18th Sunday after Pentecost ~ September 18, 2005

Philippians has been called Paul’s epistle of Joy. Today, and for the next couple of Sundays, our epistle lesson will be from the book of Philippians. This is one of my favorite books of Paul. He lays out in beautiful language the hope and joy we have in Christ. And all this while he is in prison in Rome! How can Paul have joy in the midst of his circumstances? I believe it is because Paul has his priorities in order in his life and I would like to use the acronym JOY to show you Paul’s priorities for his life. If you have been in one of my Basics of the Faith class you have probably heard this before. J.O.Y. = Jesus, Others, Yourself. Joy comes from us laying out our priorities of Jesus first, Others next and finally Yourself.

Jesus

Paul’s letter is filled with the idea that Jesus is his first priority. Over and over again in these opening verses we see Paul explaining that everything he does and everything they do is for the sake and to the glory of Christ. That is making the priority of Christ first!

This is of vital importance to our lives. We need to recognize who God is and what He has done for us – which is everything. To put God first in our lives is to recognize the order of the universe and to live in the “true” reality. Scripture tells us that God created the universe and is intimately involved in every detail of its existence. When we recognize that we are not the center of the universe but God is it puts everything into perspective.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” When we put Him first in our priorities, first in every aspect of our life, then we will have the way, the truth and the life! Paul recognized that all he did was for the sake of and glory of Christ. The same is true in our lives. We can either acknowledge it and live in the true reality or we can deny it and put other things first that will not satisfy or lead to the way the truth and the life. Jesus comes first in our lives.

Others

Then comes others. We are to be focused on others before ourselves. Paul dedicated his life to the service of God first and then to others. Over and over again in this letter you see that helping others see Jesus marked his life. Just in these few verses we see his focus on the Roam guards who heard his message and on the love he has for the church at Philippi. Paul focused on sharing the message with others – they were important to him. In fact Paul gave his very life not only to Jesus but also to the service of others.

Often we make halfhearted attempt to serve others with the Gospel. We put cute saying on the sign out front, we give money to fix a problem, and we give pamphlets and flyers with simple Gospel messages to others. But this is only the minimum. We are called to put others before ourselves and so we are called to give more. And time is our greatest asset and gift we can give to others.

A little boy came to his father and asked, “How much do you make an hour?” Taken aback by this personal question the father did know what to say at first. But finally decided his son must be curious about his job he says, “$20 an hour.” “Can I have $10?” the boy asked. Now they father was upset since all the boy wanted was money. He told him to go to bed. After a little while the father began to feel guilty about what he had done and decided that he would give his son the $10. He went to his room and knocked, “Are you awake?” The son replied that he was and the father comes by his bed and gets out his wallet. “Here is the $10 you asked for son.” The boy sits up all excited and reaches under his pillow. He pulls out some coins and other bills and adds it to the $10 from his father and sees that he has $20. He then holds out the money to his father and says, “Can I buy an hour of your time?”

Doesn’t that just hit you in the gut? It does for me. It also shows the value of our time. More than money or skills, or status or time is the greatest commodity we have. And when we use our time with others it pays off in big ways. It isn’t the right words, or the great skill we have that impresses people the most. It is the time we spend with them that makes the most impact. When people know we care enough to be with them they will care enough to listen to our message. They will also see we have a God who cares.

Yourself

To find the joy Paul shows in this epistle we begin by putting God, Jesus first. Then we place the service to others in a place of high importance. Then comes ourself in the order of priorities. But often this is the priority we place before all others. Our pride gets in the way. In the Gospel lesson for today we see what happens when we put ourselves first.

Jesus tells a parable of a master who hires workers at different times of the day to work in his vineyard. Some work the whole day, others just half the day and still others for only an hour or two. But at the end of the day the master pays each worker the same wage. The ones who worked the whole day get upset and complained to the master that his wages were unfair. In the workers mind they were focused on what they had done. In their mind they had worked more and deserved more than the workers who only worked an hour. But the master says that it was out of his generosity that he paid them.

As Jesus parables do, they surprise us with a twist. This story isn’t about fair and unfair business practices. This parable is about the generosity of the master and who really decided what would happen. The spiritual dimension of this parable is that God is God and it is he who decided how He will bless His people.

When we put ourselves first we loose sight of a couple of things. First – we are not God. Only God is first. Second – we are sinful. Do we really want to be put in a place where our every action will be weighed for merit against God’s holy standards? I think not. Because of sin we all deserve death. But because of God’s free grace we are clothed with Christ and receive the free gift of forgiveness and new life in Him.

There is a very tangible benefit for putting things in priority now for us. Many youth and adults in this congregation have been on mission trips and servant events. The number one thing I hear when they return from such events is, “Wow, I received so much more than I gave!” When we put Jesus first and others next in service to them and finally ourselves we really gain a lot. God blesses us when we put our priorities in order – not because we earned it, but because that is the true reality of things in this life. We are blessed when we are living in God’s created order.

We receive joy, just like Paul when we put Jesus first, Others next and Yourself last in the priority of life. Joy can be found in Jesus and living as He has called us to. We receive so much blessing when we serve others out of a response to the Gospel of Christ. May you find true joy – Jesus, Others, and Yourself.

Amen