Connected to the Source

Welcome

Well, good morning Lifepoint! If we haven’t met yet, my name is Dan and I serve as the Teaching Pastor for the Worthington campus.

If this is your first time with us…

We’re continuing our series through the New Testament letter of Philippians - a letter written by the Apostle Paul back to a church he started in the Roman Colony of Philippi sometime around 50 AD. And the overarching theme of this letter is - joy. Some 16 times, Paul will call the Philippians and us to practice joy and what he shows us, over and over again is that in following Jesus, we are actually liberated from the endless pursuit of looking for our horizontal relationships (our friends, family, spouse, career) to make us happy! But instead, in Jesus, we are find the ultimate source of unshakeable joy!

If you have your bible with you today, meet me in Philippians 2 and we’ll be in vv. 12-13 today. Philippians 2:12-13.

Introduction

And while you’re turning there…

You can probably guess this about me, but I am a millennial.

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One of the things this means is that I have a strange kind of an addition to my phone. I mean, it’s odd. I grew up not having a phone. I grew up having to go to someone’s house to just so I could see if they were home! Like a caveman.

But now, I have this strange addiction to a device that I carry around with me all the time. Most of us do. We walk around with the universe in our pockets as if it is completely normal to have access to such a vast ocean of information at any given moment.

We can find whatever we want….whoever we want…go anywhere we want…buy anything we want…all in a matter of moments.

And I never leave home without it.

Ever.

In fact, it might even be the case - I haven’t done a solid study on it - but it’s probably the case that the most consistent disciplines and habits I have in my life right now - have a lot to do with this thing.

I scroll. [EXPAND]

Most importantly…I charge it.

Everyday.

In fact, for long stretches of time, I recognize that it needs to sit on the charger. In fact, my phones’ usefulness is directly proportional to how disciplined I am in keeping it charged.

Because if I loose the charge…what am I left with? Would you even both carrying it around? It’s dead weight…it’s useless.

Why am I bringing this up?

Because as I’ve been working through this passage over the last week or so, I’ve come back to this nagging question in my own life…do I take the same approach to my spiritual life as I do to my digital life?

Do I got to the same lengths to make sure I am spiritually charged up…connected to the source…on at least a daily basis…as I do to make sure I’m digitally charged up…with every gadget at 100%…not even leaving the house without it?

How would you answer that question for yourself?

And I think this is important for us to talk about because it seems to me that the version of following Jesus so many people encounter today - is a version that is uncharged…its like giving someone the newest iPhone - talking about all the things they can do with it - but never telling them how to charge it up.

It’s no wonder than, that so many people today are ready to move on from their faith - because for too long, they’ve been carrying around something that doesn’t seem to work for them…it’s not living up to the promise…it just feels like dead weight.

Maybe that’s you today…and I may not get the wording exactly right…or maybe this analogy misses the mark a bit…but you feel like somethings not working right your faith - it’s barely hanging on - and you’re here every now and then because you have some vague sense that it can be a good thing if you could only get it to work.

Well today, this is what we’re going to spend our time exploring. And if there’s anything I want you to walk away thinking about, it’s this: you need to recharge. You need to stay connected to the source.

So if you’re not there yet, open with me to Philippians chapter 2. We’ll be in vv 12-13 today. Philippians 2:12-13.

I’ll read the text, pray, and then we’ll get started.

Philippians 2:12–13 ESV

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

PRAY

Context

All right, let’s go ahead and get started.

Real quick…as a reminder, two weeks ago, we talked about the first part of this chapter - and the big idea was that we are not at the center; that the Gospel invites us to perceive the world in a remarkably different way from what we’re used to…that instead of viewing ourselves at the very center of everything, we see Jesus at the center - and we are in orbit around him. Following Jesus, then, is not limited to this intellectual endeavor (though it certainly involves the way we think) but is a radically transformation of our entire selves.

But I think the question we were left with is: how does that take place? Is it all at once? Is it gradual? Should you be able to feel a difference or is it something you see only years later looking back?

