Philippians: Part 2 - Moving Toward A Positive Attitude
SERMON TRANSCRIPT
Just a great opportunity to be here and share with you this morning. Now last week, we started this Philippians series that was started last week by Pastor Andre, and I had a chance to listen to that online because I wanted to get a little idea of what he was talking about. He did a great job of giving an overview of how the church in Philippi started, but he had a statement that he used in there that was kind of the key, I believe it was, to what he was sharing with, and he said that we have talked about partnerships that we have, and he says we have a partnership with Christ and with each other. And that's vital to grab a hold. I want to remind us of that, that we have a partnership with Christ and with each other. And that's so vital to a faith community, to understand our partnership with each other and with Christ. And I'm excited to be a part of this series because Philippians is my favorite book in the Bible, and my favorite verse in the Bible is Philippians chapter two, verse five. I remembered it and memorized it out of what's called the J.B. Phillips translation when I was in high school, and that was about a minute ago that I was there. And here's how I memorized it. I've never forgot this. It simply says this. “Let Christ Jesus be your example as to what your attitude should be.” And that's what we're going to talk about this morning.
We're going to talk about how Paul helps us to understand the imperativeness and the importance of having the right attitude. And I love the fact that Paul talks about this because you think about where he's writing from. He's not writing from an ivory tower. As was mentioned last week, he's writing from being imprisoned. He is chained between two guards. He can't go anywhere. And then around him swirling is all this controversy that's happening in the church. And so he's writing from that perspective, and I think that's important for us to see and to hear, because sometimes we think, well, only time people talk about having a good attitude and when things are going well for them. And Paul talks about this in his context. And I will say this. This is something I've learned, and maybe you've learned this as well, is that it is It's much easier for me to have a positive perspective about your problems than my problems. Ever find that to be true? Oh yeah, when with someone else's problems we have a good attitude towards that and we also somewhere if you're like I am in the back of your mind you're going, "Man, I'm better you than me in that situation." And so we're going to talk about how Paul talks with us and shares with us about how how we can move towards a positive attitude that we can choose, foundational in our relationship with Jesus Christ. And we, you know, we hear like today, you know, some people will say, "Well, it's partly cloudy or can it be partly sunny?" We say, "Is the glass half full or half empty?" My dad used to always say, "A tire is only flat on the bottom." Which is actually true, but still odd, by the way. So we have these perspectives that we begin to gear in life. Sometimes we say, well, we have all these problems, and some people say, no, you really have opportunities. And a lot of times that's just it. It's just very contrasting kind of situations that we find ourselves in.
And Paul, as he is talking about this, he gets to a point where he allows us, through his word as he's writing this letter, and we're going to be looking at Philippians chapter 1 verses 12 through 26 as we begin to look at this and as Paul talks to us. So if you have a Bible with you or if you happen to be having it on your app or whatever it might be, open it up as we can follow along together. Now I'm using the New Living Translation, so if yours is a little bit different than what mine says, that would explain that particular thing. And I just want to share several practical things about how you and I can move toward a positive attitude as Paul talks to us from his situation. And I want to remind us again, even though I've already said it, that he is writing from a difficult situation. He's writing from prison. He's where he doesn't want to be. He's in a situation and his circumstances are not the best. And in the meantime, around him is all this controversy, and it's from this context that Paul writes and we can pull principles for us from his life as he shares it along the way. The first thing is this, if we want to move towards a positive mindset, then we need to change our attitude, or excuse me, change our outlook, change your outlook. Verse 12 says this, "And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to to me here has helped to spread the good news. For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God's message without fear." So what was he doing? In the midst of this situation, he was saying, "Yeah, I know where I'm at here." But he chooses to look at the, I guess you could say, the bright side of the situation. He changes his outlook. He moves from just where he is to what's happening out there. He says, "Well, yes, I'm here, "but the gospel's being spread." He said, "I'm here, but the believers who are not here "are getting boldness and confidence in their sharing." He chose not to look at his current reality, which was his imprisonment. Instead he looked at what that imprisonment was providing for the greater perspective. You see, Paul refused to see him as a captive. In fact, here's what I think I think. I think he actually saw the guards as the ones that were imprisoned. You see, he's chained between these two guards, and he's there and he's sharing his testimony. He's telling about Jesus. They can't go anywhere. Maybe you're at the office sometime and you have the opportunity to share your faith story and people say, "Well, excuse me, I've got to go over here right now." They can't do that. They're more in prison than he is. Because they have a job, they have to stand and listen to him as he shares his story. And so, as we go through our life, there are times when we just have to simply choose to change our outlook.
