Engaging Delight

Credit where credit is due

We’ve all been riveted by the tragic story unfolding in New Mexico. A worker on the set of a movie being filmed in New Mexico died when an apparently loaded gun was fired. We all wonder how this could happen on a movie set. There are safety features and protocols for having guns on movie sets. It hasn’t been sorted out. But it has been almost as tragic to follow all of the finger pointing. The blame game has begun. Who gets the credit, or in this instance, who gets the blame? We all love credit when things go well. When something goes wrong, we’re looking to shift credit elsewhere.

A college football star recently was interviewed after running for a record number of yards in a football game last week. The running back looked spectacular on some of his moves in running all over the field. But it was interesting.. he noted that he could not have had his record performance if the offensive line hadn’t been creating some pretty big holes for him to run through. Who gets the credit for the record performance? Some would say the running back. The running back is giving credit to the big guys up front who make it possible.

We all want credit. We spend a lot of time and energy making sure we get credit when we think we’ve earned it. What happens when you don’t get credit for doing something well at work or at school or at play? Disappointment. That is natural. Bitterness? That can be a problem. If we have done well at something, we naturally want credit. There are areas of the law that protect credit, making sure that a songwriter gets credit or an author gets credit for something they created. We are all looking for credit.

Problems show up though, when we begin taking credit for things that are not ours to take credit for. Have you ever worked with someone who always seems to be stealing the credit for good stuff happening in the company or office? Seems like there’s always “that guy”. But that problem is at the heart of our text today. Who gets the credit for your salvation? I think we’d all agree here at The Table that we cannot take credit for our salvation. Time and time again in the Bible we’re told that our salvation and redemption is not our doing. But then there’s this question: who gets the credit for the good works we do? When we give our nextdoor neighbor a hand with the lawn, who gets the credit for that nice gesture?

Who gets the credit for our salvation and who gets the credit for our good works is at the heart of the Reformation. Today is Reformation Day. It was 504 years ago today that Martin Luther nailed a piece of paper to the Wittenberg Door. Luther wanted a public debate over these questions. His answer to “who gets the credit?” changed the course of an entire continent almost overnight. Denominations, church bodies, even nations have argued and fought over the question of “who gets the credit?” The question is so fundamental to all sorts of other questions in life, this isn’t a matter left to the academics sitting in seminary halls or church offices. This has to do with everyday life.

Our text today is one of those texts in the Bible that has seen a lot of controversy and argument. We’re not going to go down those roads. This passage in the book of Philippians answers the question as to who gets the credit, but does it in a way that we’re left with more questions. And that’s OK. But some of the issue is, we come at this text all wrong. We come to the text looking for credit for our good works, and Paul the writer is saying, that’s not the real focus. In fact, the way this reads, I’m guessing someone in the church to whom he is writing is looking for credit, and Paul’s like, “wrong emphasis, bro.” In fact, it’s not about credit. It’s about delight.

We are in chapter 10 of “Delight! Discipleship as the Adventure of Loving and Being Loved”, the book by Justin Rossow. I hope you are making your way through this book. There are a lot of great study questions at the end of each chapter. He does a really good job of helping us see Delight throughout the entire Bible in a very easy reading format.

In chapter 10, Pastor Rossow spends some time unpacking for us the entire story of this church that Paul is writing to in Philippi. We are not going to cover all of what he covers… I encourage you to read chapter 10 this week.

Work. Work. Work.

In our text this morning that Marco just read, Paul is writing to a church much like ours in a city called Philippi. And he’s talking about work. Work. Work. Work. This church did not get off the ground like a lot of other churches that Paul planted on his missionary trips. Paul’s habit was to go into a city and go right to the synagogue. This pattern shows up all over the book of Acts. Paul’s heart is for his fellow Jews and so, he would go into the synagogue and talk about the death and resurrection of Jesus. Typically, the members of the synagogue weren’t all that interested in having a visiting rabbi talk about Jesus and his resurrection and Paul would be kicked to the curb. And he would give the same message to non-Jews or Gentiles… and their response would be a little more accepting and pretty soon, there’s a church plant going.

Philippi didn’t have a synagogue. But they did have a gathering where Jews and Jewish proselytes were meeting. So Paul went down to the river. He meets a lady named Lydia, a successful businesswoman in Philippi, and Lydia and her friends soon make up the nucleus of the church plant in Philippi. Paul now writes this letter to that church, some time later. Paul is in jail in Rome for preaching the gospel. This church has been very helpful to Paul and his gospel work. They have been his partners in the gospel. But Paul hear’s about some issues and so he sends them this letter.

And along the way, he has some things to say about the question of salvation and works. In fact, he’s going to use the word “work” 3 times. But he’s going to frame it in a way that leads to Delight. Here’s the first thing he says in Philippians 2:12:

Christian Standard Bible (Chapter 2)

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Paul has already given them some things to work on. Love each other, be united, don’t be selfish. We find out as we continue reading this letter that there were some in this church who were having a hard time getting along, even though they had been great partners with Paul in the gospel. So… love each, be united, don’t be selfish, all things they need to hear. But before he continues with this kind of encouragement, he says “work out your salvation”. Loving, being united, not being selfish… this involves work. It involves effort. It involves engagement.

This church has been given salvation in Christ, something he has also mentioned. Jesus, the One Promised to come and save His people has done exactly that. God took on human flesh, and then died on a cross for the salvation of these Philippians. They have been given salvation, and now they are to work out that salvation in love, in unity, and in not being selfish. Note the language. Paul is not saying that you work for your salvation. They already have it. Work it out. Engage with the salvation you’ve been given for the good of others. Love, unity, and selflessness all flow out of the salvation they have been given.

