Philippians 4:2-23 - The Attitude of a Peacemaker

SLIDE 1 - as I go up

One morning a man was out on a beach with a metal detector looking for treasure. His machine beeped, digging frantically he uncovered an old lamp. The man knew what it was at once, rubbing the lamp he grinned widely as a genie appeared before him. I know how this works, the man declared, I am your new master and I have three wishes. Wrong. The genie interrupted - my last master’s final wish was that my next master would get but one wish, after which that I may go free. So to fulfill that wish, you now have only one. The man was sad to hear this, he had to be careful and thoughtful, what did he want most in the world? Before he could state his wish, however, the genie continued. There are limits, I cannot make something out of nothing - if you wish for wealth I must take it from someone else to give it to you, and you cannot control where it comes from - I may get it all from a wealthy man, making him poor to make you rich, or I may get it all from the poor, making them even more poor for your gain - that is a risk you must balance. The man paused, he was about to wish for wealth, but knew that if he got it he would now worry forever who lost so he could gain. I cannot control the emotions of another. The genie added - I cannot make a woman fall in love with you. The man paused again, he had about been to ask for the woman he had his eye on to love him in return. But then the idea struck him, he lived in California and always wanted to go to Hawaii but couldn’t afford to fly and was scared of boats, so he wished ‘I want a bridge to span from Los Angeles to Hawaii’. The genie looked at him in shock. Didn’t you hear me? He asked - I can’t make anything out of nothing - I’d need to take sand and gravel from beaches like this one to make concrete - and so much of it for such a long bridge, I would need metal ore for bolts, beams, and rods - it will be an insane undertaking - it will rob the earth of all its resources! Ask anything else! The man thought some more - I want world peace. The genie stepped back, no one had ever actually wished that before, they all said world peace would be their final wish but it never was. The man watched as the genie counted on his fingers, mumbling to himself - words like oil, middle east, greed, america, control, all part of his slurry of words. Finally, after much thought the genie nodded - ok, your bridge to Hawaii, would you like it to be two lanes or four lanes?

I don’t know what it takes to build a 2,500 mile bridge, but the idea that doing so is simpler than achieving world peace is an easy joke; wishing for world peace is even a joke played out in any movie making fun of beauty pageants as the only correct answer to what would you wish for if they had a single wish. And while I’m afraid I will not solve the issue of world peace today - as we wrap up our series in Philippians SLIDE 2 we will see how we need to adopt the attitude of a peacemaker. If you have your Bibles you can go ahead and open to Philippians 4, as always I will have the verses here on the screen as well. As we read and learn from this passage today we will see three key areas of peace, areas that we may need an attitude adjustment to achieve. The first being peace with others, the second being peace with ourselves, and the third being peace with God. As I studied this passage over the last couple weeks it was interesting. Unlike the last few sermons I could’t simply break it down into section A, section B, and section C with each section having a clear example and application, because unlike some other parts of this letter; these attitudes don’t stand alone, but rather they interweave with eachother, we see how they continually interact with one another; almost as if Paul is hinting that we can’t have one of these peaces without the other. We can’t have peace with others without peace with ourselves. We can’t have peace with God without having peace with others… but when I look around the world, when I look at myself I begin to wonder - that can’t be accurate can it? I know many non-christians who seem to have peace with others or within themselves. I know many Christians who seam to have found peace in God but are in constant turmoil with their neighbor… but then a phrase hit me (pause) which we will get to… but I need to leave you in some suspense so you don’t get up and walk out halfway through the sermon right! So lets let that tension hang for a moment, can we have some of these elements of peace and not others or are they a packaged deal? Let’s find out SLIDE 3 starting in verse 2.

2 I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to agree in the Lord. 3 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. 4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.

Euodia and Synteche are named only this one time in all of scripture and are only know for one thing - having been in a disagreement about something. And not something big enough for Paul to weigh in on like he does in other passages - like if they were disagreeing on something important, say if Jesus was really God or not, Paul likely would have mentioned it and said who was right. But here he simply brings up they are in disagreement and encourages the reader, this true partner, to help them come to agreement.

