Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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A life worthy of the Gospel.
Please open your Bibles to
Read .
We live in the United States of America.
The United States of America is home to unique attractions and customs.
When someone comes here to the US, we try and share these unique experiences.
A couple months ago, a few families of Southwest hosted some high school students from Japan to their homes.
We wanted them to experience something unique, something truly American.
Their first meal with us was Sizzler.
Nothing says America, quite like the Sizzler.
We got them steak, and then took them to the salad bar.
Isn’t that American.
Eat, and eat till you fill sick.
If you’ve ever hosted someone to Southern California, you’ve probably shared with them some of our unique destinations.
You’ve taken them to Disneyland.
The beach.
Hollywood.
Being an American, has an attitude that comes with it.
We are patriotic.
We honor those that are in the military.
America is nicknamed the land of opportunities.
We are a capitalistic nation, that celebrates free enterprise.
Someone can come here, start a business, and build an empire.
These are things that define our nation and our culture.
Paul is writing to the Philippians.
Philippi was a city that was adopted by Rome.
Around 40 bc, Philippi became a Roman colony.
Becoming a Roman colony, meant that the people of Philippi became Roman citizens.
They were far from Rome, but the Roman customs and culture were adopted by the Philippians.
And they were very proud of their new citizenship.
They eagerly adopted Roman traditions, and law.
And they didn’t want anything to ruin the good thing they had going.
You can see how much they enjoyed their Roman peace, by their response to Paul in .
In Paul’s first visit to Philippi, he met a demon possessed slave girl.
He commanded the demon to leave the girl.
Her owners, were upset because they were making money off of her.
They had Paul arrested, and brought before the authorities.
Here’s what they said, and you can hear their loyalty to Rome in their accusations against Paul,
“These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city.
They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.”
Though they were Philippians, they considered themselves Romans.
Those in Philippi knew what it meant to be a citizen and how a citizen ought to live.
Meanwhile, back to our text in Philippians, Paul is writing to the Christians in the city, who now are citizens of God’s kingdom.
He’s trying to help them understand how citizen of God’s kingdom lives.
Later on in this book, he will say, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,”
All this to say, the Philippian Christians, know how a citizen of any nation should live.
They were proud of Roman citizenship, and knew how to live as Romans.
And now he is calling for them to be equally proud of their Christian citizenship, their citizenship in heaven.
So coming out of that Paul gives his one command in our passage, “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ.”
Where you see “manner of life”, that word is related to politics, to being a citizen.
So Paul is saying, “Just as you were eager to be Roman citizens, be eager to live a life worthy of the Gospel, of Christian citizenship.”
I couldn’t tell you how important that is for us today.
More and more, I meet people who think they are Christians.
They use the right language; they say the right words.
They say Jesus died for sins.
They say they are blessed.
They say they pray.
But they aren’t Christians.
They aren’t living a life worthy of the Gospel.
They do not live as citizens of the kingdom of God.
They use the language, but they don’t live it.
says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
They may use new language, but the old life hasn’t passed away.
Living a life worthy of the Gospel needed to be true and authentic, whether or not Paul was there.
Just as Philippi was eager to obey their new emperor, even if he was seated in Rome.
The church was to be eager to live for the Gospel, regardless of where Paul was, or whether he was alive.
I’ve been the pastor here for almost 9 years, and in those 9 years, I’ve only missed a handful of Sundays.
When I’m not here on Sundays … it’s weird.
There’s that old saying, “when the cat’s away, the mice come out to play.”
And I wonder what will happen here.
Will you start on time?
Will the power work?
Will whoever is preaching show up?
I worry about these things.
Maybe I’m proud, but there’s a part of me that says, if I’m not here, nothing will happen.
Amanda and I have 2 basset hounds, while we like our dogs … they’re bad dogs.
We used to keep them in the house when we were gone.
And then we’d come home ...
We found:
The carpet pulled up.
The sofa cushions chewed up.
Kitchen rugs pulled outside and destroyed.
Our dogs are only about 18 inches off the ground, but they’re long.
This past week, one of the dogs pulled Amanda’s purse off the counter, and made sure to check out it’s durability in the backyard.
And no, her purse wasn’t durable.
What’s funny is when we are home and with them, they don’t do any of this stuff.
It’s when we aren’t watching.
I’d love to have dogs that are good when I’m there, and when I’m gone.
And that’s what Paul is shooting for here.
May they live a life that is worthy of the Gospel, regardless of his presence.
He shouldn’t have to babysit them.
And one of the slogans of Las Vegas is “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”
Paul gives 5 ways to live when he’s not there, or 5 ways to live a life that is worthy of the Gospel.
You stand firm in the Gospel.
Many movies have taken those words to the extreme.
You are partners with Christians for the Gospel.
Bachelors doing things they’d never do if their fiance was there.
You are not frightened by opposition to the Gospel.
You can rest in being chosen for the Gospel.
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