Joy in Anxiety

1000 Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching What Do You Want?

The story goes that when Dante, the 12th centuary poet, faced exile in Italy, he roamed around the country looking for someone to take him in. When Dante knocked at the door of a Franciscan monastery [at Lunigiana] he was asked, “What do you want?” He replied, “Peace!”

We all want peace. We all want a settled pace, a secure place, that no matter what happens to us, we can be at rest and not anxious.

Do you find peace in Canberra? When I moved here in my 20s I thought this place was boring, but the longer I am here I am thankful I am not in Sydney.

An article from 2021 says Canberra is stress free. The author talked about how they saw their brother change when they came here, they said:

My brother recently moved back to Canberra after almost a decade of living in Melbourne. Since being back, he seems like a different person.

Instead of waking up at 6 am every day to start the two-hour routine of dropping the kids at before-school care, driving to the train station and catching the train to work so that he can start by 8 am so he can leave at 4 pm to do the whole thing in reverse before it’s too late, he now strolls five minutes down the road to catch a bus for his 10-minute journey to his job in the city, while the kids walk the short distance to their school. (https://region.com.au/is-the-there-a-time-limit-on-canberras-status-as-a-genuinely-stress-free-city/459229/)

They go on to talk about their brothers transformation into someone with more time and energy.

Sometimes we do need a bit of a sea change… And this is generally the way we approach peace and contentment. We look at our circumstances and try to change external things to be content. We might seek a new job or a longer holiday to feel a bit more at peace. But, the problem with all of this is that where ever you go, you are still there, and so are other people, who are also sometimes part of the problem.

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 4288 “We Come in Peace”

When Apollo 11 landed the motto on their plaque they left behind said “We come in peace for all mankind.” They landed in the Sea of Tranquility. A place of peace. A sea of peace. They found a tranquil and peaceful scene on the moon. And as someone else pointed out, of cause they did - there never had been any humans there to disturb the peace.

Their were no lawn mowers early on a Saturday, there were no emails or bills or traffic at all.

Today our passage is about unity, peace and contentment, and how we can find these, not in externals, but in God, for wherever we go, He is still there and He still cares. He is a good God, so that regardless of circumstances, Christians have much to rejoice in, even in this busy, noisy world.

Unity

Our section starts with a riff in the church. Paul has already said in this letter how he wants them to be united and of same mind (Phil 2:2), and here he specially names two women who can’t agree. Two ladies, Euodia and Syntyche or Odious and Stinky are smelling up the church with their division (I took this joke from J. D. Greear from one of his sermons on Philippians). This division obviously isn’t a way the church can stand firm in the Lord or have peace.

We don’t know what the riff was about, and maybe by this point, the bigger issue is the divide than whatever started it in the first place.

A week ago I was at the clergy conference and we had four sessions on conflict. The presenter started his workshops with two premises that:

The church is the most conflicted organisation there is The church is most conflict adverse organisations there is

Essentially as we live out our faith and create a diverse community, as we ask for transformation in people’s lives, as we hold values close to our center, this creates conflict. But we also don’t like conflict and so we don’t handle it very well. Because unity is such a big thing, we don’t want to cause much waves and so sometimes suppress the conflict unitl it is too much. Or sometimes we don’t address the problem directly and talk around and about the people we are in conflict with others and not directly to the person involved.

This presenter guy said we should help normalize conflict, and have good processes in how we are to resolve it, so that things can be talked about, so that it can be untangled and so that we can have peace.

In this passage Paul calls on his true companion, or yoke-fellow to mediate between these women. We don’t know who this is. Yokefellow could even be a name or was at least someone they all knew who Paul meant. Having someone help can be a good advice. Some conflict does need a third part to step in. It is true that sometimes people jump to a third party too quickly, that can become triangulation, or gossip. Before considering a mediator, first it is good to try and solve a disagreement together but, there are cases when a mediator is needed. You can look up Matthew 18:15-16 to help in all of this.

Are you involved in some division that is going on in our church? Has someone said or done the wrong thing towards you? Do you think you could agree and be united again? Maybe you could ask for forgiveness for whatever part you have played in the division. Why not be wronged (1 Corinthians 6:7)? Asking for forgiveness is a habit of Christians. It’s an act of humility. But it is not weak, or easy. Forgiveness is hard and needs great strength, it puts nails in hands.

