Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.
Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God, and glory in Christ Jesus, and put no confidence in the flesh…
We said that “finally” here has an encapsulating function: here’s the take-away of what I’ve said so far. And what is the takeaway of Philippians 1-2? REJOICE IN THE LORD!
Paul says that doing this rejoicing properly involves a negative move; you’ll have to look out for the dogs…. Look out for those who by enjoining Gentile converts to be circumcised so they’ll align with Torah are denying the full scope of what has happened through Jesus: His incarnation, death, and resurrection. Look out for those who would – subtly or blatantly – move you off the gospel of Jesus Christ by placing you into a different story, a sub-gospel story.
Then Paul riffs off this idea of circumcision. There are people who have the true Story that features Jesus Christ written at their core. And Paul says about them (including himself), theybear the true mark of being separated to God. He puts it this way in v.3: We are the circumcision. We’re not carrying around just a superficial marker on one bodily organ. No, we’ve been cut…marked…tattooed deep in ourselves, at our heart. The Gospel has altered us, fundamentally. To use another expression, these who have the gospel carved into their spirit are the genuine disciples or apprentices of Christ.
Well, then, how do these true disciples present? #1 – they worship by the Spirit of God. That is, they worship God. The God they worship is the One presented to them in the Spirit-filled Jesus. And that Jesus is the One presented in the Spirit-inspired Scriptures. So, to worship by the Spirit starts with the text of Scripture. True Christians are taken by the Word!
#2 (and here we’re breaking new ground) – the real Circumcision – that is, those who are positioned to rejoice in the Lord – glory in Christ Jesus. What does that mean?
When you come upon a phrase or a concept in Scripture that you don’t quite understand, one of the first things to do is to ask yourself: has this author used this same word or phrase before? Maybe in the same book/letter? Maybe I can get some clues from learning how he uses it in other contexts.
If you’re really sharp, you’ll recall that, indeed, Paul used that same phrase – glory in Christ Jesus – earlier in the letter. It’s in the section of chapter 1 when he’s ruminating out loud about the pros and cons of…dying! An amazing passage, really. But let’s listen again as he wraps up those thoughts in Philippians 1:24:
…But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. – It’s better for you, even necessary, that I stick around for a while.
Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all… – the fact that he’s needed by this church is so obvious to Paul that he’s confident God will keep him alive for the time being. (This kind of insight and confidence might be strictly “apostolic”…I’d never be brave enough to sound so certain!)
…for your progress … in the faith… Paul lays out how he’s beneficial to the Philippians. They need him to progress… in the faith: because they are so immature in their faith, without his insights and example their faith will slow down and eventually grind to a halt.
…for your… joy in the faith. – And, he says, at the same time as Paul feeds their faith he thereby boosts their joy. Isn’t that interesting? Slow down and mull that over: The Philippians’ joy that arises from their religious experience is of vital importance to Paul. You could even say that he’s being kept from heaven in order that the Philippians church could go deeper into joy.
Notice also that the phrase is a package: for your progress and joy in the faith. Learning and rejoicing: those go together. A Christian rejoices, not out of unsupported hilarity, but because he’s discovered and embraced certain truths. Without Paul around to keep those truths exposed, the Philippians would very possibly lose track of the good news of great joy in the gospel.
…so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus because of my coming to you again… – now it’s hard to know exactly why Paul says this here. But it sounds very much like a further explanation of what he’s just said. Yes, I think Paul is elaborating on what he meant by saying he’s necessary for the Philippians’…joy in the faith. Through the various joys of seeing their mentor released from prison, welcoming him back into their midst, his continued teaching them and bringing them further into the joyful truth, and just his presence – the presence of one who himself loves Christ – – the Philippians will have solid and wide grounds for glorying in Christ.
So, Paul rattles off different species of joy, all connected to himself. The joy of answered prayer. The joy of reunion with a brother-in-Christ. The joy of growing in knowledge. The joy of being with someone who is walking with the Spirit, fighting the good fight, unreservedly serving Christ…these various joys are planks that together lay the platform of glorying in Christ. Conclusion: rejoicing in Christ and glorying in Christ don’t exactly overlap, but you cannot have one without the other.