Paul, guided by the Spirit, doesn’t seem to care to share what this disagreement was about, and I think there is a beauty in not knowing what their conflict was over. If we knew we could read this with a narrow focus: don’t disagree on X, whatever X was, but rather we are forced to read it with a broader view; that regardless of what these people’s issue was - they, and thus we, are called to seek unity with our fellow Christians, so long as we are already in agreement on the capital T truths. And we can assume that these women, Euodia and Syntyche, do agree on those big things; those core divine truths as they are identified by Paul as fellow workers, women who contended with him for the Gospel, women who he considers co-workers in spreading the Gospel, women whose names are in the book of life, he wouldn’t have said that if they were arguing about the larger issues of Christian life.

In a church the size as ours, we can assume there are, or have been, some conflicts of opinion. Some of us have been our fair share of Euodias or Syntyches. And some of us may be in that position now, letting our preferences blind us from peace - but Paul is calling on this true partner - to be a peacemaker. To seek reconciliation, which will likely involve compromise by one of both parties, but as I read this I kept thinking, what about the next verses? Why does Paul then drop in the dual commands - rejoice in the Lord always ad let your graciousness be known… Well it serves as a transition to the next thought, but it also serves as a great tool in peacemaking. If we are rejoicing in the Lord, celebrating God, … and we are practicing gracious - serving others - that doesn’t leave much room for minor conflict. We need to quit being Euodia and Synteche and we need to become more like this true partner - helping reconcile - helping make peace. Now peacemaking does not mean blanket accepting others. At times real peace will require rebuking one or both parties of sin. Sometimes it may involve correcting one or both parties, teaching them how to do what is right and avoid what is wrong. But doing so graciously - not sugar-coating or hiding the truth - but graciously in a manner that the truth is appealing in it’s wholeness, in its entirety, and Paul adds some motivation even - because the Lord is near! The common understanding of this nearness is that Paul is referring to the judgement day, the day we face God before eternity.

And how near is He… well… I don’t know when the rapture will come, it has been 2000+ years since this was written… but each of us has only our lifetime left - after which we will face judgement - so while the final day of the Lord may be days or generations away - from us individually the Lord is only a single lifetime away , so we should seek to be peacemakers, preparing for our day, ready to give an account before Christ.

Peace with others, however, is not the only peace we should seek. I heard a study recently that there is a new epidemic sweeping not only the nation, but the world (pause) don’t worry… because if you worry it is too late… if you worry you already have it… because worry is part of the pandemic - the epidemic in question being an epidemic of anxiety, worry, fear, and depression. In the last three years it is reported that the rate of anxiety around the globe has gone up drastically! And while culture is starting to see the impacts of mental health many people still have a mindset of ‘work through it’ not realizing that for some anxiety can be as debilitating as a broken leg - and few of us would tell someone fresh off a compound fracture to ‘muscle through it’ - but for anxiety and these other issues we often do; we say ‘it’s just in your head’… like imagine saying that to your friend with a broken leg ‘Come on Joe, its just i your leg, you’r fine’. I think in part of the reason we treat anxiety, worry, fear and depression like this is because few of us and are willing to say ‘i don’t know’ or what is sometimes even harder, to say nothing at all. But Paul does weigh in on how we should hand’e these issues, and it isn’t to ignore them or to muscle through them, SLIDE 4 but verses 6 and 7.

6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

I memorized this passage in college, and the translation I used then, and still use for my personal Bible study today, is The New American Standard Bible, which says SLIDE 5

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Do not be anxious about anything.... I memorized this passage for a reason, in high school and early college I had terrible social anxiety; I would not go to an event if I didn’t know at least 4 or 5 people there. I would not eat or do anything alone where other people would be, and if I had to go somewhere alone I’d hide in a corner to not be seen - I was riddled with anxiety - so I memorized this verse so DAILY I could remind myself - first thing - plead with thanksgiving to God - Ask God, with gratitude, for that protection - that peace beyond understanding which surpasses human comprehension!

The cure to anxiety (pause) cure may not be the best word because at times I still need this remedy - my anxiety isn’t gone, but rather my heart and mind are often guarded from it, so I won’t say cure - I’ll say the vaccine - the thing that works, but requires boosters - against anxiety is prayer. And Paul doesn’t tell us what to pray, but rather he tells us how to pray - with thanksgiving! When your mind and heart say ‘self I should be afraid.’ ‘self I should be worried’ Paul says, don’t listen to that voice, rather than be anxious, rather than be worried be thankful! And in gratitude pray to God pleading for peace! We are to be a peacemaker for ourselves - overcoming worry with thankfulness!

