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Category: Philippians (Page 4 of 12)

The Superman Verse

September 18, 2014 / / 0 Comments

“I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” ~Philippians 4:13

This might be one of the most popular verses in the whole Bible. I’m sure you’ve seen this verse printed on inspirational posters and gifts, silk screened on T-shirts and hoodies, emblazoned on coffee mugs and bumper stickers. You might have a Philippians 4:13 tattoo. We are very familiar with this verse. Seemingly everybody knows this verse. And it’s used, mainly, for personal motivation. Tim Tebow wore this verse on his face while he quarterbacked the University of Florida. Boxer Evander Holyfield was decked out from head to toe in this verse when he fought Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis. This is primarily how the verse is used.

“I can do all my pushups through him who gives me strength.”
“I can win my baseball game through Christ who strengthens me.”
“I can complete the marathon through him who gives me strength.”
“I can be strong through Christ who gives me strength.”

This verse has become for a lot of people our Superman verse. “I can do all things through him who gives me strength.” So that if I say it enough and believe it enough, I’ll be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound; I can go where no man has gone before. And in our overly individualized western culture with its overly emphasized focus on personal achievement and individual success, this thing has turned in to, first, “I can do all things…” or “I can do everything…” or I’ve even seen it as “I can do anything…” and, secondly, “my faith in Christ is going to get me there.” So we jump out of the phone booth with the big “S” on our chests and “Phil.4:13” on our capes, appealing mainly to our reliance on positive thinking and will power, ready to conquer the world!

“I can get that new job!”
“I can have the perfect marriage!”
“I can get that college scholarship!”
“I can beat this cancer!”
“I can dominate the defensive lineman on the other side of the ball or the lady in the office who stands between me and the bonus!”

There’s nothing wrong with positive thinking and there’s nothing wrong with hard work and doing your best. I’m all for that and I believe our Lord is, too. But this passage is not “I can do anything I want if I set my mind to it and just believe.” It’s not “I can accomplish any goal by my faith.” This is not about making the sales numbers or passing the semester exam or winning the golf tournament or losing 20 pounds. This verse is here not to tell you that you can be rich, but to tell you that you are already rich, even if you don’t have a penny. It’s not here to tell you that you can be powerful and strong, but to tell you that you’re already powerful and strong, even if you’ve never worked out in a gym.

Notice, the apostle Paul is not concerned at all in this passage with what he himself wants. He doesn’t write, “I can get out of jail, I can beat this rap, I can escape death through Christ who gives me strength.” He doesn’t say, “I can find a steady job, I can get married and settle down, I can stay off of those ships through him who strengthens me.” When Paul proclaims he can do everything through God in Christ, he talking about doing everything God’s called him to do. He’s talking about serving others in humility and sacrifice, regardless of his own personal circumstances. Whether he’s in need or whether he has plenty, well fed or hungry, living in plenty or in want, either way, I can do what God is calling me to do. I can put the needs of others ahead of my own, I can consider others better than myself, I can look to the interests of others, no matter my own personal situation. Paul is saying, “Whatever I happen to be going through, good or bad, has no bearing whatsoever on whether or not I’m living the Gospel and extending God’s love and mercy to others.”

Can you imagine? Patiently listening to the grumbling neighbor, serving my grumpy neighbor, when I’m not sure how I’m going to pay my bills this month? Taking a cake or writing a card to the sick lady from my Bible class when I’ve got tons of reports stacking up at work? Forgiving my cousin when what she said about me has wounded me so deeply? Visiting and loving and encouraging others when the Multiple Sclerosis is wracking my body with so much pain I can barely walk? Flying to Africa to serve orphaned children when my husband was just killed in a motorcycle accident last month? Does anybody really live like that? If so, how?

Certainly not with their own strength. That’s impossible.

We are not in charge. We are not the masters of our destiny. We are not the captains of our lives. God didn’t die and make you boss. If we are Christians, Christ Jesus is our Lord. We are not our own; we are bought with a price. It’s not about our dreams, our goals, our agendas, and then getting God to help us with them. It’s about Christians like Paul, Christians like the brothers and sisters in Philippi, Christians like you and the people at your church, doing God’s will, working out God’s salvation, persevering in God’s mission in God’s way, no matter our circumstances.

Peace,

Allan

Prayer and Peace: Part 3

September 4, 2014 / / 0 Comments

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” ~Philippians 4:6-7

I’ve suggested this week that Paul is telling the Christians in Philippi that giving everything to God in prayer will result in the Lord’s blessings of heavenly peace ONLY in the context of a relationship with Jesus based on the things he had already written leading up to this point in the letter. Giving everything to God in prayer must be accompanied by giving all of your everything to God. Period.

