Running the Race (Sermon 2)
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Scripture Introduction:
Have you heard the old joke about the guy who arrives in heaven, and he’s asked which denomination, Methodist—room 24, but be quiet as you go by room 8. Presbyterian—room 16, be quiet by room 8. Lutheran—room 11, be quiet as you go by room 8. Finally somebody asks, why do we have to be quiet going by room 8. “Oh, that’s where we keep the Baptists they think they’re the only ones here.” Silly little joke. That’s what we call tribalism. It’s the idea that your group is exceptional, better than all the others, number one, etc. There is extreme polarity (that’s two sides and little middle ground) and tribalism in America. But it’s not new. This has been going on for quite some time—we certainly see it in the NT, even amongst the disciples of Jesus.
I think the apostle John might have been the first Baptist. Listen to :
38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40 For the one who is not against us is for us.
The reason John gives for stopping this exorcist is that he “was not following us”. Notice what he doesn’t say, “he was not following you”. If this had been an unbeliever casting out demons then it would have been a different story. This is, by all appearances someone who believes in Jesus, desires to follow Jesus, and join him in his mission of overturning the works of the devil by rooting out of His kingdom all sin and unbelief and replacing it with passionate worshippers. But he’s not part of John’s tribe, he doesn’t do the way that John thinks he ought to do things and so he says, “let’s put a stop to this”.
If this had been an unbeliever casting out demons (sort of like the sons of Sceva in ) then it would have been a different story. This is, by all appearances someone who believes in Jesus, desires to follow Jesus, and join him in his mission of overturning the works of the devil by rooting out of His kingdom all sin and unbelief and replacing it with passionate worshippers.
We saw last week that what Paul is saying here in is that we are running this race together. These aren’t solo races. We are to forget the behind and strive forward for the kingdom. But what happens when somebody runs different than you? What happens if their race looks a little different? You’ve got one guy doing hurdles, another running a sprint, another jogging, one guy is crawling, and some people are doing things that you just really aren’t even sure what that is.
What do you do when people don’t believe quite like you do, or do things quite like you do? Do you put a stop to them, like John did? These guys aren’t following us. They don’t look like us. They don’t do things like us. What do we do with that Jesus? What Paul says this morning is really another way of saying what the Lord Jesus said to John the disciple.
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Sermon Introduction:
I am a John Newton nerd (wrote Amazing Grace) so you’ll have to bear with me as I will often give examples and little snippets. This is one of those instances. In June of 1772 he published a letter to a friend outlining his thoughts on a somewhat controversial topic. He was just outlining the way that he saw things in Scripture. Not being combative or anything. He was very passionate about not “banging notions in peoples heads”. His philosophy of ministry was to present the truth as he saw it in Jesus—to do so as winsomely as he possibly could, but to leave the results to the Lord. He followed this in that letter.
One particular guy didn’t like the letter. A fella by the name of Nicholas Manners published a detailed line by line response to Newton.
Let’s modernize this for just a moment. You’ve just expressed some thoughts on Facebook, or Twitter, or Instagram, or whatever you kids are using these days. You weren’t trying to start a fight, you were just sharing the truth as you saw it in Jesus. And now somebody has just ripped your comment to shreds. What do you do? I’m a writer. I sift through several articles. I’m often privy to some of these heated theological discussions. I see political fights. And people fighting about some of the silliest of things. So, I’ll tell you what happens when someone disagrees with you on the internet in 2019. You pop your knuckles, grab a soda, and slam out a response. Line by line. Defending your argument and your dearly loved doctrine, under the guise of gospel fidelity.
n June of 1772 he published a letter On the Doctrines of Election and Final Perseverance(you can read that here). Shortly thereafter a Methodist preacher by the name of Nicholas Manners published a detailed line by line response to Newton. (I can’t find it online but you can buy it here).
What would be the typical response in 2011?
Pop your knuckles, get your Mountain Dew, sit at your swivel chair, and slam out a response. Line by line. Defending your argument and your dearly loved doctrine, under the guise of gospel fidelity.
You know what Newton did?
Nothing.
That’s right. Nothing. “He let the dispute die in silence”.
When I first read about this story about ten years ago I was shocked at his response. That guy was wrong. Newton was right. Shouldn’t he have defended himself—shouldn’t he have defended the truth? Truth matters, man. And when somebody is wrong you’ve got to confront it. You have to defend the gospel, man or else it’s going to be disbelieved. We’re always only a couple ways generations away from losing the gospel.
