Sermon for October 7, 2007

The First Baptist Church of Los Angeles gets approximately one or two letters a month from California state prison inmates. Some are concerned about being released and needing a place to stay, needing a job upon their release or even seeking a girl friend or wife (we gave these to our receptionist!). Several wanted a Bible or other religious literature. Some were depressed and just sought prayer. Most of the letters were filled with contrition and remorse with a promise to start a new life once on the outside. We were never sure if that is what they expected the church to expect! This leads me to the question, what type of letter would you write from jail? Paul's letter to the church in Philippi is written as a result of his imprisonment (prison or house arrest) and it is the most joyful of all his letters. He is not sure if he will be granted freedom or death, but he writes with a confident joy that no matter what the outcome it is a time for celebration and hope. My question for us over these next few weeks as we look at this "letter from prison" is where does such joy come from?

Paul approaches his situation with what I want to call "confident joy." I like the way Eugene Peterson translates this portion of Paul's letter in the Message (read it) and how he summarizes Paul's ministry and the intentional ministry that they, the Philippian church should have. We should be "making Christ attractive to all." This sounds like fun, at least to me. It is a way of ministry that Paul did not take lightly. If we read I Corinthians 9:19-23 we see Paul seeking to "become all things to all people" so that by his making Christ attractive to all, some might come to a real knowledge of the living, saving Christ. Paul was willing to do whatever it would take to make Christ attractive. This to me says much about Paul and how Christ had transformed him from being a strict Pharisee to a proclaimer of the Good News. It is the joy of the Psalmist, "My hope is in the Lord."

Paul shares with the church in Philippi some of the causes of his joy. One is that he sees Christ living in and through others. The Gospel is being shared, the church in Philippi is carrying on the ministry. The Word of God is being proclaimed and lives are being transformed. When we went back to the Philippines in 2005 it was good to see some of the programs that we worked on establishing were still being carried out. They had been adapted some but they were still doing what we, along with our Filipino brothers and sisters, had begun. It brought joy to our hearts.

Another sense of joy for the Apostle is his confidence that the work that Christ has begun will be completed. We are an impatient people. We want things and we want them now. I am confident that this congregation, along with most others in Mountlake Terrace, Washington State and the world have had programs which they have started and then stopped after a couple of months. There was not immediate success and so the programs were abandoned and another started. We fail to understand that most studies show that for a program to be established on solid footing and be successful it takes three to five years! These things take time and we think we don't have the time. Paul says that he is confident that the work Christ has started will be brought to completion – but in God's time frame and not ours. I wonder how many good programs never succeeded because we were too impatient?

Another sense of joy for Paul is prayer, prayer that the church in Philippi and around the world will continue to grow in spirit and in numbers. He prays that those involved in the life of the church will have more and more wisdom and knowledge about what it means to be a follower of Christ. As more and more Christ-like growth happens the church will have a greater impact on the world and this will bring joy to Paul, a confident joy. God is working. May God be praised.

How then do we make Christ attractive to all? For me, the number one priority is to stop putting God in a box. We need to learn that it is okay to color outside the lines. There is no one right way to do things. Take prayer for example. Some people rise early and spend a time in prayer and meditation. For others early morning is not a good time – they find other times during the day. Some are able to pray for hours while others find that short specific prayers throughout the day are the norm. Some pray kneeling, others standing and some in the favorite chair, etc. Some like to read the prayers of others (Psalms) for their inspiration and for others this is not meaningful. There is no right or wrong way…God is open to all and listens to all – we simply need to pray!

We have developed so many rules and regulations, proper ways to do things, that Christ is hidden in a box of jumbled rules and regulations. We want to know what a Christian should look like and how a Christian should act and we try to define what is the norm and in doing so limit the possibilities of making Christ attractive to all. I was one of the Ministerial Chairs for a Franklin Graham Crusade on the seacoast of New Hampshire. We had spent months (years) in prayer and preparation for this time. The time of the crusade arrived and we met Franklin for the first time. Most of us knew of his father's crusades, the dark blue suits of those on the platform. The piano and organ and the crusade choirs. We had an expectation. As we gathered on the platform for the first service Franklin showed up – the music was by a country western band and it had a beat to it and Franklin was wearing cowboy boots, a cowboy shirt with a bolo tie! We looked at one another and said, "this is not your father's crusade."

There is no criteria or image of what it means to be a follower of Christ. The only criteria are that we follow where Christ leads. Paul's emphasis is that we all share the common grace of God's forgiveness and how that plays out is different in all of us. God has made us unique and it is in our uniqueness that Christ is made more attractive. I, in the past, often changed the order of worship. Now this was not permanent, but from time to time I would change certain aspects for a while and would always go back to that which was comfortable for the congregation. I remember one woman coming up to me who was fairly convinced that her way was the right way – the way we used to do it! As she came up several around me said "oh-oh" and moved slowly away. She said that she noted I had changed the order of worship. Then she added…it was okay. Because she had learned that I would eventually go back to the "right way." And, it was fun to try something different once in a while!

The only way we get to know if we like something or not is to try it. How do we know we don't like something when we have never tried it? We had friends visiting us when we were in Maine and we were out driving and stopped at our favorite ice-cream stand. Fifty-six home made flavors. Now I am not normally enticed by ice cream but they had one flavor (hot apple pie) – enough said. Our oldest son had a goal of tasting every flavor and this day he chose licorice. Imagine a glob of coal black ice cream on a cone! Our friends, after much debate, settled for…… vanilla! When I asked them why they said it was a flavor they were familiar with. Now that is okay—but how do we know that we don't like other flavors if we don't try them. God sometimes pushes us to the edge and says, "try this," maybe you will like it.

Peterson says that we are "called to make Christ attractive to all." Not all like vanilla or chocolate, but that is okay. Other flavors are out there too. Lets let the joy of Christ be who we are—a joy, a peace, a hope that is hard to explain, but when experienced, gives a confident joy beyond understanding. The best joy-filled letter from the pen of Paul is written from jail. It is written under difficult circumstances at best and yet it is filled with the joy that only Christ brings.

Our goal must be to make Christ attractive to all. To live a life that attracts others – a life full of confident joy, filled even with a little laughter from time to time. Chuck Swindoll tells this wonderful story in his book, To Laugh Again:

He tells of a note he received after speaking – Her note was a delightfully creative expression of one who had learned to balance the dark side of life with the bright glow of laughter. Among other things she wrote:

"Humor has done a lot to help me in my spiritual life. How could I have reared twelve children, starting at age 32, and not have had a sense of humor.

"After your talk last night I was enjoying some relaxed moments with friends I met here. I told them I got married at age 31. I didn't worry about getting married; I left my future in God's hands. But I must tell you, every night I hung a pair of men's pants on my bed and knelt down to pray this prayer:

"Father in heaven, hear my prayer,
And grant it if you can;
I've hung a pair of trousers here,
Please fill them with a man."
The following Sunday I read that humorous letter to our congregation, and they enjoyed it immensely. I happened to notice the different reactions of a father and his teenaged son. The dad laughed out loud, but the son seemed preoccupied. On that particular Sunday the mother of this family had stayed home with their sick daughter. Obviously neither father nor son mentioned the story, because a couple of weeks later I received a note from the mother.

"Dear Chuck, I am wondering if I should be worried about something. It has to do with our son. For the last two weeks I have noticed that before our son turns out the light and goes to sleep at night he hangs a woman's bikini over the foot of his bed…should I be worried?"

It is with such confident joy that we come to this Table of our Lord.

Swindoll, Charles, To Laugh Again, OMF Publications, 1992 p.21


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