Read Textual Sermon from David Jeremiah
The Joy of Community - David Jeremiah's Full Textual Sermon:
Piccolo, running back for the Chicago Bears, began rooming together in the late '60s. It was a first for both of them. Gale Sayers had never had a close relationship with a white person, and Piccolo had never had a close relationship with a black person. In fact, he had never known a black person.
During the 1968 season, Gale Sayers suffered a career-threatening knee injury. Most pundits thought he'd never play again. But one year later, after the close of the 1969 season and having made a full recovery, Gale Sayers stood at the banquet of the New York chapter of professional football writers to accept the George S. Halas Award as the most courageous player in pro football.
Sayers and Piccolo had planned, with their wives, to sit together at the banquet, but instead, Brian Piccolo was confined to his bed at home. He wasn't fighting a football injury—he was battling cancer. And that night, Gale Sayers accepted the George S. Halas Award, but he accepted it for Brian Piccolo.
As he stood to receive his trophy, here's what he said:
"You flatter me by giving me this award, but I tell you here and now that I accept it for Brian Piccolo. Brian Piccolo is the man of courage who should receive the George S. Halas Award. It is mine tonight. It is Brian Piccolo's tomorrow. I love Brian Piccolo, and I'd like all of you to love him too. Tonight, when you hit your knees, please ask God to love Brian Piccolo."
I remember that speech, and I remember it did to me then what it's about to do to me right now.
I love Brian Piccolo.
For some reason, those words sound strange coming from a professional athlete. In our culture, grown men do not usually express their affection so openly. But before us now is a letter that is filled with expressions of love.
As we read this brief letter from Paul to his friends in Philippi, we are immediately struck by the eloquent words he used to describe the deep feelings of attachment he had for all of them.
Dr. John Townsend explains in modern terms the pain that Paul was feeling. He said the reason is found in the law of entropy, or the Second Law of Thermodynamics. This law of physics states that things that are isolated move toward deterioration.
Entropy operates in the spiritual world as well, said Townsend. Whatever is cut off tends toward deterioration. That's why the ultimate punishment—hell—is not defined by loss of consciousness or annihilation but by its utter and complete separation from the love of God.
Jesus' sacrifice for us involved His separation from the Father when He cried on the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" In that moment, the infinite Son of God felt the awful separation of hell for each and every one of us.
God created us for fellowship. He created us for relationship. And Paul's relationship with these intimate friends had been interrupted because of his imprisonment, but his love for them had not gone away. In fact, his opening remarks in this letter are devoted to a detailed expression of his love for them and a prayer that their love for him would grow—and that they would continue to grow in their love for each other.
As Paul communicates his feelings for the Philippians, he touches on many of the prerequisites for loving relationships in a local church. And as he concluded his opening remarks, he launched into a prayer for the growth and maturity of these associates for whom he cared so deeply.
So in these next few moments, let me take you through these 11 verses. Let's begin, first of all, with humility—the attitude of love.
Philippians 1:1 begins like this:
"Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ..."
We would all do well to remember that God did not save us to become sensations—God saved us to be servants.
So as you read this letter, you're going to discover that humble service is a dominant theme. Besides Paul and Timothy, there's Epaphroditus—all of them are held up as examples of what it means to live your life in service to others. And it is Jesus Christ, in the second chapter of this book, who is given to us as the ultimate example of what a servant is. He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death—that's what the Scripture says.
Humility is the attitude of love:
"Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ."
Unity, however, is the atmosphere of love.
It's interesting to note the first and second verses:
"To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
Have you noticed how Paul addresses them? He says to them, "Grace and peace." Did you know that in the Bible, those two words are never reversed? You will never read, in any of the letters of the New Testament, "Peace and grace to you."
One reason is that grace always precedes peace. You can't have peace if you don't have grace. You become men and women of peace when you become men and women of grace. So even in that little salutation—"Grace and peace"—we learn so much.
Now, we've looked at the attitude of love and the atmosphere of love. Let me take you a little bit further into this text, and let's talk about diversity—the assignment of love.
Most people I know, when they come to church, tend to gravitate toward the people they feel comfortable with. We have an affinity for some people. Let's face it—we get along with some people better than we do with others, even in the body of Christ. That's pretty normal.
But when the assignment is to love someone who is different, that can be a challenge.
Do you know anybody that you know you're supposed to love, and you keep praying that God will help you figure out how to love them?
