Scripture can be found here...
We
have all been there. The horrible office, the hated workplace. The place where,
the idea of going there makes you want to cry, crawl back under the covers, run
another three miles—anything, ANYTHING but actually aim your car for that particular
destination. We call it our daily grind, speak of going back to the salt-mines,
roll our eyes, moan, complain, and watch the minutes ticking sloooooowly by.
Every day is the longest day.
And
isn’t there always one person who, for some inexplicable reason, is able to let
it all roll off them? Whose smiling “hello” is the real thing, who seems not to
be affected by the misery of everyone around them?
What’s
their secret? Coffee? Meditation? That they did
run the extra three miles, and are being carried along by endorphins? What’s
the secret of joy?
Our
reading this morning is taken from Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi—and
if you were here last week, you heard some tales of his adventures in that
city. This letter was written later in Paul’s travels. Paul traveled much of
the Roman Empire, sharing the Way of Jesus with all kinds of people, and often,
left new faith-communities in his wake. He was a church-planter, and the church
in Philippi was his favorite of the seedlings he’d helped to grow. Maybe that’s
why the letter to the Philippians is well-known as Paul’s “epistle of joy”—he
uses some variation on the words ‘joy’ or ‘rejoice’ sixteen times in these four
short chapters. And this is fascinating when we become aware of the particulars
of Paul’s daily grind at this point in his life. Paul is in prison, perhaps in
Rome, perhaps at the end of his life. Perhaps awaiting his execution.
Professor
Michael Joseph Brown describes the conditions Paul was living under:
Prisons or jails in the Roman world
were nothing like our modern institutions. Often no more than a glorified pit
meant to keep people for a short period of time, ancient prisons forced
prisoners to look outside of their place of bondage to get even their simplest
needs met. Food is a great example. Without the assistance of those outside of
the prison, the jailed would have starved to death.[i]
Paul
is under lock and key, in a glorified pit where he is provided with none of the
things necessary to stay alive.
And
when he writes to the faith community at Philippi, he can hardly contain his
joy.
What
is his secret? Where exactly does Paul find all that joy?
Paul
opens the letter with a typical greeting: “Paul and Timothy,
servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in
Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: Grace to you and peace from God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:1-2).
The
first thing we notice is that Paul is not alone. Timothy is one of his companions
on this stage of his journey, and it appears that Timothy is also in prison
with him. And Paul’s view of his and Timothy’s role and identity is clear: they
are servants, really slaves, of Jesus Christ.
Paul
goes on: “I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy
in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the
gospel from the first day until now” (Phil. 1:3-5).
Paul
has a companion in sharing in the gospel in prison with him, and he has
companions in sharing the gospel back in Philippi. Which brings me to:
Thesis
1: We have joy when we find friends and companions who share our passions and
interests.
I
had a tough beginning to my college career. I found my chosen major, biology,
to be difficult and, frankly, kind of boring; I missed a lot of the important
people in my life; and, though I made new friends at first, I had a falling out
them and ended up feeling pretty isolated for a while. I will never forget what
happened next. I walked down the hallway of my dorm one day, feeling sorry for
myself—maybe I was even crying. And a girl whose name I didn’t know looked at
me, and said some magical words.
“Would
you like some M & M’s?”
I
went into her room, and it turns out she was practicing a couple of monologues
for an audition. So I listened to her monologues. (She was very good.) And a
little while later, some other people came down the hallway and I met her
friends. And that is how I found my people. Beginning with that act of
kindness, I met people who would become my lifelong friends, and who would
change my life in ways I couldn’t even begin to imagine.
I
had found my people.
If
you have found your people, you are well on your way to finding your joy.
Paul
found people—whether they remained in the villages and cities where he planted
churches, or traveled along with him—who shared his deepest passion. Paul’s passion
was always, first and foremost, sharing the good news of the love of Jesus.
The
next thing I notice about Paul in this passage is that he expresses gratitude.
“I
thank God every time I remember you,” he says (Phil 1:3).
“It
is right for me to think this way about all of you,” he goes on, “because you
hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God's grace with me, both in my
imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel” (Phil. 1:7).
“Grace”
is a word we commonly use to describe prayers of thanksgiving before a meal.
Grace is something for which we are thankful. But grace, in a very specific
sense, is at the heart of almost all Paul’s writings. It is from Paul that we
Protestants of the Reformed tradition take one of our central tenets of
Christian faith: God creates us, redeems us, and sustains us, not because we
are good and worthy, but because God is good and loving. This doctrine is known
as salvation by grace. Meaning, salvation is a free gift, unearned. That is
what grace means, in a theological sense.
