Sermon by Adam

I’ll start where Paul ends, which Paul’s appeal to the church:

Phil 2:29 So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men.

In the second chapter of his letter to the Philippians, Paul draws a portrait of three ministry workers. These are the men Paul wished to send to the Philippian church. Paul himself hopes to come soon, but until he is able, or if he is not able, he wishes to send men like Timothy and Epaphrodites to them. He writes that the Philippian church might be willing and ready to receive such men, to wait for them, to welcome them, and to honour them and they serve the Phillipain church in the place of Paul. So here Paul is writing letters of commendation to the church, but also in a sense instructing the church as to what sort of shepherds, pastors, ministry leaders they should be receiving and honouring in their community.


When we consider the quality of ministry leaders we often jump to passages that describe the qualifications we are to look for in them such as Titus 1 or 1 Timothy 3. But as we’re looking for Christ’s servants to lead our churches, here Paul gives us a portrait of three such men, and it is clear that Paul’s hope is that men like these would be found shepherding all of the churches of God, including ours: we have a small portrait of the Apostle Paul, his coworker Timothy, and another man named Epaphroditus, who was sent by the Philippian church to care for Paul’s needs in prison, but now Paul was hoping to send back to the Philippian church. So what sort of men is Paul looking to send?

Yesterday we invited the community to come through the church as part of Doors Open Ottawa. Not many came, as we did not do as big a production like last year, but those who came were given 1 on 1 tours through the church. We were a bit discouraged as no one had come for hours and were thinking of packing in early when suddenly we had a rush of three visitors. So I showed a man named Tim around. As I showed him around, Tim shared with me a little of his background- much like mine, baptized and Christmas and Easter Catholic, he was raised functionally atheist. He asked me about the church and our services and then asked which denomination we are a part of. Now, you may or may not know this, but our church is part of the Evangelical Free church of Canada. So then he asked, what’s an evangelical? Has anyone asked you that? How would you answer? I usually answer something like, Evangelicals believe you need to have a personal encounter with Jesus, that it’s important to tell people that Jesus is able to reconcile us to God, and we take the Bible very seriously as our rule of faith and life. And then I usually say “free” means that we believe in the separation of church and state.

Here’s another question - how would you feel answering that question? Defensive? Apologetic? Wondering what the person has heard? I sometimes feel like that. For many in our culture, the only impression they have of evangelicals is through the news or social media. Some think that we are a political group, or they hear us associated with “white evangelicals” in the US. i always wonder when people ask me that question, how much ground I may have to make up with them, because of the public reputation of Evangelicals. Some Evangelicals even are thinking of changing their branding.

Now I believe much of the public reputation of Evangelicals is slanderous. I believe Satan wants to tarnish our reputation, and slander of the negative always spreads faster than the encouraging or positive. However, I do believe some of our reputation is rightly earned. If we’re known as a political organization, then maybe we have allowed political stances to eclipse our love of Jesus. If we’re derided as hateful, then yes, it is true that some of us struggle to love our neighbour. If we’re called hypocrites, well there is some truth to that as well.

What is the reason for this hypocrisy? I do believe that if we’re honest with ourselves, many evangelicals have allowed a gap to enter into our thoelogy, and thus we are not living biblically. What is that gap? The sanctification gap. Evangelicals focus on conversion, to evangelize someone. That they might be born again. We sometime refer to the past tense of salvation. Having been saved from the penalty of sin. Evangelicals often also focus on the future tense of salvation, our eternal destiny, that someday the kingdom will come and we’ll be at home with Jesus and perfected, removed from the presence of sin. Yet, for some evangelicals - that’s the gospel, we’re saved from the penalty of sin, and someday we’ll be in the presence of Jesus.

Do you see something missing there? There is another tense to our salvation - our sanctification. The present outworking of God’s salvation through us in the here and now in which we gain ever growing victory over the power of sin in our lives. It is this tense of our salvation that actually affects our reputation in this world as God’s children. And it is this tense of salvation that Paul speaks of as he urges the Philippians to go on and grow in their maturity without him. In Philippians 2:12-18 Paul speaks of the process of our sanctification and the purpose of our sanctification.

