Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.
Here you'll find practical, relevant, biblical information.
The Bible will be broken down verse by verse so that you get the full context of the scripture to better grow in your relationship with Jesus.
Hey everybody, welcome back to the Sanctuary.
And for those of you who are joining us for the very first time, hello and welcome.
It's great to have you all here.
Now, this week we're going to continue our series on joy as we continue through the book of Philippians.
Now, last week we discussed joy and suffering.
As you recall, the underlying point of that section was that no matter what your situation is at any given moment,
do your best to live a life worthy of the sacrifice of Christ.
Right?
None of us quite makes it there, but you know, it's our job to do our best.
Right?
This week, it's a bit more upbeat and we're going to be going into chapter two and we're going to look at the joy that comes from serving.
Now, don't worry.
I'm not going to try to guilt trip anybody into serving a position that's not in their heart to fill.
We don't do that here.
All right.
Now, those of you with your apps, those of you through Bibles or even those of you who are just taking notes, let's go ahead and get started as we turn to Philippians chapter two.
And we're going to start with verses one through four.
So, Philippians two verses one through four and the Bible says,
Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ,
if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,
then make my joy complete by being like minded,
having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.
Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interest, but each of you to the interest of others.
So, a while back, it's been a little while.
So, you know, I'll refresh your memory.
Some of you might remember I gave you an acronym for the word joy.
Right. So, just in case, let me go ahead and remind you.
And for those of you who hadn't heard it before, you know, this is a good thing to write down, make a note of, you know, and this is really something I'd encourage you all to keep in mind,
especially as we go through this book.
But this is something that we could all apply to our daily lives.
OK, so joy, J-O-Y, J being Jesus first, O being others next, and then Y yourself.
So Jesus, others, yourself, joy.
Right. And this is this is an important order of precedence as well,
because like I said, this is something that we should all be applying to our daily lives.
And, you know, ultimately, this is something that will lead each of us to finding the joy in our lives.
You know, we need to have Jesus first, look to take care of others, and then focus on ourselves.
And I bring this up, you know, because really that's what we're looking at throughout this chapter, you know.
Well, not even just this chapter, but this series, this book, you know, of Philippians.
When we're looking at, you know, this first piece of scripture here, you know, it's talking, you know,
it's basically putting it out there, you know, to keep in mind, you know, about selfishness,
you know, the selfish ambitions, vanity, you know, those are a few of the things that really they bring
a disconnect and a lot of discontent to the church and, you know, to each of our lives.
And let's face it, a lot of people, even in places of worship, are all about their image,
you know, making those impressions, putting themselves in the limelight, you know,
and make no qualms about it, it is a form of manipulation, you know.
And really they're trying to take the light away from Christ and put it on themselves.
They want to be the focus, they want to be the center of attention,
they want to be the one that's, you know, for lack of better words, worship,
because really that is what it is. They want the attention on them.
And really, when you think about it, this is why so many people will tell you
they don't like going to church.
You know, they've gone to those places of worship where they've been around those people,
where they've felt slighted and judged and hurt, you know, by those people,
you know, who are claiming to be a Christian.
You know, they've never, you know, come to know Christ and they lack a relationship with them
because what they were shown, well, it just wasn't him, it wasn't Christ.
They were shown something else. They were shown a false Christ, the antichrist, all right.
They were hurt by people, not by Jesus, but by people
who were trying to take that glory for themselves.
Now, I'll remind you, we are all that many people will ever know of Jesus.
We are all many people will ever know of the Bible.
And when we fail, it's because we allow these things to happen
and to continue to happen within the church.
It doesn't matter if it's happening in the parking lot
or if it's happening because of the person and the pulpit.
And really that's where a lot of people, you know, a lot of, you know, places of worship get scared.
They realize they've got the wrong person and they're too scared to try to pull them out
or they buy into their nonsense.
And that congregation ends up being led astray.
This is why Paul talks about unity.
As a church, we need to be united and there is strength in unity.
You know, we've all heard that.
The Church of Philippi was a lot like churches that we see today.
It was diverse. It had a lot of people of different walks of life,
different classes, different cultures, you know, and on and on coming together.
