Philippians 1:1-11 Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer April 23 06
Philippians 1:1-11 Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer April 23 06
(The sermon can be heard online at: http://www.tenth.ca/audio.htm)
Several years ago 118 Russian crewmen were dying when a series of explosions caused the Russian submarine Kursk to sink. Twenty-three of these men survived in an isolated chamber for several hours after the explosion. One of them was 27-year-old Lieutenant Captain Dmitry Kolesnikov, and he wrote a note to his wife while he waited to die. Two words from that note were displayed in a black frame next to his coffin at his funeral service. He wrote, " Mustn't despair." Mustn't despair.
Prisoners of the Nazis in a Warsaw ghetto, after seeing people shot or starved to death, used their last breaths to write notes and store them in crevices in the wall.
When a person is terminally ill they often want to convey an important message to loved ones.
When a person thinks he or she will die, they seem to want to write a message to a loved one--an expression affection or passing along some kind of wisdom.
Paul while a Roman prison in about the year 60 A.D. with as Roman Emperor Nero became increasingly hostile toward Christians, Paul wondered if he would live or die…
While in prison, Paul not sure whether he would live or die, sends the church at Philippi a Roman colony in Ancient Macedonia (modern day Greece), a letter filled with affection and wisdom so they will be able to encouraged and strengthened in their journey with Christ…
The church at Philippi was the one church that actively did something for Paul while he was in prison. They sent him a member named Epaphroditus to bring him food. Unlike prisons today, there were no proper feeding systems in the prisons of Paul’s world. Prisoners in this first century culture would have been dependent on loved ones to bring them food and water in order to survive…
The Philippian church sends Epaphroditus to take care of Paul… but Epaphroditus falls sick! As he recovers, Paul writes a letter for Epaphroditus to bring back to Philippi that will re-introduce and commend Epaphroditus to a community that may resent him for getting sick on this important mission, but letter also carries great affection and wisdom from a man who’s not sure he’ll ever see them again…
Over the next several weeks we’re going to look at this letter of the apostle to the church a Philippi.
If you have your Bible’s please turn to Philippians 1:1
1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
(Paul though a very educated and sophisticated person refers to himself as servant or as the Greek would douloi can be translated as a slave of Jesus Christ… most of us today whether sophisticated in a worldly sense or not, would not freely describe ourselves as a servant or a slave—but when really come to know Christ because--who is Christ, we feel it natural to describe as servant and even slave of Jesus Christ).
To all God's holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
(Paul’s typical signature in his letters…)
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
In this letter it’s obvious Paul has great affection for the church at Philippi.
We know this because of the absence of formal biographical info at the beginning of the letter which would have been included had he not known the community as well, and also because of the warmth and personal nature of this letter…
Notice vs. 3, Paul writes,
3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy…
Even though Paul is in prison, when he thinks and prays for the Philippians he experiences joy…
He talks about remembering them and praying for them with joy because of their partnership in Gospel. In vs. 8 he tells that he has affection for them from the deepest part of himself literally (greek splagnoi) from bowels or guts, we would say from the depths of our heart.
In vss. 4-5 He talks about the joy he has with the Philippians because of their partnership in the Gospel with them… The Greek word translated partnership is the word koinonia which can also be interpreted fellowship or friendship.
In Paul’s Graeco-Roman world, friendship was more important than it is today in our culture. Great philosophers and thinkers, like Aristotle, Cicero and Seneca wrote essays on friendship, what it mean to give and receive in friendship…
Today friendship is not nearly as valuable… today we’re more in how much money does have, or does have style, or a person’s appearance… not as much how caring that person is…. But it was important to Paul…
C.S. Lewis in his book the Four Loves, points out that the higher form of friendship is not where two people look at each other face to face as in the case lovers, but look at a common object… and for Paul and this church it was a friendship based on the work of the Gospel….
In vs. 6 Paul says…
6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
When Paul says being confident of this that he who began a good work in you will carry it on until the day of Christ Jesus…
The Greek word for work is the word “ergon” and it has the idea of a deed or an action that shows itself in a concrete and real way…
We know from the context “good work” Paul speaks of here includes the work of the Gospel, the proclamation of the good news that Christ is risen and alive,
Part of the work as Paul suggests in context of giving thank for the Gospel is a desire to share that news that Christ is risen with others…
According the front page Vancouver Sun article a week ago last Saturday “In the Presence of God.” 62% 6 in 10 Canadians claim that through the life, death, and resurrection God provided a way for their forgiveness of sins.
