Financial Partnership

Good morning.

My name is Matthew Capone, and I'm the assistant pastor here at Shine Mountain Presbyterian Church,

and it's my joy to bring God's word to you this morning.

Special welcome if you are new or visiting with us.

We're glad you're here, and we're glad you're here not because you are filling a seat,

but because, as I say every Sunday, we are following after Jesus together as one community,

and we are convinced as we follow after him that there is no one so good that they don't need God's grace,

and no one so bad that they can't have it.

And so we're glad that you're here because God has something to say to everyone,

and everyone needs to hear what God has to say in his word.

And so that's why we spend this time looking at everything that God has to say to us.

Now, I know that many of you have faced an incredible challenge this past week,

and that was the incredible challenge of cooking a turkey.

Now, if you cook turkeys, you know there's lots of things that can go wrong.

You can undercook them and make some of your guests sick.

You don't want to do that. You don't want a dirty bird.

Or you can overcook them and give your guests the unpleasant experience of eating dry bird.

And there's lots of different tricks that you can use to try to make sure you're hitting the right spot,

but there's only one real fail-safe.

There's only one way to know exactly and precisely whether you've cooked your bird enough,

but not too much.

And that is the great modern miracle of the instant reed thermometer,

which you can use.

And, of course, you have to know the right places to put it in the turkey, right?

You have to have some skill in using this.

But if you know what you're doing,

this is your fail-safe method of making sure you don't mess up your turkey.

Now, we are in the book of Philippians.

And if you've been with us, you know we've been going through it for a while.

And we are now at the very end.

We're in the last section.

This is our last sermon on Philippians.

And we have covered a lot of ground.

If you've been with us, you know that we've talked a lot about the gospel.

We've talked a lot about the partnership that comes with the gospel.

And then last week, really two weeks ago,

we talked about the joy that comes from the gospel.

And these are all the things that Paul wants to emphasize.

He wants to tell this church in Philippi over and over again.

And we've talked about the fact that this is a letter.

It's a letter that's written from Paul, who's in prison at the time,

and it's written to a church.

And this church is very much like our church.

And we have talked once before about the logistics of this letter.

So when we talked about Timothy and Epaphroditus,

remember Epaphroditus was a man who was in the Philippian church,

and he visited Paul.

And he visited Paul for two reasons.

One was just to help him, to assist him.

Paul is under house arrest.

He can use all the help he can get.

It's great for him to have a companion, someone to be with him.

But the other reason he came was to deliver a financial gift.

These folks in Philippi had learned that Paul was under house arrest.

They knew his needs.

They were concerned for his needs.

And so they took up a collection of money,

and presumably some other things,

and sent them to him because they cared about him.

They wanted him to know how much they cared about him,

and they also wanted him to be provided for.

They wanted him to have everything that he needed.

And so as we come to the very end of this book,

we're going to find Paul's thank you note.

This is his thank you note to the Philippians for what they've done for him,

what they've given to him, and the ways they've sacrificed.

And so Paul, as he always does, never just says something or thanks someone,

but he uses it as a chance to teach.

And so in this very end, Paul is going to teach about money.

And what we're going to find out is that money is the instant read thermometer of our spiritual lives.

There's many different ways we can try to understand where we are spiritually.

But it's money that Paul presents here as a great test,

a great way to know instantly what is true of our hearts.

This is what we saw in our preparation for worship when we read from the Gospel of Matthew,

that we can have treasure in heaven or treasure on earth.

And so we're going to see three tests here of money.

First, we're going to see a test of our joy.

Second, a test of our partnership.

And third, a test of the Gospel.

A test of our joy, a test of our partnership, and a test of the Gospel.

We're in Philippians chapter 4, and we're starting at verse 10.

Philippians 4 · chapter mention

Remember that this is God's Word.

And God tells us that His Word is more precious than gold,

even the finest gold,

and that it is sweeter than honey,

even honey that comes straight from the honeycomb.

