Our text this week is artful in
its poetry and symmetry. Though not exactly captured well in translation it speaks
with a cadence and rhythm that brought to mind another poet whose words provide
the proper question for Paul’s words today. The fact that the poem is called The
Summer Day makes it even that much more appropriate. Written by the Christian,
Mary Oliver, half-way through the poem, she writes:
The
Summer Day
. . . I don’t
know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
Tell
me, Paul – Willie Richardson – Bob King – Martha Blair – Jackson Kirk - the rest of you Trinity-folk “what is it you
plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” That is the question that
sings behind Paul’s words from Philippians 1:20-26. How does Paul answer that
question and how might his answer help you give an answer yourself?
1. First, Paul answers the question
by making up a word to express his
We
need to begin by talking about the importance of words. Words have meaning and
shape our sense of what’s real, what we know and what we can see. Mark Twain joked:
“The difference between the almost right word and the right
word is really a large matter. ’tis the difference between the lightning bug
and the lightning.” I’ve had fun this week discovering newly invented words created
to be the right word . Here are a few[1]:
A
crapella - (ah kra-‘peh-luh) adj.—Sung badly while listening to music using
headphones.
Carcolepsy
- (‘kahr-kuh-lep-see) n.—The tendency to fall asleep as soon as the car starts
moving.
Cellfish
- (‘sel-fish) n.—Someone who talks or texts on his or her phone to the
exclusion of those he or she is with.
Chiptease
- (‘chip-teez) n.—A bag of potato chips that seems full but is mostly air.
These are great because they
vividly express something that we know to be real but failed to have an adequate
word for. And guess what! Our text today
begins with just such a discovery. I know it’s been awhile but our Greek of the
Week starts our sermon today. In Vs. 20 Paul expresses an unshakable conviction
that is hard to render well in English. The word is ἀποκαραδοκία. It is only found in the writings of the Apostle Paul
and he only uses it twice: Romans 8:19 & Philippians 1:20. It could almost
be rendered “to crane the neck [head] attentively.” The word is directly
connected with “hope” in our passage thus forming a hendiadys – two
words joined by a conjunction to make a single point. I sort of translate it as
a “my hope-filled craning of the neck.” It’s what we do when waiting outside an
airplane terminal for our loved one to exit or what children do waiting for a
float at a parade. The English translation can make it sound like Paul is
unsure or worried but that’s not what “hope” means in the Greek. Hope is not
wishful thinking but an assured reality that something or someone is coming.
And what is Paul assured of, what does he crane his neck for - longing to see walk off the plane? That Jesus
will be exalted and he will not be ashamed. Friends, let’s have church. Jesus
will be exalted and you, me, others – we will not be ashamed. We will not be
able to answer Mary Oliver’s question until we know what God wants for our
life. The problem is, of course, more than that we don’t have a word for this
feeling of expectation – we seem to so easily forget. God has won in Jesus
Christ. Jesus will get the glory, will be exalted, because he has won. All of
the problems that we face will not change that fact. And this God will not see
us shamed. We’ve lost this confidence. Some of us have even come to identify
“shame” with proper Christian feeling and thinking. We’ve confused a healthy
vision of guilt – feeling bad about things we’ve done with shame – feeling bad
about who we are. The God who made you and saves you didn’t do so because God
hates who you are. You are worth saving. And he has done so through Jesus
Christ. What word will we invent to help us express our hope in this “wild and
precious life”? So here’s your challenge – you word-smiths out there. Someone
come up with a word that expresses our hope-filled delight in Jesus and
shamelessness. A sort of love-no-matter-whatness word that we can use to
express our sure and firm hope.
What is it you plan you plan to do with your one wild and
precious life?
2. Paul answers the question knowing
that life with Christ (live or die) means you can’t lose.
Vs.
20 will see Paul tell us not that he “wishes for courage” but that he has full
courage that Jesus will be praised whether he lives or dies. The spiritual life
is a challenge with all the thrills that come with it but it’s not free-soloing
a rock climb (climbing without a rope). It’s climbing top rope with the rope
coming from above, always capable of arresting your fall. That doesn’t mean the
rope will pull you up the wall but it does mean that you simply cannot fall to
your death. Vss. 21-24 reflects Paul’s top-rope
21a Life is Christ
21b Death is gain
22 Life is worthwhile
work
23 Death is to be with Christ
24 Life is for the
benefit of others
Paul
understands that though he doesn’t know how to truly choose between the two
desires - both ends, both choices, both results are insured by Jesus himself. This
doesn’t mean that you can’t be scared or that you can’t recognize that things
are hard. It means as we learned last week that Jesus isn’t thwarted by, or
afraid of, anything. So lean in. So prison cells, Paul learns, can become
pulpits and places for grace and joy. And if the Roman Government chooses to
execute him – that doesn’t matter – they don’t determine his end anyway. If we
are secure, what mountain would you like to climb?
3. Don’t die before you’re dead.
We
need to cultivate a joy that is resistant to death and all its signatures:
despair, hopelessness, shame, terror, greed, and hate. Paul discovers that life
has a purpose, it’s made to be good fruit. He will make the powerful statement
that he believes he won’t die because the fact that he is still alive means
that God has meaningful work for him to do. He will not die before he is dead.
He will not give up hope. Friends, you are not incidental, not random, not
meaningless, not forgetful, not powerless. In Christ, you are a purpose-filled love
bomb that Jesus wishes to use for life in all its expressions. So wear a mask
but don’t for one second imagine that you are called to merely keep yourself
safe.
The
early Christian thinker Ireneaus once said, “The glory of God is a living human
being.” This statement, however, has been wrongly translated by some as “The
glory of God is a man fully alive.” Of course, the added adverb conjures images
of radical acts like cliff-jumping, downhill snowboarding, and big wave surfing
– as if God’s glory and grace require some radical, death-defying hobby to be enjoyed.
But Paul and the original quote by Irenaeus or the correct sentiment – God is
glorified by normal people who recognize that the breath that fills their
bodies comes from God and that that God gives love and purpose. If you have
breath in your body – you ARE God’s glory. So choose life and act accordingly.
Friends,
during this Covid crisis we must be responsible. We should behave properly but
we must not give into a fear that keeps us from seeing life as a gift to be
lived. Circumstances don’t determine your life. Only Jesus does that. We must never
give into a terror that has us die before we our dead. The Apostle Paul reminds
us that one more thing will help us do that.
4. Discover who is your “with” and
“for.”
The
power of our passage is often obscured by grammatical conventions in English
that don’t exist in the Greek. Attempting to rectify that reveals the power of
Paul’s thinking in vss. 23-24:
The
purpose God has for you is not some selfish naval gazing nor some
self-important sense of greatness. It’s simply a perspective of recognizing in
the moment who it is you are called to be “with” and “for.” On the hand, we
must recognize that we are/will be “with Christ” who will keep us safe. But Paul
writes in vs. 25, Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with
all of you for your progress and joy in the faith.”
In 1910, poor
health kept William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, from addressing
the crowd at their Annual Convention. People were relieved, however, when they
discovered that General Booth had sent a telegrammed speech that was to be read
to the entire group. In gathered anticipation, the moderator opened up the
telegram to find only one word: “Others.” Who are your others? Who is it that God
has called you to be “with” and “for,” to have a relationship with, to advocate
on behalf of?
Larry
McMurray recently shared that his children called Ruth Holme “Sunday School.”
Ruth discovered a “with” and “for.”
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