Somewhere in the west, a recent university graduate could not find employment. He was highly skilled and his grades had been excellent. But no employment was to be found. Finally, in disgust and anger, he mailed his diploma back to the president of the university from which he had graduated. "Take this thing back," he wrote. "It has done me absolutely no good. There are no guarantees in a college degree any more."
The president read his note, and mailed the diploma back to the young man with these words: "A university degree is not intended to guarantee you victories in life, but rather to equip you for the struggles of life." (1)
If ever there was someone in the Christian Church who experienced long nights and difficult days, it was the Apostle Paul during his missionary journeys. However, as we begin our sermon series on the Book of Philippians today, you will be surprised to know that this marvelous writing is known as the "Joy Book" of the Bible. Perhaps you are asking yourself right now, "Is the preacher going to preach one of those pie-in-the-sky sermons filled with positive optimism that urges us to paste a smile over all the roadblocks and detours we will encounter in our sacred journey? Is he going to tell us again about the girl in the movie and play, SOUTH PACIFIC, who sang `I''m stuck like a dope with a thing called hope and I cannot get it out of my heart''?"
Is Paul going to tell us that the Christian life is an escape from suffering, sickness, and sorrow--all we need to do is "name it and claim it"? To anyone who knows of the great passage from II Cor. 11:24-28, knows that this is out of the question. As a matter of fact, I believe it is the wrong question.
A distinguished colleague, now retired, once told about a man who walked into a hotel lobby and went up to the front desk to register. There was a large dog lying there, and he was a little uneasy about it. He asked the desk clerk, "Does your dog bite?" The desk clerk said, "No." The man reached down to pet the dog and was immediately bitten. He looked up in pain and surprise and said, "I thought you said your dog doesn''t bite?" "He doesn''t," the clerk said. "That''s not my dog!" (2) If you ask the wrong question, obviously you''re going to get the wrong answer.
Dr. M. Scott Peck, whose book THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED was on the New York Times'' best seller list for many, many weeks, began his book by writing, "LIFE IS DIFFICULT." I believe the Apostle Paul would affirm that perspective. The secret, I believe, to the story he tells on the pages of sacred scripture is that he would BEGIN with it--but he would write another chapter to the ongoing story. He refused to allow troubles and difficulties to have the last word.
It is generally agreed upon by Biblical scholars that this Epistle to the church of Philippi was written in 62 or 63 AD while Paul was a prisoner in Rome. This was not the first time for Paul to be in a jail cell. We know from the Book of Acts in chapter sixteen that the Apostle Paul personally birthed this congregation. This church always held a special place in Paul''s heart and memory, and in return he was held in high regard by them. This congregation was established in 52 AD in what we know today as northern Greece.
This letter in front of us today was written some ten years later in 62 AD. When the church heard about Paul''s imprisonment, they sent a gentleman by the name of Epaphroditus to bring gifts and encouragement to him. Epaphroditus was an expression of the deep friendship between Paul and the Philippian congregation. While Epaphroditus was visiting with Paul, he became "seriously ill," and the folks back at Philippi became concerned. Paul eventually sent Epaphroditus back to them with this writing to express his thanksgiving for what they had done for him. We will talk more about this when we study the passage in Philippians 2:25-30. Unlike the college student, Paul does not write a stinging letter complaining about the great victories and bright lights that seemed to be missing from his life. He writes a letter of thanksgiving, testifying that for the follower of Christ there is a source of joy that is greater than the source of despair.
Paul simply refused to surrender to despair, and that is what I want to examine as we study our way through this splendid book of Joy. I hope by now you can see why the Apostle Paul has something to say to your life. Paul''s message is credible. It is authentic. It is real. The Apostle Paul is not writing from the plush Hilton Hotel in Rome, but from a damp, dingy, disgusting jail cell as a fellow servant of Christ, lying near death for a period of time. However, Paul does not focus on his suffering but thinks of a way to use this moment as an instrument of Evangelism and a Kingdom moment for our Lord. Like the song we sing, "His Name Is Wonderful," and he truly is the master of everything.
Yes, Paul''s life displayed:
"A tenacity of a bull-dog,
A deep determination to press on,
A spirit that refused to sound the call
of defeat and easy resignation."
There''s an old fable told that God was looking around many years ago in the ancient world, and He went to the Greeks and said, "I might choose you to be my people. What do you have to offer?" They said, "We have the most beautiful art in all of the world and the loftiest systems of thought." God said, "Well, that''s pretty good." He went to the Romans and asked the same question. The Romans said, "We''re the greatest builders in the world, we can build magnificent buildings and wonderful roads." God said, "That''s pretty good, too." God kept on with the search and went to a small mid-western group call the Jews, and asked, "If I choose you to be my people what can you give to me?" They said, "We do not have lofty systems of thought or beautiful art, nor are we great mechanics or builders, but we are the storytellers of the world." God said, "That''s it. I want you to tell my story." That''s what Paul is doing here, he is telling the story of God who is full of Joy.
It should not be surprising that Joy is the focusing power that propels Paul forward in the great purpose and pattern of servanthood to the Lord Jesus Christ. Not even the Roman Empire in all of its great military power could prevent that angel''s message and song of "JOY" at the birth of the Messiah. Death could not trap that "joy" in the tomb. From a prison cell, Paul speaks about joy fourteen times. He used the noun, joy or CHARA, five times and the verb, rejoice or CHAIREIN, nine times. That certainly is evidence that his life is immersed in joy.