And so please read with me now, starting at verse 10.

I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me.

You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity.

Not that I am speaking of being in need,

for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.

Verse 12.

I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound.

In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger,

abundance and need.

Verse 13.

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble.

And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the Gospel,

when I left Macedonia,

no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving except you only.

Verse 16.

Even in Thessalonica, you sent me help for my needs once and again.

Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.

I have received full payment and more.

I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent.

A fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.

Verse 19.

And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Jesus Christ.

To our God and Father be glory forever and ever.

Amen.

Greet every saint in Christ Jesus.

The brothers who are with me greet you.

All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar's household.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Lord, please pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.

Dear Father in heaven,

we thank you that you do strengthen us

and that you do provide everything that we need in Christ Jesus.

And so we ask that you would do that for us this morning.

That you would help us as we listen to your word.

You'd help me as I try to speak your words.

That all of us would hear from you and be changed by you.

We ask this in the name of your son.

Amen.

If you remember from two weeks ago,

we talked about joy and the fact that it is the strike anywhere match of the Christian.

And so it's something that we should be able to have regardless of our circumstances.

Happiness is tied to our circumstances.

Joy is tied to what is not our circumstances.

Things that cannot change.

It's tied to everything that we have in God through Christ.

And so Paul starts out with this again.

Remember in verse 4 he had said,

Rejoice in the Lord always.

And now in verse 10 he says,

I rejoice in the Lord not always this time but greatly

that now at length you have revived your concern for me.

You were indeed concerned for me but you had no opportunity.

And so Paul brings up this topic of joy again.

And his joy it seems at first comes because the Philippians have sent him this gift.

But there's a problem because if his joy comes from the sending of the gift,

it means it must be tied to his circumstances in some way.

And so Paul eager to make sure that the Philippians know that his joy is not rooted in money

gives an immediate qualification here in verses 11 through 13.

Yes, I rejoice.

But it's not because of the money.

I rejoice because you were concerned for me.

And then in verse 14 because they share his trouble.

And the reason he doesn't take joy in the money

is because he has learned a secret.

He's learned this secret in verse 11 of being able to handle multiple circumstances.

That there's this skill when it comes to having money.

That a skill that applies not just to not having enough

but having more than enough.

That being rich is in some ways just as challenging as being poor.

Because we can either trust God or we can trust money.

If we trust God, we'll manage and control our money.

If we trust money, our money will manage and control us.

If we trust money, our money will manage and control us.

If we trust God, we will manage and control our money.

And so in the midst of this gift, Paul wants them to know

that regardless of their circumstances, money is not the source of their joy.

There's a skill.

There's a skill for the rich and for the poor.

Paul has experienced both, we find out.

He's been brought low and he's abounded.

He's had plenty and he's been hungry.

But in all of those circumstances, he hasn't let his joy rest on what his financial state is.

He's learned this secret and he knows that it's a challenge for everyone.

This is an instant read thermometer,

not just for people who have a lot of money,

but people who don't have enough.

It's a challenge for everyone to not find joy in the resources that we have,

but the joy in what God has given us that we cannot lose.

I have a friend who immediately after he graduated from college became a ski instructor

here at Keystone in Summit County here in Colorado.

So this was his first job out of college and his paycheck week to week was dependent on

who signed up for lessons, you know, whether it was a private lesson,

which he would make more money on, whether it was a group lesson.

He had to figure out living expenses in this ski town.

And so he had a lot of variables from week to week financially about how things would go for him.

And one day he had a big break.

So there was a group of executives.

There was a CEO and all his executive team, his vice presidents,

who came to Keystone and they decided this was going to be their business retreat.

They were going to spend all this time together.

This would be a time for them to bond and plan.

And they were going to spend the entire morning all taking private ski lessons.

And they would then meet back up in the afternoon to debrief, have time together.

They were going to actually have time with their ski instructors

and do the business that they had before them.

Now my friend, his name was Camper.

Camper was assigned vice president of a company.

