Our Reward is Coming

Philippians 2:5-18

Last week, we got a full-on attitude check. Not an “at least my attitude is OK” kind of attitude check, but the kind where we ask, “Is my attitude the same as Jesus’ attitude?”

I fully believe that Jesus had every opportunity and ability to quit. At any time, Jesus could have called the whole thing off. But instead, Jesus chose to serve humanity, going so far as to offer himself as a sacrifice on the cross.

And so God gave Jesus his reward – he exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name. Jesus’ obedience even to death on a cross reveals Jesus’ equality with God.  There is a reason Paul says all of this, and I’ve often been guilty of taking what commentaries call the “Christ Hymn” out of Paul’s context and using it solely to look at Jesus and his actions and his character, but Paul has a specific reason for saying all this.

One of the reasons Paul is writing to the Philippian Church is to encourage them in their struggle. They are seeing people preach for selfish reasons and they are suffering persecution, and Paul is saying, “Look to Jesus!” Jesus endured much worse, but he was rewarded!

Because of what Jesus did, Paul can implore the Philippians to continue to obey Jesus – in other words, to bow their knee and confess his Lordship – to give him control of everything, because they, and we, will also be rewarded if we endure.

So what do we make of Paul’s command to work out your salvation with fear and trembling? Did Paul do an about face and nullify his statement from Ephesians 2:8-9? That’s where he said, “For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” If he didn’t mean you can work to save yourself, what could he mean?

The first thing we have to do to figure this out is look at context. Actually I already started that by bringing up the context of his theology as demonstrated in his other letters, but what is he talking about right here in Philippians?

If we look at the context, this statement is not about getting unsaved people saved. Their salvation has already been accomplished. Gordon Fee explains this by saying that Paul is referring to the present “outworking” of their salvation within the believing community in Philippi. “The issue is obedience, pure and simple, which in this case is defined as their ‘working or carrying out in their corporate life the salvation that God has graciously given them.’” (New International Commentary on the New Testament: Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, Gordon Fee, ed., p. 235)

Though the phrase “work out your salvation” is troublesome, the reality is that it doesn’t mean what some people have misconstrued it to mean. I like the way the New Living Translation puts it: work hard to show the results of your salvation. We don’t work to achieve our salvation; we work because of our salvation. This seems like a good time for this reminder: we as Christians do what we do out of obedience, and our obedience stems from our love. Christianity is all about a relationship! Though I would love for the secular world to obey God’s rules, they have no basis for that obedience, because they do not know or love God. God doesn’t want rote obedience without love! This is where the Pharisees got it wrong, and Jesus called them out on it. They wanted so much to follow every aspect of God’s Law that they added rules to keep them from the possibility of breaking a rule, but they missed out on the most important thing: loving the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Here’s the second part. The Philippians are called to work hard to show the results of their salvation, even while Paul isn’t there, but they’re not alone, and neither is the effort theirs alone. For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. (Philippians 2:13)

There are many times when we take too much responsibility and pressure on ourselves as church leaders. We think everything depends on us. In fact, I’ve heard preachers say, “Pray as though everything depends on God and work as though everything depends on you.” The problem is that this divorces our prayer life from our actions and it puts too much emphasis on our works and behaviors and feeds into a workaholic culture of shame and guilt. After all, if we work like it all depends on us, what happens when “it” fails, whatever “it” might be? It must have failed because we’re failures. We think it’s because we didn’t work hard enough.

But the other side of this is that we often will fail to do anything because the task is too great. There are so many voices telling us that what we want to do is impossible. Here’s what World Vision President Richard Stearns had to say in an interview in Leadership Magazine (May 6, 2013) :

God doesn't want to use people who aren't committed. God invites us but we have to RSVP. We have to say to Jesus, "Here are all the things I have in my life: my money, my house, my career, my skills, and we have to lay them down and ask him to use us. Many Christians have not taken that step. They've not gone all in with their Christian faith.

A lot people say, "I want to do something like you're doing, I want to make a difference for God!" Often I have to answer, "Why would God use you for a significant assignment if you haven't even committed to the simplest things? You haven't committed to tithing, to obedience, you haven't committed to reading the Scripture. If you are faithful in the small things you'll keep getting bigger opportunities to serve.