And they are to do it “with fear and trembling”. Kind of an odd statement. This is not the kind of fear we have on fright night when we step into a Haunted Attraction for Halloween. This is not the kind of fear that is debilitating. Or being afraid for our health or our lives. It’s a fear that pays attention to what is happening.

I remember when we were converted the garage into a living room at our house in Xenia. The contractor doing the conversion took the panel off of the electrical box, exposing the electrical lines coming into the house. He explained that touching one of those lines would be an instant Jesus meeting. it’s not like sticking a finger in an outlet, though that can also not be good. Those 220 volt circuits are fatal if touched. I then wondered why we were taking the panel off and leaving it off. LOL But that instilled a healthy fear. Don’t even go near that panel. I’m not exactly a contractor. That’s the kind of fear here. Paying close attention to details because details matter.

Work out your salvation paying attention to the details of loving, living in unity and not being selfish. Submitting to what God has to say in His Word, following His commands and believing His promises. That’s what fear and trembling are talking about here.

So there is work to be done as the result of our salvation and forgiveness. But before the Philippians can begin to take credit for their good works toward their fellow church members or their neighbors, Paul immediately puts anend to the thought.

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 2

For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose.

Here are the second and third instances of the word “work”. Paul is making an emphatic statement of fact. This isn’t an opinion. Paul states a reality. Paul has shifted the spotlight. Or he has pulled back the curtain. Note that word “for”. This means that whatever follows is the reason for what he said previously. And what follows is this: God is working in you. You work out your salvation because God is always working in you. Your work is the result of God working in you. Even as they are completely and utterly dependent on Christ and His work for their salvation, they also can have complete faith that God is always working in them. God’s work is producing their work. Who gets the credit for their love and their unity and their selflessness? Christ does. You see, good works aren’t about them. They’re all about Jesus.

God is working in them for two things. First… to will:

To will

To will according to his purposes. In other words, God is always working on the will and desires. This is why I always love asking the question: who got you here this morning? How did you end up here? I got in my car and I drove to the pavilion? Who gathered us here today? God did. We did all the work, but ultimately God is the one working on our desires and our wills to bring us here. There’s more to say about this word “will” in a minute.

And God is working on our work.

To work

To will and to work according to his purposes. What purposes? His purposes are found throughout all of the Bible, but right here at the very least, loving each other, being unified, not being selfish. God is working in them to produce the love, the unity, and the selflessness. It’s his doing… even as they are working out their salvation.

How does God do this? Paul answers that as well:

Shine like stars through Word and Sacrament

He does it through Word and Sacrament. Paul says this here:

Christian Standard Bible (Chapter 2)

you shine like stars in the world, by holding firm to the word of life.

Paul makes his second emphatic statement here.. you shine like stars in the world. The church radiates with the light of Christ in the way they love, in the way they are unified, in the way they are selfless..by holding firm to the Word of life. By never letting go of the Word. By always receiving the proclamation of the Word that produces life. By always receiving the Sacrament which is the Word in bread and wine. The Word from the WORD, Jesus himself. By clinging tightly to Jesus as He gives himself through the Word Preached and the Word Given in communion. This is how God works on the will and desires.

Lydia’s heart

We’re given a glimpse of how God does his work this way. When Paul met Lydia, she was the leader of a gathering of women who met to pray along the banks of the river there in Philippi. Here’s what Dr. Luke writes about Lydia when she heard Paul’s proclamation of the gospel:

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 16

We sat down and spoke to the women gathered there. 14 A God-fearing woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying.

There it is. The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying. Lydia responds to the gospel. It’s the Lord doing the work. The Lord opened her heart. This is what God is doing when he is working on the will and desires and producing the work of love and unity and selflessness through Word and Sacrament.

Who gets the credit? God does. It’s not about the congregation in Philippi. It’s not about us. It’s about Jesus. But this really isn’t about credit. It’s about Delight!

Will and Pleasure as Delight

There are two words in our passage that directly connect into the Bible’s understanding of Delight. Our translations tend to cover it up a bit because they are attempting to help us understand the bigger picture. God is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose. That word “will” and the word“purpose” are words in the Greek that also convey the idea of delight. So that it could be said that God is working in you to Delight according to his Delight. And this really is what Paul is after. Forget the credit question. God always gets the credit for our good works. What we need to see is that God is working in us to produce Delight for what he Delights in.

God is always, always working in your life and my life. In the hard times and the times that don’t make a lot of sense, you are guaranteed that God is working in you. He is shaping you. He is shaping your work. He is shaping your effort. It may not feel like it. It may feel like you’re going the opposite direction. But know this: God is working in you as you work out your salvation in good works for others.

God delights in your salvation. God loves giving you everything you need in your salvation. God delights in producing the faith in us through Word and Sacrament. God delights in gathering you here this morning. God delights in giving you the good things of His Kingdom, a Kingdom he has given to His Son because of His work on the cross.

God delights in producing all sorts of good works in us, such as loving, being unified, being unselfish. God delights to produce our delight in His delight. So… hold firm to the Word. Hold firm to the forgiveness he gives you. Hold firm to the grace you receive in the Sacrament.

Too often, we come at this question of God’s will as if it is some kind of abstract concept that is super spiritual and hard to find. How many books are out there about finding God’s will. God’s will is to be found right here… where you are. We were created because our salvation causes God’s delight. We exist to be loved by God. And then to love him back. And to love others. We work. We engage. We engage others. We engage God’s Delight. That’s the kind of work that brings God delight.

Let’s pray.

This Table is where God delights in us. This Table is where God is working on us and in us to produce good works in others. The broken body and the shed blood are His work for us. He works for our forgiveness. He works for our life. He works for our grace. There’s nothing for us to do here, but to receive His work for us in faith.