Standing Firm With No Fear
Immigration and Citizenship have been issues in our country since we declared our independence from the British in 1776. We have constantly faced battles of immigration throughout our history in America. Over 20 times throughout our history various Acts have been passed ranging from Naturalization to Immigration laws. Even today, we battle Immigration and Citizenship within our borders. Recently Arizona has been on the map for their new Immigration Law that was supposed to go into effect to crack down on illegal Mexican aliens living and working in the US. The issue at hand is whether racial discrimination and profiling is inherent in the law. If we were to look back in our history however, there have always been laws aimed at certain races of people. Some of us may even be descendants of those who faced these issues. Many times during our history, an influx of people came from certain countries such as the Irish, English, German, Japanese, Chinese and now, Mexican. This does not mean that it is right, but it has happened in the past. The real question is, what does it mean to be a citizen of the US? Depending on whom you talk to, it can mean several different things. Everyone who lives in and is here legally has the same rights. However, to be a citizen, not just a resident means to have the right to vote, serve on a jury, and be elected to office. Those of us, who are able, should consider ourselves very blessed to have these opportunities…even though serving on a jury does not seem like a privilege, it seems more like a task.
Right before Sherri and I moved back up here in 2008 to go back to school, I worked for a company down in St. Louis. They are a small chain in St. Louis and San Diego that is known for serving fresh healthy food as fast as a fast food chain. It’s kind of a cross between Asian and Mexican Food. So the cooks they hire are all Mexicans. During my time there, I became close with a few of the cooks there. By mere conversations, I found out from one of them that although he was legal, he had several friends that had come over illegally. He said that it was so much easier to get the fake paperwork than it was to go through the process, which can take several months to complete. When they get caught, they get deported, then come back a few weeks later. This circle is one that goes around constantly in our country. They come here because they want the opportunities that lie here in America.
I know what you’re thinking, where am I going with all of this right? Well, today in Philippians we return to find Paul talking about how we should conduct ourselves. Before we go too much further, let’s read the text for today.
27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel 28 without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. 29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.
I’ve titled the sermon today “Standing Firm with No Fear” because after doing some research, I found that the words conduct yourselves in verse 27 is actually a verb that refers to citizenship. You see, Philippi was full of Roman citizens. It was a Roman colony where soldiers inherited property to retire on, and Roman citizens were allowed to settle and retain their citizenship. Roman citizenship was a coveted prize back in those days. If you were a Roman citizen, you were the cream of the crop. It meant that you were a male born to a Roman citizen. It could be bought or awarded as well. However, it came at a great cost. It was not cheap and to be awarded it, took a lot of dedication and hard work. With this being the case, the word Paul uses here is a word for citizenship not of Roman stature, but of the Gospel of Christ. In a sense, Paul here in the first verse is telling us to be a citizen of the Gospel of Christ. The people here in Philippi would understand perfectly how important citizenship was.
It’s just like Mexicans in our day. Most of them do not care about voting or being elected to office, but being here in America with the same privileges to be able to work in our country and gain the opportunities that are afforded us at birth are. A Mexican can make so much more money here in the states than they can in Mexico. Plus, when they take it back there, it goes a lot further too. The problem is, they are not concerned about gaining citizenship, they just want to be here to work and make money long enough to support their families until they can return home.
After Paul makes this connection with the Philippians, he then moves on to finish off the subject we talked about last week. Whether or not Paul comes to the Philippians or hears about them by way of reports from his team, or he is able to be there with them in person, he will rejoice. This goes back to the fact that Paul had a good feeling as to what his fate was. He knew martyrdom was the death he would endure, but it wasn’t quite time for that. Paul did not know however, whether or not he would actually go back to Philippi or whether he would just correspond with them from afar.
This next part speaks to how we should stand as the body of Christ. These two things all go into this. First, we must stand firm in one spirit. Obviously, one spirit refers to the connection we all hold as children of God to the Holy Spirit that God provides to us after we accept Christ as our savior. Standing firm however, means that we should be not only stand our ground in our faith. The verb here actually means to “continue to be” in one Spirit. Holding fast to the Holy Spirit is what Paul is referencing here. Only by standing firm in our place together in the Holy Spirit of God are we able to do anything.
Secondly, Paul says we need to “contend as one man for the faith of the Gospel without being frightened by those who oppose you.” Well, to contend means to strive in contest against difficulties. Simply put, we should fight for the faith of the Gospel and not be scared to do it. In a word, evangelism. A lot of times…especially in Paul’s day, people were scared to share the Gospel. Put like it is here, we should be willing to fight to the end for Jesus’ message to be shared. The fear factor should not even play into the situation. We have God on our side and no matter what happens, fear should not affect us. Isaiah 41:10 says:
10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
I am a History buff. I especially love movies and documentaries of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. One of the things that stands out the most is how during battles in the Revolutionary War, the British are coming at the Colonial Army in these nice, neat perfect rows and columns. They march in looking like a single unit controlled by a master puppeteer. The Colonial Army however, is more unorganized, jumping out of bushes and trees and attacking the British any way they can. What I realized however, was that the Colonial Army was indeed well organized. The men, although they may not look perfect, are a very well oiled machine. They act as a single unit, fighting together for the common good. Obviously they did it better than the British, because we won the Revolutionary War, thereby gaining our independence from them.