But only 25%, 1 in 4 believe it’s important to share that news with others.
One of the signs that we really trust that through the life, death, and rising from the dead that our sins are forgiven is that we have a desire to share that with others.
I was talking recently with a person who relatively recently committed her life to Christ.
She was saying now I’ve given my life to Christ, I want to talk about my faith because it’s so important to me, but I also don’t want to over do it because I want keep those friendships.
We talked briefly how to keep up those friendships, even after we come to faith through keeping others regular interests alive…
I said, the changes that are happening inside you in terms of your values and your desire share your faith, are signs that God is doing a work in you…
Part of the “good work” is a desire to partner with God in sharing the Gospel…
We also know the “good work” also speaks of purification of our hearts by God. Paul speaks here of the “good work” being carried on until the day of Christ… that the day of Christ’s return we know from Paul’s use this kind of language in. vs. 10 where Paul prays that the church at Philippi will be blameless until the day they day of Jesus Christ… and in his use of this kind of expression in other writings that “good work” must also refer to God’s entire work of purifying them. If we have really given our lives to Christ, God will work about a good concrete work inside us.
If you were socialized, in a conservative protestant environment, it may be the case that you had (to use Dallas Willard’s image) a kind of “bar code” to Christianity.
The idea goes when we you prayed to invite Christ in your life (or when you were baptized) it was as though God put kind a bar code on you such that if you were scanned by God’s computer, it would read forgiven (use an object to illustrate this).
Like a product you buy at the store, whether there had been a change inside the product or you or not, as long as long you have the barcode on it will “read” whatever was programmed for the barcode.
Many conservative protestants believe that when you give your life to Christ, you had a kind of bar code imprinted on you by God so that regardless of whether there is an inner change in you’re forgiven, you’re “in the clear.”
Catholics in the other hand, generally speaking, have tended to emphasize, righteousness that is imparted to us slowly by God gradually over time… like dye being released in water…
The Bible does teach when we give our lives to Christ there is a kind technical righteousness that that is imprinted on us. The theological way to express this kind righteousness that has been legally attributed because of our connection to Christ is called righteous “imputed to us.”
Because righteous has been attributed or imputed to us, Paul can call the church of Philippi vs. 1 the saints (hagoi” in the Greek) or the holy ones and he can even call the sinners at Corinth saints or holy ones because of a righteousness that has been imputed to them because of their connection with Christ.
But the Bible also teaches that there is a there is a gradual process by which we are made righteous through and through. The theological word righteousness imparted.
If we really have given our lives to Christ, not only will we receive a kind barcode from God that reads forgiven, but we will also experience change on a much deeper level…
Part of that work (the ergon) or the concrete work Christ does in us will be a refining of our character so that we come to reflect more the of fruit of Christ’s character: more Christ’s love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness and self-control.
Paul says to church the Philippi, I thank God for our partnership in the Gospel, being confident of this that God who began a good work in you will complete till the day of Christ’s return, the work being both the partnership in the Gospel and the work of inner purification…
Vs. 9 Paul continues the letter as he prays for the God work of God to be effected in the lives of people at the church at Philippi…
Paul prays that your love may abound more and more
When we think of growing in holiness many of us would think of not being involved promiscuous sex or pornography or gambling or over-drinking…
Some people, think being a Christian about what you don’t do. Joy Davidman, C.S. Lewis’ wife, tells a story about a missionary in Africa who’s trying to share the Gospel with elderly native Indian chief. The chief says I think I understand what being a Christian, it’s means I don’t spear people to death… and steal their land, I don’t chase women and commit adultery… I understand… Being Christian is the same as being really old… I’m already a Christian… Can’t do anything of those things anymore… (I guess a young child could have said, I’m too young any of things, being a Christian is the same as being really young, I must be a Christian…). Some people think being a Christian is just about what you don’t do…
Certainly a follower of Christ does refrain from certain things we do, but more important being follower of Christ is about something become a certain becoming a kind of person who does certain things, a person who loves other people.
Most in my extended my extended family are not followers of Christ, but I have seen that those who have come to Christ have grown in love.