Today’s key thought is about one-mindedness. I got to witness an amazing display of one-mindedness this week. A couple friends and I were able to go down to the Raptors game this past Tuesday. I’m a Bucks fan, but I have to give credit where credit is due. I figured there would be a couple of hundred of us. Nope. We counted 10. At one point Giannis, the Bucks star, missed a free throw and it got loud, the loudest I’ve ever heard at an event. I left there amazed at the crowd and thought, there is no way the Bucks are winning in Toronto, and after last night I guess I was right.

Paul is as big a fan of the Philippian church as anyone in that stadium. See The raptors may give their fans joy, but Paul says to the Philippian church in verse three that they can complete his joy. He’s found much joy in them, he always prays for them with joy, but now, as he has shared his hopes for them, to go on without him, he tells them how they can fill up his joy, he’s cheering for them.

complete my joy by being of the same mind,

‘I will need no further happiness,’ he says, ‘if only I can hear that you are a united church.’

See last week, we saw that Paul had told the Philippians that he may never see them again, but his one charge to them was that they would go on together living as an outpost of the kingdom of heaven, living as citizens of the heavenly kingdom set apart from the world, standing firm in the teaching, striving together in the gospel and not fearing anything. We noted last week that Paul was speaking to them as a church together, and now he addresses that togetherness, even more directly, for in order for them to continue on as an outpost of the kingdom, they must be united. They must be one-minded. For a kingdom divided cannot stand.

Philippians is a book of joy for an anxious church.

Theme similar to Ecclesiastes - we also spoke about joy.

Joy comes from God, not from our stuff or our circumstance.

But we should be careful here, because it is surely true in our experience that we do find joy in people, things and circumstance. “How sweet to hold a newborn baby and feel the pride and joy he gives.” Holding your loved ones, relaxing after a hard days work. Hamburgers. :)

However, the message of Ecclesiastes does not deny that there are some circumstances from which we might find joy or reason to rejoice, but again, joy is not to be found in the temporal, fleeting, trivial matters, but in things that last, and if we try to extract joy from the breath, we will be left unsatisfied. 

The apostle Paul would agree. In the book of Phillippians, in writing to that anxious church, Paul writes about the things that bring him joy. Last week Paul shared his gratitude and the joy that he has found in the Philiipians partnership in the gospel. And today, he will speak of another matter that brings him joy. And again, that which brings him joy is not in temporal, fleeting, trivial matters, but connected to the eternal matter of the gospel of Christ.

What is the gospel? The gospel is the proclamation of good news. The good news of what God has done for us in Christ. That thought our sins have separated us from God and have placed us under God’s just wrath, that God in his love for us sent his son Jesus Christ into the world that we might be reconciled to God, redeemed from our sins, and renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is surely not a temporal, fleeting, or trivial matter, but is the most important, substantial and eternal of matters. As I stated last week, Paul has given his life to the gospel, lives for the gospel, and as we’ll see today, Paul’s Joy-Producing Metric: The Gospel is Advancing. What I mean by metric is that this is the standard of measurement against which he measures the circumstances in his life and that even through the difficulties of life, if the gospel is advancing, Paul finds joy.

We live in apocalyptic times. Or at least, that is the perception. People are concerned that something is happening. Something big. I hear it in all sides of the political aisle. Those on the left are apocalyptically concerned about the existential danger of climate change - Ottawa just declared a climate emergency. They say that we have 12 years to do something about this all or it all explodes. People on the right are apocalyptically concerned about the breakdown of society’s institutions, such as family and the rule of law. People in the middle are apocalyptically concerned about the increasing polarization between the right and the left and the disintegration of dialogue and the rise of totalitarianism on the right or the left. The church is facing apocalyptic-level persecution. As we gathered for worship last week on Easter Sunday, believers in Sri Lanka were crawling out of the ruins of 8 bombings that left over 300 dead and many more wounded at the hands of Islamic radicals. I heard this week a report that Christians are now the more harassed minority group in the world, suffering harassment in 144 countries. So left, right, centre and non-political, the perspective is, that we live in apocalyptic times. If I only heard these things being pushed in the media, I might write it off as click bait from a money-grabbing sensationalistic press. But I hear people in coffee shops speaking about it. Neighbours in conversation saying things like, it just seems like something big is about to happen. Anxiety is epidemic in this apocalyptic age. We’re on edge. Always on edge.