As the Body of Christ, by standing together as a single unit, we can be better equipped as one body supplied with the power by the one true God. We truly have nothing to fear by fighting for what we believe in; just as the Colonial Army did. By our testimony as one solid unit, Paul says, it will be a sign to those that oppose us that they will indeed be destroyed on judgment day while we will be saved as God’s own people.
Not only have we been called to believe in Christ, but we have been called to suffer for him as well. This is reassurance that if we intend to believe in Christ and we stand as one unit, we will suffer as well. Suffering is a part of being called to serve Christ. When we think of the word suffer, immediately we think of pain, death, hardship, persecution and millions of other terms. To suffer however, really is a form of submission. When we suffer for Christ, we are submitting to his will for our lives. When we submit to baptism, we are submitting to Christ’s will for our lives, not our own. We give up the pursuit of our will to follow what Christ has in store.
So what Paul is really getting at is that we are not only to believe in Christ, but be willing to submit ourselves to Christ, whatever that means. Often times, yes, it is hardship, but also, for example, I have submitted, suffered for Christ by allowing Christ to use me here as an Interim Minister. Suffering in our English vocabulary unfortunately associates it with negative connotations, but I point out my situation to show that in fact it can be very positive. Suffering for Christ does not have to be a bad thing. Volunteering for the Food Pantry in June, for those that did, thank you, you chose to suffer for Christ in this ministry. Anything you can think of that deals with a ministry, whether it be serving on the Board, as a Trustee, Diaconate, or in a ministry outside these church walls, whatever the case may be, you’re choosing to suffer for this ministry. I want to challenge everyone here today to adapt our thinking of this word, suffering, to a more positive light instead of negative.
Many Christians along the way have been through the struggles that Paul has, that the Philippians had, and what every Christian in the 2000 years since those times have. Even the issues that we face today are still building on the struggles of those in years past.
How seriously are we taking our citizenship in Christ? Are we standing firm with no fear? Are we suffering for Christ’s cause? The Mexicans are content with not getting their citizenship in the US, earning enough money to enable them to go home and be with their families.
The real question is, are we treating Christian citizenship the same way? There really aren’t any ballots to be cast, offices to run for or juries to take part in. The King has been chosen. His name? Jesus Christ. He’s been chosen to reign at the right hand of God the Father. But what is there to do? Christ is looking for citizens willing to give their lives fully to his cause, to suffer for him. He’s looking for people willing to love beyond anything they’ve ever thought of; in times where we thought it would not be possible to love. A life of mercy and sacrifice is what he requires. The question remains however, are you taking your citizenship in Christ seriously? Pray and seek out God’s will, stand firm with no fear and take your citizenship in Christ to the next level. Let’s suffer for Christ.
Right before Sherri and I moved back up here in 2008 to go back to school, I worked for a company down in St. Louis. They are a small chain in St. Louis and San Diego that is known for serving fresh healthy food as fast as a fast food chain. It’s kind of a cross between Asian and Mexican Food. So the cooks they hire are all Mexicans. During my time there, I became close with a few of the cooks there. By mere conversations, I found out from one of them that although he was legal, he had several friends that had come over illegally. He said that it was so much easier to get the fake paperwork than it was to go through the process, which can take several months to complete. When they get caught, they get deported, then come back a few weeks later. This circle is one that goes around constantly in our country. They come here because they want the opportunities that lie here in America.
I know what you’re thinking, where am I going with all of this right? Well, today in Philippians we return to find Paul talking about how we should conduct ourselves. Before we go too much further, let’s read the text for today.
27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel 28 without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. 29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.
I’ve titled the sermon today “Standing Firm with No Fear” because after doing some research, I found that the words conduct yourselves in verse 27 is actually a verb that refers to citizenship. You see, Philippi was full of Roman citizens. It was a Roman colony where soldiers inherited property to retire on, and Roman citizens were allowed to settle and retain their citizenship. Roman citizenship was a coveted prize back in those days. If you were a Roman citizen, you were the cream of the crop. It meant that you were a male born to a Roman citizen. It could be bought or awarded as well. However, it came at a great cost. It was not cheap and to be awarded it, took a lot of dedication and hard work. With this being the case, the word Paul uses here is a word for citizenship not of Roman stature, but of the Gospel of Christ. In a sense, Paul here in the first verse is telling us to be a citizen of the Gospel of Christ. The people here in Philippi would understand perfectly how important citizenship was.
