Look, Made you look…
Unity and Responsibility
The Scripture Passage
Philippians 3:15 - 4:9
15 All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained. 17 Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now say again, even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
Chapter 4
1 Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends! 2 I plead with Euodia, and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. 3 Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me — put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Tim’s Sermon Notes
Do you remember … LOOK!!! Madest thou look … the oldest trick in the book.
Have you ever had a meltdown? The day just isn’t turning out like you planned, and it seems that the deck is stacked against you. We have all been there at one point or another. It is a great temptation to begin to look for whose to blame for it all. Your boss, your wife or husband, your kids or your parents, your teacher, your government, your list can go on forever. The Blame Game is the oldest Game in the Book. The Blame Game has been around since the garden. It has always been easier to blame than to take, as Paul put it, “a mature view.” (3:15)
Paul pleaded with a couple in Phillipi who were not seeing eye to eye. Euodia and Syntyche. There are differences even among Christians. If you think God created us to be carbon copies, then even we don’t see eye to eye. In Paul’s letter and today, what does unify us is who we are in Christ … members of his body. Not all having the same function, but a part of each other. We have to work together.
When we are drawn into any conflict, let us remember 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord, always rejoice. This is our focus to become unified in Christ even though there may be a difference between us. Christ is our Unifier.
vv5-6 In our prayer life, we move from focus on ourselves to our focus on who He is in and through us. So much so that it is more than we can ask or imagine. He is at work in us!
Paul's admonition takes definition in verses 8-9: Think on these things … Remember the example of Christ we are to one another and take note of His Presence. May our appetites become like His for the things that are noble, pure, right!!
Do you need to take a new view today? The key to being refreshed by His Holy Spirit is to focus on rejoicing in Christ Jesus our Lord.
My Letter on Such Things
Dear Reader,
This is the first of the sermon notes that my father left after his passing in 2017 that I intend to release to the public through this Blog. In doing so, I also intend to talk briefly on the points to expound on them and potentially connect them to today. I would first thank you for your time and for honoring my father’s legacy.
In this sermon, my father touches on two major points: Unity in Christ and Responsibility. Unity and Responsibility are interwoven throughout all of scripture. The responsibility that we all have as Christians is to be united in Christ. Here in the letter to the Philippians, Paul admonishes them, hoping that they would race toward Christ and that he would become their one and only Goal. That everything that has been shared, lived, and done in them would come to fruition of Christs work in them.
I particularly love the last portion of this scripture passage. I believe that it is a passage that will stand the test of time. Think on the beautiful, right, noble things of the world, but what is even better. Paul touches on something deep at the end of this passage, he writes, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me — put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” This is the hope of all Christians that Christ be seen in us and that those who walk with us would put into practice that which has been seen in us and understood as having come from God and not from us.
It is in everyone’s own personal relationship with Christ that God has made himself known. We may interact with each other and see things that happen that may not be to our liking or even expectaitons but what is in line with Christ is to be praised, focused on, and held above all. That is what is true, right, pure, lovely, noble, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy.
Oftentimes, the only things that are of note are that which is condemnable, demonstrative, and even satanic. This is the News that tells me of another mass shooting. This is the weather that can only say another storm is coming. When do we stop and praise God for the good things that are happening in our lives instead of waiting for the world to tell us of everything that is going wrong? This is to say: Do not listen to the clickbait. However, this is the world we live in. If it can get views, they produce it, and in the end, the world has now become a worse place rather than closer to what the Lord would have liked, more noise drawing our attention away from himself.
In this scenario, I think often of a cartoon character of my generation, Uncle Iroh. In Avatar the Last Airbender, he has a quote that I will paraphrase, which goes something like this — when you look for good, or look for bad, that is all you will see. When we chase after something, it becomes our focus, our unifier. If we are just floating along in life, the world will give you that unifier and its dread and despair, but if you choose to follow Christ, he becomes the focus; he becomes the only thing we see in the world. That focus filters out the noise and allows us to be the Church, His Church, united in Him to the Glory of God the Father.
As stated in the first portion of my Father’s sermon, it’s easier to blame someone for what’s happening in the world, or even your own personal world. What this world needs are individuals who take responsibility for what is and focus on what can be in Christ, choosing him above all else. The only way forward is to own it. Take a moment to review what is happening in your life. What are you directly responsible for and in control of? What are you not in control of that affects you directly? Now with that information, look toward Christ and allow him to shape what must be done and what must be put aside. Not everything is going to go the way you want it, but with Christ, it will be for our benefit. That is my firm Belief. I hope it can be yours.
Sincerely,
Isaac D Lee