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Who We Are - Sermon, December 14, 2003 "Third Sunday in Advent"
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Philippians 1:9-11 as follows —
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ — to the glory and praise of God.
Do you ever have a tough time deciding what's really important, I mean, right now at this minute? There are so many things that cry out for our attention each day, and somehow we have to sort them out. We have to figure out, on a daily basis, where we are going to invest our time, our attention and our energy. I'm sure we could all easily make a list of what's really important to us, and our lists would probably be quite similar: God, faith, family, health, job, friends, etc. But do you ever, in the nitty-gritty realities of daily living, have a tough time keeping things straight? comparing, evaluating them all and keeping your focus on the things that matter the most? I know I struggle with that; maybe you do too.
The reality is, we find it quite easy to get caught up in things that are actually not all that important. (I also believe that the devil uses this very effectively against us!) Some people call it "majoring in minors." We take something that;s minor and get all zeroed in on it as if it were something major. So the little thing swells in size, and naturally the big things shrink. We can do that in all areas of our lives: home and family, school, job, relationships with other people, and even in our church life.
And when the minor thing becomes major, trouble follows. If it's something that makes me feel good, something that pleases me, I can get all wrapped up in it and distracted from things that are far more important. If it's something that makes me feel bad or angry or upset, the same thing happens. My attention and energy are deflected away from things that matter a whole lot more. So, what should we do? What might help us get a handle on this and keep us from majoring in minors? God's Word here suggests that we start with a prayer: DEAR LORD, HELP US FIGURE OUT THE THINGS THAT REALLY MATTER.
That is part of what Paul kept praying for his dear Christian friends in Philippi, those believers who were so close to his heart. He told them and tells us what it is that will help us keep sorting things out so that we do see clearly "what is best." He prayed "that your love may grow more and more in knowledge and insight." The love he refers to is, of course, what the New Testament calls "agape," the love that is found first and foremost in God. It's the love God has for every member of this sinful human race. It's the love that is undeserved and unconditional, the love that seeks only what is good for the other person.
It starts with God, but this love also exists in every Christian — in all those who by faith in Jesus have come to know God's agape, all those who are on the receiving end of God's love every minute of every day. We not only receive it, but we are able to give it. We are able to love that way ourselves, able to "live a life of love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself up for us." The thing is, our love is supposed to grow. It's a given that each believer is to keep growing spiritually. It is also true that we can stop growing. Just as a person's physical growth can be stunted, that is, stopped at a certain level of development, so our spiritual growth can be stunted. What causes that is the same thing that usually causes stunted physical growth — poor nutrition, not being fed enough with the right food.
Paul kept praying that their love would grow "in knowledge." Love needs knowledge. Love without knowledge is limited in what it can do. It's easily misguided and does the wrong things — for the right reason but still the wrong things. As parents, we sometimes remember something we did in love for our children, but years laster we wish we would've done things differently. "If I only would have known," we say. So also Christian love must joined with the knowledge of God's truth and God's will. There's only one way to get that; we grow in knowledge as we feed ourselves with God's Word. That's how we gain the mind of Christ to go along with the heart of Christ. As we grow, then, we see things more and more as Jesus sees them; we evaluate everything more and more the way he does.
In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul stated that knowledge needs love; without love, knowledge is worthless. His point here is that love needs knowledge; Christian love must be well-informed. Then, you see, as we apply our increasingly well-informed love in daily life, we will also gain "insight." That's the wisdom that you get from experience. So, the more you put your growing, well-informed love into action, the more insight you gain — and you grow even more.
One goal of all this growing is this: "that you may be able to discern what is best." That you may be able to keep comparing things, sorting them out, laying aside the ones that don't really matter (or matter less) and focusing on the ones that do. I ran across a good suggestion, written by a former military chaplain in Alaska. He said to remember that besides God himself, there are just three things in this world that will last after this world comes to an end: the Word of God, people, and the works of righteousness done by believers. Now there's a nice, simple starting point for sorting things out!
He also wrote that his wife had a question that she always asked when he was upset about something he didn't like: "Will it keep you out of heaven?" He says no matter how strongly we may feel about a certain issue that upsets us, in home or family, school or job or in our church, why not ask: "Will this keep me or someone else out of heaven?" Or, if it's something that I really like, before I get all wrapped up in it maybe I should ask, "Will this help me or someone else get to heaven?" Asking ourselves that might keep us from majoring in minors, whether things that please us or things that upset us.
Our text also puts things in perspective with its reminder about "the day of Christ." With all the things we have to sort out each day, all the things that cry out for our attention, there still is one reality that towers above them all. The Lord Jesus is coming back, to bring an end to all this (except for three things) and to judge all people. As Christians, we anticipate it without fear, for we already know what our verdict will be. God himself has declared: "You are not guilty, for the sake of my Son. I have forgiven you because he died to atone for your sins. As far as I'm concerned, you are 100% holy already, because I've washed you with Jesus' blood and draped you in his righteousness."
Well, whether that day is far off or just around the corner, our Lord's will for us in the meantime is this: "that you may be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ." That's what really matters. That's what's important, and that's what happens. Believers who are growing in love and knowledge and insight will be more and more able to sort things out. They will more and more keep their eyes on the things that really matter, and the result will be an increasing amount of fruit.
Stunted plants don't produce much fruit, if any. Grape vines that suffer from poor nutrition won't produce a lot of grapes. Christians who are not growing will be lacking in fruit, while those who are growing will produce a lot of it. Our Savior called himself the Vine, called us the branches, and said it's his Father's will for us to produce a lot of fruit. Like the fruit of the Spirit, which is "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Ga 5). Fruit, like the outward evidence of faith — good works of all kinds, done by believers in gratitude to God and for the good of others. Fruit that comes, as Paul says, through Jesus Christ; he supplies the life and the love, the power and motivation and all the grace we need.
Our fruit-bearing will be slowed down if we get zeroed in too much on the wrong things, if we major in minors. It's a real challenge, for there are so many things that cry out for our attention each day. We have to figure out where we are going to invest our time, our attention, our energy. Maybe it's a good idea to remind ourselves that there are only three things that will last: God's Word, people, and the fruits of faith. Maybe these are good questions to ask once in a while: "Will this help me or someone else get to heaven? Will this keep me or someone else out of heaven?"
For sure, it's good to pray, "Dear Lord, help me to figure out the things that really matter." And it's more than good, it's essential, to make sure we're growing in love and knowledge and insight. Then we will indeed be filled with righteous fruit — to the glory and praise of God! Amen.