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Foundry United Rev. |
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“The Weaving of the Spirit” Sunday, October 18,
2009 |
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Philippians 1:12-20
Rev. |
We are
starting a new sermon series this week on the theme “The Life of a Thread:
Knit and Woven” We are looking at two Greek words in the New Testament that
mean knit and woven and how they are used in several different ways. You will
notice that some folk are weaving on a stand behind the lectern and that some
folk in the congregation are knitting or crocheting as visual aids this
morning. Today
we are working with a passage from the book of Philippians written by the
Apostle Paul. Lots of
people don’t like the Apostle Paul. I like him. The
reason people don’t like Paul is because scripture verses that have been used
in a reactionary way historically have often come from Paul’s writings or
writings attributed to him. Here’s some examples: Slaves,
be obedient to your masters. (Ephesians 6:5) Paul didn’t actually write
Ephesians. Wives,
be submissive to your husbands. (Titus 2:5) Paul didn’t actually write Titus. Women
should be silent in church. (1 Corinthians 14:34) Paul wrote that one. Paul
wrote some things, especially in Romans 1: 24-27 that are used in a
superficial way to condemn gay folk. Let me
say this in Paul’s defense. He didn’t know he was writing the Bible. The
reason I can like Paul is because I don’t expect him to be right about
everything. If he
wrote some of the things he wrote back then today, I’d have a big problem
with Paul, but he was a smart guy and his writings wouldn’t be the same if he
was writing today with what we know now. Paul is
there at the beginning and he is trying to figure it out. Sometimes he has
flashes of amazing insight. Sometimes he doesn’t get it yet. I don’t believe
Paul would expect you to blindly accept everything he wrote. If we
meet Paul in the next life, I expect him to say to us, “Were you crazy? I was
trying to teach people to think and to wrestle with the implications of
Jesus’ death and resurrection … not to treat what I said as though it was the
final word. Why do you think God gave you brains?” That’s
what I expect Paul to say. I may be wrong. There is
lots to learn from Paul if we will let him be a person of his time and place
and circumstance. The church decided
early on that Jesus was fully human and fully divine. It never decided Paul
was anything but fully human. The
same Paul who wrestled with issues concerning gender and sexuality taught
that “there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or
free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ
Jesus” in Galatians 3:28, and he did write Galatians. We are
looking at a passage from Philippians today, which is a letter he wrote to
his favorite church from prison. It may well be the last letter of his that
we have. This is a mature Paul. He is in
He was
in prison a long time awaiting trial, we think at least two years. The trial,
he knew, could end either in acquittal or his death. At this
stage of his life, Paul has become unusually philosophical. He is still an
activist. He is still winning people for Christ from among Caesar’s guards
and from his household. But he has mellowed and become less combative. Paul
tended to not get along well with other Christian preachers and teaches. He
tends to be very critical of other Christian preachers and teachers
throughout his writings. In the
first part of the passage we are looking at today, Paul is writing
philosophically about other Christian preachers. This is
what he writes: Some proclaim Christ from envy and
rivalry, but others from goodwill. These proclaim Christ out of love, knowing
that I have been put here for the defense of the gospel; the others proclaim
Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but intending to increase my
suffering in my imprisonment. [There are still some preachers whose
motivations Paul questions and criticizes. But then he writes:] What does it
matter? Just this, that Christ is proclaimed in every way, whether out of
false motives or true; and in that I rejoice. (1:15-18) This is
a new attitude for Paul. Maybe because he has matured or maybe because he
knows he may be near the end of his life, he is saying it is all good. No
matter what the questionable motives of some other preachers and teachers may
be, Christ is still proclaimed and Christ has the capacity to bring people
into the right place even if the motives of the teachers and preachers who
introduce them to Christ are not right. This is
an attitude I wish I had more of … a confidence that Christ can bring people
to the right place in spite of preaching and teaching that is wrongly
motivated. You
know, I was introduced to Christ by people, some of whom were racist. Some of
the people who introduced me to Christ were racist. Some were sexist. Most
were probably homophobic, I assume, although nobody ever talked about it. There
are still a lot of people being introduced to Christ by preachers and
teachers who are racist, sexist, or homophobic. Paul had come to the place in
his life where he was saying that even if the preachers and teachers are
ill-motivated, Christ will eventually bring people who follow him closer to
the vision which Christ embodies even if the preachers and teachers who
introduce them to Christ are themselves not well-motivated. I wish
I trusted Christ that much. I think
part of the reason Paul reached this place of trust is because of what he
says in the second part of this lesson. In the
second part of the lesson we get a glimpse of the mature Paul’s understanding
of God’s providence … the way Paul believes God acts in the world to care for
us. And it
centers around this Greek word epichoregia.[ ep-ee-khor-ayg-ee'-ah].
