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Philippians
2:12-13
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Philippians
3:17
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12
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my
presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work
for his good pleasure.
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17 Brothers,
join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the
example you have in us.
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The Prelude Version of God Speaking Through
His Word
One
of the things I love about spending daily time in God’s word is that the extended
time in the same Scriptures, and the continuity from one Scripture to the next,
give so much material for the Holy Spirit to keep teaching us throughout the
day. Sometimes this shows in the way that new insights come as our minds return
to those Scriptures in the various experiences we face. Other times we grow in
our understanding of something God’s word was teaching us as we face situations
in which we need to apply what we have learned.
A New Look at Normal
This
morning, before I had even opened the word of God, the thought that came to
mind was that Paul’s life was an example of normal. We sometimes confuse “average”
and “normal” as though what is average is the norm, so to speak.
However,
when Paul calls believers to imitate him, he is lifting our eyes above any kind
of average that was in the church, and definitely above anything considered
average in the world, to a way of life he considered so normal that all the “brothers” were expected to “join” in imitating him.
A Universal Example
To
emphasize the normalcy of his example, Paul also directed attention to some he
identified as, “those who walk according
to the example you have in us.” In reference to this group of people, Paul
said, “keep your eyes on” these
followers of “the example.” In other
words, we not only have an example, but also an example of people following the
example.
What
becomes clear is that Paul is calling us to follow his example, he is speaking
of “the example you have in us,”
which refers to him and Timothy, and there is a group of people who are walking
according to that example.
Paul’s
example was not something unique to him as an apostle, nor to his experience as
a Jewish convert to faith in Jesus as the Messiah. Neither was this about his
distinctive calling as a Jewish apostle to the Gentiles.
Rather,
this was something that was in him, and in Timothy, and in others who were
already walking according to that example. Paul already spoke highly of both
Timothy[1] and Epaphroditus.[2] Timothy had a concern for the welfare of the believers that was as
exemplary as Paul had seen, and Epaphroditus had set such an example in his
service to the church that Paul said, “receive
him in the Lord with all joy,” and then added, “and honor such men.”[3]
In
other words, the qualities that Paul identified in Epaphroditus were also seen
in “such men” as him, and were to be
honored every time the church identified men who were living in these ways.
Faith: The Great Unifier
I
remember that, in my early introduction to Hebrews 11, I thought that God’s
word was showing us the Hall of Fame of the Christian church. I thought that
these were the heroes of old, the men who were so full of personal attributes
of courage and strength that the whole church honored and revered them.
Somewhere
along the way I realized that God’s word was not putting on display the
achievements of our heroes, but the testimony of people who did everything “by faith.”[4] These people were examples to us, not of their own good works, but
about what could happen in our lives when we related to God by faith.
This
is why chapter 12 would begin, “Therefore,
since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside
every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance
the race that is set before us.”[5]
Paul
himself had just spoken to the Philippians of how he had not attained
perfection in the things he was writing about, but that he was like a runner
seeking to finish the race. As he put it, “forgetting
what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward
the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”[6]
The Normal Setting of Obedient Faith
When
Paul tells us to follow his example, and to pay attention to others who were
following his example, he was adding himself, and Timothy, and these others, to
the “great cloud of witnesses,” who
were already surrounding the church with their faith, and their testimony of
faith. They are cheering us on from the finish line, and calling us to lay
aside anything that could trip us up, so we can run with endurance the same
race they already completed in Jesus Christ.
Since
we are processing these Scriptures through the call of working out our
salvation with fear and trembling because God is working in us to will and to
work for his good pleasure, we must accept that God is working in us to will to
imitate Paul’s example, and to work the imitation of his example in whatever we
are going through today. Part of working this out with fear and trembling is to
tell God, “Yes,” we will do this by faith, and with the help of his Holy
Spirit.
In
the same way as little children try to do things they see in their parents or
caregivers without regard to how well or poorly they match what they see, so we
must encourage ourselves to join in imitating men like Paul, no matter how well
we can do so at the moment. We will get better with practice.[7]
© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
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