film Stars Speak Out on How Amy Coney Barrett Could Be 'Catastrophic' for Porn Industry.” Here is what I want you to see in this headline and article: the representatives of the porn industry are portrayed as having the moral high ground of First Amendment freedom and the Supreme Court nominee was tagged as having a “history of ‘red flags’” because of her faith, “and [a] ‘perverse, reactionary’ philosophy.”[1] This was an article written and posted by the internet power Yahoo’s entertainment division. People of faith, hear this: expect rejection.

That is here in the United States; consider the martyrs in China, the Middle East, and Africa, who have lost their lives, their homes, and their livelihoods for carrying the name of Jesus. Friends, the call for unity within the body of Christ is so important because we need each other to strengthen each other for the suffering that will come from the outside.

When we call Jesus Savior and Lord, we are a part of his body. Those who suffer for Jesus are heroes because they were privileged and blessed to fulfill the priestly role of bearing the rejection and derision of the world. It does not make the experience any more pleasant of physically any different than other suffering; but the meaning of it and how God uses it is completely different.

Let me give you another example. Today is Reformation Sunday. A little more than 500 years ago, on October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the Wittenberg Door, which is the event to which we trace the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.

Luther’s story is a direct case-in-point of what Paul was teaching the Philippians in our Scripture lesson today. Luther is remembered and celebrated for his willingness to stand up for Jesus. Just as the Jewish leaders in Philippi and Thessalonica worked up crowds to drive the Apostle Paul out of their towns, so the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy worked the system to have the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire excommunicate Luther and declare him a heretic. But that gets to the end of the story too quickly; Luther’s life is worthy of reviewing in a little more detail.

II. Luther’s Example of Suffering For Christ

Martin Luther was born in Germany in1483. In July 1505, Luther had a life-changing experience that set him on a new course. He was caught in a terrible thunderstorm where he feared for his life. As he would later recount, he cried out, “Save me, St. Anne, and I’ll become a monk!” The storm subsided and he was saved.

Luther wanted to become a monk, but he also was driven by fears of hell and God’s wrath. He felt that life in a monastery would help him find salvation. He took the monastic life very seriously. He was terrified of God and was obsessive about confessing his sin – as often as 20 times a day. It got so bad his mentor finally banned him from confession and told Luther, “Do not come back until you do something worthy of confessing.” He punished his body by sleeping on a cold concrete floor.  Now, to digress for a moment:  Luther’s self-inflicted suffering to this point was not God-honoring, it was self-justifying. He was trying to earn his place in the kingdom of God by paying off his sin-debt through his own efforts.

When he was 27, his monastery order sent Luther to Rome for a conference. At the time, the Church taught that by paying respect to relics of saints, one could earn merit that would shorten one's time in Purgatory. The trip was a profoundly disappointing experience for Luther. He was shocked by the immorality, ignorance and flippancy of the Roman priests. He began to doubt the Church's teachings about relics and merits. Luther returned to Germany more troubled than ever.

Luther's superior tried to counsel Luther to stop striving and worrying and simply love God. But how could he love someone he feared so? Luther later recalled his true feelings: "Love God? I hated him!" Finally, exasperated, his mentor directed Luther to earn a doctorate in theology at the local University of Wittenburg, hoping the rigors of academia would force Luther to focus on something other than the state of his own soul.

It worked. Luther earned his doctoral degree and was appointed to serve as professor of theology at the university.

In the course of preparing for lectures, Luther read and re-read two biblical passages that changed his life. First, in 1513, he read in Psalm 22 the words Christ had cried out on the cross: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Luther realized with amazement that the Divine Judge had once known the very desolation he was feeling. This new perspective offered some comfort.

Two years later while preparing for a lecture on the book of Romans, he read, "The just will live by faith." Luther was struck by the power of the simple phrase. He meditated on its meaning for several days, and the full significance of the passage changed his life. Luther finally realized faith was all that was necessary to save him. His new perspective became evident in his lectures and conversations with other faculty. Quickly, his discovery became prominent through the University.

Here is where the story of suffering for Jesus gets interesting. In Rome, Pope Leo X needed funds to build St. Peter's Basilica. What was a Pope to do? Well, the Church sold indulgences as a major source of income. So, in 1517, Leo announced the availability of new indulgences. Those who purchased them, he announced, would not only help protect the precious relics of St. Paul and St. Peter from the ravages of rain and hail, but also would receive valuable religious merit. This merit, which could be distributed at the Pope's discretion from the treasury of merit of the saints, would alleviate the penalty of sin in this life and the next. In other words, you could help atone for the sins of loved ones by paying money to the church.

