A Reflection on Philippians 4:1-9

(Click on the title above to listen to this sermon)

Recently, it seems like the only thing anyone talks about is the financial crisis. Even the election seems to have become solely about the crisis, with each candidate doing what he can to convince voters that he has the very plan to come in and save the day. It also seems like every time I turn on the TV there are news analysts, experts, and journalists up on the screen sounding a lot like Chicken Little running around saying “the sky is falling, the sky is falling.” Maybe they are right? Ask just about anyone and they will tell you how things are – stock, credit, and housing markets all in the toilet, civil and political unrest the world over, and soaring food prices; all of which seems trivial to us in light of the news that we received last week that Oscar has cancer.

This past Sunday the lectionary asked us to consider Philippians 4:1-9, in which Paul issues a list of exhortations that include, among other things, instructions to stand firm, rejoice, be gentle, be thankful and prayerful, to not worry about anything and to be at peace.

Paul clearly has not been paying attention to the news! He is in prison, there is division in the church, the stock-market is falling, retirements are being lost, health is threatened, we’re not sure how we are going to survive as a church, much less grow, the government is borrowing money to save the credit markets, loved ones can’t find a job, people are facing real, painful situations and nobody can say how it is going to turn out, and all Paul has to offer us is platitudes – stand firm, rejoice, be gentle, don’t worry, pray, give thanks, and be at peace? To be frank, it appears as if Chicken Little is right - the sky is falling. We are just one small, insignificant church. How can we, a small voice in a market of competing megaphones, hope to make any difference for Christ?

It is unfortunate that our lectionary passage began at 4:1, and not back in 3:20, where Paul offers us a serious dose of perspective that might make the platitudes of chapter 4 seem possible. Back in 3:20 Paul writes – “our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory…”

It is as if Paul has answered all of my questions – “ok JJ, you want to know how I can have the nerve to ask you to stand firm, rejoice, be gentle, don’t worry, pray, give thanks, and be at peace? It is because you are a citizen of Heaven. You are over there with Chicken Little in the wrong time zone. You are thinking like you belong here on this earth, but you don’t. You are a part of the kingdom of heaven and that is where you live.”

What in the world does it mean to be a citizen of heaven? This is the only use of the word translated ‘citizenship’ in the entire NT, and there appears to be no English word which sums up what Paul appears to be saying to the Philippian church. Under the provisions of the Roman form of government, Philippi was governed as if it were on Italian soil. The concept is perhaps similar to a consulate or embassy – the American embassy in Egypt, for example, though it is technically in Egypt, is American soil and is governed and conducted by American rules and regulations. Thus, Paul tells the Philippians that they are part of a heavenly embassy, their state and constitutive government is in heaven, and as its citizens they are to reflect its life. There is no dual citizenship here.

Trying to maintain dual citizenship means that earthly thinking tends to dominate how I live. And guess what happens when the mind is set on earthly things? I spend a lot of time listening to Chicken Little, and he is right. When viewed from one perspective, the situation is bleak, and maybe even hopeless.

But such is not the way of the Kingdom of Heaven. Paul reminds us that when we put on Christ, we experience a permanent change of address. Our reality is transferred from this world to the world of the Kingdom of heaven. It is as if, in putting on Christ, we have walked through the brick wall and landed in magical, mystical, wonderful Diagon Alley. And once we discover the real world, the world of Christ, the world where we belong, why would we want to go back to Muggle-land?

And in this world of the kingdom we expect a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is transforming our bodies of humiliation – our bodies of flesh and bone and their reliance on all things brick and mortar, invested and saved, medical and dental – so that they may be conformed to the body of his glory. We are part of a system that knows no governments, citizenships, or allegiances other than the one to Christ. This heavenly kingdom is a present reality and determines how we live in this world – we wait patiently for Christ’s return and live by the heavenly character of the commonwealth to which we belong. I am pretty sure that this is what it means to be in the world but not of it.

Therefore, as we live here in America by the rules of the Kingdom of Heaven, it is to be expected that we would be a people who, in the face of adversity, hardship, health crisis, and economic ruin, stand firm, are gentle, aren’t worried about anything, pray, give thanks, and are at peace. Maybe the old song was right? “This world is not my home, I’m just a passin’ through; my treasures are laid up, somewhere beyond the blue; the angels beckon me from Heaven’s open door and I can’t feel at home in this world any more.” I pray that it may be so.