Introduction
I had the
opportunity to attend the nursing residency completion ceremony for my daughter
this weekend. Relax, I’m not going to talk about how amazing my children are or
how proud I am to be their father. Instead, I want to talk to you about being Thankful. You see, this weekend was filled
with some of the most extreme ironies. I sat in the audience with the families
and friends of the nurses completing their residency. There were awards and
many great speeches celebrating the hard work and accomplishments of the nurses
who completed their residency. However, there was one particular part of the
ceremony that was the most powerful for me. About half way through the
ceremony, a group of young children were led in wearing halos on their heads.
They were all former patients of the hospital. They took their place at the
front of the room facing the nurses who were seated in the front rows of the
auditorium. I assume their parents were either in the back of the room or
waiting just outside the auditorium. Once the children were all in position,
they began to sing a song of thanks to the nurses. There wasn’t a dry eye in the
room. It was a scene filled with irony. Young children singing a song of thanks
to the nurses with their parents who were, no doubt Thankful, they still had their child. I spent lots of time praying
(I think mainly to keep from crying too much). All I could think of at the
moment was to thank God. I didn’t even know what I was thanking God for at the
time. Looking back now, I was Thankful
that those little kids were well and I was Thankful
that the nurses were there to serve them and their families and see them
through that very difficult time in their lives. Honestly, though, what I was
really Thankful for was that God
spared me and my family from the pain and heartache some of those families had
to endure.
We had the
opportunity to walk the floor where my daughter works. It was the only time I
will have access to the floor. She works on a floor with many babies who have
had to endure open-heart surgery within the first few days, weeks, and months
of birth. Walking by each room, I prayed harder than I think I’ve prayed in a
long time. I watched babies struggling to live and parents who looked so tired
and beaten down. My daughter walked us around the floor and all I could think
about in the midst of my prayers was how Thankful
I was that it wasn’t me in one of those rooms with one of my girls. The next
day, I went to the beach with my wife and daughters. As I watched them laughing
and jumping around in the ocean, I couldn’t help but think of those worn out
parents and their sick children back at the hospital and how God has blessed
me. I was Thankful. I think I
realized that always being Thankful
for all things God has done and is doing in my life is often absent in my life.
However, God gave me a very stark reminder that I should know better. But even
I get lazy and forget one of the most important elements of being a follower of
Christ and offering Him praise and worship—being Thankful in all things.
Subject Text
Philippians 4:4-7
4Rejoice in the Lord
always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be
evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything,
but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your
requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all
understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Context
This was
the first church established by Paul and his companions on the European
continent. The Philippian church had put together a gift and sent it with one
of Paul’s friends, Epiphroditus, while Paul sat in a Roman prison. The
Philippian believers were a great encouragement to Paul during his
imprisonment. This letter to the Philippian church was Paul returning the
favor. It was a letter to strengthen and encourage them and to show them that
true and lasting joy only comes from knowing Jesus Christ and isn’t dependent
on circumstances. The letter to the Philippians was also something else—it was
a letter of thanks to the Philippians for their faithfulness and to God for
caring for him through the faithfulness of the Philippian believers. Paul’s
heart was overflowing for the Philippian believers—Paul was Thankful.
Text Analysis
4Rejoice
in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
Paul amazes
me that he is always ready to rejoice, encourage, praise God and give thanks in
all things. Before Paul became a follower of Christ, he was a Pharisee and that
made him part of the privileged class in Jerusalem. He came and went as he
wanted. He had access to and enjoyed the best things life had to offer. He
lived a carefree life of comfort and plenty but that all changed when he became
a follower of Christ. Let me just give you a brief description of what life was
like for Paul after he became a follower of Christ. When some people from the
church in Corinth were boasting about their qualifications and great
accomplishments, Paul had this to say:
I have worked much harder, been in
prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death
again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus
one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was
shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly
on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in
danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city,
in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers.
I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known
hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.
Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the
churches (2 Cor 11:23-28).
And yet
Paul tells us in v. 4 to rejoice.
But note what Paul says we are to rejoice in. Paul says we are to rejoice “in
the Lord.” Paul is reminding us to maintain our perspective. In the middle of
even the most awful circumstances of our lives, we can always rejoice in the
Lord. He’s not really saying we should rejoice about our grief, pain, and
sorrow. He’s saying we should always rejoice in the Lord—there’s a difference.
