A Joyful Farewell

Well, here we are! We are at the very end of Philippians, the end of the letter that Paul wrote to his beloved friends in Philippi, a church he started with his disciples and with Lydia.

I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have, and more importantly, I really hope God had spoken as much to you as He has me in regards to contentment, joy, the lordship of Christ, all the topics we’ve covered that are really life changing.

And Paul, now wrapping up, saying his goodbyes for now, and leaving them with thanksgiving for the many years of support.

It’s not dissimilar to our situation now as we send out two long-time friends to the mission field in Germany from the Valley network.

One of my favorite lines in the office happens in Michael Scott’s last episode, he’s moving to Colorado in the show, and his long-time best employee Jim is saying goodbye in this super, emotionally charged scene that hits way too hard for a comedy,

And in the middle of this, Michael pulls out a tape recorder and says “t-shirt idea: goodbyes stink”.

And I think about that all the time. Goodbyes stink.

It actually makes me remember back to my grandma on my mother’s side, Grandma Franklin.

Now, Grandma Franklin had a pretty sweet house in West Palm Beach, Florida where she lived most of her life,

And at least once a year since I was a little kid, my parents would fly us down to see her and my brother and sister who lived close.

And Grandma Franklin’s house was like a paradise for me.

She had an indoor hot tub, she was about 10 minutes away from the beach, which is where I had my first experience with whatever the equivalent to a third degree sunburn is,

I chased lizards all day around her house, there was an orange tree and a key lime tree in her backyard,

So naturally, she would make us real, homeade key lime pies when we would visit.

It was surreal.

And every time we would leave, she would never ever say goodbye. She never said that word, ever. What Grandma Franklin would say instead was “so long”, “farewell”.

So long, I love you.

And one day, as we were leaving to get dropped at the airport, I asked “grandma, why do you say that? Why don’t you ever say goodbye?”

And I’ll never forget her response.

“Well, Seth, goodbyes are forever, so longs are only for a little bit”.

One is permament, one is temporary.

And even as a little kid, that stuck with me.

Every time we went to that house, we felt at home. It wasn’t like we were visiting, it was like we could rest. It was like we we’re back where we were supposed to be, I laid in the spare bedroom to sleep, reading Calvin and Hobbs, and I was home, even hundreds of miles from my house.

Her generosity and hospitality was incredible. Her love for us was unrelenting. She wanted to see us, to visit with us.

It wasn’t until very recently that I found out how bad her arthritis was, and preparing the house was miserable for her,

But every time, she welcomed us, fed us, visited with us, and sent us off with a “so long”, until next time.

I’ll also never forget the call I got when she passed away, I was sitting in a screened in porch, not too dissimilar from hers in Florida,

And my first thought, it was “so long, grandma”. See you soon.

The relationship my grandma had with us, even though we were often physically separated, is the same relationship Paul seems to have here with the Philippians.

And what is seems to stem from is that mutual love and affection, that generosity that has been poured out from Paul and to the Philippians, and form the Philippians to Paul.

That incredible partnership is coming to a point where although Paul may never see Philippi again, their relationship is still vibrant, and you can see that through the generosity of the Philippians.

And it’s very clear, specifically in our passage today, but also in the book of Philippians as a whole, that this mutual love, this hospitality, this generosity shown toward one another,

It’s the backbone of the Christian faith and following Jesus Christ.

And as Paul signs off, as he starts to say so long, I think we can glean a major point from his writing, which is

Generosity Connects Us

There is nothing like giving up a part of yourself to another person that creates a better connection and relationship with that other person.

Philippians 4:15–16 CSB

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.

So, the beginning of Philippians seems like a long time ago, so let’s remind ourselves of where Paul is and came from…

In Acts, we see Paul and his companions wanting to go east, but they are blocked by the Spirit, so they go west,

And Paul ends up with a crazy vision that leads them to this region called Macedonia where Philippi, the Roman colony is located.

Generosity Connects Us

So, Paul ends up taking the gospel, for the first time ever, to Asia, what is now modern-day Turkey for reference…

Which is why Paul here says “early days of the gospel”.

So, Paul, who helped start this church he is now writing to, brought the message of Jesus Christ to this region.

So, when he left Philippi after a series of divine events, Paul tells us in this letter that no one else really seemed to help him, at least in the financial or needs department.