This was at the time a billion dollar company.

And he had a bad feeling right away.

This vice president was an older man.

He was not in great shape.

He had never skied before.

And so Camper thought to himself,

here's this powerful man who has everything.

And I'm going to ask him to put really slick things on his feet

and then ask him to get on a slick surface.

And so they got out and started the lesson.

And this man became instantly frustrated.

He became angry.

And about 20 minutes into the lesson,

he just rips his skis off and he throws them down on the ground.

Just says, I am finished.

His wife is standing there, by the way, just completely embarrassed.

And so he walks away, but he walks up to my friend first

and he takes a $100 bill and he shoves it into his hand.

He said, here, this is for you.

My friend said, I can't accept this.

You didn't enjoy it.

You only spent 20 minutes of your three-hour lesson.

And I'm going to get to ski by myself on the slips for the next three hours.

And I'm still going to get paid.

So I can't accept your money.

You take it.

You didn't enjoy the lesson.

You go.

So the man looks at him and he said,

when you have as much money as I do,

then you can say no.

And he shoved the $100 bill in his hand and walked away.

And so on the one hand,

we have someone who knows how to abound, who has plenty.

And yet there's security.

Their worth, their identity is found in their money.

This is someone who, though they have no need,

they don't know what Paul talks about here.

They don't know how to be content in every situation.

They don't know how to do all things through him who strengthens them.

Instead, this is someone whose money was where they tried to find their joy,

their meaning, and their identity.

And so when anything challenged that, a ski lesson that went wrong,

a ski instructor who didn't want to say yes to their tip,

that was what they turned back to, their money.

On the other hand, you had someone whose income would fluctuate week to week,

who could really use $100 to buy groceries

as he's trying to figure out his post-college life

being a ski instructor here in Colorado.

And yet this is someone, my friend, who has great faith.

And so he's not willing to take this $100 because that's not the source of his joy.

Even as he's trying to figure out how he's going to support himself

and make it week to week,

that is not what he looks to for his security.

And so Paul here is speaking both to those who have a lot of money

and those who do not.

Both the man who shoves the $100 bill into someone else's hands

and says, you don't get to say no to that,

and the person who takes it.

There's a skill to knowing that our joy

doesn't come from our material circumstances.

It comes from God.

And so that's why Paul says he rejoiced in the Lord greatly.

He's grateful for this gift that the Philippians give to him,

but it is not the source of his joy.

And so both the rich and the poor have the challenge

of taking confidence in their things rather than God.

If you're rich, you have the temptation to be confident in things rather than God

should make you smug and numb and insulated.

If you're poor, you have the temptation to take confidence in things rather than God,

making you anxious and fearful and grasping for money.

But Paul here is telling us that there is a different way,

that there is joy that comes in trusting in God and others.

And it's not just something that people outside the church need to learn and grow in,

but us inside the church as well.

So my friend Camper, he went skiing for the next three hours,

but he still had to show up at this lunch.

So there was a lunch where the ski instructors and this executive suite

were going to get together at the bottom of the hill.

And so he went, he had his time skiing, felt terrible.

This man had just completely belittled him, dehumanized him.

And so he walks into the lunchroom.

And the vice president makes a beeline for him.

And he said,

Camper,

I treated you terribly earlier.

I was frustrated because I couldn't ski,

but I shouldn't have talked to you that way.

I shouldn't have treated you like that.

Will you forgive me?

My friend said,

he said,

yes, I'll forgive you.

And then this man said,

I believe in Jesus.

And he's been doing a great work in my life.

My friend said,

yes, I believe in Jesus too.

And he's doing a great work in my life as well.

And so both the rich and the poor

were able to reconcile there

and walk away with a joy that they did not have before.

The man who took confidence in his wealth,

even he was someone who was following after Jesus,

but he still struggled with what Paul is talking about here.

He struggled with the skill of,

as we see in verse 12,

knowing how to abound.

He was still learning how to have a lot of money.