If our rejoicing depends on our circumstances, then there will be little
rejoicing in most of our lives. However, if we rejoice in the Lord, we will
always have a reason to rejoice. “It seems strange that a man in prison would
be telling a church to keep on rejoicing. But Paul’s attitude teaches us an
important lesson: Our inner attitudes do not have to reflect our outward
circumstances. Paul was full of joy because he knew that no matter what
happened to him, Jesus Christ was with him. While believers often will
encounter situations in which they cannot be happy, they can always rejoice and
delight in the Lord.”[1]
5Let your gentleness be evident
to all. The Lord is near.
There’s
something very special that happens when we stay connected to Jesus; when “the
Lord is near—transformation. For most of us, it means taking the sharp edges
off our personalities. You can see it in Paul’s life. He went from being angry,
proud, arrogant, and hateful—a rabid persecutor of the Church. Look at how his
life changed! For Paul, Jesus wasn’t just the Rock of his salvation. Jesus was
the Rock that smoothed out the rough edges of his personality. Anger turned to
peace, pride turned to humility, arrogance turned to meekness, and hate turned
to forgiveness. Paul’s life went from a life of sharp edges that he used to
wound those around him. But now the sharp edges are mostly gone and in their
place are the smooth edges that are mainly characterized by gentleness. That’s
why Paul tells the Philippians in v. 5
to let their gentleness be evident to all—their gentleness will witness to the
power of God to transform lives just like it witnessed to the power of God in
the transformed life of Paul. “A practical way to have joy is by exhibiting
gentleness to all. This lets the church and world see that you belong to the
Lord. The Greek word epiekeus means
‘yielding, gentle, kind.’ It includes the ability to go beyond the letter of
the law in treating others, to provide something beside strict justice. It does
not insist on personal rights or privileges. Christ embodied such gentleness in
his dealing with people. Why should we surrender personal rights for others?
The Lord is near. In both time and space, God is available to us. He is not far
removed in heaven but present in our hearts to hear and relate to us. His
nearness also means he knows us and what we are. In time, God is near, for he
is coming again. Then we will receive our rewards for living like Christ rather
than like the world.”[2]
6Do not be anxious about
anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present
your requests to God.
As someone
who is prone to being anxious, this is a particularly difficult instruction for
me. I am notoriously anxious about many things—about the welfare of my family;
about the effectiveness of my ministry; about whether or not I’m missing something
that might strengthen my relationship with God; about whether or not my life
honors God, and many more. It’s not something I’m terribly proud of and I’m
certainly better as I’ve gotten older, but the anxiety is often still there.
It’s an unfortunate piece of baggage that I drag around with me but the worst
part is that it reveals a terrible lack of faith—not a good characteristic for
a pastor. Nevertheless, I fight back against the anxiety through prayer and by
giving thanks as Paul instructs in v. 6.
But fighting against anxiety isn’t a one-time battle. For me it’s a battle that
never seems to end. Therefore, it’s a battle that requires constant prayer and
thanksgiving to God.
The
Philippians, too, must have been anxious about something that was going in or
around their lives. So Paul instructs them not to be anxious but give thanks to
God and bring all their concerns to Him with prayers and petitions. “They are
to live without anxiety, entrusting their lives to God with prayer and
thanksgiving…Apprehension and fear mark the life of the unbelieving, the
untrusting, for whom the present is all there is, and for whom the present is
so uncertain—or for many so filled with distress and suffering, as in the case
of the Philippians…In situations where others fret and worry, believers in ‘the
Lord’ submit their case to God in prayer, accompanied by thanksgiving…Lack of
gratitude is the first step to idolatry. Thanksgiving is an explicit acknowledgement
of creatureliness and dependence, a recognition that everything comes as gift,
the verbalization before God of his goodness and generosity. If prayer as
petition indicates their utter dependence on and trust in God, petition
‘accompanied by thanksgiving’ puts both their prayer and their lives into
proper theological perspective. Thanksgiving does not mean to say ‘thank you’
in advance for gifts to be received; rather, it is the absolute basic posture
of the believer, and the proper context for ‘petitioning’ God. Gratitude
acknowledges—and begets—generosity.”[3]
7And the peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ
Jesus.
When Paul
talks about peace that transcends understanding in v. 7, he’s not referring to something we generate out of our own
strength. Instead, it’s a peace we receive from God. It’s the kind of peace we
see exemplified in the life of Jesus who was always at peace even though He
knew He was headed to the cross. He was at peace whenever those who witnessed
His miracles still doubted. He was at peace whenever family and friends
rejected Him. He was at peace whenever the religious leaders looked for ways to
trap Him and condemn Him. He was at peace when He was betrayed by Judas. He was
at peace when all the disciples abandoned Him at His arrest. He was at peace
when He was being falsely accused by the religious leaders. He was at peace
when He was condemned to death by the Roman rulers. He was at peace when the
Roman soldiers beat Him mercilessly. He was at peace when they drove the nails
through His hands and feet. He was at peace when He died on the cross. Jesus
was always at peace because, as God, He knew how history would unfold. He saw
all the betrayals, and the pain, and the suffering, and the death. But He also
saw the empty tomb and the salvation that would be available for all of
humanity through Him. So Jesus was at peace. It’s not so much that Jesus is God
that He was able to have peace (although that’s certainly part of the reason).
