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Be Bold for the Gospel
...a look at Philippians ch.1
by
Captain Michael Ramsay
The world changes very quickly, doesn't it? I
remember when I was child. I lived in a semi-rural area. All
behind my house were cornfields, beside us were Farmer Wild's
potato fields and we had a very small orchard of our own in
our back yard. The Vantreights, they had Daffodil fields
everywhere; so, between Farmer Wild and the Vantreights there
was no end to seasonal employment for the kids. In the Spring
some of us could even be seen cutting school in order to go
earn a couple bucks cutting daffodils.
These days my parents' home has been completely
swallowed up by my hometown which is now a city of 300 000
people or so. It is the country's 13th largest city.[2] Things
change.
In those days, however, life was different. The
area was semi-rural and dogs could even roam free without
being on a leash or without even their owners. They would
often stroll along by themselves or together in pairs or packs
and then they would meet up with another pack of dogs and
start to investigate each other. Of course, every once and a
while there would be an aggressive dog or two and I certainly
saw more than one dog fight growing up. (Some of these could
be quite scary actually).
We had a dog. His name was Tuffy. Tuffy was a
little border collie/sheltie cross and he was a smart dog but
every once in a while, of course, he would get into one of
these scraps himself. I remember more than once, Tuffy would
see some dog on our block that doesn't belong there. He would
charge them. It wouldn't matter how big is the dog. It doesn't
matter how fierce is the dog; Tuffy runs at them. He's not
afraid of them. He growls at them. He, completely without any
fear, engages the intruder.
Now sometimes, like I said, the dogs are a lot
bigger than Tuffy. Still Tuffy charges, teeth bared- no fear –
he charges the giant intruder with full confidence and then
when the large dog strikes back…He runs away.
The other dog inevitably chases him and Tuffy
runs right toward home. Tuffy runs faster and faster. As the
dog gets closer, Tuffy – never afraid – runs to our next door
neighbour's house. He bounds up the stairs to his deck. The
dog comes flying after Tuffy and arrives on the deck where he
is seemingly trapped and … there is Goldie.[3] Goldie is by
far the biggest dog you have ever seen and Goldie and Tuffy
are quite a pair. They really are the best of friends.
So now the pursuing dog, the dog chasing Tuffy
– which until this moment seemed quite large - is all of a
sudden dwarfed by the giant Goldie, surrounded, and trapped on
our neighbour's deck. Then, after a couple of very noisy
minutes, the intruding dog finds a way out and runs away as
fast as it can never to come back again, and there is little
Tuffy standing at the top of the stairs –(if dogs could
smile)- this little collie-sheltie cross is telling the much
bigger dog, I'm sure, to never to come back! When Tuffy saw
the intruder, he wasn't worried, he engaged him; he did not
avoid a conflict. He was prepared; he was not afraid. He
didn't worry about what could happen to him. His goal was to
encourage his opposition toward Goldie and have Goldie take
care of the rest. This is actually the same sort of thing that
is happening in Paul's life as he writes this letter to the
Christians in Philippi. Paul has been openly engaging the non-
and pre-Christian world. He has met with some strong
resistance and it is just as if he is Tuffy up against a
bigger dog. Paul is even in jail right now as he writes this
letter. Paul is in a jail and jails then, like now, really are
not the best places in the world to be and not only that, Paul
is facing a capital charge[4]. Paul, if convicted, is facing
execution. Paul is seemingly cornered by a larger and an
aggressive part of the pre- and non-Christian world of his day
but he is not afraid of this dog nor is he even apparently
concerned for himself.
Imagine with me that you are in that prison
with him. I don't know how many of you have ever seen the
inside of a prison here. I've seen a couple. I can tell you
that they themselves can be more than a little intimidating –
even when you aren't confined there.
Now imagine that you aren't just in any prison.
Imagine that you are in an off shores American prison – the
Super Power of our day – imagine that you are in Guatanamo or
something and they've actually charged you OR even imagine
that you are in Afghanistan or Pakistan and in the hands of
the Taliban or another such group and imagine that you are
facing a capital charge. Imagine that you are facing execution
if you are convicted…
What would you write in your letters home? If
you could make a video tape or leave a phone message, what
would it say? I imagine that we would be more than a little
afraid. I imagine that we would ask for everyone to pray for
us. We would try to activate a prayer chain on our behalf and
we would get everyone that we could to pray for our safe
return, right? We would send up the prayer alert and ask
everyone to pray for our deliverance…
Now this is interesting because this isn't what
Paul does here at all. Paul mentions that he is in prison but
it is not with his own state that he is concerned
(1:18b-26).[5] He is bold and he is concerned with how well
the Philippians are doing at standing firm in preparing to
meet Christ (cf. 1:11) on the balcony as it were, on the 'Day
of the Lord'.
