July 28, 2025 • 32 mins
The resurrection of Jesus stands as the bedrock of our hope, promising that no matter what chaos surrounds us, we will ultimately be okay. This powerful conclusion to our Philippians series reveals how Christ functions as the cosmic glue binding all creation together—from quantum particles to human relationships.
Paul's tender description of the Philippian church as "my joy and my crown" (stephanos) offers a profound vision of what genuine community looks like. Rather than viewing church as merely buildings or programs, Paul shows us a community of people whose lives are beautifully intertwined, who have each other "hanging around their necks" like Olympic medals. This relationship was so meaningful that even from a thousand miles away in a Roman prison, Paul felt deeply connected to their struggles and triumphs.
When addressing the conflict between Euodia and Syntyche, Paul doesn't take sides or minimize their disagreement. Instead, he pleads with them to adopt the "phronesis of Christ"—to view their situation through the lens of Christ's self-emptying love. This approach recognizes that our conflicts affect the entire body of Christ, rippling outward like waves through quantum entanglement.
The letter culminates with Paul's assurance that "God will meet all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." The Greek word for "meet" (pleraou) means to fill or complete, addressing the infinite longing within each human heart that only God can satisfy. When we experience this divine completion, we discover a peace that passes understanding—a profound assurance that whatever happens, we will be okay.
What relationships in your life need the lens of Christ applied to them today? Who are the people worth pouring out your life for, your potential "stephanos"? As you wrestle with these questions, remember that through Christ, everything truly is connected, and in Him, we will all be okay.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
and we ask that you would come and lead us and guide
us as we close up this book ofPhilippians.
Pray, god, that it would moveus, that it would stir us, that
it would spur us to action.
God, may it shape how we thinkabout you and the church and
each other, and may the words ofPaul resonate deep within us.
Indeed, god, may you come andmeet all of our needs according
(00:26):
to your riches and glory, andthis morning may you bless us,
may you fill us up in all theways we need it so badly, god,
the ways we're empty.
Would you fill us and give usyour peace In Jesus' name, amen,
and may you be seated.
Good morning everyone.
I'm going to use this later, sodon't forget it's there.
(00:47):
We're wrapping up ourPhilippians series.
Hopefully you've enjoyed it.
We've been working on thisletter for a couple of weeks now
.
I really wish we had spent likea whole year in this book.
This book is incrediblyprofound.
It's very layered and there's alot going on.
I'm like man, we should havedone it for the whole year, but
here we are.
I'm going to try to recap thiswhole thing this morning.
So here's what I want to say.
Oh, by the way, open up yourBibles, if you have them.
(01:08):
To Philippians 4.
I'm going to kind of do a wholecursory glance at chapter 4 and
try to tie it all together, buthere's what I'll say.
So, philippians 4, I don't knowwhat page it's on.
If you know what page it's on,someone, shout it out.
When you get there, you canjust shout it out.
What is it?
555?
, 955.
That's a niner, a fiver and afiver for you on the radio.
(01:30):
Okay, we're good to go.
955.
You know, here's what I want totell you.
If you hear nothing else thismorning, may you hear this If
Jesus was truly resurrected,then we're going to be okay.
We're going to be okay.
If Jesus really rose from thedead and I believe he did, and I
(01:53):
think many of you are kind ofthinking something similar if
you do believe that, then we'regoing to be just fine.
I don't know how, I don't knowwhat it will look like, but I
believe that we will all be okay.
And here's why Because Jesus'resurrection wasn't just a thing
that happened 2,000 years ago,but the idea is that Jesus
resurrects the whole thing andrebuilds and restores, renews
the whole thing.
In him, this kingdom has dawnedand this new thing, it's new
(02:18):
life, it's redemption, it'srecreation, it's forgiveness,
it's hope, it's a future that'sa sure and present reality now.
And so, if Jesus rose from thedead, we're going to be okay.
Can I get an amen?
You guys awake out there.
This is good news.
My gosh Paul, opens upPhilippians, chapter 4.
(02:40):
By the way, I'm titling mysermon the End and how it All
Connects, and if I had asubtitle, it would be this no,
literally everything connects,it's all connected.
So this morning I'm going totalk about a few things.
I'm going to talk about howwe're going to be okay, which I
just did.
We're going to talk aboutcrowns and these two women,
euodia and Syntyche, and thenwe're going to talk also about
(03:02):
my corole and coral reefs, which, of course, you saw coming.
And then, of course, last,we're talking about how God
meets all of our needs and howthat means that we are indeed
going to be okay.
Does that sound all right?
Fantastic.
So he opens chapter four, theend of the book, in verse one.
I know that Sonia and Ben haveboth kind of danced around this
chapter.
We're kind of all over in thiswhole series, which is fine.
He opens it this way.
