Sermon Synopsis 9/13 - Living out our joy

Today we will be finishing our series on the book of Philippians called "Joy no matter what!". Today we come to the fourth chapter. Before we look into chapter 4 lets quickly do some review: In chapter 1 we learned how to have joy in suffering and hard times. We learned that instead of asking God “Why?” that we need to ask God: “What?” Now what? And so what? In chapter 2, we learned how we can have joy in our relationships. We learned that we need to demonstrate Christ’s attitude of humility and Christ’s attitude of servanthood. Then last week, in chapter 3, we learned three safeguards to keeping our joy. We learned that we must resist legalism, consistently refocus our ambitions and reject complacency. The title for today’s message is "Living out our joy!" Chapter four is Paul’s final thoughts and final words to the Philippians. His thoughts are focused on the Philippians living out their joy. In our time today, we are going to look at three ways that our joy can be lived out.
The first way that our joy can be lived out is in healthy relationships. In verses 2 and 3, Paul addresses a problem between two ladies and this is what he said: “I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. 3Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.” What bothered Paul and it surely bothered the heart of God was that two Christian women weren’t getting along and that’s not right. Relationships are so important. Paul said, "I plead with you. Do something about these ladies. I plead with each of you. Let’s find some relational peace."

Then in verses 4 and 5, he shows us how one way that we can do this. In verses 4 and 5 Paul says: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.” Now, the word gentleness is an important word but it’s a very difficult word to translate from the original Greek language. It’s translated in all sorts of different ways. Some translate it as gentle. Others translate it as moderation. Some try to translate it as patient or patience. Involved in this word is the willingness to yield one's personal rights and to show consideration to others. Also this word carries the meaning of generous treatment of others who don't necessarily deserve it. It is a quality that keeps us from insisting on our full rights or from making a rigid and stubborn stand for what is justly due us. I don't know about you but this is a difficult thing to do. We all want to demand what is due us or to give to others that which is due them.

What do we deserve from God? Well the Bible says the wages of our sin is death. So justice would be death but God does not give us what is justly due us. Instead He gives us grace and justice was fulfilled through the death of Jesus Christ. If we are the recipients of “gentleness” from God then why shouldn’t we give that to others? If God gives us something that we don’t deserve, who are we to withhold that from other people? Maybe some of your most important relationships are not where they should be. Maybe someone messed you over and they deserve justice. Maybe God will call you to give them something different than justice. Now, how will they respond if you try to make things right? Well, they may respond great and they may not. All that you’re responsible for is what you do. I plead with you to do whatever it takes to have healthy relationships. There is no excuse for a follower of Christ not to pursue relational peace, especially for those in our family. What’s our role? Paul says in Romans 12:18 "If it’s possible," in other words sometimes they may not make it possible, but if it is possible, "as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." God’s going to call us to do our part. What is God calling you to do to make relational peace? Live you joy out by having healthy relationships!

The second way that our joy can be lived out is praying rather than worrying. Even when there is chaos and tension all around us we can find peace. Inwardly we can find a peace that really goes beyond what people can understand. Now if you remember, Paul was writing from a Roman prison awaiting the very real possibility of execution. He could have been killed and here’s what he said. Amazing to me. In verse 6, he said, "Do not be anxious about anything." If anyone had reason to be anxious wouldn’t you agree that Paul did? He said: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” I love that! Don’t be anxious about anything. Don’t worry about anything.

Now, I’m talking to myself right now because I have the spiritual gift of worrying. I worry about everything it seems like and then when there is nothing to worry about I worry about that. I think: “Everything is good so when is something going to go wrong?” Can any of you relate to that? Here are a couple of thoughts about worry. How do we define worry? I would define worry as this. Worry is the sin of distrusting the promises and power of God. Worry is the sin of saying: “You know what God, either I don’t trust Your promises or I don’t trust Your ability to act on Your promises.” It’s the sin of distrusting the promises and the power of God. For all us worriers out there, here is an important truth for us to remember: God never panics. God never wakes up and says: “Oh man what am I going to do now? I didn’t see this coming. Oh I don’t know if I have the ability to handle this. What is going to happen?” God never panics. If God never panics, why should we worry about anything? Worry is the sin of distrusting in the promises and power of God.

Second thought, how do we get beyond being anxious? Well, here’s what Paul is teaching us. He teaches us to worry about nothing and to pray about everything. Whatever matters to you matters to God. There is nothing too small or nothing too big to pray about. If you have prayed about it, then why worry about it? “Don’t be anxious about anything but in everything present your requests to God and the peace of God that transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

In verses 8 and 9 Paul goes back and he talks again about our thoughts. Remember: our thoughts can have incredible power over us. Remember: our thoughts affect our emotions, which then affect our actions. Paul says in verse 8 and 9, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Live your joy our by praying rather than worrying!

The third way that our joy can be lived out is in learning contentment. No matter what the circumstances are in our life, we still can find contentment in the Lord. This is what Paul says in verse 10 and 11. Now, he was thanking the Philippians for a financial gift they sent to him through Epaphroditus and he said this he said, "I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” We need to learn to be content.

Paul goes on to say in verse 12: “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” That is so rich. “Whether I am well fed, whether I am hungry”, he said “I have learned the secret of being content.” How do we experience consistent contentment in our life? We learn it. It’s not something natural. Its something that God teaches us.

A lot of people think if we have more things we’ll be happy. If this circumstance was simply different then we'd be happy. If only I had this we’d be happy. In the Lord, we find contentment. How do we break free of the curse of materialism? We learn it. Two things to help us do this. First, avoid comparisons. Not only is it wrong but it is dangerous to compare. For example, maybe you’re content with your house. You like your house and then one afternoon you go and you visit model show homes. Then you come back to your little shack and you don’t like it anymore. What happened? You compared. Avoid comparisons. There is nothing good that ever comes from comparing.

The second thing that we do is we cultivate gratefulness. If you ever do want to compare just take a quick mission trip to a third world country and compare your life with theirs and then watch as all of a sudden gratefulness starts to just overtake and overcome you. I love this quote. Someone said this: “Discontentment makes rich people poor and contentment makes poor people rich.” I love that. You can have a lot and be discontent and be miserable. You’re poor even though you’ve got a lot. You can have next to nothing but God and His people and you can say: “You know what; I’m the richest person around.” That’s what God wants you to be. I’ve learned the secret of being content in any and every situation.

The outward circumstances of our lives may or may not change but our perspective of them can. What is the secret? Paul said I have learned to be content in all things. In verse 13, here is the key. He says, "I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength." There’s the key to all of it. I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength. No matter what you’re facing. No matter how bad you’re hurting. No matter how afraid you feel. No matter how big the mountain seems, you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength. Live out your joy by learning contentment!

This past month we have been focusing on joy. As Christians we have the most to be joyful about and I believe that our joy should be one of the main differences that people see in our lives. As Christians we can have joy no matter what and we need to live out that joy! We can have joy in suffering and in hard times. We can have joy in our relationships. We need to safeguard this joy and live it out! As we conclude this series and as I conclude this morning, I want to leave us with this simple challenge: Live out your joy! May your joy be evident in all that you do and say!