Joy and Peace

I recently saw a video of two boats on the water.

They were in the ocean, right next to each other.

Same make, same model, exactly the same design.

And it was choppy.

The water was choppy, and so waves were sort of coming in regular intervals

and smacking against these boats.

And the video was amazing because of the difference between these two boats.

They looked exactly the same.

And the boat on the right was rocking sort of violently,

I mean, to the point that it would be difficult to stand on the deck

without holding on to something, lest you lose your balance.

The boat on the left was remaining perfectly calm, perfectly even keeled.

The waves were hitting it, but the boat remained unmoved,

and the waves passed by.

And the reason is because the boat on the left had an internal stabilizer.

It's this technology used for mid-sized boats.

It's based on the movement of a gyroscope.

You may be familiar with this in segways.

It's the thing that keeps them upright.

And so this has been developed for boats as a way to keep them steady in the water.

But it was fascinating to see the difference between two boats that on the outside look exactly the same,

and yet one is being rocked by the waves, and the other is remaining perfectly even keeled.

And the reason I bring that up here is because in our study of Philippians,

which has been going on for a couple of months, we've come to chapter 4,

and we've come to this interesting kind of series of exhortations that Paul gives.

Philippians chapter 4, verses 2 through 9.

Philippians 4:2–9

And this is a place where Paul actually shows us that the same kind of thing is possible for human beings,

that it's possible for a person to develop internal stabilization

that keeps us steady, keeps us even keel,

regardless of what is happening in our outer world.

And as we planned this series months ago,

we could have had, you know, no knowledge that anything like the past week would have happened.

And as I was praying about this Sunday, I was wondering what we should do,

and I was looking again at these verses and thinking that, in fact,

this is a strangely appropriate topic for us to focus on.

And as we look at the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile,

as we look at the deaths of these five police officers in Dallas in retaliation,

these are just the most recent examples that highlight that our society feels as though it's being torn apart.

It feels as though the very fabric of our society is being ripped to shreds.

I mean, if you look at the news and you hear and you talk to people,

it almost feels as though we are at war within ourselves.

And I've heard that said more and more and more.

And interestingly, this passage, the context of these verses,

we don't often remember that the context of, you know,

for those of us who have been Christians, this is a very familiar passage,

and some of us have even memorized it over the years.

But we forget that the whole context of this is actually the context where reconciliation is needed.

Paul is speaking about this internal stability in the context of two women in the church in Philippi,

Euodia and Syneche.

And they are fighting.

They are at odds with one another.

And there's good reason to think that their conflict is actually tearing the church apart.

And so what Paul does in a very interesting way is to entreat them each to be of one mind in the Lord.

And then he turns his attention to the rest of the community.

And he essentially says, their conflict is actually your responsibility.

In other words, all of you, he actually uses the word fellow, my yoke fellow,

my true companion, my true yoke fellow.

And that's actually, I think, a reference to all of the Christians in the church,

because this letter would have been read aloud.

So Paul is addressing everyone, and he's saying,

they're fighting, and you have a role to play in their reconciliation.

Do all that you can.

But, what he next does is he doesn't get into the specifics of their disagreement,

but rather he focuses on the hearts and minds of the whole community.

And it's as though in this passage Paul is saying,

if you're going to be the kind of person who is able to contribute to peace and reconciliation,

before you're able to do that, you need something to be true within yourself.

So it's almost as though he's saying, and the principle really is this,

that we cannot hope to promote peace, to promote reconciliation,

to be a part of the solution,

until we have experienced peace within ourselves.

In other words, peace out here flows from peace in here.

To put a finer point on it, if you want to make peace in the world,

begin by finding peace with God,

because that's the only peace that will actually make a difference in the world.

And so the question tonight is, how do we get that peace?

And that's what Paul concerns himself with here.

How do we develop this kind of internal stabilization

that allows us to remain even-keeled,

to have the kind of perspective and compassion and self-awareness and empathy needed,

to actually bring about peace in the world?

And he calls us to three practices.

This is what we're going to look at tonight.

Three practices.

First, he calls us to practice the presence of God.

And if you're not familiar with what that means,

or if that's an odd phrase to you,

it is an odd phrase.

We'll talk a little more about it.

