11-17-13 No Talking Mirrors Needed

We are returning this morning

to our study of the 4^th chapter

of Paul’s letter to the Philippians.

By now you know

that this short letter

was written by Paul from prison

to his fellow Christians in Philippi

for the purpose of providing them

with a sort of survival manual

for the hard times in life.

We have seen throughout our study of this book

that Paul has tested every principle

in the crucible of real life -

sickness,

lies,

character assassination,

repeated attempts on his life,

loneliness,

rejection...

These are not platitudes,

they’re not wise sayings

of nice things good Christians really should do.

These are principles for dealing with real pain.

It’s not surprising to learn

that it is in this letter

that Paul tells us there are times

when he would far rather

(Phil. 1:23)... depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better...

He’s putting into words

what everyone who has ever hurt deeply

has felt at times.

He’s simply saying,

“Lord, sometimes I get tired of the pain.”

And through this little letter

Paul allows us to step inside his heart

and his mind

and see what has allowed him

to not just survive,

but to actually thrive in the prisons

and the winters of his life.

Our study has brought us to the grand finale

of this short letter,

the few sentences in which

Paul summarizes the heart

of what he has been wanting to say throughout the letter.

The passage begins in Phil. 4:4

and runs through 4:9.

It consists of mostly one-liners,

concise statements

each containing a single powerful principle.

We started with the first statement a few weeks ago

and sort of got stuck there.

But it was a great place to get stuck.

The statement said,

Phil. 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!

And in the weeks we spent on that statement

we saw Paul calling us to an approach to life

in which,

rather than beginning by looking at our circumstances,

we begin by looking at our God.

Then, and only then

can we begin to relate to our circumstances correctly.

This single phrase

is the most accurate litmus test I know of

for helping us to know

whether or not we are seeing God correctly.

When we are seeing Him correctly

our spirit will rejoice in Him.

If we find any other response within ourselves,

if we doubt Him,

or are afraid of Him,

or question what He has said,

one thing we know with certainty -

we are not seeing Him correctly.

There is a prayer that has become a regular part

of my daily conversation with my God.

“Lord, let me know You this day.”

That’s where it all begins.

That’s the foundation

of everything else that grows out of our walk with God.

The more accurately I know Him

the more easily I can respond to Him,

and I will know when I am seeing Him accurately

because my spirit will rejoice in Him.

And I dare not say any more

or we will spend the rest of our church life on Philippians 4:4.

Now, the next verse contains two additional principles.

In the New American Standard translation

the verse reads:

Phil. 4:5 Phil. 4:5 Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.

We’ll start with the first

of those two statements,

the one that says, “Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men.”

This is another one of those powerful statements in Scripture

that we rarely even notice

when we’re reading through the passage.

The reason we rarely notice it

is because of that word “forbearing”.

We don’t really know what that even means.

In the most recent update of the New American Standard Bible

the translators changed their mind

and opted for the word “gentle”...

Let your gentle spirit be known to all men,

probably because the other four places

in the New Testament

where this Greek word appears

it was translated gentle.

The NIV translates the verse,

“Let your gentleness be evident to all.”

The truth is,

none of those capture the heart

of what Paul is talking about here.

The Greek word being translated

as “forbearing” in this verse

comes from two words put together.

The first word is actually the little prefix “epi”

which is used to strengthen or intensify a word.

We ran into it in the past

in a word study we did together

when Paul was talking about “epignosis”.

Gnosis is the Greek word for “knowledge”

and then both Paul and Peter

add the prefix “epi” to that word for knowledge

to describe the kind of knowledge

only a Christian can have of God.

The closest we can get to it in English

is to translate it, “full or complete knowledge”.

The “epi” intensifies the meaning in a unique way.

Well, this word we are dealing with

here in Philippians 4:5

adds that intensifier to the Greek word for “reasonable”.

Literally the word means “full, complete reasonableness”

or “sweet reasonableness”.

You can see why the translators

ran into difficulty

finding an accurate English equivalent.

The word carries with it

a sense of tolerance,

of uncontentiousness,

being equitable,

fair,

moderate.

James uses this same word

in the third chapter of James, verse 17,

when he is describing how to recognize

the true wisdom of God.

He says,

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.

Now that’s a little more academic

than we normally get,

but there is something happening in this phrase

that I want us to see,

something that Paul knows

is crucial to our survival in hard times.

In this phrase

Paul is talking to us

about the way in which

we conduct ourselves

with the truth our Lord

reveals to us.

One of the many things we enter into

when we enter into Christ

is the world of truth,

the world of absolute certainty.

Through our Lord

we discover a growing understanding

of the true nature of life,

and relationships,

and morality,

and a whole bunch of other crucial issues

we could only guess at before.

And I’m not just talking about

some kind of blind, religious “faith” here.

The fact is,

through our King

we just flat end up knowing things.

Jesus said it so clearly:

John 8:31"If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;

John 8:32 and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. "

And, as always,

I need to make a distinction here

between knowing the truth

and learning a religious system.

There are lots of religious systems floating around,

filled with all sorts of beliefs,

and doctrines,

and prescribed life-styles,

and filtering systems

for knowing who’s approved

and who is not.

That’s not what we’re talking about here.

Religious systems are something we’re taught,

something we choose to accept.

The TRUTH Jesus is talking about here

is not a belief system imposed from the outside,

it is an inner certainty

given to us by our Creator.

We know it’s true

not because another human being told us it’s true,

but because our God

confirmed its truth in our spirit.

I remember talking years ago

with a young man who was working very hard to create his belief system

that excluded God.

It was a rather elaborate intellectual system,

with lots of scientific “proofs”,

and theories,

and explanations.

And when he had finished explaining

his philosophy of life

he said, “This is the way I really think it is.”

