Philippians 4 -Harmony

How important is it that we as believers live in harmony? according to Philippians 4, it is pretty important.

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Transcript

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Can't we all just get along? You know, I have no idea who was credited for popularizing that statement, but it always reminds me of the cowboys who cried on, get along, little doggies. I guess it's my strange and my perverse mind that made me think about those thoughts. When I read Philippians chapter 4, verses 2 through 5. I couldn't help but think about those cowboys getting out there trying to round up their herds of cattle, and so today I want to start out with a simple cowboy story. Seems over the cowboy walked into a saloon one day, he ordered himself a drink. As the bartender served up the drink to the cowboy, the cowboy looked around and said, Where is everybody? Bartender replied, Well, they've all gone to the hanging. Hanging? Yes, the pale cowboy cowboy. Who are they hanging? Well, brown paper Pete. Brown Peter. Brown paper Pete? How did a guy get a name like that? Well, he always wears a brown paper bag for his hat. He always wears a brown paper shirt. He always wears brown paper trousers, even brown paper boots. How bizarre. So what are they hanging brown paper peat for? Rustling. I know. Some of you who've never been around a brown paper bag, you have no idea what it does. Yeah. Well, what can you expect? You know, uh, for those of you who don't know me, uh I'll talk to you about the difference between plastic bags and brown paper bags, you know. I don't want to have to explain it. You know, it doesn't seem very fair to hang a person just because his clothes were different than everybody else's. But sometimes that's just the way humans are. We pick on the one person who's different and we'll try to finish them off. We'll drive them away, we'll even kill them. Doesn't make any sense. I mean, how many of us are actually identical to everybody else in the world? Anyone else in the world? You know, let alone the majority of people in the world. How do we dare to join in on picking and destroying someone who's different? Yet, Paul, as he writes to the church in Philippi, wrote about two women, Yoda and Sentiki, who presumably were in the church, and he urges them to live in harmony. Get along, you women. It's a problem that still plagues many churches today, where some people just can't get along with other people in churches and even in their own homes. Today I want to focus our minds on this idea of living in harmony. It's presented for us in this scripture, but first let's start with prayer. Lord, I ask that you help us to really pay attention to the word of God. Let us live faithful for you. Lord, help us to learn to get along. Help us to live in love, help us to have harmony and peace and joy and contentment in the Word of God. Thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen. When I think about this passage in Philippians chapter 2, I'm going to go ahead and start reading that so we know what we're talking about. But I'm going to look at the idea of living in harmony. Starting in verse 2, I urge Yoda and I urge Centiki to live in harmony in the Lord. Indeed, true comrade, I ask that you also help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement Oswell and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice. Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Every time I read this passage, I have to think about, you know, remember when Jesus had the longest prayer recorded for us? John chapter 17, a prayer about unity? This, first of all, is about this unity. Unity requires harmony. It requires harmony. I like the fact that Paul didn't just command Yoda and Sintiki to live in unity, but rather to live in harmony. Because harmony is not everyone identical. In my first ministry there in Celeste, Oregon, it became a very standing joke that they were very thankful that none of them were required to be identical to me, especially in my brain. They were absolutely thankful for that because my brain thinks strangely. Many times when I write a question down for our Bible study, I think the question is absolutely obvious, and everybody should just get the answer, and everybody's looking at me like what is he trying to get across? Nobody even starts thinking closely to me, and I don't know why that is, but my brain is different than most people. And when I see a car that has the keys still in ignition, my thought is not to steal the car, but to lock it up. You know, my brain thinks strange. But thankfully, when Jesus prayed for our unity, he wanted us to be in harmony with everyone, not all of us identical with everybody. Instead, we're we can all be different, but learn to get along together. And it's so easy to see in music. Because harmony is not everyone singing the melody line. Harmony is differences that aim for the same goal. We all sing different notes, but they need to be notes in the same chord. If a song is in the key of C, we may be singing in the middle section, a middle C where it's played. Some people may be singing a high C or low C. Some may even sing an E or they may sing a G, or because C, E, and G are all notes in the same chord. They can all be sung in harmony, all aiming for the same chord of C. If what we had to all be was unified, then we might be like those schools around here that all have dress codes. You gotta wear the same color lower stuff and the same color upper stuff, and you gotta all do that. All of us need to sing the melody lines. We all need to be forced to be exactly like me. Poor you. That would be a horrible thing for you. But Paul wrote clearly