I wonder if these two ladies in had a similar mindset. One of the best ways to motivate people is fear. If we don’t do this particular thing then all of your dreams are going to be dashed. You see this language used on both sides of the political aisle. If you don’t get the right man or woman in office then the whole thing is going to crumble. And that same thing happens in church. If we don’t do this thing this particular way then the whole thing is going to crumble. God will be dishonored. The church will split. The lost won’t be saved. The whole thing is just going to go up in smoke.
“Oh, man. Sorry, I was just thinking about maybe changing the font on the bulletin”. And I’m not…no need to panic. Let’s not live in fear. Let’s not give in to fear-mongering. Spurgeon:
A great many learned men are defending the gospel; no doubt it is a very proper and right thing to do, yet I always notice that, when there are most books of that kind, it is because the gospel itself is not being preached. Suppose a number of persons were to take it into their heads that they had to defend a lion, a full-grown king of beasts! There he is in the cage, and here come all the soldiers of the army to fight for him. Well, I should suggest to them, if they would not object, and feel that it was humbling to them, that they should kindly stand back, and open the door, and let the lion out! I believe that would be the best way of defending him, for he would take care of himself; and the best “apology” for the gospel is to let the gospel out. Never mind about defending Deuteronomy or the whole of the Pentateuch; preach Jesus Christ and him crucified. Let the Lion out, and see who will dare to approach him. The Lion of the tribe of Judah will soon drive away all his adversaries.
That’s why I love what Paul does here in . “those who are mature think this way, and if you disagree I’m confident God will show you as well.” Now you could hear this as incredibly arrogant. But it’s not. It’s actually a very humble posture. It’s Paul believing that he didn’t get what he has by his own knowledge and wisdom—it’s the work of the Lord. Entrusting people to their master is a massive sign of humility. Or as Newton said later it’s being a consistent Protestant.
Whoever encourages me to read the Scriptures, and to pray for the teaching of the Holy Spirit, and then will let me follow the life of the Lord gives me, without being angry with me because I cannot or will not see with his eyes, nor wear his shoes, is a consistent Protestant.
“love one another, bear with one another, to avoid dispute; and if they must strive, to let their strife and emulation be who shall most express the life of the Son of God in their temper and conduct”.
If we really believe the gospel and the unity that Christ has bought for us then we have no other option than to pursue the type of unity and mindset that Newton models and exhorts us towards. Consistent Protestantism means that we believe in the priesthood of all believers and we believe that the Spirit guides others just as much as us. It means that we humbly acknowledge that the Christ is Lord over their lives and not us or any other “vicar of Christ”.
Another way of saying all of this is to say what Paul is saying here is to “stay in your lane”. Now I can’t really find where that phrase came from. The nearest I can tell it came from football in the 1970s. On special teams you have a kickoff or a punt and each person has a lane they are supposed to stay in. If you stay in your lane, make the tackle you are supposed to the runner can’t get through. The problem is when you don’t stay in your lane or you don’t do your job in your lane. I think that’s really what Paul is saying here.
Military formation from .
Connect this with the fact that people are different and run in different lanes with different personalities and different running styles. And combine this with the fact that is mentioned here in verse 15 that people are at different places in their maturity level in Christ. That means some people are going to be wrong. And some people are just going to be different. And some people are going to be immature. So what do you do if some people differ?
entrust servants to their Master. You belong to Jesus, not to me. Going back to what Jesus said to John. There is no neutrality when it comes to Jesus—but disciples have to be tolerant of those who differ from them.
Hold true to what God has shown you. Run your race. But that means legit run your race. Paul is saying don’t go back on what God has already shown you. Continue in the gospel.
But doesn’t theology matter? Doesn’t truth matter?
Marriage retreat. Stopped at Texas Roadhouse to eat. Had another 20 minutes to go. Started icing. Scary right…what if I told you we didn’t have a defroster? Took an hour and we didn’t even make it. Driving 7. Using a sock. Could only see out of a tiny little hole.
Shifting gears. Romantic get-away. Meteor shower. What if it was iced up like that? How different is it if our windshield isn’t iced up and we can see it better? Different experience right?
Now in our little story the windshield is our theology. If it’s muddy then our experience of Christ and His gospel is not going to be as rich as if we have a clean window. If it’s iced over and you can only see out of a hole thank God that you can see out of that hole. But you don’t want to stay that way. We’ll come back to having muddy windshields and ice-filled windshields in just a second—for the time being though let’s look at another danger and it is the one that John has here.
There can be a very real danger in praising the windshield instead of looking through it. You can be so busy dusting up your windshield and making sure all the bugs are off that you forget the reason you clean off the bugs in the first place—so you can see. The reason you do theology and want to know more of God and go deep in knowledge and gird up your minds and be sober-minded is so that you can see and worship. Not be enamored with how clean your windshield is.