I responded by saying,

“Yea, and that’s the difference

between us - you THINK what you believe is correct,

but, you see, I KNOW what I believe is correct.”

And just to clarify once again,

I’m not talking about all the little details of doctrine,

I’m talking about the basic issues -

Who God is,

why we’re separated from Him,

how that separation can be restored,

what are the basic moral absolutes of life,

and why God established them.

But, you see,

there is a problem that arises

with knowing the truth.

Knowing the truth

can be a dangerous thing

unless that truth is handled wisely.

We Christians hold a number of important roles in the world.

Among other things,

we are God’s ambassadors,

representing Him in a foreign land.

We are His priests,

standing between a lost and rebellious world,

and our Creator

who offers that world redemption

and reconciliation.

We are the resident, living proofs

of His reality here on this earth.

There have been times in the past

when we’ve spent weeks

on that remarkable statement of Paul’s

in Ephesians 3:10

where he tells us that God called us to Himself,

and formed us into His Body...

Eph. 3:10 in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.

The word “manifold”

means literally “many colored”,

and the image Paul is creating

is powerful.

Prior to the creation of the church

the wisdom of God was a blinding beam

of pure white light

piercing through human society,

often terrifying those

caught in its beam.

But when God’s wisdom

hit the church,

it was like a beam of light

hitting a prism,

and as it comes out the other side

it projects a beautiful rainbow display of color for all to see.

Because of God’s life through us on a daily basis,

all of creation is able to see a depth

and beauty to God’s wisdom

unlike anything anyone has ever seen before.

That’s all part of the role we serve

in God’s plan for us here on earth.

But there is another role we serve as well,

one that has a direct bearing

on this business of our knowing the truth,

and on our having

this “forbearing spirit”

that Paul is talking about in Philippians.

You see,

in a fascinating way

because we know the truth

we end up serving in the rather unpleasant role

of the conscience for human society.

We are the ones who constantly remind our world

that there are moral absolutes,

that there are righteous

and unrighteous choices,

and that each of us are held accountable

for the choices we make.

We do this most of all

not by what we say,

but rather by the way we live.

When a Christian teenager goes to school

and talks with his school mates

and the filth doesn’t pour out of his mouth

the way it pours out of most of the other students’ mouths,

it drives the other kids crazy

because it reminds them

there is such a thing as morality.

Now isn’t that fascinating?

When all the other waitresses

record just half the tips they make

so they don’t get taxed on the other half,

and the Christian waitress is honest,

it drives the others crazy

because the righteousness of the Christian

reminds her co-workers once again

that there is moral right and wrong.

Simply put,

whenever we choose righteousness,

whenever we choose not to gossip,

whenever we choose to respect the dignity of another human being,

whenever we choose honesty

even when dishonesty would bring a greater profit,

whenever we choose to respect

and submit to the authority

that our God has place over us,

whenever we choose faithfulness

to our marriage partner,

those right choices

remind our world

that there is moral right and wrong.

We become the conscience of the world

simply by living the way

our Lord leads us to live.

But here’s the thing.

Paul wants us to understand

that even though we cannot avoid

being the moral conscience of the world,

we should never confuse that

with being the moral policemen of the world.

When Paul tells us to “Let our forbearing spirit be known to all men”,

he is saying we should faithfully live out

the high moral standard

our Lord has given us as His children,

but we should not expect

or demand that standard

from those around us.

Perhaps the best definition I found

for this word we have translated “forbearing” or “gentle”

came from Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words.

In that book

Vine defined the word as meaning,

“not insisting on the letter of the Law”.

I need to say this carefully,

so that I don’t suggest

that we shouldn’t do all we possibly can

to support and encourage righteous choices in the lives of those around us,

because we certainly should.

But maybe I could express what I’m trying to say best this way-

there is no more powerful proof

of the reality of God in a person’s life

than when those around us discover

that true righteousness

and true love

co-exist within us.

That’s what Paul is talking about here.

Non-Christians expect Christians to be moral,

they don’t expect them to be kind,

to be compassionate,

to be noncondemning.

Our world loves to portray Christians

as bigoted, judgmental legalists,

who frequently demand from others

a level of morality

they don’t even maintain themselves.

This phrase in Philippians

is the exact opposite of that.

It is showing true compassion

from a foundation of true righteousness.

This, of course, is where Christ caused so much chaos

during His own life among us.

He lived a life of absolute moral perfection,

and yet He spent His time

loving,

and teaching,

and leading,

and living with sinners.

And it drove the legalists crazy

because they did not know what to do

with righteousness and love in the same human being.

Maybe I could say it best

by saying that Paul is telling us

we are not suppose to be talking mirrors.

When I get up in the morning

and look in the mirror

I can see what’s there.

I see there is less hair today

than there was yesterday.

I can see how much more of it has turned grey.

I can see all the wrinkles

and bumps

and blotches that didn’t exist 20 years ago.

I can handle that.

The mirror provides me

with information I need to have.

But if I were to look in the mirror

and then, as I looked,

the mirror said to me,

“Hey Larry! You’re looking pretty bad.

Wow, have you ever been ravaged by age.

Not much to work with here anymore, huh? You sure you want to go out in public?”,

I guarantee that mirror

would not survive long in our house.

As God transforms our lives

into greater and greater conformity

with the image of Christ,

we will provide a more and more accurate

moral mirror for our world.

When that mirror is operating correctly

it allows them to see both

the bondage created by their own immorality

and also the hope of change

offered through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Their bondage is seen through the quality of our own life

that results from our own moral integrity.

The hope of change comes from the way we love them,

right where they are, just as they are.

And when Paul says,

Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men...,

he is telling us not to be a talking mirror,

but rather,

to let righteousness and love,

righteousness and kindness,

righteousness and compassion

coexist within us.

There is no more powerful way to live.