Some problems can be bigger, more personal, more complex and so you might want to involve someone else. In my time here, I have be involved in a few meditations. One time, I didn’t think I as the mediator didn’t very well and Ian had to come in help me. Another time I saw both parities coming together, agreeing in the Lord saying they have no real issue anymore with each other.

One time, someone came to me to talk about how someone in their life group they were having difficulty with. I was thinking they are going to ask me to come in to help, but instead she said to me: “I know what I need to do, I need to pray about this and then talk to them.” Of which they did, that week, and they then sent me a message saying it went really well, and was less of a problem than they had thought.

That lady had great self-advice, to pray in these things. And that is where Paul goes to next.

Peace

From verse 4, Paul fires off a quick series of instructions in how the Philppians are to live. This is sort of a shot gun approach as little points are fired and scattered in all directions. But overall Paul is concerned with their hearts and minds. He wants them to be joyful and gentle. To not have any anxiety, but instead to have peace. He wants their hearts and minds to be on about Jesus and not the worries of the world.

Anxiety is a plague. Everyday, we are bombarded with all sort of problems in the world for us to worry about. The amount of world news we consume is disproportional to the effect we can have an actual impact on; leaving us powerless and worried.

The cultural expectations we have for our lives, or from our work can be overwhelming and even unrealistic. Agreeing to too many things that we think we should be doing can fill up our time and the space for us to rest. Interactions with people and overthinking what they think of us or wating for someone to resond to get back to us can lead to worry. This can lead to less needed sleep which accumulates over a long periods of time. I am not naive enought to think, that even in this perfectly planned city, there is no stress.

And so Paul tells us how we are to handle this, he says

Philippians 4:6 NIV

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

He doesn’t want anxiety to be your God and to rule over you. We need to remember, in all things, that God rules over all things. This is good, this is something we can rejoice in. We can, with thanksgiving talk to our God.

He is in control, not our worries. Give them to God, and Paul says if we do

Philippians 4:7 NIV

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

If we are handing over our worries, our anxiety to God, the peace of God will guard us. We will be settled in this unsettled world. We will know the peace that comes from knowing that God is control of all circumstances, especially the ones we can not control.

In this whole chapter, I probably find this the hardest to believe. I like to be in control and I generally don’t fluctuate in my highs or lows very much. My new watch tells me that my stress levels are generally low. But, in every situation I am not sure I present my requests to God. I need to slow down, and remember God in all things, in all circumstances. I need to work at in every situation to be praying, with thanksgving to God. And Paul says, something will happen that we won’t understand. That regardless of externals, the peace of God will guard us. Is he telling the truth? Its probably worth finding out. Maybe we shouldn’t just thinkg about this diea, but to try it and see.

Philippians—The Fellowship of the Gospel Don’t Worry

Here it may be helpful to imagine how the birds consider us.

Said the robin to the sparrow:

“I should really like to know

Why these anxious human beings

Rush about and worry so.”

Said the sparrow to the robin:

“Friend, I think that it must be

That they have no heavenly Father,

Such as cares for you and me.”

Jesus asks

Matthew 6:26–27 NIV

Are you not much more valuable than [the birds]? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

Our good Heavenly Father is God over all things. Remember Him, let us approach Him in prayer in all situations. And despite hard and awful circumstances, we may still have a peace, that really doesn’t make any objective sense. It is crazy to think that Paul is in prison, possibly facing a death sentence and he says rejoice, have peace and later he says that he is content. That doesn’t make any sense. It is beyond our understanding, but our God is beyond that, our God is the God of peace, who is with us.

Paul tells the Christians in verse 4

Philippians 4:4 NIV

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

I like how he repeats to rejoice, just in case you missed. The object of our joy here is the Lord. Do you take pleasure in the Lord? In thinking about Him and resting in His love, knowing that he sees you as pure and blameless? Surely this position before God is something that provokes joy and is worth celebrating? If you are a follower of Christ it means that you were once dead in sin but now you are alive. This is something that cannot be taken away from you. This is something we can rejoice in. When Paul says we are to rejoice in everything, it doesn’t mean when something bad, like say your baby dies, you are celebrating and throwing a party. It does mean that regardless of circumstance you still have a deep confidence, security and peace that Jesus is still Lord. Sometimes your joy will be filled with tears, deeply rooted knowing God is good even when life is awful. Joy is not a feeling of happeness, but is something that comes from a place of security, that circumstance can not touch.