It was, you know, as a big melting pot.
Now, these days, that's something that a lot of us really take for granted
depending on where you live, you know, especially in my area.
We see a lot of this happening out here.
You know, however, you know, that's what makes it all the more important for us to be aware of these things,
to look for these things and to be on guard for.
You know, it's, you know, when you have all these people coming together,
you know, from all these different walks, a lot of clashes can happen very easily.
And so we need to be like Christ and we need to be humble.
And that's really what the scripture is referring to when it says humility.
It's just another way of saying, you know, we need to do everything that we can to keep our finger on the pulse of the church
so that we can keep its real perspective and focus,
not slide into that selfishness that so many do by being focused on the image they want to portray.
And really what they're doing is they're starting to play make believe, right?
They want to cater to certain people.
They have a cookie cutter mold.
And things all become about money and numbers, right?
Like, oh, you don't fit in here. You need to go somewhere else.
No, all, all are welcome.
All need to hear the word. The gospel is for everybody, everybody.
Romans chapter 12 verse 3, the Bible says, for the grace, for by the grace given me,
I say to every one of you, do not think yourself more highly than you are,
but rather think of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.
We shouldn't be critical of ourselves, but we should be testing ourselves regularly to ensure that the image
that we're putting out is our true image, that we're putting out the truth so that we don't stray from God.
And when we all come together to unite as a church in honesty,
respect and love while putting our own personal interests to the side,
well, we get humbled. And what ends up happening is we all begin following that example of humility that Christ set for us.
All the rest of the nonsense goes right out the side.
You know, people looking at races or income and all that kind of stuff, you know,
there's a lot of garbage that goes in there, a lot of biases, a lot of prejudice, right?
You know, we see that a lot more than we should, you know, in the church. We really do.
So let's pick back up our reading in Philippians 2 verses 5 through 11 now.
And the Bible says, in your relationships with one another,
have the same mindset as Christ Jesus, who being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage.
Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man.
He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.
Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name.
That in the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
We all fall into sins of pride and selfishness very, very easily.
A little white light here, taking pins from others or, you know, from work, you know, little stickies.
You know, overindulgence in various substances. I should need to go into depth there.
You know, speeding, you know. Matter of fact, everyone who has a license,
everyone who's driven has been guilty right there, right?
Some more than others.
Yet as Christians, the Bible is telling us to hold ourselves to that higher standard,
you know, higher standard than what the world does.
Not just in our actions, regardless of how, you know, we might think they impact others,
but in our relationships with them.
You know, for instance, you know, for someone speeding might not seem like a big deal.
And so they keep doing it and it won't seem like a big deal until that day comes when they're in a wreck
or, you know, they lose control of their car, they seriously hurt or kill someone or themselves.
You know, taking things from work doesn't seem like that big of a deal until you consider how common it is
and how many people do that exact same thing and what ultimately that cost is to the company.
You know, while it might be chicken scratch for one person,
after several people start doing it and doing it regularly, those numbers start adding up.
You know, we're being told that we should treat our actions and our relationships with others
the same as Jesus would and we're reminded of so many things about him and his character.
You know, what he gave up to become human and the example he set in his own actions for us to follow.
See, when we start taking on his attributes and doing things the way he would do them,
we begin to start developing that same humility that he had.
And when we start placing others higher and truly being on the lookout to help others as we should be,
we start looking for ways to help them on top of that, not just, you know, hey, what can I do?
But what are the ways I can do this?
And what ends up happening there is we're better able to serve and we're more willing to serve.
And God will use that. God will use that. He will use you.
The more you open up, the more you let him in, you let his light shine,
the more he will use you to help others.
You know, for everything Jesus was and really is, he gave up so much to show us the way to the Father.
You know, everything that's out there, he could have simply commanded into existence or willed to happen,
you know, but he willingly, he sacrificed doing all these things
so that we would have the choice to come into a relationship with him.
You know, his undeserving sacrifice being the one that we all deserved and should have paid,
yet he made it personal and he picked up the tab for us.
You know, with all the entitlement that we see in the world, Jesus paved the way without it.
