Sermon Tone Analysis

Pray

Introduction

Are you aware that the Presbyterian Church In Ireland has a CODE.

And every minister, when they are ordained, gets a code-breaker in order to help them decipher the code…I wish.

If you were to read the code you’d understand why we need a decipher ring or code-breaker in order to understand it.

However, the code is kinda like our guidebook in PCI - it lays down how things are to be done correctly in the church - things that the Bible doesn’t mention.

It drills down into the nitty-gritty of how church works.

So for example, it tells us the procedure for electing elders or committee members.

It describes how ministers are ordained and so on and so on.

This is a extract from section III paragraph 11...

In exercising this God-given right of private judgment, individual Christians are not to set their reason above the Word of God, or to refuse light from any quarter.

Guided by the Holy Spirit, they are to use their reason to ascertain the divine will, as revealed in Scripture, and are to refuse to subject conscience to any authority except that of the Word of God.

So, in essence this is saying that Christians are to take their authority and rule of living from the Word of God - the Bible alone.

However, there may be good and acceptable things outside of the bible which are ok for a Christian to consider provided it doesn’t contradict the word of God or provided that we don’t put whatever that is over and above the word of God.

Let me give you an example of HOW I UNDERSTAND IT.

Take counselling, for example - People can go to counselling for bereavement or psychological counselling, and that’s a secular thing, outside of the word of God, so to speak, but it’s a good thing.

It’s good practice and can really help people get through depression and bereavement.

So that’s good.

It’s not a substitute for the word of God - it’s NO substitute for prayer and trusting in Jesus, but it can also help people reprogram their thinking to help them overcome their depression or whatever.

I would consider that as ‘light from any quarter’.

A good thing that is outside of the bible.

Does that make sense?

Pause

Science, for example, can help us to understand the world.

It explains things that the bible doesn’t explain.

Now we get into difficulty when Science tries to remove God, but there are good parts of science, there are pure parts, there are commendable parts in science.

And so it’s good to study science.

It doesn’t contradict the bible.

Some theories do, so we ignore those and focus on the stuff that is good.

Pause

Or the Apocrypha - those are the books that were written giving a history of Israel and other things, that are not considered inspired by God, but are good to at least consult because they help us understand some of the events that happened between the Old and New Testaments for example.

Pause

I think you get the point.

But why am I telling you all this?

Well, we need to understand the context into which Paul was writing to understand our passage today.

Paul was writing to Greek-speaking Jews in Philippi…and the Greeks were big into philosophy.

I mean, they were ahead of their time when it came to philosophy.

I’m sure you’ve heard of Aristotle, Socrates (not the Brazilian footballer from the 80s), Plato…these were big hard hitters in the world of philosophy.

And these guys and their work were influencing the Greek-speaking community.

Now, if you’re a Jew, and you’ve been taught the Hebrew scriptures, you’re now coming against some interesting ways of looking at the world from these Greek philosophers.

A bit like the way science comes up against theology at times.

Here are some quotes from the Greek philosophers of the time...

Aristotle said, “Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.”

Socrates said, “False words are not only evil themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.”

Plato said, “Man: a being in search of meaning.”

But there was another guy called Thales who said, “The happy man is the one who has a healthy body, a wealthy soul and a well-educated nature.”

So if we take this last one we can see that Thales has deviated from what the Bible says.

Think of the beatitudes...

Jesus says, happy is the poor in spirit.

Happy is the meek.

Don’t forget the word used for ‘blessed’ is the same word for happy in the beatitudes.

So Thales is saying “The happy man is the one who has a healthy body, a wealthy soul and a well-educated nature,” but Jesus is saying, happy are the sad, the broken, the poor in spirit.

So you’ve got the scriptures and the tradition passed on through the generations and you’ve got philosophers who are bringing in some questionable stuff into the mix - stuff that goes against the bible.

But at the same time, we have some GOOD philosophies - Plato’s quote that man is in search of meaning is true - we are in search of meaning, but we find that meaning in Jesus.

So, not all of the Greek philosophies were bad.

There were many that were good, that were commendable, even - that would point people to God, that would prove to be excellent, praise-worthy, even.

And Paul says, think about these things.

That’s what he was referring to when he says, ‘think about these things.’

You see, I never knew this, but the language Paul is using here is taken from the Greek philosophies - it’s language that is used vastly outside of the bible, and Paul probably stayed away from this language in other writings so as not to confuse people.

But here, by USING this kind of language, his point is that there are good, noble, right, pure excellent things in these philosophies.

Don’t write it all off…take the good bits, take the pure bits, take the excellent bits and think about them.

Let those thoughts and philosophies shape your understanding of God and his word.

Like Plato’s quote - let that search for meaning, that everybody has...let that lead you to the Lord.

So think about these things.

Ponder over them…reflect on them...

But there’s something better than that.

And it’s in verse 9...

Because, while there are great things in philosophy or science or other things - while there are good things, lovely thing, things that you can praise God for in these arenas…there is a much better thing, Paul is saying...

There is the amazing, sweet, enriching experience of what you have learned from me, there is the tradition that I have passed on to you, there is all the stuff that people have talked about me and the way I conduct myself and there is the witness of the way I act that you have seen.

These things are things you shouldn’t just THINK about - these are things you should practice.

Pause

Paul has passed on the church tradition to the Philippians - the scriptures and practices of the church.

He has taught them so many things.

His conduct, the way he acts and deals with people has been talked about and people in the church are hearing about it.

They’ve seen him in person and the way he conducts himself…and Paul is saying, practice these things.

So while there are great things outside of the faith that you can ponder over and philosophise over - there is the stuff that I’m teaching you and that I’ve passed on to you…and instead of thinking about these things, DO them.

Practice them.

Pause

Let’s think about practice for a second.

Practicing is something that people do to become better at something.

I went to piano lessons when I was a child.

I also played the viola…but I hated practicing.

I never practiced and I never was any good - which is why you never see me playing the piano or viola in church.

One thing I loved though, was magic.

I loved doing magic tricks and slight of hand, but that takes time too…but I loved it and I was determined to get it right, because I loved the ‘wow’ factor when I did a trick well.

And so for hours I would sit in front of a mirror and practice and practice and practice until I was able to pull off the trick - to be able to perform the slight of hand so well it looked natural.

But it took practice.

But practice makes perfect.

Pause

Practice is something we do so that whatever it is becomes natural to us.

And Paul is saying, think about those philosophies - ponder them, take the good out of them - sure…but practice what I have taught you - the things in my letters and the example I have given you that you’ve seen and heard - practice that, practice, practice, practice - until living a life for Christ is the most natural thing to you.

And Paul’s example - what they have seen him do is one of the best ways of teaching.

By following someone’s example, we can see how it’s done or how it’s supposed to be done.

When I was practicing magic all I had was a book.

And there are pages and pages of drawings of hands, and it’s very hard to see what you’re supposed to do in a drawing.

Today we have Youtube, which is an amazing resource, where we can SEE how tricks are done and copy them.

When I was doing my PhD, to get extra money you could demonstrate in the lab to the university students.

And there wasn’t much about chemistry that I knew, but the students didn’t know that, so I demonstrated in the lab.

And I showed the students how to perform the experiments, how to set up their apparatus, how to mix, stir, heat whatever it was they were doing.

I was the one who showed them and walked around the lab directing them on how to perform the experiments.