Paul assumes that disciples of Jesus are still awed and grateful for their salvation (Tuesday), still confident of God’s love and care (yesterday), and identified in the Lord.

Timothy Keller gives us a couple of cinematic illustrations at the beginning of his powerful chapter ten (“The Problem of Sin”) in The Reason for God. He points out that Sylvester Stallone’s character in the movie Rocky is determined to go the distance in his fight because, as Rocky declares, “If I go the distance, then I’ll know I’m not a bum.” Similarly, one of the main characters in Chariots of Fire describes his motivation for training for the one hundred yard dash this way: “At the beginning of every race, I have ten lonely seconds to justify my existence.”

Both of these men were looking to athletic achievement as the defining force that gave meaning to their lives. I’m an athlete. As long as I excel in athletics, then I matter. I’m important. I’m a somebody. I have a purpose. But if I fail. I’m a nobody. I don’t matter. Because I’m athlete. That’s a pretty tough thing to live up to.

But we’re all looking for that same significance. Every one of us needs to matter. We all need to have worthy. And if we’re looking to anything other than Christ for that identity, we’ll never have peace.

Think about it for a second. Where is your identity? Who are you? I’m a successful doctor. I’m a business owner. I’m a great mother. I’m a proud American. I’m an elite runner. I’m a loyal Republican. I’m a popular teacher.

If that’s your absolute value, if everything in your life revolves around that identity, that’s a problem. If that’s actually who you are, you’re going to devote a lot of time and energy to it; you’re going to devote a lot of passion and intensity to it. This thing that is central to your significance, your purpose, your happiness — it becomes your god. It’s your savior. It’s where you put all your resources. It’s where you find your emotional well being. And it’s shaky, at best.

I’m a great mother. Well, what happens if something goes wrong with your children? Or your parenting? Now you’re a loser?
I’m a successful doctor. Fine, but what happens if you lose a patient? What happens if technology passes you by? Now you’re a nobody?
I’m a proud American. OK, but what happens if the country starts to go downhill?
I’m an elite runner. Great, but what happens if you get a disease? Or you get old?
I’m a loyal Republican. Well, what happens if the Democrats are in charge?
I’m a popular teacher. Fine, but what happens if people stop coming to your classes?

If anything threatens your identity, you’ll become anxious. Maybe even paralyzed with fear. If my daughter goes down the drain, then my whole life is a failure! If I can’t teach anymore, then my life will have no purpose! If I get that disease, my whole life will be ruined! If they legalize gay marriage in Texas, then we will have lost everything!

Some parents are probably a little too wrapped up in the accomplishments of their children. We all might need to evaluate how much we’re tied in to our jobs. And I think the unrest in the world and the increased secularization of the United States is causing God’s children more anxiety and stress than it should.

Your identity as a person is everything. So, if you lose your identity because somebody messes up or somebody fails, you’ll be resentful, maybe even locked up in bitterness. If you lose your identity through your own mistakes or shortcomings, you might despise yourself or see yourself as a failure your whole life. Either way, these things don’t hold up. There’s no peace.

That’s why Paul reminds these Philippians throughout this whole letter that their identity is in Christ. He addresses it to the saints in Christ Jesus (1:1). I am in chains, he says, for Christ (1:13). You are preaching in the Lord (1:14). We rejoice in the Lord (3:1, 4:4). I’m hoping in the Lord (2:19). I am confident in the Lord (2:24). Euodia and Syntyche, agree with each other in the Lord (3:2). We worship by the Spirit of God, Paul says, and we glory in Christ Jesus and we put no confidence in the flesh (3:3).

“Whatever was to my profit, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him.” ~Philippians 3:7-9

If your identity is in Christ, if your true self is in Jesus, you’ll never be threatened. He is Lord. What’s going to take him down? If everything about you is based on Jesus — your self worth, your security, your future, who you are, your significance, your identity — if all that rests in Christ, you can’t lose it. You can’t mess it up. Nobody else can mess it up for you. If Jesus is your center, nothing can upset that.

Of course, placing your all in Christ is the hard part.

C. S. Lewis, in an essay entitled “Is Christianity Hard or Easy?” summed it up:

“The almost impossibly hard thing is to hand over your whole self to Christ. But it is far easier than what we are all trying to do instead.”