And he makes it clear that even in Thessalonica, which is a city down the road from Philippi, they didn’t help him.

Even as Paul is setting up other churches, Philippi is continuing to support Paul by sending him whatever he may need, and not just once, but several times.

And I think we need to make something clear here: giving and receiving, as Paul uses that phrase, was a bit different in the 1st century.

Gift giving in the time of Paul was not like we think of it today, it was actually a very central part to the Roman economy.

See, normally, gifts were almost expected, and generally something was expected in return. It was almost like a patronage system, where leaders or nobles or people of influence would come into a town and build something they needed, or charge a fee to speak and do philosophy.

It was part of the honor/shame culture, but in essence, at the end of the day, everyone would be in obligation to one another.

For this reason, Paul was trying really hard to get his churches to understand the concept of free generosity - a practice that we understand well today, but wasn’t built into society then, like our birthdays and Christmas traditions.

This is why, when Paul is writing to the Thessalonians, he says:

1 Thessalonians 2:9 CSB

9 For you remember our labor and hardship, brothers and sisters. Working night and day so that we would not burden any of you, we preached God’s gospel to you.

So Paul, rather than showing up to Thessalonica and demanding money like others who were only out for money, he forgoes the normal concept of this gift giving obligation culture, and instead just focuses on the gospel.

In fact, Paul led the charge in something we call bivocational ministry - we presumably showed up and started making tents, his trade, and worked extremely hard to support himself and his own mission.

And I think this tells us two things about our generosity and how it affects our partnerships and the gospel -

One is that our partnerships shouldn’t be a burden on our community.

Generosity Connects Us

Imagine if Paul marched into Thessalonica, or paraded into Philippi, demanding payment for all of his services.

No, his mission was solely to promote the gospel, to plant a church, and to develop disciples in every town he went.

And not only that, the people saw Paul work. He worked to earn even the food he ate. Imagine this testimony!

I mean imagine, Paul works day and night, he earns his keep, he brings economic growth to your little community potentially.

He doesn’t just make due by asking and begging, he rolls up his sleeves and gets to work. He makes tents, and he sets up a church, and he teaches people a seminary-level, a college level PHD level course, he equips pastors and elders, shares meals with people, sees the sick, helps the needy, evangelizes….

And he doesn’t ask for a dime in return, and even refuses to take any gifts.

Imagine the testimony of doing all that with no strings attached.

That is showing true love, and is showing what a true partner is.

That draws a natural curiosity, now they’re asking why is Paul different? Why doesn’t he ask for money? Why doesn’t he care if he’s in absolute power? Who is this Jesus guy he’s talking about?

Suddenly, Paul becomes a magnet of interest rather than someone they needed to avoid in fear of pulling out their checkbook again.

Listen, this is what were doing here in Clinton. This is what our little church plant has huge aspirations of.

Because we could have come into this city and asked for free land, free buildings (not that I’m against that, please!)

We could have come in doing huge fundraisers, asking for community involvement,

But the church isn’t supposed to be a burden on the community. We aren’t supposed to suck out resources to build the monster machine that some aspire to.

The church is supposed to be the city on a hill, the light of the world, a beacon of hope.

That’s why we’re partnering with the schools, supporting teachers in any way we can, seeing how we can help the city and the counties we’re in, supporting the government where we can.

It’s because we’re partnering with this place. We aren’t going to be a siphon, we’re going to input into our surrounding community and make it better than before we came.

And we wholeheartedly believe this comes from the gospel of Jesus Christ.

You know, the government may have started the separation of church and state, but the church will end it. Either by kicking an screaming and throwing a fit causing a forced legal exit, or being such a generous asset that they cant afford us to leave.

It’s time the church stopped being a burden on the community, and become so valuable, they wouldn’t know how to get along without us.

The second thing we can learn in regard to our partnerships is we need to be all in.

Generosity Connects Us

We can’t be lukewarm in our love for our gospel partners.

Just look at this passage - The Philippians gave Paul money several times. Not just once - many times in many different places, when travel was very dangerous and potentially expensive in and of itself.

They were all in, they were completley bought into the vision that Paul set for them, totally sold out to the gospel idea.

