What Now and Why Me?

Introduction

Today we are continuing our study of Philippians in the sermon series, “Good Posture for a Bad Place.” I have entitled today’s sermon, “What Now and Why Me?”

Verses

Philippians 1:12–26 The Message

I want to report to you, friends, that my imprisonment here has had the opposite of its intended effect. Instead of being squelched, the Message has actually prospered. All the soldiers here, and everyone else, too, found out that I’m in jail because of this Messiah. That piqued their curiosity, and now they’ve learned all about him. Not only that, but most of the followers of Jesus here have become far more sure of themselves in the faith than ever, speaking out fearlessly about God, about the Messiah. It’s true that some here preach Christ because with me out of the way, they think they’ll step right into the spotlight. But the others do it with the best heart in the world. One group is motivated by pure love, knowing that I am here defending the Message, wanting to help. The others, now that I’m out of the picture, are merely greedy, hoping to get something out of it for themselves. Their motives are bad. They see me as their competition, and so the worse it goes for me, the better—they think—for them. So how am I to respond? I’ve decided that I really don’t care about their motives, whether mixed, bad, or indifferent. Every time one of them opens his mouth, Christ is proclaimed, so I just cheer them on! And I’m going to keep that celebration going because I know how it’s going to turn out. Through your faithful prayers and the generous response of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, everything he wants to do in and through me will be done. I can hardly wait to continue on my course. I don’t expect to be embarrassed in the least. On the contrary, everything happening to me in this jail only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I live or die. They didn’t shut me up; they gave me a pulpit! Alive, I’m Christ’s messenger; dead, I’m his bounty. Life versus even more life! I can’t lose. As long as I’m alive in this body, there is good work for me to do. If I had to choose right now, I hardly know which I’d choose. Hard choice! The desire to break camp here and be with Christ is powerful. Some days I can think of nothing better. But most days, because of what you are going through, I am sure that it’s better for me to stick it out here. So I plan to be around awhile, companion to you as your growth and joy in this life of trusting God continues. You can start looking forward to a great reunion when I come visit you again. We’ll be praising Christ, enjoying each other.

The word of God for the people of God. Amen.

Introduction

Have you ever had a string of bad luck? A series of events that just tested your patience? Maybe even your faith?

I had to laugh at myself the other Sunday when I was riding back from Mississippi. The rain was torrential, my clutch was going out, my stereo quit working, and my phone charger died. I almost nursed the bike all the way back, but wound up on a trailer 100 miles short of Macon.

We have times like that. Difficult times. Sometimes of great significance and sometimes just frustrating. Sometimes we find ourselves asking, “What Now and Why Me?”

Paul has been through a terrible time. If you think you have been through a rough stretch, you’ve got nothing on Paul as he writes this letter to the community of faith in Philippi.

As you remember, Paul was arrested in Jerusalem on a false charge: that he had taken a Gentile into the Jewish part of the temple. He was only saved from being killed by the intervention of the Roman authorities.

Paul was taken into custody, partly for his own safety, and held at Caesarea for two years. During this time various governors tried to get some advantage from him—using him to defy the Jewish leaders and hoping for a bribe to release him. Finally Paul claimed his right as a Roman citizen to have his case heard by Caesar in Rome.

Paul’s appeal was granted, but the journey to Rome proved a disaster. The late sailing meant that their ship was overtaken by storms and wrecked on the island of Malta. When he eventually arrived in Rome, Paul was placed under house arrest (Acts 27 and 28).

The apostle has every reason to be frustrated and angry. Precious years of his life have been lost through the lies, cowardice and incompetence of other people. His great vision of taking the gospel to other lands and cultures has been thwarted—certainly delayed and perhaps abandoned altogether. And yet Paul is able to assure his friends that what has happened to him has actually helped to spread the gospel!

How is this possible? How does Paul keep such a positive view under such difficult circumstances?

Could it be that perspective is the key? How we look at things matters.