And he did it without complaining, without whining, without griping, which leads us to our next part.
Philippians 2 verses 12 through 18.
The Bible says, Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence,
but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,
for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
Do everything without grumbling or arguing so that you may become blameless and pure,
children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.
Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life,
and then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain,
but even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice of service coming from your faith,
I am glad and rejoice with all of you.
So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.
You know, we start with therefore here, which means, of course, you know,
this section is linked directly to the first, you know, it's that reminder that even though we just read through it,
don't forget about it as we keep going forward, you know, it's all connected.
You know, again, we're being told as the church here, we need to work together.
We need to unify, right?
We need to continue to follow Christ's teachings, even when there isn't someone physically there
to keep reminding us of what he said, you know.
Let's face it, sometimes we do need someone there and say, hey, hey, hey, hey, you know, what about this?
What about that?
But we need to be able to grow up, you know, as part of our own maturity as well, you know,
and not only that, but we need to continue to study what we're taught in accordance with the Bible.
We need to be like the Bereans, you know, anytime that we hear something or see something,
we need to read and refer to the Bible to test it and make sure that what we're being taught is true.
You know, we're all responsible for bearing the weight of the church and sharing the gospel.
You know, we need to be mindful that we don't just talk the talk, but we walk the walk in how we live our lives.
We're also being reminded that, you know, there are times that it's easier said than done.
There's going to be times that we don't agree with what we need to do.
We're not going to like what needs to be done.
We're not even going to want to do it sometimes.
There's going to be times we're going to be frustrated and the temptation that's there is going to be to complain, moan, argue and so discontent.
You know, in the military, griping, it's not just a tradition.
It's an art form.
Troops will complain about anything and everything without the expectation of anything actually being fixed.
If they're bored enough, they will complain about the air.
They will complain about the color of the sky.
All right. I mean, it's truly an art form.
All right. And sadly, to say it's not just the military anymore.
You know, this is something that we can all agree, you know, that we see more and more of this in the workplace these days.
You know, it really is a trend.
It's almost like being in the military when it comes to that aspect anymore.
It's one of the things I didn't mind leaving behind, but now it's right back there, you know, front and center.
You know, it's that it comes from that same idea that we had, you know, in the military, that that ideal that if the troops aren't complaining about something, then something is wrong.
But even, you know, outside of the military, you know, here in the civilian world, the cause is the same.
The mentality is the same.
Thought process is the same.
And the cause is the same.
And usually it's communication.
Communication, because their immediate supervisors have stopped listening, has stopped engaging with them or both.
And often it's both.
It's not that they've adopted the mindset if something's wrong.
Don't you know, don't just complain about it, but, you know, come to me with the solution.
Right.
It's the fact that people are just they're tired of it.
They're tired of the constant griping and the negativity, but they fail to notice the fact that they've fallen into the same snares.
It goes up and down all levels, you know, with one person just like whatever.
OK, we'll deal with it.
And it's in one ear, not the other.
And then they're sitting there with their buddy, the next and they're complaining, doing the exact same thing.
Griping without expectation of solution.
And it goes from the top down.
You see it at all levels, really.
You see, and it's in these times that we need to pray and we need to ask God to help.
Remember, you know, he he wants to be in the mix with us.
He wants to be a part of our lives.
You know, and like I said, you know, it's it's it's these times that we show our maturity and how far along we've come and how far we still need to go.
Now, so many people like to think that they're mature by just pushing things off.
However, true service and true leadership.
Acknowledges.
Where there's an issue.
And seeks a solution.
And if they can't find a solution, then they at least start looking for a resource that can provide a solution.
So they're still looking for a way to get a resolution to the issue that's at hand.
It's also in these times that we become most Christ like.
You know, Jesus, he didn't have to take the cross.
Not like it was a pleasant thing to do.
And a single thought he could have changed everything.
Or he could have changed his mind altogether and be like, hey, you know what?
You all aren't worth it.
Forget about it.
And washed his hands of us.
But he didn't do that.
He did not do that.
He took on humiliation, pain, suffering and even death.
