Speaking the Truth in Love

Read Ephesians 4

It’s October.  Traditionally, that’s the start of the Federal Governments Fiscal Year.  Of course, funding an entire year at a time seems to be ancient history.  It is the beginning of our local church’s fiscal year.  Several years ago, we decided that we didn’t like budgeting at Christmas time and moved our budging process up to August with an effective date of 1 October.  It seems to be working.

The first Monday in October is still when the Supreme Court of the United States convenes.  That hasn’t changed.

October is sports month.  Baseball, basketball, football, hockey, golf, and others are all underway.  If you are a sports junkie, October is your best fix of the year.

October in Oklahoma is a month when not all of the days feel like summer.

October is also when we realize, man has this year flown by.

In the last several weeks of this fleeting year, we have been on this topical trek of truth and today’s alliteration comes at no extra charge.  We turn to Paul’s words to continue this journey.  We look at words used frequently with good intentions but often out of context.  What words?

Speaking the truth in love.

These words and this thought are good thoughts and perhaps should be applied beyond its original context, but let’s understand this context first.

Paul writes to the church in Ephesus.  He was not liked much in the community as his teaching cut into the business and profits of the makers of idols.  Ephesus had a fantastic temple to the goddess Diana or as she was known in Greek, Artemis.

Paul’s preaching here on his second and third missionary journeys accomplished much for the Lord but stirred up those who did not believe and were losing business when their false gods were labeled as false gods.

So Paul is writing to a church that he knows well from whatever abode he has as a prisoner in Rome.  Paul begins encouraging this church by reminding them how blessed they are in Christ.

In Christ we have been given every spiritual blessing.

We are chosen to be holy and blameless.

In Christ we are God’s adopted children.

In his blood we have redemption and the forgiveness of sins.

Our hope is in him.

We are sealed by him in the Holy Spirit.  We are his.

We are made alive in Christ.

We are raised up with Christ into the heavenly realm.

In Christ, we are God’s handiwork—his workmanship—prepared in advance to do good things.

We are joined together in Christ.

In him, Jew and Gentile alike become one body and share his promises.

In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.

We are called to be strong in him and in his mighty power.

Paul is writing to a church that he knows well.  He knows their struggles and the ungodly surroundings in which he planted this church.  So he does his best to remind them of the blessings that they have received in Christ Jesus.

But, he can’t leave them there.  There is counsel to follow on how to live being so blessed in an environment that opposes you.  So before the counsel begins, Paul includes a prayer.

 For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.  I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,  and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,  to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Paul precedes his counsel with prayer, but here comes the counsel. The first challenge is very general.  Live a life worthy of the calling that you have received.

Then he adds some specifics.  Be humble, gentle, patient, and bear with one another.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit.

We are people of one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father who is all, and through all, and in all.

Don’t you get it?  We are one family—God’s family—in Christ.  We have different Gifts but we are one.  Elsewhere Paul discussed  gifts in the body and how one part of the body can’t say it’s better than another or that another is not needed.

But as he writes to the Ephesians, unity in the body is central to his message.  And so we come to this very familiar passage.

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.  From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Speaking the truth in love is about our own growth.  We talked before about speaking the truth to each other.  That is essential to the Christian life.  It is essential to following Jesus, but Jesus said that we who follow him will be known by our love.

So we who have professed Jesus as Lord must speak the truth in a spirit of love.  We don’t sugar coat anything but we are not motivated by anything but love.

Hey, Tom, you’ve been picking your clothes out by yourself lately haven’t you?

I guess that was in a spirit of love, or not.

We must speak the truth to each other and do it in a spirit of love.  What this means is that we can speak truthfully to each other even with subjects that are difficult to talk about.  We can do this because we are becoming mature in Christ.

It’s easy to say, you had better quit smoking.  Those things will kill you.  That’s a true statement but there’s not much love attached.  Perhaps we first address how important the person is to us and that we don’t want to lose them.

I am sometimes referred to as the mean guy when a family with four unemployed adults in the household comes to see me about helping with the water bill.  Sometimes we help and sometimes we don’t but once I say that somebody in the house needs to get a job, then I get labeled the mean guy.