To practice the presence of God.

Then he calls us to practice grateful prayer.

Not just prayer, but prayer that is laced with gratitude.

And then thirdly, he calls us to practice another odd phrase,

good spiritual hygiene.

So these are the three things that we'll look at.

Let's pray for the Lord to lead us.

Heavenly Father, we have heard a lot of words this week,

a lot of wisdom offered.

But we know that ultimately our hope and the hope for this world

is not going to be found in human wisdom or in human power,

but in your wisdom, in your word, and in your power.

And we are here because we desperately need your word and your power.

And we believe that you are here and that you will speak to us.

And so it's your voice that we crave and need.

So please give it to us, Lord, and open our hearts to receive it.

In the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, amen.

So the first thing that Paul calls us to is God's presence.

And by the way, if you're wondering why we know that these are practices

rather than simply kind of thoughts to bear in mind,

all of the verbs, and this gets a little geeky, so bear with me,

but all of the verbs here, all of the verbs that Paul calls us to,

they're all present imperatives.

And in the Greek, you translate a present imperative as an ongoing habit.

So these are really three lifestyle commitments that Paul calls us to,

calls all Christians to.

Practice God's presence.

In verse 4, he says this,

Rejoice in the Lord always.

Again, I will say rejoice.

Let your reasonableness, meaning let the fact that you are for people,

that you're on their side, that you want their well-being,

let that be known to everyone.

And then the kind of bomb, the Lord is at hand.

And I love this because he begins by reminding Christians,

reminding us of the great truth at the heart of the gospel.

You know, I think we can sometimes forget that the reason that Jesus came

was in part to fulfill a promise that God made.

He said, I will be the God who dwells with you.

I will be your God, you will be my people, and I will be with you.

And so Jesus comes and does everything necessary to fulfill that promise

so that God is actually with us here in this very moment.

For Christians who know God by faith through Jesus,

God is never out there, which is something that we forget.

Because often, and I say it, we all say it,

you know, we go through, if you've been a Christian for any length of time,

you can go through a phase of feeling like God is distant.

You know, I just feel like, and that's just a part of being a Christian,

but God is actually never distant.

God is always right here.

Here's the reason we're talking about this.

There are countless strategies, books, conferences

that promise contentment, how to deal with your stress,

how to deal with your anxiety.

But the problem with these things, and you know,

when you look at the practices as breathing techniques,

meditation, you know, mindfulness practices, yoga,

these are all helpful things.

They all help with stress and anxiety,

but they all share one limitation.

And that is that they only focus on technique.

And they don't ever start with the ultimate questions.

They don't ever begin with the existential source of anxiety.

So, I mean, if I'm stranded on the side of the road

in the middle of nowhere, in the pitch black dark,

in the middle of the night, and I'm waiting on a tow truck,

my car's dead, you know, I can do some deep breathing

to kind of get me through.

I can do some meditative practices, practice some mindfulness,

but what I really need is a tow truck, right?

I mean, if I'm sick and the ambulance is on its way

and I'm on the floor of my house and I can't move,

and I need, you know, I can do some deep breathing

and that maybe will bring my heart rate down

and that's good, but I really need a doctor, right?

In the same way, our anxiety is sourced

in this existential angst that we feel.

In other words, we know that we live in a world

that's bigger than we are.

And we know that we have very little control

over that world, over our own lives,

over our own bodies.

And we know that we can't even control

what's going to happen in the next moment.

And the source of most of our anxiety

is that lack of control.

It's trying to have control

over things that we can't ultimately control.

And so much of life feels like

we are stranded in the dark

or sick and lying on the floor

and we're sort of crying out,

wondering, is there someone out there?

You know, is there someone

who can make sense of all of this?

I mean, this past week,

when you look at these horrible, tragic deaths,

you're filled with anger and despair,

but under that, again, you wonder,

is there anyone out there watching this?

Is there anyone who is going to make it right?

In other words, is there anyone

who's going to come and save us from this?

Or are we doomed to see these things play out

again and again and again and again?

Is someone coming?

Paul says true peace begins

when we recognize that there is someone

and that he has come.

That he has come.

So the first thing we need to do

in order to develop this kind of internal stability

is to recognize this

and to practice the presence

of the one who has come.

