I recently saw a video of two boats on the water.
They were in the ocean, right next to each other.
Same make, same model, exactly the same design.
And it was choppy.
The water was choppy, and so waves were sort of coming in regular intervals
and smacking against these boats.
And the video was amazing because of the difference between these two boats.
They looked exactly the same.
And the boat on the right was rocking sort of violently,
I mean, to the point that it would be difficult to stand on the deck
without holding on to something, lest you lose your balance.
The boat on the left was remaining perfectly calm, perfectly even keeled.
The waves were hitting it, but the boat remained unmoved,
and the waves passed by.
And the reason is because the boat on the left had an internal stabilizer.
It's this technology used for mid-sized boats.
It's based on the movement of a gyroscope.
You may be familiar with this in segways.
It's the thing that keeps them upright.
And so this has been developed for boats as a way to keep them steady in the water.
But it was fascinating to see the difference between two boats that on the outside look exactly the same,
and yet one is being rocked by the waves, and the other is remaining perfectly even keeled.
And the reason I bring that up here is because in our study of Philippians,
which has been going on for a couple of months, we've come to chapter 4,
and we've come to this interesting kind of series of exhortations that Paul gives.
Philippians chapter 4, verses 2 through 9.
And this is a place where Paul actually shows us that the same kind of thing is possible for human beings,
that it's possible for a person to develop internal stabilization
that keeps us steady, keeps us even keel,
regardless of what is happening in our outer world.
And as we planned this series months ago,
we could have had, you know, no knowledge that anything like the past week would have happened.
And as I was praying about this Sunday, I was wondering what we should do,
and I was looking again at these verses and thinking that, in fact,
this is a strangely appropriate topic for us to focus on.
And as we look at the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile,
as we look at the deaths of these five police officers in Dallas in retaliation,
these are just the most recent examples that highlight that our society feels as though it's being torn apart.
It feels as though the very fabric of our society is being ripped to shreds.
I mean, if you look at the news and you hear and you talk to people,
it almost feels as though we are at war within ourselves.
And I've heard that said more and more and more.
And interestingly, this passage, the context of these verses,
we don't often remember that the context of, you know,
for those of us who have been Christians, this is a very familiar passage,
and some of us have even memorized it over the years.
But we forget that the whole context of this is actually the context where reconciliation is needed.
Paul is speaking about this internal stability in the context of two women in the church in Philippi,
Euodia and Syneche.
And they are fighting.
They are at odds with one another.
And there's good reason to think that their conflict is actually tearing the church apart.
And so what Paul does in a very interesting way is to entreat them each to be of one mind in the Lord.
And then he turns his attention to the rest of the community.
And he essentially says, their conflict is actually your responsibility.
In other words, all of you, he actually uses the word fellow, my yoke fellow,
my true companion, my true yoke fellow.
And that's actually, I think, a reference to all of the Christians in the church,
because this letter would have been read aloud.
So Paul is addressing everyone, and he's saying,
they're fighting, and you have a role to play in their reconciliation.
Do all that you can.
But, what he next does is he doesn't get into the specifics of their disagreement,
but rather he focuses on the hearts and minds of the whole community.
And it's as though in this passage Paul is saying,
if you're going to be the kind of person who is able to contribute to peace and reconciliation,
before you're able to do that, you need something to be true within yourself.
So it's almost as though he's saying, and the principle really is this,
that we cannot hope to promote peace, to promote reconciliation,
to be a part of the solution,
until we have experienced peace within ourselves.
In other words, peace out here flows from peace in here.
To put a finer point on it, if you want to make peace in the world,
begin by finding peace with God,
because that's the only peace that will actually make a difference in the world.
And so the question tonight is, how do we get that peace?
And that's what Paul concerns himself with here.
How do we develop this kind of internal stabilization
that allows us to remain even-keeled,
to have the kind of perspective and compassion and self-awareness and empathy needed,
to actually bring about peace in the world?
And he calls us to three practices.
This is what we're going to look at tonight.
Three practices.
First, he calls us to practice the presence of God.
And if you're not familiar with what that means,
or if that's an odd phrase to you,
it is an odd phrase.
We'll talk a little more about it.
To practice the presence of God.