Peace,

Allan

Prayer and Peace: Part 2

September 4, 2014 / / 0 Comments

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” ~Philippians 4:6-7

I suggested yesterday that Paul is telling the Christians in Philippi that giving everything to God in prayer will result in an experience of divine peace ONLY in the context of a prayerful life lived according to the things Paul had already written in the letter up to this point. Prayer is not a technology or a technique in which we try to get God to give us what we want. It’s not a matter of saying the right words or setting the proper mood or how many times you pray or how many people you get to pray with you or for you. Prayer, to Paul, is an attitude. It’s a manner of living. It’s a way of looking at God and the world that’s based on a real relationship with Christ Jesus.

So, yes, prayer results in peace, assuming you are still shocked by your salvation (yesterday) and confident of God’s care (today).

At the very beginning of the letter, Paul says he is confident that this good thing God has started in you, he will finish. He will see it through (1:6). God is working in you, he says, he’s working through you to make sure it happens (2:13). Paul’s in chains, but that’s causing more and more people to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly (1:14). Whatever’s happening to me, Paul writes, will turn out in the end to be for my deliverance (1:19). I am confident, Paul asserts, that I myself will be able to see you soon (2:24).

This isn’t a superficial obliviousness that ignores reality. Paul’s not whistling past the graveyard. He really does trust in the love of God that saves him and the love of God that is taking care of him and protecting him. All of Paul’s circumstances are in God’s hands. God is fully sovereign and totally in control of everything that’s happening to Paul. And Paul’s great with that because he knows that God loves him.

Of course, Paul got this from the example of Jesus.

Peter had the same idea. “When they hurled their insults at Christ Jesus, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to God” (1 Peter 2:23).

Peter’s got it. And Paul’s got it. And they both got it from Jesus.

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7) sounds a lot like “Do not be anxious about anything… present your requests to God” (Phil. 4:6).

I would encourage you today to give to God in prayer that one thing that’s eating you up. It’s keeping you awake at night and distracting you during the day and totally stressing you out all the time. It’s that thing that’s just hanging over you. Give it to God in prayer right now. Don’t ask God to fix it. Don’t ask him to make it better or solve it or make it go away. Just give it to God and tell him you trust him. Tell him you know he’s in control and you’re good with that. Because you’re confident that he loves you and that he cares for you.

Peace,

Allan

Prayer and Peace: Part 1

September 2, 2014 / / 0 Comments

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” ~Philippians 4:6-7

Prayer is not a technique. It’s not a formula. Prayer is not a technology which we use to get a force or a “higher power” to do what we want. When Paul talks about prayer, he’s talking about a prayerful understanding, a prayer attitude, a particular way of looking at life. Paul wants the Christians in Philippi to have a prayerful relationship with God based on everything he’s written in the letter up to this point.

In order for prayer to result in peace, Paul expects Christians to be still blown away by their salvation.

I think the fact that we are saved by the amazing grace of a merciful God should startle us every single day. The fact that a holy and righteous Creator sacrificed everything in order to save a wretched sinner like me — it should overwhelm me every couple of hours or so. Several times a day, I think, I should be shocked by it all over again. My salvation is impossible; yet it’s real! My salvation is beyond comprehension; it’s a miracle!

And Paul is careful to remind the disciples in Philippi they can’t ever forget it.

He starts the letter by reminding us that God is bringing this wonderful miracle of salvation to completion (1:6). We are pure and blameless, he says, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus (1:10-11). In chapter two, Paul points out again just what Jesus did for us. He gave up everything! All this grand, sweeping poetry about the sacrifice of our Lord who, he says, is right now working inside us according to his wonderful purposes (2:13). Then we’re told that our righteousness is not our own — we don’t have any righteousness — all of it comes from God (3:9). It’s an outrageous gift from our God!

We are beloved children of that merciful God. We are chosen subjects of that glorious Lord. And we are privileged citizens of that heavenly Kingdom…

“And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” ~Philippians 3:20-21

You are in the Lord, Paul says. You are in Christ. And don’t you ever forget that you never did one crying thing to deserve it.

Every now and then, we might think that we’re better than other people. Sometimes, we might even think we don’t need nearly as much of God’s mercy as somebody else. Prayer will not result in peace unless we are still shocked by our salvation and driven daily to new levels of humility and gratitude to God because of it.

Peace,

Allan

The Peace of God

August 28, 2014 / / 1 Comment

“The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” ~Philippians 4:7

Shalom. Peace. It’s the perfect state of harmony and communion between God and man, between men and women, throughout all creation. It was promised to the patriarchs. The psalmists wrote about it. The prophets foretold the deliverance of this ultimate peace in the Messiah. For centuries, every generation of God’s people longed for that peace. They sang about it. They preached about it. They looked for it. They waited for it.

