Broadway Christian Church · Columbia, Missouri

Morning Worship · November 23, 2008

Twenty-Eighth Sunday After Pentecost

Prayer of the Day

Gracious and Loving God, as we prepare to enter the holiday season, we pray for your guidance and wisdom. Remind us that our call is to follow you and serve others. Through Christ we say together, Amen.

Scripture

Philippians 2:12-16

Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for God’s good pleasure.

Do all things without murmuring and arguing, so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like the stars in the world. It is by your holding fast to the word of life that I can boast on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

Message

Gongysmos

Jacob Thorne

I thought I would begin this morning by sharing with you a story I told the youth at the Back-to-School Bash in August. A little more than a year ago, my wife, Paulette, and I had the opportunity to lead a group of youth on a backpacking trip to the mountains of Colorado. For a week, we backpacked and camped in the mountains. We filtered our own water, cooked our meals over a small camp stove, and climbed tall mountains. 

One night, while camping at 12,000 feet, just below the tree line, a strong and scary storm quickly overpowered us. We were forced to retreat to our tents. For several hours, - maybe you’ve experienced this before – the lightning was so close you could almost feel and sense the electricity in the air. The teenagers thought it was great. I didn’t. The thunder was so loud, our ears started to ring. I really started to get nervous. 

Finally, around two o’clock in the morning, I woke up and went outside. The storm had blown over, and I experienced an event that I have never experienced before. I asked Paulette to come outside and join me. We looked up at the night sky and were amazed at what we were seeing. The stars were shining so brightly, it was almost as if you could touch them. At that moment, Paulette and I stood in awe of God’s creation. When was the last time you were really able to look at the night sky?

Our text this morning, written by the apostle Paul to the people of Philippi, refers to the stars in the night sky. Paul says, “Shine like the stars in the world.” But why does Paul say this? And what would this mean to the people of the ancient world and for us today? In order to answer questions such as these, it’s helpful to know a little bit about the history of Paul’s Letter to the Philippians.   

Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians while he was in prison. The city of Philippi, named after the father of Alexander the Great, was a major Roman city. During the time of Paul, it was extremely prosperous. If you were a Roman citizen, such as Paul, Philippi was a city where, due to its special privileges, you would definitely want to live. Philippi was also a city where a number of different religious beliefs could be found.

In the ancient world, letters were meant to be read aloud to an audience. Paul knew that when this letter was heard, one would not hear it as an individual, but rather as a community. During the ancient world, few people could read and write. If one were in the city of Philippi when this letter was first heard, one would have heard it, for certain, in a group setting. People of all different backgrounds would have gathered around and listened to the letter of Paul being read. 

Because letters were meant to be read to an audience, letter-writers in the ancient world used special literary techniques to make sure to capture the attention of those listening to the letter. In Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, the entire letter is made up of catchwords, certain phrases and events that everyone would know and recognize when they heard it for the first time. 

Before he tells people to shine like the stars, Paul says, “Do all things without murmuring and arguing.” The catchword here is murmur. As soon as Paul says, “Do all things without murmuring and arguing,” some people in the audience would have known that Paul was referring to the story of the Exodus – the story of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt. My guess is if you didn’t know what Paul was talking about, you would just turn to the person next to you and ask, “What’s he talking about?” 

They would remind you that the Greek word for murmur is gongysmos. In case you haven’t heard this word before, it is printed as my sermon’s title. Gongysmos is a great word. 

It was used by Paul one other time, in 1 Corinthians, and it was a reference to Israel’s grumbling and murmuring against God and Moses in the desert. The Israelites encountered countless miracles every day. Food was rained down from heaven. God appeared to Moses. They were liberated from captivity. And yet, through all of these incredible miracles that took place, the Israelites got caught up in a vicious cycle. They were constantly grumbling about all of the little details that really didn’t matter. In the Old Testament, in the books of Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, there are entire chapters dedicated to the gongysmos of the Israelites. Because they were constantly complaining, the Israelites missed some of the most important events of their lives.

Paul is saying to the Philippians, “Do not murmur and complain like your ancestors. When you murmur and complain, worrying about the little details in life, you, too, will miss all of the miracles of grace that take place around you every day.”

When Paul writes to the Philippians, he says, “You are God’s children.” Paul is trying to say that if you miss the living grace and miracles of God, you will miss what it means to be alive and what it means to claim that you are a follower of Jesus Christ. Essentially, Paul tells the Philippians, “It’s up to you to break the cycle.” 

Paul’s message to the Philippians still applies to our lives today. The ancestors of the Philippians may have missed the point, and our ancestors may have as well, but it’s up to us, to you, to break the cycle. 

Maybe you come from a family or background that doesn’t value relationships with others, but this doesn’t mean that you don’t have to. Maybe your coworkers are bitter, but this doesn’t mean you have to be. Maybe those around you trample others in order to get ahead, but you don’t have to. Maybe your closest friends, even some of your family members, can’t find joy, but this doesn’t mean that you can’t find joy. Maybe those around you are afraid, but this doesn’t mean that you must be afraid. We are called to say, “Yes,” and to break the cycle. We are called to begin a new tomorrow. We are called to shine like the stars.

In just a few days, whether we are ready to admit it or not, we will begin the holiday season. The start of the holidays brings about all sorts of pressures and fears. We simply have to admit that. For some, shopping for the holidays is a joyous occasion. For others, it can be a terrible nightmare. And for many of us, me included, it is often easy to fall into the path of thinking that if I obtain that one certain gift or that one perfect present, for either myself or someone else, I’ll have everything that I need. 