My mom’s dad, my grandfather, was a ceo and she grew with up certain privileges. She was born and raised in Japan, but during a time when Japan was rebuilding after the war, her dad her sent to USA be educated at some of the best universities.
While we were living in London, England, she and dad worked for the B.B.C.
We lived in a lovely home and other people come help make meals and clean the house and make our beds…
When we moved to Vancouver, my dad ended working writing an economic/business journal covering the performance Canadians businesses for Japanese companies. Sounds interesting if you enjoy economics… but the journal had a small market. And we went life of privilege to not having much money at all…. Things were really tight financially for us. As our family economic picture went down and number of kids went up 5 and we fought a lot, my mom’s stress level rose…
I remember how she could be frustrated and angry… but then she re-committed her life to Christ… and over time became the most loving, gentle, wise person…
(Mom’s dad was a ceo. Scary dude. I remembering walking with him in Tokyo one day with my cousins and we were all walking behind him like little chicks and I started walking ahead of him… he turned to me and snapped, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
At 85 or so he came to Christ. According he to my cousin, he became a gentler more considerate and for the first time in his doing the dishes… )
A big part what it means to have good to a good work in us means that we become people who bear the love of Christ… So, Paul writes I pray that your love would abound more and more
When God is at work in us we become more loving people…
But we cannot judge… Have you ever thought I know some people who aren’t Christians who are more loving that people who are Christians… we may be tempted they’re not real Christians…, but if tempted to judge (and only God knows for sure who belongs to him) let me remind of what C.S. Lewis said, some people are born pit bulls and others born golden retrievers and if you’re born a pitt bull and you come to know God, you become more loving… but may still be less loving than someone born a Golden retriever, but if the retriever came to know God, that person would be even more loving… kind of people who we say to ourselves they’d great Christians…
Paul says in vs. 9b I pray that your love would abound more in knowledge…and depth of insight so that you be able to discern what is best…
The word Paul uses here that is translated knowledge comes from the Greek word aisthesis it means common sense.
It refers to the kind of wisdom comes out of real life experience or relationships.
Sometimes we think of Christians are very “spiritual” people, but lack common sense and Paul is praying that the church at Philippi will have common sense.
We know that in such of Philippi there were two people who were fighting. We don’t know the details, but we know they were in conflict.
Part of means to be a person of common sense is to know what’s worth fighting over and what one should “let go.”
Some churches fight and split over the color of the carpet… or whether to have a Christmas tree in the Sanctuary or not… I read about two people at church in Texas got into fist fight in the parking over whether to have Christmas tree or not in the Sanctuary during advent…
If I am talking to a younger leader about leadership, sometimes about the need to develop the ability to know what’s really important and what’s not so important. What are things to fight for, die on the hill and what to let go of….
John W. Garnder, who taught at University of California and served high level government posts in his classic book entitled On Leadership, Gardner the top two attributes of leader are physical stamina and judgment in real life situation. He points possible to be brilliant but lack judgment. He says there nothing more dangerous, than stupid person with a brilliant mind!
A very different source… Mother Teresa said if you want come work in my mission I require physical stamina and common sense.
Paul says we I pray you will have knowledge (aisthesis) so that you will be able to discern what is best…and may be pure and blameless until the day of Jesus Christ…
It requires common sense to discern what is really important in a relationship, in life (what’s worth fighting for and not worth fighting), what is truly valuable, what it is true wealth? It takes common sense to create list of things to do and list of things to stop doing.
So as Paul as writes from prison he speaks of his affections, he assures the Philippians of God’s ongoing work of God in their lives… he prays that they would grow in love and common sense…
At our home Bible study this past week, when someone found out I had had a recent birthday, she said when you a certain age, birthdays they are nothing to celebrate, they’re depressing…
After our Bible study, I went running at Douglas park and someone passed me on the trail, it used to be no one used no passed while I ran me--if I saw some one in my “review mirror,” I’d next gear up and not let them pass… now people are passing me, I’m getting old!
This past week, in my daily reading, I read in 2 Cor 4, where Paul says though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day…
Gail Sheehy in her book New Passages "If every day is an awakening, you will never grow old. You will just keep growing."
Paul prays for us that we would be continually awakened by God’s work of forming love and wisdom, if that happens, we will never grow old in the most important sense, we just keep growing, we just keep becoming like Christ, growing in love and wisdom and purity until the day we meet Him face to face.