And that is what John is doing here in our text. He’s thinking that he’s got the only clean windshield in all the world and that somehow his windshield is the only working one and the portal by which people see Jesus. He’s forgetting that there are other cars, with other windshields, with other people, that are also able to view the Lord and marvel at His splendor. He’s forgetting that you don’t have to be in the little inner-circle to be a disciple.
He hasn’t yet grasped that his primary call into this little circle of disciples is to be a servant leader and to go to the nations living and proclaiming the suffering servant. He thinks it’s a country club that gives him exclusive rights.
And so Jesus says, “stop it”. Stop the tribalism. Stop thinking that you’ve got all the answers and that you are the one who people must go through in order to have access to me. My kingdom is much bigger than you John. Let’s not pretend like you’re the only one with a windshield.
The Bible calls us to be at peace with one another in as much as we are able. Christ calls us to unity—in fact Christ purchased our unity and there is a very real sense in which we are already united in Christ. Unity but not uniformity. And unity centered around the truth of the gospel. We aren’t called to unity for the sake of unity.
I don’t want to spend really any more time on looking at providing this caution. I just want to say this. That a good portion of the New Testament would not be written if the apostles had a “unity for the sake of unity” mindset? Why does Paul write Ephesians? Most believe it is a cyclical letter that was going to go to many places. What is Paul doing in Ephesians?
I submit to you that what Paul is doing is saying something akin to this, “Brothers and sisters, this is what a clean windshield looks like. I don’t want your windshield to be muddy. I want them to be clean. Clean your windshield, here a few things to focus on. And why does he do that? Because he wants them to enjoy more fully what Christ has already purchased; namely, a clean windshield.
That’s what you see in most of the letters in the NT. So what does this mean practically? It means that we can have unity with one another and we can partner with like-minded churches for the sake of the gospel but we won’t be trying to see the glory of God out of the same cars.
Listen there are some things in Scripture that I believe will give a clearer window. I’d be a really bad pastor if it wasn’t my intention to a) help you to have a clean windshield b) if I didn’t help you fight off bugs that will dirty up your window. If I believe that believer’s baptism is biblical and that baptizing infants is not biblical then I’m a really bad pastor if I don’t humbly, gently, and lovingly teach that and try to convince you of the same. Not for the sake of having a clean windshield alone, but b/c I believe that biblical truth leads to a more rich experience with Christ. I don’t want you to just get the T-Shirt. I want you to not only have the T-shirt but to experience the richness and fullness of Christ.
Ordinary disciples are passionate about theology—but they hold theology with a kingdom-mindset. That means that I’m going to just humbly, lovingly, and winsomely share the truth as I see it Jesus but I’m going to take the posture of Paul and leave you up to Jesus. I’m not going to, as Newton would say, “go about trying to bang notions” into people’s heads. That doesn’t do any good. But, yes, theology does matter. I want you to have the clearest window possible.
But lets be clear…some people aren’t even looking at the same meteor shower. Some people aren’t in the car. Don’t have a windshield at all. Are blinded to the glory of Christ. This is what we see in and on.
We need to know the difference between a guy running as an enemy and a friend running in a different lane.
End is destruction, god is their belly, glory in shame, mind set on earthly things. This “end” is kind of a play on words that Paul has been doing this whole time. “perfect, mature, end, transform our bodies”. Paul is looking at the finish line. And what he’s saying here is that some are enemies of the cross—their eyes aren’t on Jesus. Their end is actually destruction. That’s what their eyes are set on and that’s where they are going. God is their belly. Does this mean they go back for second and thirds and fourths at the Chinese buffet? Not necessarily. The “belly” was the seat of emotions. And so what does it mean for the belly to be your god—it means that you are controlled by your feelings, your impulses. If it feels good do it. Obey your thirst. Do whatever you need to to quench your thirst. It might mean taking 8 trips at Oriental House, it might mean being addicted to porn, it might mean being consumed by political wrangling, it might mean angry tirades, it might mean just giving up, it’s just whatever you are feeling.
And such glory in their shame. That which ought to bring reproach and conviction and sorrow actually produces joy and delight. Sin produces pride. There is some pretty easy application here for those of us who are more conservative, isn’t their? But something you’ll find out about me—and that’ll get me in trouble—is that I’m not one to stir up the base. I don’t play “us vs. them” very well. I’m not going to take a verse like this and say, “Man, doesn’t this just sound like the liberals!!!” I’m going to see how it applies to everyone. Morality. Conservatism. Rather, I’m going to look at this and say, “dear God, how might I have things in my life where I might be tempted to glory in that which should be shameful”. I know apart from Christ that is where my heart is going to go. I’m not going to be painting a rainbow on my chest…but might I take a bit of pride in a certain zinger or an angry tirade where you just really put somebody in their place? Maybe.