Thinking

From verse 8, Paul lists a series of positive virtues they are to think about. These virtues are not particularly Christian, they appear in some other lists of the ancient world also as virtues to be encouraged.

For our culture that is glued to screens with so much content to fill our minds with, it is worth considering what we are focusing on.

What we are thinking about? Most of the media we consume seem to be on about everything that is untrue, unholy, unjust, impure, ugly, of ill repute, vicious and blameworthy (Wright, Tom (2004), Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters).

Even so called reality TV is really conflict TV. Those shows are not real life, but more a pressure cooker where people are prodded and poked so we can see them fight and argue. We see their conflict as our entertainment. It’s ulgy.

Some will get this reference, but it has been announced that GTA 6, Grand Theft Auto, a computer game, has been delayed till this time next year, the 26th of May. This game has been in development since 2018 and has cost, according to some, 2 billion dollars to make. This game has taken longer and costs to make than the tallest building in the world. That building only took 6 years and was only 1.5 billion. This is where our entertainment industry is putting all its effort. For those who don’t know, this is not going to be a wholesome game.

And don’t hear me as being above this all high and mighty. I am old enough to have played every single GTA game, even the first top down versions. And I know, its not real, its just a make believe. It is an outlet to blow off some steam and to do what you like. But it is something you are filling your mind with. And Paul wants us to think about what are we thinking about, even if it isn’t real. What fantasies are we playing out or watching? And if its not violent games, it is trashy conflict ridden reality shows, or porn or the latest series of whatever on Netflix.

If you were to draw a pie chart of your week, how much would be spent watching TV, on your phones, reading news stories, talking with friends, reading the Bible and in prayer. Do you have the right balance of the right inputs in your mind? What are you filling your mind with? What could you be filling your mind with? Does anything need to be changed?

The virtues listed in our passage are broad, the “whatevers” are vast, and can be anything in nature or culture. We aren’t to cut ourselves from culture. We don’t have to reject everything in this world and live in our own Christian bubble watching only Christian movies. We are to see excellent and noble things and praise them. When we see someone doing a sacrificial acts, or a peer who is just doing the right thing we should praise them. When we see a good landscape, or a story that is about mercy, or forgiveness we are to think about those things.

We must remember in doing this that, while there are good things in culture, we don’t let the unbelieving world guide our ethical decision. The things we are encouraged to dwell on should be measured against God’s word.

God’s general grace and natural word may hum the meodies we are to think about, but in Jesus and His word, it sings to us. It is clearer and more full.

We are to follow a distinctly Christian pattern of behavior, and in verse 9, Paul tells the Philippians to put into practice what they had learned from him. We are to live out our leaning. We are to act.

Some of our living out will be in alignment with our culture, and some of it will be different to the world. Sometimes this can be a tricky line to walk. Do you know of other Christians who seem to walk this line well? Paul says to put into practice what they have seen in him. You might want to find a role model, who can help you to navigate how you can live out your salvation in the world around you.

Contentment

As Paul rounds out his letter, in the last half of this chapter, he tuns to thanking the Philippians for the gifts he has recived from them, but he is careful in navigating this relationship. He doesn’t want them to think at all that their relationship is simply transactional, but instead more of a partership, a sharing of troubles and of joy, for they and him are together in the Lord.

Paul thanks them for their concern and then says:

Philippians 4:11 NIV

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.

Paul don’t consider physical containment in prison a disaster, nor physical comfort a sign of success. He wasn’t going to let the externals affect his contentment.

The Stoic’s in Paul’s time, were about being content in a harsh world. They would make contentment essentially to mean being self sufficient. They trusted in themselves to pull themselves up though life’s bumpy journey. They would have liked books with titles like “Extreme Ownership” or “Can’t hurt me”. But, Paul isn’t being a Stoic, he doesn’t find the resources for his contentment in himself, it is through the Lord he can face all things. It is God who gives him the strength.

So Paul is thankful, to both God and them for their gifts.

Paul is firstly thankful because their gifts given shows their heart and care for him. Paul’s circumtances gave them an oppunity to show their concern for him. Their willingness to help, shows their heart and santification, it show they are willing to give, to be scraficial, to be like Christ.