Then he calls us to practice grateful prayer.
Not just prayer, but prayer that is laced with gratitude.
And then thirdly, he calls us to practice another odd phrase,
good spiritual hygiene.
So these are the three things that we'll look at.
Let's pray for the Lord to lead us.
Heavenly Father, we have heard a lot of words this week,
a lot of wisdom offered.
But we know that ultimately our hope and the hope for this world
is not going to be found in human wisdom or in human power,
but in your wisdom, in your word, and in your power.
And we are here because we desperately need your word and your power.
And we believe that you are here and that you will speak to us.
And so it's your voice that we crave and need.
So please give it to us, Lord, and open our hearts to receive it.
In the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, amen.
So the first thing that Paul calls us to is God's presence.
And by the way, if you're wondering why we know that these are practices
rather than simply kind of thoughts to bear in mind,
all of the verbs, and this gets a little geeky, so bear with me,
but all of the verbs here, all of the verbs that Paul calls us to,
they're all present imperatives.
And in the Greek, you translate a present imperative as an ongoing habit.
So these are really three lifestyle commitments that Paul calls us to,
calls all Christians to.
Practice God's presence.
In verse 4, he says this,
Rejoice in the Lord always.
Again, I will say rejoice.
Let your reasonableness, meaning let the fact that you are for people,
that you're on their side, that you want their well-being,
let that be known to everyone.
And then the kind of bomb, the Lord is at hand.
And I love this because he begins by reminding Christians,
reminding us of the great truth at the heart of the gospel.
You know, I think we can sometimes forget that the reason that Jesus came
was in part to fulfill a promise that God made.
He said, I will be the God who dwells with you.
I will be your God, you will be my people, and I will be with you.
And so Jesus comes and does everything necessary to fulfill that promise
so that God is actually with us here in this very moment.
For Christians who know God by faith through Jesus,
God is never out there, which is something that we forget.
Because often, and I say it, we all say it,
you know, we go through, if you've been a Christian for any length of time,
you can go through a phase of feeling like God is distant.
You know, I just feel like, and that's just a part of being a Christian,
but God is actually never distant.
God is always right here.
Here's the reason we're talking about this.
There are countless strategies, books, conferences
that promise contentment, how to deal with your stress,
how to deal with your anxiety.
But the problem with these things, and you know,
when you look at the practices as breathing techniques,
meditation, you know, mindfulness practices, yoga,
these are all helpful things.
They all help with stress and anxiety,
but they all share one limitation.
And that is that they only focus on technique.
And they don't ever start with the ultimate questions.
They don't ever begin with the existential source of anxiety.
So, I mean, if I'm stranded on the side of the road
in the middle of nowhere, in the pitch black dark,
in the middle of the night, and I'm waiting on a tow truck,
my car's dead, you know, I can do some deep breathing
to kind of get me through.
I can do some meditative practices, practice some mindfulness,
but what I really need is a tow truck, right?
I mean, if I'm sick and the ambulance is on its way
and I'm on the floor of my house and I can't move,
and I need, you know, I can do some deep breathing
and that maybe will bring my heart rate down
and that's good, but I really need a doctor, right?
In the same way, our anxiety is sourced
in this existential angst that we feel.
In other words, we know that we live in a world
that's bigger than we are.
And we know that we have very little control
over that world, over our own lives,
over our own bodies.
And we know that we can't even control
what's going to happen in the next moment.
And the source of most of our anxiety
is that lack of control.
It's trying to have control
over things that we can't ultimately control.
And so much of life feels like
we are stranded in the dark
or sick and lying on the floor
and we're sort of crying out,
wondering, is there someone out there?
You know, is there someone
who can make sense of all of this?
I mean, this past week,
when you look at these horrible, tragic deaths,
you're filled with anger and despair,
but under that, again, you wonder,
is there anyone out there watching this?
Is there anyone who is going to make it right?
In other words, is there anyone
who's going to come and save us from this?
Or are we doomed to see these things play out
again and again and again and again?
Is someone coming?
Paul says true peace begins
when we recognize that there is someone
and that he has come.
That he has come.
So the first thing we need to do
in order to develop this kind of internal stability
is to recognize this
and to practice the presence
of the one who has come.
