Servants of
Christ Jesus
Philippians 1: 1
– 2.
Introduction
Today,
I am beginning a new series of sermons on the Book of Philippians. I hesitate to use the word “series,” because
I am not going in a predetermined direction.
When I think of a “sermon series,” I think of a group of sermons about
the same theme or that the preacher has one point he wants to emphasize. But, that is not what I am doing with these
sermons on Philippians. Instead, I think
of this more like a journey together. We
are going to read the Book of Philippians together and allow the Bible to speak
to us every week.
For
many Christians, the Book of Philippians is one of our favorites. At least, it is one of our favorite New Testament
books written by the Apostle Paul. Paul
wrote the Book of Romans, but Philippians is not quite as complicated or as
long as Romans. Paul wrote the Book of
Galatians, but Paul does not sound as angry in the Book of Philippians. In fact, Philippians is a very encouraging
and uplifting book…One of the recurring themes is the joy that comes from being
a Christian. Joy in the midst of
difficulties. Joy that cannot be taken away
by your circumstances.
One
of the remarkable things about Philippians is the fact that Paul wrote this
book about joy during one of the most difficult times of his life. The traditional view is that Paul wrote this
book from prison. However, it was not
exactly what we think of as prison. More
than likely, Paul was under house arrest in Rome. He didn’t live in a prison cell. He lived in a house, where he was free to
write letters to churches and people were free to visit him most any time. But, Paul was not free to leave. He was constantly under Roman supervision and
probably was chained to a Roman soldier around the clock. (Soldiers would change shifts every four
hours.) During this house arrest, Paul
was waiting for a final decision about his life. There were only two choices. Either he would be released by the Roman
government, or he would be executed.
(Imprisonment was generally not considered a long term punishment.)
Yet,
Paul was able to write this encouraging and uplifting book about Christian joy
in the face of these difficult circumstances.
He found joy that was bigger than his circumstances…a joy that allowed
him to rise above what was happening around him.
Today,
we are going to look at Paul’s first words and the way he introduced this
letter to the churches of Philippi.
Philippians 1: 1 – 2.
If
you read the New Testament, these opening verses do not sound very
unusual. Paul follows the general rules
for writing letters in the First Century world.
He introduces himself at the beginning of the letter and offers a
greeting to his readers. But, there are
a couple of interesting things that Paul does differently (from conventional
letter writing) in his letters.
Grace and Peace
One
of the differences we notice is the special greeting Paul gives in verse two:
“Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
The
words “Grace and Peace” are not usually found in other First Century letters,
but this was Paul’s common form of greeting.
Other letter writers typically introduce themselves, address their
audience and say “Greetings.” Paul
changes this typical greeting and uses the word Grace instead…Grace and
“Greetings” sound similar in Greek.
Paul
takes the typical Greek introduction—“Greetings”—and changes it to the
Christian word “Grace.” Then, he adds the
typical Jewish idea of “Peace.” In
Hebrew thought, it would have been the word “Shalom.” But, notice that Paul is not sending his
Grace and Peace. Instead, he makes a
theological statement that Grace and Peace can only come from God our Father
and Jesus Christ our Lord.
This
is significant, because Paul is teaching us his theological position in the
introduction of the book. The Grace and
Peace of God are not only better than the grace and peace of the world…God’s
Grace and Peace are the only true Grace and Peace we will ever experience. Just as salvation is a free gift of God’s
Grace that can never be taken away from us, God’s Peace is a Peace which can
never be snuffed out by the conflict and competition of the world. True Peace comes from God and does not depend
on international relations or on living in a favorable environment.
To All the Saints
The
first verse of Philippians addresses Paul’s intended audience: “to all the
saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi.”
Literally,
“saints” means “the holy ones.” We are
not very comfortable with this, but “holy” is one of the words used
consistently in the New Testament to refer to Christians. According to the Bible, you and I are “holy
people.”
We
aren’t comfortable with this, because it makes us think of “holier than
thou.” We don’t want to be people who
think we are so perfect that we can judge other people and look down on their
lives or choices. But, there is something
different about us as Christians.
Christians are not supposed to be like the rest of the world. We don’t live for the same purposes that
other people live for. We are not
motivated by the same things that motivate other people. We are not influenced by the things that
influence other people. We are different
from the world—and different is one meaning of the word “holy.”
God
is holy, because God is different from us.
God’s people are holy, because God’s people are different from the rest
of the world.
Another
meaning for the word “holy” comes from the Old Testament teaching about the
tabernacle and the Temple. The
tabernacle was a tent God’s people used for worship until they reached the
Promised Land and built a more permanent Temple structure. The tabernacle was no ordinary tent. It was holy, because it had been “set apart”
for God’s purposes and not for human purposes.
“Set apart” is another meaning for the word “holy.”
As
Christians, you and I are “holy people,” because we have been set apart to be
used by God for Godly purposes.
When
God gave instructions to build the tabernacle and the Temple, he also
instructed his people to furnish the tabernacle and Temple with forks, bowls
and lamps. These forks, bowls and lamps
were to be “set apart” from ordinary forks, bowls and lamps. The forks were to be used for placing and
removing sacrifices on the altar—they were not to be used for supper. The bowls were to be used for wine and oil
associated with sacrifices—they were not to be used for Frosted Mini
Wheats. The lamps were to be used to
symbolize God’s presence in the Temple—they were not to be used as reading
lamps.
Perhaps
we can learn something from forks, bowls and lamps. In the same way these Temple articles have
been set apart (or even “reserved”) for Godly purposes, your life has been set
apart (or “reserved”) for God. This is
not something you do for yourself.
According to Paul, we become saints (or “holy people”) in Christ
Jesus. Jesus is the one who sets us
apart and uses us in his service.
