Easter and Real Life — Philippians 2:14-18

Introduction

Every year Easter comes like a burst of life in the middle of ordinary days. Churches fill up, and people dress up. We sing about the empty tomb, and we’re reminded again that Jesus walked out of His grave. And, honestly, it’s awesome. The whole thing! We enjoy one another. We leave church feeling hopeful, powerful, and alive.

But then, Monday comes. The clothes go back in the closet. The decorations come down. The stresses of life return. And for a lot of people, Easter quietly gets packed away until next year. Like the dogwoods that bloom and fade, our enjoyment of the resurrection feels like it has an expiration date.

But the resurrection of Jesus was never meant to be a once-a-year celebration. It was meant to be a new reality. Easter isn’t just a holiday; it’s a transformation of every day life. Easter isn’t just hope for one day; it’s sustaining hope for us today.

God’s Word

You see, the resurrection of Jesus, and our salvation in him, don’t just change the way that we think about death. It changes how we relate to everyday life. The resurrection should change how I talk to my wife, serve my kids, and view my church. It should set the tone for how I walk through ordinary life. And, that’s exactly what the apostle Paul is getting at in Philippians 2. He’s explaining to them how the right understanding of Christ and what He’s done has ramifications for ordinary life. So, I want to use that as an opportunity for us to see Three Impacts of Easter for Today (headline). We’ll see that it calls for you to be yourself, enables you to become yourself, and even to enjoy yourself.

“Be” yourself.

(Slides) Being yourself is the obsession of pop culture. Let me give you a few examples. Taylor Swift says: “Just be yourself; there is no one better.” Eminem says: “Just be yourself and be proud of who you are.” Oscar Wilde is famously quoted as saying: “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”

Across music, literature, and celebrity culture, “be yourself” usually means three things: (1) Look inside yourself for truth. (2) Express your authentic feelings and identity. (3) Don’t let anyone else define who you are.

That’s the cultural meaning, and this is not the point Paul is making or the one I’m making. Because here’s the problem. You were made in God’s image, but because of sin that image was defaced. The result is that you are incapable, on your own, of becoming the “you” you were meant to be. And that’s where the gospel meets us.

The gospel doesn’t just give us a new identity in Christ; it restores our true identity. It gives us back the life God originally intended for us. So the call of the Christian life is not to invent a new self or create a better version of ourselves. The call is to live out the new nature we’ve been given in Christ—to become who we truly are because of Him.

And this is Paul’s point when he says:

Don’t “grumble.”

Philippians 2:14–15 “Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,”

Exodus 15:24 “And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?””

Deuteronomy 32:5 “They have dealt corruptly with him; they are no longer his children because they are blemished; they are a crooked and twisted generation.”

That’s about as ordinary a problem Paul could address, isn’t it? Grouchiness. Irritability. “Murmuring” and “grumbling” and complaining. Now, why does he do that? Our unbelief manifests most clearly in the ordinary issues of life. It’s when the small things go wrong, when our car suddenly dies, when we don’t get the promotion we put in for, when we don’t get the recognition at home we believe that we deserve, when there’s a change at church we don’t like that we’re tempted to believe God has forgotten us and “grumble.” And, Paul’s point is that this “grumbling” leads to “disputing,” divisions among God’s people.

There’s a real sense in which what Paul is saying is make sure that you don’t respond to God’s love and kindness the way that Israel did. The Exodus is the resurrection’s Old Testament equivalent. God sends the plagues, parts the Red Sea, and delivers Israel from Pharaoh. And, what do you think was the first thing they did on the other side of the Red Sea? Well, Moses sang a song of praise, and then the people “grumbled” because the water tasted bad. Then, they grumbled some more because they didn’t have a buffet dinner waiting for them. So, in Deuteronomy 32, God calls them a “crooked and twisted generation.”

And, here’s Paul’s point: that’s not who they were supposed to be. They were supposed to know God, enjoy God, and trust God, but they grumbled. And now, after the resurrection, we’re in the same situation. Easter is asking us: Who will we be? Will we know God, enjoy God, and trust God, or will we be grumblers and disputer?

Here’s Paul’s call: Be yourself. Be who Christ came to make you to be. Lean into the new nature and the new heart and the new mind you have in Jesus. That’s what he means when he says: Don’t grumble…

“Shine.”

Philippians 2:14–15 “Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,”

Daniel 12:3 “And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.”

When he says “among whom you shine as lights in the world,” we should probably understand this with the force of an imperative. It’s the opposite of “grumbling” in his mind. What’s interesting is that it’s another OT allusion. It draws our minds to Daniel 12. Daniel 12 is forecasting a time in which God’s people will no longer be in exile, but intead will fulfill God’s call on them to shine as a light to the nations. It’s a transformation from an old existence to a new, and it’s a transformation brought about by Easter’s resurrection.