Now. I want to offer a warning - there is no greater way to make a fool of yourself than to go before God and say - ha - I found a trick to make you do what I want, thinking we can be the master over God… So don’t think we can go before God with a 30 second prayer, ‘hey God, thanks for everything, now having done my end of the bargain guard me from the fear I have please do’ - boom I’m healed! Like that’s not what Paul is teaching. We’re to be pleading - there is an effort in this - think of Jesus praying in the garden before the cross - distressed to the point his sweat was dripping like blood - we need to toil in prayer, but doing so not just begging for our wants or needs, but with thanksgiving.

As we pray there is something spiritual happening as the Spirit works within us, but I think God, being the maker of people, also knows how we work - and I think this command partners the Spirit with Psychology - If I spend 30-45 minutes praying for peace, and doing so thanking God over and over for all He has done for me, all He has provided me, how He has protected me in the past, how He has acted in my lives and the lives around me - that will shift my state of mind! Our minds follows paths and channels, neural networks forged and established over time and conditioning and as I continually pray in gratitude those neural networks are being re-written, re-forged, and done so with the help of the Spirit to a point of peace beyond comprehension! And that peace is worth the time and effort of prayer. There are times that my stress, anxiety, and fear can ruin a day or a week and - I would say an extra hour of kneeling before God time to make the rest of the day better… that is worth it!

Now, if you get our churches emails, you got an email from me earlier this month about Bremner baby 2, baby 2 has been diagnosed with a rare condition called Ulnar Longitudinal Deficiency - meaning he is missing his Ulna, which may or may not come with other health and developmental issues - and likely some expensive surgeries or therapies - and this rightfully so can cause stress, worry, anxiety - and so I sent that email a few weeks back, and within hours, I felt a peace beyond understanding, beyond comprehension as we were cloaked in prayer. And many of you have had some great words of encouragement in the weeks since, but I’ve felt the truth of this passage in these last four weeks, and I will rely on the truths of this passage over the next four months.

This is also one of those ways we see the interweaving of these attitudes of peace. As I pray, I am making and finding peace within myself - but also as you pray for me, or as we pray for one another - you are serving as peacemakers too, only the peace is fully for another, not for ourselves. This is a fascinating interchange as well for as we experience that peace, it should bring us back to rejoicing, as we were commanded in the previous verses as well as provide us more to be grateful for in future times of worry or anxiety.

But then Paul adds to this command SLIDE 5 verses 8 and 9.

8 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. 9 Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

We are beginning to see an equation, a plan, a blueprint for peace. Now remember what I said earlier, don’t assume we can unlock cheat codes to help us get what we want from God, but rather as we read scripture we should be asking what is God’s heart, what is God’s will; and when we see those things laid out we should pursue them, as gifts from God! And one of those things is laid before us here - God wants us to be people of peace, so he shows us a path towards it!

Part I: Pray with thanksgiving, laying our requests before Him

Part II: Do, obey, what we have learned and recieved from Paul, which includes the line just before - dwell on whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, morally excellent, and praiseworthy.

What do you dwell on? What preoccupies your mind when you let it freely wander? What do you set aside time to think about, what do you choose to focus on? SLIDE 6 Are the things you dwell on, you meditate on in line with these attributes? Again I think God is giving us these commands in a way that partners the Spirit with human psycology! As we dwell on things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, morally excellent, and praiseworthy our thought patterns and actions are more likely to align than they would if we did the opposite and were to dwell on lies, slander, cruel, wicked, hateful, reprehensible, sinful, and disgraceful things. And as we dwell on those good things, guiding our hearts, minds, and actions rightly - walking in line with God’s Spirit and will - we will find peace!

As I was thinking about this the other day I began to reflect on what had been taking up my mental energy - and I realized two things 1) I listen to A LOT of podcasts and 2) I think about what I listen to, what I read, and what I watch. So I began to think through my podcast archive, my watch history, and ask are those things I take in inline with these attributes? I’m not going to tell you what you should or shouldn’t watch or listen to, but I think these two verses can give us a lot of guidance! Am the things I take in leading me to peace or causing me worry, fear, and anxiety? And if the latter, is it because they don’t align with these values?