(03:23):
Therefore, my brothers andsisters, now the word, therefore
, is referring back to chapterthree.
In chapter three, paulencourages the Philippians hey,
have the phronesis of Christ,the same mindset, way of
thinking, the way of believingthis pattern of thinking and
living and moving in the world.
The lens of Christ is pouringout of yourself on the cross for
(03:44):
others.
Have that mindset, have thatlens as you see the world in
everything that you do, and liveas though Christ died and
resurrected.
Live as though it were true,like practice, the resurrection.
There were many people in thisworld and in this time that Paul
knew that didn't live as thoughthe resurrection was true.
They didn't live as though thecross was a real thing, that God
(04:06):
had given them grace and mercyand new hope and a new future
and resurrection life.
They lived focused on earthlythings, paul says in chapter 318
.
Their mind wasn't on the thingsof God, their mindset, their
phronesis, wasn't on the cross,their mindset was on earthly
things.
They had no bigger vision forlife.
Their vision for life was thismyopic, small view and Paul's
like no, have a bigger visionfor life.
(04:28):
See it in this big,christ-centered way.
This phronesis of Christ, hesays, even though they live like
the cross isn't true.
We're different, we're citizensof heaven.
Paul writes.
Now, remember that this is aRoman colony in Philippi he's
writing this Roman colony wherethey were citizens of Rome.
They were a mini Rome.
All those people identifiedthemselves as Romans.
They lived like Romans, theydressed like Romans, they voted
(04:52):
like well, they didn't votenecessarily, but they did all
kinds of things like the Romansdid, and their identity was to
be Roman.
And the word citizen hadextremely intense political
ramifications Because again, inthe ancient world, in Philippi,
the Roman Empire, you couldworship other gods, but you
couldn't worship other gods ifit meant that you didn't worship
the emperor as the Lord andSavior, the number one.
(05:14):
And Christians didn't do that.
They're like no, no, caesarisn't Lord, jesus is Lord.
So when Paul says, hey, we arecitizens of heaven, he was very
much presenting an affront tothe Roman Empire, as a threat
and this could get you killed inthe ancient world, especially
in the Roman Empire, and in factit did get many of them killed.
But Paul says, hey, our hope isin Christ.
It's a future reality that'spresent here and now.
(05:38):
It's a sure and present realityright now that we are going to
be okay.
And then Paul writes at the endof chapter 3 that God will
raise our mortal bodies to bethese glorious bodies this is a
great verse for funerals thatsomehow God will take our flawed
bodies, our broken bodies, thebroken systems of the world, the
whole thing, and he will bringthings back into proper harmony,
(05:59):
as God intended.
That's the whole verse, or thewhole idea and vision of the
Philippians.
We can have joy anyway, becauseGod is going to put things back
together.
I know it looks bleak right nowI'm in prison, I'm in stone,
but God will redeem and restoreall things.
This is the phronesis of Christ.
I can see it the resurrectionof Christ.
Because Christ raised from thedead, we are going to be okay.
(06:28):
So then Paul writes, therefore,my brothers and sisters, and in
the Greek it's my brothers andmy sisters.
He says you, whom I love, whomI long for.
Paul writes my joy and my crownstand firm.
In this way, dear friends, thiswhole letter has a deep
affection.
It's got a warm tone to it.
(06:49):
Paul's deeply engaged with thePhilippians, like oh, my
brothers, my sisters, whom Ilove, whom I long for.
I don't think Paul's just beingpoetic.
He has this deep sense ofaffection and compassion for the
Philippians, for these peoplethat are about 1,000 miles away.
It's warm, there's a sense oftrust in the whole letter and he
calls them my joy, my crown.
(07:11):
By the way, the word for crownin the Greek is the word
Stephanos.
We've been doing Greek lessonsevery week, so I figured I'd
throw one more at youS-T-E-P-H-A-N-O-S.
Everyone say Stephanos,stephanos.
Stephanos really means thiswreath or crown, and Paul says
you are my Stephanos, you are mywreath, you are my crown.
Now, it comes from this imageof athletics and in the ancient
world there were all kinds ofagain crown and wreath.
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In the ancient Greece andancient Rome there were
athletics and sports all aroundthem and the victor would be
awarded this wreath or thiscrown, this Stephanos.
So imagine an athlete who'sdedicated themselves to their
trade, to their sport, to theirthing, and they pour out their
blood, their sweat, their tears,they discipline their body,
(07:53):
they beat their body, they trainall day and they give it
everything they have and at theend, the victor crosses the
finish line and wins thestefanos, the crown or the
wreath.
Maybe it's like a medal.
The closest thing we have intoday's culture is the olympics.
Any olympic fans out in thehouse today.
Okay, yeah, some of you okay,yeah, for sure, yeah, you know
(08:16):
I'm talking about.