That is, one of the accomplishments of the resurrection for those who believe is that it sets you aglow. “Lights” here are not talking about candles, lamps, or bulbs. It’s talking about celestial lights. It’s talking about stars. So, we aren’t being told to be something we’re not. We’re being told to be ourselves! A star shining is simply unveiling its true nature. The command to shine is really a command to reveal itself.

The problem is that we’re tempted to be swept up by “a crooked and twisted generation.” We’re tempted to “grumble” and “dispute” and divide like the culture around us.

And, my goodness, is that a word for our generation. Ed Stetzer describes our moment as an “age of outrage,” a culture where anger spreads instantly, disagreement becomes hostility, and everyone assumes the people on the other side must be morally corrupt. There’s cultural outrage and political outrage and religious outrage. It’s so bad that we get outraged when people aren’t outraged! You see, social media influencers and cultural commentators and news outlets have monetized outrage so that it benefits them. Politicians have leveraged it so that it empowers them. It’s a “crooked and twisted generation,” and if we aren’t careful, y’all, we’ll get swept up in it.

(Slide) We don’t need a copycat church in an age of outrage; we need to be ourselves. We need to “shine!” John Piper wrote a helpful essay on “Brokenhearted boldness” that shows us how to shine in an age of outrage. (1) Speak truth boldly. Christians should not soften biblical truth to avoid conflict. (2) Maintain a broken heart. But truth should come from sorrow over sin and compassion for people, not anger or triumphalism. It’s about love, not pride. (3) Remember the gospel. We were once enemies of God ourselves. We should remain gracious and humble. (4) Rejoice in Christ. The antidote to cultural anger is deep satisfaction in Christ.

This morning, will you allow yourself to be swept up in the cultural melee, or will you be yourself — the you Christ has made you to be.

Well, Paul isn’t just calling for you to be yourself; he’s calling for you to…

“Become” yourself.

Carey Nieuwhof has observed that one of the biggest challenges facing the church today is this: people are increasingly being discipled by algorithms. The average person spends more than 45 hours per week online. And, did you know that only about half of Christians will read their Bible at any point in a week.

Think about the implications. Algorithms study what holds your attention, and then they give you more of it. More videos. More commentary. More voices saying exactly what you already want to hear. But the longer you stay, the more they learn you. And, they don’t just feed you what you like. They often push you toward more extreme versions of it. Because outrage, conflict, and certainty keep people engaged longer than calm and nuance. And over time people get pulled further and further down those paths. That’s one reason our culture feels so polarized. Everyone is being pushed toward the edges.

Here the significance: Something is always forming you. Something is always discipling you. The question isn’t whether you’re being shaped. It’s: what is shaping you? The call of Paul isn’t to just be yourself, but to become yourself. And, to help us avoid being a copycat church of a crooked culture, Paul is showing us how we can become the truest version of ourselves, the version God intends and Christ purchased. He says we must:

Hold “fast” to the “life.”

Philippians 2:16 “holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.”

Why does Paul call it “the word of life?” Well, it’s because the word told us that we needed resurrection, that God was sending resurrection, and has now sent through Christ resurrection. It’s the word that explain to us how it is that we can find “life.” You can test this. Immerse yourself in outrage culture and algorithms, and you’ll feel less alive. You’ll feel like you’re dying. Slow down and pray through the Psalms. Learn the wisdom of Proverbs. Meditate on the gospels of Jesus, and you’ll recognize yourself as more alive.

The more we are discipled by algorithms, the harder it becomes to stay united. Remember that’s Paul’s concern for Philippi. Why? Because every algorithm is different. Each one pulls us deeper into different opinions and different outrages, and then convinces us everyone else must be wrong.

But when we hold fast to the Word of life, we’re pulled back to the same center — Christ.Holding to the word of truth is how we hold fast to another. It shows us, not our places of disagreement but the places of agreement. Christians disagree over many things — homeschool/public school/private school, immigration/social programs, what movies we can/can’t watch. And, we should have good discussions about those things. But, do you know where we agree? We agree that Christ has come, lived, died, and been raised. We agree that we used to be enemies of God, but now we’re friends. We agree that we are together united in Christ. We agree that we need the gospel to bring us rest.

Hold “out” the “light.”

And this is how the church disciples one another. Translators say that “holding fast” can be translated accurately as “holding out.” That is, what we do as we hold on to the word of God is we — as lights — hold out the word as a torch to one another. We remind each other of the light we have. We hold up the light and say, “Remember where you’re rest is found!” “Remember you’ve been forgiven and your shame has been overthrown!” “Remember Christ has cancelled your debt!” “Remember this will all be over soon! You’re going to make it! You’re going to be okay! “The day of Christ” is coming!”