In reference to Abraham Lincoln, Bill Maher wrote:

“If you married a manic-depressive, three of your children died, and while you were president civil war broke out and someone shot you in the head, your coin really shouldn't say, "In God We Trust.”

Someone might say of Paul, if you get arrested, almost killed, locked up for years, shipwrecked, nearly drown, and barely survive only to be put in chains in Rome , you might not should still trust God.

But Paul did trust God. In fact, Paul thanked God for the very experiences and circumstances that seemed so horrible.

How God Turns Things

One of God’ specialties is taking terrible situations - the catastrophes of our lives - and building beautiful things. We see that with the torture and murder of Jesus. What could be more horrible? But God turns that terrible event into the most beautiful expression of grace, forgiveness and redemption. Jesus’s enemies had meant to destroy him, but instead they gave Jesus the vehicle for our salvation.

God does the same thing here.

Paul’s imprisonment ended his missionary travels. No longer would Paul be out free, preaching the gospel and planting churches. While Paul has some freedom in his current situation, he is literally chained to a Roman soldier at all times. But not just any soldier. The soldier is a member of the Praetorian Guard. The Praetorian Guard were the Imperial Guard of Rome. These were elite soldiers. Throughout Paul’s imprisonment in Rome, there was a rotation of soldiers that were chained to him. These soldiers would have heard the gospel over and over. What an opportunity to spread the gospel!

Paul is extremely limited. But God is not! Instead of the circumstances ending Paul’s ministry, Paul writes that his circumstances have advanced the gospel. The word Paul uses for advancement is a strong, active word that is specifically used for the advancement of an army or expedition. The gospel is not restrained! Instead it is moving forward with strength and power.

Paul is Not Jealous

Paul writes that there are other people preaching the gospel. He classifies these people as falling into two groups: Either preaching because they love Paul and have now increased their preaching because they know Paul is limited in what he can do OR they are taking advantage of Paul’s absence and are preaching out of selfish ambition. It would be easy for Paul to be angry at the people selfishly trying to gain recognition. But Paul keeps the focus on Jesus. Paul is not concerned about who is getting the attention or recognition. Paul understands that the gospel being preached is the key, not the motivations of the people doing the preaching. God can use us despite our selfishness.

Paul Celebrates

Despite everything, Paul expresses confidence that all of these things will bring God glory and are valuable for Paul’s own spiritual life. William Barclay sums up Paul’s thoughts this way:

Paul is saying, “God put me in this situation; and God means it, with all its problems and its difficulties, to make for my happiness and usefulness in time, and for my joy and peace in eternity.”

Paul has no doubt that God is at work and he fully trusts God’s purpose. He celebrates the circumstances!

In fact, Paul is so confident in God that he cannot decide if he wants to live or die. For Paul, life truly began when he met Christ on the road to Damascus and for him, life is inseparable from Christ. He loves the life Christ has given him. But at the same time, he knows that death will bring him into full relationship with Christ and he longs for that. Understand that this issue of life or death is very real for Paul. He is unsure of what lies ahead for him. He is literally saying that he is unsure of what he hopes will happen. Does he hope that he will be freed and allowed to continue his missionary efforts? There are places he has hoped to go. Or does he hope that he his time in Rome will end in death, allowing him to enter into full fellowship with Jesus? Paul is truly celebrating under difficult circumstances.

Conclusion

Paul provides us with the model of how to maintain “Good Posture for a Bad Place.” We will all face difficult circumstances that test our patience and our faith.

Charles Stanley wrote:

In reality, there are some circumstances over which we have no control. We can’t maneuver our way out, so our only option is to go through them. However, if we are redeemed children of God, we are exactly where He wants us, because His sovereignty rules over all our situations at all times.

We need to allow God to act through us regardless of the situation. We need to embrace the advance of the gospel regardless of who gets credit. We need celebrate what God is doing in our lives and our circumstances. We need to understand that regardless of the outcome of events, we are OK.

We need to maintain our faithfulness and trust in God even when we are asking, “What Now and Why Me?”