Living A Life Worthy Of The Gospel | Chad Lewis | Philippians 1:19-30

Thank you for joining us for a sermon from Sojourn North.

So it is Father's Day, and on Mother's Day, we had carnations for all the ladies that came in.

Doesn't matter how old you were, we had carnation for all guys from little all the way to old.

We have we don't have carnations for you, but we have meat sticks for you.

And uh we have a lot of people out, so guess what?

On the way out, you get two meat sticks.

There's three flavors.

They're designed to help you feel loved twice today.

Once when you eat it, and then later in the day when your stomach hurts, you'd be like, wow, they love me so much to recognize me.

But I think as we think about fathers, uh I love my dad.

I miss my dad.

I see pictures of him, like, man, I miss my daddy.

And so thankful for what he instilled in me in my life.

And I was just thinking about there's stereotypes with dads, because uh lot of stereotypes are true.

It's not universally true, but I thought about dad jokes as a stereotype.

And uh I remember saying stuff like this, hey dad, you get your hair cut?

And he's like, Nope, got them all cut.

Like, okay.

Uh how you feeling today, Dad?

Well, I had a dream I was working on a tailpipe, and I woke up exhausted.

Yeah.

And then you have the sayings that you hear all the time.

It's like, did you grow up in a barn, clean up?

And uh this one I love when you leave the door open.

It's like, oh, I don't pay to air condition the whole neighborhood.

And then they have wisdom advice too.

Some of them you don't understand as a young, young person, but then you get to understand.

But one I've heard can't never could and should never would.

It's like, what?

If you write it down and think about it, it just means try.

So it's like, you could have said that.

All right.

If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right.

Heard that a lot.

Uh nothing good happens after midnight.

It's basically true, right?

But then one day something strange happens as you get older, and I think there's the progressive commercials where it's like, we can't keep you from becoming your parents, but we can save you tons of money on your car insurance.

Pretty, pretty brilliant.

And I'm not sponsored by them.

I don't care who you do insurance through, it's it's whatever you want to do.

But it's like, yeah, you start finding yourself saying things, and a lot of times it's the wisdom, hopefully, that you heard from your family, from your father, and if you didn't have that, maybe from a spiritual father, but our priorities change because things matter.

It's like you work hard to get something and you get offended when someone doesn't take care of it.

It's like, don't kick the wall.

I painted that wall and I don't want to paint it again.

So it's like you care.

But we know that things form us.

Things form us.

And typically our relationships are the biggest thing that forms us.

And so when we hit Philippians today and we're talking about what is the message that forms us and who are you listening to?

Who's the voice you're listening to?

Because who you listen to the most has a deep, strong effect on you.

And so last week we looked at uh the passage before verse 19, verses 12 through 18.

And the main emphasis is Paul's in prison writing this letter.

He says, the story is bigger than circumstances.

The story is bigger than circumstances.

And to shift your mind from a smaller story, it takes intentionality, but to shift your mind to the bigger story.

And this week he's shifting in verses 19 through 30.

He says, because the story is bigger than the circumstance, we can live differently.

And so that's where we come to today.

And I love this passage.

It's a turning point, transition-wise, as it as it moves to application for our lives here after what he shared with us.

But I want us to think he's helping the Philippians understand who they are called to become, and we're in a state of becoming.

Ginger sent me a beautiful Father's Day text this morning.

I always get up here super early, but it was the father I've become, and that she loves me and she's proud of me, and it warmed my heart.

And it's like we're becoming something.

And it takes intentionality to continue to become.

If you don't have intentionality, it's just like we get back to the book of Galatians.

You will drift.

I will drift.

It doesn't matter how strong commitments have been in the past, it doesn't matter how many experiences you've had in the past.

It's a daily walk of intentionality.

So with that in mind, we're going to look at Philippians 1, 19 through 30.

If you wish, you may stand for the reading of God's word.

So Paul writes this.

Continuing the thought from last week, he says, Because I know this will lead to my salvation through your prayers and help me from the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all courage, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death.

For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Now, if I live on in the flesh, this means fruitful work for me, and I don't know which one I should choose.

I'm torn between the two.

I long to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.

But to remain in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.

Since I am persuaded this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that because of my coming to you again, your boasting in Christ Jesus may abound.