Here’s the verse. Philippians 1: 19. Paul is
talking about being in prison and awaiting trial, and the reality that as a
result of the trial he will either be acquitted or executed. This is what he writes: I will continue to rejoice, for I know that
through your prayers and the help of the spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn
out for my deliverance. The word I want to focus on is the word that is translated
here help. I will continue to rejoice, for I know that
through your prayers and the help of the spirit of Jesus Christ this will
turn out for my deliverance. The Greek word translated help here is epichoregia.[i] The Greek word used most commonly in the New
Testament for help is the word. Sullambano [sool-lam-ban'-o] which
literally means “to lift with.” You’d see how a word that means “to lift with”
would be translate to help. When you lift with somebody, you help them. But the word translated help in Philippians 1:19
is epichoregia. Epichoregus
means to weave. Epi means over/across and choregeo is
the Greek word we get our word chorale or choreography from. What does a
chorale or a chorus do? It weaves sound together. What is choreography? It is weaving movement
together. So in this case, Paul is saying that the kind of
help he trusts in from the spirit of Jesus Christ is not the “helping to
lift” kind of help, but a kind of help that weaves things together. And the end result of the weaving of things
together by the spirit of Jesus Christ is his deliverance, which does not
mean his acquittal but that Christ will be exalted in his body, whether
through his life or his death. Philippians 1:20 It is my eager expectation and hope that I will
not be put to shame in any way, but that by my speaking with all boldness,
Christ will be exalted now as always in my body, whether by life or by death. What is Paul saying? He is saying that he can not
control the other preachers. He can not control Caesar and whether his
verdict will be acquittal or death. What he is saying is that whatever happens the
spirit of Jesus Christ will weave everything together so that Christ will be
exalted. Paul only hopes that he will conduct himself
through all this in such a way as to not be an embarrassment. If he conducts
himself with boldness and courage and does what he is called to do, he is
confident that no matter what happens the spirit of Jesus Christ will weave
things together for a good result. I wish I had that kind of trust. But then I don’t
think Paul always had that kind of trust either. Look at the weaving. What is the job of a thread?
The job of the thread is to get from here to here with authenticity and
integrity. The job of how everything fits together to form a
tapestry is not the thread’s job. The job of a thread is to get from here to here,
or from here to here maybe, with authenticity and integrity. The individual
thread usually can’t even tell what the big picture looks like. Epichoregia.
We get our word chorale from it. Where are the tenors? Why do
tenors sit together in the choir? Because their job is to sing the tenor part
and they are close together to support each other. Their job is not to sing
the whole choral anthem. Their job is to sing their part with authenticity
and integrity. This is what Paul was saying – let me just sing
my part without putting myself to shame, and I will trust the composer and
director to weave the parts together in such a way that the result will be
beautiful. Christ will be exalted. This is Paul’s mature understanding of the way
God works. Let me do my part well, and let me trust the spirit of Jesus
Christ to weave things together. Paul can’t control the other preachers. He
can’t control Caesar’s verdict. Matter of fact, if we believe God has given us
free-will, God can’t control Caesar’s verdict. But no matter what Caesar’s verdict is—acquittal
or death—Paul believes the spirit of Jesus Christ can weave things together
so that Paul’s life will exalt Christ. It looks likely that the district will legalize
same-sex marriage sometime next year—earlier rather than later. I’ve begun
talking with some other United Methodist pastors about what we should do as
pastors of a denomination that has outlawed same-sex marriage in our
buildings or celebration by our clergy. So we had a little meeting of some clergy this
week and the topic came up, and we were discussing what would happen. What
will the conservatives do if we do this or that? What will IRD do if we do
this or that? What will the DS do? What will the bishop do? If we do
so-and-so, what will it accomplish? If we do the other thing, what will the
result be in the long haul? Would it be worth it? What will happen to our
pensions? What will happen to our health benefits? I was part of these discussions at the same time
I was studying this passage from Philippians. I selected this passage long
before I knew same-sex marriage would be an issue in DC. And I am thinking to myself that Paul was
awaiting trial for his life. Other preachers are undermining him. The trial
will end in acquittal or death. And Paul is saying: Whatever happens I am
confident the spirit of Jesus Christ will weave everything together so that
Christ will be exalted. I only hope that I conduct myself with boldness and
authenticity and integrity so that I will not do anything so as to shame
myself. I’m not saying we shouldn’t be intentional or
strategic. I’m just saying that Paul trusted the spirit of Jesus Christ with
the tapestry. He was just concerned that he got from here to there with
integrity and authenticity and boldness and that he did not embarrass himself
in the way he lived out this part of his life. I’m just saying it was a pretty intense passage
of scripture to be studying in the midst of the discussion about what we
clergy should do when same-sex marriage becomes legal in DC. So this is the message from Paul for today. In
his maturity, Paul came to believe it was his job to get from here to here
well, and he came to believe that, no matter what others did, no matter what
the verdict of his trial would be, no matter what happened to him, he could
trust the spirit of Jesus Christ to weave it all together to exalt Christ. Perhaps there is somewhere in our lives where we
are having a hard time trusting. We want to control the design of the
tapestry, but we are a thread. Paul came to understand that it is our job to
get from here to there with boldness, courage, authenticity and integrity.
Then we can trust the spirit of Jesus Christ with the rest. www.foundryumc.org |
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