We’re starting today a new series in the book of Philippians. The Philippians were an anxious church. They were anxious not about global warming or internet censorship, but their anxiety stemmed from one particular circumstance, the arrest, detaining and potential execution of their friend and spiritual guide, the apostle Paul, who had started the church about ten years before his current imprisonment. The church at Philippi was desperate to gain any information of what might be the outcome of Paul’s trial, and so they had sent on of their own, Epaphroditus to Paul to aid and assist him and bring back news of Paul’s outlook. Upon coming to Paul, Epaphroditus became deathly ill, delaying his return, and now the Philippians had another thing to worry about, his health and well-being. 

If anyone had reason to be on edge, it would be the apostle Paul. He after all was the one in chains, the one awaiting word on whether his sentence would come back, live or die. While he awaits word of his execution, Paul writes a letter to the Philippians, and it’s a perplexing letter. Instead of asking for prayer for his condition, Paul prays for the Philippians in their condition. Instead of being a letter ridden with anxiety, it is an epistle of joy. 16 times in four short chapter Paul speaks of joy, or rejoicing. Philippians: the epistle of joy in the face of apocalypse.

These themes are introduced to us in the first 11 verses of chapter 11, which includes Paul’s thankful, joyful prayer for the Philippian church.

When I was growing up there was a saying, I don’t hear much anymore. You are what you eat. What a ridiculous saying. That’s why we don’t here it much anymore - it’s like our entire generation woke up and said, Nah, that’s not true. “If i eat this chocolate bunny …” yeah, no. It doesn’t make sense - I think it said to try to make us eat more healthy food, but who wants to how up and me a head of lettuce? 

Maybe we’ve lost something when we threw out that idiom however. Maybe there was wisdom in the saying, it's just that I heard it wrong all those years. Maybe the idiom was never supposed to be taken literally at all (yeah, of course, you don’t really turn into a chocolate bunny.” What I mean is, maybe the idiom wasn’t about food at all. It wasn’t about what we consume with our mouths, but with our minds. If it’s not about food, but about our thoughts, then the saying has a bit more staying power. You are what you think about. You are what you let into your thoughts. You are the media and philosophies you consume. 

This seems to be the Apostle Paul’s concern in this verse that I want to centre our thoughts on this morning, that our thoughts shape us, we are what we eat:

Phil. 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Last week, we finished a series in the book of Ecclesiastes, and at the end of that book, we saw a description of God’s communication to us through the Biblical writers as thoughtful, careful, delightful and true. That’s a great framework for all of our communication. And it is my prayer this morning as we reflect on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. For there is nothing more excellent or worthy of praise than the resurrection, and for that reason, it is good and proper for us to “think about these things”. But my prayer here this morning is not only to communicate information, but that the Holy Spirit might grant us illumination, that will turn our hearts to celebration.

I want to tell you about a book I’m reading. This book had been on my radar for a while. I had heard it referenced on a number of podcasts I listen to, a couple of blogs that I read. People were highly recommending it - that not strange, but what was strange was who was recommending it. People on the left. People on the right. Pastors. Academics. I saw an interview with the author sitting down with pastor Tim Keller, and a review by the Gospel Coalition. Russel Moore of the Southern Baptists called it “the most important book in years.”