But as I was preparing for this sermon, I was reminded of another letter of Paul, his Letter to the Ephesians. Writing to the church in Ephesus, Paul says, “I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you.” 

As I read these words, it struck me that the lives of the enlightened are the ones who seem to live most simply. The monks, nuns, those living in a contemplative community are the ones who appear to have everything they desire. 

Today, there is so much pressure to look ahead. The following weeks are commonly referred to as “the rush of the holiday season.” But in the rush of the holidays, we often find ourselves complaining. We become stressed out and forgetful of God’s presence in our lives. When we become forgetful, like the Israelites, we are no longer aware of the miracles of God taking place around us every day. 

Several years ago, I came across the book An Infinity of Little Hours, which documents the lives of five Carthusian monks. The reader witnesses the monks as they either adjust or fail to life in the monastery. In the introduction, the author notes that Carthusians mark time, not by decades, years, hours, or days, but by the liturgical year – the seasons of the Church, the Church’s calendar. Their time is out of time, directed not by business opportunities or social engagements, but by the tolling of the immense church bell. The bell’s deep and continuing resonance gives structure to the monastic days and nights. Time in the monastery moves slowly and predictably, in the measured instants of the Latin “now.”

For the monk, there is no past. There is no future. There are merely a series of “nows.” Moment by moment, breath by breath, like a heartbeat, time slows down. By secular standards, the monks live in slow motion. In the microcosm of their cells, the monks observe the changes of the natural year in their garden, secluded from any other view. They spend their time praying and meditating, reflecting on God’s presence in their life and the lives of others.

I have no idea what it would be like to live a life of seclusion, silence, and serenity. But the ways in which a monk approaches life may be what Paul envisioned when he says to shine like the stars. We are called to spend time reflecting, daily, on God’s presence in our lives. How you see the world impacts how you respond to others. In stress, we default and grumble. But people in despair have no energy. People in despair lose their faith, and their future, and their vision.

How we respond to others is also determined by how we understand our values. Paul tells the people of Philippi that they “live in a crooked and perverse generation.” Scholars debate about what Paul is referring to when he says the Philippians live in a crooked and perverse generation. But one thing is clear from scholarship, the people of Philippi, because of their relationship to the Roman government, constantly received special favors while others were left to fend for themselves. 

I know that I am as guilty and responsible as anyone else here this morning, but I can’t help but ask the question if we, too, live in a generation that may not be living the ways that God intended? As we celebrate Thanksgiving this coming Thursday, I think of all of those who yearn for nothing more than a simple meal. 

Last weekend, during the youth rally for the Northeast Area Assembly, we had the opportunity to work at the Food Bank. When we were done working, the director of volunteer services took us for a tour of the operations. He stopped us at the end, and he said, “The other week I had a family come in, and they were looking for some food. There was a nine-year-old boy in the family. I said to the boy, ‘If you could have anything in the world that you wanted for this Christmas, what would it be?’ The boy thought for a while and looked at the director. The director felt for sure it would be some sort of game, an X-Box, or something like that. But the boy looked into the eyes of the director and said, ‘If I could have anything I would want for Christmas, it would be fresh milk everyday.’” 

But it doesn’t end with just fresh milk. I was thinking also how when the bailout took place, the United States quickly authorized the expenditure of $700-billion in just a few short days. Yet, for years, the entire G8 Summit hasn’t been able to find the $25-billion that would save more than 30,000 children who die every day from preventable diseases, through such remedies as clean water. We have to ask ourselves if we’re living in a generation that Paul describes. Maybe we are morally bankrupt? Maybe we’re not living in God’s time?

When we measure our days by God’s time, we begin to see the world in an entirely new way. In the opening lines of Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, Paul says, “I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now… The one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion.” 

When Paul writes these lines, he is saying that he sees something powerful in each one of you that has been started by God. God is unleashed in each one of you. You are linked to the very beginning of creation. So now the question becomes: What does this look like for you? 

As Paul concludes his letter, he reminds people to hold fast to the Word of life and to not run or labor in vain. When Paul says, “to hold fast,” he’s not using the word hold in the sense that we would use it. In Greek, the word “hold” means “hold on to” but not in a defensive posture. Paul is not saying, “Hold down the fort until I get back.” Paul is saying that by holding fast to the Word of life we are able to provide the life that Christ provides. Paul challenges us to be the people of God that are to shine in the world over its darkness. We are a people of hope. And while we shine, we illumine any darkness that may come before us.

So the question becomes again, “How will you shine? What does this look like for you?”

The fourteenth-century mystic Meister Eckhart believed that the spiritual life is all about letting go. Paul’s invitation this morning is to be a living person and to be free. We have an invitation to become a better person, to break whatever cycle is holding us back. In each of our lives we have to be radical. We have to overcome our fears. We have to make a commitment. If whatever you are doing at the moment is not life-giving, to either yourself or to others, then give it up.   Paul says that if you realize that you are living your life to the fullest and not grumbling or complaining, people will want to know more. They will want to know how you find balance in your life.  

Life is short. Life is fragile. The gift that we have this morning is to recognize God’s grace and share it with others. It won’t be easy. Paul never says that following Christ will be free of struggles. But it will be rewarding. We can shine like the stars. We are called to live out the message of the gospel – to seek justice and to recognize our Creator today and every day in each and every one of us. 

Through Christ we all say together… “Amen.” 

Benediction

Generous God, this land is filled with your glory. May we see it and say so! We are surrounded by beauty. We are beings capable of creating and beholding beauty. Help us to will and to work for your good pleasure. Shut down and stifle our stinkin’ thinkin.’ Open our hearts with anticipation and appreciation. You are an awesome God, and we don’t want to miss a thing. Amen.