Then, like there's a couple ofweeks every summer or winter,
every you know four years, andwe're like everything sort of
grinds to a halt and and youwill watch the Olympics for 10
hours straight and in many casesyou'll see these stories of
these athletes and all they'vedone and you start like a ball
of like just tears and you'recrying, like what is it?
Why am I crying?
And the best part is when yousee them go up to the podium and
(08:37):
receive this medal and theydrape it around their neck.
But before that, like rightbefore the event, what they'll
often do is to kind of drum upsome more drama.
They will cut away from theactual scene of the event that's
going to come up next andthey'll cut away to Bob Costas
in the home studio and Bob willtell you all about this athlete.
And what you didn't know aboutthis athlete so-and-so,
(08:57):
so-and-so, so-and-so is theygrew up in Bulgaria as a poor
farmer's kid and their brotherraised llama.
He only had one arm and he fedhimself with the other hand.
His aunt was blind.
And you hear this backstorylike, oh my gosh, before this
moment, you didn't care at allabout Bulgarian, greco, roman
wrestling, but now you careabout nothing else.
Right, like I'm invested, I'mready.
(09:18):
And then you watch this athletepour themselves out and you
know their backs.
You're like, oh my gosh, you'recheering on this Bulgarian,
whatever he's doing, and you'relike I didn't know.
Bulgarians had a wrestling team.
And when they get on the podium,they're given this wreath, this
crown, this Stephanos or, inour case, this medal, and you
(09:41):
can see the elation, the victoryall over their faces.
You know what they've pouredinto this.
You know what they've done tosacrifice everything.
Yeah, look at this guy, I lovethis one.
I can feel his energy andthey're awarded this medal, this
crown or this wreath.
In fact, in the Greek Olympics,they gave them wreaths.
That was their medal.
(10:01):
They gave them these Stephanos.
Yeah, how about this one?
Yeah, I love this.
Yeah, you can almost feel theelation.
Yeah, yeah, how about this one?
Yeah, I love that.
That's great.
Yeah, that's some respect,isn't it Paul's saying I've
given everything I have.
I've poured out my life, I'vegone sun up to sun down, I've
(10:26):
been beaten, stoned, I'mlanguishing.
I've given this everything Ihave.
And when I die when I standwith God.
I want, I want you to be what'shanging around my neck.
You are my Stephanos.
Paul has this deep sense ofcompassion and when he crosses
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the finish line, when he finallygets to the end, when he's done
everything he's done, it's allworthy, because he'll have you
hanging around his neck.
You are my Stephanos.
Paul is so intimately connectedwith this community in Philippi
that, so far away, he callsthem his Stephanos.
He's been beaten, flogged,stoned, thrown off a cliff,
(11:10):
imprisoned a couple of times,shipwrecked three times, and
it's all worth it because at theend of the day, at the end of
his life and his life is comingto an end pretty close, pretty
soon at the end of all of it, hetells the Philippian church I
want you to be what's drapedaround my neck, you are my
Stephanos.
I will keep going, paul writes.
(11:32):
I'll keep going.
I'll keep giving all that Ihave in order that you might
thrive and see the hope of gloryin Christ and forgive each
other and live in harmony andfigure your junk out and follow
Jesus and have the phronesis ofChrist.
I'll give it everything so thatyou can do that, because I love
you, you're my joy, you're mycrown, you're my Stephanos.
(11:52):
You know we talk a lot aboutwhat church is.
Like what is church?
And many of us get involved oh,it's this building and we got
to have a building and okay,fair enough.
And maybe it's programs.
And like, hey, what programsare you running this summer?
Do you have programs for mykids?
And I get all that too and like, yeah, that's a great idea.
Or maybe we argue aboutdoctrines and what do you
believe about thetransubstantiation and what is
your Trinitarian view on thegreat?
(12:14):
You know like that's fine.
And do you say the Apostles'Creed?
Which creed is it?
And do you say the?
I get it.
But maybe a more healthydefinition of church is just a
bunch of people who have eachother hanging around their necks
.
You know what I mean.
(12:34):
Maybe when we talk about church, it's like, hey, these people
who have each other hangingaround their necks.
The reason I keep showing upevery week and give it all that
I have is because I see you guys.
Years ago, when I was asked if Iwanted to be ordained, and Paul
and the council came like, hey,ryan, would you want to be
ordained in the Lutheran churchand be a part of Central in a
more permanent way and put yourroots down and be an associate
(12:57):
pastor.
And I prayed and I thoughtabout it a lot.
And I remember asking a friendof mine and I was like, hey,
talking about, I'm justwrestling with it.
And he goes hey, let me ask yousomething, ryan, do you love
those people?
And nobody had asked me thatbefore and I'd been here, I
think, at this point for like Idon't know 10 years and it was
like it hit me like a ton ofbricks and I'm not even kidding,
I'm not exaggerating, I'm nottrying to be weren't there back
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then.