Just one thing.

As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ.

Then, whether I come and see you or am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit and one accord, contending together for the faith of the gospel, not being frightened in any way by your opponents.

This is a sign of destruction for them, but of your salvation.

And this is from God, for it has been granted to you on Christ's behalf not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him, since you are engaged in the same struggle that you saw I had, and now hear that I have.

This is the word of the Lord.

He may be seated.

There's so much in this passage, and we could spend weeks breaking it down, but we're just going to look at some highlights from it and apply it to our lives and in relationship.

And remember what we continue to do as we look at the scriptures, we're saying, where do I find myself in the story?

Because this is God's truth for all time.

And so the first point I have is learning to live with Christ at the center.

Remember the picture we put up.

Gospel's all throughout this.

And the gospel is the good news that the kingdom of God has come through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And it is by grace it is freely given to us.

And so we have the salvation that doesn't just affect us in the moment of receiving it, but the rest of our lives.

It's the foundation for everything, now and forever.

And so learning to live with Christ at the center, one of the most famous lines of all of Paul's writing is in verse 21.

He says, for me, and it's like sticking a flag in the ground, just like he does all the time.

He says, for me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

So remember the situation again.

This is a man in prison.

He doesn't know, he's under house arrest.

Scholars believe it's for a couple of years.

He's probably around 60.

He's got five to six, seven years left, but he's lived a long life.

He suffered so much.

And so he's writing this from a place of seeing God work through so many circumstances.

And he says, for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Not knowing if he'll be released, not knowing the outcomes.

But he's a man with Christ at the center.

And look at his posture, because this is the posture we want to have in the Christian life is with open hands.

It is the hardest thing in the world to do because we want to take control.

We want to control the outcomes, and he's saying, give those to me.

Give that to me.

I've got your life, I know what's best.

And so as we seek to do that intentionally, we may be filled with all sorts of things, we'll be filled with fear or anxiety because we're not controlling things anymore.

And God's saying, that's what faith is.

Open your hands.

Follow me.

Trust me.

So we're going to get back to Paul in just a moment, but let's look at some application for us, finding ourselves in the story.

Something is always at the center of your life.

A.W.

Tozer says, it's the most natural thing in the world for a human to worship.

We were created to worship, but then the fall happens and our worship gets all crazy, gets out of whack.

We give ultimate worth to something.

And there's always something at the center of our lives.

And it can be Christ, but we drift, it can be many other things.

And sometimes we can we can trick ourselves into thinking that it's Jesus when it is something else.

But see if some of these things resonate with you.

These things can shift to be the center of our lives and become most important to us at times.

And I think it's a helpful way to think about it is what's on the throne of your life.

Is it Christ?

Or is it me or am I putting something else up there?

But what about success?

Does that have the center of your life?

What about security?

What about comfort?

I like to be comfortable.

But this life is primarily not about comfort.

What about approval?

That hits me strong because it's like, man, I want to be liked.

Alright.

I just almost had a panic attack because I thought someone didn't like me for a second.

I know people don't like me, but it really bothers me because it's like, all right, that has a potential of being a center for me in my life.

You can put your family in that place.

Is your family important?

Absolutely.

Should it be the center of your life over Christ?

It should not be.

Health ministry.

Ministry can take that seat.

And it we can look very spiritual, but we know that that isn't supposed to be the center of our life.

It's Christ, and everything else flows from that.

Will you have a beautiful ministry in your life?

Because Christ is at the center.

Absolutely.

But when you put the ministry there, what happens in our souls?

And I see this all over the place.

I've seen it in me.

It's like the ministry becomes most important.

I will, I just, it's up to me.

It's up to my it's like, no, it's God doing the work.

I just get to participate.

So what is at the center?

And it can be helpful to look at how you spend your days.

How do you spend your time?

That can give you a view into what's at the center of your life.

How do you spend your talents and your resources?

Where do you give your money?

That can be a good sign.

What do you spend your attention and your imagination on?

And remember, when we look at these things and we see them, we're not trying to shame ourselves and be like, yeah, these things are at the center.

It's just a reminder with holy curiosity and say, wow, I need to shift with intentionality.

Lord, help me put you back in the center and then talk about it in community as well.

Another way to see it, I think these questions, what has the power to make your day wonderful?