Now, some of you here know Joni, my wife, and we've been married. Are you ready for this? I haven't said it yet. This is pretty good. I know. Well, this coming June, we'll be married 49 years. We got married when we were 10, but that's okay. We're, you know, 49 years. And back in the '80s, this is the 1980s, not the 1880s, okay? Back in the 1980s, Joni was having some problems with her neck. We didn't know what it was, and she was, we were going to some doctors and chiropractor and everything, and trying to get this. She even went to a dentist and he said it was your wisdom. Anyway, all these problems in her neck. And finally, we got it diagnosed. And we found out that she had had, in her top part of her spinal column, the vertebrae had collapsed on itself. that's what was causing it, she didn't have any feeling in her hands, the whole thing. We found out really in all intents and purposes, she had a broken neck. And so when we got it taken care of, of course we saw we had to get it taken care of, and we found out later that the problem was that she had this slow growing tumor that had been there, benign thankfully, that had been there since she was probably a little girl because it's typically there in the lives of young people, kids, not adults. And so the perspective was that probably over all these years, slowly this tumor was growing and hollowing out this vertebrae, and it collapsed upon itself. So she went in for surgery. They had to pull her neck, stretch her neck like this, put in a-- she actually has a cow bone in her colon. I said, well, I thought it might be the bone of an ass. I'm really glad that that's what it is. We won't go any further than that. Anyway, and so she had to be in some form of a neck support for a year, for 12 months. And so when we were-- finally she got home. We had some friends of ours, Jim and Mary Ann. And Mary Ann was a wonderful lady, a good friend of Joni's. And so for many weeks, she came over at least once a week, and she cleaned the house. Because Joni couldn't do it. She looked at me and said, I know you're not going to do it. We had little kids, of course, at that time. So she came over every day and cleaned the house and was and would visit with Joni Well, we were with them just about a week ago Hadn't really hadn't seen him in many many years. We reconnected that actually had a memorial service So mutual friends and so we got together and Mary Ann told this story She said when I would come over and and and Joni would have this neck brace on She said Joni would always say to her I can be a pain or I can be a blessing and I'm choosing to be a blessing. You see Joni changed her outlook in that situation and then Mary Ann went on to say she goes Joni I've never forgotten that. In fact, I tell people constantly when they're going through challenging times you can be a pain or you can be a blessing.
So that's what we're talking about here in everyday life and situation that we encounter and circumstance that we don't anticipate And it may not even be that big of a thing in your life, but it's big to you. Here's the thing Problems are always bigger when there are problems Which is true But yet Paul says that regardless our situation we can change our outlook Then he goes on and gives us the next thing that we can do and apply to our lives that we want to clarify the situation In verses 15 through 17 it says it is true Now look how Paul lays this out He says it is true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry But others preach about Christ with pure Motives they preach because they love me for they know I have been appointed to defend the good news Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition not sincerely intending to make my change more painful to me So so what are you doing? He is he is laying out the reality of the situation see sometimes people say when you have a more of a positive than a negative bent in your life is Because you are a pie in the sky kind of person which means that you just are living in a dream world world. That's not what it means. Paul is so aware of his situation. He's imprisoned. Some are preaching the gospel out of pure motives. Some are preaching because they have an ambition to be known as a speaker or a preacher, whatever it might be. And so he's very well aware of his situation. But the difference is that he's going to to make the decision to be positive anyway to look at what really is happening in all this situation he doesn't ignore this situation he is simply refuses to allow the situation to inform how he is going to respond and I recognize this is much easier said than done because well you're in the fire of a situation. Even though we know that we can be the ones to choose how to respond, it can sometimes become very difficult for us. And this was what Paul was talking about. I love the story. It's a parable. I don't think it's true, but it makes a point. There were two shoe salesmen that were sent to an island to sell shoes, to expand the business of the company they worked for. When they got there, they discovered that everybody there was barefoot. So one of the gentlemen texted back to his company, said, "I need to come back. Everybody here doesn't wear shoes." The other salesman texted his company and said, "Send more shoes. No one here wears shoes." Same situation, different perspective. That's all it is. And Paul says that here's the situation, but this is going to be my perspective. Thirdly, he says, choose response, choose your response to life. Because he just laid out all these things that are going on. Some are preaching the gospel for good reasons, Some are out of impure motives and selfish ambition.
