Stay on Track
Here are some thoughts on the reading from Philippians from which I'll be preaching Sunday. This was shared with the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church.
My dear, dear friends! I love you so much. I do want the very best for you. You make me feel such joy, fill me with such pride. Don’t waver. Stay on track, steady in God.
2 I urge Euodia and Syntyche to iron out their differences and make up. God doesn’t want his children holding grudges.
3 And, oh, yes, [my loyal companion], since you’re right there to help them work things out, do your best with them. These women worked for the Message hand in hand with Clement and me, and with the other veterans—worked as hard as any of us. Remember, their names are also in the Book of Life.
4-5 Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!
6-7 Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
8-9 Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.
“Though writing from prison and facing an uncertain future, Paul calls on the Philippians to rejoice and give thanks to God no matter what the circumstance. God’s peace is with us and binds together our hearts and minds in Jesus Christ, especially when things around us do not seem peaceful” (sundaysandseasons.com). How apropos are these words for us today! Do you feel like there’s an underlying layer of stress or maybe even depression as we experience our current circumstances?
“…especially when things around us do not seem peaceful”—whether it is the political situation, the president’s diagnosis of COVID 19, super-spreader events, or even football stadiums without fans. Many things around us remind us constantly that we are living in a time that is different from what we have previously experienced in life.
Paul was addressing believers for whom he cared a great deal. There was some division among them. He was imprisoned and just wanted God’s people to act like God’s people.
How can we do that? There is only one way that can be summed up in one word: relationship: relationship with God, relationship with one another, and relationship with our community.
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