There's a little phrase that goes like this:
"To love the whole world for me is no chore; my only real problem is the guy next door."
You know, we can love in general, can't we? We all know how to do that. We say, "Do you love our church?"—"Oh, we love our church!" But I bet you could probably name a couple of people in our church that you love because you know God tells you to—but you don't like them.
In the church in Philippi, there was incredible diversity.
There was a woman in this church named Lydia. She was a businesswoman who sold purple cloth and made so much money that she was able to help establish the church. Many scholars believe the church in Philippi actually met in her home for a long period of time.
In that church, there was a jailer—he would have committed suicide if it had not been for Paul.
In that church, there was a slave girl who had been delivered from a demon.
And you can go on and read the letter. If we knew everything that was going on in that church, we would see that it was filled with a whole lot of people who were so different from each other—but they had unity in their diversity.
The unity we have in diversity is because, as Christians, we all have the same spiritual DNA, don't we? We have the DNA of Jesus Christ in our hearts.
I know that some of you have a hard time with that.
I read this:
*"If everybody were just like me,
The world would sure be a better place to be.
There’d be no murder, for I’m not violent,
No stealing, for I’m not a thief.
No adultery, I’m happily wed,
No atheism, I believe in God.
No ignorance, I’ve been to school.
If only the world were more like me,
Surely it would be a better place to be...
Or would it?
For if everybody was just like me,
There would be no merry-go-rounds—I get dizzy.
There’d be no clowns—I’m self-conscious.
No doctors—I hate blood."*
No painters—I’m colorblind (I really am).
No mechanics—I can’t fix anything.
(This is written about me.)
No elevator operators—I’m claustrophobic.
No home run kings—I can’t hit a curveball.
No balloon riders—I’m afraid of heights.
Come to think of it, if the world was just like me, it would be an awfully boring place to be.
Isn’t it true that in the Church of Jesus Christ, we have this beautiful thing that happens? We come from all these different backgrounds, even from different religious backgrounds. When church members join the church, they join the church—not their church.
We are all part of the body of Christ, and our unity is not about our diversity. Our unity is in Jesus Christ, and it encompasses the diversity of all of us. Like snowflakes that God creates, we are all different, and yet it is a beautiful thing to see the people of God in unity.
Intimacy is the action of love.
Look at verses 3 and 4, and 7 and 8. Here is Paul speaking to his beloved Philippians:
"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy."
And then Paul says:
"Just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the Gospel, you all are partakers with me in grace. For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all in the affection of Jesus Christ."
Scholars tell us that Philippians is the most personal, intimate letter in the Bible. In just four chapters, there are over 100 occurrences of the words I, me, and my. In fact, the word I occurs 52 times.
As Paul addressed the people of Philippi in the first few verses, you can feel the depth of his affection. Listen to his words:
"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. I have you in my heart. I long for you all."
Now, it’s one thing for us to love someone—it is quite another to express that love.
We were surprised to learn that Gale Sayers loved Brian Piccolo enough to say it out loud and in front of a public meeting. And if we are honest, we have to admit that unexpressed love is useless to us, because the only kind of love we can use is the love that we feel. And if we never tell anybody that we love them, we run the risk of them never knowing that it’s true.
There’s a commercial on television for a hearing aid. In it, a son tells his dad, "I love you," but his dad doesn’t hear it. You can tell by the look on his father’s face that he’s not getting the message. Then, he goes to this miracle hearing place and gets little implants in his ears. The next time his son says, "I love you, Dad," he doesn’t respond right away. So the son repeats, "I love you, Dad." Finally, the father says, "I heard you the first time, but I just wanted to hear it twice."
And don’t we all feel that way? If somebody loves you, they need to tell you.
Paul does not mince words when he talks to the Philippians. He speaks openly about his love for them. And one of the greatest loves Paul has for all the churches to which he wrote is his gratitude for them. He just has this spirit of gratitude in his heart.
I’m going to run you through these verses quickly so you can feel the impact I felt when I read them.
Watch the screen and listen:
- To the Corinthians, he wrote:
"I thank my God always concerning you." - To the Ephesians, he wrote:
"I do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers." - To the Colossians, he wrote:
"We give thanks to God, praying always for you." - To the Thessalonians, he wrote:
"We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers." - To his friend Timothy, he wrote:
"I thank God—as without ceasing, I remember you in my prayers." - And to Philemon, he wrote:
"I thank my God, making mention of you in my prayers."