Y’all, that’s what Easter calls us to. It calls us to put down the speculation and conspiracies to hold out the light to one another. It calls us to become most fully Christ has called for us to become, and it calls us to help one another become who WE’RE meant to become. That’s Paul’s point. If the Philippians will just keep holding fast to the word and holding out the light to one another until the day of Christ, Paul says, “It was all worth it. I’ll be proud of that.” But, if they keep “grumbling” and “disputing,” then it’s a denial of what he came to do and what Christ intended to accomplish.

So, this Easter is right and proper for me to ask you: Who are you becoming? And, who are WE helping one another become? More simply, what is shaping your mind and filling your words? Is your mind filled with pundits and podcasts and influencers and monetized outrage, or are you “holding fast to the word of life?” Are you constantly speculating and disputing with and arguing with and judging each other? Are you constantly trying to pass on your opinions, or are you holding out the “light of life” so that you can help one another find their way to Christ?

“Enjoy” yourself.

Recently, one of my kids was going through a difficult season. You know, they’ve been through a lot over the last six months. They’ve left family and friends. They’ve had to throw themselves out there to meet new people. They’ve had to figure out new schools and work. And so, one of them one struggling recently, especially with school. They were working so hard, and they were doing it with an honestly good attitude, but they weren’t getting the outcome they were hoping. And, it was demoralizing them.

Here’s what I told them: You know, we all want good outcomes. We all want things to go our way and feel like our effort is paying off. But, sometimes, life just doesn’t feel that way. We can’t control outcomes, and we’ll drive ourselves crazy trying. All we can do is control our attitude and our effort. We bring our best attitude and our best effort, offer it to the Lord, and then we trust him with the outcomes.

Y’all, that’s the key to enjoying the life you’ve been given, isn’t it? As hard as it is to apply to ourselves, the hope that we have as people of faith is that God control the outcomes and those outcomes are for our good. In fact, it’s that perspective that’s the antidote to “grumbling.” this is where Paul is landing.

He’s saying to Philippi:

Don’t “resent” your “trials.”

Philippians 2:17 “Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.”

He starts with his perspective, and it’s one of faith. He says, “My blood may be spilled. I may die. I may be like the wine that was poured out over the sacrifice when it’s complete. But, I look at you, and I know it was worth it.” Paul is remembering the costs that were incurred to found the Philippian church, and now he sees them thriving and flourishing and growing. So, his thought is: What God has brought about in you has made it worth what God has taken me through. “I get so much joy from watching you, if I had to do it all over again, I’d wouldn’t hesitate.”

This is the opposite of Israel when they got to the other side of the Red Sea and “grumbled” because they didn’t like the water or the food. This is like Christ who, “for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross.” For Paul, he’s able to face his own cross because he is so convinced of the resurrection. He can endure the trials and frustrations with “gladness and rejoicing” because his faith is rock solid. He isn’t going to resent his trials; he’s going to wait with anticipation for what God will do.

And, that’s the shift he wants to see in the Philippians. When says “likewise,” he’s inviting them to share his perspective. He’s saying, “Don’t resent your trials… and…”

Don’t “count” your “losses.”

Philippians 2:18 Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.”

He knows they’re struggling with his imprisonment. He knows they’re struggling with the realization that he might die. So, he’s sharing his perspective with them so that they can be glad with him. Paul doesn’t dread the future like Israel believing they’ll only have bitter water. He anticipates the future like Jesus approaching the cross.

You know, we’re all tempted to be accountants with God. We keep a detailed list of all of the costs that we’ve incurred. We think about the childhood we didn’t have. We think about the spouse that cheated on us. We think about the dream that didn’t come through. We think about the pain in our back. And, it’s like we have a spreadsheet of misery. We’ve counted our losses, and we resent our trials. So, we grumble.

Paul is saying that instead of being accountants of misery, we ought to be treasurers of grace. Paul didn’t think of how much it had cost him. He thought instead of what God had done already and how much more that meant he was going to do. So, he was able to shift from dread and misery to anticipation and joy.

During World War II, Corrie ten Boom and her family hid Jews from the Nazis. She was eventually arrested and sent to the Ravensbrück concentration camp. The barracks she and her sister Betsie were placed in were filthy and infested with fleas. Corrie grumbled constantly. But Betsie insisted they thank God for everything—even the fleas.

Corrie thought that was ridiculous. But, months later they discovered why the guards never entered their barracks and discovered the Bible studies. Because of the fleas. Those fleas allowed them to secretly hold Bible studies and share the gospel with many women. What looked like a reason to resent suffering turned out to be an unexpected gift of grace. Corrie was ready to count the fleas as losses. Betsie counted them as grace.

You see, Easter isn’t just about one day. It’s about today. It’s about real life. What you make of it and what you believe about it will determine how much of life you’ll actually enjoy. Because if it’s true, then you should be yourself, become yourself, and enjoy yourself.