Practice the presence of God
in our daily lives.
And I know that's an odd phrase.
You know, you say, well,
those of you who are Christians,
and some of you are and some of you aren't,
but those of us who are Christians,
typically being a Christian involves
at least assenting to the fact
that there is a God
and that he's present.
But I think functionally,
most of us don't actually live that way.
We live functionally as though
there is no one,
that no one came.
In other words,
we live with a kind of functional atheism.
So Paul's calling us to cultivate
an awareness of God's presence
in our daily lives.
And that's why he says in verse 4
that we should rejoice always.
You say, what do you mean always?
Like at the hospital,
at a funeral,
we should always rejoice?
And Paul says, yes,
you should rejoice always.
Why?
Because there's always a reason to rejoice.
Because no matter what,
no matter where you are,
no matter how hard it gets,
God is with you.
God is there in it.
You know, it's amazing
when the author of Hebrews says
that there's no human experience
of weakness or suffering
that God is unable to sympathize with
because he's been there.
He is there.
God grieves the loss
like the losses
that we experienced this past week.
He grieves those with us.
And so we need to cultivate
an awareness of his presence.
There was a young soldier
named Nicholas Herman.
You've probably not heard of him.
He fought in the 30 Years' War.
That was hundreds of years ago.
But Nicholas Herman
had a kind of a dramatic conversion
to Christianity
and later joined a monastery.
And he didn't have
the education needed
to become a legitimate cleric.
So he joined as a lay brother
and he took on a new name.
And the name that he took
was Brother Lawrence
of the Resurrection.
And over the decades,
because he wasn't an actual cleric,
they gave him a job
repairing sandals
and working in the kitchen.
And so he does this menial labor.
And yet over the decades
of doing this seemingly menial work,
he actually developed a reputation
far and wide
for being a man of great peace.
Have you ever known anybody like that?
The kind of person
that they just put you at ease?
You're around them
and there's just such a sense
of inner calm
that you feel at ease
in their presence?
Well, he was that kind of person.
And so people would come
and seek his wisdom
and his advice.
This guy who worked in the kitchen
pulling weeds in the garden.
And the reason that he was able
to develop this sense of peace
is because he devoted himself
to the practice
of the presence of God,
which essentially meant this for him.
Two things.
He committed himself
to doing everything
for the love of God
rather than for the praise
of human beings.
And he committed himself
lifelong,
whether he was weeding the garden
or scrubbing pots
or sweeping the floor,
to regularly conversing with God.
Literally in the midst
of his chores
as he's scrubbing pots,
talking to God
about the work
that he was doing,
talking to God
about his experiences
in that moment.
And here's what he says
about this.
He says,
there is not in the world
a kind of life
more sweet and delightful
than that of a continual
conversation with God.
Those only can comprehend it
who practice
and experience it.
So this is a weighty call
because it's a call
to decompartmentalize
our lives,
to break down the barriers
so that we are cultivating
a sense of closeness
with God
at whether we're at work,
whether we're scrubbing pots
in the kitchen,
whether we're in church.
There's a compilation
of his letters
and correspondence
called
The Practice of the Presence
of God.
Someone randomly
put it into my hands
years ago,
not long after
I became a Christian.
And a guy just kind of
busted in.
I barely knew him.
We had met once.
He looked at me.
He said,
you know,
I have this book.
I was going to give it
to somebody else
and he had written
a note to give it
to somebody else
as a kind of gift.
And he said,
but you know,
I have a sense right now
that I need to give it to you.
And so he tore the cover off
because it had the kind
of personal note on it
and he gave me this book
with no cover.
But it was this little book
called The Practice
of the Presence of God.
And it has radically,
radically impacted my life.
So I commend it to you.
But he says this,
for many of us
who are hearing this
and we're thinking,
how could I ever
get started doing that?
Banging away at my laptop,
answering emails
in the middle of my work day
and talking to God.
That sounds insane.
And yet here's what he says.
He says,
do not be discouraged
by the resistance
you will encounter
from your human nature.
You must go against
your human inclinations.
Often in the beginning
you will think
that you're wasting time,
but you must go on.
Be determined.
Persevere in it
until death,
despite all the difficulties.
So it begins with a bang.
