Believe It or Not prisoners had to finance at least a portion of their incarceration. They had to pay for it. So, they needed money to buy food and clothes and other supplies or they went hungry, and they got cold, and as you can imagine nobody really cared. So The Philippian Church sent Paul money and maybe some other gifts. And they sent them with a man named Epaphroditus, who traveled from Philippi to Rome, found the Apostle Paul and delivered these gifts. And Paul was thrilled, and he was thankful that they showed him their Love by providing for his practical needs. And he says in verse 14, by doing this, he says this marvelous thing, “they share in his troubles.” And once again we can see, and we can feel, Paul's love, and Paul's connection with the people in this church. Relationship, connection, partnership in the work of the kingdom. And it reminds us that this thing called church, this thing we do, is not a machine. It's not a program. It is not a weekly event. And it is not a building. Church is people connected to God and to each other through Jesus Christ. It is about relationship. It's about togetherness. It's about using this phrase, “sharing in each other's troubles.” It's about caring for one another. It's about investing in each other's lives. It's about journeying together on this adventure with God. In a word church is family. Certainly, an imperfect family and in all sorts of ways a dysfunctional family, but still family.
But all that said, Paul's real passion, just like my professors many years ago, was never merely to inform his readers, but to transform them. His interest was not that they and we would know our Bibles, important as that is, but that they and we would know that, using words from Oz Guinness; “Spirituality for the follower of Christ is a matter of a different world, with a different reality, different energies, different possibilities, and different prospects.”
The goal is not to know our Bibles, but to live as a citizen of the kingdom of God whatever our circumstance. Or in the words of Philippians 1:27, “Whatever happens conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Live it out in the daily grind of your everyday lives.” See the words in these Bibles that we look at, read, and cherish, are inspired by God, to inspire us and to empower us to live as his people no matter the situation we are in. And one way we live as God's people in this unhinged world is by experiencing his peace regardless of the turmoil and regardless of the tough circumstances we might be facing. Verse 6 of Philippians 4, “Do not be anxious about anything.” Now just sort of contemplate the last few days, contemplate the world, contemplate your life. The Apostle Paul says to not be anxious about anything. Here's my response, “Are you serious Paul? You losing it there buddy?”
I don’t know about you, but I’ll just tell you I am stirred to the core about what the Apostle Paul reveals about himself in this passage. I mean this brilliant biblical scholar is showing us his raw self. He's cutting himself open right in front of the Philippians and right in front of us and he is saying, “this is who I am, and this is who I am not.” I am stirred to the core by the Apostle Paul's vulnerability and humility. He is showing the people of Philippi who he is and he's showing the people of Philippi who he is not. He's showing them his desire to grow, and I'm stirred by his mindset. My answer to the question is that I have had both mindsets.
I've had seasons of fixed growth where my attitude about my Christian growth, in a word is, “whatever.” I am what I am. And I've also had seasons of Greater intentionality where I felt like I've embraced the challenges that God has set before me. I've had a kind of curiosity to continue to learn who I am and who God is. I've had this passion to grow and have his character formed in me as the spirit does that work. See, we have this rather amazing power, each one of us. You have it and it was given to you by God. You have the power as do I, and you have the Freedom as do I, to set our minds on whatever we want. Think about that. We decide what we're going to give our attention to. This is not to diminish the thousands upon thousands of things at any moment that are clamoring for our attention, but we get to decide what we're going to give our attention to. We get to decide what we’re going to focus on.
And I would suggest to you that Anthony’s adventure in football very much resembles our Christian experience. It’s a long process, of gradually learning the way of Jesus. And gradually becoming the individuals and the church community that he wants us to be. And through the process there are forward and backward steps, but even the backward ones are often forward. There are advances by inches and retreats by feet, but the retreats are often in a strange sort of way, advances as well. And our job through the process is to continue to take another step in the process. Philippians 2:12-18, what we read a moment ago draws our attention to this dynamic process of growth. Formation as we call it. Becoming individuals in a church community that increasingly displays the humility and goodness and character of King Jesus.
Paul did not say, "Everything has a purpose." He did not say, "In spite of the difficult circumstances of me being in prison, God did something good." Paul simply did not make the best of a bad situation. What Paul said is far more remarkable.
He said, what has happened to me—that is, getting thrown into prison—has served to advance the good news. In other words, what has happened to me, the sufferings I am enduring, unjust as they are, have opened up an opportunity for the good news of Jesus' resurrection and new life to advance. And if I hadn't been put in this prison, this might not have happened. It's a remarkable recognition of God's bigness over his troubles.