That peace of God, that perfect shalom, has come to God’s people in Christ Jesus!

Now that Jesus has won the great victory at the cross, now that he’s defeated death and sin and Satan, now that he’s been raised and exalted by the Father, now that he reigns in all glory and power from his heavenly throne, we possess the peace of God.

Paul says Jesus himself is our peace. He tells the Ephesians that Christ has destroyed the barriers, he’s abolished the wall of hostility. Jesus has forever eliminated the things that separated men and women from God, the things that divided us against each other. All those things are nailed to the cross! Dead! Gone! Obliterated!

“He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.” ~Ephesians 2:17-18

May we dwell in the joy of the Lord. And may the peace of Christ rule in our hearts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The high school football season begins tonight with our Amarillo Sandies hosting Palo Duro at Bivins Stadium. And, as always, the Stanglins are all in. As is our tradition around here, we attended the pep rally this morning to cheer the team, to celebrate with the Seniors (including Valerie), to boo the Freshmen (including Carley), to be proud of Blakelee (cheerleader) and Boyd (drum line), and to welcome the new season with the rest of our community. We’ll tailgate tonight with our normal crew and live and die with every snap of another Sandies campaign.

It feels a little bit strange kicking off the season on a Thursday night instead of a Friday. Going to work and school again tomorrow after a late night football game isn’t anybody’s idea of fun. But this is what happens when you share a football stadium with the other high schools in town. And I’m still not totally sure about this new 6A classification. It doesn’t sound right.

But at 7:30 this evening under a blue-gray cloudy sky in Amarillo, the drum line will march, the cheerleaders will yell, the coaches will inspire, the referees will blow their whistles, and the Sandies will launch their 116th football season. And all will be right in the world.

Blow, Sand, Blow!

Allan

Surprise!

August 26, 2014 / / 1 Comment

“I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord.” ~Philippians 4:2

When Paul begs those two ladies in Philippi to put aside their differences and put their relationship back together for the sake of the church there and its witness to the community, he does not expect them to kiss and make up on purely human grounds. The only way it’s going to happen is if it happens “in the Lord.” Their agreement must be “in the Lord.” Because when people are “in the Lord,” surprising things happen.

Every time Paul tells the Philippians to do something “in the Lord,” it’s something that goes totally opposite of what most people would normally do. It’s a surprising action that goes against human nature and only makes sense “in the Lord.”

Paul’s writing this letter from prison. He’s in jail for preaching the Gospel. He’s awaiting a trial that may result in his execution. Naturally, all this trouble is driving all the other Gospel preachers away. It’s causing all the disciples of Jesus to go into hiding. It’s forcing them to tone down the message. No! Surprise! Just the opposite!

“Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly!” ~Philippians 1:14

Paul’s chained to a Praetorian guard. He’s got little support financially or otherwise. He doesn’t know if he’s going to live or die. So, naturally, he pours what little money and resources he has into his criminal defense. He surrounds himself with friends and family. He wants them to be close to him, to comfort him, to take care of him. No! Surprise! Just the opposite! He’s sending his friends back to Philippi to take care of the Christians there. His concern is only for them.

“And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon.” ~Philippians 2:24

Epaphroditus is sent by the Philippian church to take care of Paul. They collected the money, they paid for his trip, they put all their trust and faith in him to carry out this official mission. But he changed his mind. He got sick and he’s coming home. He’s leaving Paul in Rome and heading back. So, naturally, Paul says, “Do what you want to with this guy. You should have chosen somebody else. He’s been no help to me.” No! Surprise! Just the opposite!

“Welcome him in the Lord with great joy and honor men like him.” ~Philippians 2:29

Those who live under the Lordship of Christ are different. People who are in the Lord are motivated by different things. We’re pushed to act in surprising ways.

We always forgive those who wrong us. Not because she said she was sorry, not because he paid me back. We always forgive each other because God in Christ always forgives us. We make sacrifices for each other. No so we can get what we want, but because the Lord made the ultimate sacrifice for us. We always serve one another. Not so we can look good, but because the Lord served us. We always give in to one another, we submit to one another, we defer to one another because Christ Jesus went to the cross for us. He died for the sake of our relationship to him. He buried whatever that was between us at the bottom of the ocean floor. He removed everything that stood between us as far as the east is from the west.

Whatever humility, sacrifice, and service was needed to fix our relationship with God, Jesus did it. Willingly. Eagerly. Obediently.

Remember that love and sacrifice, Euodia. Remember that mercy and grace and forgiveness, Syntyche. And put it into practice with one another. In the Lord.

Peace,

Allan

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