Do you want to cultivate
that sense of internal stability?
Do you want to actually
be the kind of person
who is able to be present
and compassionate
and have the kind of empathy
and self-understanding
and awareness
and humility necessary
to be a part of
bringing peace
in the world?
It begins with cultivating
a sense
of what it means
that God has made peace
with you.
And that because of that
he is present here
with you
at this very moment.
So that's where it begins.
Then as Paul goes on,
this naturally flows
into the next thing.
Paul says we need
to cultivate
grateful prayer,
prayer that is laced
with gratitude
and thanksgiving.
He says this,
the Lord is at hand.
Do not be anxious
about anything,
but in everything,
by prayer and supplication,
with thanksgiving,
let your requests
be made known to God.
Now, I want to look
at what he's saying here
because there's a negative
and a positive.
The negative is this,
don't be anxious
about anything.
You know,
if you're anything like me,
you think,
I mean,
do you know my life?
That sounds like
a religious platitude.
That sounds like
somebody who hasn't lived.
Don't be anxious
about anything.
The word anxious
actually means
disproportionate
or kind of
undue fear.
Think about a lot
of the anxiety
in our life.
A lot of it
is disproportionate.
And then the positive
is this,
in everything,
by prayer and supplication,
with thanksgiving,
let your requests
be made known to God.
And you know,
I used to read this
and even when I memorized it,
I thought,
okay,
there's two things
I've got to do here.
I've got to never be anxious
and then I've got to
always pray.
And you know,
it's like,
well,
okay,
you know,
no.
It's not happening.
But what you need
to realize is
that it's a choice
and the one
displaces the other.
In other words,
the one makes
the other possible.
Right?
So how do you begin
to displace
the anxiety
that has taken hold?
You channel that anxiety
into prayer.
And it's a kind of prayer
that is laced
with gratitude.
Paul says,
no matter what
our circumstances,
whenever we pray,
we should express
gratitude.
And just to be clear,
he's saying,
thank God
in advance
before you know
the outcome.
I don't know
whether I'm going
to get into this
program or not.
I don't know
whether you're going
to save this
person's life or not.
I don't know
whether you're going
to heal me
from this or not.
But thank you.
Now,
that's a tall order.
Pray with gratitude.
Always.
See,
that's only possible,
and this is,
if you feel any,
you know,
just kind of difficulty
with that,
I'm glad.
I feel it too.
And the reason is this,
because it's really
calling us to decide,
do we trust God's
character or not?
Do you trust
his goodness or not?
See,
you can't pray
with gratitude
before you know
the outcome
unless you trust
God's character.
Implicitly,
completely,
unreservedly.
See,
our anxiety,
the anxiety
that you feel
in your life
that I feel
is not just
because we act
like God isn't there.
That's part of it.
But it's also
because even if you
believe that God
is there,
you don't trust him.
I don't trust him.
I don't actually
trust that God
knows better
than I do
what I need.
I don't trust
that when God
says no,
or when he doesn't
do what I want
him to do,
I don't trust
that that's actually
better for me.
I get angry
because I assume
that I know
better than he does.
And again and again
and again
in scripture,
and I think
this is because
all people struggle
with this
and so we need
to be reminded,
you know,
the Israelites
struggle with this.
Again and again
and again,
you read it
in the Psalms
and yet again
and again
you see example
after example
of people
like Moses
and David
and Joseph
and Paul
where you see
horrible circumstances
and then you see
God wielding
those horrible
circumstances
like a paintbrush
and using them
to paint
this beautiful
portrait
of redemption.
And he does it
again
and again
and it doesn't
justify
the bad,
it doesn't
excuse the bad,
it doesn't cover up
the bad,
it doesn't minimize
the bad,
the bad is bad,
there's no excuse
for it,
there's no way
to justify it
and yet God
repurposes it,
he redeems it,
he commandeers it
and uses it
for his
redemptive
purposes.
It's amazing
to see God
wield suffering
and wield tragedy
and bring beauty
out of it.
