On Your Own
Notes
Transcript
I think I may have mentioned this before but when I was in college one of my absolute favorite things to do at the beginning of the fall semester was to watch the freshman’s parents drop their kids off at school.
And some of you might that is a little weird but let me explain because that moment is such a unique point in time for the family of that student.
Because the parents have this child, that they have raised since they were a baby
They have seen this child take their first steps,
they have trained this child how to ride a bike without training wheels
They have been through the rough teenage years (sorry for the teens who are watching this)
They have taught them how to behave
And now all of the sudden there is this moment where they are dropping their child off at college.
And in those last moments their are so many emotions
Some parents are crying because they will miss their child being home
Some parents are crying because of how proud they are of their child
Some parents are praying with their child
Many parents are giving their child final guidance before they are on their own.
Because they have spent all this time with their child preparing them for this moment and all of the sudden they are saying your on your own.
It is such a beautiful and sacred moment.
And even if you have not dropped someone off at college I am sure this is something you can relate to on some level, where even you may have been the person going off on your own and someone (whether it be your parents or a friend) is giving you an emotional good bye and getting ready to say their final words before you are on your own.
And its is such a cool moment
And really this morning in the Passage we are in Paul who wrote this letter is writing to the Philippian church is having a sacred moment like this
Because he is writing to this church:
A church that he actually birthed or started
He has been with them in the exciting moments when they first came to God
He has probably worked through some hard issues
And now Paul is looking at this church and how it has grown and matured and he is realizing he may not be around much longer to instruct them.
And these few verses we are in give us just a glimpse into this sacred moment where Paul is saying his possible goodbyes to this church and instructing them what to do now that they are on their own.
and not just that but as we talked about the past couple weeks they are on their own in a hostile environment where they are persecute for their faith.
So I want to invite you to follow along with me if you have your Bible or if you do not follow along on the screen but we are in Philippians 2:12-18.
And we will just be starting in verses 12-13 and working our way through.
It says this:
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
So Paul says says “my beloved you guys have been amazing followers of Christ.”
I mean you have been faithful, and obeyed.
You can almost picture Paul thinking I am so proud of you.
and then Paul implies in his wording that I want you to continue to be faithful.
whether I get to live and be with you all again or if my presence is no more and my life is taken.
And this is what Paul wants them to get and I believe these things are vital for us today.
because the first thing he says is work out your salvation
And Paul is not saying okay to as many good works as possible to be saved or to get on God’s good list
But the wording their is actually litterly translated bring your salvation to completion.
You know so often in Christianity we get this really bad view that when you accept Christ you raise your hand and pray a prayer, you are saved and that is it.
And while you are saved from accepting Christ, that is not the end but it is the begining.
Because God want’s out life to be transformed through His Grace.
Because Grace does not just cover us but it changes us where we start to look more like Him
Its almost like a fire
I cannot start a fire if I just have a pile of wood.
why because I need someone to lite the fire.
And even once it gets going I still have to feed the fire to help it get larger and to keep it strong.
And you know when it comes to our walk with God, God is the only one that can save us, we cannot save our self, and He is actually the only one that can help the flame we have spread.
But for us to work out our salvation looks like us feeding the fire.
Where we are going to church, we are getting involved in small groups
We are praying, we are reading our Bible
Paul is saying it is so vital for you to work out your salvation, and keep feeding the fire God has given you.
Because you have a fire that will change your life but you have the ability to impact the lives around you.
Well look what Paul says next because he tells us practically what this looks like.
Look at verse 14 it says:
14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing,
This is one of those short verses that is so simple but so important.
Because a lot of Scholars believe when Paul says grumbling and disputing He is actually referencing how the Israelites would often acted in the Old Testement
Because the would get in arguments all the time with eachother and with God
And what you see is this huge disunity.
And Paul is telling the Isralites if you want to fan the flame that God has given you, it needs to be done in the context of unity with Christ and others.
You need to stop getting in these arguments and grumbling against your neighbor and start loving them.
Because that is how we will see the church thrive.
I mean think of this even in a really practical sense because none of us like being around somone who is just argumentive and grumpy. Right?
No one here wants to go to thanksgiving this week to see that grumpy uncle, right?
So imagine just how bad it is when the church acts that way?
It is not somthing someonee wants to be a part of.
God has called us to unity
And Paul says look I do not want you grumbling but instead this is what I want to see: Look at verse 15
15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
Paul says instead I want you to be blameless and innocent even when the rest of the world living differently
You know I love that word blameless because it is another word picture that Paul uses.
Because this word in greek was actually used to describe metal that has not been altered or weakend
so Paul is saying you are called to be like a metal that will not bend.
Basically you are called not to give into the cultural standards around you, but you are called to be full and complete in God.
Its almost like how when I first moved to the Midwest I had a Maryland accent. (I loved it)
And it made it so everyone knew I was from somewhere else
But the longer I live in the midwest the more my accent changes to a midwest one and now people just think I am from the midwest (it is really sad)
And sadly a lot of us in our walk with God begin to slowly walk away or give in to the cultural standards around us that may not be God glorifying.
And before we know it no one can tell that we are children of God.
And Paul says when you live a life where you are not altered by this world but changed by God you are not just different but you shine the light of Christ to everyone around you.
And this is a little bit of a rabbit trail, but we live in a world that is in desperate need of light right now.
2020 is a dark year but when you compare the darkness of this year or really any year or moment, that darkness is nothing compared the how bright Christ is. Amen?
Well look at this last point out of the remaining verses (verses 16-18)
16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 17 Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.
The last thing that we really need to get is that we are called to hold fast to the Word of Life
And this is talking about scripture, but its also talking about God.
when our world is changing and things our crazy we need to hold on to God
And like I mentioned Paul is in this bad place, where there is a good chance he will die for his faith,
and in the middle of this place He is saying I might die, my life may literly be poured out as an offering to God
But I will not be put to shame instead I will rejoice because I have held fast to God and I pray you will as well.
You know this morning it is easy to look at our life and we just feel ashamed of things we have done, we might feel worn out or exhausted.
But the amazing thing is that we have a God where even if we are far away from Him, and have not held to Him
He still holds on to us.
And this morning as we close I want to end our time together by just reflecting and asking yourself where am I in my walk with Him?
And if I am not where He has called me how do I fan the flame He has started in my life.
I believe God wants to build you this morning.
And I want to challenge you to find ways to fan your flame.
Will you pray with me?
And we are going to close by rejoicing in the lord this morning because you may be going through a rough time, You may be running on empty, you may even be facing death,
but Paul still rejoiced and this morning as we finish our series, I think it is appropriate for us to do as well.
so this morning we are going to sing bless the Lord.