Who Do You Think You Are?
I'm conscious that in a few months I'm going to be preparing and focusing my mind on the task ahead of me as Moderator of the General Assembly 2012. As I do so I'm delighted that my good friend Peter Neilson will be taking over the leadership of St Andrew's Bo'ness for the 15 months that I'm away. I know its going to be an exciting time for all of us. Like this tree I pray that we all may be given room to grow. Martha always loves to see trees in their own space. It great when we let people and communities find their space to flourish.
I've got less than two months of sermons to preach so what I've decide to do is to focus in the mornings on the Epistle of Philippians and in the evenings think about the importance of developing and living out a prayer filled life. Sanctuary First Prayers will feature in Evening Worship.
Let me say something here by way of introduction to both of these themes.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6399QxJiPM[/youtube]
The Epistle of Philippians is an interesting letter to reflect upon at the beginning of the year. It is filled with hope and encouragement, Its central message is look at Jesus and take him as your life's role model and identity. When so many people are searching for identity, take for example the upsurge of interest in family trees, and the popularity of the " Who do you think you are " television programme ? The pursuit of personal identity is surely, reflecting a need in society. Perhaps we are all feeling the loneliness that seems to invade a community when we feel part of a rootless society. Are we in search of our inner community or indeed the Communion of the Saints?
The Epistle of Philippians seeks to provide for the Christian an alternative identity that is centred around the person of Jesus Christ rather than a family bloodline identity. The story of how the the church was founded at Philippi is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. It tells how Paul first met Lydia the fashion designer, who was a Gentile by birth and how she had attached herself to the Jewish community in the city. She in some way was in search of a new identity. This was common place, it was a growing practice in the ancient world for rich women to connect with the so called "God fearers" We are told by the ancient historians that many Gentile people had become disillusioned with the gods of Rome and had found Judaism to be more spiritually and intellectually acceptable as a religion. People like Lydia were known by the Jews as "Godfearer".
In this letter Paul compliments the Philipppians on their loyalty and thanks them for their encouragement and generosity.
The epistle has been divided into four main sections or chapters. Over a four week period we will look at the chapters and see how Paul teaches believers to be completely focused on the person and nature of Jesus Christ. It is a letter that highlights the importance of practical Christianity. It is because of this emphasis that the epistle continues to be relevant for 21st century Christians.
The letter inspires its readers to be imitator of Jesus Christ. Each chapter speaks of the qualities we must strive to emulate. Chapter one speaks of our whole life being hidden in Christ's life. In others words we must not become ‘I‘ centred instead we must die to self in order that Christ's life might be seen in us.
Chapter two speaks of our minds being shaped by the role of the servant. It is the upside down world of service that Jesus came to talk about and live out. Remember Jesus said, "If you want to be great learn to be the servant of all. Not easy but greatly rewarding.
In the third chapter he speaks of the temptation to follow other paths that lead away fro the gospel. Paul encourages us to have an ambition, a target at which we can aim. Jesus Christ is to be our goal. Our focus needs to go beyond time and look towards eternity.
Finally if we are to survive with our new identity we need to have the strength of Christ. There is a wonderful passage in the Book of Proverbs where it says " Trust in the Lord with all your heart and don't depend on your own understanding".
I hope that these studies will equip all of us to change our mindset, so that we see the world and each other through the eyes of Christ. When this happens we learn to love our enemies and do good to those who would seek to harm us. So what more should I say, perhaps, just a welcome to the radical world of Jesus turns sinners into saints.
When it comes to February I thought there is no greater theme to focus on than the theme of Prayer. Robert Murray McCheyne one of the great 19th Century Divines once wrote " A man is what he is on his knees before God, and nothing more." As we have been considering the Christian Identity, so we need to be continually reminded of the importance of prayer in the life of the Christian. I thought it would be good to take inspiration from three Old Testament Characters and look at their prayer life.
The first that came to my mind was Nehemiah. His prayer was a short and instant one in which he prayed for the favour of the state to rest upon his proposals. I believe hat the Church today needs to find ways to work with governments to see that good prevails.
The second was the Character of Samuel. He encounters the presence of God and is taught by Eli the priest how to pray. Samuel learned about the God who speaks at a time when all seemed to feel that God was silent. Surely there is much that we will be able to learn from a study of the prayer life of the young boy Samuel.
Finally I think there could be no more fitting sermon with which to leave the congregation than to reflect on the prayer f our lord in John 17 when he prays for the unity of the church. At a time like this surely all right thinking christian people are longing and praying for the unity of the church.
Please make a point of praying for me as i begin to prepare these sermons over the next week or two. Let me know what you think and if you have any contributions to make to the sermon contents i'd love to learn from you.
Posted By: Margaret Young On: 11 Jan 2012 At: 5:34pm
Dear Albert
Knowing me, you know how much of a ‘reflector’ I am and this study of Phillipians reminds me of the one we did and I think it was around 1997 called ‘What to do with the rest of your life’ based on the Book of Phillipians. We had a wonderful time then with around 20 of us meeting up at church every week. I recall that with such warmth and I look forward to hear you teach and preach on the Book once more. Bless You!