You know I was
just talking
last night
with a good friend
of mine,
a guy named
Perrin
who pastors
the Triumphant
Church here in
D.C.
and he and his
wife are good
friends of Laura
and I's
and we were
just talking
obviously we've
had a lot of
conversations over
the past few
days about
these deaths
and just how
to make sense
of it
and I was
just asking
his thoughts
I said what
are you guys
going to do
at church,
how are you
going to approach
this and just
kind of two
pastors sort
of praying
together about
about how
to respond
and he said
one of the
things that he
said that really
struck me is he
said you know
as I as I
look at this
these these
deaths are
horrible
you know
these there's
no there's
no way to
even put words
to to this
and we're all
grieving it and
said and yet
at the same
time I see
God bringing
beauty out of
it in ways
that only God
could and I
said what do
you mean and
he said well
look at the
way the
churches are
banding together
you know the
rally that we
had today
there were I
don't know how
many churches
were represented
but there were
all kinds of
churches down in
Freedom Plaza
right off Penn
Ave in the
heart of DC
right next to the
White House
and there are
pastor after
pastor leader
after leader
police commissioners
and chiefs
and all kinds
of people
just one after
another one
after another
reminding us to
put our hope in
Jesus saying that
there will be a
time when God
overcomes this
and to see
that many
churches
that many
pastors from
all traditions
and denominations
and backgrounds
all gathered
together in the
name of Christ
it was a picture
of the kingdom
it was a foretaste
of the kingdom
parents said
it's what an
amazing God who
could bring
something beautiful
like that out of
such tragedy
and of course the
ultimate example of
this is the cross
the worst evil
ever committed
the worst evil
ever committed
and yet out of
it God brings
the greatest
redemption
ever achieved
bringing hope
to the whole
world
so this second
practice is the
practice that we
need in order to
develop internal
stability
it's the habit
of regular
grateful prayer
of taking our
anxiety
and channeling it
into prayer
that says
God I thank you
whatever you do
with this I thank
you
because I trust
you
the one
displaces the
other
so very
practically
when anxiety
surges up in
your life
stop and give
thanks
channel it
and when we do
this Paul says
in verse 7
the peace of God
which surpasses
all understanding
will guard your
hearts and your
minds in Christ
Jesus
the word guard
actually means to
garrison
so imagine
the peace of God
garrisoning
like soldiers
marching around
your heart and
mind guarding it
keeping it safe
it's an amazing
image
so these are the
first two practices
practice the
presence of God
and practice
grateful prayer
this leads into
the third practice
which concerns
our own minds
and our own
hearts
in verse 8
Paul calls us
to practice
what you might
call good
spiritual hygiene
he says in
verse 8
finally brothers
whatever's true
whatever's honorable
whatever's just
whatever's pure
whatever's lovely
whatever's commendable
if there's any
excellence
if there's anything
worthy of praise
think about these
things
one of the best
ways to keep
healthy is to
practice good
physical hygiene
right
it's
my dad was a
doctor who for
years dealt with
very sick people
and we would
always marvel that
we all got sick
a lot more than
he did
we were
you know we
would say you're
around all of
these sick
contagious people
all the time
and yet he rarely
got sick
and we always say
well it's because
I probably washed
my hands a lot
more than you
did
that his job
just required
that he washed
his hands
dozens of times
every day
he said it's one
of the best ways
you can keep
yourself healthy
is just wash
your hands
and we can expand
this to good
grooming we can
expand it to what
we put in our
bodies the kind
of food that we
eat taking good
care of your body
so here Paul's
talking about good
spiritual hygiene
the thing is
most of us take
good I mean I
think that most of
you have good
grooming practices
I think that most
of you wash and
bathe and shower
fairly regularly
I don't I've not
heard any complaints
about any of you
and I think that
most of us have
good physical
hygiene
so the question
is how can we
be so so careful
about our grooming
and our physical
hygiene and be so
completely indiscriminate
when it comes to
spiritual hygiene
so completely
indiscriminate
you know I was just
thinking about what
are all of the
things you know I
would never expose
my body knowingly to
illness but look at
all the things I
expose my heart and
my mind to right
the things that I
watch the things that
I read I mean you
know I mean those of
you who know you
know Laura and I
rarely rarely do we
have a night just kind
of at home and which
is great we we love
that part of our lives
but rarely do we have
an opportunity and
when we do what do we
love to do we put the
kids down we fix good
food we make strong
drinks and we turn on
Netflix that's what we
do and we will crush
some Netflix we will
crush some Netflix we
will work I mean like