Well, I think Paul gives us some insight here on how that transformation takes place here.

Look with me again at v. 12 (Phil. 2:12)

Philippians 2:12 ESV

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,

Working Out Our Salvation

And I want to focus in on that bit towards the end, “…work out your own salvation…”

What does he mean by that?

Just a couple of observations - this is the main thing He’s telling us to do this passage - to work out our salvation…but there’s something about the way that’s written that will feel a little off…right? How else can you read this other than Paul saying, there is something you need to do in order to be “saved.” So work out your salvation.

And it’s a bit confusion because this is the same Paul who, in other places will say things like, (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

So in one letter he’s saying we need to workout our OWN salvation…in another letter, he says, we have been saved…which, by the way, makes it sound like a something that has already happened in the past…

So, Paul, which is it? Do we go out and do this somehow or is it already done?

Salvation

Well, I think we actually have to take a step back - and ask a more foundational question: what does it mean to be saved? What does Paul have in mind when he used that word?

If you’ve been around the church world for a while - you’ll probably find that there is particular storyline that we believe about salvation specifically and christianity in general.

Here’s the story as it’s commonly told today is: that all of humanity will end up in one of two places after death - heaven or hell. But, the good news is that by faith in Jesus, you can be saved from an eternity in hell so that you can spend your eternity in heaven.

This makes sense, right? Because to say that you are “saved” naturally begs the question, “From what?”

So what we typically mean and how we tend to understand that word is something like: to be saved means you will go to heaven when you die.

But there are a few problems with that answer…not because it’s wrong, but because it’s too narrow of answer if you are take seriously the whole teaching of the New Testament.

For starters, when this is the dominant storyline of Christianity - and arguably, this is the way Christianity has been presented OVER and OVER again, especially in the US over the last 150 years - it tends to produce a version of Christianity that is far more interested in checking a box to guarantee some kind of cosmic life insurance policy. That once you “have been saved” you’re in. You’re good. Nothing else you need to do. You’re eternity is set. In other words, when this is our view of salvation, you tend to be most concerned with your past (because that’s when you were ‘saved’) and our future (because that’s when you get the payout!)…but not so much with our present way of life.

But you see, this is remarkably different from the larger picture of salvation that we see across the whole scope of the scriptures.

The New Testament definitely about “salvation” as a moment in time when God intervenes in our lives in miraculous way - but it also will talk about salvation as a past, present and future reality…if you want to nerd out with me for a moment, the greek word for “saved” (σωζω) shows up in every verbal tense…meaning there is a sense in which as followers of Jesus we have been saved, we are being saved, and will be saved in the end! In other words, salvation is explicitly concerned not just with our past and our future, but with the way we we live here and now…

To be “saved” is a sign that you have a relationship with Jesus - that you have been knocked off the trajectory of your life at a moment in time when God intervened - that you are now, present, in this moment in the process of being transformed to be more like Jesus - and that in the end, your future is secure as you look to an eternity with God in the New Heavens and New Earth where all things are made new and all things are made right!

To be “saved” is the explosive reality that you are not who you were, but are transforming into what you will become!

NOW…we can go back to Philippians 2:12.

This is why Paul can talk here about working out our salvation with fear and trembling - not because he is contradicting himself form other places - or making the case the salvations is actually something we bring to the table.

He says “work out your own salvation” as a way of saying that we are to experience and unwavering resolve to following Jesus; that we rearrange our lives around following Jesus; that organize our priorities - visions, our goals, our purpose - all around following Jesus…and to add to the intensity of this, Paul says we do this with fear and trembling - not because we’re afraid of God, but so that he can emphasize the gravity of what it means to follow him!

Work out your own salvation - resolve in your life that in every aspect, with every fiber of your being you will follow Jesus.

PAUSE

Just to state the obvious - that sounds a little intense…

PAUSE

I mean come on… “every fiber of your being”? How do you even do that?

Well, most don’t.