(The sermon can be heard online at: http://www.tenth.ca/audio.htm)
Several years ago 118 Russian crewmen were dying when a series of explosions caused the Russian submarine Kursk to sink. Twenty-three of these men survived in an isolated chamber for several hours after the explosion. One of them was 27-year-old Lieutenant Captain Dmitry Kolesnikov, and he wrote a note to his wife while he waited to die. Two words from that note were displayed in a black frame next to his coffin at his funeral service. He wrote, " Mustn't despair." Mustn't despair.
Prisoners of the Nazis in a Warsaw ghetto, after seeing people shot or starved to death, used their last breaths to write notes and store them in crevices in the wall.
When a person is terminally ill they often want to convey an important message to loved ones.
When a person thinks he or she will die, they seem to want to write a message to a loved one--an expression affection or passing along some kind of wisdom.
Paul while a Roman prison in about the year 60 A.D. with as Roman Emperor Nero became increasingly hostile toward Christians, Paul wondered if he would live or die…
While in prison, Paul not sure whether he would live or die, sends the church at Philippi a Roman colony in Ancient Macedonia (modern day Greece), a letter filled with affection and wisdom so they will be able to encouraged and strengthened in their journey with Christ…
The church at Philippi was the one church that actively did something for Paul while he was in prison. They sent him a member named Epaphroditus to bring him food. Unlike prisons today, there were no proper feeding systems in the prisons of Paul’s world. Prisoners in this first century culture would have been dependent on loved ones to bring them food and water in order to survive…
The Philippian church sends Epaphroditus to take care of Paul… but Epaphroditus falls sick! As he recovers, Paul writes a letter for Epaphroditus to bring back to Philippi that will re-introduce and commend Epaphroditus to a community that may resent him for getting sick on this important mission, but letter also carries great affection and wisdom from a man who’s not sure he’ll ever see them again…
Over the next several weeks we’re going to look at this letter of the apostle to the church a Philippi.
If you have your Bible’s please turn to Philippians 1:1
1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
(Paul though a very educated and sophisticated person refers to himself as servant or as the Greek would douloi can be translated as a slave of Jesus Christ… most of us today whether sophisticated in a worldly sense or not, would not freely describe ourselves as a servant or a slave—but when really come to know Christ because--who is Christ, we feel it natural to describe as servant and even slave of Jesus Christ).
To all God's holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
(Paul’s typical signature in his letters…)
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
In this letter it’s obvious Paul has great affection for the church at Philippi.
We know this because of the absence of formal biographical info at the beginning of the letter which would have been included had he not known the community as well, and also because of the warmth and personal nature of this letter…
Notice vs. 3, Paul writes,
3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy…
Even though Paul is in prison, when he thinks and prays for the Philippians he experiences joy…
He talks about remembering them and praying for them with joy because of their partnership in Gospel. In vs. 8 he tells that he has affection for them from the deepest part of himself literally (greek splagnoi) from bowels or guts, we would say from the depths of our heart.
In vss. 4-5 He talks about the joy he has with the Philippians because of their partnership in the Gospel with them… The Greek word translated partnership is the word koinonia which can also be interpreted fellowship or friendship.
In Paul’s Graeco-Roman world, friendship was more important than it is today in our culture. Great philosophers and thinkers, like Aristotle, Cicero and Seneca wrote essays on friendship, what it mean to give and receive in friendship…
Today friendship is not nearly as valuable… today we’re more in how much money does have, or does have style, or a person’s appearance… not as much how caring that person is…. But it was important to Paul…
C.S. Lewis in his book the Four Loves, points out that the higher form of friendship is not where two people look at each other face to face as in the case lovers, but look at a common object… and for Paul and this church it was a friendship based on the work of the Gospel….
In vs. 6 Paul says…
6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
When Paul says being confident of this that he who began a good work in you will carry it on until the day of Christ Jesus…
The Greek word for work is the word “ergon” and it has the idea of a deed or an action that shows itself in a concrete and real way…
We know from the context “good work” Paul speaks of here includes the work of the Gospel, the proclamation of the good news that Christ is risen and alive,
Part of the work as Paul suggests in context of giving thank for the Gospel is a desire to share that news that Christ is risen with others…
According the front page Vancouver Sun article a week ago last Saturday “In the Presence of God.” 62% 6 in 10 Canadians claim that through the life, death, and resurrection God provided a way for their forgiveness of sins.