But I love you too.
It's okay, you're fine, I do.
I love this place.
I love Elk River, warts and all.
I love these people, warts andall.
I'm looking at some of you I'mkidding, I love it here and I
love you.
And the reason I show up is I'mlike, look, I want to be.
I want to see you guys thrive.
I want to see you forgive eachother and live in harmony and
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follow after Jesus with allyou've got, and I want to see
you guys have this phronesis,the mind of Christ, and look at
the world the way that God does.
And I want us to be a peoplewho are so intertwined that our
stories are so invested in eachother that people can see it and
sense it and smell it and tasteit.
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And it raises the question whodo you have hanging around your
neck?
Whose life are you invested in?
Their life is invested in yours.
And who's your tribe, yourcommunity?
Who has your back?
Who do you love on?
Who loves on you?
Who gives you feedback?
Who strengthens you and bringsyou coffee and tries to
encourage you?
Who do you love and who lovesyou?
I have these friends in my life.
I call them dark alley friends,and a dark alley friend is like
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somebody who you wouldn't mindgoing into a dark alley with.
You know, in case you had totussle and believe it or not, my
wife is number one on the listbecause she's pretty tough when
it comes to dark alleys.
Ben's on my list.
I'd take Ben into a dark alley.
Laird Hamilton, jocko Willink,kyle's my name.
But this is something evendeeper.
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Whose life is your lifeintertwined with?
Whose benefit, or whose outcomeof their life is tied up with
your outcome of your life?
Who are you entangled with inthe most healthy way?
Paul says I love you.
You're my joy.
When I'm dead, I want you to behanging around my neck.
I'm so proud of you.
I love you.
You're my joy.
When I'm dead, I want you to behanging on my neck.
I'm so proud of you.
I love you.
I long for you.
(15:09):
Please keep this going.
Have the mind of Christ, standfirm.
In this way.
Paul writes we are going to beokay.
And then he shifts gears and headdresses this two women, euodia
and Syntyche.
It's hilarious.
This is what he says hey, Iplead with you, euodia, and I
plead with Syntyche, to be ofthe same mind in the Lord, to
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have the same phronesis inChrist.
Yes, and I ask you, my truecompanion.
No one really knows who thatwas.
I don't have time to dive intothat, but you can Google it.
It's kind of interesting.
They think it might have been,but history companion.
Help these women, since theyhave contended at my side in the
cause of the gospel, along withClement and the rest of my
coworkers whose names are in thebook of life.
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Now here's the deal.
This was a letter read to thePhilippians.
It was read in public and Paulgoes from these big ideas the
phronesis of Christ, koinonia,all this stuff, scubala and so
so on.
Then he zooms in on these twowomen and this was a letter read
in public, like in front ofeverybody.
So like, okay, have the themind of christ and all.
By the way, you and you standup.
(16:12):
And they're like me now we'regonna do this here today I'm
gonna have no, I'm kidding, I'mnot gonna do that.
But he calls out these two womenwho seemingly had this conflict
, and it's like weighing on Paul.
And he calls them out in frontof everybody because everybody
knows probably you know howeveryone knows the stuff in the
room and everyone kind of senseit and smell it and feel it, and
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oh, that's the elephant that noone talks about or whatever.
And Paul addresses him.
He's like, hey, these big ideasI'm gonna, we're gonna enflesh
it, we're gonna do it in thiscase, in this conflict, here's
what he's going to do.
He pleads with them.
He's like, hey, something'sgoing down between these two
women.
And he pleads with them Look,we've been talking about God
putting all things back togetherand that God will redeem and
(16:52):
restore all things the mind ofChrist, the resurrection of
Christ, it's going to be okay,they've been talking about it.
But something with you two isbroken and I want to address it
Now before I go any further.
He and I want to address it Nowbefore I go any further.
He doesn't take sides.
He's like God, you odiaSyndicate is kind of crazy.
I get it right.
Right, you know he doesn't dothat.
Paul doesn't take sides, hedoesn't really bother doing that
(17:15):
.
He also doesn't say that theywere not justified.
Perhaps they had a realgrievance.
There was real problems, realtension.
Somebody hurt somebody orsomething happened.
It was real.
He doesn't like sort of justshove it under the rug.
He doesn't say that.
Lastly, he doesn't just say hey, guys, let's just hug it out,
let's just kumbaya this thingand figure it out, we're gonna
be fine, let's just hug it out.
They will know we areChristians by our love.
He doesn't do that.
What Paul says hey, in themiddle of your conflict, in this
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problem, have I plead with youmy joy, my crown, have the
phronesis of Christ.
See this whole thing throughthe lens of Christ the
outpouring of God in Christ onthe cross, the emptying, the
(17:59):
humiliation, the self-sacrificeof Christ on the cross.