That can sometimes be what's at the center.

What has the power to completely unravel you?

Maybe that's something at the center.

Doesn't mean it has to be, but that could be a diagnostic question.

But let's get back to Paul.

Paul is living as a free person in the midst of not being physically free.

He's not bound by his circumstances.

And that is true freedom.

He's chained to a guard, and the guard rotates over these couple of years under house arrest, and he gets to witness to the guards over and over again as they continue to come through.

And that's why he says, those from Caesar's household greet you, because he has shared the gospel with so many people and built so many relationships.

He hasn't wasted anything.

He says, if he lives, it's Christ.

If he dies, Christ.

If he's released, Christ is the center.

If he remains in prison, Christ is the center.

Whatever happens in his life, it's beyond his control.

But Christ is the center.

And as remember the Department of Redundancy department, I'm going to redundant.

I can't, I know that's not even a verb.

I'm going to redundant right now.

But notice that Paul's confidence is not rooted in certainty about the future.

It is in a sense because he's certain that he will be with Jesus.

But not about earthly circumstances.

His confidence is rooted in the one who holds his future.

And let's slow down and just hear that today.

We can get so busy that that just gets deflected off us, but I'm gonna I want to say it again.

Paul's confidence is not rooted, it is not rooted in certainty about the future earthly wise.

His confidence is rooted in the one who holds the future, and that is Christ.

Christ is his life, his identity, his purpose, his meaning, his hope, his fulfillment, all of it.

And truly, when we talk about having a flourishing life, it's not about things.

It's not about power or prestige, it's not about influence.

A flourishing life has to do with the soul, and it really is independent of circumstances.

Is it good when circumstances are rolling well?

Yeah, but I find sometimes we drift in those times too.

One of my heroes is Charles Spurgeon, suffered with great physical pain.

He was a prince preacher, preach of preachers back in in England, and um, brilliant.

Suffered from great physical pain.

Suffered from great emotional pain.

He said he would lay on the floor and weep like a baby and not know why sometimes, because he was so sad.

He struggled with emotional pain in the sense that people were critical of him.

He had a thriving ministry, and other pastors in town didn't like him.

And one pastor actually said, I have trouble believing that Charles Spurgeon is even saved.

And it's like, ooh, why do you say that, man?

But he carried all these things, but he said, Not a drop of bitter comes into my cup that doesn't pass through the sovereign's hand.

And through all of these things, he would turn his, not perfectly, none of us do it perfectly, but these things, the suffering, he even mentions in this passage, as we suffer, it can turn our attention to the one who holds us.

And some of the things that I've suffered with in my life that I thought were the worst parts of me, whether it's depression, anxiety, what I've learned, there's a sense where I wouldn't wish these things upon anyone else, but there's a sense where they have kept me rooted because they have continued to turn my face to Jesus and saying, I can't, but you can.

Help, Lord.

Help.

And there's a sense where if you say this prayer, this is a very mature prayer, it is a very dangerous prayer to say, not deliver me, Lord, but develop me.

And the truth is, is it okay to pray for deliverance?

Absolutely.

That's fine.

I've suffered with autoimmune disease for at least the last 15, 17 years.

I'm doing better than ever, though, right now.

So I don't think I'll ever be fully healed.

But man, when you feel bad for 16 years and you struggle, uh, if you feel better, it's like, man, that's pretty good.

So I feel pretty good.

There you go.

But think about this.

I've prayed for deliverance.

I've knocked on heaven's door over and over again saying, Lord, deliver me, deliver me.

Not a bad prayer.

But has the Lord developed me through it?

He has.

It is my testimony.

I'm gonna move on.

I love his humanity in this because the surprising tension he says, I am torn between going to be with Christ or staying.

And it's so fascinating.

We don't have time to talk about it because he's it almost is like he has kind of a choice in it, but he doesn't.

Because he I don't know.

He's like, I believe that I'm gonna stay here for your sake because your prayers are delivered.

At least that's what he's seeing.

But he's like, he's torn.

I want to go home and be he's suffered so much, his body must ache so much from all the beatings, from being stoned, from being cold, and that's where we're gonna get to the beautiful verse.

I can do all these things through Christ who strengthens me.

Whether having much or little, being hungry or filled.

That's the power of freedom in the gospel.