And these people weren’t wealthy. In fact, the church and people in Philippi were in poverty. They weren’t at the top of society, they were likely non-Roman citizens, still paying taxes, working jobs, some were surely slaves,

This isn’t the top caste. These are the low on the totem pole people. Yet they still give to Paul, not expectantly, but to simply continue his missionary journey, because they can look around and see the good that Paul brought them through Jesus Christ.

Their gifts to Paul were absolutely evidence of their faithfulness to the gospel.

And this is the power of true, authentic partnership.

This is why it’s so important in the next few months to send out the Parks family and the Johnson family well. We’re sending them to Germany, ideally with the same love that the Philippians and Paul shared.

We have the amazing and unique opportunity to send the people we love to a place that desperately needs the gospel, because Christianity is essentially non-existent there.

We have the opportunity to stay connected financially, strategically, physically if you’re willing to travel, we can continue to encourage them in a really hard place…

But we know them. And we love them, and we’ve partnered with them.

In fact, it’s just like showing up to this place, Valley Church Clinton, every week. You show generosity to this place by just showing up and being here, spending your Sunday here.

Every time you drop money in that black box back there, or you tithe online, it’s a sign that you’re a partner of this place, and that you believe in what we’re all doing here.

It’s so much more than just giving your obligatory tithe, or giving, or donation. It’s joining up financially, even when it hurts, even when you want to spend your money elsewhere,

It’s an incredible act of partnership. Same with serving here, going to a small group, spending time with your brothers and sisters, evangelizing,

It’s more than gift giving obligation, it’s real authentic partnership. It’s showing an all-in status.

It’s a way to truly connect to the people around you.

This is unity, this is what having the same mind is. This is what the church is, a multi-way partnership where everyone does their part.

And that brings us to another part of generosity, a deeper level than even the partnership level,

And that’s…

Generosity as Formation

I think this is one that we constantly miss - generosity is forming us.

It’s a spiritual discipline. It’s cares for us at a soul level.

Let’s read a bit further in our passage today:

Philippians 4:17–18 CSB

17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the profit that is increasing to your account. 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.

This is interesting, because Paul is saying he didn’t ask or want this gift, he’s not seeking the gift,

But, he’s seeking what he calls “the profit”.

Now, the Greek behind this word, karpos, it literally means “fruit”. Like, fruit, actual fruit that comes from trees.

And this more than likely came from their agrarian economy, where the vast majority of businesses and profit depended on their crops.

So, how much fruits, how many bushels of grain, how much meat they collected from cattle, etc, it was directly indicative of their profits.

Thus, the Greek word for profits is rooted in fruits.

Generosity as Formation

And notice, Paul doesn’t say the gifts are even for him, he says they are a fragrant offering, pleasing to God.

So, long story short, Paul is using a metaphor here, an accounting metaphor, to emphasize the spiritual profits, or fruit, that the Philippians are storing up.

There is something eternal that Paul is commending the Philippians for with the generosity and with their partnership in the gospel, and it seems to be the formation of their being, the formation of their souls.

This is the working out of salvation that we’ve talked about before. What Paul is saying here, is that there’s so much more that you can attain by giving up things that you have right now, and those rewards are spiritual and eternal in nature.

This verse is so anti-prosperity gospel, it’s not even funny.

Because all these prosperity teachers will tell you that the more you give, the more you get.

Sow a seed in my ministry and watch your finances grow, receive physical healing.

I literally sat in a hotel room watching a certain televangelist, his names rhymes with Shomel Mousteen, that said give and you’ll get a hot wife, your mortgage will be paid off, and about 10 other things.

Friends, these are lies from the pits of hell. Satan would love nothing more than to see you materially blessed here on earth, rather than being eternally blessed with soul level formation.

That’s what Paul is getting at here - there’s nothing coming back to the Philippians. No promise of prosperity that I can see in the next.

What we says is seek the profit. Seek the fruit.

Seek the things that are pleasing sacrifices to God.

Galatians 5:22–23 CSB

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things.

Generosity yields these fruits. It makes it possible for the Spirit to transform your soul to produce this fruit.

And generosity is one of those disciplines, one of those practices, that is absolutely essential to the Christian life.

Think about it - what was our first sin? Eve said - I want that fruit.

The one tree God said don’t eat from, I want that.

See, we have the tendency to turn our back on everything God has given us, and we focus on that one thing God didn’t.