Practice the presence of God

in our daily lives.

And I know that's an odd phrase.

You know, you say, well,

those of you who are Christians,

and some of you are and some of you aren't,

but those of us who are Christians,

typically being a Christian involves

at least assenting to the fact

that there is a God

and that he's present.

But I think functionally,

most of us don't actually live that way.

We live functionally as though

there is no one,

that no one came.

In other words,

we live with a kind of functional atheism.

So Paul's calling us to cultivate

an awareness of God's presence

in our daily lives.

And that's why he says in verse 4

that we should rejoice always.

You say, what do you mean always?

Like at the hospital,

at a funeral,

we should always rejoice?

And Paul says, yes,

you should rejoice always.

Why?

Because there's always a reason to rejoice.

Because no matter what,

no matter where you are,

no matter how hard it gets,

God is with you.

God is there in it.

You know, it's amazing

when the author of Hebrews says

that there's no human experience

of weakness or suffering

that God is unable to sympathize with

because he's been there.

He is there.

God grieves the loss

like the losses

that we experienced this past week.

He grieves those with us.

And so we need to cultivate

an awareness of his presence.

There was a young soldier

named Nicholas Herman.

You've probably not heard of him.

He fought in the 30 Years' War.

That was hundreds of years ago.

But Nicholas Herman

had a kind of a dramatic conversion

to Christianity

and later joined a monastery.

And he didn't have

the education needed

to become a legitimate cleric.

So he joined as a lay brother

and he took on a new name.

And the name that he took

was Brother Lawrence

of the Resurrection.

And over the decades,

because he wasn't an actual cleric,

they gave him a job

repairing sandals

and working in the kitchen.

And so he does this menial labor.

And yet over the decades

of doing this seemingly menial work,

he actually developed a reputation

far and wide

for being a man of great peace.

Have you ever known anybody like that?

The kind of person

that they just put you at ease?

You're around them

and there's just such a sense

of inner calm

that you feel at ease

in their presence?

Well, he was that kind of person.

And so people would come

and seek his wisdom

and his advice.

This guy who worked in the kitchen

pulling weeds in the garden.

And the reason that he was able

to develop this sense of peace

is because he devoted himself

to the practice

of the presence of God,

which essentially meant this for him.

Two things.

He committed himself

to doing everything

for the love of God

rather than for the praise

of human beings.

And he committed himself

lifelong,

whether he was weeding the garden

or scrubbing pots

or sweeping the floor,

to regularly conversing with God.

Literally in the midst

of his chores

as he's scrubbing pots,

talking to God

about the work

that he was doing,

talking to God

about his experiences

in that moment.

And here's what he says

about this.

He says,

there is not in the world

a kind of life

more sweet and delightful

than that of a continual

conversation with God.

Those only can comprehend it

who practice

and experience it.

So this is a weighty call

because it's a call

to decompartmentalize

our lives,

to break down the barriers

so that we are cultivating

a sense of closeness

with God

at whether we're at work,

whether we're scrubbing pots

in the kitchen,

whether we're in church.

There's a compilation

of his letters

and correspondence

called

The Practice of the Presence

of God.

Someone randomly

put it into my hands

years ago,

not long after

I became a Christian.

And a guy just kind of

busted in.

I barely knew him.

We had met once.

He looked at me.

He said,

you know,

I have this book.

I was going to give it

to somebody else

and he had written

a note to give it

to somebody else

as a kind of gift.

And he said,

but you know,

I have a sense right now

that I need to give it to you.

And so he tore the cover off

because it had the kind

of personal note on it

and he gave me this book

with no cover.

But it was this little book

called The Practice

of the Presence of God.

And it has radically,

radically impacted my life.

So I commend it to you.

But he says this,

for many of us

who are hearing this

and we're thinking,

how could I ever

get started doing that?

Banging away at my laptop,

answering emails

in the middle of my work day

and talking to God.

That sounds insane.

And yet here's what he says.

He says,

do not be discouraged

by the resistance

you will encounter

from your human nature.

You must go against

your human inclinations.

Often in the beginning

you will think

that you're wasting time,

but you must go on.

Be determined.

Persevere in it

until death,

despite all the difficulties.

So it begins with a bang.