And he did it as a humble servant leader who loves us without complaint.
Yet we're going to throw a temper tantrum over our wages, our work hours, things taking longer than we'd like.
You know, and the poor leadership that we have to deal with from others without ever truly reflecting on ourselves.
We just automatically think that we're holier than thou, right?
Jesus did not say, do as I say.
He provided the perfect example in word and in action.
And we should look at that.
We should follow that.
I'm not saying that anybody should be a marshmallow and let others walk over you.
Absolutely not.
Jesus provided us with examples for how to deal with that too.
Corrective actions and love without falling into sin.
It wasn't just do as I say.
It was do as I do.
All right, let's look at the last part of our reading, Philippians 2 verses 19 through 30.
So verses 19 through 30, the Bible says,
I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you.
I have no one else like him who will show genuine concern for your welfare.
For everyone looks out for their own interest, not those of Jesus Christ.
But you know that Timothy has proved himself because he, excuse me, because as a son with his father,
he has served with me in the work of the gospel.
I hope therefore to send him as soon as I see how things are going with me.
I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon.
But I think it is necessary to send you back Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker,
and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs.
For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill.
Indeed, he was ill and almost died.
But God had mercy on him and not on him only, but also on me to spare me sorrow upon sorrow.
Therefore, I am all the more eager to send him so that you, excuse me,
so that when you see him again, you may be glad and I may have less anxiety.
So then welcome him in the Lord with great joy and honor people like him
because he almost died for the work of Christ.
He risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me.
So Paul, you know, he'd mentor Timothy to carry on ministry work on his own.
And that's something that all leaders should be doing.
You know, all Christians, especially those early on in their walks with Christ,
they all, you know, everybody needs to be encouraged, encouraged to learn,
encouraged to observe, encouraged to serve, and they become servant leaders.
And by serve, I mean, you know, to help others, you know, people get hung up.
Oh, you know, you got to volunteer to serve.
You got to, you know, be a door greeter or an usher and all that.
No, no, no. If it's not on your heart, no.
But we should all be looking for ways to help others and to serve the church
and to serve the body.
And there's so many ways that we can do that.
So many ways, not just within a building.
All right.
You know, we should be preparing the next generation to continue the work set forth
for all Christians to accomplish on earth.
You know, Epaphroditus, you know, he also provided, you know, a great example
of what a servant leader should be in the church, you know.
You know, Paul even noted here, you know, that he, you know, he got sick
to the point that he, you know, he almost died, you know, doing the work,
you know, the work came first and he just pushed and pushed and he got very, very ill,
you know, but he was on the mend and he was looking forward to be able to send him back as well.
Let him continue on with his work.
And the other thing here that Paul's noted is that most people, most believers,
for that matter, are too preoccupied with themselves.
They're so wrapped up in the me that they don't allow, you know,
they don't allow themselves time to do Christ's work.
You know, our personal schedules and concerns should never be put in a position
where Jesus has to get in the back seat, right?
They should never be riding shotgun.
Jesus should be up there driving.
You know, he's not a guest that's just along for the ride.
You know, it's not just a fair like you're an Uber or something.
He's a good shepherd and we should be following his lead.
We should be going where he's going.
He leads our steps, right?
He gets us where we need to be.
You know, plain and simple, you know, the biggest thing here that we need to take away
is we need to stop complaining.
We need to stop complaining about the world.
The world will do what the enemy leads the world to do.
We need to humble ourselves.
We need to follow Christ's lead and become servants like he did.
Luke 22 verses 26 through 27, Jesus says, but you are not to be like that.
Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest and the one who rules,
like the one who serves.
For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves?
Is it not the one who is at the table?
But I am among you as one who serves, a servant leader is one who continually strives to find
the best way to take care of others and to approve upon it.
And every chance that we get to serve is an opportunity to do better than the last time.
So I ask you, are you going to keep complaining and keep griping without a resolution, without
a solution to the problem?
Or are you going to serve like Christ?
Remember you're loved and you are blessed.
So go let his light shine through you and be the church.
Thank you all for joining us here today at Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.
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We look forward to hearing from you all.
God bless.