Adam and Eve had everything. They were in abundance. But instead of focusing on that, they had to turn around, turn their backs to the entire garden of paradise, just to get that one thing that God was holding out of them.

Generosity as Formation

And this is how we live our lives.

Generosity is a practice that reveals a lot about us. Because sacrificing, or giving up things to God, it reveals our heart posture more than any other discipline.

Just one example out of hundreds, or possibly thousands, in the Bible is found in the book of Malachi in the OT.

This was a horribly unrepentant and rebellious time in Israels history, and the them of the book really revolves around worship and sacrifice.

Malachi 1:8 CSB

8 “When you present a blind animal for sacrifice, is it not wrong? And when you present a lame or sick animal, is it not wrong? Bring it to your governor! Would he be pleased with you or show you favor?” asks the Lord of Armies.

See, what we give to God shows how much we truly worship and love Him.

It reveals our true heart, it reveals our priorities, it shows how much we trust in God and have faith that He is good.

You know, what we give up in generosity does say something about us, but what we retain, what we keep for ourselves, that thing that we just won’t give up - that says a lot more about us.

“Owning things is an obsession in our culture. If we own it, we feel we can control it; and if we can control it, we feel it will give us more pleasure.” - Richard Foster

So, what aren’t you giving up to God? What have you locked up, deep in your safe, the thing that’s yours, no one else's?

Because it’s holding you back. It’s holding back your formation.

Are you giving God your scraps, or are you giving him the best of the best?

There’s a really important phrase we use around here, it’s called “formed and sent”.

Basically, it boils our entire church mission and function into two things: are we creating disciples that are formed: ie in the image and likeness of Christ…and sent out.

Generosity, this mutual affection and love for the gospel, it allows God to form you. Giving up things sacrificially, whether that’s your time, your commitments, your schedule, your money, your job, your kids,

Pretty much anything you can have and say “this is mine”

Giving up those things allows God to form you, to mold you as clay where he is the potter, to chisel away your bad parts, to make you how you were created to be.

Pleasing and acceptable to God.

Giving up, letting go of control, it allows fruit that is consistent with repentance, it allows those fruits of the spirit to become natural.

Last time I checked, I’ve never seen an apple tree struggling to produce apples. In fact, there’s usually too many to pick. I’ve never seen a corn stalk working hard to produce an ear of corn - it’s a natural byproduct of it’s existence, it’s the whole reason it grew and formed.

And of course, the whole point of this, the central part of being formed through the simple act of generosity, is to be like our Jesus.

Because:

Jesus is the Embodiment of Generosity

No one has been more generous than Jesus Christ Himself.

That’s why he wants us to be connected in gospel partnerships, to be connected by our generosity with one another, to be formed by the acts of being generous,

It’s because Jesus himself perfectly modeled it.

And no, Jesus didn’t go around throwing stacks of money at people, that’s not what I mean.

But look further down in our passage today:

Philippians 4:19–20 CSB

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.

Riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

See, Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, the savior, he is the richness. He doesn’t merely have riches, he didn’t obtain riches along the way,

He himself is the embodiment, the definition of rich.

This is why Paul can say, sitting in a jail cell writing this letter, that he has an abundance.

He has more than enough, he is fully supplied. Because in our mind, Paul isn’t living high on the hog.

He’s poor, he’s incarcerated, people are mocking him, he’s been regularly beaten and whipped,

Yet he said I have an abundance. Because he has Christ.

How often do we say that?

And even though Christ is the definition of riches, even though he is the most valuable thing in the entire perceivable and unperceivable planes of existence, even though he is in complete control of everything and anything,

He decided to be generous. And give us his life.

John 3:16 CSB

16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Ephesians 2:4–5 CSB

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, 5 made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!

This is pure generosity, giving up something for the sake of saving an entire race, for saving His creation, his people.

Why are we witholding from him? Why are we trying to retain control? Why do we have so little faith? Why can’t we just trust him?

To borrow a lyric from a favorite song, “I found my life when I laid it down”.

And now, just as Jesus did, dying for the sake of his friends, we are supposed to do the same.

He’s commissioned us, he said take up our crosses, go make disciples. It’s bigger than us.

Friends, it’s time to let go. It’s time to stop hoarding, and controlling, we need to give up our lives in order to reap the eternal fruit that Jesus promises.

Let’s pray.