And my friend,

Camper,

was still learning the skill of how to be brought low.

But both of them together had access to God's grace.

This Christ president was not so bad

that he couldn't have God's grace.

And my friend,

Camper,

wasn't so good that he didn't need it.

But both of them needed to grow

and were growing

in learning this secret,

the test of joy.

That their joy comes not from their

financial circumstances,

but from their status in Christ.

And so that's what Paul is telling us in verse 13

when he says,

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

This is a widely abused verse.

There's a,

Stephen Curry you may know

as the most valuable player

at several points in the NBA.

And he's famous for having Philippians 4.13

written on his sneakers.

In fact,

I believe the story is

that Nike refused to take his sneaker deal

because of it.

So he went to Under Armour

and then Under Armour went to the bank.

This passage

is not about shooting basketballs.

Philippians 4.13

is not about being able to drop threes.

But instead,

Paul is saying

that he can do all things

through God who strengthens him.

In other words,

he can do everything

that we've seen in the last two verses.

He can face

every circumstance

because it's God

that strengthens him.

He knows how to handle wealth

and he also knows

how to handle poverty.

And so his joy

does not come from either one.

In other words,

I can find joy in all things

through him who strengthens me.

I can bear up

under any circumstance

through him who strengthens me.

That is not the source

of my joy.

And so joy comes from,

as we talked about two weeks ago,

trusting God and others.

Trusting God and others here

rather than money.

And so money is the test

of our joy.

It's also the test

of our partnership.

You notice that Paul says here

in verses 10

and then in 14,

he finds joy

in their concern for him.

In verse 14,

it was kind of you

to share my trouble.

And you, Philippians,

verse 15,

yourselves know that

in the beginning of the gospel,

when I left Macedonia,

no church entered

into partnership with me

in giving and receiving

except you only.

Even in Thessalonica,

you sent me help

for my needs

once and again.

In other words,

this is a partnership

kind of church

and they have shown

their partnership

by partnering financially

with Paul.

We find out in a different letter

that Paul wrote

in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9

that this church,

the churches in Macedonia,

and he's probably talking

about the Philippian church,

at least includes

the Philippian church,

it might include others,

is known for their generosity.

He uses them as an example

for other churches.

Look at these Philippians

who know how to be generous.

Be like them.

And so,

they are practicing

everything that we saw

in Philippians 2.

Remember in Philippians 2,

Paul deals with their disunity

by saying,

look not only

to the interest of others.

Excuse me,

look not only

to your own interest

but also to the interest of others.

Do what Jesus did.

And we applied that then

to the problem of unity,

but here it applies

financially as well.

The church in Philippi

did not look

only to their own interest

financially,

but they were looking out

for the interest

of others as well.

They were looking out

for the interest of Paul.

And so here they're modeling

being question people

rather than answer people.

The church in Philippi

is asking.

They're trying to figure out

what Paul's needs are

and then seeking to meet them

and we find out

they've more than met them

later in this passage.

But then Paul,

and we'll talk about this

in a minute in verse 17,

is not interested

in the money

they're giving them.

He's interested

in their spiritual growth.

And so Paul and this church

are a beautiful model

of each of them

looking out

for the needs

of each other.

But we're also

seeing a key truth here

which is that finances

are part of our partnership.

Paul thanks them

for their partnership

at various times

in the letter,

sometimes for their partnership

just in suffering

and being with him,

their partnership

in working side by side.

But here their partnership

is explicitly financial.

They are giving him

what's most precious to them.

They're giving him

some of their financial resources.

They're giving him gifts.

And so if we are,

as we talked about

in our very first

sermon on Philippians,

if we are seeking

after the treasure

together,

then we're also willing

to give some of our treasure.

If we're seeking

after the treasure together,

the great treasure

of the gospel,

then we're also going

to be willing

to give our treasure

to others along the way.