The very things that they boasted of were things that they should be ashamed of. They delighted in their debauchery, likely urging one another on to further pursuit of their appetites. In a culture that highly prized honor and avoided shame at nearly any cost, these individuals pursued shame. These were not individuals who struggled with sin and lost more often than not; they were people whose conscience long ago lost sensitivity to their depravity
When was the last time you were convicted. It isn’t because you’ve gotten perfect. It’s because you’ve lost sensitivity.
Mind set on earthly things. That’s not just pleasure related sins. That’s not just the Baptist list of don’ts. Certainly it might include those. But it’s not limited here. And I think you see that by how Paul contrasts this.
Mind set on earthly things. That’s not just pleasure related sins. That’s not just the Baptist list of don’ts. Certainly it might include those. But it’s not limited here. And I think you see that by how Paul contrasts this.
Rather, I’m going to look at this and say, “dear God, how might I have things in my life where I might be tempted to glory in that which should be shameful”. I know apart from Christ that is where my heart is going to go. I’m not going to be painting a rainbow on my chest…but might I take a bit of pride in a certain zinger or an angry tirade where you just really put somebody in their place? Maybe.
In the Roman Empire, Caesar Augustus was acclaimed to be the “savior of the world” because he restored order and peace not only in Italy but also throughout the provinces and regions under his sovereign rule. Paul’s use of the term Savior in his letter to Christians in Roman Philippi “sharply opposes Jesus Christ as Lord to the imperial savior.” By applying the imperial title Savior to Jesus Christ, “Paul explicitly (and we must assume deliberately) speaks of Jesus in language which echoes, and hence deeply subverts, language in common use among Roman imperial subjects to describe Caesar.” Paul redirects the focus of his readers from the savior in Rome, Caesar Augustus, to the Savior in heaven, Jesus Christ the Lord. In contrast to the enemies of the cross who set their minds on earthly powers (3:18–19), the Christians in Philippi are called to focus their trust and hope in the Lord and Savior above all earthly powers. The enemies of the cross followed the natural inclination of residents in Philippi to look to the emperor in Rome to exert his sovereign power to solve their problems, satisfy their appetites, rescue them from trouble, and protect them from danger. But the Christian who followed the example of Paul (3:17) looked to Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior.
The ‘object’ that we wait eagerly for is a Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord. The focus is on the word Savior, which has the general sense of ‘one who rescues’ from some form of (physical and/or spiritual) danger.213 This title (sōtēr) was frequently applied to Yahweh in the LXX.214 Of special note is that it occurs in , , which is the same portion of that Paul quotes from in . The emphasis in is on Yahweh as the ‘only Savior’ of Israel, in contrast to the false gods they have gone after. Indeed, a central theme throughout the OT is the fact that only Yahweh is the true Savior of God’s people; as a result they should not look to other nations or gods for deliverance. This conviction is rooted in the Exodus event, which was the formative divine act in the creation of the nation Israel
The ‘object’ that we wait eagerly for is a Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord. The focus is on the word Savior, which has the general sense of ‘one who rescues’ from some form of (physical and/or spiritual) danger.213 This title (sōtēr) was frequently applied to Yahweh in the LXX.214 Of special note is that it occurs in , , which is the same portion of that Paul quotes from in . The emphasis in is on Yahweh as the ‘only Savior’ of Israel, in contrast to the false gods they have gone after. Indeed, a central theme throughout the OT is the fact that only Yahweh is the true Savior of God’s people; as a result they should not look to other nations or gods for deliverance. This conviction is rooted in the Exodus event, which was the formative divine act in the creation of the nation Israel
Stand firm.
In Christ?
Run with us—membership
repent of not staying in your lane
We saw last week two—really it’s two sides of one coin—parts of running the race.
We will be in again this morning. Paul is writing to the Philippians, they are a relatively healthy church who are passionate about advancing the gospel throughout the world. One of the healthier churches we read about in the Scriptures, but they do have a little bit of disunity—and it seems to be centered around a couple of ladies who are squabbling. It’s not about a serious doctrinal issue it’s about one of those things where two people just have a different opinion—but it’s causing division in the body. And so Paul has labored throughout this letter to help the entire church be about the business of joyously advancing the gospel and to model the Christian life.