Preached Sunday, May 20, 2012 from Philippians 2:14-16
Theme: We help shine forth the light of the gospel in this dark world, when we display an attitude of thankful submission to God.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
I invite you this morning to turn to Philippians 2:14-16. It’s there that we read this word of instruction to Paul’s brothers and sisters—living as God’s people in the midst of the very pagan city of Philppi:
Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain (Philippians 2:14-16).
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Those Christians were called upon to be “lights” for Christ in a spiritually dark city. And so are we. In fact, many of us found out recently just how spiritually dark the city of Portland, Oregon is. According to a new study of religion that was done by the U.S. Religious Census, Portland, Oregon was given the distinction of being “the least religious” city in The United States.
Now; we—of course—need to interpret that carefully. After all, most genuine believers would recognize that the true Christian faith isn’t really a religion anyway, but rather of relationship. People are saved by having a relationship with God through faith in His Son Jesus Christ; and not by being “religious”. Nevertheless, most truly born-again Christians—if asked—would identify themselves as connected actively to their faith. But only 32% of Portlanders as a whole identify themselves as connected to any religious faith at all.
For many, this news doesn’t come as much of a surprise. For some, it’s even a bit distressing. But I’d like to share with you why I believe this makes Portland, Oregon—the least-religious city in our nation—an exciting place to live.
For one thing, it’s part of a place that is mentioned in the Bible. Did you know that? Just before the Lord Jesus ascended again to the Father—after His resurrection—He told His disciples that He would soon send the Holy Spirit to them. In Acts 1:8, He said, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth”. Jerusalem was where He spoke those words; and Judea and Samaria were the surrounding regions. But where is “the end of the earth”? Well; if you were to take a globe in your hand and find Jerusalem (where He spoke that great promise), and then put you finger on the opposite side of the globe from Jerusalem (the “end of the earth”), you’d find that finger falling very close to Portland, Oregon. Not right on the button, mind you; but very close. In other words, our hometown—the most “non-religious” city in the country—is part of the very place that the Son of God spoke of to show how far in the world His gospel would extend! That makes this a very exciting place to live!
For another thing, this ‘least-religious city’ has already been the site of a remarkable work of God in the spread of His gospel. In 1832, a deputation of four Nez Perce Indians from the Oregon Territory made a three-thousand mile trek to St. Louis, Missouri to make an appeal to General William Clark (of the Lewis and Clark expedition). “They wanted to know about the Bible, God’s Book, the Book of Heaven, and about the great after-life beyond”1, and asked that someone bring that Book to them. This request stunned the churches and denominational leaders in the east; and it resulted in the greatest missionary effort in the history of our country (led by Methodist missionary Rev. Jason Lee, whose statue is on our state capital in Salem) being brought to this very region. Some have labeled this “The Macedonian Call of the West”; and a decade or so later—in part because of this great missionary migration—Oregon became a state. In other words, this most-nonreligious city is at the center of what was once one of the greatest missionary efforts in modern history!
Portland was also the site of a great religious revival a little over a hundred years ago. Can you imagine almost all the major stores in downtown Portland closing down each day from 11 am to 2 pm, so that their employees could go to one of many public prayer and worship meetings—and with people jam-packed each day in the city’s largest auditoriums where those meetings were held? Can you imagine downtown-Portland store owners signing an agreement with each other not to “cheat” and stay open during mid-afternoon prayer times? Seems hard to imagine. And yet, it actually happened! The front page of the March 31, 1905 edition of The Oregon Journal reported, “At Midnight Nearly Ten Thousand People, Singing Hymns, Proclaim the Power of Revival.” It wrote that it was “the unique night of Portland’s history—a shaking up such as the town had never known before”; and that the city of Portland “is in the throes of a religious upheaval such as it has never known in all its history.”2
And there’s one more reason why I think it’s exciting to live here. Given that the city of Portland has come to be recognized as the most non-religious city in the nation, I am supposing that the enemy of our souls is eager to keep it that way. He takes very seriously what the Lord Jesus said about the gospel reaching to the ends of the earth—far more seriously and more literally than even we followers of Jesus do. Is it mere coincidence that the “end of the earth” is currently being declared to be a place where people would be the least likely to be interested in the gospel? Could it be that Portland, Oregon is—in reality—-very strategic in the program of God? Isn’t it possible—as some students of revival have suggested—that if revival comes to the United States, it would most likely begin in the Pacific Northwest; all so that it would be abundantly clear that it was God who brought it about and not man?
I suggest that these latest statistics about Portland, Oregon should excite those of us who are followers of Jesus—and move us to even more intense prayer! We should, of course, be very concerned for the work of missions in far-away places around the world. But we shouldn’t forget what a great mission-field we have in deepest, darkest Portland!
And how should we conduct ourselves in the midst of this great mission-field—this most non-religious city in America? How should we live, so that the light we bear has the greatest opportunity to be seen and believed? I believe that this morning’s passage tells us.
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Stop and consider the situation Paul was in when he wrote this letter. He was in a Roman prison for preaching the gospel. And yet, at the beginning of his letter, he wrote;
But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear (1:12-14).