Think about this through thelens of Christ and adopt the
Christ pattern of thinking,feeling and acting when you see
this conflict put on the lens ofChrist and adopt the Christ
pattern of thinking, feeling andacting when you see this
conflict put on the lens ofChrist.
I mean, by the way, I loveSuperman, he's my favorite
superhero, he's the best butlike, really Like, nobody can
(18:23):
tell.
Come on, have the lens ofchrist.
Whatever's happening betweenyou, you already understand.
Okay, have the lens of christ.
Not, it's no big deal, not justget over it, not hug it out,
not none of that stuff.
It's like, hey, I get it, thisis a big deal, but have the
framework of christ.
And somebody has to behave likechrist on the cross and adapt
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and adopt this way of thinkingand everybody else.
Help them, help them know whatthis looks like, give them
thoughts and advice and feedback.
You're part of the community,you're part of this tribe, this
village.
Help them to figure it out andto know what this looks like.
Here's why, for Paul, everythingis connected, it's all
(19:05):
connected.
I mentioned it already, butPaul's about a thousand miles
away.
This is ancient Philippi, whichis not the same as the modern
day Philippi, but it's close andthat's Rome.
Paul's in Rome.
Now, to get there, you got totake the Orient Express train.
Just kidding, you go on a boatand then land in a boat again.
It's about a thousand miles,it's a little bit less than that
(19:31):
, but it's a long ways away forPaul and he planted the church
over 10 years ago.
Why does Paul even care?
Why is he so deeply filled withcompassion?
Why is his letter so warm?
Why is he pleading and talkingabout joy, my crown.
What is the deal here?
It's so far away.
Somehow, though, even thoughit's this far away, their junk
(19:51):
is affecting him in prison inRome, because everything is
connected.
It's connected.
Colossians I love it says itthis way.
The book of Colossians says and, by the way, paul sees Christ
as the connection point.
So the book of Colossians saysthis he is before all things
talking about Jesus, the Christ,and in him all things hold
together.
So Christ is like this cosmicglue that holds all things
(20:14):
together.
So he's pleading with you,audience.
Okay, this is killing me.
What's happening to you?
This conflict, this fissure,this faction has kind of been
created.
Please have the mind of Christ,because it all is connected.
Later in Colossians, paulwrites this but Christ is in all
.
Sorry, christ is all and is inall.
Everything for Paul isconnected.
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There's this cosmic glue, thissort of harmony that undergirds
the whole creation, the wholething, and it's Christ.
And so what happens to Euodiaand Syntyche is affecting Paul,
a thousand miles away in prisonin Rome, and he's begging them
please have the mind of Christ.
See.
In the modern world we like totake things apart.
We love taking things apart.
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In the modern world we havegears and mechanisms and sinews
and bones and tissues and atomsand quarks and mind and body.
We separate and divideeverything, but for Paul he saw
it all as those all connected,not separated.
I read this great study by DrEllen Langer.
Anybody know Dr Ellen Langer.
So she did a study about themind-body connection.
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We often in the modern Westernworld want to separate mind from
body.
But here's the study she did.
So she took a bunch of60-year-old men this is back in
the 80s, so back then 60 waslike you were 80.
It's like now people are livinga lot longer.
But back then a bunch of60-year-old men and put them in
this retreat center andsurrounded them with all of the
things that were in their lives20 years prior.
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They created an environmentthat would have resembled 20
years ago, but right here now,and they put them in this
retreat center and everythingthat they knew in this space was
from 20 years ago in their lifeand it deeply affected their
biology, their physiology.
After a week of staying there,their vision improved, their
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hearing improved, their mentalwell-being improved.
It's crazy why?
Well, because, yeah, the mindand the body and the language we
use, it's all connected.
This is why you should becareful of the language you use.
I have friends who are like intheir 20s, like, oh, I'm so old.
I'm like, shut your mouth,because the things we say impact
our well-being as well.
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It's all connected.
I heard a doctor one time saythat she's like yeah, you'd be
surprised, but sometimes I'llhave someone come in with a
stomach problem, stomach ache,and I'll find that they have
marriage problems.
Yeah, yeah, no wonder, becauseit's all connected.
Everything is deeply connectedand relationality is the fabric
of existence.
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Are there any biologists in thehouse?
Okay, fair enough, then youwon't be able to prove me wrong.
Then, great, this is good.
Look at biology.
In biology, everything isconnected.
I mean from this mycorrhizal,which is this incredibly ornate
system in biology, to the coralreefs.
Look at coral reefs.
They're all intertwined andconnected.
Animal biology, if you take,you know, this study where they
put wolves back into, was itMontana and it changed the way a
(23:03):
river flowed.
Did you know this?
It's crazy.
It's all connected Down to thequantum level.