Do you want to cultivate

that sense of internal stability?

Do you want to actually

be the kind of person

who is able to be present

and compassionate

and have the kind of empathy

and self-understanding

and awareness

and humility necessary

to be a part of

bringing peace

in the world?

It begins with cultivating

a sense

of what it means

that God has made peace

with you.

And that because of that

he is present here

with you

at this very moment.

So that's where it begins.

Then as Paul goes on,

this naturally flows

into the next thing.

Paul says we need

to cultivate

grateful prayer,

prayer that is laced

with gratitude

and thanksgiving.

He says this,

the Lord is at hand.

Do not be anxious

about anything,

but in everything,

by prayer and supplication,

with thanksgiving,

let your requests

be made known to God.

Now, I want to look

at what he's saying here

because there's a negative

and a positive.

The negative is this,

don't be anxious

about anything.

You know,

if you're anything like me,

you think,

I mean,

do you know my life?

That sounds like

a religious platitude.

That sounds like

somebody who hasn't lived.

Don't be anxious

about anything.

The word anxious

actually means

disproportionate

or kind of

undue fear.

Think about a lot

of the anxiety

in our life.

A lot of it

is disproportionate.

And then the positive

is this,

in everything,

by prayer and supplication,

with thanksgiving,

let your requests

be made known to God.

And you know,

I used to read this

and even when I memorized it,

I thought,

okay,

there's two things

I've got to do here.

I've got to never be anxious

and then I've got to

always pray.

And you know,

it's like,

well,

okay,

you know,

no.

It's not happening.

But what you need

to realize is

that it's a choice

and the one

displaces the other.

In other words,

the one makes

the other possible.

Right?

So how do you begin

to displace

the anxiety

that has taken hold?

You channel that anxiety

into prayer.

And it's a kind of prayer

that is laced

with gratitude.

Paul says,

no matter what

our circumstances,

whenever we pray,

we should express

gratitude.

And just to be clear,

he's saying,

thank God

in advance

before you know

the outcome.

I don't know

whether I'm going

to get into this

program or not.

I don't know

whether you're going

to save this

person's life or not.

I don't know

whether you're going

to heal me

from this or not.

But thank you.

Now,

that's a tall order.

Pray with gratitude.

Always.

See,

that's only possible,

and this is,

if you feel any,

you know,

just kind of difficulty

with that,

I'm glad.

I feel it too.

And the reason is this,

because it's really

calling us to decide,

do we trust God's

character or not?

Do you trust

his goodness or not?

See,

you can't pray

with gratitude

before you know

the outcome

unless you trust

God's character.

Implicitly,

completely,

unreservedly.

See,

our anxiety,

the anxiety

that you feel

in your life

that I feel

is not just

because we act

like God isn't there.

That's part of it.

But it's also

because even if you

believe that God

is there,

you don't trust him.

I don't trust him.

I don't actually

trust that God

knows better

than I do

what I need.

I don't trust

that when God

says no,

or when he doesn't

do what I want

him to do,

I don't trust

that that's actually

better for me.

I get angry

because I assume

that I know

better than he does.

And again and again

and again

in scripture,

and I think

this is because

all people struggle

with this

and so we need

to be reminded,

you know,

the Israelites

struggle with this.

Again and again

and again,

you read it

in the Psalms

and yet again

and again

and again

you see example

after example

of people

like Moses

and David

and Joseph

and Paul

where you see

horrible circumstances

and then you see

God wielding

those horrible

circumstances

like a paintbrush

and using them

to paint

this beautiful

portrait

of redemption.

And he does it

again

and again

and again

and it doesn't

justify

the bad,

it doesn't

excuse the bad,

it doesn't cover up

the bad,

it doesn't minimize

the bad,

the bad is bad,

there's no excuse

for it,

there's no way

to justify it

and yet God

repurposes it,

he redeems it,

he commandeers it

and uses it

for his

redemptive

purposes.

It's amazing

to see God

wield suffering

and wield tragedy

and bring beauty

out of it.