It’s just like Mexicans in our day. Most of them do not care about voting or being elected to office, but being here in America with the same privileges to be able to work in our country and gain the opportunities that are afforded us at birth are. A Mexican can make so much more money here in the states than they can in Mexico. Plus, when they take it back there, it goes a lot further too. The problem is, they are not concerned about gaining citizenship, they just want to be here to work and make money long enough to support their families until they can return home.
After Paul makes this connection with the Philippians, he then moves on to finish off the subject we talked about last week. Whether or not Paul comes to the Philippians or hears about them by way of reports from his team, or he is able to be there with them in person, he will rejoice. This goes back to the fact that Paul had a good feeling as to what his fate was. He knew martyrdom was the death he would endure, but it wasn’t quite time for that. Paul did not know however, whether or not he would actually go back to Philippi or whether he would just correspond with them from afar.
This next part speaks to how we should stand as the body of Christ. These two things all go into this. First, we must stand firm in one spirit. Obviously, one spirit refers to the connection we all hold as children of God to the Holy Spirit that God provides to us after we accept Christ as our savior. Standing firm however, means that we should be not only stand our ground in our faith. The verb here actually means to “continue to be” in one Spirit. Holding fast to the Holy Spirit is what Paul is referencing here. Only by standing firm in our place together in the Holy Spirit of God are we able to do anything.
Secondly, Paul says we need to “contend as one man for the faith of the Gospel without being frightened by those who oppose you.” Well, to contend means to strive in contest against difficulties. Simply put, we should fight for the faith of the Gospel and not be scared to do it. In a word, evangelism. A lot of times…especially in Paul’s day, people were scared to share the Gospel. Put like it is here, we should be willing to fight to the end for Jesus’ message to be shared. The fear factor should not even play into the situation. We have God on our side and no matter what happens, fear should not affect us. Isaiah 41:10 says:
10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
I am a History buff. I especially love movies and documentaries of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. One of the things that stands out the most is how during battles in the Revolutionary War, the British are coming at the Colonial Army in these nice, neat perfect rows and columns. They march in looking like a single unit controlled by a master puppeteer. The Colonial Army however, is more unorganized, jumping out of bushes and trees and attacking the British any way they can. What I realized however, was that the Colonial Army was indeed well organized. The men, although they may not look perfect, are a very well oiled machine. They act as a single unit, fighting together for the common good. Obviously they did it better than the British, because we won the Revolutionary War, thereby gaining our independence from them.
As the Body of Christ, by standing together as a single unit, we can be better equipped as one body supplied with the power by the one true God. We truly have nothing to fear by fighting for what we believe in; just as the Colonial Army did. By our testimony as one solid unit, Paul says, it will be a sign to those that oppose us that they will indeed be destroyed on judgment day while we will be saved as God’s own people.
Not only have we been called to believe in Christ, but we have been called to suffer for him as well. This is reassurance that if we intend to believe in Christ and we stand as one unit, we will suffer as well. Suffering is a part of being called to serve Christ. When we think of the word suffer, immediately we think of pain, death, hardship, persecution and millions of other terms. To suffer however, really is a form of submission. When we suffer for Christ, we are submitting to his will for our lives. When we submit to baptism, we are submitting to Christ’s will for our lives, not our own. We give up the pursuit of our will to follow what Christ has in store.
So what Paul is really getting at is that we are not only to believe in Christ, but be willing to submit ourselves to Christ, whatever that means. Often times, yes, it is hardship, but also, for example, I have submitted, suffered for Christ by allowing Christ to use me here as an Interim Minister. Suffering in our English vocabulary unfortunately associates it with negative connotations, but I point out my situation to show that in fact it can be very positive. Suffering for Christ does not have to be a bad thing. Volunteering for the Food Pantry in June, for those that did, thank you, you chose to suffer for Christ in this ministry. Anything you can think of that deals with a ministry, whether it be serving on the Board, as a Trustee, Diaconate, or in a ministry outside these church walls, whatever the case may be, you’re choosing to suffer for this ministry. I want to challenge everyone here today to adapt our thinking of this word, suffering, to a more positive light instead of negative.
Many Christians along the way have been through the struggles that Paul has, that the Philippians had, and what every Christian in the 2000 years since those times have. Even the issues that we face today are still building on the struggles of those in years past.
How seriously are we taking our citizenship in Christ? Are we standing firm with no fear? Are we suffering for Christ’s cause? The Mexicans are content with not getting their citizenship in the US, earning enough money to enable them to go home and be with their families.
The real question is, are we treating Christian citizenship the same way? There really aren’t any ballots to be cast, offices to run for or juries to take part in. The King has been chosen. His name? Jesus Christ. He’s been chosen to reign at the right hand of God the Father. But what is there to do? Christ is looking for citizens willing to give their lives fully to his cause, to suffer for him. He’s looking for people willing to love beyond anything they’ve ever thought of; in times where we thought it would not be possible to love. A life of mercy and sacrifice is what he requires. The question remains however, are you taking your citizenship in Christ seriously? Pray and seek out God’s will, stand firm with no fear and take your citizenship in Christ to the next level. Let’s suffer for Christ.
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