Sometimes, I tell people that they don’t need the most modern smartphone when they can’t pay their electric bill or make their $700 a month car payment.  Maybe, you should trade down until you get an income that will support these things.

People start looking for the exit from my office and the church building quickly when I bring up the word budget.  But how can we truly practice love if we won’t address the obvious in people’s situations?

Among Christians, we must not permit an Elephant in the Room.  We can’t say we are going to help and ignore the problems.  Speaking the truth in love is about our maturity.  We can talk about real things openly and truthfully in a spirit of love.

When we can speak the truth with a spirit of love, we know that we are growing in his grace.  When we speak the truth without the spirit of love, we are often condescending or mean.

Too often we back off from the truth because we do not want to be accused of being judgmental; but we must understand that the judgment with which we are counseled to abstain is a condemning judgment.  We are being equipped to jump into the middle of difficult issues and problems.  We can really sort things out instead of dancing around issues out of fear.  Fear gets no purchase when we speak the truth in love.

Speaking the truth in love is a measure of how far we have come.

Paul continues the chapter with not living in our old ways, taking off the old self, and putting on the new self.  It’s all good counsel for all of us, but it’s hard to follow.  One indicator of whether we are living as this new creation is whether we can speak the truth in love.

If we haven’t gotten there already, let’s work on speaking the truth in love.  It’s about our growth and maturity in the body of Christ.

Now, you won’t find this in this letter, or maybe anywhere else, but consider this provocation.  If we speak the truth to one another as we are counseled to do and if we speak the truth in love, then we had better be prepared to hear the truth.  We don’t speak the truth in condemnation but in love, but we must be ready to hear the truth and let the Spirit and God’s holy word work on us after we have listened to those speaking to us in love.

Remember all of the blessings that we discussed earlier.  Rejoice in them.  Celebrate them and then ask, now what?  What do I do knowing I am so blessed?  How do I respond to all of these blessings?

Among other things, learn to speak the truth in love.  We are people of the truth.

Speak the truth in love.

Amen.

Laboring with His Energy

Read Colossians 1

If you have to sit in prison, you had just as well write a few letters.  This time Paul writes to the church in Colossae. 

This city was about 100 miles east of Ephesus and situated in the fertile Lycus valley.  It was near the cities of Lacodicea and Hierpolis.

Paul did not plant this church but was very much involved in its beginnings.  On Paul’s third missionary journey, he spent about 3 years in Ephesus.  From this ministry, churches emerged in the surrounding area.

A man named Epaphras likely took the gospel that he had heard from Paul and spread it to the surrounding areas, including these cities 100 miles away.  This church is special because as far as we know, none of the apostles had been involved in getting it started.

This was the next generation of church bodies that emerged not from eye witnesses to the resurrected Jesus, but by those who had not seen but believed and carried the good news to the world.

This church faced some external challenges.  First, this was pagan country.  The Jewish influence was minimal.  Next, the Jewish believers were likely hot on the trail of this Christian faith even here.  These Jesus followers had broken new ground, now it was time to bring in the Law of Moses.  Finally, the Gnostics—those folks that didn’t fully believe that God would come in the flesh and live among sinful men—were spreading their wings wherever they could.  The Gnostics were more about knowledge than transformation.

So Paul made sure that Christ was not only central in this letter; but noted that true knowledge came only through him.

Christ is the image of the invisible God.

The fullness of God lives in Christ.

The reconciliation of all things comes only in Christ.

Christ is the head of the body, of the church.

Christ is the beginning and the first born from among the dead.

Christ reigns supreme.

Paul proclaimed Christ central to everything, but also challenged his readers to respond in conduct, obedience, practical behavior, and living worthy of our Lord.

It’s not just knowing, it is responding to what we know.

So Paul begins this short letter in thanksgiving and prayer.

So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.  Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

 We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light.