I had a friend

who in his senior year

of college,

there's lots of college

stories here,

year after college,

year of senior year

of college,

he went to a conference

with a bunch of other

college students

and he listened

to a speaker

and this speaker

was at the time

near the top

of one of the largest

consulting firms

in the nation,

if not the world.

And this man

was a Christian believer

and so he was giving

a talk about

finding joy

in God

rather than money.

And he was very open

during this talk

at various points.

He said,

you know,

if you want afterwards

you can come up

and you can ask me anything.

My friend listening

to this talk

was very cynical.

He thought,

this man has nothing

to tell me

about finding joy

in God

rather than money.

He works for a major

consulting firm.

He has all the money

he could ever need.

What do I have to learn

from this man?

He has nothing to say to me.

And so my friend

was very bold

and he went up

after the talk.

He said,

well,

this man said

we can ask him anything

so I'm going to

take him up on the offer.

And so he started out

with a very light

and easy question.

He said,

you said we could

ask you anything

so I just want to know

how much money

do you make a year?

This man said,

yes.

I did say you could

ask me anything

so I'll tell you.

It varies year to year

based on how

our firm performs

but I make

usually it's high

six figures,

low seven figures.

So this man was averaging

about a million dollars

a year.

So my friend said,

okay,

I'm going to ask you

another question.

How much of that

do you give away?

The man said,

well,

I'm going to start

with how much

my wife and I

live off of.

We have a house,

we've paid it off.

We have two cars,

we've paid it off.

We've put our kids

through college.

You know,

we're near the end

of our career.

So we live off

about $30,000 to $40,000

a year.

And so my friend

then asked him,

okay,

well,

how much do you

give away?

He said,

we give away

the rest of it.

My friend,

thinking that he

was going to

show this man

for the scam

that he was

and reveal that he

had nothing to share

about money,

actually walked away

not just humbled

but encouraged

and he thought

as he walked away,

I wish that there

was a way of knowing

that there are more

people like that

in the world.

And then as he

watched this man

for the rest of the

weekend,

he said,

I could tell that

this was a man

who was filled

with joy

because he

trusted God

rather than money

and so he managed

and controlled his money

rather than letting it

manage and control

him.

Now,

most of us don't make

high six figures

to low seven figures

a year,

but the point is this,

this man knew

the secret

of looking not only

to his own interests

but also to the interests

of others.

He wasn't going to the

poor house over his giving

but he also wasn't

taking his money

and using it to find

his security

and his worth.

He wasn't storing

all of it away

as a way

of investing everything

in case something

went wrong.

I'm sure this man

had saved

for retirement.

I'm sure he had

what he needed

set aside

but this was a

partnership kind of man.

This was a man

who looked not only

to his own interests

but also

to the interests

of others

and so that's what

Paul is telling us

here as well

that our money

is not just

the test,

not just the instant

read thermometer

on our joy

but it's also

the test

of our partnership.

If we are truly

going after

the partnership

with one another,

going after the treasure

then we will share

our treasure as well.

And so money

is our test

of our joy,

a test of our partnership

but it's also a test

of the gospel.

Paul tells us

in verse 17

that he doesn't

seek the gift

primarily.

It is useful

for him.

They have met

needs of his

but that's not

his primary interest

in their giving to him.

Instead,

he seeks what he calls

the fruit

that increases

to your credit.

This again

is what we talked

about in chapter 1

of Philippians

that they would

increase and grow

that their faith

and their love

would abound

more and more.

And then he tells us

that he has received

full payment

that this

has been a fragrant

offering to God

that this giving

is a sign

that the gospel

has been at work

in their lives.

Not only does it show

that they're finding

their joy

in the right place,

not only does it show

that they're partnering

fully,

but it shows

that they understand

the gospel

at a fundamental level.

These are people

who have understood

the fact

that God provides

for them.

They know

what Paul tells us

in verses 13 and 19.

They know

that they can do

all things

through God

who strengthens them.

And then they know

in verse 19

that God will supply

every need of theirs

according to his riches

and glory

in Christ Jesus.