Of
course, that raises a question about availability. Do you make yourself available to Jesus more
than you make yourself available to other influences?
One
of the things we will notice as we read the Book of Philippians is the way Paul
sets himself up as an example for the Christians at Philippi to follow. Anything they see him doing, they should
imitate in their own lives. He begins
setting himself up as an example by introducing himself as a “servant of Christ
Jesus.”
Servants = Slaves
Unlike
other books Paul wrote, Paul does not introduce himself as an Apostle in these
opening verses. I think there are a
couple of reasons for this.
First,
Paul possibly knew the Christians at Philippi better than most other groups of
Christians during his missionary career.
Reading the Book of Acts, it appears that Paul visited Philippi three
times during his missionary journeys.
The first time, Paul went to Philippi on his second missionary journey
and established the first church in this prominent city. The second and third times, Paul made stops
in Philippi as he was establishing churches in other cities on his third
missionary journey. These stops in
Philippi were not missionary destinations for Paul but were probably personal
visits to encourage the church and to allow them to encourage Paul. These people knew Paul and did not need him
to list all his apostolic credentials.
The
second reason why Paul did not introduce himself as an Apostle probably relates
to Paul’s understanding of the word “servant” and his understanding of himself
as a “servant of Christ Jesus.”
Our
English Bible translators have “sanitized” this word for us. Paul does not call himself a “servant.” He actually calls himself a “slave.” Perhaps it would be offensive for us to read
that Paul considered himself a “slave of Christ Jesus.” After all, we recognize slavery as an evil
institution and have rightfully removed it from modern society. Even though slavery was an important part of
the economy in the First Century Roman Empire, this word for “slave” would have
been even more offensive to Paul’s culture.
Yet, Paul intentionally chose to call himself a slave.
Just
like Twenty-First Century America, the people of the First Century valued
freedom over all other virtues. A First
Century person took a great deal of pride in claiming to be slave to no
one. If a First Century person was a
slave, he or she sought to gain their freedom from slavery at any cost. Freedom was the only way to have
dignity. Without freedom, there was no
dignity. Slaves were not free, and
therefore there was no dignity in being a slave.
In
Acts 16, we read the story of Paul’s first visit to Philippi. Paul didn’t really want to go to
Philippi. He wanted to go to Bithynia,
but the Holy Spirit would not let him.
Instead, Paul had a dream of a Macedonian man pleading with him to come
to Macedonia. So, Paul and his
companions went to Philippi—the leading city of Macedonia. In Philippi, Paul met two women. The first woman was Lydia. She was praying with a group of women at the
river. Paul shared the Gospel with these
women and, through their faith in Jesus, established the first church in
Philippi. A few days later, Paul met a
second woman—a slave woman who was being exploited by her masters to tell
people their futures for money. When
this woman first encountered Paul, she was a nuisance to him. She followed him everywhere he went and
shouted, “These men as SERVANTS of the Most High God, who are telling you the
way to be saved.” Literally, she said,
“These men are SLAVES of the Most High God…”
Paul eventually cast out the demonic spirit from the woman and ended up
in a Philippian jail. But, I want you to
notice that she labeled Paul as a “slave of God.”
Servant
of God and Slave of God are not unusual phrases for you and me. But, this was a highly unusual phrase in
First Century Greek. The Greeks and
Romans valued freedom so much that they didn’t even consider themselves
servants / slaves of their gods.
Instead, they preferred to think of themselves as “friends / lovers of
god.” It was actually an INSULT for this
woman to call a free man a slave of anything—even a slave of the Most High God.
Calling
someone a slave was offensive, because it insinuated that person was not a free
person. He or she had a master and was
not free to live their own life.
Calling
someone a slave was offensive, because it meant that person did not have the
inherent value or dignity of a free person.
The only value a slave could claim was how valuable he was to his
master. The only dignity a slave could
claim was the dignity of her master.
Calling
someone a slave was offensive, because it meant that person lived a life of
service to someone who had more dignity and more value.
In
a remarkable turn of events, Paul came to embrace the words of this slave
woman. He took her insult and turned it
into a compliment. When Paul called
himself a slave of Christ Jesus, he was reinterpreting the meaning of human
life, freedom, dignity and value.
Paul
found the meaning and purpose for his life in service to Christ Jesus. Paul confessed that he was not his own
master. Christ Jesus is his master, and
therefore Paul defines his dignity and value as a person in his service to
Jesus.
Conclusion
Ultimately,
Paul’s understanding of servant / slave is the Gospel.
Our
culture believes that freedom is the most valuable value. We profess freedom of thought, freedom of
speech, freedom of actions, freedom of lifestyle choices, and on and on and on…
Without
Jesus, people only think they are free.
Without Jesus, we are actually slaves to sin, death, law and evil. Non-Christian people do not choose to live as
they live. They live like they do,
because they are slaves to sin and evil.
The
only way to break free from this kind of slavery is to be redeemed through the
cross and Resurrection of Jesus. Jesus
died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin and to offer us forgiveness. Jesus rose again to set us free from death
and to be with us always. He is with us
in our struggle with sin and gives us the strength we lack to overcome our
struggle with sin.
Jesus
died on the cross and rose again to set us free from sin. But, this freedom does not mean autonomy—the
freedom to live our own lives. No. Jesus died and rose again, so that we could
become God’s people—God’s possession.
Sin no longer owns us. Now, we
belong to God.
If
you belong to God, then your life does not belong to yourself. You are God’s possession to be used as only
God sees fit.
Again,
that raises a question about availability.
A servant is always available to his or her master. There is no difference between being
available on Sunday and being available on Monday. A servant is available every day and at all
times to be used as the master sees fit.
You
are not your own master. Either you are
a servant to sin and evil, or you are a servant to Christ Jesus.
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