This should all sound quite familiar.  Paul is beckoning these believers to live up to the people that God has already made them to be.  He wants them to live in the fullness of knowing God’s will.  Elsewhere we might refer to this as his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Paul understood what these young believers were facing, so early in his letter he begins to reinforce the supremacy of Christ. 

·      He is the image of the invisible God!  Sinful human flesh cannot look upon God the Father so God came in the flesh where we could not only see him but see God—Holy God, God the Father, Yaweh, Elohim, Abba—through him.

·      He is the firstborn over all creation.  He was not only present at the creation but it seems that he had to do most of the work.  The gospel author John would say that everything that was made was made through him.

·      He is the beginning of all things and the very glue that holds all things together.

·      He is the head of the church.  Remember what Jesus said to Peter:  On this rock I build MY church.  The church belongs to Jesus and he is the head.  On a few occasions I have responded to someone who did like a change or something new and told me, “It doesn’t feel like my church anymore.”  I said, “It never was.  The church belongs to Jesus.”

·      He is the first born from the dead.  In him we have victory over death.  Death is defeated!

·      God was pleased to put all of his fullness in Christ Jesus.

·      God reconciled all things to himself through the shed blood of Jesus—all things!

Paul conveyed a very basic message:  It is Christ and Christ alone that saves you from your sin and from death.  Don’t make the simple complicated.

You were once strangers, aliens, outcasts from God, but through Christ you have been made holy, without blemish, and free from accusation.  While Paul wrote to church bodies far and near, this message remains constant.

Jesus paid it all.

On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.

Jesus name above all names.

One day, if you are taking a test on Colossians and you have to fill in the blank, chances are the answer is Christ.

If it is a multiple choice test, choose the selection that reads “Christ.”

If it is an essay, start and begin with Christ.

Paul is telling these believers, you got it right the first time.  It is Christ and Christ alone.  Don’t be distracted.  Don’t be dissuaded.  Don’t change your focus.  Christ is supreme.  He is central.  He is the answer.

Now we get to the fun stuff.  Paul talked about his service, sometimes suffering service, in the name of Christ.

Paul explained that he wanted everything for these believers.  What had been a mystery was now revelation.  God’s love was for all.

Paul said he was commissioned to take this word to the world striving to fulfill the desire of God’s heart, but here is the fun part.

First, let me explain my job as manager at the Oklahoma Publishing Company, you know it as The Oklahoman.  This was from another lifetime.

I was responsible for circulation and sales in the southwest fourth of the state.  This was not my favorite job, though I did very well at it.  My managers contracted carriers to deliver papers.  Their earnings were pitiful and often we could not attract the best carriers.  Carriers would quit without notice.  Service was disrupted.  It was ugly.

I spent almost 5 years trying to fix things that the organization did not want fixed.  After several pilot cases where I showed that by paying the carriers a little more and keeping them on the job, the company made more money—actually a lot more money—and having these rejected again and again, I decided it was time to do something else.

I had never been in an organization where I was not effective with continuous improvement and I found myself in the middle of a culture that didn’t care.

But there was the company car, and not just the car but the fuel card.  During my time with the paper, we probably spent $50 a year on gas.  If we were going somewhere, we took the company car and burned the company’s fuel.

As far as the job, you can have it.  I was burned out trying to convince circulation directors and vice presidents that people with no phone service were not signed up for a subscription by a telemarketer.

But the car, and oh the fuel card, those were nice.  Being fueled by somebody else’s energy, now that was something.

We who follow Christ are sent into the world but we are using God’s fuel card.  We are using God’s energy!

Our response to God’s incredible love that we know in Christ is to take that love to the world.  It might seem an exhausting task, but we use God’s energy and his strength.

Think on this provocation for a moment.  Why don’t we use God’s strength and his power and his energy more often?  Why do we burn our own fuel so much instead?

Have you ever seen an exhausted basketball team outplay the better rested one?  Where did their energy come from?

Have you ever dragged yourself to Bible Study on a Wednesday night wishing you had just stayed home and gone to bed early, but left feeling full of energy?  What happened?

If the camaraderie and loyalty of the sports team can sustain them beyond their limits, how much more will the energy of God fill and sustain us?

