Discipleship in the Epistles to the Philippians and Philemon

The point of our series in looking at Discipleship in the New Testament is life change. That is what we are shooting for. That is the destination. That is the metric as to whether or not we are accomplishing our purpose. Are we allowing the word of God and things within it by the Spirit of God to change our hearts?

Discipleship

(Slide) When we say, “Yes” to Jesus… what we are saying is we want to be His disciple...

You are my master and I am your apprentice (authority)

My priorities will be reordered according to your priorities (mission)

My loves will be reordered according to your loves (posture)

Discipleship is continuing to be transformed as children of God who have allegiance to Jesus, His teachings, and who hold onto faith until He comes again.

I think you will find that as we journey through this series, Discipleship in the New Testament, it will be invaluable to be reading the books of the Bible each week.

Can I mention… unless we are reading our Bibles, our growth, maturity, our ability to understand God and His plan is greatly diminished. Constantly reading, studying, memorizing, taking in the Word of God is how God has chosen to reveal Himself. We can not know Him deeply and intimately apart from His revealed Word.

Helpful hint: Look at the book, take the chapters, and divide by 5 or 6 and commit to read that many each day if not the whole thing

As the weeks go on and we get past Acts and Corinthians, the chapters get less and less.

Join us at ReST each week as we will be discussing that Sundays book (9am downstairs) and glean from one another what you are finding and seeing.

Our text that will keep us anchored this morning is Philippians 2:1-11, if you are able would you please stand with me while I read God’s word this morning.

Philippians 2:1–11 CSB

If, then, there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, make my joy complete by thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others. Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross. For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow— in heaven and on earth and under the earth— and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray.

(Goal): Discipleship unfolds in the church community as a radically alternative social reality functioning under the Lordship of Christ made up in the choices we make as individual followers of Jesus. (bears worth repeating)

ME

We are in the book of Philippians and Philemon this morning.

Illus: How my community has shaped my life.

Home (parents)… born Bremerton, Elem School in VA, MS in NM, HS and JC in Silv/Brem

High School (Silverdale) MS was wretched… bullied got in fights… HS I figured out how to navigate it (good friendships)

College (when I met Jesus… figured out my calling… supportive mentors, pastors, friends)

Europe (provided opportunity to see other cultures… kind, generous, generational consistency, generational trauma too)

Marriage and children (m. Crystal in 2003, miscarried our first child in 2006, had babies in 2007, 2009, 2012) we’re formed together in the ups, downs, and sometimes circumstances that go sideways… every which way. We both are formed.

Friends (We have friends in whom our hearts are knit; have had friends walk away; have had friends who were conditional; have friends who have seen the most difficult side of us and continue to stick)

Church (oh my… this church… I can’t say enough about this church… this church has given me breath when I have had it knocked out of me… it has allowed me to serve and lead it… you have allowed me to follow God’s leading for us… you have taken ownership and shared with me what God is doing in you… I’ve seen you love really difficult people (you’re probably like… oh he’s talking about me… it’s all of us)… I’ve seen you lean in when things get uncomfortable.)

I’ve shared this with you before… Malissa and I were talking a few months ago now… we were talking about how beautiful and elegant the sanctuary is going to look. It will not be flashy and glitzy, because it is going to highlight the true beauty in that space for which it was originally constructed for… YOU… the people of God to come and worship, grow, learn, share, and love.

WE:

Maybe some of your journey is like mine, you have felt or experienced this too. While time doesn’t permit me to speak to the specific changes I’ve encountered and experienced and how they have shaped me (mistakes and victories alike) maybe in reflecting on your own journey you can see points in time where God has used community, others, the church, or individuals to help form you.

As I learn to follow Jesus closer and seek to be more in step, I find that my desires, my dreams, my goals, my expectations don’t diminish, they actually have much more clarity.

Maybe you have experienced that as well. That when we put on the shelf any worldly, cultural, or societal expectation (career, familial status, economic success, relational breadth, etc), which can often be unattainable and ridden, laden with guilt because I’ll never attain it… there is freedom, there is an ability to breathe, there is an uncanny ability to find like mindedness in others who are doing the same.

Much of this speaks to our identity.

Identity defined is: the distinguishing character or personality of an individual

Who are we, how do we want to be perceived, what is our reason for existing, who am I at my core?

Everyone you know, everyone you meet, we all are looking to tie our identity to someone or something.

In our text this morning… those who lived in Philippi and arguably Philemon as well, were steeped in a culture of notoriety, status, titles, and public acknowledgement of their status. Not a lot unlike today… while we might not have titles we are throwing around… there are status symbols and things that we can find identity in for purposes of self-fulfillment.

I will argue that if the foundation of our identity is in any other thing, other than Jesus, we will be on shaky ground.

GOD

God has something to say about this.