But only 25%, 1 in 4 believe it’s important to share that news with others.
One of the signs that we really trust that through the life, death, and rising from the dead that our sins are forgiven is that we have a desire to share that with others.
I was talking recently with a person who relatively recently committed her life to Christ.
She was saying now I’ve given my life to Christ, I want to talk about my faith because it’s so important to me, but I also don’t want to over do it because I want keep those friendships.
We talked briefly how to keep up those friendships, even after we come to faith through keeping others regular interests alive…
I said, the changes that are happening inside you in terms of your values and your desire share your faith, are signs that God is doing a work in you…
Part of the “good work” is a desire to partner with God in sharing the Gospel…
We also know the “good work” also speaks of purification of our hearts by God. Paul speaks here of the “good work” being carried on until the day of Christ… that the day of Christ’s return we know from Paul’s use this kind of language in. vs. 10 where Paul prays that the church at Philippi will be blameless until the day they day of Jesus Christ… and in his use of this kind of expression in other writings that “good work” must also refer to God’s entire work of purifying them. If we have really given our lives to Christ, God will work about a good concrete work inside us.
If you were socialized, in a conservative protestant environment, it may be the case that you had (to use Dallas Willard’s image) a kind of “bar code” to Christianity.
The idea goes when we you prayed to invite Christ in your life (or when you were baptized) it was as though God put kind a bar code on you such that if you were scanned by God’s computer, it would read forgiven (use an object to illustrate this).
Like a product you buy at the store, whether there had been a change inside the product or you or not, as long as long you have the barcode on it will “read” whatever was programmed for the barcode.
Many conservative protestants believe that when you give your life to Christ, you had a kind of bar code imprinted on you by God so that regardless of whether there is an inner change in you’re forgiven, you’re “in the clear.”
Catholics in the other hand, generally speaking, have tended to emphasize, righteousness that is imparted to us slowly by God gradually over time… like dye being released in water…
The Bible does teach when we give our lives to Christ there is a kind technical righteousness that that is imprinted on us. The theological way to express this kind righteousness that has been legally attributed because of our connection to Christ is called righteous “imputed to us.”
Because righteous has been attributed or imputed to us, Paul can call the church of Philippi vs. 1 the saints (hagoi” in the Greek) or the holy ones and he can even call the sinners at Corinth saints or holy ones because of a righteousness that has been imputed to them because of their connection with Christ.
But the Bible also teaches that there is a there is a gradual process by which we are made righteous through and through. The theological word righteousness imparted.
If we really have given our lives to Christ, not only will we receive a kind barcode from God that reads forgiven, but we will also experience change on a much deeper level…
Part of that work (the ergon) or the concrete work Christ does in us will be a refining of our character so that we come to reflect more the of fruit of Christ’s character: more Christ’s love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness and self-control.
Paul says to church the Philippi, I thank God for our partnership in the Gospel, being confident of this that God who began a good work in you will complete till the day of Christ’s return, the work being both the partnership in the Gospel and the work of inner purification…
Vs. 9 Paul continues the letter as he prays for the God work of God to be effected in the lives of people at the church at Philippi…
Paul prays that your love may abound more and more
When we think of growing in holiness many of us would think of not being involved promiscuous sex or pornography or gambling or over-drinking…
Some people, think being a Christian about what you don’t do. Joy Davidman, C.S. Lewis’ wife, tells a story about a missionary in Africa who’s trying to share the Gospel with elderly native Indian chief. The chief says I think I understand what being a Christian, it’s means I don’t spear people to death… and steal their land, I don’t chase women and commit adultery… I understand… Being Christian is the same as being really old… I’m already a Christian… Can’t do anything of those things anymore… (I guess a young child could have said, I’m too young any of things, being a Christian is the same as being really young, I must be a Christian…). Some people think being a Christian is just about what you don’t do…
Certainly a follower of Christ does refrain from certain things we do, but more important being follower of Christ is about something become a certain becoming a kind of person who does certain things, a person who loves other people.
Most in my extended my extended family are not followers of Christ, but I have seen that those who have come to Christ have grown in love.
My mom’s dad, my grandfather, was a ceo and she grew with up certain privileges. She was born and raised in Japan, but during a time when Japan was rebuilding after the war, her dad her sent to USA be educated at some of the best universities.
