April 29, 2001

Philippians 1:12-26

How to Find Purpose for the Troubles You Experience

  1. Introduction
    1. Illustration – Max Lucado tells this story: Chippie the parakeet never saw it coming. One second he was peacefully perched in his cage. The next he was sucked in, washed up, and blown over. The problems began when Chippie’s owner decided to clean Chippie’s cage with a vacuum cleaner. She removed the attachment from the end of the hose and stuck it in the cage. The phone rang, and she turned to pick it up. She’d barely said "hello" when "sssopp!" Chippie got sucked in. The bird owner gasped, put down the phone, turned off the vacuum, and opened the bag. There was Chippie – still alive, but stunned. Since the bird was covered with dust and soot, she grabbed him and raced to the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and help Chippie under the running water. Then, realizing that Chippie was soaked and shivering, she did what any compassionate bird owner would do…she reached for the hair dryer and blasted the pet with hot air. Poor Chippie never knew what hit him. A few days after the trauma, the reporter who’d initially written about the event contacted Chippie’s owner to see how the bird was recovering. "Well," she replied, "Chippie doesn’t sing much anymore – he just sits and stares." Lucado concludes, It’s hard not to see why. Sucked in, washed up, and blown over…That’s enough to steal the song from the stoutest heart.
    2. Context – We often feel like the troubles we’re going through suck the joy and happiness right out of us, and that’s because we very often can’t make sense out of them. Paul was in the midst of some serious trouble, but he figured out how to keep his song. Let’s read Philippians 1:12-26 to find out how.
  1. Scripture Passage
    1. Philippians 1:12-26 - Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. 13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14 Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. 15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. 20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.
    2. Scholars believe that Paul wrote this while he was under house arrest in Rome. He was a prisoner awaiting trial before Caesar. Yet he used the words "rejoice" and "joy" and "hope" throughout this passage. There is a way of dealing with troubles in this passage that we need to learn so that we can use those uplifting words and mean it when we’re experiencing hard times.
  1. So What?
    1. Paul was a prisoner of the Roman government, so we know he could relate with us. How? Do you ever feel trapped by your circumstances? Do you ever feel like you just can’t break through those chains? Maybe it’s a coworker or boss who doesn’t like you and tries to make your life miserable. Maybe it’s having too much month at the end of the money. Maybe it’s a broken down car with no way to fix it. Maybe it’s a character flaw or a sin that you have been struggling with for years. Whatever it is, if it has you feeling trapped and hopeless, you’re a prisoner. Paul was a prisoner. He knows how you feel.
    2. But note Paul’s first words in this passage: "Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel." Remember last week when we talked about being humble, having an attitude of blessing, being in a community where we can be loved, loving others as Christ loves them, and valuing others and seeking their good far above our own? This attitude carries over, and helps Paul find his purpose in the mess he’s in the middle of. Paul’s perspective was one of finding a higher purpose for the things he was going through. That’s what we need to do to if we’re going to find purpose for the junk we go through.
    3. Paul lists the results of his imprisonment:
    1. If we view our lives as just existing for the here and now, we’re missing the boat. Life does not consist of this body of ours from the time we’re born until the time we die! In order to have any hope of making through tough times like Paul did, we have to have an eternal perspective. We have to view our troubles as shaping our characters for both the life we live now and for eternity.
    2. In 2 Corinthians 4:7-18, Paul gives us a clear view of what this perspective is like: But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. 13 It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, 14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. 15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. We were created to glorify God. We were made to bring glory to Him, not to ourselves like the preachers with the false motives Paul referred to. Not like the Jews who forced Paul to be imprisoned for years. Not like those who build themselves up at the expense of others. We were created to bring glory to God and to live for Him and anything else will leave a blank, empty hole in our hearts and souls. That’s what Paul was getting at.
    3. I emailed out a copy of an email article by Kevin Miller I got on Friday that just hit me right between the eyes. I want to read it to you now. When you feel hard-pressed by the demands and difficulties in ministry, it helps to know you're in good company. "We've been surrounded and battered by troubles," writes Paul, "but we're not demoralized; we're not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we've been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn't left our side; we've been thrown down but we haven't broken" (2 Cor. 4:8-9, The Message). One big demoralizer in ministry is not having enough people to do the work. A few years ago at Leadership we'd been short-staffed for three months. After an extended thorough search for the right associate editor, we thought we'd found our person -- and it didn't work out. We had to live with more work than people for a while longer. The same day I received that disappointing call, the mail brought two letters criticizing me or my work. Vance Havner once said that in ministry you need the mind of a scholar, the heart of a child, and the hide of a rhinoceros. I guess I haven't achieved rhino status. During that same period of time my family and I were moving (within the area), a happy move, yet major financial decisions stress me. I got a call from our attorney saying that the seller's attorney had pulled a move I thought was patently unfair. I felt anger, but I was too busy to really deal with it. I took all this home from work with me, and when I got home, the front storm door broke. We had guests coming for dinner; they got lost and arrived an hour late. I joked with my wife, Karen, "I know God wants to refine my character, but does he have to do it all in one day?" On Sunday I preached, and it happened to be on a difficult and controversial topic. I sweated over that sermon, and afterward, I felt relieved and good, yet drained and spiritually vulnerable. Many people told me how much the message had helped them, but one person told me that a member had been offended and was thinking about leaving the church. Of the many comments, guess which one I still was brooding on a few days later? Searching for some wisdom and relief, I turned to 2 Corinthians 4, a passage that has helped me over the years. There I found Paul's confession of being hard-pressed and perplexed. But this time I drank comfort from these verses: "We always carry abound in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body ... death is at work in us, but life is at work in you" (vv. 10, 12). If I understand Paul correctly, it's a good thing for the Corinthians that he suffered. His sufferings forced him and the Corinthians to realize that the only reason he hung on was by God's amazing power. While being "spiritually terrorized," Paul must have felt he was dying, but that forced him to be humble and dependent on God -- two qualities that always bring life to others. Here's Paul's equation: Struggling minister = blessed church members. I don't like that equation, because I'm called to minister. I don't like being battered, unsure, and thrown down. But that's Christian ministry. I really do want God's blessings to flow though me to others (at least, most of the time), and such life comes only from deaths. Yours and mine. When we're experiencing this, cheery Hallmark-card words won't do. Only true and tested ones. Like Paul's: "Death is at work in us, but life is at work" in the people to whom we minister. You might be saying, "So what? I’m not a minister." Guess what? Everyone is a minister, either for life or for death, because your life is your sermon. Your life is your sermon. If you don’t love Jesus and live for Him, you’re ministering death. If you love Jesus but don’t live for Him, you’re ministering death. If you claim to love Jesus but are really putting yourself above Him and above others, you’re ministering death. If you love Jesus and live for Him and put Him and others above yourself, you are minister life. Life is your sermon. Paul’s life was his sermon. As we saw in the Philippians passage, his focus wasn’t on himself or his circumstances; his focus was on Jesus first and then on others. He wanted to glorify God and to encourage others in the way he lived his life. THAT is living with an eternal perspective!
  2. Conclusion
    1. What kind of a minister are you? What kind of sermon are you living? The message God has for us today is simple: stop ministering death and start ministering life. That’s it. If you’ve been ministering death in any area of your sermon, and you want God’s help in changing that, please come forward now and pray and ask Him to help you and commit yourself to changing the sermon you’re life has been preaching. Come forward now.
    2. Let’s pray.

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