And then he says in verse 18, "But that doesn't matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached. Either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice, for I know that as you pray for me in the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, "This will lead to my deliverance." I love that. He says, "This is what's going on, but what does it really matter? The important thing is happening. Jesus is being proclaimed. The gospel is being preached. That really doesn't matter. We'll let everything else sort itself out at this point, but we see what's really going on here." And I love how he says this. He says, "Christ is being preached either way." And at least this is how I kind of see or sense how he might be saying this. He says, "So I rejoice." And then I kind of envision him pausing for a minute and thinking, "And I will continue to rejoice." Like, "Let me give you some thought, "and I'm gonna keep doing this, "'cause it's the right thing to do." James Clear, who is a business author, I don't know if he's a believer or not, but he wrote a book called The Atomic Habits, and here's what he says. He says, "I can't control the other person's behavior, but I can control my response. Their actions may be rude or unacceptable, but I will want my response to be measured and thoughtful. Even if they aren't doing what is right, I will want to make sure I'm doing what is right. That's what Paul is saying. He actually is parodying Paul. He may not know it, but he is. I used to tell my kids, and now I tell my grandkids, I say, "You cannot control what people say about you. you can control if what they say is true. That's all you can control. People may say, I mean, I can call all kinds of things. Probably you have too. Throughout my life, some things have been said to me that I knew were rightly not true, but you know what? I can't control that. All I can control is what that person has said is true. And the same with any of us here. People may talk about us and talk about you or whatever, but you can't control that and try to go back and try to control it, it will just cause frustration. Instead, all you can control is if what they're saying is true. Number four, he says, he has confidence in the outcome. Confidence in the outcome.
So, verse 20, "For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ as I have been in the past and I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ whether I live or die." See, Paul was confident. He had an expectation that everything was going to work out well. It's another thing I learned from my wife. She always says everything's is going to work out. Sometimes when she says that, I'm thinking, I think you're really wrong on this one. I'm not really sure everything's going to work out, but it usually does. I can remember as a kid, and my dad was a roofing contractor, self-employed, had his own business, and those of you who have had your own business know this principle in life. When you don't work, you don't make money. So when I grew, growing up, I never knew what a vacation was. 'Cause we didn't take vacations. We'd come back from summer break, and of course you'd get to school, at least when I was a kid, they'd always say, tell us about your summer vacation. And I always thought, well, it was pretty much like it was before I left, I didn't, nothing. However, we did do one thing most summers. We lived in San Diego, by the way, and we would make a trip to Disneyland up in Anaheim. We'd drive up there. Now, back in the day, we didn't have the freeway system that we do now, so it was a little bit longer to get there. And back in the day, Disneyland wasn't surrounded by all these hotels and other things going on. As we would drive up there, the thing that you could see first was always the Matterhorn. Do they have the Matterhorn anymore? I don't know, but Mountain, the Matterhorn. And so as we got closer, my dad knew we would be getting closer, he would always say, "Who's gonna be the first one to see the Matterhorn?" So we had this expectation and we would anticipate it, and we would look because we knew as soon as we saw the Matterhorn, we were almost there. And here's Paul talking about, "I have this expectation that I will not be ashamed. I will continue to be bold for Christ." He has this expectation and when we have that we can have more of a positive mental perspective on things. And then lastly he says we have to be controlled by Christ. See when when you hear this and if we don't we don't understand the foundation of all of this, I think well that's just kind of a rah-rah positive mental attitude kind of sharing. No, it is, but it's not because what we can conjure up, it's because of that we are controlled by Christ.