I mean we will get
into it it's a late
night when when
Netflix is on because
we love it and then
I think about these
shows that we
admittedly love to
watch and I think
about and I'm not
just talking about you
know sex and nudity
I'm talking about the
kind of wanton
violence I'm talking
about the kind of
hardened cynicism I'm
talking about the kind
of fatalism the kind
of closed worldview that's
not even open to the
possibility of a God
I'm talking about the
incredible disregard for
human life and and we
watch these shows and
it's entertainment I
mean that kind of stuff
makes for good drama it
draws us in I think about
the stuff that we read I
mean after a week like
this one my goodness the
amount of kind of just
vitriol that this kind of
oozing through our social
media feeds is is
astounding it's it's it's a
lot of uninformed
emotionally charged
ranting and attention
seeking that's masking
itself as commentary and
I'm amazed at how many
Christians take part and
contribute to that and
Paul would say we need to
curate very carefully what
we expose our hearts and
minds to we need to be
thoughtful about this the
word think about means to
dwell on what is it that
kindles and captures your
imagination what do you
ruminate on you know it's
very easy to ruminate on the
latest plot twist in Game of
Thrones right I mean it is it's
an it's an amazing series and
yet by ruminating on that what
is the impact over time on my
heart and on my mind and if
that's the only thing and
here's the point if that's the
only thing I'm ruminating on
what's the impact over time
you know so that you know
it's so interesting that we
expect to be able to watch a
couple of shows with people
shooting and stabbing each
other and then lay in our
beds and flip open Facebook
or Twitter and read a handful
of stories where not only have
people shot and stabbed each
other but then there's a lot of
other people pointing fingers
and spewing hate and blame and
and and and vitriol and read
that and then go to bed and
expect to wake up a perfectly
balanced emotionally healthy
stable even killed person it's
not going to happen you wonder
what kind of impact this is
having so the point isn't
should Christians watch our
rated movies I mean come on the
point is we need to be
thoughtful consumers of culture
we need to be thoughtful
consumers of content we need to
be as mindful of what we're
exposing our minds and hearts
to as we are what we expose our
bodies to so how do we become
people who are what verse five
says how do we become people who
are known for our reasonableness
right if anything I would hope
that Christians in our culture are
known for their reasonableness
often that's not the case how does
that become the case it's by
developing a kind of internal
stabilization and Paul says that
that that comes from three ongoing
practices people who practice the
presence of God on a daily basis
people who practice and channel
their anxiety into grateful prayer
and people who are thoughtful
they're good curators and they
practice good spiritual hygiene and
he sums all this up in verse nine he
says what you have learned and
received and heard and seen in me
practice these things there it is
and the God of peace will be with
you
so when the waves do come as we are
continuing to process and to try to
figure out how to respond to this
tragedy as future tragedies God
forbid happen
while everyone else is being rocked
being overturned
like the boat on the right
my prayer and my hope is the more
that we as Christians will be able to
bring the kind of balanced
perspective the kind of empathy the
kind of compassion frankly the kind of
humility
especially those of us in this church
the willingness to be the first to
confess
you know we talk in our church every
week we confess sins of omission and
sins of commission things we've done
and things we've left undone
friends we have a lot of confessing to
do
if we ever hope to heal
the racial division in our country we
have a lot of confessing to do
things that we have done and many many
many many things that we have left
undone
to be those kind of people who are
able to go to our knees like that
we need this kind of internal
stabilization a realization that any
outward peace is going to be rooted
ultimately in the kind of peace that
comes from God
so whether it's in the lives of
people like you Odea
and Synechi or whether it's in this
city right here where there's a lot of
work to be done
this is where it begins if you want to
make peace in the world begin by
finding peace in God
let's pray
our heavenly father we recognize
we recognize that merely human words and
wisdom as we said a moment ago have no
power but your word does and your word is
that word which has become flesh and
given his life to make peace you've
promised peace you've made peace
through your son Jesus and we hope and
pray that one day that peace would be
established across the whole earth that
as your word says you would gather all
peoples together as one
in the name of your son Jesus Christ
and it's in his name that we pray
amen