Paul’s faithful attitude was used by God to impact and encourage others. And then, a little later on in his letter, Paul urged his believing friends to do the same as he was doing. He told them;
Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God. For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me (1:27-30).
Dear brothers and sisters; unbelieving people are watching us. They hear us proclaim the good news of Jesus; and they are longing to see that we really believe the good news we preach, and really trust the wonderful Savior we proclaim. They are watching us, and listening to us, and trying to discover if the Jesus we preach really makes a difference in the hard realities of life. They are even doing so here—in the most non-religious city in the nation.
And as this morning’s passage shows us, the truth of what we proclaim to them about Jesus will, in part, be proven true to them by our attitude of thankfulness and joy in Him during times of trial. We help shine forth the light of the gospel in this dark world, when we display an attitude of thankful submission to God.
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Now; let’s look again at this morning’s passage. Notice, first of all . . .
1. WHAT IT TELLS US THAT WE ARE TO DO (v. 14).
And it may surprise you that Paul makes it out to be something so important. He writes, “Do all things without complaining and disputing . . .”
The word translated “complaining” is one that basically means “to murmur”—which is a word that sounds like what it means. When someone has to do something they don’t want to do, they often walk away ‘murmuring’ something under their breath; “Murmur-mur-murmurmur!” They don’t necessarily mean for the words to be understood—even though they may mean for the sound to be heard. It’s an inward expression of grouching. And the other word—”disputing”—describes an outward expression. It speaks here of the act of arguing or contending.
In the original language, Paul placed the word “all” in the first position in the sentence. He did this in order to give it emphasis. And the word “do” is put in the form of a present, continuous, habitual action. In other words, Paul is giving us a command that is to be our constant, habitual practice in all situations as Christians—”All things make it your practice to do without complaining or disputing . . .”
Now; it may seem surprising to some that Paul would emphasize this. But it’s really very strategic. The unbelieving world is looking at us to see if what we proclaim is true. But if they look at a group of people who proclaim a God who is good to those who trust Him, and yet see those same people griping and complaining and fighting and quarreling, we can hardly blame them if they don’t believe in the sovereign and good God we proclaim. It would be clear to them by our actions that we don’t really believe in Him either.
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So; that’s the thing we’re to do—”Do all things without complaining and disputing . . .” And now, let’s look further to . . .
2. WHY WE ARE TO DO IT (v. 15).
First, Paul gives us a moral reason for this command. He says that it’s “that you may become blameless and harmless . . .” The first word “blameless” means to be “without defect”. And the second word “harmless” might be better translated “unmixed”. Together, these two words suggest the act of living in a way that’s consistent with our profession of faith—a profession with which no fault could be found, or toward which no accusation could be made that it was mingled with unfaithfulness and sin.
Think of it. The Bible teaches us that “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). We all say we believe this. And yet, when we enter into times of trial with an attitude of complaint and disputing, we basically tell the people of this world that we don’t really believe that God works all things out for our good. We, in a very practical sense, deny what we profess; and end up communicating to unbelieving folks that we don’t have anything more going for us in Christ than they do outside of Him.
We basically deny our faith when we grumble and fuss. We sin against what we say we believe! And that’s one reason why Paul commands us to do all things without complaining and disputing.
Another reason Paul gives us for keeping this command is a theological one. It has to do with behaving in a way that is consistent with what God’s word says that we truly are. Paul goes on to say that we must do all things without complaining or disputing that we may become “children of God without fault . . .”
Now, we need to understand this accurately. Paul isn’t saying that, if we can just learn to do all things without complaining or disputing, we will eventually become children of God. We can never make ourselves “children of God”. Rather, the Bible teaches us that we already are children of the heavenly Father by grace through our faith in His Son Jesus. As the Bible says, “But as many as received Him,” John tells us, “to them He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). That’s what we are right now, as a theological reality, by faith in Jesus.
But the thing that we aren’t yet is “children of God without fault“. We still need to grow daily to become, in practice, what we already are in position. We still need to allow God to shape us, and form us, and mature us increasingly into the image of His dear Son Jesus—even though we have already been adopted fully into His family. And that’s why we must be in the habit of doing all things without complaining and disputing. When we complain and argue against the difficult things that God allows to come into our lives to help us grow, we are acting contrary to our high position in Christ. We are acting like we’re not really God’s children at all—or that He is not our loving, caring, all-powerful Father who only does good to us. We shouldn’t behave like complainers and disputers; because that’s utterly out of keeping with who we really are.
And a third reason Paul gives for keeping this command is an evangelistic one. We are to do all things without complaining and disputing so that we may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault “in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world . . .”
The word that’s translated “lights” doesn’t mean that we’re the source of the light. In fact, it might better be translated “luminaries”. Jesus is the light; and we are bearers of the light of His life in us. He came into this world as “the light of men” (John 1:4); but now that He has left this world and has returned to the Father, He has given us the privilege of being the bearers of His “light”. In fact, the way the New International Version has it is that we are to keep this command so that we will “shine” like “stars in the sky”.