While we were living in London, England, she and dad worked for the B.B.C.
We lived in a lovely home and other people come help make meals and clean the house and make our beds…
When we moved to Vancouver, my dad ended working writing an economic/business journal covering the performance Canadians businesses for Japanese companies. Sounds interesting if you enjoy economics… but the journal had a small market. And we went life of privilege to not having much money at all…. Things were really tight financially for us. As our family economic picture went down and number of kids went up 5 and we fought a lot, my mom’s stress level rose…
I remember how she could be frustrated and angry… but then she re-committed her life to Christ… and over time became the most loving, gentle, wise person…
(Mom’s dad was a ceo. Scary dude. I remembering walking with him in Tokyo one day with my cousins and we were all walking behind him like little chicks and I started walking ahead of him… he turned to me and snapped, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
At 85 or so he came to Christ. According he to my cousin, he became a gentler more considerate and for the first time in his doing the dishes… )
A big part what it means to have good to a good work in us means that we become people who bear the love of Christ… So, Paul writes I pray that your love would abound more and more
When God is at work in us we become more loving people…
But we cannot judge… Have you ever thought I know some people who aren’t Christians who are more loving that people who are Christians… we may be tempted they’re not real Christians…, but if tempted to judge (and only God knows for sure who belongs to him) let me remind of what C.S. Lewis said, some people are born pit bulls and others born golden retrievers and if you’re born a pitt bull and you come to know God, you become more loving… but may still be less loving than someone born a Golden retriever, but if the retriever came to know God, that person would be even more loving… kind of people who we say to ourselves they’d great Christians…
Paul says in vs. 9b I pray that your love would abound more in knowledge…and depth of insight so that you be able to discern what is best…
The word Paul uses here that is translated knowledge comes from the Greek word aisthesis it means common sense.
It refers to the kind of wisdom comes out of real life experience or relationships.
Sometimes we think of Christians are very “spiritual” people, but lack common sense and Paul is praying that the church at Philippi will have common sense.
We know that in such of Philippi there were two people who were fighting. We don’t know the details, but we know they were in conflict.
Part of means to be a person of common sense is to know what’s worth fighting over and what one should “let go.”
Some churches fight and split over the color of the carpet… or whether to have a Christmas tree in the Sanctuary or not… I read about two people at church in Texas got into fist fight in the parking over whether to have Christmas tree or not in the Sanctuary during advent…
If I am talking to a younger leader about leadership, sometimes about the need to develop the ability to know what’s really important and what’s not so important. What are things to fight for, die on the hill and what to let go of….
John W. Garnder, who taught at University of California and served high level government posts in his classic book entitled On Leadership, Gardner the top two attributes of leader are physical stamina and judgment in real life situation. He points possible to be brilliant but lack judgment. He says there nothing more dangerous, than stupid person with a brilliant mind!
A very different source… Mother Teresa said if you want come work in my mission I require physical stamina and common sense.
Paul says we I pray you will have knowledge (aisthesis) so that you will be able to discern what is best…and may be pure and blameless until the day of Jesus Christ…
It requires common sense to discern what is really important in a relationship, in life (what’s worth fighting for and not worth fighting), what is truly valuable, what it is true wealth? It takes common sense to create list of things to do and list of things to stop doing.
So as Paul as writes from prison he speaks of his affections, he assures the Philippians of God’s ongoing work of God in their lives… he prays that they would grow in love and common sense…
At our home Bible study this past week, when someone found out I had had a recent birthday, she said when you a certain age, birthdays they are nothing to celebrate, they’re depressing…
After our Bible study, I went running at Douglas park and someone passed me on the trail, it used to be no one used no passed while I ran me--if I saw some one in my “review mirror,” I’d next gear up and not let them pass… now people are passing me, I’m getting old!
This past week, in my daily reading, I read in 2 Cor 4, where Paul says though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day…
Gail Sheehy in her book New Passages "If every day is an awakening, you will never grow old. You will just keep growing."
Paul prays for us that we would be continually awakened by God’s work of forming love and wisdom, if that happens, we will never grow old in the most important sense, we just keep growing, we just keep becoming like Christ, growing in love and wisdom and purity until the day we meet Him face to face.
posted by Shigematsu at 10:22 AM
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