Instead, it’s because He had an eternal perspective.
Paul understood this kind of peace,
not just because he had it but because he saw it on display before he became a
follower of Christ. If you don’t know the story of Stephen, you can find it in Acts
6:8-7:60. Stephen was an outspoken follower of Jesus in Jerusalem in the days
immediately after Jesus resurrection. I’ll give you the short version of his
story. He was arrested in Jerusalem for preaching about Jesus and when he
preached that same message to the religious leaders who had him arrested, they
dragged him outside and had him stoned to death. And guess who was standing
right their holding the coats of those who were casting stones? Paul! Well at this
point he was still known as Saul the persecutor of the early Church. Paul was
an accomplice and witness to Stephen’s martyrdom. But he also witnessed
something else that day. Let me show it to you:
When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him.
But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of
God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see
heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” At this they
covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at
him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses
laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were
stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on
his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had
said this, he fell asleep (Acts 7:54-60).
On the day when Paul witnessed the
murder of the first Christian martyr, he witnessed something else too—peace;
peace that transcends all understanding. Stephen was at peace because of his
eternal perspective and we can have peace if we maintain our focus on that same
eternal perspective.
“The peace of God refers to ‘the
calm serenity that characterizes God’s very nature and that grateful, trusting
Christians are welcome to share. Peace then is God’s very character…Although
the peace of God refers primarily to the peace God has and is in himself, the
peace of God also refers to the peace that God gives: ‘the inward peace of the
soul which comes from God, and is grounded in God’s presence and promise.’ The
peace of God is the opposite of anxiety. God himself is not beset with
anxieties, for he knows the end from the beginning and directs all things in
accordance with his will. When we trust God in prayer, God gives to us his
peace to guard our hearts and minds against anxious thoughts.
[The]
description of God’s peace is defined in two ways. First, to transcend all understanding
is taken by some to mean that human reasoning cannot comprehend God’s
peace…‘Nothing is more foreign to the human mind, than to hope in the depth of
despair, in the depth of poverty to see riches, and in the depth of weakness
not to give way…Secondly the phrase transcends all understanding is taken by
others to mean that the peace of God is far superior to human reason. All the
exceptional human abilities of perspective insights and reflective intelligence
cannot resolve conflicts and reduce anxiety as effectively as God’s peace does.
The healing power of God’s peace surpasses the powers of the human mind. ‘The
peace of God surpasses every human thought or device as a means of insuring
tranquility of heart.’ God’s peace is able to produce exceedingly better
results than human planning…Now Paul calls them to pray together with
thanksgiving and to subject their minds to the gift of God’s peace.”[4]
Application
The idea of
being Thankful when you’re at the
bedside of your newborn baby who has undergone open-heart surgery is hard to
imagine. As I walked from room to room at the hospital, being Thankful was hard for me to imagine. I
wrote this lesson because I wanted to offer you some encouragement during the
struggles in your life. What I realized is that I wrote this lesson for me. To
remember to rejoice in the Lord always, not just during times of celebration
but also during times of sorrow because regardless of my circumstances, the
Lord is always near to me in time and proximity. To remember that regardless of
how I’m treated; what people say to me; what people do to me, not to respond in
anger or out of vengeance but always with gentleness because that is precisely
how God responded to me when I didn’t know any better. To remember that instead
of giving in to anxiety when faced with anxious situations in my life, to turn
instead to prayer and offer up my concerns to God with a Thankful heart and spirit. To remember that God offers me access to
His peace and all I have to do is accept it. I don’t have to try and understand
it, I just have to accept it and live out its reality in my life.
[1]
Bruce Barton, Philip Comfort, Grant Osborne, Linda K. Taylor, and Dave Veerman,
Life Application New Testament Commentary,
(Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001), p. 860.
[2]
Max Anders, Galatians, Ephesians,
Philippians & Colossians—Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville,
TN: B&H Publishing Group, 1999), p. 261.
[3]
Gordon D. Fee, Paul’s Letter to the
Philippians—The New International Commentary on the New Testament, (Grand
Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995), pp. 409-410.
[4]
G. Walter Hansen, The Letter to the
Philippians—The Pillar New Testament Commentary, (Grand Rapids, MI: William
B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2009), pp. 292-293.
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