St Theodore's

Wattle Park

Look up the passage

12 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

14 Do all things without murmuring and arguing, 15 so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world. 16 It is by your holding fast to the word of life that I can boast on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 17 But even if I am being poured out as a libation over the sacrifice and the offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you -- 18 and in the same way you also must be glad and rejoice with me.

- - -

Sermon by Rev'd David Bassett

I have often dreamt about a cruse holiday. Sitting back in luxury. People at my beck and call. 4 square meals a day. Nothing to do but to soak in the sun, swim, relax and enjoy the gentle sway of the boat. I think cruses have a magical appeal.

And, when I seriously think about it, it seems to me that appeal lies if the fact that you are miles away from anywhere, no contact with the outside world, and free of the responsibilities of daily life. A life without responsibilities. A dream world indeed.

But, unfortunately, this dream will end, the boat will birth and the responsibilities of life will come sweeping back. For, in the real world, in this life, there are responsibilities. And we are called to respond to these in order to live life well. And as Christians we have a high calling to live this life, not just well, but, as Jesus said: "to the full."

On Tuesday, our son Thomas turned 5. A great day in any young boy's life. And, like any birthday for a young boy, it was celebrated with presents. One of the presents he was given was a box of K-nex. A construction toy. And this particular set of K-nex made three different machines. The gift was there. Full, complete, but in pieces in the box. So, to mum and dad, was left the hard part. How does it all go together? And so, following the step-by-step instructions, with diagrams, we slowly worked out the first machine. I've brought it here. It's a fork lift.

As Christians we are all given a great birthday gift. On the day of our new birth as Christians we are given the gift of life. Eternal life. It is God's promise to us. (John 5:24 Jesus speaking says: "Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life.") We, you and me, who have accepted Jesus as our Lord, have been given this gift of eternal life. This is a sure thing.

Paul, writing to the Christians in Philippi reminds them of what God has given them in Jesus. And a few weeks ago you looked at the great hymn of praise about Jesus and his Lordship in Philippians 2 verses 1-11. The passage before the one we are looking at today. Now, in the letter, Paul reminds us that, we who have received this gift of life, now have a responsibility for it.

Let me read verses 12 and 13 again: Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Here is an encouragement, a directive, to know the new life that God has given us in Jesus Christ. Work out your salvation. That is, to work out, following the instructions, just like in Thomas' new toy, how this salvation is to take shape in our lives. It is not a given that we automatically become experts in faith. The Christian life is not a one step to the finish line. No, it is a life lived under the Lordship of Jesus, who, as we have just be reminded by Paul, has been given the name that is above every name. And we have the responsibility for our obedience to Jesus' Lordship. And we are not to take this task lightly. Paul says: work it out with fear and trembling.

It is a serious responsibility. But, don't get frightened. There is good news within this heavy responsibility. Verse 13: for it is God at work in you. Here is one of the great blessings of the Christian faith. A responsibility given and then the reminder that this faith is a partnership. A partnership between us and God. And this partnership is so close it is actually indwelling. God's Spirit within us to enable us to do his will. God's Spirit within us to enable us to please God. So even though at times we may find the instructions a bit unclear, too complicated or too much at once, we are reminded that it is God at work within us that allows us to work it out.

There's a story I heard about a miner who took his son down a big mine to see how it all worked. The boy was naturally excited and curious. He went on ahead, exploring, until he was several hundred metres further down the shaft than his father. Then there was a power failure, and all the lights in the mine went out.

The young boy was terrified of the dark. He called in panic, 'I can't see!', but his dad was steady: 'Is the light on your helmet still shining son?' It was, so he went on, 'How far can you see?' The boy whimpered, 'Only about one step in front.' The father replied firmly, 'Well, just take that step. That's all you need to do.' So the boy took the step, and then his dad told him to take the next. He took the next, and the next, until eventually he was swept into the comfort of his father's arms. (T. Costello: Tips from a travelling Soul Searcher, p.5)

Often, in the darkness of our society, we are not sure how we should be living as Christians. It can be like being lost in darkness. Yet, there is a great biblical truth.

We read it in 1 John 1:5 "This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all."

In this second section of the passage, Paul contrasts the life of the Christian with society. Let me read the passage again:

Do all things without murmuring and arguing, so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world. It is by your holding fast to the word of life that I can boast on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. But even if I am being poured out as a libation over the sacrifice and the offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you -- and in the same way you also must be glad and rejoice with me.

There is a contrast between the Christian life, us living under the Lordship of Jesus, working out what this means in day to day things such as: relationships, social concern, our language, the way we priorities, the use of money, the things we see, the things we do, our attitudes and so on. There is a contrast between all this and the world in which we live. Here put harshly &127 a crooked and perverse generation. And, by us living as Christians, with God enabling us to be responsible to reflect our salvation, we become lights in this darkness. Lights reflecting the light of God. Part of our responsibility is to reflect our faith, not just internally, not just at home, but in all that we do. I'm not saying we all become a Billy Graham. Rather, I am saying that our actions and our behavior should be a visible expression of our faith, of our new life, our eternal life, with God. And in this last verse, Paul gives us a clue as to how we might do this.

The clue is Paul's example himself. His life, lived as one working out his salvation with fear and trembling. Paul, changed by the grace of God, commits his life to serving Jesus as his Lord. In this service, he imitates Jesus. Later in this letter he goes on to say Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. (Philippians 3:17). We will look at this passage closer in a few weeks.

When we are faced with the how of living as a Christian in this world we need to start by looking at how Jesus did. And then how those who followed him lived. The life of Jesus is our prime example. We must regularly spend time being reminded of the life of Jesus. Read the Gospels. Be drenched with the example of Jesus &127 so you may live the life worth living. We have the gift &127 eternal life &127 our salvation. Friends, work out your salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who is at work within you, enabling you both to do his will and to work for his good pleasure. And know, when at times it is hard to see past the next step, we can take that step in faith confident in God's presence with us to lead us to do his will.

Prayer:

Gracious God, you have given us so much through your Son, Jesus our Lord. We thank you our new life in Christ. We thank you for your Holy Spirit within. Help us to continue to work out our life of faith in all that we do so we may shine as lights in the world and give praise to you, our Heavenly Father. We pray this through Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen.

Contact us

Check our Mission Statement

Our Mission Strategy

Our 5-Year Plan

Preaching Program

Home

Last Week's Sermon

Index of Sermons