Companions of the Way
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Pastor Bob Henry
March 1, 2020
Philippians 1:19-27 (MSG)
And I’m going to keep that celebration going because I know how it’s going to turn out. Through your faithful prayers and the generous response of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, everything he wants to do in and through me will be done. I can hardly wait to continue on my course. I don’t expect to be embarrassed in the least. On the contrary, everything happening to me in this jail only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I live or die. They didn’t shut me up; they gave me a pulpit! Alive, I’m Christ’s messenger; dead, I’m his bounty. Life versus even more life! I can’t lose.
22-26 As long as I’m alive in this body, there is good work for me to do. If I had to choose right now, I hardly know which I’d choose. Hard choice! The desire to break camp here and be with Christ is powerful. Some days I can think of nothing better. But most days, because of what you are going through, I am sure that it’s better for me to stick it out here. So I plan to be around awhile, companion to you as your growth and joy in this life of trusting God continues. You can start looking forward to a great reunion when I come visit you again. We’ll be praising Christ, enjoying each other.
27-30 Meanwhile, live in such a way that you are a credit to the Message of Christ. Let nothing in your conduct hang on whether I come or not. Your conduct must be the same whether I show up to see things for myself or hear of it from a distance. Stand united, singular in vision, contending for people’s trust in the Message, the good news, not flinching or dodging in the slightest before the opposition.
This morning we turn to Paul’s letter to the Philippians. This letter was written by Paul and probably Timothy – since they were in prison together. It was supposedly carried by Epaphroditus to the people of Philippi. I had Cindy skip the intro so we could get into the meat of the letter.
Paul has just heard good news from Philippi and we find him rejoicing or celebrating. If Cindy hadn’t read to you that Paul and Timothy were in prison, you may have been surprised when coming to the line when Paul exclaims, “…everything happening to me in this jail…” Paul in one sentence says they are rejoicing and celebrating and in the next says, “by the way, I am in jail, and I don’t really care if I live or die.” It seems a very interesting scenario. My first thought was Paul might have needed some help. Maybe he and Timothy had lost it.
But then I started to reflect on this a bit more…
Have you ever had something that keeps you rejoicing
or keeps the celebration going?
Maybe something that makes you feel like you are on cloud nine.
Maybe you have fallen in love.
Maybe you have received good news.
Maybe you witnessed a miracle or something that opened your eyes to a new discovery – something that you can’t stop thinking about? So much that the bad parts of life seem a lot better, maybe even are moved to the back burner.
I remember the summer I met Sue. That entire summer was like none other. I can’t remember a bad thing that happened. I was between my freshmen and sophomore year of college – going through major life transitions, but that summer I was in love like I had never been before.
Or I remember when we had each of our three boys. I was so excited about meeting my children, the sleep deprivation, the stress of work - life itself stood still.
Or I remember when I successfully defended my doctoral dissertation. I walked out of that room with celebration and rejoicing. Even though just a few months prior, we had moved across the country to Oregon, and were still trying to get adjusted to life, new schools for the boys, some challenges at our meeting that were arising. – somehow all those took the backburner as I celebrated my accomplishment.
When things are going well, or life is looking up, the difficulties seem to vanish or at least seem less burdensome. But if I was in prison like Paul and Timothy, I may be thinking differently. Prison was much more rudimentary in Paul and Timothy’s days than it is today. They were probably shackled to the wall, with no toilets, beds, etc…
Actually, I have wondered if someone came and threw me in jail for what I preached from this pulpit I don’t think I would have the same hopeful outlook on the situation as Paul did.
I don’t know about you, but when things aren’t going so well in life…
· I don’t find myself rejoicing or celebrating.
· I don’t find myself filled with a lot of hope.
· And I definitely am not saying that I don’t care if I live or die.
My mind would go first to my wife and children.
My friends and family.
Actually, like many of you, I often go to worry, maybe even fretting, maybe even physically shutting down. Sometimes, I even go to fear and I begin putting up walls of protection.
But where I can relate to Paul is that when I start to do this, I begin to recognize the fact that I may not be in a physical prison, but I have my own “prisons” in which I want deliverance.