Paul tells us that he is running the good race, fighting the good fight, and keeping the faith but God gave him his fuel card.

Listen to how Paul concludes this first chapter in The Message translation.

This mystery has been kept in the dark for a long time, but now it’s out in the open. God wanted everyone, not just Jews, to know this rich and glorious secret inside and out, regardless of their background, regardless of their religious standing. The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, so therefore you can look forward to sharing in God’s glory. It’s that simple. That is the substance of our Message. We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. That’s what I’m working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me.

If you will step forward in your commission to take God’s love that we know in Christ Jesus to your neighbors and to the people you see at Walmart or Hutch’s or the Post Office, God will give you the energy to keep going.

Our message is simple—we know love and life in Jesus Christ.  Sometimes we just start the conversation with “God loves you.”

You don’t have to memorize a script.  You just take God’s love with you wherever you go.  Let people taste God’s goodness whenever they cross your path.  Be a light that shines in the darkness.

Know that God will fill your tank again and again.

Yes, we are called to labor in service to the Lord, but he gives us his energy.  His yoke is easy.  His burden is light.  

He gives us his fuel card.

Let’s labor with joy for our Lord!

Amen.

Flying through Philippians

Wow!  What a jammed packed letter.  One could spend a year preaching from this text.  It is so rich; however that is not the task at hand.

This is a 10,000 foot fly-over of this fantastic letter to the first congregation that Paul established don the continent of Europe.  If you are part of a healthy congregation that contends with only the occasional squabble, this short epistle will seem like it was addressed to you and your congregation.

As you fly through Philippians, realize that you are truly free to be the people that God wants you to be.  He has done it!  All we need do is take hold of that which we have already obtained in the blood of Christ Jesus.

Chapter 1 – To Live is Christ.  To Die is Gain.

Chapter 2 – To the Glory of God the Father!

Chapter 3 – Profit and Loss

Chapter 4 – Be Anxious for Nothing!

Be Anxious for Nothing!

Read Philippians 4

The first verse of the fourth chapter reminds us that Paul was writing a letter and not a chapter book.  It connects not only the previous chapter but much of the letter with how Paul concludes this short epistle, and this last chapter is surely fully packed with precious counsel.

My dear friends, stand strong in the Lord!  Stand!

The original word is στήκω (stékó) and it means to stand fast, stand firm, as well as to persevere.  It’s less about staying in one place geographically as it is to staying the course, keeping your eyes fixed on Jesus, and being strong—in this context to be strong in the faith that you know and be strong as the people that God has already made you to be.

It doesn’t mean, stand strong until you get your way.  Paul charged two women to resolve whatever had them at odds.  Paul doesn’t go into it.  He doesn’t present the pros and cons of each side.  He just says, “Agree in the Lord.”

Think back to his letter to the Ephesians—submit to one another out of reverence for Chirst.  We live in one accord out of reverence for Christ.

These two ladies must have stirred up something in the body.  For as much as Paul loved these people in Philippi; they needed a little admonishment here.  Paul not only charges these two women to let it go, but reminded the body of Christ that they are in this whole one accord, one Spirit, one body business as well.

Paul told his Philippian friends that this family of faith business is not a spectator sport.  Get in there and help them.  These two ladies worked with Paul previously in sharing the gospel and now they needed some godly guidance, direction, correction, encouragement, and just some good ole help from this body of believers.

They needed help in achieving reconciliation.  The peace and harmony that this body had surely known for a time needed to be restored and Paul ignored the merits of either’s case—which Epaphroditus had surely explained-and just told them to sort it out in the Lord.

“Y’all submit to one another out of reverence to Christ and get this sorted out.”  It does not help you press on towards the goal.  It does not help you take hold of what you have already attained—being made holy and blameless in the eyes of God.

Had Paul been writing to the Galatians, he would have said, “You were running a good race, who cut you off?”  Here he just says get it worked out in the Lord and get back in the race.

We could spend some days, weeks, or even months in this counsel.  How many times do the little things keep us from accomplishing the big things—the things that God has set before us.