You know I was

just talking

last night

with a good friend

of mine,

a guy named

Perrin

who pastors

the Triumphant

Church here in

D.C.

and he and his

wife are good

friends of Laura

and I's

and we were

just talking

obviously we've

had a lot of

conversations over

the past few

days about

these deaths

and just how

to make sense

of it

and I was

just asking

his thoughts

I said what

are you guys

going to do

at church,

how are you

going to approach

this and just

kind of two

pastors sort

of praying

together about

about how

to respond

and he said

one of the

things that he

said that really

struck me is he

said you know

as I as I

look at this

these these

deaths are

horrible

you know

these there's

no there's

no there's

no way to

even put words

to to this

and we're all

grieving it and

said and yet

at the same

time I see

God bringing

beauty out of

it in ways

that only God

could and I

said what do

you mean and

he said well

look at the

way the

churches are

banding together

you know the

rally that we

had today

there were I

don't know how

many churches

were represented

but there were

all kinds of

churches down in

Freedom Plaza

right off Penn

Ave in the

heart of DC

right next to the

White House

and there are

pastor after

pastor leader

after leader

police commissioners

and chiefs

and all kinds

of people

just one after

another one

after another

reminding us to

put our hope in

Jesus saying that

there will be a

time when God

overcomes this

and to see

that many

churches

that many

pastors from

all traditions

and denominations

and backgrounds

all gathered

together in the

name of Christ

it was a picture

of the kingdom

it was a foretaste

of the kingdom

parents said

it's what an

amazing God who

could bring

something beautiful

like that out of

such tragedy

and of course the

ultimate example of

this is the cross

the worst evil

ever committed

the worst evil

ever committed

and yet out of

it God brings

the greatest

redemption

ever achieved

bringing hope

to the whole

world

so this second

practice is the

practice that we

need in order to

develop internal

stability

it's the habit

of regular

grateful prayer

of taking our

anxiety

and channeling it

into prayer

that says

God I thank you

whatever you do

with this I thank

you

because I trust

you

the one

displaces the

other

so very

practically

when anxiety

surges up in

your life

stop and give

thanks

channel it

and when we do

this Paul says

in verse 7

the peace of God

which surpasses

all understanding

will guard your

hearts and your

minds in Christ

Jesus

the word guard

actually means to

garrison

so imagine

the peace of God

garrisoning

like soldiers

marching around

your heart and

mind guarding it

keeping it safe

it's an amazing

image

so these are the

first two practices

practice the

presence of God

and practice

grateful prayer

this leads into

the third practice

which concerns

our own minds

and our own

hearts

in verse 8

Paul calls us

to practice

what you might

call good

spiritual hygiene

he says in

verse 8

finally brothers

whatever's true

whatever's honorable

whatever's just

whatever's pure

whatever's lovely

whatever's commendable

if there's any

excellence

if there's anything

worthy of praise

think about these

things

one of the best

ways to keep

healthy is to

practice good

physical hygiene

right

it's

my dad was a

doctor who for

years dealt with

very sick people

and we would

always marvel that

we all got sick

a lot more than

he did

we were

you know we

would say you're

around all of

these sick

contagious people

all the time

and yet he rarely

got sick

and we always say

well it's because

I probably washed

my hands a lot

more than you

did

that his job

just required

that he washed

his hands

dozens of times

every day

he said it's one

of the best ways

you can keep

yourself healthy

is just wash

your hands

and we can expand

this to good

grooming we can

expand it to what

we put in our

bodies the kind

of food that we

eat taking good

care of your body

so here Paul's

talking about good

spiritual hygiene

the thing is

most of us take

good I mean I

think that most of

you have good

grooming practices

I think that most

of you wash and

bathe and shower

fairly regularly

I don't I've not

heard any complaints

about any of you

and I think that

most of us have

good physical

hygiene

so the question

is how can we

be so so careful

about our grooming

and our physical

hygiene and be so

completely indiscriminate

when it comes to

spiritual hygiene

so completely

indiscriminate

you know I was just

thinking about what

are all of the

things you know I

would never expose

my body knowingly to

illness but look at

all the things I

expose my heart and

my mind to right

the things that I

watch the things that

I read I mean you

know I mean those of

you who know you

know Laura and I

rarely rarely do we

have a night just kind

of at home and which

is great we we love

that part of our lives

but rarely do we have

an opportunity and

when we do what do we

love to do we put the

kids down we fix good

food we make strong

drinks and we turn on

Netflix that's what we