He is encouraging them to not be afraid and to
be prepared for this 'Day of the Lord' by living in a manner
worthy of the Gospel (1:27) by being united in purpose (1:18;
2:1-8; 3:15-16), staying the course, fighting the foe, and he
is even now rejoicing (cf. 1:3, 6) in the Lord's
accomplishments through them;[6] he is encouraging them to be
bold in making preparations for the day of the Lord's return.
Are they ready for Christ's return?
Look at Chapter One. Instead of 'Please pray
for me', Paul writes in verse 3, 'I thank my God every time I
remember you'. Paul is not concerned about himself. He is
thinking about others and about their participation in the
Gospel and Kingdom of the Messiah. Paul goes on; verse 6: he
tells them how confident he is that God will complete the good
work in them that God has already started. Verses 9 and 10: he
speaks of his desire that their love may overflow with wisdom
and knowledge to help them determine what is best so that they
and, by extension, we are prepared when day of the Lord does
arrive – and He's coming soon – when everyone meets Goldie on
the balcony, Paul wants the Philippians to be prepared; we
should be prepared.
Paul is not worried about his own self and
neither should we be. Paul is concerned about others' ability
to stand firm and be prepared for the Kingdom of God. This is
a man in chains writing here. This is a man facing a death
sentence. This is a man who has put his life on the line for
the Gospel and right now is in jail awaiting appeal. He is in
jail and we don't read in his letter any 'Oh why is this
happening to me, Lord', do we? We don't read any of the, 'What
have I done to deserve this?' or 'How could this be happening
to me?', talk; do we? NO, we don't! Rather Paul is bold
because he is prepared; he says to live or die, both are good.
Death is gain (because of the resurrection) and life, life, is
Christ.
We don't hear him whining and complaining (cf.
Romans 8:19). We don't hear accusations about his captors. We
don't hear him calling down curses upon Caesar. We don't read
of complaints about even the food or his fellow inmates. What
do we hear? We hear that his captors are hearing the Gospel
and we hear Paul encouraging others to be bold and be prepared
to share the Gospel in Philippi.
Paul is in jail and he is concerned about the
Philippians and their courage to fully participate in the
Messianic Kingdom of Jesus when Jesus returns. We should
likewise be bold for the Gospel and concerned that others can
be the same rather than consentrate on what we may or may not
like about our own lives.
Philippi was once a predominately Greek city
but by Paul's time it is a small Roman Colony with special
status and many Romans citizens.[7] It is a city of
privilege[8]. Paul has visited it before, and now he,
imprisoned by the Romans, is writing to encourage them who are
free and in this privileged city to be bold. He is writing
encouraging them how to live – being united in purpose, with
their love overflowing – so that they will be prepared for the
coming 'Day of The Lord'.[9]
Interesting. The one imprisoned is writing to encourage those
who are free. Paul is imprisoned for his defence of Christ. In
our world today, people are still imprisoned for defence of
the Gospel. Missionaries are still martyred but lest we think
ourselves better off than we are in the so-called 'west', let
us not forget that there are Canadians and others who struggle
against our own governments for the Kingdom of God.
Now in Saskatchewan, where I currently reside,
we do have it good. I spoke about Christ in the public
Remembrance Day ceremonies here. The schools put on Christian
plays at Christmas and there was even reference to Christ in
my six year-old's homework - and she goes to public school.
There is still a certain amount of freedom of religion here
but let's not be mistaken about what is happening in this
country and if it is happening here it is happing in other
first world countries as well. Today people are suffering for
the Gospel and we do need to be bold and prepared to stand
firm for Christ because the 'Day of the Lord' is coming.
In BC, in previous sermons and articles[10] I
have mentioned the religious persecution that has already
begun in the public school system. In the 1980s or early 90s,
we were told not even to refer to 'Christmas' in the schools.
We were told rather to call it a 'Winter Festival.' I heard of
Christian student teachers taking a stand at this time and I
heard of some of these Christians not successfully completing
their degree or suffering even worse consequences. Not too
long ago as well, a Surrey school board decided not to have a
book in their libraries entitled, "One Dad, Two Dads, Brown
Dads Blue Dads."[11] It promoted a different world view than
the one held by the those who elected the school board. The
people of Surrey did not want that book to be read to their
children.[12] The Supreme Court and the federal
politicians[13] continue to fail in standing up for these
concerned citizens and the school board members they elected.