How many times do we get wrapped up in being right instead of being on track?

How many times are we insisting on our own way instead of submitting to one another out of reverence to Christ?

But what I think or have to say is IMPORTANT!  I wouldn’t be making a big stink if it wasn’t important.

Fair enough, but submitting to Christ in all things is more important.  Regarding others more highly than our selves; that’s important as well.

Paul is not saying that we will never disagree.  He is saying that there must be unity in the body.  If my argument causes division in the body; my reconciliation with the body is more important that my idea or my way or my anything that seems to be stirring up dissension.

“I” am not first in all things.  Christ, others, and then me is the model of humility that we should take from this letter.

Next Paul speaks of joy and not just joy, but joy in the Lord.  Rejoice in the Lord all the time.  Hey guys!  This is really important, so I will say it again, rejoice!

Paul uses the word joy or rejoice sixteen times in this short letter that we break into four chapters.  Four times he mentions “rejoice” twice in the same verse.

Joy and rejoicing is not unique to this letter, but it is very important to Paul, and important that he share what he understands about joy.

Joy is God’s gift to forgiven people!

Joy is part of our spiritual harvest.

In this particular pericope, Paul notes that we should rejoice always.  Joy is not contingent upon our circumstances or our emotions or the fact that the tornado siren is making a lot of noise.  Our joy is in the Lord and this special gift from God is the gift that keeps on giving.

It might seem a little ironical that Paul did a little chewing out with Euodia and Syntyche and the body of believers that should have been stepping in to resolve this matter in the Lord and then jump right into his exhortation to rejoice in the Lord all the time.

But it is neither irony, nor or Paul’s words poorly placed.  In the middle of the worst issue the church might be sorting out, they must never lose their joy that comes from the Lord.  

Remember the words of Jesus that we get from John’s gospel. 

Jesus told his followers that they would have trouble in the world, but he didn’t leave it at that.  He said, take heart, cheer up, put a smile on your face, have some joy in your lives because “I have overcome the world.”

Paul is saying that we can’t be hanging our heads while we are singing Victory in Jesus!   Rejoice!

Paul next mentions something that is often overlooked in this passage.  He says the Lord is near so let your gentleness be known to all.  Gentleness is a good translation of the Greek word ἐπιεικής (epieikés).

But we should understand that this word also includes the meanings of fairness and justice and truly speaks to living by the spirit of the law over the letter of the law.  In very dynamic translation, it means justice that goes beyond ordinary justice. 

Paul is saying start living in the fulfillment of the law—in the divine heart and grace that desires mercy over sacrifice.  Think to the prophet Micah who wrote:

What does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

Paul just rewords this a bit.  The essence of the fifth verse is that before everyone we seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly because we live in the presence of our God.

And now we come to verses that so many know so well.  If we listen to them or read them with an open mind, we will be empowered.  If we invite the Holy Spirit into our reading and listening, we can know a peace that is unobtainable by the world’s standards.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Jesus told his followers that worrying doesn’t do any good.  You can’t add a single day or even an hour to your life by worrying.  Paul said, “Let’s taken him at face value.  Do not worry about anything!”

Peter would add, even if you are threatened, don’t worry.  Stand ready to make a defense for your faith.

The first part of Paul’s counsel is in the negative—don’t be anxious—don’t worry; so what are we to do?

Here we are directed to pray.  If we kept reading our Bibles and seeking the counsel of other believers, we might also be challenged to worship.  Paul’s direction is to pray, make petitions to God, and do it in thanksgiving.

In your worst predicament, be thankful.  If you have ever noticed, I have something of a sequence to my prayers.  I begin with thanksgiving and then get to everything else.

Why?

Thanksgiving is the perfect place to begin.  You might think that the prayer begins with Father, or Holy God, or Holy and Gracious God, or just Lord, and you would be right; but I am certain that God knows who we are talking to when we pray, even if we just say, “Dad.” Our Father in heaven knows that we are calling even before the words reach our lips.