We're tempted to daily live our lives in smaller stories, and this is where the drift comes, and this is when we put stuff on that center throne.

So if my life is about comfort, I'm gonna drift.

If my life is about success or my plans or my control, I'm gonna drift.

But we just continually say, I recognize that.

Let's put Christ back.

Jesus, you're the center.

My life belongs to Christ, my future belongs to Christ, my suffering belongs to Christ.

He will use it.

My ministry belongs to Christ.

And so I think about how can I rearrange my life to be about Christ.

Most of your days will not shift.

You've got what, your rhythms and everything else, but you can shift little things throughout your day to focus on Christ.

I love uh Dawana, she sends me.

How old are you, Dawana?

You don't ask a woman that 85.

Been married how many years?

67.

Married 67 years.

She got married when she was 10.

No, I did the math wrong, but she sends me texts.

Come on, guys, give me a break here.

I ask her because she's a matriarch in this in this place.

All right.

All right.

I'm not gonna ask anyone else.

I'm not gonna ask you.

But she sends me pictures of things she's written down, messages.

She sends me uh reminders along the way, but you can tell she's consistently, intentionally turning her face, her, her gaze, her focus on Christ.

Christ is the center of her life.

It exudes from her life.

You can't be with her for 30 seconds and not know Christ is the center of her life.

So it's this intentionality, this shift.

And the beautiful part of it, we get to point two, is we are called to take this crisis.

A center and learn to live a life worthy of the gospel.

And let's look at the motivation here in verse 27.

He says, just one thing.

As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ.

I love this because he's getting at a picture here.

In Philippi, they are citizens of Rome.

It's like a mini Rome.

It's not Rome, but it's like a mini Rome because there are ancestors of people who've retired and settled there.

And there are generals who've retired and come to live in Philippi because it's a nice place.

It's got a lot of amenities there.

There are people who are proud to be Roman.

And so when he says, live as citizens of heaven, a life worthy of the gospel, he's tying those together.

And what was the citizenship?

Why was it a big deal with Rome?

It had so many, I'll give you a few things.

It had legal protections.

You couldn't be treated like someone who wasn't a Roman citizen.

They could do basically anything they wanted to someone who wasn't a Roman citizen and be okay.

But if you're a Roman citizen and someone mistreated you, you had to deal with Caesar and the armies.

We see this with Paul, because he appeals to Caesar at one point, doesn't he?

He gets beaten at one point and then he says, You beat me without a trial.

And what did the magistrates do?

They start shaking in their boots because they're like, we didn't know he was a Roman citizen.

We are in trouble.

There was a lot of benefit.

There was social status.

There was privilege.

There was security.

There was a lot that they had.

And so when they're hearing this, it's a brilliant move because Paul essentially says, I know you're proud to be Roman citizens, but guess what?

As citizens of heaven, which trumps your Roman citizenship.

Because that which is eternal trumps the temporary.

He doesn't say, live your life as worthy Romans first.

He says, live your life as worthy Christians.

And here is where I'll talk about us.

I'm proud to be American.

I'm not gonna sing the song.

I could.

Well at least I know I'm free.

But guess what?

The gospel says this.

It says not America first, it says Christ first.

If they outlaw somehow Jesus, citizenship in heaven first, right?

Now let me see if I can step on some toes and you can send all your emails to Jason Thacker.

It's not Caesar first, it doesn't define you.

It's not political party defines you, it's Christ defines you.

That's why in the history of sojourn, it's like the gospel is central.

We can gather around that.

It's not your political affiliation.

Is that important?

Yeah.

Have your opinions.

Back them up with scripture.

Let's talk about them.

Not live as worthy Americans first, but live worthy citizens of the gospel first.

Because that is eternal.

And I'll say it again, just for lack of so you don't misunderstand, I love America.

I can trace one of my ancestors back to signing the Constitution.

Hugh Williamson.

He was a delegate from North Carolina, one of the medical doctors.

He used to treat soldiers on both sides in the Revolutionary War.

He'd sneak out a really cool story.

I love America.

I got American flag from my grandfather who served in the military.

In the triangle, wooden box in my office.

But what I'm saying is this it's Christ first.

Christ first.

Now and always.

And I think the church gets that wrong all over this country in many ways.

Not every church, but many churches.