But
grace also means something very practical to Paul. He is in prison, where his
jailers provide him with absolutely nothing to keep him alive. That means that
food and water and clothing and blankets must be provided for him by people
outside the prison. That is the work of the faith community in Philippi. Paul
the prisoner is helpless and needy—just like a sinner, face-to-face with God.
The provisions given by the saints at Philippi provide Paul a vivid experience
of grace: free and life-saving gifts.
Paul
lives with a constant sense of gratitude for what he has been given. With
gratitude comes joy. Which brings us to:
Thesis
2: We have joy when we give thanks, when we cultivate a sense of gratitude.
Each
year at the end of May, little flags appear on the tombstones at cemeteries as
we remember those who died while serving in the United States armed forces. It
is a sobering thing, to be thankful for someone’s death. But that is, in
essence, what Memorial Day is. It is a day of gratitude that someone was willing
to die for us. Of course, that’s what Easter is as well. Memorial Day has taken
on the character of a celebratory day, a day off, a day for cookouts… and
truthfully, that is what many of us do when we are grateful to and for someone.
We celebrate. There are other ways to show gratitude as well. In his Memorial
Day Proclamation, President Barack Obama states, “…we can honor the fallen by caring for
their loved ones and keeping faith with our veterans and their fellow brothers
and sisters in arms.” But his strongest words of how to express our gratitude
are these:
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA,
President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Memorial Day, May
26, 2014, as a day of prayer for permanent peace, and I designate the hour beginning
in each locality at 11:00 a.m. of that day as a time to unite in prayer.[ii]
Gratitude
is more than a feeling. It effects a change in behavior. Those of us who are
grateful for the sacrifices of others are invited to honor them with our
actions as well as our thoughts and feelings—in this case, caring for those who
are left behind, caring for those who return from battle, and praying and
working for an end to war so that no one will be required to make this kind of
sacrifice again. The knowledge that you are living in a way that is a response
to your gratitude is a powerful source of joy.
At
the end of our passage Paul shares this news:
I want you to know, beloved, that what
has happened to me has actually helped to spread the gospel, so that it has become
known throughout the whole imperial guard and to everyone else that my
imprisonment is for Christ; and most of the brothers and sisters, having been
made confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, dare to speak the word with greater
boldness and without fear [Phil 1:12-14].
Paul
has learned that his time in prison has caused the gospel to spread even
further. The guards know. Everyone knows. Followers of the Way are speaking out
boldly, courageously. Paul’s suffering is not completely senseless but seems to
have a purpose to it. Which brings us to:
Thesis
3: We have joy when we believe that our life has meaning, that we are where we
are supposed to be.
Back
to the miserable office, it could be easy to think this means that, in order to
be joyful, we all have to be working in fields that are contributing to society
in some specifically lofty way. But the beauty is this: human beings are
meaning-makers. We get to determine the meaning of our work, our schooling and
our retirement. The weirdly joyful person in the terrible office may have joy
because she knows she is taking care of her family. The student may have joy
knowing that the work he does now will lead to the career he’s dreamed of, or
because he plays ultimate Frisbee or quidditch on the weekends. The retiree may
be joyful in knowing that they can take life at their own pace now, fast or
slow. They may find joy in caring for a spouse or grandchild, reading all they
want, or savoring the turning seasons.
I
know this to be true: life can be excruciatingly hard. We can find ourselves in
different kinds of ‘prisons.’ But we are meaning-makers. If we can’t find meaning
in the things that are filling our days, if we can’t find a glimmer of joy
there… we get to make other choices. We keep trying. Joy may be elusive. But joy
is possible.
Paul
the prisoner gives his testimony. He finds joy in companions who share his
passion. He finds joy in gratitude. And he finds joy in knowing he is where he
is meant to be—even though he is in prison. Paul’s joy is simple. His joy is in
sharing Jesus.
This
is my hope and prayer for each of us: that we might find our joy. Thanks be to
God. Amen.
[i] Michael Joseph
Brown, “Commentary on Philippians 1:1-18a,” Working Preacher Narrative
Lectionary, May 25, 2014, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1933.
[ii] Pres. Barack H. Obama, “Presidential
Proclamation-Prayer for Peace, Memorial Day 2014,” http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/05/23/presidential-proclamation-prayer-peace-memorial-day-2014.
No comments:
Post a Comment