This is not an "in spite of" perspective. It's a "because of" perspective. You see, Paul has this gigantic view of God. A really big view of God. And he knows that God is always at work bringing forth His Kingdom purposes, and nothing can stop God's unfolding plan.
How does the resurrection make a difference on a Wednesday? When I'm bored at school? When I'm grocery shopping at Trader Joe's? Or languishing at a mundane job I only endure for the paycheck? Now we can have a fine time today kicking around some theology of the resurrection, or maybe naming two or three proofs for the resurrection, but I want to take it out of the clouds and drop it into a typical Wednesday. How does the resurrection matter on a Wednesday? How does it bring hope in the real world where we are actually living in 2024?
"Our first priority as the church is not to make all these things happen in the world through political action, but to be a prophetic witness to the hope of a world remade according to Christ." Brian Zahnd
Too often, we sink our chips into politics and try and make the society righteous. But as the church, we are the ones who are to be the righteous society in the larger society... So wherever Kingdom values, ethics, and principles drive our voting, they should drive our actions within our own church toward one another, and then out from there. Caring for the poor—in our church... Loving the immigrants—in our church... Helping mothers who are contemplating an abortion. Helping mothers heal who have had an abortion. Adopting children. Helping at-risk children. Helping sinners find forgiveness.
We should be helping one another transform. Helping one another break free from the shackles of shame. We should be visiting prisoners. We should be sharing financial resources to do Kingdom work. Connecting skills with needs. Helping people get out of personal debt. Helping people find jobs... Forgiveness, reconciliation, transformation, grace, goodness, shalom. Being the church.
Politics—if we think of the fullest definition of it—has to do with how we live together, and how we relate to each other in the various communities that we are in. It has to do with the values and the principles that govern our communities and relationships and common life together.
And today's topic is "Incarnational Politics." It might seem like a strange phrase.
What it means is simply in-the-flesh politics. Hands-getting-dirty kind of politics that rejects ideology from a distance and embraces a politics of presence. A politics of showing up, and being with, and listening to, and seeking to do something about. Face-to-face conversations with people who think differently, especially with those within our own families and within our own church. Stepping toward political tension to unwind the antagonism and foster relationship. Incarnational politics means taking action on the various issues that we care about. It means living out our politics in the local settings that we inhabit, where we can actually make a difference. Could it be that what we care about and believe is reflected more by the actions we take in our local context than by the circle we darken on our presidential ballot?
[Note: This podcast includes an interview with Michael Zacharia, former White House executive and international consultant and professor on conflict resolution for large companies and countries.]
I have to tell you lately, I've been taken with the phrase, "The center is different than the middle." Think about that from the perspective of a follower of Jesus. The middle is neutral political ground to avoid conflict and make everyone happy. But for the Christian, the center is the starting point for healthy discussion and debate. And the center is King Jesus and the way of His Kingdom. Our calling is faithfulness to Him. Will we let the Kingdom bend our politics?
Matthew 22 says, 'The greatest commandment is to love God and love our neighbor.' That's an excellent guide for a Kingdom approach to politics. In our Matthew chapter 5 passage, Jesus says, "love your neighbor and pray for those who persecute you." Another excellent guide to a Kingdom approach to politics. A couple of weeks ago, we talked about this term "cruciform," that is, in the form of a cross. That is, a cross-shaped politic that serves and sacrifices for others. Another excellent guide for political engagement.
But notice something. Self is nowhere near the center of a Kingdom approach to politics. What's best for me. My rights. What I want. What will make my life better—are not the priorities of the Kingdom way.
God says in the first of the ten commandments these words, "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other Gods before me." And a few verses later in the second commandment, God continues the theme, "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name." These commandments prohibit idolatry. Not exactly an everyday word in our lexicon...
But idolatry is taking a good thing and making it an ultimate thing. Idolatry is giving Godlike status to something or someone that isn't God, whether it be a person, an ideology, an institution, or whatever. An idol is anything or anyone we ultimately look to, lean on, or trust more than God for security, provision, hope, our identity, or peace...
We're in week three of our "Let The King Descend" series where we're considering politics and the way of Jesus, and when this series first began to percolate, I knew if we were going to deal with politics authentically, then we had to talk about idolatry. Because in our time, and maybe in every time, politics is a rival God that is not content in the second chair. It wants to slither its way into the first chair. So politics can become an idol, and I believe politics has become an idol in the souls of many well-meaning Christians...From my chair, I believe many Christians—to the right politically and to the left politically—have put their hope in political power...
A few years ago, somebody said to me, "Are you trying to turn us into a left-leaning church?" And I said, "No, I'm trying to pry the idol of politics out of our hands." So today, I hope to once again double down on Jesus Christ as King, and His Kingdom as ultimate reality. And in doing so, put politics in its place.