They have ruled that the book must stay in the schools.
Even more recently, it was decided in BC's
lower mainland that Christian parents are not allowed to
protect their children from courses –vetted by outsiders who
are not even their regular school teachers - that they feel
encourage counter-Biblical teachings[14]. So not only are
Christians not allowed to try to protect others from what some
consider very dangerous things, but they are forced to subject
their own children to this other worldview/religion (unless
they are able to pay the not inexpensive costs of a private
school education). It is no wonder that since this Atheistic
religious indoctrination has begun in the schools that Atheism
has become the fastest growing religion in BC and with its
growth, this persecution of others.[15] Persecution for
serving Christ is not confined to the Roman Empire of the 1st
Century or the third world of today; so, are we prepared to be
bold in defence of the Gospel?
In Nova Scotia, after the Swissair crash, the
Christian clergy was told not to mention the name of Jesus and
after 9/11, and even though the federal government apologized
for the Swiss Air incident, the only world view represented in
the Canadian ceremonies was that of the Secular-Atheists: God
was not invited; He was to be was excluded from the
ceremonies.
Even though we still have some religious freedom in
Saskatchewan where I heard a local politician encouraging
others to write letters to the editor defending our freedom to
proclaim Christ in the public arena; in Ontario, the
Secular-Atheists are calling for the police to step-in when
politicians dare to pray in even small meetings.[16]
Persecution for serving Christ is real and it is not confined
to the Roman Empire of the 1st Century or the third world of
today. It is happening more and more here in Canada and other
first-world countries of the 21st Century. As it comes here,
are we prepared to be bold in defence of the Gospel? I hope
so. This letter addressed to the Philippians is indeed for us
as well.
We here in Canada and Saskatchewan have it
pretty good, just like the citizens of Philippi did. Canada is
one of the richest countries of the world and a close ally of
the Super Power of our day. Philippi had a privileged status
within the Empire of its day; people had it pretty good by
comparison but even in Philippi persecution had begun and even
now in Canada persecution has begun.
But let's not just lament the acts of our
aggressors. Paul didn't. Let us not run away and hide. The
Philippians were not to. Let us not cry out, 'whoa is me'. Let
us not let our predecessors' preaching be in vain. Let us not
let those who are hauled before the courts in this country for
our faith today do so in vain. Let us rather stand firm in
proclaiming the Gospel. Let us be bold in our preparations for
the 'Day of the Lord.'
Paul is encouraging us, thousands of years
later; Paul is encouraging us, since we have the same
struggles that he had (cf. 1:30), to be bold in our
proclamation and our preparation for the Day of the Lord so
that our love may overflow and so that indeed the harvest of
holiness, the harvest of righteousness may be produced in our
own lives as the Kingdom of Christ will certainly be
established through Jesus and to the glory and praise of God
(1:11; cf. 1:27,28).[17] Let us not be mistaken, in our world
today, as we walk along we, like Tuffy, will run into dogs,
who attack us for the truth of the Gospel of Christ. We will
run into big, aggressive beasts. We must stand firm in
proclaiming and living a life worthy of the gospel (1:27,28).
Like Tuffy did not back down from his adversaries but rather
let them to the balcony to meet Goldie, we should be prepared
to be bold and not back down, and in the process lead even our
aggressors to Jesus Christ - because it is only through Him
that our Salvation comes. ----
[1] Octavius, as he was called at this time,
was allied with Antonius (Mark Antony) and Lepedus against the
republicans, led by Cassius and Brutus. Octavius later
defeated Mark Antony as well which led to the famous story of
Cleopatra's suicide by Asp. Octavius / Augustus, after
securing power, and thanks to Julius Caesar's wrestling power
from the Senate and placing it instead in the leader's hands,
would turn out to be arguably the most powerful Roman Emperor
ever.
[2] 2006 Census. Canadian's largest urban
area:. www.stascan.ca
[3] I can't remember her real name.
[4] Paul may or may not actually be in a jail
as we think of it today. He is still awaiting trial so he
could be in a cave, a secured room, a house, or a barracks.
(Fred B. Craddock, Philippians, Interpretation Series, 1985,
p. 19). Regardless, he is in the hands of the Super Power of
his day, the Roman authority (Paul, of course, is himself a
Roman citizen) and we should not assume that his imprisonment
is necessarily easy. In some of our contemporary Canadian
minimum security facilities, which are undoubtedly more
comfortable than Paul's arrangements, outsiders have greatly
underestimated the effects of confinement upon people.