You ever heard of quantumentanglement, paul?
Do you know about quantumentanglement?
Okay, fair enough.
Even at the quantum level,particles that are living a long
distance away, they're deeplyentangled and they impact each
other.
These are particles that couldbe, I think Einstein called like
(23:25):
a spooky distance, something hethought it was so weird,
einstein, because even at themicro, the quantum level,
everything is deeply connected.
So when this church sends Paulthis gift a thousand miles away,
10 plus years later, it affectshim so deeply that he calls
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them my joy, my crown.
He loves these guys.
Nobody else helped him, hewrote.
No one else supported hisministry, but these are partners
in the ministry, that partnersin the gospel.
This was true, cornelia, asharing, a partnership.
Their gift was to god.
He thought that god gave it tohim and he's thankful.
It's this beautiful, symbioticrelationship and they're deeply
connected even though they're athousand miles away.
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That's the whole point of thisletter is that the Philippians
hear about Paul in prison andthen they send Epaphroditus to
give him a gift, to help him,support him, sustain him.
And he writes back a letter thePhilippians letter that you
have in your Bibles withEpaphroditus to say thank you
for your partnership in thegospel.
It's deeply moved me.
I want you hanging around myneck and here's how I'll close
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then too.
This is what causes Paul to sayI know that my God then will
meet all of your needs accordingto his riches and glory in
Christ Jesus.
How can he say that?
I was experienced it Somehowthis gift from Epaphroditus,
from the Philippian church, athousand miles away, and their
(24:58):
love for him, their concern,their sharing in the gospel,
their partnership, their givingand receiving.
They're throwing their hat inthe ring with each other's lives
, their entwinement in thehealthiest way, and all of this
has led Paul to see somethingthat's true of God, that maybe
he didn't see before.
I don't know, I'm reading thetext here, but maybe this was a
vision of God that he gets whenEpaphroditus shows up.
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Oh yeah, god will meet all ofmy needs, and he used you guys,
the Philippians, to do it.
Oh, my joy, my crown.
Their gift reveals somethingabout God.
You ever think that maybe whatyou do and how you live your
life reveals something about Godin the world or not.
You know, like that time whenyou were in traffic and somebody
(25:43):
cut you off and you didn't flipthem off but instead you just
waved.
I don't know, maybe you wererevealing a deep truth about god
to the universe and to thatperson, even to yourself.
We're all going to be okay bythe time.
You paid for the coffee of theperson in line behind you and
(26:04):
didn't want them to come tochurch because of it.
Like, it's okay, this is a freegift.
You don't have to get saved orcome to my church, I just want
to give you free coffee.
And you drove off withouttelling anybody.
Yeah, maybe you're revealingsomething about the generative
nature of God in the universe.
Maybe that time when you put theshopping cart back where it's
supposed to go, this is aphilosophical test for how human
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we are and how kind we are.
It's a who puts the grocerycart back without being asked or
being thanked.
Yeah, maybe you're revealingsomething about the trinity of
the world and God and his placein it.
Maybe that time you listened toa friend as they cried and wept
about their diagnosis, or theirdivorce or their child.
That's sick.
And you just sat there andlistened and maybe you're
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revealing something deeply trueabout God to the world and to
your friend and to yourself.
And Paul writes God will meetall of my need.
Yeah, I love this.
By the way, the word for meetis the word pleraou.
So we're gonna do one moreGreek word.
You don't have to say it,actually, no, let's say it.
Everyone say play Ra'u.
It's not bad.
(27:08):
It means to fill or to complete.
Now, Dave was the only one whoresponded to my email, so I
appreciate Dave's engagementwith my email, but in my email
it's funny, the needs we havethese days, right, Like I need
my morning coffee and all thefavored ones of God said amen,
(27:29):
you're sleeping out there.
You need your coffee too,apparently, good grief.
Like I need Siri to understandme when I talk to her on my
phone.
I mean good grief, siri, what'swrong with you?
The other night I was laying inbed with my wife.
We're reading our books and I'mlike I need to set a reminder.
Like I'm like I need to go tobed in 20 minutes.
I'll put a reminder on my phoneto go off in 20 minutes to go
to bed.
So I'm like, hey, siri, I'mholding my phone with a lamp,
I'm holding my book, my phone'swhere I go.
Hey, siri set a timer for 20minutes.
(27:50):
Siri goes what do you want meto remind you of?
Go to bed?
She goes what do you want me toremind you of?
I said to go to bed in 20minutes Sorry, I can't
understand you, siri.
And Katie goes.
Ryan, you are lying in bedtalking to your phone and your
phone is talking back to you.
What a great world we live in.
(28:11):
You're going to be fine.
So I picked up my phone and setthe timer by hand.