So, what does it mean to glory in Christ Jesus? Part of the answer is that through and because of Jesus you have discovered much joy. Often different kinds of joy. You’re spotting tiny, little, medium-sized answers to prayer. You enjoy the fact that following Christ provides an intellectual challenge. You’re allowing yourself to relax and simply enjoy the fellowship of the Spirit as He places us near and alongside each other in this great global building project of a temple for God. Instead of being threatened by those who are more spiritually advanced, you’re kind of luxuriating in having these examples and resources close by. I. Love. Following. Christ. It’s so rewarding. I feel at home and hopeful and unafraid.
I appreciate what Mike has emphasized a couple of times: Christians aren’t Vulcans. We’re not unemotional. We’re not even less emotional. We’re not even necessarily less expressive. I think what might separate us from the world in regard to emotions is that we want to ensure that our emotions are springing out of truth. But here’s the thing: in bedrock reality we find great reasons for joy!
Repeat: To glory in Christ Jesus is to find much joy in him. So, a mark of the true believer is something that is very much connected with joy. The world is a complaining world. It’s a gloom-and-doom world. Fearful. Carping. Living in malice, hating and being hated, says Paul in another place. Frustrated. Weighed down in secrets and shame. Scared of dying. Addled in vanity. Lonely. Confused. Driven by greed. Always striving for a legacy or a sense of importance. Always involved in some rivalry with sibling or neighbor. Always trying to live up to other’s expectations (at least what they imagine those are).
Meanwhile Christians say Yee-haw. They say Yee-Haw because they’re constantly taking stock and appreciating what they have in Christ. I remember watching the movie Silas Marner when I was a boy. There was a scene when Silas, the old reclusive miser, opened his floorboard and took out all the bags of coins he had saved throughout the years. You could tell he performed this ritual often. Anyway, he took out the bags, emptied out the coins, picked them up, and let them flow through his fingers. That’s how Christians are to go about relishing all the goods they have in Christ. The hymns, the books, the buildings, the traditions, the civilizations, the martyrs, the missionaries, the teachers, the forgiveness of sins, the great doctrines, the memories with the church, the evening spent together, the Holy Spirit sent out, the prayer, the confidence… Oh, Christ, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
I should say (again!) that glorying in Christ Jesus doesn’t preclude the presence of sadness. We are called to suffer. To suffer life well. To suffer God’s timing well. To suffer to hold on to hope and not give in to despair.
But in the middle of suffering, true apprentices of Christ are also learning to glory in Christ Jesus, to discover and revel in all He is for them, all He has accomplished for them and for the life of the planet.
Moving on: in trying to figure out what it means to glory in Christ Jesus we first looked at how Paul used the phrase in other places. A second step will be to just think about the whole concept of “glory” as it’s used throughout the Scripture. Glory is a big word in Scripture. There are at least two ways of getting at its meaning, one that we’ll quickly discuss today.
The Hebrew word chabod, translated glory, literally means weight.
When you think of glorying in Christ Jesus you can think of ascribing weightiness, significance, to Him. I can pick up this kettlebell and have something else on my mind. Perhaps with this one too. But when I pick up this heavyweight, it has my full attention. To glory in Christ Jesus means He has your attention! It isn’t merely mouthing pieties or putting a tremor in your voice or throwing a few religious motions into your life.
We humans have this tendency to want to kinda buy off God. God, I’ll go to church 75% of the weeks of the year and then you make sure my life shines. The problem with these kinds of unspoken “deals” is not simply that they’re crass and shallow and slimy. But that those who make these “deals” misapprehend who this Christ is – in their minds he’s not a heavyweight!
Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Don’t think of Him as a lightweight. As a pretty figure. Sentimentally. To glory in Christ Jesus means that Christ Jesus truly has your attention, because He should have your attention. There’s a line from a T.S. Eliot poem that I’ll often say to myself on walks: In the juvescence of the year/ Came Christ the tiger. Christ the Tiger – that’s a fitting image.
There’s also a little exchange from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe that I included in the bulletin. Little Susan is talking to Mr. Beaver before meeting the great Aslan, the Christ figure of Narnia. “Aslan is a lion- the Lion, the great Lion.” “Ooh” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion”…”Safe?” said Mr Beaver …”Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
Christ the Lion – another fitting image.