And so because

these people

have had trust

in God,

that has resulted

in them.

The fruit

of their trust

in him

is that they've given.

And so the point

is not

that we need

to give more

to God

or others

to prove something

to him

or earn something

from him.

Instead,

the point is

the more

that we understand

that we have

nothing to prove

to God

and nothing

that we can earn

from him,

the more

we will find

ourselves

naturally

being generous

to others.

That as Paul

looks at the lives

of the people

in Philippi,

he sees this giving

as fruit

of God's work

in their lives.

And so it reveals

what is already true,

that they understand

the gospel,

they understand

what God is doing

and what he's done

for them,

and so it frees them up

because they trust God

rather than money,

because they manage

and control their money

rather than letting

their money manage

and control them,

the very natural,

intuitive,

logical next step

is simply that they

would be generous

with the people

around them.

Many of you

have probably already

gone out

and bought Christmas trees,

and those of you

who haven't

will probably do so soon.

And the one thing

I find fascinating

about Christmas trees

is that they always

look so symmetrical.

I'm not sure

how they do that

on Christmas tree farms,

but if you go out

in nature,

if you're out

in the wilderness,

you will be

very challenged

to find a symmetrical tree.

If you haven't

thought about that before,

the next time you're out

somewhere that's not

in a well-manicured

neighborhood

or a Christmas tree farm,

just go out

in the wilderness

and look at a tree

and see if you can find

one that's exactly

the same on either side.

And if you do,

just go onto a different side

and you'll realize

you were wrong.

Now there's a lot

of reasons that trees

grow differently

on different sides,

but one of the primary

reasons is the way

that the sun works.

So the sun is brightest

when it's in the southern sky.

We know that.

That's why people like

to get out early

in the morning

before it's too hot.

And if the sun is brightest

in the southern sky,

then it only makes sense

that the branches

of the tree

that are on the southern side

are going to be

longer and fuller.

Because the tree

knows what's right.

It knows that the sun

is the source

of its life.

And so it knows

that the more

it points itself

towards that,

the more it's going

to be able to grow.

And the more it grows,

the more it points

itself towards that.

And so what Paul

is telling us here,

and he tells us

that this is the fruit,

is that the more

that we know

that God

is the source

of our life,

the more we know

the truth

of verse 19,

the more we will

find ourselves

growing towards him.

And the more

that we find ourselves

growing towards him,

the natural result,

the natural growth,

the natural fruit

will result

in our generosity

to others.

And so Paul

is not

preaching a

prosperity gospel

here.

He's not saying

the more you give,

the more you'll get.

In fact,

he's telling us

that he's experienced

poverty before.

But instead,

he's telling us

the more

that we understand

God

and his provision

for us,

the more that we know

that not a hair

can fall from our heads

without him knowing,

the more we will

look to him

and the less

we will look to money.

And so Paul

ends

where he began

in this letter.

Remember,

he began by telling them

he wished them

to have grace

and peace.

Grace,

the forgiveness

that comes from God

because Jesus died

even though he didn't sin

so that we could live

even though we do.

And then he ends

in the same way

in verse 23,

the grace of the Lord

Jesus Christ

be with your spirit.

And so God

has looked out for you

not only in the past,

not only in the grace

that he gives you

by what Jesus did

when he died

on the cross,

but that means

he's also looking out

for you in the present.

And so you can hope

and trust in him

as we wait now

for the future.

We can trust him

with our lives

because he looks out

for us,

not just in the past,

not just in the future,

but in the present.

And so we can grow

more and more

as we look to him

as our source of life.

Please pray with me.

Dear Father in heaven,

we thank you

that not a hair

can fall from our heads

without you knowing,

that you are

the source of our life,

that you provide

everything that we need.

We ask that you

remind us of it again,

that you'd pour out

your spirit on us,

that you'd grow us,

that we would grow

more and more

towards you

and also grow more

in our generosity

towards others.

We ask all these things

in the name of your son.

Amen.