An offering of worship fit for a King (Phil. 2:12-18)

I am still a man on a mission: a mission to find joy in the midst of trials. Not only do I want to find joy in the midst of my own trials, but also in helping with the trials of others. Sharing one another’s burdens means that we get saddled with loads that are not our own. Is there any joy in that?

The Apostle Paul once wrote: “Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches” (2 Cor. 11:28), so he should be qualified to teach us something on the subject! In the church at Philippi, Paul was concerned about persecution and its effect on the unity of the church. What are you concerned about? Maybe your friend is out of work. Will he loose his faith as a result of this trial? You may be praying for a cancer sufferer or someone whose fledgling faith is assailed by an addiction.

In verse 12 of Philippians 2, Paul makes an inference. On the basis of Christ’s humble obedience (described in verses 5-11), Paul concludes that the Philippians should also be characterised by obedience. Even though the Philippians had been obedient whether Paul was present or absent from Philippi (v12), Paul encouraged them to continue working out their salvation through obedience¹ (v12).

But what joy is there in obedience? Lord, you want me to raise these children or to lead this home-group or church or business, yet sometimes, it is a heavy burden to obey my calling. Living in a way that pleases you is tough. It brings more trials than if I did my own thing. I am not enjoying this.

Then, as if to rub salt in the wound, we are expected to obey without grumbling or arguing (v14). Paul, you had better have some good reasons for such obedience! And he does.

To begin with, salvation is a process. The race begins when you are born again through faith. At that point you are declared blameless and pure, and you become a child of God. This has nothing to do with your effort or work. But from then on, you must run the race until you cross the finish line when you die or Christ returns – then your salvation will be complete. Running the race requires repeated, ongoing obedience. Without this, you will stop running and fail to finish.

According to Paul, this process of “working out” your salvation should be accompanied by fear and trembling. This is not fear of failure or condemnation. No, it is a holy reverence for what is happening in your life: God Himself is at work in you. He began the work, and He will complete it. He will help you to desire what He desires, and He will give you all the energy and resources you need to obey His desires (v13). When we daily obey the will of God, we actually start becoming what we have been declared to be: blameless and pure (v15). Further, we give evidence of the fact that we have become children of God. These sound like good reasons for obedience! But there are more.

Have you noticed that obedience is somewhat out of vogue? It always has been. Nobody wants to be told what to do. Every man wants to decide for himself what is right or wrong.  For this reason, obedience to God differentiates us from the lost. Brothers and sisters, obedience to God makes you shine like stars in a dark universe (v15)! But there is more.

Experiencing joy in the middle of a trial requires us to focus on what the trial will produce. Paul has his eye on the day of Christ (v16) - the finish line, if you will. One day, like Paul, you will have the opportunity to look back on the way you ran the race (v16). If you handle your current trial with humble obedience, working with God’s help, you will look back on it with satisfaction on the day of Christ. Yes it may have been grindingly hard, sometimes you might have despaired, but you kept going, and God worked in you to will and to act according to His good purpose. The harder the race, the greater the satisfaction at the finish line. Don’t know about you, but I could get excited about that thought. But there is more.

What you have achieved in life will be combined with what you helped others to achieve, and together, these will form a sacrifice of worship to God. Paul uses the image of the OT daily sacrifice to communicate this point (v17). The Philippians’ faith-inspired service was like the lamb sacrificed on the altar. Paul’s work with the Philippians was like the drink offering poured out on top.

I long to give God a special gift of worship on the day of Christ: a life of obedient sacrifice, invested in the service of God and others. I look forward to seeing what I have done combined with the offerings of those I have helped. It would be an insult to God to think this impossible, for He has changed me and is at work in me to will and to act according to His good purpose. So just as Paul, even though he was in prison at the time, rejoiced in these truths (17) and commanded the Philippians to do the same, so I urge you to follow suit!

Cheers for now - Ian

¹ At the time of writing the letter, Paul would have had in mind obedience to the OT, his teachings, example and letters. Today we must be obedient to the Bible and the inner promptings of the Holy Spirit.