In fact, I think it’s safe to say that most people who have any kind of connection to “Christianity” try to fit it into their lives - in the margins - the cracks and crevices. And much of this, goes back to that story about “being saved” that we typically tell - that you make a decision in the past that guarantees your future…and when that’s it…when that’s the whole ball game…what we find is this massive whole in the middle that doesn’t get much direction for how we’re supposed to go about the rest of this “living life” business! That version of Christianity, doesn’t really offer much to us for the hear and now because it is overly concerned with the THEN and THEN!

And so it’s no wonder that we’re seeing more and more people hit this wall and just getting tired of the game…tired of seeing people preach and teach one thing but go about living in a way that is remarkably disconnected to what they say they believe! And if that’s what it means to follow Jesus—if that’s game—more and more people are saying, “I’m out.”

Maybe that’s you.

I can tell you - I have been there. There are things I’ve experienced in pastoring that have led me to say out loud…if that’s how “christians are going to treat people…candidly…if that’s how they’re going to treat me…I want out. I don’t know what game this is, but I don’t want to play anymore.” And I know all of the frustration, the emotion, the weariness that comes from making that kind of statement…and for me and it led to what we the most devastating…but rejuvenating seasons of my life.

Connected to the Source

And it’s because - there was something I missed.

Something crucial and essential that I had neglected in my understanding of following Jesus.

You see, I could articulate for you EVERYTHING I just talked about with Salvation - that it has everything to do with how we live now…that all of my life - with every fiber my being - today, tomorrow, and for the rest of my days - was to be about following Him!

But I could not for the life of me actually articulate how I was supposed to go about doing that.

In other words, I could not actually tell you how I was supposed to - or YOU were supposed to go about working out your own salvation with Fear and Trembling.

Thankfully, Paul does not leave us guessing.

Look at v. 12 again (Phil. 2:12-13)

Philippians 2:12–13 ESV

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

For it is GOD…WHO WORKS…IN YOU!

Friends, we work OUT our salvation because God first works IN us!

He is the source! He is the one who empowers us.

Look again at the end of v. 13

“both to WILL an to WORK for his good pleasure.”

In other words, He cultivates our will so that in being connected to Him, we find our desires reshaped, reformed, and redirected! We find ourselves in the here and now with a new set of longings that are inline with what God wants in our lives!

Nobody wants to stay exactly the same, all of us have areas of our lives that we long to see transformed and different…and what we see here in Philippians 2 is that the Gospel response to that desire is not to work up enough of your own will power to see that change happen…it’s not to psych yourself up enough…it’s not to be man enough, woman enough and just toughen up…the solution is to be connected to the source of change itself! It’s to be connected to the One who actually can bring about a renovation of our hearts and deepest longings!

And friends, this is what is offered to us in the Gospel - it’s an invitation to that life with God through faith in Jesus [EXPAND]!

You see, in the Gospel, we are invited into a life connected to the Source.

And when you step into this life, as a follower of Jesus, there are so many areas where you find freedom from old patterns of life…where you find that you are growing in your affection for Jesus…you literally see the world in a profoundly different way!

But here is where we get stuck…

There is a sinister pattern that will present itself to all of us who follow Jesus - a myth - belief that will slowly creep in and take hold of our hearts if we’re not ready for it.

Here it is: The longer you follow Jesus, the more you will be tempted to live as if you never really needed him in the first place.

Why does that happen?

Partly because things aren’t new like they were…or at least, we stop finding new things.

The same thing happens in all of our relationships - right? At the beginning everything is new and exciting…you don’t even have to look for it! But after awhile, the “new” stuff doesn’t just jump out at you anymore. You’re used to it. Of course, there are still ‘new’ things to discover! But you have to look for it now in ways you didn’t at the beginning.

The same is true in our spiritual lives.

Like I said earlier, the moment we become followers of Jesus, everything changes…it’s all new…but the long we go on, the more we’re prone to forget! The more prone we are to believe, this is how it’s always been.

Or to put it another way, like this Phone, we forget that we need to be charged! We need to be connected to the source.