to the Corinthians that we're not all identical robots, all doing and dressing exactly the same. God himself made us all different. He gave each one of us different gifts, different abilities. Remember when we were in 1 Corinthians chapter 12? But he all gave us one goal. And Ephesians chapter 4 talks about that, to live for him, to serve him with all our lives. Even Paul said this in Ephesians, inspired by the Holy Spirit, put it very plain, that God gave the church apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and teachers, all for one purpose, to equip the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to a mature man, to the measure of the statue where it belongs, statue that belongs to the fullness of Christ. It's all of us working together, and harmony is all of our differences working together, aiming for the same goal. It's also differences working together. But notice it's not all sorts of differences, all aiming differently. Every once in a while, in a great while, Karen will start us out on a song and she'll play some weird chord. It's notes from all sorts of places. And most of the time, you know, 99.999% of the time, she's playing the right chords and the right notes and keeping them all, and it's all sounds good. But every once in a while there'll be this what was that? And she's asked me never to look at her when she does that, but I can't help it. I have to turn and look and go like, what is wrong? But when all the notes are in the right chord and in the right key, you can play a lot of different notes. In fact, sometimes she's all over that thing and she even slides all the way down that little keyboard there. Harmony requires all of us aiming for the same goal, all of us working together, not against one another, uh, as strange chords do. Harmony is differences working together. We can't just sing any old note and expect to be in harmony with everyone else who is singing either in C or singing E or G, all in the C chord. We all have to work together with one goal, one aim, all together. And praise God for the fact that we can be different, but we can still fulfill God's desire for us to be united if we live in harmony with one another. Unity requires a harmony. Unity also requires assistance. Sometimes we get stuck in our ways. Like Yoda and Sentiki. We need some urging to get back in line, to live in harmony with one another. We need a little reminder, a little assistance, a little picking up of the slack for those who are weaker. Every one of us has been in that place where we are the ones who needed the help. And Paul pointed out that these women were women who had helped him in his ministry, and now they needed some help. Getting them back to living in harmony with one another. What happened that caused this friction in the relationship? We don't know. We don't know. What we do know is that the friction often develops in relationships, and even in the relationships we sometimes have with best friends. I mean, how many of us have ever had a friend go from being a close friend to, I don't really want to be around him. We've had those. I, you know, there's that aspect. I think we've all had it happen at least once, twice, maybe even a lot of times. Why? Because sometimes it was something little that was never forgiven. Sometimes it's something tremendously huge that makes it really hard for us to forgive. Well, whatever it is, sometimes for the sake of unity, we need a little bit of assistance to help us pick up the slack for those who are weaker and help them get over hurt that's inflicted on us. Unity requires assistance. And sometimes it's more than just picking up the slack, sometimes it is actually picking up someone who is weaker. Encouraging that person who is down in the dumps and discouraged. I don't know how many stories I've heard or read about a friendship or a relationship that was destroyed. And the way it was destroyed even years later was simply, or the way it was restored even years later, was simply by one picking up the other and trying to help them get over it, trying to build them up. Or as soon as the person was picked up, he or she picks up the other person, the relationship can be fully restored. Not always, but it can be. And Paul urged these Philippian women, Yoda and Sentiki, to work on living in harmony with one another. And then he asks the Philippian Christians to help these women and others to live in harmony. Pick them up. Get along, little doggies, you know, get along. Unity sometimes requires assistance from our friends. And since we need to sometimes pick up others to help them get back into unity, we also need to realize it's picking up the support from those who are stronger than us. Or more simply, if unity requires giving assistance, sometimes it is us being willing to receive the support from others who are stronger. Don't get so stubborn that you won't let others help you. Yes, I am a man. Yes, I am stubborn, and sometimes it's very hard for me to ask for directions and asking for help, but sometimes I have to do it. We can't always be giving out help without ever receiving help ourselves when we need it. And Paul urged these women to live in harmony. He commanded the Philippian Christians to help them and all the others around them, whose names were written down in the Lamb's Book of Life. And then Paul pointed out how unity requires joy. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. I think Philippians chapter 4, verse 4 is one of the easiest verses in the Bible to memorize. Because unity requires a joy, it's rejoicing when everything goes great. When you hear good news, when you hear great news, when you hear someone's cancer is now gone, they're in remission, someone has gotten a new job, a surgery was successful, we can rejoice. After all, that's the kind of news that makes a person's day. But not all news is great news. Sometimes the news is kind of garbage or horrible, rotten stuff you don't want to hear, see, or deal with. But Paul wrote, rejoice in the Lord always, always, always, always. And again I say, rejoice. He didn't say rejoice in the Lord when you hear the good news, and otherwise, if you hear bad news, it's time to pout. He told us to rejoice in the Lord always. So our unity requires joy and it's rejoicing even when everything goes garbage. And I'll have to be the first to admit here that I'm not built that way. When things go garbage for me, I get down, I get depressed, I get angry, I might yell, I might scream at people who don't deserve it. And rejoicing is the last thing that comes to my mind, and I'm telling you the truth. That's me. There have been many times in my lifetime when the news I got was horrible: death of a loved one, finding out a loved one has cancer, finding out someone has walked away from Christ, uh, financial problems, things like that. Man, they get you down. So, what should we do when the devil pulls the rug out from underneath our feet? What can we do when we have bad things happen, like, you know, some people have their identity stolen, or now you're broke, or your job's gone, or your marriage is shot, or your loved one just died, or your health is gone, or no matter what the situation you find yourselves in, it's garbage. Well, at those times we need to jump down a few verses here in Philippians chapter 4, verses down to verses 11, 12, and 13. Where Paul wrote these words not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means. I also know how to live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. In other words, I can handle it because God is there. That doesn't mean we won't have our down moments. But it does mean that we can return to Jesus, return to God, and know He's got it under control, and we can give glory to him. Deborah's Bible reading has been going through the Psalms, and as it goes through the Psalms, there are so many Psalms where David is sitting there complaining, man, everybody's against me. Everybody's out to give me trying to kill me. They're trying to do horrible things to me. I've got this problem and this problem and this problem. You know how they end? Rejoicing and praising God. How does he do that? Because he realizes God has it under control. Even though it's horrible, I'm pouring it out to him, but he still has it under control. I can rejoice because God is still there and he will carry me through it all. And unity requires joy. It requires us to see that God still has everything under control, whether it's good or whether things are going bad. We need to rejoice and praise him, for his hand is keeping us all in his protection. And Paul continued to write this passage, Philippians chapter 2, 4, verses 2 through 5. And he wrote, verse 5, let your forbearing spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. I can't help but notice that unity requires forbearance. He who is perfect, who has never sinned, who has his life so under control that he never sins at all, go ahead and raise your hand. Our hands are down, aren't they? For the most part, most of us will recognize we aren't perfect people who have never sinned. So how can a group of imperfect people like us, how could we ever hope to get along? You know, sooner or later we're all going to do something that is going to make someone else mad. What hope is there for us? We're imperfect people. Well, unity requires forbearance. In other words, we need to show one another patience. I know that is not a popular subject to preach on. I know it's not even an easy one because I know what Satan will do to me when I start preaching on patience. Before the day is over, before this weekend is over, Satan is going to hit me somewhere and he's going to try to see. Do you have patience? And I'll be tested, I'll be tried. And sometimes I will fail and not show patience. We all need patience. We need patience more than doctors need patience. You know, if you get the difference there. One of the things that always amazed me every time I read the Old Testament is the great patience and the forbearance of God for his people. I mean, when you read through the book of Judges, especially, and you read through there, how long would you put up with a people that kept turning your back on you, cursing you, and doing abominations in your sight? How long would you be willing to let them live rather than wipe them out if you had no repercussions, no problems, if you wipe them out and just do it? If I was God, it wouldn't have been long. But when I read in the scriptures how God put up with the lives of the Israelites, I am absolutely amazed that they made it and they lived through all that stuff. But every time I start pointing my fingers at the Israelite people and how horrible they were, I can't help but remember, you know what they say? There's three fingers pointing right back. How long can God put up with me? How long would I put up with someone like me? You know, it's tough sometimes, isn't it? It is tough. We're all imperfect. We are, we should all be thankful that God has shown us patience and we need to then show patience towards other people. We need to realize that we must also show patience towards all people because we cannot possibly have unity. We cannot have harmony if we can't be patient with one another. And unity requires us to be patient. It also requires us we need to show one another understanding. There's one of my favorite verses from Hebrews chapter 4 is verse 15. We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Why