do and we will crush

some Netflix we will

crush some Netflix we

will work I mean like

I mean we will get

into it it's a late

night when when

Netflix is on because

we love it and then

I think about these

shows that we

admittedly love to

watch and I think

about and I'm not

just talking about you

know sex and nudity

I'm talking about the

kind of wanton

violence I'm talking

about the kind of

hardened cynicism I'm

talking about the kind

of fatalism the kind

of closed worldview that's

not even open to the

possibility of a God

I'm talking about the

incredible disregard for

human life and and we

watch these shows and

it's entertainment I

mean that kind of stuff

makes for good drama it

draws us in I think about

the stuff that we read I

mean after a week like

this one my goodness the

amount of kind of just

vitriol that this kind of

oozing through our social

media feeds is is

astounding it's it's it's a

lot of uninformed

emotionally charged

ranting and attention

seeking that's masking

itself as commentary and

I'm amazed at how many

Christians take part and

contribute to that and

Paul would say we need to

curate very carefully what

we expose our hearts and

minds to we need to be

thoughtful about this the

word think about means to

dwell on what is it that

kindles and captures your

imagination what do you

ruminate on you know it's

very easy to ruminate on the

latest plot twist in Game of

Thrones right I mean it is it's

an it's an amazing series and

yet by ruminating on that what

is the impact over time on my

heart and on my mind and if

that's the only thing and

here's the point if that's the

only thing I'm ruminating on

what's the impact over time

you know so that you know

it's so interesting that we

expect to be able to watch a

couple of shows with people

shooting and stabbing each

other and then lay in our

beds and flip open Facebook

or Twitter and read a handful

of stories where not only have

people shot and stabbed each

other but then there's a lot of

other people pointing fingers

and spewing hate and blame and

and and and vitriol and read

that and then go to bed and

expect to wake up a perfectly

balanced emotionally healthy

stable even killed person it's

not going to happen you wonder

what kind of impact this is

having so the point isn't

should Christians watch our

rated movies I mean come on the

point is we need to be

thoughtful consumers of culture

we need to be thoughtful

consumers of content we need to

be as mindful of what we're

exposing our minds and hearts

to as we are what we expose our

bodies to so how do we become

people who are what verse five

says how do we become people who

are known for our reasonableness

right if anything I would hope

that Christians in our culture are

known for their reasonableness

often that's not the case how does

that become the case it's by

developing a kind of internal

stabilization and Paul says that

that that comes from three ongoing

practices people who practice the

presence of God on a daily basis

people who practice and channel

their anxiety into grateful prayer

and people who are thoughtful

they're good curators and they

practice good spiritual hygiene and

he sums all this up in verse nine he

says what you have learned and

received and heard and seen in me

practice these things there it is

and the God of peace will be with

you

so when the waves do come as we are

continuing to process and to try to

figure out how to respond to this

tragedy as future tragedies God

forbid happen

while everyone else is being rocked

being overturned

like the boat on the right

my prayer and my hope is the more

that we as Christians will be able to

bring the kind of balanced

perspective the kind of empathy the

kind of compassion frankly the kind of

humility

especially those of us in this church

the willingness to be the first to

confess

you know we talk in our church every

week we confess sins of omission and

sins of commission things we've done

and things we've left undone

friends we have a lot of confessing to

do

if we ever hope to heal

the racial division in our country we

have a lot of confessing to do

things that we have done and many many

many many things that we have left

undone

to be those kind of people who are

able to go to our knees like that

we need this kind of internal

stabilization a realization that any

outward peace is going to be rooted

ultimately in the kind of peace that

comes from God

so whether it's in the lives of

people like you Odea

and Synechi or whether it's in this

city right here where there's a lot of

work to be done

this is where it begins if you want to

make peace in the world begin by

finding peace in God

let's pray

our heavenly father we recognize

we recognize that merely human words and

wisdom as we said a moment ago have no

power but your word does and your word is

that word which has become flesh and

given his life to make peace you've

promised peace you've made peace

through your son Jesus and we hope and

pray that one day that peace would be

established across the whole earth that

as your word says you would gather all

peoples together as one

in the name of your son Jesus Christ

and it's in his name that we pray

amen