A citizen, an athlete, a soldier
A citizen, an athlete, a soldier: Philippians 1:27-30. Sunday 25 Jan 09
The context- this early church understood great persecution and suffering
If you got saved, there is no place for lukewarm Christianity
The scripture gives us three descriptions of how we are to live out our faith
A citizen of a country, an athlete in a team, a soldier on the battlefield
A citizen of a country V27a
‘Let your manner of life’, from the root word ‘citizen’
literally means ‘live and behave like a citizen of a country/state’
Citizen- a member of a certain country and obeying its rules
NLT says ‘live as citizens of heaven’
This idea of them being citizens would have been meaningful to them because Philippi was a Roman colony and the people were citizens of Rome. That means that although Philippi was hundreds of kilometres away from Rome, they had the values, government, architecture, laws of Rome and the citizens were called to obey Rome although they lived in Philippi and they were protected by Caesar and Roman law. Their names were in the Roman registry in Rome and had all the priviliges of being Roman citizens.
Phil 3:20: Paul clarifies that our true citizenship is in heaven
What does he mean? When you are a citizen of a country you have:
Identity: Eg. ‘I am a South African’ Your identity and position is with Christ. Your name and identity is written in heaven’s books
Obedience: Obey the government and constitution of the land. Paul is saying we have a higher law, higher values, higher allegiance to the true king- the saviour
For the unbeliever: 3:20- ‘their god is their belly’
· Unbeliever obeys their desires/appetites. Christian obeys Saviour
“Let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ”
Obey in such a way that it honours the life and message of Jesus
The good news is about forgiveness, reconciliation and grace. Live worthy of that message. It cost God everything now live your life worthy of the cost- don’t cheapen grace or the gospel by the way you live.
You are a citizen of heaven, now live like it
As a citizen, in your behaviour you reflect your country to others
Eg. When you travel it is easy to see what country people are from- in Zim recently we met a man from the USA. Friendly warm considerate. He reflected his nation well- I think ‘US must be a great place’
You come across other American tourists and they often loud and obnoxious- ignorant of rest of the world.
How do you show that you are a citizen of heaven?
The greatest in the kingdom is one who serves:
Simply… serve
Ask yourself:
· When and how am I intentionally serving those around me? this year? this week?
· When and how do I care specifically for those closest to me in the church? this year? this week? (For some of you, this will consist of serving those in your small group.)
They must be obedient whether he is there or not
V27b: He tells them now they must as well, whether he is with them or not. A trend in churches is that when the pastor goes away, some people stay away from church. Jesus is head of the church, not the pastor!
An athlete in a team V27c
Striving side by side –sunathleo- athletic term
Sun- means ‘with’ ‘together’
Athleo- where we get our word ‘athlete’ from. Means to compete, strive, wrestle
We are to love Jesus together in team. ‘striving side by side’. Christianity is a team sport not solo effort.
There was much opposition and they needed to stick together
Uses words used such as ‘In one spirit, with one mind, side by side’
Strength and courage comes from being a body
We feed off each other’s faith
The goal is to see Gospel advance
What is the common goal and prize Paul desires them to keep before them? To make the gospel known, to display Jesus the king and his kingdom.
A soldier on the battlefield V27c-30
‘Standing firm, not frightened… opponents, engaged in.. conflict’
Not frightened. Like horses startled when scared
Courage and steadfastness needed to live the faith
Churchill said to Britain during 2nd world war, facing evil enemy
‘never never never never give up’ Stand firm!
Standing firm sign of your salvation (and their destruction)
Paul tells them that their standing firm and not shrinking back is a sign:
Of destruction of enemies- showing the gospel is true and they are therefore in trouble because they reject it
Of salvation of saints- standing firm is a sign of salvation- not losing faith. ‘and that from God’ means that their salvation is from God and he will ensure they stand. See Hebrews 3:14
The privilege given to believe and suffer for Jesus (not aimless suffering)
For it has been granted to you.. been given two gifts
Faith to believe,
Privilege to suffer
Why suffering a gift? It was ‘for the sake of Christ’- It’s for him. It was a sign of grace, of God’s favour. A sign that you belong to Him.
Conclusion
God does not call us to perfection- never making mistakes
But to passion- living for Jesus with all our heart
Citizen speaks of obedience to Jesus
Athlete speaks of working together for Jesus
Soldier speaks of standing firm for Jesus