Think about it for yourself.. What are the prisons you find yourself within?
Maybe it is a prison of career or success.
Maybe it is a prison of wealth or poverty.
Maybe it is a prison of politics.
Maybe it is a prison of health.
Maybe it is a prison of family or personal relationships.
Maybe it is a prison of fear, depression, grief, or abuse.
What are the prisons you find yourself within?
As I pondered this, it had me questioning Paul’s response. He was in a physical prison for his beliefs. His life was being threatened, and he knew the consequences that sent him to prison. So how in the world could he be rejoicing and celebrating? Had he lost his mind? Was he being sadistic?
No, Paul had committed to being a pupil under his master teacher, Jesus. He was trying to stay alive, both spiritually and physically and he was realizing it was all connected to his faith journey.
Paul gives us a bit of an insight when he shares an intimate conversation going on in his mind in his epistle. (Remember our “prisons” can effect how we think about things and how we see things…good and bad.) Paul’s prison was causing him to see from different angles.
In verse. 22 Paul shares the following:
As long as I’m alive in this body, there is good work for me to do. If I had to choose right now, I hardly know which I’d choose. Hard choice! The desire to break camp here and be with Christ is powerful. Some days I can think of nothing better. But most days, because of what you are going through, I am sure that it’s better for me to stick it out here. So I plan to be around awhile, companion to you as your growth and joy in this life of trusting God continues.
It is easy to see from the choices that Paul would just like to get out of this world. I can totally understand this. “Calgon, take me away!” Some theologians today would call this “escapism” and entire theologies have been created to support this mentality. For instance, Rapture Theology is simply an “escapist” fantasy.
I am sure you have heard someone at some time say, “This is not our world, our real home is in heaven, so forget about taking care of this planet. I just want to go be with Jesus.” Now, that is a bit selfish and does not sound very much like what Jesus taught.
Yet, I hear a bit of that in Paul’s words, especially when he says, “The desire to break camp here and be with Christ is powerful.”
But there is his other choice – some may say this sounds like he is having a “savior complex” but I think there is some real depth to what Paul is saying. He admits…
I need to stick it out here.
I plan to be around as a companion to you as you grow in your faith.
Hmmm…this sounds like what we all just did a few minutes ago with the children that were brought forth for dedication. We said we would stick around and be a Friend as they grew in the faith.
I kind of have this scene of Paul writing down these options and sharing them with Timothy, and with a quizzical look on his face, Timothy says,
“Paul, you can’t go…”The people of Philippi need you, we need you – I need you!”
And at that point they began to imagine the possibility of a joyous reunion with their companions that would take place – the party, the celebration that awaited them when Paul and Timothy were released from their prison and back in Philippi with their friends.
It was a moment of hope, of companionship, of realizing the journey they were on and are still on, and how so important the community of faith was to them. Yes, it would be better to be directly with Jesus, but then just maybe Paul realizes he could be with Jesus – because there was that of God in his companions and especially Timothy.
So, as they returned from the brief euphoria and hopeful dream sharing, the reality of their jail time came back into focus. And Paul writes a bit more focused and realistically saying,
Let nothing in your conduct hang on whether I come or not. Your conduct must be the same whether I show up to see things for myself or hear of it from a distance. Stand united, singular in vision, contending for people’s trust in the Message, the good news, not flinching or dodging in the slightest before the opposition.
What Paul is saying is – here is how to handle yourselves whether in prison, facing opposition, or when simply living out the ways of Jesus.
· Stand United.
· Singular in Vision.
· Contending for people’s trust in the ways of Jesus (the good news that he taught and lived)
· And don’t flinch or dodge the opposition – face them and speak truth to power!
This is the picture, I want our children, those in our community, those outside the church, or – for that matter – the world to see. Now, this means we are going to need to reflect a bit, like Paul (maybe even from our own prisons).
Ask yourself this morning some Queries as we enter waiting worship (you will find them on the back of our bulletin).
· What is the opposition I must face? Might it be what wants to put me in “prison”?
· What prison(s) do I find myself within currently?
· How can I rejoice, have hope, and become alive among the oppositions or prisons of life?