God has saved us and called us to stand in the midst of this “crooked and perverse generation”—even right here in Portland, Oregon—and shine as lights in a dark world that illuminate the way to Him. And yet, when we complain and dispute—when we grumble and murmur against God, and contend and argue with Him over the trials that come our way, or over the difficult people He has placed in our sphere, or over the challenges that He permits to come into our lives for our good and His glory—we forget our privileged purpose in this world. We forget our divinely appointed role as His “lights”.
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We are still “lights” of course—even when we grumble and fuss. But when we do so, we allow the light in us to become obscured to the sight of those who most need to see it. But at the same time, much good is accomplished when we obey this command from Paul, and practice the habit of doing all things without complaining or disputing!
And look next at . . .
3. WHAT ELSE WE’RE TO DO WHILE WE’RE DOING IT (v. 16a).
Paul says that we’re to be “holding fast the word of life . . .”
Isn’t that a fascinating name for the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ—”the word of life”? It’s a wonderfully fitting name for so many reasons! It’s “the word of life” because it is, itself, ‘living’.3 It’s also “the word of life” because it points to Jesus Christ who Himself is “life”.4 It’s “the word of life” because it shows us the way to eternal life.5 And it’s “the word of life” because it teaches us how to live the kind of life that pleases God.6 And Paul says that while we seek to do all things without complaining or disputing, we’re also to be sure that we’re faithfully “holding fast” this wonderful, wonder-working, life-transforming “word of life”.
If this is the correct way to translate this phrase—”holding fast”—then Paul would be saying that as we do all things without complaining and disputing we’re to also be holding on tightly to the word of life; or as it is in the English Standard Version, “holding fast to the word of life”. And how important that is! The more we cling tightly to God’s faithful word, the more we will be able to affirm His perspective during tough times—and the less we will be inclined to grumble and fight against His good will for us.
But many Bible scholars have argued that it is more accurately translated as it’s found in the King James Version—”holding forth” the world of life, or as it is in the New International Version—”as you hold out the word of life”. And if that’s the case, Paul would then be urging us to do all things without complaining and disputing as we—at the same time—make sure that we hold the word of life out to people. We would then be doing what Peter said in 1 Peter 3:15-16:
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed (1 Peter 3:15-16).
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In either case, whether it was “holding fast” to the word of life ourselves, or “holding forth” the word of life for others, Paul had a vested interest in the matter. He had given himself diligently to see Christ established in the lives of his dear Philippian friends. As he said in verse 17, “Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith”—in other words, if it must be that he lay his life down to advance the cause of Christ in them—”I am glad and rejoice with you all.”
And this leads us, finally, to . . .
4. WHAT THE RESULT WILL BE (v. 16b).
He urges them to do all this, “so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.”
If Paul’s beloved brothers and sisters would faithfully grow into the habit of doing all things without complaining or disputing; if they thus prove themselves to be blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom they shine as lights in the world; and if they were careful, at the same time, to “hold fast” the word of faith—either in the sense of being faithful to it or of faithfully declaring it, while living in such a way as to affirm its truth—then Paul’s work in the gospel would not be in vain.
His work in the gospel would expand beyond himself through them—just as it was doing while he was in prison. Others would not only hear the gospel being proclaimed by the Philippians, but would also see it being lived out by them. Their lives would not hinder the gospel, but rather advance it and adorn it! They would stand out in this dark world as those who have truly been transformed by Jesus Christ. They would be living “gospel tracts” that declare the gospel’s power.
And when Paul stood before God on the day of Christ, he would have a cause for great rejoicing. He would see not only the Philippians themselves receiving honor from the Lord and hearing Him say to them, “Well done!”; but he’d also see others who had been influenced to trust in Christ by the godly lives of those Philippian believers!
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And let me close with a suggestion of how we might grow into the habit of obeying this command. I believe that the very best way for us to counteract this sinful tendency to complain and dispute is to replace it with another habit. Instead of grumbling and fighting, we should cultivate the habit of a sincere “thankfulness” toward God in all things.
The Bible doesn’t just tell us to stop doing something without telling us what to do instead. It says that, instead of complaining and disputing about things, we’re to be in the habit of “giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20). It says, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). When difficult circumstances and hard times come our way, and we respond by giving thanks to Him in those circumstances, we will find that we cannot—at the same time—complain and dispute with Him about them! It’s impossible to do! One act dispels the other.
This command—”Do all things without complaining or disputing”—isn’t just important because it makes us into nicer people to be around. It’s important because it greatly aids and advances the cause of the gospel in everyone around us—in our homes, in our work-places, in our neighborhoods, in our schools, among our friends and family members, and in the lives of all those that God places near us.
May God greatly advance His gospel through us—even here, in the most non-religious city in America!
A. Atwood, The Conquerors (Jennings and Graham, 1907), p. 18.
Christian News Northwest, http://www.cnnw.com/articles/articles05-05-1.htm (May 26, 2012).
3Hebrews 4:12.
1 John 1:1.
John 6:68.
2 Timothy 3:16-17.