for the rest of our lives

we don't have to think twice, baby

(we can drive each other crazy)

A sermon on the introduction to Paul's Epistle to the Philippians:

Paul’s not writing this epistle to the folks at First Lutheran in Philippi for any ol’ reason. No, Paul’s writing this letter because this church he’s founded is facing a crisis. And as their founder, Paul knows he’s the only one who can address this mess. What’s happened, as Paul relates right at the top of this correspondence, is that the founder of their church has been incarcerated! Incarcerated.

Am I being too subtle?!? 

Paul’s writing this letter, that’s become a part of the holy writ by the way, because he’s in the hoosegow! Paul’s in jail! And, unsurprisingly, this incident has caused a bit of a stir back at the church Paul himself helped get off the ground!

It’s really not that surprising this turn of events has precipitated a bit of a quandary for the folks back in Philippi, either. After all, how would you like to be known as a member of the church whose pastor was in jail? Do you think it’d help your church’s credibility? Would you be happy about the attention this fact would bring? No! Of course not! 

But that’s the bind the folks in Philippi find themselves in. As such, Paul knows he needs to face the music. However, you’ll notice Paul doesn’t bother to defend himself! In fact, listening to this brief letter, you get the distinct impression the thought hasn’t even occurred to Paul! 

Rather, Paul's sending word for another reason altogether! Paul’s touching base with these beloved people of God because something unexpected happened! When Paul got locked up, the Gospel got loose!

Paul sends word to the church in Philippi, not to rehabilitate his image but to help them! Locked up in the pokey of all places, Paul experienced that sweet freedom of Christ! And it showed him, literally showed him, that the folks who were really in a bind were the ones in Philippi.

…We just got back from synod assembly. And that means I got the pleasant experience of sitting where you are today. I got to sit back in the pew for once. I didn’t have to lead worship. I got to experience it. 

And as satisfying as it was, as it was, it reminded me that the really hard part of church is mustering the wherewithal to dare to hope that anything at all is actually happening within these modest walls. It’s easy to feel like we’re just going through the motions here. Isn’t it? When this mean ol’ world keeps right on spinning as indifferently as ever, it can seem like all this is just a bunch of whistling in the dark. Can’t it?

In other words, like the Philippians, it’s oh so easy for us to think theology’s just a bunch of ideas about God. With that splendid dad-rock band, Wilco, we can be so easily tempted to sing, “Theologians / they don’t know nothing ‘bout my soul.” 

What’s got Paul head over heels, though, is that, in Christ, the notions we confess about God aren’t just mere concepts! No, on the contrary, they’re declarations about what God does! And, thanks be to God, cries Paul, God is not a one-and-done kind of God!

After all, just look at Paul. There he is, in the clink of all places, but all his confinement has done is set the Gospel loose! Paul’s been detained, but it’s just made his fellow preachers all that much more bold to do exactly what got him locked up! And those old opponents of Paul, the ones who always got so edgy about his preaching of grace alone; well, they’re using his diminished status to build their brand. When Paul looks around, though, all he can see is those pesky busybodies preaching that message of amazing grace all the same. Even in spite of themselves! That’s why, although Paul has nothing to be happy about, he can’t stop rejoicing! 

And Paul, good pastor that he is, sends word back to that beloved congregation to share this freedom he’s standing on the receiving end of in the slammer of all places! The freedom only Christ can give. The freedom that gets loose when we get pinned down!

If you’re anything like me, you’re here with more than your fair share of, let’s say, “stuff.” And, if you’re anything like me, it’s got you all twisted up. And, if you’re anything like me, you’re here after a week of doing anything and everything you could to get a little relief from whatever impasse you’re caught in. And, if you’re anything like me, all you have to show for it are all the bruises you’ve got from pulling at those stubborn old chains.

Today, though, right here and right now, Paul bursts into our midst through all these ages to shout something! Something that, in the name of Christ, is still true! Something that, by the power of Christ, is as real as the sound of my voice and the heartbeat in your chest!

…Are you ready to hear it? 

Okay. When Christ died on the cross, something actually happened! And not just to Christ, either. No, when Christ died, he took the powers of Sin and Hell down right along with him! 

And then, when God raised Christ from the dead, something literally world-altering occurred, too! When Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, a new humanity was birthed! A new people called Christian. A people brought to life by baptism into Christ's death! A people who live on the other side of Sin and Death’s rotten old dominion!

What’s more, proclaims Paul, that locked up freeman, this new thing Christ has wrought is working itself out! Working itself out right here and right now! Working itself out among you and among me!

But this new thing of Christ, it doesn’t play by the rules of this old world! No, Christ’s work is topsy-turvy to this world’s worn-out way of doing things. For instance, as Paul himself has experienced, now freedom happens right when and where you can’t do anything for yourself anymore!

And there are plenty of other examples of this, too. Paul has already mentioned a few of them in this short passage. And before his letter is over, he’ll mention some more. But that’s the stuff for another sermon. 

For now, suffice it to say, everything out there that makes what happens in here seem like a bunch of folderol is precisely where Christ is getting to work in your life! Everything that made you think you’d do just as well to stay in today is the cloth Christ is cutting your life from to actually make a Christian out of you! A person freed from the rotten old reign of that dastardly triumvirate, Sin, Death, and the Devil!

Yes, for now, this may be too hard to see. I know, for my part, it’s always been nearly impossible to spot this reckless work of God in the moment. It’s always looked to me like death at the time. But, after God carried me kicking and screaming through another turn of redemption, I’ve often looked back and caught a glimpse of what I couldn’t see at the moment, God’s most blessed work! God’s work that wrenches life from death. God’s initiative that forges freedom out of the chains of our captivity!

And that’s right where Paul’s addressing us from today! And he’s not sending word just to say, “guess what happened to me.” No, he’s writing to tell us, “guess what’s happening to you!” Guess what Christ has done! What Christ is doing! What Christ does! Does to you and to me! 

That’s why the words of that beloved old hymn still prove true! “Blessed Be the Tie that Binds.” Yes, blessed be those old ties that bind. Blessed be them because it was in them, right where we were most bound, that we finally experienced the upside-down Freedom of Christ! That freedom of Christ that makes Christians out of people like you and me all over again!