Somebody once told me, "If you're full of gratitude, you can't be angry at anybody."
And then we come to security—the affirmation of love.
In verse 3 and in verses 5-7, we read:
"I thank my God for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace."
As Paul expressed his love for the believers in Philippi, he remembered the long and consistent care they had provided for him. He described that care as fellowship in the gospel.
Then he uses three points in time to set all of this in context.
He said, "From the first day." That first day was when Paul walked into that little village, met the woman at the water, and the little church began.
Then he said, "Until now." Now, he's talking about a church that had grown to maturity and had actually flourished—even while Paul was in prison.
And then he adds the third reference to time: "From the first day until now," and in the next verse, he says, "Until the day of Jesus Christ."
Paul said that the church in Philippi had started right, it had continued right, and by the grace of God, it was going to finish right.
If Jesus Christ should tarry in His coming for, let's say, another 50 years or 100 years—if we put 100 years in that equation—none of us will be here.
Wouldn't it be something to see this church growing and flourishing, reaching its generation in an even greater way than it is now? Because it started right, it continued right, and its goal is to finish right.
How many of you know that is a rare thing in our world today?
I want to tell you that the affirmation of love from Paul to this church is an example for all of us.
Now, let me finish with what we'll call the maturity of love—the ambition of love.
Paul prays this prayer:
"And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and in all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without reproach till the day of Christ."
When Paul used the word abound in love, he used a word that paints a beautiful picture—it's the picture of a small bucket sitting under a powerful waterfall. The water is pouring into the bucket, but most of it is overflowing all around because the bucket is too small to contain the flow from the waterfall.
Paul uses that expression and says, "I want your love for one another to be like that waterfall—to abound, so that love is everywhere."
Don't be satisfied with where you are in your current relationships. Paul says, "I want your relationships of love to grow—more, more, and more."
Then he uses some defining words to describe how this growth is to happen.
This growth in spiritual devotion is the agape love that we have for God, which is then translated into the love we have for each other.
Agape love is a love that gives without any expectation of recognition or love in return. It is a selfless love. It is a love that does not depend on what it receives—it is a love that comes from God.
Then Paul talks about growth in spiritual discernment:
"That you may approve the things that are excellent."
Most scholars translate that phrase as "things that are different."
Paul says, "I want your love to be the focus of your life in such a way that you will know how to make difficult decisions."
Then he speaks of growth in spiritual development:
"That you may be sincere and without offense until the day of Christ."
Sincerity speaks of an absence of hypocrisy. Sincerity means being who you are all the time, wherever you are, no matter who you're with. It means you don't have two selves—you just have one.
And then the Scripture says we are to be sincere and without offense. That refers to the ever-present danger of offending someone who is a follower of Christ.
The word here in the Greek language is scandalon—the root of the English word scandal. Paul's passion was that these believers would live in such a way that no one would ever stumble because of their behavior. He wanted them to grow in spiritual development.
The final part of his prayer, as we end this early section of Philippians, is for their growth in spiritual deportment.
It reads like this in verse 11:
"Being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."
Now, some of you who are as old as I am will remember this, but when I was in school as a young man, we had two sections on our report card. One section was for grades, but there was another section called deportment.
Your deportment grade.
I learned early on that I could get straight A’s, but if I messed up on the deportment grade, I was in big trouble when I got home.
What is deportment?
It's how you deport yourself—how you handle yourself, how you live, what you do.
So, in those early report cards—anyone remember those?—you got a grade for academics, and you got a grade for deportment.
My parents were usually more concerned about deportment than they were about academics because the grade on deportment told them if I was behaving myself in class.
Paul wanted the believers in Philippi to get high marks in deportment.
In fact, he prayed that their hearts and lives would produce a rich spiritual harvest. If their roots were in Christ Jesus, then the harvest would be the fruit of righteousness.
If godly love is defined as seeking the best interest of the one loved, then Paul's love for the Philippians certainly qualifies.
How blessed they were to be among his disciples and to receive this incredible letter we know as Philippians.
As wonderful as the introduction is, it's only the beginning.
Paul said that the love he had for the Philippians—and the love they had for him—had totally transformed everything, so that even in prison, he could write a letter of joy.
And that kind of joy—that survives the worst that life can throw at us—is the goal of the Christian life.
Jesus said He wants us to have His joy, and that joy is within our grasp if we will walk in the Spirit and in faith.