It might come as a surprise to many that it was Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick, and not Robert Schuller, who applied the principle of how an oyster transforms an irritant that enters its system into a pearl. The authorities tried to irritate Paul with imprisonment, but from this incident Paul writes a letter that brings inspiration and instruction on how to live with adversity that still speaks over 1,900 years later. So you can plainly see that our "JOY" in life is not based on circumstances, but on the echo of God''s presence that is inside of us.
I want to share two affirmations today that resound from the Book of Philippians for our spiritual edification.
THE BOOK OF PHILIPPIANS TEACHES US THAT WHEN WE KEEP OUR FOCUS ON GOD GOD PUTS EVERYTHING IN PROPER FOCUS FOR US TO SEE CLEARLY HIS ULTIMATE PLAN.
Joanne Greenberg''s book, I NEVER PROMISED YOU A ROSE GARDEN, tells the story of a troubled and suffering teenage girl named Deborah. Deborah has struggled long and hard against a mental illness that has plagued her journey of life, but she is beginning that difficult battle to move forward. She has a dream. In this dream Deborah sees the vision of a great hand coming to her out of this paralyzing darkness that shrouded her life, and this great hand is holding three pieces of black coal. Let me quote directly from the book.
"Then slowly, the hand closed, causing within the fist a tremendous pressure. The pressure began to generate a white heat, and still it increased. There was a sense of weighing, crushing time. As the dream continued Deborah seemed to feel the suffering of the coal within her own body, almost beyond the point of being borne. At last, she cried out to the hand, `Stop it! Will you never end it? Even a stone cannot bear to this limit. Even a stone...''
"After what seemed like too long a time for anything molecular to endure, the torments of the fist relaxed. The fist turned slowly, and very slowly opened.
"Diamonds, three of them. Three clear and brilliant diamonds, shown through with light, lay in the good palm. A deep voice called to her, `Deborah?'' And then, gently, `Deborah, this will be you.''" (3)
When Paul was placed in prison, the ruling authority was convinced they could stop and silence this man and the mission he was about. Instead of being bitter and broken from this experience--like the three pieces of coal--Paul emerges more convinced than ever that God is in control of the world and his life''s journey. Instead of being "bitter and broken" from the pressure, he is "better" than ever before. Like Deborah, Paul also had visions and dreams in which God granted strength and encouragement for the journey. I strongly believe that God has not stopped talking in 1993, but we have stopped listening.
SECONDLY, NEVER FORGET THE RENEWING POWER OF HUMOR.
As I was gathering materials for the eighteen file folders I have set up for this sermon series on Philippians, I came across an article in The Morning Call which carries Erma Bombeck''s column. I immediately cut it out. Some of you know I am a great fan of Erma Bombeck. I consider her a "folk theologian" of our time. She began by sharing:
"On Thursday, April 23, I checked my calendar to find two notations: `Andy''s birthday present (my son) and teeth cleaned: 2 p.m.'' I crossed off both and then penciled in, `Modified-radical mastectomy: 12:30 p.m.''
"I was home by 10 a.m. April 25--cancer-free, with a 95 percent chance of staying that way.
"Talking about my cancer is not something I want to make a career out of. You would never be reading this column were it not for the fact that I attended a cancer benefit luncheon (before my surgery) where a woman confessed to having a lump on her breast but was terrified to find out whether or not it was malignant.
"We all know about fear. We know it lives within all of us. We know it doesn''t listen to reason, paralyzes your ability to think and expands upon command. We know it''s contagious and can be spread from one person to another without physical contact.
"I had a great advantage. Three years ago I wrote, `I Want to Grow Hair, I Want to Grow Up, I Want to go to Boise,'' a book on children surviving cancer. For a couple of years, I walked in their world with a notebook and a tape recorder. I wrote down what they told me, but their courage and their optimism unnerved me, and I knew if I were faced with what they had, I couldn''t do it.
"I was wrong. The voices of those little people sustained me. `Don''t get so comfortable dying that you forget to live.'' `Would you be happier if we cried all the time?'' `If you don''t have humor, you won''t survive. It''ll bother people, but use it anyway.''
"It should come as no surprise to anyone that the humor that has sustained me all these years through marriage and raising kids kicked in. Call it black humor. Call it anything you want, but it got my family and me through 20 miles of bad road.
"Recently, when I finally made my dental appointment, I said to Kay (a hygienist who recently had a double mastectomy), "Notice anything different about me?" She scrutinized me carefully and said, "New roots?"--when you just had a root canal.
"Now, that''s depressing." (4)
The Apostle Paul, like Erma Bombeck, never got so comfortable complaining and griping--whether about a cancer cell or a prison cell--that he forget to live. He knew the power of humor and maintained a joyful perspective. It can renew the human spirit.
Well, you probably know my bottom line goal for this sermon series is for us to examine and experience in a new way how the Book of Philippians has sustained many in the Christian faith--and how it can sustain not only Erma Bombeck but us as well.
Yes, when the winds of adversity fell upon Paul in the prison cell, he did not get bitter, but better and taller, and God gave His strength to transform the irritant of adversity into the pearl of joy. May God mold the three worldly pressures of fear, stress, and despair that try to steal and paralyze our lives into the diamonds of a bold and confident faith in Jesus Christ. And let us smile and laugh when we can along the way.
Joy will not guarantee us victories in life, but it will equip us for the struggles of life.