I need to go on the perfectvacation that will solve all of
my family's problems and melt myworries and troubles away and
maybe forget about all thethings in the world that cost
less than $300.
Can I get an amen for that one?
What are our needs?
What are our needs?
(28:33):
Well, paul says that God willmeet them all.
If this is what it means tomeet them, to fill or complete
the question could be askedwhere are you empty?
There's this great idea intheology that I deeply resonate
with it and I debated whethernot to say it up here, because I
don't know if you do too, butfor the three or four of you who
(28:54):
resonate with this, this is foryou.
But I believe that human beingsare created with this deep
vacuum in our lives like this,this infinite hole that, no
matter what we shove down there,cannot be filled.
It can't.
And so part of your life islike, ah, I just always feel
empty, I feel like there'ssomething missing, and you get
glimpses of it, you get pocketsof it, you kind of grab on it.
Yeah, that's part of what itmeans to be human, and that
(29:17):
emptiness, that deep vacuum, canonly, I believe, be filled by
God.
And Paul writes God will meetall of my needs according to his
riches and glory in ChristJesus, we're going to be okay.
And because it's an infinitelonging deep in my soul, I need
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the infinite to fill it.
And all these other things arenot so much needs, as Dave
astutely pointed out.
They're more like somethingelse that I try to shove into
that hole and they just don'tfit.
I want to end with a story.
My friend Jenny told the storyat Journey Group the other night
and we were all like whoa.
She threw it out there like itwas just like a quick story and
we're like whoa, what was that?
(29:59):
I'm like I want to tell thatstory on Sunday.
Can I tell it to you?
Yeah, no problem, this is whatI mean that God will fulfill all
of our needs.
Here's the story, and I'll endwith this.
A few years ago, I traveled toFlorida to be with my family as
my dad underwent open-heartsurgery.
Janney writes.
After a successful procedureand an emotional week, I said
goodbye and headed to theairport to fly back home to my
(30:21):
husband and my kids, who areback here in Minnesota.
It ended up being a day that Icould never have prepared for
and I'll never forget.
My brother dropped me off atthe airport in the departure
area, I grabbed my bag and Isaid a quick goodbye.
As I attempted to head to theairport or into the airport, I
was encountered by a heavilyarmed officer who was quick to
tell me that I wasn't allowed toenter.
I was confused as to what wasgoing on and I asked a bystander
(30:41):
what was happening.
She told me there had been ashooting and we were not allowed
inside.
My been a shooting and we werenot allowed inside.
My brain tried to make sense ofwhat was happening.
And the next thing I knew, thepolice came flying up and
officers were ushering us andshouting active shooter, get
inside.
The next thing I knew I was.
If you remember the shooting inFlorida a couple years ago,
this is the one at the airport.
(31:01):
Next thing I know, we droppedall of our stuff.
We ran inside.
I wasn't there, but it makes meemotional.
It was an awful movie.
It was like that.
People were jumping behindticket counters, hiding behind
things.
We made our way to the bathroomas everyone was afraid.
As I hid in the stall, I couldhear the quiet sobs of my fellow
travelers and the stalls besideme.
I had no idea what was happeningor what was going to happen.
(31:22):
I texted my husband, jeremy,and I told him what was
happening and what I knew of thesituation and tell our boys I
love them.
And my mind wandered to thethoughts of our boys and how
would they grow up without amother?
How would this shape them intheir life?
How would they navigate lifewith all the things they have to
(31:43):
wrestle with their father who'sa good dad, by the way.
He's a good dad.
And I wrestled with all thesethings and I said goodbye to my
husband and my boys over thephone.
But I had this sensation thatI'd never experienced before in
my life and it strongly tookover.
A peace washed over me thatI'll never be able to explain.
That reassured me that I wasgoing to be okay.
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I knew deep within me that, nomatter what was going to happen,
I'd be okay.
Whether I lived or I died, Iwas going to be okay In the end.
I knew I'd be okay and Isuddenly didn't feel so alone At
that moment.
I knew my sons would be okayeven if their mom didn't come
home, and that my husband wasgoing to be okay if he was left
to raise them on their own.
Thankfully, in the end, I wasfortunate enough to be able to
(32:30):
be reunited with them.
They got set free and theycaught the shooter, but she knew
that she was going to be okayand this, my friends, is how we
can have joy anyway.
Amen.
and we ask that you would come and lead us and guide
us as we close up this book ofPhilippians.
Pray, god, that it would moveus, that it would stir us, that
it would spur us to action.
God, may it shape how we thinkabout you and the church and
each other, and may the words ofPaul resonate deep within us.
Indeed, god, may you come andmeet all of our needs according
(00:26):
to your riches and glory, andthis morning may you bless us,
may you fill us up in all theways we need it so badly, god,
the ways we're empty.
Would you fill us and give usyour peace In Jesus' name, amen,
and may you be seated.