But God wants to hear us acknowledge him in thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving says that we are not trying to live apart from God.  We are not trying this whole life and salvation thing on our own.  We are thankful for life, life abundant, and life eternal—all of these we know because of our Father in heaven who loves us more than we will ever comprehend.

We may not figure it all out but we know enough to be thankful.  Then we ask for what we need and we are not ashamed to ask our Father for anything.

We may not always get the items on the request list but we are promised God’s peace.  It is peace that is bigger—way bigger—than what we can comprehend.

What does this peace do for us?

It guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  It is real peace granted to us in the middle of a troubled, anxious, and chaotic world.

In the middle of this craziness that we call the world, we can have God’s peace that goes far beyond what we can comprehend.  It is a promise that goes all the way back to a very familiar proverb. 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
 in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.

So many people today deny themselves God’s peace that passes all human understand because they insist upon their own understanding.

Next we come to some mental gymnastics.  Elsewhere, Paul directs believers to defeat every argument against the truth that we know in Christ; and for those thoughts that just pop into our heads, capture them.  If they don’t line up with the truth, boot them out without any consideration—end of story.  Don’t give them time to take root.

Some of you may have heard the saying, “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.”  That’s a stretch to make any translation of the Bible include that wording; but it is not contrary to what Paul is telling us.  Proverbs 16 gets close.

Paul is saying, “Don’t leave your mind in neutral.  This thinking business is a proactive thing.”

Instead of just waiting to see what pops into that mind of yours next, give it some specific subject areas.  If God is not doing all of the talking at the moment, here are some things to meditate upon.

Whatever is:

·      True

·      Noble

·      Right

·      Pure

·      Lovely

·      Admirable

·      Excellent

·      Praiseworthy

If we are thinking on these things then we are not thinking on whatever is:

·      False and deceptive

·      Dishonorable

·      Just plain wrong

·      Dirty

·      Morally ugly

·      Disreputable

·      Shoddy

·      Shameful

We are to take charge of our thinking and think on good things.  On another occasion, Paul told believers in Rome that the sinful mind is hostile to God but the mind controlled by the Spirit leads to life and peace.

Paul wraps up in familiar style.  He talks a little about himself, a little about the church body, and a little about what they share in common.

To the final point first—Paul thanks the congregation for the gift that they sent, probably with Epaphroditus—though this may have been one of several gifts over the years.  Paul explains that he is in pretty good shape now and that the folks at Philippi didn’t have to do this.  Paul knew how to get by on his own, but as they were generous, Paul simply says thank you for the gift.

He knows that these believers will be blessed for having a giving heart and giving spirit.

In so doing, he also gives us some insight in his circumstances and surely our own as well.  Paul said, I know what it is to have next to nothing and I know what it is to have more than I need.    Been there, done that, and got the tee shirt; but it is neither the stuff nor the circumstances that govern my joy and my peace.

I have learned to be content with my circumstances.  In whatever situation I am in, my joy and my peace come from the Lord.  If I am dining with the Emperor or stuck at home eating Ramen, I am just fine.  Paul states that he can do everything that God has purposed him to do in the strength of God.

My joy and my peace come from the Lord, not whether I have a lot or a little.  The Lord meets my needs.

Paul next tells the church in Philippi that the Lord will meet and exceed their needs.  God doesn’t have to scrounge around to see what he can put together to help this church get by.  He will bless them out of his richness and his riches.

So Paul concludes this short letter to a church that he loved.  He had to be a little terse here and there but mostly he is telling these people to have joy and accept God’s peace and be confident of his provision.

He has been coaching, guiding, and mentoring these people to be the people that God had already made them to be.

Paul told the Philippians and he is telling us that we are free to be God’s people.  There are no qualifying rounds.  

Through the blood of Christ we have been made the exact people that God wants us to be.

We are now free to live up to and be the people that we really are.

I think that if I had written this letter, I would have used the word rejoice at least as many times as Paul did and surely counseled all who would hear, not to worry—to stop being anxious about anything.

Friends, Paul is indeed writing to us.  Be anxious for nothing.  Be joyful.  Know the peace of God that goes beyond our understanding and guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

And think on good things.

Amen!