It says in verse 21, "For to me living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more faithful work in Christ, so I really don't know which is better. I'm torn between two desires. I long to go to be with Christ which would be far better for me, but for your sakes it is better I continue to live. Knowing this, I am convinced that I remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith. And when I come to you again, you have even more reason to take pride in Christ Jesus because of and what He has been doing through me. See, knowing our standing in Christ allows us to stand in any circumstances that we encounter, but the foundation is our relationship with Jesus Christ. Knowing God is sovereign, which literally just means He has everything under control, ultimately. Even though there are times it seems like He has nothing under control. But he has everything under control. When we know that God is sovereign and ultimately he has everything under control, we can rest and trust in what he is doing and will do. When we know Christ, we know that he wants to do things in us and through us. In Ephesians chapter 5 verses 15 and 16, we read these words. So be careful how you live. Don't live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Because we know Christ. Because we have a foundation in Him, then we can live wisely. We can make the most of every opportunity that comes across our paths in Christ. Now on most school days, I would go over and pick up my nine-year-old grandson to take him to school. when I drop him off on the curb at school, I always say two things, always, two things to him. I say, "Miles, I love you, and," ready for this, "make it a great day." And I want to emphasize the fact that I ask him to make it a great day, because what do usually people say? "Have a great day? That kind of leaves a lot to chance, doesn't it? Have a great day, well maybe something goes on you don't want, but I don't know if I can have that great year, but if I say, make it a great day, I'm communicating, no I get it, I get it, he's nine, I get it. So maybe it's more for me than for him, I don't know. But when I say, make it a great day, I'm saying, Miles, you got a lot of choices during this day, you're gonna have a lot of opportunities. Make it a great day. You choose the kind of day you're gonna have. You take responsibility for your day. Now again, I don't say all that stuff, but that's the underlying meaning. Maybe when he gets older, he'll understand that. I get it. Like I said, he's nine. When we begin to look for the best things that can happen daily, it's making the most of every opportunity. So no matter what encountered throughout the day because you may have a foundation in Jesus, you can look and say, "I'm looking for the opportunity in this. I'm gonna look and see what God is doing in this. I'm gonna see how I might be used by God in this. I want to see what God has to teach me in this." And so you begin to understand that life is and Jesus is what we make it and as we're open and responsive to him as I mentioned before foundational to all of this foundational to all that Paul was talking about in this passage was he had a relationship with Jesus Christ that he knew Jesus in an intimate way and he had the relationship with Jesus so that in In all these challenging times, he can be confident in who he is and who Jesus wants to be through him.
Now this morning you may have a, already have a relationship with Jesus, but yet maybe there are things that you haven't begun to realize that you can trust Jesus with, that he can help rearrange how you look at the things happen in your life. And this morning you may want to realize that, "Boy, I want to do what Paul says. I want to make sure I have more of a positive perspective because of what Christ is doing in me and through me and all the things that I encounter throughout any given day." Or you may not know Jesus in a personal way. You may know about Jesus, but you don't know Jesus. And you would like to have the opportunity to ask Christ to come into your life and to begin to transform you from the inside out. And I wanna give you that opportunity. So there actually are two things I'd like you to consider doing this morning. The first one is this, if you are a follower of Jesus, but you haven't really locked into the fact that God wants to use every situation in your life to build you up, to glorify his name, no matter how difficult they may be at any given time, then you want to commit yourself, Lord, help me to see things from your perspective. Help me to look for the positive in anything I come to grips with. Help me to know. And if you don't know Jesus, Very simple. You just gotta ask Him to come into your life and transform you and restore you in the right relationship with God. So in a moment, here's what I'm gonna do. I'm just gonna ask you to bow your heads. And prayer is simply talking to God. There's no magic formula. It's simply in your own words talking to God. So I'm gonna just give you just a few moments, And if you've not asked Jesus Christ into your life in your own way, ask him to come into your life and begin to transform your life. And if you know Jesus, then take this opportunity to just ask him to empower you to have the right perspective in the life that you encounter going out through this week. Just take a moment, quiet and do that. Father, you're doing a work in people's lives this morning. Father, for some it's the realization that they really haven't known you. They've known about you, but they haven't known you, and today they asked you to come into their life and to transform you, transform them to forgive their sins, and make you into the person that you, Lord, created them to be. And then, Father, there are some here who have been walking with you, but yet they've not trusted you in situations that they've encountered, they may be encountering right now. So God, I pray that you would simply confirm that you are present in their circumstances, confirm that they are your children, and that you want to be with them in everything, no matter what it may be, no matter how difficult it may be, that you want to be there with them. So Father, we give you honor and glory for what you've done in the lives of people this morning. And we ask that in Jesus' name. Amen.