The book is called “The Righteous Mind” by Jonathon Haidt. Haidt, a social psychologist at the NYU-Sterm School of Business, is interested in how people think. More specifically, Haidt, a ethnically Jewish, politically left-leaning, and religiously atheist democrat, was interested in why people on the right politically were so irrational. The book is centred around the question of why people on the left and people on the right talk past one another, misrepresent one another, and think that each other irrational. It’s a pretty amazing book. Haidt’s major conclusion after undertaking major anthropological studies across continents, age groups and social classes, is that people think differently - process facts differently, reason differently, and argue differently, not because they are irrational, but because thinking is first and primarily an expression of one’s deeper moral inclination - what Haidt called intuition. How the heart is inclined influences what the mind accepts as rational. The reason Haidt’s book is so influential is that it basically argues against the way that we in the West have been thinking about thinking. Since the enlightenment, we’ve come to think that we are primarily rational creatures - like computers. Data comes in, is processed by reason, and adjustments to our thinking are made. Haidt proves that is not the case. Haidt provides scores of evidence that one’s moral inclination precedes reason, that we use reason not to come to justify the beliefs we are morally inclined to accept. How the heart is inclined influences what the mind accepts as rational. 

I was thinking of Haidt’s book as I reflected on this last passage in this book of all books, Ecclesiastes. For Solomon, or since Solomon is referred to in the third person here some people think a later compiler of Solomon’s writings, in any case, this final passage also speaks to our thinking, and the relationship between our thinking and our moral inclinations.

“Resolved, I will live so, as I wish I had done when I come to die.”

These words were penned by nineteen-year-old Jonathan Edwards, who in 1722, kept a diary and wrote seventy guidelines which he called “Resolutions”. In his article, “The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards”, Dr. Stephen Nichols writes that Jonathan Edwards resolved to live a life that counts, not through legalistic grit and determination, but with God’s help and grace in accordance to His will.

Edwards’ seventy resolutions deal with various topics and themes. One such theme is the reality of his death and living before God with an eternal perspective. In his youth, Edwards knew all too well about the brevity of life. His life and preaching demonstrated that he took seriously that life is a breath, a mist, “that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (Jas. 4:14). Just as life in Edward’s 18th century was frail and fragile, life continues to be frail and fragile today.

One theme that Solomon has addressed in Ecclesiastes is the sober reality of death. The brevity of life is a reality we just as soon forget, escape from, ignore and not talk about. In his sermon “The Bad Days are Better”, pastor Dan spoke of how a sober look at the reality of death actually helps us to put life into proper perspective and order.

We know that “for everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die;” (Ecc.3:1-2). We are all going to die yet none of us know the day and hour when death shall overtake us. Though life is hebel - a vapor - a breath - Scripture actually teaches us that the fleeting, transient, breathiness of life can actually teach us how to live with eternity in view.

In Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:8, Solomon deals with the reality of death and the afterlife in such a way to help prepare us, I believe, for eternity. From the context, it seems to me that the main idea of this passage is the call to live life in light of eternity.

one thing I’m learning about the way Solomon thinks and presents his outlook on life, is that he leans more pessimistic (or possibly realist). This has been a challenge for me, because I am an optimist by nature. When I make an argument, I find it more natural to outline all of the positive points first, and then speak to the critical objections. Solomon does the opposite, and I’m finding it very effective. What Solomon does, is he’ll lay out a thesis statement, and then state all the problems with it first, but by the end, he’ll convince you that what he originally said is the only viable way forward, through all the trouble that may be. This isn’t a bad way to think. If you’re an optimist, and you think life is going to be all rosy, when you slam into the reality of life, you may be likely to give up. But if you’re a pessimist, or at least a realist, and you’ve gone into an endeavour with a realistic understand of all that can go wrong, then when you hit a wall, you’d more likely perhaps to be more like, “yep, I knew I’d hit you sometime.”

So let’s make a ledger this morning, a pros and cons list, and debate Solomon’s proposal: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might” - Now you might paraphrase this to suit your own needs: “Why should I work hard?”, “Why get myself out of bed this morning?”