Philippians 1:3-6 * May 6, 2007
* Walking Together Sunday *
Pastor Leyrer
Dear Friends in Christ,
All of God’s Word is dear to our hearts and profitable for our souls, but it’s hard not to simply love the letter to the Philippians. Within the four short chapters of this letter are a disproportionate number of lessons and encouragements. If you want a spiritual boost, sit down and read the whole thing sometime today. It will take you less than 15 minutes.
If you do, what will strike you more than anything else is its overall positive and upbeat spirit. Philippians is often referred to as “the Epistle of Joy” because that it is by far the pervasive theme that runs throughout. It becomes quite clear that joy is different from happiness, and this important distinction is one of the greatest lessons God teaches us through this letter.
Happiness depends upon circumstances, while joy is an attitude worked in us by God that transcends circumstances. That’s why we can be joyful Christians even when things aren’t going all that well. Paul was a prime example of this. He wrote this letter under adverse conditions. He was in prison. He wasn’t particularly happy about that. He wasn’t sure if he was going to live or die. He wasn’t particularly happy about that, either.
And yet Paul was a joyful Christian. His joy came from the knowledge that he was loved by God, the fact that he was saved eternally through the work of Jesus Christ, and the confidence that even in circumstances he would not have personally chosen for himself, God was guiding and overseeing and orchestrating his life.
But there is something else that also brought Paul joy. It comes through loud and clear in our text,
and it is an appropriate emphasis for today.
Our text is rich and touches on many different subjects, but on this
“Walking Together Sunday” – a Sunday devoted to remembering the blessing that
is ours through being part of a larger group of like-minded believers known as
the
OUR PARTNERSHIP IN THE GOSPEL
1. Partners in the Gospel
2. Partners for the Gospel
In the business and professional world, achieving the rank of partner is a highly desirable goal. Sometimes it is rewarded by the trappings of rank – the corner office, the private restroom, the well-appointed conference room – but those are all superficial byproducts. The essence of partnership is a personally invested commitment by a group of individual people to a common cause. Partners are involved, committed and passionate.
By speaking of his fellow Christians in terms of partnership, Paul calls all of this to mind, and it brought him great joy. “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
What was true of Paul and the Philippian church back then
continues to be true among us today. In
the
Before going any farther let’s be clear on how we entered this partnership. It wasn’t through our own hard work or by making the right decision or by knowing the right people. No. This partnership is a gift from God.
Paul spoke just a moment ago of God as the one “who began a good work in you.” That’s a reference to God’s saving activity
in our lives. He was the One who
initiated this partnership. In the words
of Luther’s explanation to the Third Article we confess, “I believe that I cannot by my own thinking or choosing believe in
Jesus Christ my Lord nor come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the
Gospel…”
In other words, God has used the Gospel in Word and Sacrament (think of your baptism here) to bring us into this partnership with Him. And what blessings this partnership brings! It means knowing where we’re going when we die and power for living in the present. It means we have been loved literally to death (Jesus sacrifice on behalf of our sin), we are listened to in our prayers, and we have been lavished with promises such as “I’ll never leave you or forsake you” and “all things work together for good to them that love God…” All of which are far superior to a key to the executive washroom.
And not only that, in bringing us into a partnership with Him God has also brought us into a partnership with each other. In a wide sense, we are partners with all true Christians everywhere who believe and understand the Gospel regardless of denominational name by virtue of the fact all who truly believe the Gospel are part of the “Holy Christian Church.” That’s the way it will be in heaven.
But we’re not there yet. So in a more narrow sense, and in line with Christ’s command to obey “everything” He has commanded us (as opposed to only the big things) as well as out of a love and respect for upholding the clear teachings of Scripture, we have entered into a partnership with those who have come to a common understanding of God’s Word and will. Such a body of believers bound by a common faith and understanding of Scripture could be called a number of things. We have chosen to call this gathering of like-minded believers a “synod,” which literally means “those who walk together.”
As such, we have a responsibility to each other, as well as
a responsibility to the world. Because
of the blessed fact that together we are partners in the Gospel, together we are also partners for the Gospel. That’s where
the whole idea of “synod” really kicks into high gear. There is strength in numbers. What we can’t do for the kingdom as an
individual church, we can do when we band together with all our other brothers
and sisters in Christ in the
The little video segment we watched earlier brought out how
the “synod” helped strengthen and sustain a congregation in
God has blessed
Or how about that hymnal we use every time we gather for worship. Or the Sunday school material we use? Or the religious curriculum at our school? Or the Youth Rallies so many of our young people have attended over the years? Where does all that come from? It comes from those who have been called by our Synod to work behind the scenes so that congregations like ours can have such resources and opportunities. Who supports those who do this under-the-radar work? We do – through our Synod offerings.
Then, of course, there is the Great Commission. Jesus tells
us to spread the Gospel. We want to do
that. We take His words very
seriously. But how can we as an
individual congregation get the Gospel to all the different parts of our own
country or Africa or
In the past you have heard that because of lack of offerings we as a Synod are unable to do things as we once did them. That is true. We are no longer in places where we once were, and we as a church body are wrestling with some big decisions about keeping or closing one of our two prep schools, Michigan Lutheran Seminary. So we need to keep our Synod in our prayers.
But the purpose of this “Walking Together” Sunday is not a
thinly veiled attempt to raise money. We
observe this Sunday to raise awareness
of who we are and how blessed we are and to remind us that we are part of
something bigger than ourselves.
Together, we are doing vitally important work as a Synod. And, in words found in Hebrews, we must
continually “spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”
So what can we do? As individuals we can pray and contribute to the degree that we can. As a congregation, we must continue to sift everything we do through the sieve of the Great Commission and support the ministry God has laid before us. As a Synod, let us ask that God will use us mightily to do things together that we can’t do separately.
By God’s grace in Christ we are partners in the Gospel. By God’s
grace we as the men, women and children who make up this church body called the