Sermon Tone Analysis

Paul writes this letter in confinement.

He’s chained to a Roman guard.

And as he is doing this there are folks in the community preaching in such a way as to do him harm.

Not to mention a group of false teachers going about trying to lead people astray.

The Philippians are facing some persecution, their church has been hit by disunity.

Things aren’t rosy for them.

I think we can gloss over things like this and distance ourselves.

It’s easy to convince ourselves that our situation is unique and the Bible isn’t able to speak to our contemporary issues.

Sure Paul had it rough…sure he can tell them to rejoice.

But he just doesn’t understand my situation.

I read an interesting book a few years ago called The Narcissism Epidemic.

What these researchers found was summed up by saying:

We are a nation fixated on the idea of being the exception to the rule, standing out, and being better than others—in other words, on being special and narcissistic—and we’re so surrounded by this ethos that we find it shocking that anyone would question it.

Fish don’t realize they’re in water.

I remember this as a kid watching these cartoons.

Only YOU can prevent a forest fire.

Mr. T, “Be somebody fool”.

Captain Planet telling us to reduce pollution down to zero.

Our Saturday morning cartoons telling us that we can be whatever we want to be.

Now there is something good and true about believing that we are unique and that God created us as a unique individual.

That’s a good thing.

But when our self-worshipping hearts grab hold of this?

It’s not good.

And what happens when such a person suffers?

Such a circumstance provides a great opportunity for a heart bent towards narcissism to fulfill its twisted desires.

In times of intense suffering it is easy to feel that our affliction is unique and that we have been dealt a blow more weighty than other people.

And so, somehow, even through our pain we find a way to worship.

But we worship ourselves.

Our worship is self-directed.

Our wound the altar.

Here we pay homage to our uniqueness.

And here, in that moment when the sufferer adopts the label of “special” or “unique”, the downward spiral begins, cutting him/her off from hope and help.

And so you end up distancing yourself from others.

“Nobody understands.”

And you end up distancing yourself from God and His Word.

Passages of Scripture that were once helpful no longer have bearing on your life.

After all, you can reason that those Scriptures don’t apply because the biblical authors aren’t walking in your shoes.

Passages of Scripture that were once helpful no longer have bearing on your life.

After all, you can reason that those Scriptures don’t apply because the biblical authors aren’t walking in your shoes.

Now every sinful response to your suffering is excused—at least in your mind.

It’s not you, it’s the suffering.

When the afflictions keep piling on (and usually a great portion of it the consequence of your sinful response to suffering) you conclude that God has forsaken you.

It is here that you will make your bed in ashes.

You’ve spiraled into depression and self-pity.

Here you will become jaded and your conscience seared.

You, and you alone, have been abandoned and forsaken by the God who said that He wouldn’t forsake anyone.

You’re stuck in this pit with no rope.

You even lack the fingernails to claw your way out.

You are hopeless.

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Now what’s interesting with all of this is that mental health statistics show that mental health issues are on the rise. 1 in 5 adults experience a form of mental illness in a given year. 1 in 25 will experience issues so serious that it will substantially interfere with their life.

And 1 in 5 youth aged 13-18 will experience a severe mental disorder at some point during their life.

That’s because everything is so bad, correct?

What’s odd about this is that by the world health organization’s standards our world is actually better and more prosperous than it has ever been.

We as a people—if given their metrics—are thriving.

And yet we are miserable.

Our circumstances are probably BETTER than that of Paul and the church at Philippi.

Even consider all the luxuries we have that they didn’t.

No electricity.

No running water.

No internet!!

And so it’s not as if these people are saying things in BETTER circumstances.

It’s quite possible that the words that I’m about to read to you come from a man who is more acquainted with suffering than you and I will ever be.

I say that not to diminish your pain but to give hope.

These words aren’t coming from an ivory tower or from a man distanced from reality of harsh living.

Paul had street cred:

So how do you counsel a hurting people, battling disunity (man doesn’t that really scream loudly in suffering?)

READ TEXT

Three things.

The way to do it.

And then give it a bit of a test drive.

Paul’s situation and the Philippians situation Discouragement.

Fear of persecution.

Discouragement.

Fear of persecution.

Rejoice instead of whining

gives us the story.

After Paul and his friends cast a demon out of a slave girl, her owners get ticked off.

So they “seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers”.

They were unjustly sentenced and “had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely.

Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in stocks”.

Rejoice always

Put yourself in this story, “you’ve been beaten, unjustly accused, and now you find yourself in prison chained up and your feet in stocks”.

What would your attitude be?

Would you be filled with joy? Would you start singing a song?

Listen to what Paul and Silas do, “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God…” Somehow, Paul and Silas began doing what God is commanding the Philippians to do here, “Rejoice in the Lord always”.

modeled by Paul and Silas in prison

What this means is that the beauty of God shines brightest when in the midst of trials when “normal” people would be in despair the child of God shines brightly.

We see to from that this type of thing is contagious.

Just a few verses later the Philippian jailer asks them, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved”.

Certainly, he saw their joy.

Certainly, he must have wondered what type of really big God these men must have that we can beat them and yet they praise Him.

Rejoice in the Lord

So we see then the first thing about rejoicing and whining is that we have no excuses.

This is not circumstantial, in fact it is often in spite of circumstances that we have joy.

So, there is not a soul out here tonight that is above or below this commandment of God—be joyful, ALWAYS!

exclusivity.

Solomon.

Joy is only found in the Lord

possibility.

Union with Jesus