Alright, let's jump to point three.

We do all this together.

Paul's not saying try harder by yourself.

He's saying live in a way together that reflects the kingdom.

So the third point, learning to stand together in the struggle.

So look at the text.

You can look in your bulletin, but verses 27 through 30, Paul doesn't merely say stand firm.

He says, stand firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side, not being frightened, but experiencing the same struggle together.

There's togetherness in all of these things.

Everything in this is communal.

He's not saying be courageous individuals.

Is that important?

Yeah, it is.

But he's saying be courageous as a people together.

Stand together.

Courage is a community project.

And our culture, especially in the last, I don't know how long.

Happened sometime in the 20th century, a huge shift away from community.

And it came to the nuclear family.

Is nuclear family important?

Yeah.

But we weren't meant to live as this little bubble.

But we're not meant to stand alone.

So standing together, everyday life, courage is often borrowed from people around us.

When you don't feel courageous, I can lean.

You can lean on my courage.

When you're courageous and I don't feel it, like I'll do that.

That's what encouragement means to me.

It's like lending courage to stay on the path.

I can lend you some courage through the gospel, through God's promises, these precious promises.

But we're called to do it together.

Because we can't do this alone.

Remember the suffering that he's talking about when we have grieving families, when we have death.

Father's Day might be a celebration for you, but it might be a really hard day for others.

You don't have to do that alone.

You don't have to pretend like everything's great for you today.

You can just acknowledge it in safe community and not bear it alone.

It gets back to Galatians 6, 1 and following.

It's like bear one another's burdens.

Everyone must carry your own load, but bear one another's burdens.

We're not called to do it alone.

One of God's primary gifts to strengthen our courage is one another.

That's why we do this together.

That's why we're going to focus on sculpturing scattered, building in this fall, just to say, hey, let's, a lot of you have so many intentional relationships, but let's continue to let everyone into that.

The testimony piece is this.

He says, as you do this life together, living as worthy citizens of the gospel, as Christ is the center of your life, what is it going to be?

It's a sign.

To those who are perishing, it's a sign.

And the hope is they will see that and their hearts will be changed.

But what is it?

What's the sign?

As a people, people can look in and this is what they should see in the church.

Why aren't they falling apart when tragedy comes?

Why are they still hopeful in the midst of so much chaos in our nation, in our world?

Why are they still loving each other even though they have differences?

Why are they still standing together amidst conflict?

Because we have the gospel as the center.

Christ is our center.

Standing alone often magnifies our fears, but standing together lends us courage.

Alright, you ready for your sentence to carry?

Here you go for this week.

When Christ is at the center, we can stand together with courage no matter the circumstance.

When Christ is at the center, we can stand together with courage no matter the circumstance.

So where do you find yourself in the story today?

Have you drifted what's at the center?

And as we come to the table, we remember that Jesus has given everything so that we could actually make him the center.

He has spoken all things into existence.

In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.

Holds everything together by the power of his word.

And so Paul is able to say, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Why?

Because Christ died for our gain.

Took the punishment that should be upon us.

So we could be free.

And even if you don't feel free, if you're in Christ, that freedom has been placed upon you, and we get to learn and grow what it looks like to live into that freedom.

So if you're a Christian here today, after I pray, there's some music that will go on, and you can focus on the words.

But if you're a Christian, you can come up and take, even if you're visiting with us, take some bread and some juice back to your seat and just hold it, because I'll lead us in taking it all together as a family, as citizens of heaven.

But open your eyes and open your heart and think, what's at the center?

And if you've drifted intentionally, shift back today.

Let's pray together.

Father, we thank you for your amazing word.

We thank you for the message of Paul, that it challenges us, it shows us what it's like to put you at the center of all.

That truly, even as we learned about the fruit of the Spirit, that as we have you at the center, that this life is produced in us through you, Holy Spirit, that we have peace, that we have joy amid circumstances, even as we suffer.

So, Father, I pray as we partake in communion today, as we hear the words of this psalm, that we would remember who you are and what you've called us to be as citizens of heaven, an eternal citizenship, where we are brothers and sisters with you as our precious Father for all eternity that you have purchased that position for us, and you've with great joy embraced us.

Lord, do a work in our hearts, even now.

We ask this in Christ's name.

Amen.