Sermon Tone Analysis
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The Cross of Christ Changes Us
3.13.22
[Philippians 3:17-4:1] River of Life (2nd Sunday in Lent)
I hope you get everything in life you deserve.
Nobody would be better.
I wish I had your confidence.
You’ll wear or say anything.
You can’t get food like that in a restaurant.
Sometimes, insults sound like compliments.
Have you ever had that experience when someone says something to you or about you and you’re not sure if they’re complimenting or criticizing you?
You’re not sure if you should be overjoyed or offended?
When you read through the Paul’s letters to different Christians, you can imagine his detractors saying things that sounded like compliments, but were actually insults.
Perhaps his adversaries in the region of Galatia were saying: Paul’s given you a great start.
We’ll take it from here.
Maybe his detractors in Corinth were saying: Paul’s a simple teacher.
We’ll take things to a higher, intellectual level.
In Philippi, his foes might have said: Paul’s got his head in the clouds.
We’ll show you how to navigate the real world.
And with the Apostle Paul (Php.
1:13) in chains for his preaching of the Gospel of Christ, it’s not hard to imagine that that insult—that Paul has his head in the clouds—would resonate a little bit.
Again and again in this letter, Paul talks about (Php.
4:1) his joy.
Again and again in this letter, Paul tells the Philippians to (Php.
4:4) rejoice.
It’s not hard to imagine someone saying: You don’t want to end up like Paul.
He might like it, but you won’t.
Perhaps Paul heard rumblings of such things.
Even if he didn’t, his exhortation here is pretty clear.
(Php.
3:17-18) Follow my example, brothers and sisters.
You have us—(Php.
1:1) Paul and Timothy—as a model.
(Php.
3:18) Keep your eyes on those who live as we do.
Imitate us.
Even when it seems counter-productive.
Even when it’s counter-cultural.
Even when it’s counter-intuitive.
(Php.
3:18) Imitate those who live as we do.
(Php.
4:1) Stand firm in the Lord in this way.
Now Paul was not saying that every Philippian Christian needed to live in such a way that it put them in chains alongside the Apostle Paul.
Here, Paul is driving home the important principle that the lives of Christians are lived markedly differently because they have a different mindset.
While his detractors might say that Paul had his head in the clouds, he told the Philippians that (Php.
3:20) his citizenship was in heaven.
Just like their’s.
And ours.
And we need to be reminded of this reality, again and again.
Because as Paul says here with tears: (Php.
3:18-19) Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.
Their destiny is destruction.
Their god is their stomach.
Their glory is in their shame.
We might wonder: who exactly is Paul talking about here?
It could be that Paul was speaking of the pagans that called Philippi home.
Philippi was a Roman colony.
It had a proud heritage.
It was a place where many Roman soldiers moved to to retire.
We can imagine living in a place where military service is honored.
Where national pride is a given.
Where most people talk about their careers in the past tense.
It’s not hard to imagine some people in Philippi worshipping popular Roman gods, eating and drinking to excess, cavorting and glorying in activities that God condemns.
Pleasure-seeking people would discover their lives put them on the path to destruction.
But it could also be that Paul had in mind the Judaizers.
These pious people insisted that everyone follow all the laws of Moses to a “T”.
(Php.
3:19) Their god was their stomach—not in the sense that they ate and drank to excess.
Rather, in the body is temple sense.
They believed what went in a person made them unclean.
They based their glory on how good they were.
But their attempts at righteousness were shamefully, woefully inadequate.
So, their destiny was destruction, too.
It is quite likely that Paul saw the common thread between these contrasting ways of living.
Whether one lives like a wild pagan or a like a pious Pharisee, the outcomes were the same.
(Php.
3:18) Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.
But not just many in Philippi.
Many today do, too.
And we face this temptation day after day, moment after moment, in ways we recognize and in many we struggle to see.
Notice that Paul says, with tears: (Php.
3:18) Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.
He is moved to tears because many of them do not realize they are living that way.
(Php.
3:18) Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.
He does not say many identify as enemies of Christ.
So we must not ask ourselves: do I think of myself as enemies of Christ?
We must examine our lives.
Am I living like an enemy of the cross of Christ?
And there are two chief ways people live as enemies of the cross of Christ.
The first is self-indulgence.
The second is self-delusion.
Self-indulgent enemies of the cross are often possessive & controlling.
This is my time.
This is my money.
This is my life.
We’re going to do things my way.
Self-indulgent enemies find clever ways to justify not picking up their cross and following Christ.
God is love, so he wouldn’t want me to say something that might hurt someone’s feelings.
I’m God’s child, so he wouldn’t want me to struggle like that.
We’re committed to God’s truth, why is growing a church so hard?
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