did our high priest Jesus come down and suffer temptations like us? He wanted to be able to sympathize with us and let us know he understands what we are going through. I don't know how often I have heard people say, but you don't know what I am going through. I have to really admit, that's true. I don't. I don't fully know what you are going through, what other people are going through. In fact, when I first started preaching back in 82, I had never lost a grandparent or a parent that I ever knew about. I had never lost a sibling, I never lost a child, never lost a grandchild. I'd never faced bankruptcy, never had a divorce, never had all those serious problems that a lot of people face. And even when I faced troubles that were quote unquote similar, they weren't quite what they were going through. I still haven't faced a lot of those things, so I really don't know what it's like in their shoes from their perspective. I've had some of those things, but not all of them. But Jesus actually came to live on this earth to go through all kinds of things so he could understand what we are like. He faced losing loved ones, even losing his own life for us. He faced temptations and persecutions that we haven't even imagined. He has gone through all that so he can show us understanding when we go through the trials we face, and what a comfort that is to know that our Savior Jesus can understand what we are facing. We need to remember how comforted we are with our Savior and show the same understanding towards other people. Sometimes that is extremely hard. Sometimes we just want to strike out in anger against somebody. But we need to hold back, we need to show parents, uh patience, we need to show an understanding, and third, we need to show one another forgiveness. That is a main thing. To me, that's one of the amazing things about God that He willingly forgives me. There are some things about my own life that I haven't even been able to forgive myself about. There are things that people have done to me that have hurt me so deeply that it has taken me years to drop them and forgive them, and yet I'm still not positive I've completed. Forgiven those people. Because when I start thinking about them, anger and pain comes up in my life again. Thinking about what they've done. But God has called every one of us to forgive as God has forgiven us. And one thing I know for certain is that I want God to forgive me of all my sins. Not just some of them, not just most of them, but all of them. And therefore, we, I have no choice but to forgive others for everything they have ever done to me. That is so vitally important for Christians. We need to work to be able to diligently forgive one another. One of my favorite stories I ever heard about the lack of forgiveness, especially in church people, was the guy who had been shipwrecked on a deserted island for 20 years, and finally a ship comes by, notices him, and rescues him. And they send the rescue boat. He gets on there and they go, Well, are you really here all alone? Well, yeah, I'm the only one on this island. Well, what's with the three huts over there? He said, Well, you see that center one? Well, yeah, that's where I've lived for the last 20 years. Well, what about the one on the right? Well, that's the church I go to. What about the one on the left? That's the church I used to go to before I got mad. Only person there, but he couldn't get along with them. Only person. Are there churches that you have left because you got mad at them? You go to a bunch of churches, don't you? Are there churches you get so mad at, then you're going like, I'm not ever going back. I can't forgive them. Wow. I know there's people at our church that are that way. They they left other churches because they got mad and angry. You know, scripture talks about us being willing to forgive. Maybe it's time we step up and show forgiveness. Maybe there are other other people who aren't quite in line with us and we just can't get along with them. It's time we show forgiveness, forbearance. It's time that we get that. Sometimes we need to assist one another to do that. Sometimes we need to receive the assistance so we can have joy and forgiveness and forbearance. You know, these two ladies, Yoda and Sentiki, they got their names in the Bible. I don't think they probably really enjoyed why their names are in the Bible. I don't think that's how they wanted to be remembered. We don't have a Bible verse, though, that tells us they got it all worked out. I hope and pray they did. But let me tell you this much. Let's make certain our names are not remembered because we fought one another. We need to be people who realize we do not battle against flesh and blood. I think we had that in Ephesians chapter 6, didn't we? Don't battle against flesh and blood. We need to learn to live in harmony. No wonder Paul wrote, let your forbearing spirit be known. Be known to all men. The Lord is near. Wouldn't you like to have been Yoda and Santiki and get another letter written? Guess what? We are now loving one another. We have a forbearing spirit. We are no longer fighting, we're getting along. Let's work towards the unity that God wants for His people. Lord, I thank you for this passage and I ask, Lord, that you would help us to be loving and caring, that we would be forbearing, that we're not yelling and screaming at one another, that we're not leaving the church because somebody made me mad. But instead, we get learn to love one another, to live in harmony with one another, to realize we're not all the same and we're none of us here is perfect. That we all need your grace, your mercy. Thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen.