I have
no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. Phil 2:20
We meet two friends of the Apostle
Paul in this last half of chapter two. These were men who quite unconsciously
displayed the character of Jesus Christ — excellent examples of all Paul has been
writing about.
First we meet Timothy. As Paul writes
about him, we see that the underlying quality that marks this man is Jesus
Christ. We see that Timothy is an exceptional man. Paul says, “I have no one like him.” Wouldn't you
like to have that written about you? There were many things at which Timothy
did not excel. With his frail body,
he wasn’t much of an athlete. He could very easily have been beaten at sports,
or possibly surpassed in learning. But there was one area where no one even
comes close to this man, and that’s in his selfless care — his demonstration of
genuine concern for the welfare of others. Here he’s demonstrating that
peculiarly Christian virtue, that distinctive mark of the presence of Christ
within: selflessness! That’s what the
Lord Jesus said of himself, “Learn from
me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.” (Matt 11:29)
Most of us think of meekness in terms of weakness. We picture some spineless,
Casper Milquetoast who lets people walk all over him. But of course that
description would never apply to Jesus. What did he mean when he said, “I am meek”? It means he was willing to
receive injury without resentment and praise without pride. That’s what set
Timothy apart — his deep and genuine concern for the needs of others, no matter
the cost to him.
The only one to whom Christ's business
was his business was Timothy. You can
imagine what an encouragement he must have been to the apostle's heart as he is
longing to send someone to the Philippians to help them with their problems,
and everyone turns him down simply because of their own selfish concerns. But
Timothy says, “All right, Paul, I'm ready to go — any time, any place,
anywhere!” No wonder he was always a channel of God’s power wherever he went — he
saw himself as an instrument of God's grace. As such, Timothy was an excellent
example of the attitude Paul has been urging the Philippians themselves to
adopt.
Prayer: Father, teach me to me a person who genuinely cares for the welfare of
others, and is willing to demonstrate that care in selfless acts of service.
Amen.
Do everything without grumbling or arguing… Then you will shine among them
like stars in the sky. Phil.
2:14,15b
What happens when a Christian behaves
badly like an unbeliever? As Paul points out, the world around can’t see Christ
in them, so there’s no light for their darkness. In other words, if the life
our neighbors see in us is explainable only in terms of our human personality
and background, what do we have to say to our neighbors that will awaken them
to their need of Christ? If the situations we face cause us to react with the
same murmuring and discontent and bitterness they have, what's the difference between
our quality of life and theirs? They will simply say, “My life is explained in
terms of my personality: I like certain sports and entertainment, and certain
kinds of music and you like religion — that's all.” Unless there’s a quality to
our life that can only be explained in terms of the difference God’s presence
in us has made, there’s really nothing in us to challenge the world around us.
The world is waiting to see God, and they will
when they see Christians stop their mumbling, complaining and arguing … when they
stop seeing us live, in other words, just like everyone else.
There must be a quality to our lives that
can only be explained in terms of what God
is doing in us and through us; and then, as Paul says, as we live in the
midst of “a crooked and perverse generation,” the light of the gospel will
shine into the darkness of where we live. This is what Jesus means when he
says, “Let your light shine before others
so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” We
are to be the beacon of hope that others need — the sign of God’s beauty in a
world that has all but defaced it.
In fact, when Paul speaks of the
Philippians shining like lights, he’s quoting a passage from Daniel 12:3, which
speaks of “the wise” who were beacons of hope to their generation because of
their faith in God’s promise to raise the dead to life again. In a sense, then,
what Paul is saying is not just that the Philippians are to be a sign of light
and beauty in a world of darkness and ugliness. They are to be a sign of God’s new life in a world that only knows the
way to death. That’s our calling as well! We are to let the light of Christ
shine through us “like stars in the sky” !
Prayer: Forgive me for my
grumbling, Lord. Help me to trust you in every situation and, in doing so,
shine brightly in a dark world. Amen.
...continue
to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in
you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Phil. 2:12b-13
From Guest Blogger Jim Wiebel:
Work out your own salvation doesn’t
mean “by your own effort,” as some have interpreted it. Paul’s saying, “Now
that I am no longer present with you, you don't need to rely on my insights and
counsel. Begin to walk without my assistance, for you have God’s Spirit at work
in you, and that’s all you need!” In other words, stop leaning on me. Start
applying these things yourselves. This is a necessary stage in Christian
growth.
I recall teaching my youngest son how
to drive. He had a learner's permit that required that I be with him in the
front seat of the car. As we were driving, he’d sometimes give me a questioning
look as a driver pulled out in the road or something developed ahead of us.
Then I'd say to do this or that. He was relying on me. But the time would come
when I moved out of the front seat and in faith committed him to what he had
learned. From then on, he had to “work out his own salvation with fear and
trembling,” even with me right there with him in the back seat!
Now “salvation” here doesn’t mean settling our eternal destiny, as we
frequently find it used in the scriptures. A better translation would be the
word “solution.” Work out your own
solution, because what Paul has in mind here is working through the problems
and trials and difficulties presented in ordinary daily life. He’s saying, use
your mind and your will in solving your problems, in the confident expectation
that in doing so, God is also at work in you to conform it all to both his will
and his good pleasure. That’s a marvelous statement of the Christian's
experience of being led by God.
But we’re not robots, simply
responding to the pushing of buttons by the Spirit within. It's true we have
another life within: God's life — Christ living within us! But our lives,
hearts and wills are involved in this too. It’s true that we’ll never be saved apart from him. But it’s also true that
he’ll never save us apart from ourselves.
We do the living and the choosing and the acting, but we know a secret — that
all along it’s he who’s living,
acting and choosing through us!
Prayer: Thank you, Father, for allowing me to be used by you to show others how
you are working in me by the power of your Spirit to lead a life which pleases
you. Amen.
In your
relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. Phil. 2:5
From Guest Blogger Jim Wiebel:
Now we come to what is one of the
most breath-taking passages in all of Scripture. You might say this is the Mt.
Everest among the mountain peaks of revelation concerning the person of Christ —
the amazing story of how the eternal Son of God stepped out of eternity into
time and became a man, as God always intended man to be. These few short verses
capture some of the most amazing truths that have ever been written.
Lest we be tempted to remove this
passage from its context, however, we must never forget that it’s set against
the background of two quarreling ladies in the church at Philippi. That quarrel
was threatening to destroy the unity of the whole church. The apostle has made
it clear that the secret of maintaining unity is humility. Wherever there is contentiousness, it’s a sure sign that
pride is at work. Pride — whether in
a person’s life, or a family, a church, a government, or a whole nation — always
divides, destroys, and perpetuates conflict of every sort.
Paul’s antidote to quarreling — the
only path to peace, in fact — is to seek the path of humility. When tempers are
hot, passions are aroused, and patience is strained, how can you get people to
calm down and start thinking about a humble attitude? How do you stop the urge
to defend yourself, and the stubborn insistence of what we call our “rights”?
The answer is in this marvelous passage concerning Christ.
Unlike cult heroes of every age,
whose success stories follow a pattern from “rags
to riches,” Jesus’ “success story” was just the opposite: “riches to rags.” And in that story of
“downward mobility,” Paul is challenging us to rethink our whole picture of God
around Jesus. This is a God who is known most clearly when he abandons his
rights for the sake of the world. Yes, says Paul; and that’s “the mind of Christ” — that pattern of
thinking that belongs to you because
you belong to him! And if you are
truly living “in him” and by his kind of life, the exhortations of verses 1-4 (yesterday’s
post) suddenly make a
lot more sense!
Prayer: Forgive me, Father, for insisting on “my way” and “my rights” so much
of the time. Give me the mind of Christ, so that I might live to serve others
in his name and so fulfill my calling as your dear child, just like Jesus.
Amen.
#Uncommon
Therefore
if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ...then make my joy
complete by being like-minded... Phil. 2:1-2
From Guest Blogger Jim Wiebel:
We sat in our seats listening to the
orchestra tuning before the performance was about to begin. Musical notes in
several different keys filled the air from the strings, wind instruments,
brass, and percussion. It was the musical equivalent of running your fingers
down an old chalkboard, though only slightly less ear-piercing!
After a minute or so, the lead
violinist stood and offered a single note. Within a few seconds, all the other
musicians began playing that same, simple “A” on their instruments…harmony at
last! What followed was an outstanding performance of “Carmen” by the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra, with all
instrumentalists doing their part to beautifully accompany the huge community
chorus standing behind them. A wonderful musical experience, indeed, for all of
us who filled the PAC that evening! It was like watching a highly complex piece
of machinery with all its cogs and wheels working together in perfect harmony.
That’s a bit like what Paul is urging
on the little church in Philippi. On stage, the musicians were not out for
their own individual glory at each other’s expense. If one single musician had
tried to steal the limelight from the others, the whole thing would have fallen
apart. It only worked because everyone was working together with the same
object in mind: to present the very best performance for their audience. That’s
how Christ intends his church to act, as well: Unity in Everything!
Then Paul tells us how to do it. “Hold on to the same love; bring your
innermost lives into harmony; fix your minds on the same object. Never act out
of selfish ambition or vanity; instead, regard everybody else as your superior.
Look after each other’s best interests, not your own” (Phil. 2:2-4).
In other words, everyone must be
focused on something other than
themselves; and that something is Jesus
Christ himself — the King and Lord — under
whom “all things in heaven and earth are
going to one day be united!” (Eph. 1:10) In the next few verses (5-11), Paul will spell this out gloriously in a beautiful poem
about Christ himself. You can read about it in tomorrow’s post.
Prayer: Thank you, Jesus, for the encouragement you offer us thru the example
of your own sacrificial love. May your Spirit help us to look out for each
other’s best interests, and not just our own. Amen.
#Uncommon