For context sake… Paul in his letter to the Philippians and to Philemon, they are steep in Roman culture. This is an honor shame culture. This is where we find them on the map (Slide)

In Roman honor culture there is social stratification:

Elite

Senators (600): Nobles and New Men

Equestrians (20,000): Most renowned, Most accomplished, Excellent

Decurions (150-200K): Two council leaders and Other Decurions

Non-Elite:

Citizens

Non-Citizens: Free, Freedman, Slave

Competition for public honor was what marked life:

“Honor may be defined as “the positive value of a person in his or her own eyes plus the positive appreciation of that person in the eyes of his or her social Group” Malina and Neyrey, “Honor and Shame in Luke-Acts”. 25-26

Marcus Tullius Cicero (Philosopher, statesman, lawyer, scholar living 100 years before Christ) summarizes the centrality of honor in Rome’s social economy: “By nature we yearn and hunger for honor, and once we have glimpsed, as it were, some part of its radiance, there is nothing we are not prepared to bear and suffer in order to secure it.” (tusc 2.24.58)

Honor would be power. In an honor/shame culture… you keep honor at all cost. Not a lot has changed in 2000 years… you’ll notice in our culture wars, if someone is attacked… if shade is thrown (an offense given)… it’s not enough to get an apology or to set the record straight… it is like a shark with blood in the water… they are merciless and unrelenting until the offender is utterly destroyed.

But power in God’s Kingdom is different than in the world around us… or at least it should be.

Mark 10:42-45 “Jesus called them over and said to them, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them. But it is not so among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave to all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.””

This is Paul’s exhortation to the church in Philippi-

Philippians 2:1-11 “If, then, there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, make my joy complete by thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others. Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross. For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow— in heaven and on earth and under the earth— and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

(vss 6-11) is thought to be an early creed of the church… something they would have recited, something they would be reminded of. We see Paul’s exhortation in this mindset through out this letter… as he writes this letter from a prison in Rome:

Philippians 2:14-18 “Do everything without grumbling and arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world, by holding firm to the word of life. Then I can boast in the day of Christ that I didn’t run or labor for nothing. But even if I am poured out as a drink offering on the sacrificial service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. In the same way you should also be glad and rejoice with me.”

Philippians 3:1 “In addition, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. To write to you again about this is no trouble for me and is a safeguard for you.”

Paul desires this unity in the mindset of Christ, even calling out (lovingly) sisters in the Lord who are not agreeing…

Philippians 4:2-3 “I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I also ask you, true partner, to help these women who have contended for the gospel at my side, along with Clement and the rest of my coworkers whose names are in the book of life.”

We can also turn our attention to Philemon

Put briefly, the story tells about Onesimus, whose name meant "useful" or "profitable," but who apparently stole money from his master in Asia (near Laodicea) and ran away to Rome in Europe to get lost in the urban crowd. Paul, who had led Philemon to Christ in Ephesus, also reached Onesimus with the gospel in Rome a decade or so later and discipled him there. This letter to Philemon was a "cover letter" for a repatriated former slave who became an international migrant.- Raymond J. Bakke. A Theology as Big as the City (Kindle Locations 1540-1542). Kindle Edition.

Onesimus had run away from Philemon, found Paul, gave his life to Jesus and Paul is now sending Onesimus back to Philemon that he might receive him as a brother in the Lord.

As it pertains to our study today, what Paul is entreating Philemon is recognize the position in Christ that Onesimus has and for Philemon to rejoice in that, counting his status as nothing as a spurned slave owner.

Roman law gave three options. The slave owner could brand the runaway, execute him, or purchase his freedom by buying manumission papers from the government. Execution would have probably been the normal fate for Onesimus, because according to Aristotle's slave law descriptions, slaves in that society were considered property, not people, and because Onesimus was a thief as well as a runaway. Manumission papers would not normally be purchased for a slave who committed crimes.

You can imagine the pressure on Philemon by other slaveholders. If Onesimus is freed, every slave in the region will want to run away, become a Christian and return as a brother. It will be hard to keep slaves "down on the farm," for obvious reasons. This threat was real. Read Paul's letter again, and it becomes clear which option he expected.

What happened? One thing we know: Philemon didn't tear up the letter. I think we have to assume that for the first time in history a house church was fully integrated. Some fifteen years before, Paul had written that there was no difference between slaves and free persons in Christ (Gal 3:28). But there was surely a time gap before that policy was implemented. Paul didn't ever say, "Start a church for former slaves on a side street in town." This was a historic event. The ending of slavery among Christians would eventually penetrate the larger society's consciousness.- Raymond J. Bakke. A Theology as Big as the City (Kindle Locations 1568-1576). Kindle Edition.

YOU

How might you take Paul’s exhortation to have the mind of Christ?

What might our church community look like when we gather together that everyone from every social-economic place find a home here as we are the family of God? Not each one looking to our own needs but looking out for each other?

This type of mindset is not easy… it’s extremely counter cultural. Paul exhorts the church...

Philippians 4:4-7 “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Also when we are overwhelmed feeling the temptation to enter into the old paths where the ruts are predictable, knowable, manageable

Philippians 4:8-9 “Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things. Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.”

Those old ruts don’t lead to life. They lead to what Jesus sought to save us from.

(Goal): Discipleship unfolds in church community as a radically alternative social reality functioning under the Lordship of Christ made up in the choices we make as individual followers of Jesus.

US

So what might happen if we continue to give ourselves to these things? What type of community might we have where we don’t use power, money, authority, position in the world to determine who we have relationship with?

What if we commited ourselves to the mind of Christ…

Selfish ambition- gone

Conceitedness (self pleasure)- out of here

Humility- recognizing what God says about us (you and me) is true

Honoring and valuing others greatly- abundant

Seeing Jesus as our example… our lamp, our light, our guide as we navigate through this life. Serving, loving, giving, and also having boundaries… knowing where and when He was to move, interact, heal, speak, lay down his life…

Imagine what kind of community God will shape us into as we give ourselves to these things.