This is not a one off thing either. The Philippians have done this time and time again. When Paul first went to Thessalonica some 150kms away, they supported him and sent him gifts, more than once, with no internet banking. And when Paul wrote to the Corinthains church to encouage them to give he said look at the churchs in Macedonia, which is Philippi and Thessalonica, he said

2 Corinthians 8:3–4 NIV

For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people.

They loved to give, they saw it as a privilege to share in the sending of the Gospel out to the world. The put their money where they mouth was in getting the Gosple out and it showed their heart, which Paul was thankful for.

Giving is good for your own spirtual development. Giving from joy shows that God is at work in you, and that the power of money has been taken away. Money can have a controlling power, it is the main topic that drives elections, and the more we have the more we feel powerful and selfsufficent. We sometimes can dance to the world’s tune of acculminating money for ourselves.

Philippians Contemporary Significance

I like how Jacques Ellul puts it: “There is one act par excellence which profanes money by going directly against the law of money, an act for which money is not made. This act is giving.”

Giving money away is not it’s intented use. And in this subservice act we can show we are not under the power of money so that we can use money and not let it use us. The antidote to it’s power and hold on us is to give. In doing this we can learn to be content in plenty and want.

Our church gives 10% of it’s budget to missionaries around Australian and the world. This means for example (and not as a perscription or command), if you do give 10% of your income to St Matt’s, it means for every $100 you make, $10 comes to church and then $1 will go to missionaries.

When the Global Finical Crisis happened I was convicted when someone said (it could have been John Dickson), when things like this happen, it may mean we might not eat out as much, but it means people overseass may not eat. Regardless of our circumstances, our Australian dollar can go further overseas for missionary help. That thought encouaged me to give directly to others overseas. Do you partner with anyone else in ministry?

If you are young and have just started working, you should get on this. It is harder to start a habit like this later in life.

I am not saying you have to do this, but you get to show your heart. You can show that the power of money doesn’t have over you, that you are content with what you have, and that you are not self sufficient but know that Jesus is Lord over you and everything else.

As some sort of model or example (and in this it is a wisdom call and your situation might be different to us) what Hannah and I generally do, is sort of give 5% to the church and 5% to overseas mission. Give or take a few one off things here and there. That is just one way we do this.

Paul calls their gifts something that is pleasing to God. It was a lovely sacrifice, showing their heart and partnership with him, and Paul is confident that, in verse 19

Philippians 4:19 NIV

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

This is not about God meeting all their wants, but all their needs. God, in Christ is rich towards His people. This may not mean materal wealth, although in Australia we are rich here. But our God is rich in mercy, who made us alive in Him (Eph 2:4-5).

Closing

Paul then closes off his letter with a little line that I like.

Philippians 4:22 NIV

All God’s people here send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household.

Even those in Ceaser’s houshold send their greetings. Even in prison under Caesar, the gospel is going into Ceasers household. This message has infiltrated, and while it may take 300 years later, the Empire will eventually identify as Christian. So here, like a mustard seed, it is starting out small and it will grow.

Paul ends on a note of grace, which is how this letter started in verse 2.

This letter is all of grace and joy. It is all about Jesus, and a call for us to be like Him.

We don’t have to let anxiety or money rule over us, we now live under our loving Father. We can be content in all circumstances, and we can pray and be thankful for what we have, for we have a God of peace, who will transform our hearts and minds, who will meet our needs. Even if we are in a prison.

Anne Lincoln Holibaugh grew up in a tense home, often playing the peacekeeper between her chronically ill mother and angry father. When her mother died, Anne was struck by her father’s deep sorrow for someone he had seemed so bitter toward. She tried to comfort him, even as she wrestled with her own anger and resentment towards him. In time, she found healing through a church community, discovering what it meant to belong to a family of faith. When her father later passed away, she experienced grief again—but this time, she wasn’t alone. God and His people carried her. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2cRfMlma5A)

In her chapter in the book Joy in the Sorrow, which is a depressing book where each chapter is terrible story like this, she concludes her story saying:

Like Jesus, we can entrust ourselves fully to the Father, trusting that we are safe and loved regardless of what season of scarcity or adversity he calls us to endure. He has given us his peace, the power of his Spirit, the family of his people, and grace to count even the greatest sorrow as pure joy, knowing he is with us to the end and that, at the end, we shall be with him. (p165-166)

As you live out your faith, pray and seek peace with others. Give and be content with what you have, for you have everything in Christ.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.