Imprisonment is not a pleasant experience. Let's not forget as
well that he is awaiting trial for a crime that is punishable
by death. This fact itself does not tend to gain oneself
favour from one's captors. See also DW Palmer, "To Die is
Gain." Novum Testamentum 17. 1975. pp. 203-208, re: release
from imprisonment via death (and later resurrection, of
course).
[5] This segment (1:18b-26) serves to clarify
to readers that even if Paul does die, it doesn't matter and
they (we) should still be encouraged. After all if he does
die, the next thing he knows will be the resurrection, when
the Kingdom to come has indeed been established and gained and
if he does live, he can continue to rally the troops to be
prepared for the coming 'Day of the Lord.'
[6] Paul's reference to "Joy" is repeated
numerous times throughout the letter.
[7] This is particularly interesting in the
context of this letter because it doesn't appear that there
was much of a Jewish population in the tiny city of 10 000
people at all. This is interesting because Paul usually first
evangelised the Jewish communities in the towns. Here there is
no such evidence of such a segment even existing.
[8] There was however persecution of the
Christians in this city. Cf. Philippians 1:28-29.
[9] It is interesting that there is some debate
as to the theme of the letter itself. One thing, however, that
is evident regardless of the primary theme (if there need be
one at all) is that Paul is indeed encouraging the readers how
to act in accordance in relationship to our theological
understanding. Cf. Morna D. Hooker, The Letter to the
Philippians, NIB XI, 476. Cf., also, R.C.H. Lenski, St. Paul's
Epistles to the Galatians, Ephesians, and Philippians, p. 695.
[10] Full citations for the references in this
list are in other sermons and papers of mine, most of which
are available on-line at http://www.sheepspeak.com .
[11] cf: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1040356828066_95http://www.ctv.ca/
servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1040356828066_95///?hub=TopStories
. Cf. also Christianity Today: Parents Flee
Public Schools: "Christians in British Columbia, Canada, are
worried that courts are undermining their religious rights in
the classroom." http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/march/12.23.html
and also the Atheist website, nodeity.com: http://nodeity.com/chamberlain_v_SD36.html
re 'One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dads, Blue Dads'. You can read
the Supreme Court Decision: http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/index.html
- The following phrase is interesting - 'The School Act's
insistence on secularism;' this begs the question why must our
be subjected to the secularist Worldview; neither BC not
Canada were settled or founded upon that mythology. There were
other problems with the books as well. CBC.ca: "This story has
problems with punctuation and grammar throughout. The spelling
of 'favourite' is inconsistent, switching from the Canadian to
the American," said board chair Mary Polak about Asha's Mums.
The board also criticized the book's depiction of men.
(http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2003/06/13/samesex_books030613.html
). It is serious that even though the book is unsatisfactory
for education young people, that it was deemed necessary for
our children to be exposed to it. The courts it appears are
more interested in promoting a secular-atheist worldview than
they are about providing a quality education for our children.
[12] There was, I believe, even an election in
the interim between when the offer of the book was declined by
the school board and when it was forced upon them by the
courts and parliament.
[13] The federal government has the
jurisdiction to make laws to protect its citizens. The Supreme
Court is only allowed to interpret the laws in theory.
[14] Cf. The National Post: 'Gay couple gets
input into school curriculum', http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=80dd8007-ef56-40a7-809d-37936b9d4179&k=51593&p=1
.Cf. also 'Secular-Atheist's religion secures making the
promotion of Homosexuality mandatory in the BC school system.'
Lifesite.net: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jun/06060101.html
Cf. also 'Documents Reveal Government Signed Over Control of
Education to Homosexual Activists': http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jun/06061907.html
. Cf. also: Peter Corren (né Cook) and Murray Corren (né
Warren) — 'Corren is a combination of their former names — are
LGBT-rights activists from Vancouver, British Columbia whose
complaint before the BC Human Rights Tribunal led to an
agreement by which the provincial Ministry of Education will
consult them on how gays are presented in the school
curriculum': http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_and_Murray_Corren
[15] No religion / Atheism is now the largest
religion / World View in BC: StatsCan:
http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/Products/Analytic/companion/rel/bc.cfm
[16] cf. a letter from a former mayor: http://www.secularontario.ca/peterbexam06dec13.html
, CBC.ca: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2007/01/26/prayer.html
, Canadian Christianity.com: http://www.canadianchristianity.com/cgi-bin/na.cgi?nationalupdates/070201prayer
[17] Paul is encouraging us not to fight
amongst ourselves (cf. 1:18: How it is that we proclaim the
gospel doesn't matter; what matters is that it is proclaimed).
He is encouraging us to proper actions, ethics, and to have
love overflowing.
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