Before I get up on a soapbox I don’t need to be on, let’s finish out the book of Philippians - but first has anyone here ever seen the cinematic masterpiece that is Princess Bride? There is a character in the film that keeps saying the word ‘inconceivable until another character turns to him and says ‘you keep saying that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.' Part of this final section falls into that inconceivable category - I don’t say that it mean it is incapable of being understood or imagined, but rather - I don’t think this passage means what a lot of people think that it means. SLIDE 7 Starting in verse 10.

10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly because once again you renewed your care for me. You were, in fact, concerned about me but lacked the opportunity to show it. 11 I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. 12 I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. SLIDE 8 13 I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me. 14 Still, you did well by partnering with me in my hardship. 15 And you Philippians know that in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone. 16 For even in Thessalonica you sent gifts for my need several times. 17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the profit that is increasing to your account. SLIDE 9 18 But I have received everything in full, and I have an abundance. I am fully supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you provided—a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. 19 And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20 Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. SLIDE 10 21 Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send you greetings. 22 All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household. 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

That is a lot of text - but I wanted to read it as a whole - because all too often we don’t read something as a whole and that leads to us missing the point or arguably even worse, creating a point where there isn’t one. In this instance far too often SLIDE 11 people read Philippians 4:13 and fully remove it from the surrounding context. Far too often people read this -

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me

and they assume that means I can do ANYTHING, I can make it in the NBA… I’m 5’5” I can’t make it in the NBA… only 2 players in the entire history of the NBA were 5’5 or shorter… I’m not going to make it in the NBA… I have half a gallon of gas in my tank and I’m 50 miles from a gas station… I can make it… No I can’t… not in my car… Now. Can God do miracles? Yes. Could He miraculously fill my tank up with gas yes. Does that mean I should never but gas again and trust in God fill my tank… Is that what Phil 4 says will happen. No! But, far too often I see this passage translated like that, interpreted like that by good meaning people, high school and college me did that with this very passage and some others like it! Don’t make fun of me, but Jr. High me after hearing a sermon on prayer where this passage was used began to pray for super powers… I said don’t make fun of me, I was in 7th grade....

But if this doesn’t mean what we think it means… what does it mean? Well lets look at the verses around it. Paul begins by rejoicing in the Philippians care package that Epaphroditus delivered, pleased to see they still care, pleased to see they are still concerned for Him. But he isn’t saying this to guilt them into thinking thye should have sent a a care package, support, sooner -

I don’t say this out of need

Paul says, because he has learned to be content in any circumstances, whether in feast or famine - in abundance to destitute, with little or with a lot. I think we, the church, have done ourselves a great disservice, a great harm, by looking at verse 13 apart from verse 12 SLIDE 12

12 I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need.

We look to verse 13, which makes us think we can do anything and miss a great secret, a secret Paul had found, the secret of being content. The secret of saying - because of Christ I have enough - In Christ I have enough! The verses before and after verse 13 involve the church’s partnership with Paul, and Paul’s gratitude for that support, but also his assurance that he can endure with or without it, not that he will turn a gift or support away when it arrives. Paul is not declaring here a need to take vows of poverty or to give away all we own for the sake of becoming content, but rather, he has learned that by being content he can endure the pains of poverty or the temptations of plenty. contentment is the secret. And I think verses 19 and 20 helps us see how and where Paul got that contentment SLIDE 13

19 And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20 Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

There are two key truths found here. One: we can trust God will provide our needs, note our needs and our wants aren’t always the same things, and two: to God be the glory. Does this mean I can embrace poor stewardship, spend all my money on food and entertainment and God will cover the rent… no! God may supply through the gift of another, or again through some miraculous provision - or through giving us what we need to do a job to make the needed money to pay the rent… but when we are lacking a need rather than jump to blaming God, we should likely ask God, what part of the responsibility did I give up? Where did I turn away from His will, or alternatively, am I seeking my glory over His? SLIDE 14

The attitudes of a peacemaker. Making peace between you and others. Helping others find peace as a third party true partner. Finding an inner peace relying on God. Or finding peace with God Himself. How do you need to embrace this attitude, that of a peacemaker? I asked at the beginning - can we have just one of these peaces, or are they all interwoven? Can we find peace with one another without having peace with God? Can we have peace with God without having peace with one another? And in light of Philippians 4, I think even if the answer is yes, I’d say, I don’t want to. (pause) If even if I could only have one facade, on piece of peace - I would rather have a peace beyond understanding - a peace that is… inconceivable.

Let me pray for us.