PARTNERS!
December 6, 2009
Second Sunday in Advent
Philippians 1:2-11
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Dear Friends in Christ,
During the summer of 1904 an unlikely business partnership formed. Legend says that an ice cream vendor was selling ice cream at the World’s Fair in St. Louis. But he had a problem. The heat was driving people to his booth and they wanted something cold to eat. But the vendor ran out of bowls into which to put the ice cream. Meanwhile in the booth next door there was a pastry chef. On that hot day he was trying to sell warm Persian wafer deserts. But he wasn’t having too much success. Then he had an idea. He took one of his wafers, rolled it into a cone shape and showed his neighbor how it could hold a scoop of ice cream. And so the story goes – a partnership was formed between an ice cream man and a pastry chef, and the happy result was the invention of the ice cream cone.
Our sermon theme today is PARTNERS, and in our text for today we find that Paul considers the Philippian congregation of believers to be in partnership with him under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. So also on this Second Sunday in Advent, as we receive 13 families into church membership, we want to learn again and anew what it means to be partners under the Lordship and guidance and blessing of Jesus Christ. Two parts to our sermon. First of all, we are partners IN the Gospel, and secondly –we are partners FOR the Gospel.
I. Partners in the Gospel – The apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Philippian Christians about ten years after he had visited that city. It all started on a Sabbath Day when Paul and his companions went to the banks of a river outside the city. There they found a Jewish place of prayer. Paul had preached the Gospel of forgiveness through Jesus, and the Holy Spirit had worked faith in the hearts of a number of people, including a lady named Lydia. From that time on Lydia and others supported Paul and the Christian Gospel with the time, talents, and treasure. Some time later in Philippi, some people stirred up the crowds against Paul and Silas. The missionaries were thrown in jail but that very night a great earthquake broke open the doors of the prison. The jailer was ready to kill himself for letting his prisoners escape, but when he saw Paul and Silas still there, he threw himself at their mercy and cried, “What must I do to be saved?” That very night the jailer in Philippi and his entire household were baptized into Gospel partnership. In our text for today, Paul is again sitting in prison and has just received a generous financial gift from the church in Philippi, and he writes, “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the Gospel.
Joy and happiness are not always the same. Paul’s circumstances in life were not happy, but his heart was filled with a joy that focused on Jesus. Happy days come our way when our lives are going relatively smoothly, but joy in the heart and mind has to do with being baptized into the Name of the Triune God. Happy days have to do with good health and more than enough money to pay the bills, but Christian joy has to do with the forgiveness of sins and the presence of God. Happy days have to do with wonderful vacations and wedding days and opening presents on Christmas Eve, but Christian joy has to do with the birth and life and suffering and death and resurrection and ascension and coming back again of our Lord Jesus Christ. Happy days have to do with our temporary achievements and successes and milestones in life but true and lasting joy have to do with what God has already done and is doing and shall be doing into eternity on our behalf. First of all today, we celebrate that we are partners in the Gospel, by virtue of believing and being baptized into that Gospel.
Secondly, we learn again today that we are PARTNERS FOR THE GOSPEL. The great Baptist minister Spurgeon was talking to a farmer friend out in the country one day, and he noticed a cow with its head over a stone wall looking out into the distance. The preacher asked the farmer, “Why is that cow looking over the wall?” To which the farmer answered in deadpan fashion, “Because she can’t see through it.”
You and I have our own stone walls in life, do we not? Call them setbacks, rejections, disappointments, discouragements, or apparent unanswered prayers. Call them what you will. In those times, God may seem distant, and we just can’t seem to see our way through our problems. The solution is to do what that cow did. Look over the problem. Fix your eyes on Jesus and keep your sights fixed on the Author and Finisher of your faith. The One Who is perfectly willing and able to bring to completion the good work He started inside of you.
We are PARTNERS FOR THE GOSPEL. On behalf of the Kingdom of God. In your bulletin today is a 35 question survey that measures the Missional Climate here at Trinity Lutheran. No doubt you’re not all that crazy about surveys, but this one will take perhaps 15 minutes, and it will help your leaders in this place to measure how our partnership in the Gospel is going in this place. To be missional is to think and speak and act in a way that is consistent with our mission statement in this place – which is to make disciples for Jesus Christ.
What does a missional church look like and sound like? Five answers to that question. First of all, Divine Worship is vibrant and Christ – centered. Law and Gospel are clear and compelling in every sermon. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are high points. Believers are challenged to live their lives in response to all that Christ has done for them. Music is well done, and worshipers are singing with joy instead of mumbling or daydreaming along. Members and visitors alike are greeted in such a way that they feel welcome.
Second, discipleship is strong, calling members to grow in and through the Word of God. On a regular basis, listeners are challenged to daily read their Bibles and to pray on the basis of that Word. Biblical principles of marriage and parenting and vocation are taught in a dynamic and interesting manner in every season of the church year.
Third, missional churches emphasis serving one another in response to Christ first serving us. People are kind and patient with one another because God has been kind and patient with them. People forgive as they have been forgiven and serve as they have been served.
Fourth, missional churches emphasize reaching out to those who do not yet know Christ as their Savior or have drifted away from their Savior. I read some statistics this week you should find alarming. In 1900 there were 550 million Christians in Europe and North America, which amounted to 85% of the population. In 2000 there were 2 billion Christians in Europe and North America but the percentage of Christians was only 39%. By 2025, it is predicted that there will be 2.6 billion Christians in Europe and North America, but the percentage will be only 30%. Even if we assume that our work places and communities are above average – one could still safely say that 60% or 50% of the people you will rub elbows with this week do not know Jesus as their Savior or have drifted so far away from His church that they are walking on very very thin ice, spiritually speaking. In a missional church, these kinds of statistics and the many stories of spiritual decline all around us are breaking the hearts of leaders and members alike.
Fifth, in a missional church leadership is strong and growing. The number of servants is multiplying and so is ministry. Conflicts are resolved in Biblical fashion. Boards and committees have prayerfully set and written missional goals and have a method to hold themselves accountable. The decision making structure in the church is streamlined to put mission ahead of traditions that don’t make so much sense anymore.
I don’t know about you, but when I hear presentations like this, I get tired and I wonder if we’re doing anything right around here. Of course, we are, by the grace of God. This is His Church, and Jesus Christ gets work done through sinful people like us and often in spite of people like us. Is there room for improvement in this place? Of course. Does God want us to be tired and discouraged and pessimistic in our approach to mission and ministry? Of course not! Does God still love us and does He still get a kick out of forgiving us and giving us another second chance? Of course He does! Does God have a plan to prosper us and to heal us and to use us so that His kingdom is extended? Absolutely! Do we have to have that plan figured out ahead of time? No! Should we trust that God still wants to be in partnership with us and that He will continue to teach and to guide and to discipline and to nurture us in His own way and time? Yes, we may absolutely confident that even though we will often stumble around like a bunch of foolish and stubborn and ornery and selfish sinners, as often as we wait on the Lord and trust in our Lord, there will be times where we will actually soar as on the wings of an eagle. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Pastor Larry Griffin
Trinity Lutheran Church and School
"Making Disciples for Jesus Christ"