A Dominican monk named John Tetzel was assigned to the sale of indulgences in Germany. A unscrupulous salesman, Tetzel was willing to make any claim that improved sales. He thus promised not only a reduction in punishment, but complete forgiveness of all sin and a return to the state of perfection enjoyed just after baptism.

He added that if one generously purchased enough indulgences to speed the release of a deceased loved one from Purgatory, no actual repentance on the part of the giver was even necessary. Marketing genius that he was, Tetzel employed a memorable jingle to make his offer clear and simple:

III. "As soon as the coin in the coffer doth ring, a soul from Purgatory it doth springs."

The sale of indulgences was too much for Luther. He could not find any justification for this practice and set out to call church leaders to account. He wrote his 95 Theses and nailed them to the Wittenberg Door. Eventually, the Pope himself received a copy, but was unimpressed. He is said to have inquired, "What drunken German monk wrote these?" He directed Luther’s fraternal order to deal with him.

When invited to the order's next meeting, Luther feared for his life—and for good reason. Heresy had cost the lives of many reformers before him. He went nonetheless. He was surprised by the support he received.

Then, in October 1518, there was a meeting of the Holy Roman Empire's princes and nobles. The Pope sent a representative to the meeting with instructions to convince the German princes to support a crusade against the Turks. A secondary task was to meet with Luther and convince him to recant. Again, Luther feared for his life. Even so, he attended the meeting to defend his views.

The Pope’s representative was not interested in debating issues, only in persuading Luther to recant. Luther followed the example of Jan Hus – who was burned at the stake for heresy 100 years earlier – and responded that he would be glad to recant if shown his errors from the Scriptures. When he learned he was to be arrested if he refused to recant, Luther escaped by night and returned to Wittenburg.

Almost a year later, in July of 1519, a professor named John Eck baited Luther into a debate. Luther demonstrated a superior knowledge of the Scriptures, but Eck was highly skilled in the art of debate. Luther was led to declare that councils can err – meaning the Church’s teaching could be erroneous – and that the average Christian with the authority of Scripture has more power than a council or the Pope himself. Eck considered himself victorious, for Luther had proved himself to be a heretic.

In January 1521, Martin Luther was officially excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church. In March, he was summoned before the Diet of Worms, a general assembly of secular authorities.

Eck acted as the prosecuting attorney for the Emperor. He presented Luther with a table filled with copies of his writings. Eck asked Luther if the books were his and if he still believed what these works taught. Luther requested time to think about his answer. It was granted.

Luther prayed, consulted with friends and mediators and presented himself before the assembly the next day. When the counselor put the same questions to Luther, he said:

"Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason — I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other — my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe."

“Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen."

Private conferences were held to determine Luther's fate. Before a decision was reached, Luther left. During his return to Wittenberg, Luther was “kidnapped” – as it turns out, by friends. The Emperor issued the Edict of Worms on May 25, 1521, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw and a heretic and banning his literature.

Luther's “kidnapping” had been pre-planned. Frederick the Wise was a powerful man who supported Luther. He had arranged for Luther to be seized on his way from the meeting by a company of masked horsemen, who carried him to Wartburg Castle, where he stayed for about a year.

For the rest of his life, Luther was dependent upon others for his physical security; he was always at risk for arrest, prosecution; and, if those things took place, it would likely cost him his life.[2]

Luther’s life is a great story, but it is important to remember: he lived it. Day by day, he lived it. His choice to stand for the gospel revealed in Scripture was a risk. The outcomes were not certain, the threats were real, and the difficulties he faced had a direct impact on his every day life. The support of the body of Christ united around him was essential to his personal safety, his ministry, and his legacy.

On this Reformation Sunday, let me put on my coach’s hat again for a moment and sum up in order to send you out: 

  1. There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12);
  2. The gospel remains a stumbling block for Jews and foolishness for Gentiles. (1 Corinthians 1:23);
  3. Christians can expect persecution and suffering. (1 Thessalonians 3:4);
  4. Persecution for Jesus’ name is holy to God; it is evidence of our salvation and we can actually rejoice(Philippians 1:28; 2:17-18).
  5. We need live unified, holding fast to Christ. We need to live together without murmuring and arguing, so that we may be blameless and innocent, children of God, who shine like stars in the world.

Our mission to live and share the gospel is not a solo endeavor; it is a collective effort. We need everyone to help. We need to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that it is God at work in us, enabling us both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

We are to go forth into this community and the neighboring ones to share the good news we have received. We are to do so in conscious unity, having worked through the differences among us as a visible demonstration of the reality, the truth and the hope of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In him – and only in him – is there life and salvation.

Amen.

 

[1] https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/adult-film-stars-speak-amy-185952677.html

 

[2] (This narrative was drawn from two sources: http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/people/luther/bio.htm and http://www.biography.com/people/martin-luther-9389283)