What does it look like for Christ to have your attention, for Him to be weighty, to glory in Christ Jesus? We have a great illustration in Acts 21:
27 When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, 28 crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place. Moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” 29 For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. 30 Then all the city was stirred up, and the people ran together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut. 31 And as they were seeking to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. 32 He at once took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. And when they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 33 Then the tribune came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. He inquired who he was and what he had done. 34 Some in the crowd were shouting one thing, some another. And as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks. 35 And when he came to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd, 36 for the mob of the people followed, crying out, “Away with him!”
37 As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the tribune, “May I say something to you?” And he said, “Do you know Greek? 38 Are you not the Egyptian, then, who recently stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?” 39 Paul replied, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people.” 40 And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language, saying:
What stands out to you here? Put yourself into Paul’s sandals. (Remembering those sandals very well could at the moment be bloodied!). What do you say? You’ve been beaten up by your countryman for the umpteenth time. Did you notice that little “at once the gates were shut.” Paul is considered a contaminant to the clean temple. He could’ve expressed frustration with that. He could explain what actually happened with Trophimus. He could thank the tribune for interjecting himself and saving Paul’s life. This whole thing about the Egyptian terrorist – he could spend time distancing himself from him and perhaps at the same time, from other Christians etc. Hey guys, I’m not a terrorist. I’m against all forms of violence…. He could go on about my rights! My intentions! My pain!
But Paul heads right for, let me tell you about the time I first met Christ. (And stunningly, he leads off with “Brothers and fathers…”) So, what does it look like to glory in Christ? To take him seriously? One word I’ll use, and it jumps out repeatedly when you’re reading through Acts: FOCUS. Paul just keeps returning to Christ Jesus.
Now, focusing on Jesus Christ doesn’t mean that you’re always trying to change the subject back to Christ. What it means is that all topics – politics, education, child-rearing, art, stories, mountains, grilling, horses, grandparenting, mucking out the stalls, aerospace, the Golden Globes, fencing, granite countertops, the weather, plans – you’re regularly, intentionally relating everything to Christ. Said the Prime Minister of the Netherlands in the early 1900s: “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!”
My pastor growing up was a guy named Matt Olson. Matt’s father, Ross, was a Captain in the navy, and I swear he modeled this aspect of glorying in Christ better than anyone I’ve met. I got to know him when we lived in Virginia Beach during seminary. I spent a few nights at his house while scouting out the seminary. He was a big sports guy, and we’d be sitting there watching the NBA game, talking about players…and then somehow that conversation flowed right into Christ! For Captain Ross, Christ Jesus was a heavyweight. Eventually, He just took over everything.
Do you glory in Christ Jesus? That is, do you make it a habit of gathering together various ways that Jesus has brought joy into your life, and just kinda basking in those? Are you becoming more proficient in delighting in the Lord? Or are you the frustrated one? The one who’s not quite ready to relax and rejoice…who needs _____X______ to happen first? Are you too busy to rejoice? Is your life, thought life, undisciplined so that you find it nearly impossible to attend to what Christ has done for you? Does your family know you as a complainer, a moody one? Or, would they say, she knows she’s been treated well by Christ?
And, is Christ the heavy weight in your life? Or is He just another among many interests? Is He Christ the Tiger. Christ the Lion.
And Christ the Lamb. We gather at the Lord’s Table to remember that once this King’s face was mauled, his flesh was flayed open, and out of him poured life blood…for our transgressions! Does He have your attention now?!
The Lord’s Supper is an ordinance for members of the Church. We eat alongside each other, remembering it’s his life and death that has brought us together. It is Christ whom we have in common. Let’s confess our common faith using the words of the Apostle’s Creed printed in your bulletin. Christian, what do you believe?
I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried;
he descended into the realm of death;
on the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy universal Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.
Amen.
As the men pass the bread and the cup, they’ll say to the one taking the tray from them, {Name}, the body of Christ broken for you. Then with the cup, {Name}, the blood of Christ shed for you. Will you then pass on the tray the same way, saying the person’s name and telling them this body was broken for them. In doing this we’re reminded of the priesthood of all believers.
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