Paul later will remind the Philippians that I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:13) We will look at this scripture in a little more depth when we get there, but the fact is, without God all we can do is little things. With God, we can do big things, things that are too big for us to do. When we get on board with the purpose God has for us, we can and will succeed! We will make a difference for God! This is why Paul says, For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

In other words, if God wants it done, and we’re willing to obey, one step at a time, God will accomplish what God sets out to do. Here Paul is elaborating on what he said in the introductory remarks: being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)

And so, if we are working because of our salvation, which God gives us even though we don’t deserve it, and if God is the one who is working in us to will and to act according to his purpose, it stands to reason that we should Do everything without complaining or arguing (Philippians 2:14). Seriously, if you’re one of those who thinks that “grumbling” is your spiritual gift, get over yourself. Whining and moaning aren’t spiritual gifts, either. We are working for God’s purpose, so we don’t have any room for complaining. Additionally, living life without complaining has another purpose. It serves to move us toward perfection.

Paul says that we should Do everything without complaining or arguing (Philippians 2:14) for a reason: so that you may become blameless and pure children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life – in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. (Philippians 2:15-16)

This is a great Wesleyan concept here - sanctification. As Methodists, we believe that sanctification is both instantaneous and gradual or progressive. Sanctification is the church word for the concept of God setting us apart for God’s purpose and transforming us, actually making us holy. At the moment of our salvation, God also sanctifies us. John Wesley calls this “initial sanctification” and through God’s grace, we are made holy at that moment. But that isn’t the end; we allow God’s grace to transform us and make us blameless and pure – entirely sanctified, or, in another word, Christlikeness.

I am purposely not going to fall into the trap of describing how we live in a crooked and depraved generation, simply because every generation tends to focus on how theirs is the worst ever. Suffice it to say that the Philippians lived among a crooked and depraved generation and we do, too. I don’t want to focus too much on them, because we can end up patting ourselves on the back for what we don’t do, saying, “At least I’m not as crooked and depraved as…”

That’s a false comparison. We can always find someone worse or something that we haven’t done or would never do. Jesus’ standard, from Matthew 5:48, is Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. And God actually is making us perfect. And he uses troubles, sorrows, and struggles as part of what Christian philosophers call a “soul-making” environment. God uses all of these things in the process of purifying us. It’s like the process of purifying gold, where it is super-heated and chemicals are introduced and the impurities are then separated from the gold. It’s not a pleasant or easy process, but the end result is worth it.

And if, instead of comparing ourselves to others, we allow the Holy Spirit to work within us to sanctify and perfect us, and we diligently work as a result of our salvation, the world will see us. We will shine like stars in the universe – light in the darkness. The world will see Jesus through us.

And again, Paul reminds the church of how he feels about them, that he loves to tell everyone about how well they are doing – partially because it encourages him in his own struggle. He knows he invested his life in this church and these people, and because they are on the right track, if they keep stepping it up, he can know that he didn’t waste his time. There are days as preachers where we wonder if anyone is listening at all. Or if any of it is sinking in. Add to that the fact that Paul is sitting in prison with little to no contact with the church. He needs that encouragement, that he didn’t do all of this for nothing. He is, after all, human.

Don’t be thrown off by Paul’s use of the word “boasting” – even though we most often see boasting as a negative – bringing attention to oneself, tooting one’s own horn – but in this case, it’s not at all about anything that Paul has done; it’s all about God, how Paul has all trust and confidence in Christ, and he knows that Christ is all they need.

And it’s good to have all you need, especially in the face of trials and struggles. Remember that Paul and the Philippians were facing struggles. Paul equated his own imprisonment with being poured out as a drink offering. (But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. Philippians 2:17) In other words, his struggle was his sacrifice. The Old Testament gave all the rules for sacrifice – and sacrifice isn’t sacrifice if it doesn’t cost. This is one reason God asks for “first fruits” – the first part of the harvest, or, for those of us who aren’t in an agrarian society, the first part of our pay goes to God.

But in the midst of the struggle, Paul is glad and he rejoices. How can this happen? It can happen because joy isn’t dependent on circumstances. It’s all about understanding our place in Christ.

Now understand that Paul isn’t saying that every bad circumstance can or should bring about joy. He is talking specifically about suffering for Christ. There are times when we talk about regular human suffering as “our cross to bear” when it’s not anything of the sort. It’s just part of being human in a fallen world. But when we suffer for sharing Christ, then Paul says, “So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.” (Philippians 2:18)

If we are willing to allow God to shape us into the likeness of Christ, if we are willing for God to get the glory for completing the work He started in us, if we are willing to respond to God by working as a response to our salvation, then just like God gave Jesus his reward, God will give us joy – even in this life. And in the life to come, God will give us Himself.