Good morning everyone.
I'm going to use this later, sodon't forget it's there.
(00:47):
We're wrapping up ourPhilippians series.
Hopefully you've enjoyed it.
We've been working on thisletter for a couple of weeks now
.
I really wish we had spent likea whole year in this book.
This book is incrediblyprofound.
It's very layered and there's alot going on.
I'm like man, we should havedone it for the whole year, but
here we are.
I'm going to try to recap thiswhole thing this morning.
So here's what I want to say.
Oh, by the way, open up yourBibles, if you have them.
(01:08):
To Philippians 4.
I'm going to kind of do a wholecursory glance at chapter 4 and
try to tie it all together, buthere's what I'll say.
So, philippians 4, I don't knowwhat page it's on.
If you know what page it's on,someone, shout it out.
When you get there, you canjust shout it out.
What is it?
555?
, 955.
That's a niner, a fiver and afiver for you on the radio.
(01:30):
Okay, we're good to go.
955.
You know, here's what I want totell you.
If you hear nothing else thismorning, may you hear this If
Jesus was truly resurrected,then we're going to be okay.
We're going to be okay.
If Jesus really rose from thedead and I believe he did, and I
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think many of you are kind ofthinking something similar if
you do believe that, then we'regoing to be just fine.
I don't know how, I don't knowwhat it will look like, but I
believe that we will all be okay.
And here's why Because Jesus'resurrection wasn't just a thing
that happened 2,000 years ago,but the idea is that Jesus
resurrects the whole thing andrebuilds and restores, renews
the whole thing.
In him, this kingdom has dawnedand this new thing, it's new
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life, it's redemption, it'srecreation, it's forgiveness,
it's hope, it's a future that'sa sure and present reality now.
And so, if Jesus rose from thedead, we're going to be okay.
Can I get an amen?
You guys awake out there.
This is good news.
My gosh Paul, opens upPhilippians, chapter 4.
(02:40):
By the way, I'm titling mysermon the End and how it All
Connects, and if I had asubtitle, it would be this no,
literally everything connects,it's all connected.
So this morning I'm going totalk about a few things.
I'm going to talk about howwe're going to be okay, which I
just did.
We're going to talk aboutcrowns and these two women,
euodia and Syntyche, and thenwe're going to talk also about
(03:02):
my corole and coral reefs, which, of course, you saw coming.
And then, of course, last,we're talking about how God
meets all of our needs and howthat means that we are indeed
going to be okay.
Does that sound all right?
Fantastic.
So he opens chapter four, theend of the book, in verse one.
I know that Sonia and Ben haveboth kind of danced around this
chapter.
We're kind of all over in thiswhole series, which is fine.
He opens it this way.
(03:23):
Therefore, my brothers andsisters, now the word, therefore
, is referring back to chapterthree.
In chapter three, paulencourages the Philippians hey,
have the phronesis of Christ,the same mindset, way of
thinking, the way of believingthis pattern of thinking and
living and moving in the world.
The lens of Christ is pouringout of yourself on the cross for
(03:44):
others.
Have that mindset, have thatlens as you see the world in
everything that you do, and liveas though Christ died and
resurrected.
Live as though it were true,like practice, the resurrection.
There were many people in thisworld and in this time that Paul
knew that didn't live as thoughthe resurrection was true.
They didn't live as though thecross was a real thing, that God
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had given them grace and mercyand new hope and a new future
and resurrection life.
They lived focused on earthlythings, paul says in chapter 318
.
Their mind wasn't on the thingsof God, their mindset, their
phronesis, wasn't on the cross,their mindset was on earthly
things.
They had no bigger vision forlife.
Their vision for life was thismyopic, small view and Paul's
like no, have a bigger visionfor life.
(04:28):
See it in this big,christ-centered way.
This phronesis of Christ, hesays, even though they live like
the cross isn't true.
We're different, we're citizensof heaven.
Paul writes.
Now, remember that this is aRoman colony in Philippi he's
writing this Roman colony wherethey were citizens of Rome.
They were a mini Rome.
All those people identifiedthemselves as Romans.
They lived like Romans, theydressed like Romans, they voted
(04:52):
like well, they didn't votenecessarily, but they did all
kinds of things like the Romansdid, and their identity was to
be Roman.
And the word citizen hadextremely intense political
ramifications Because again, inthe ancient world, in Philippi,
the Roman Empire, you couldworship other gods, but you
couldn't worship other gods ifit meant that you didn't worship
the emperor as the Lord andSavior, the number one.
(05:14):
And Christians didn't do that.
They're like no, no, caesarisn't Lord, jesus is Lord.
So when Paul says, hey, we arecitizens of heaven, he was very
much presenting an affront tothe Roman Empire, as a threat
and this could get you killed inthe ancient world, especially
in the Roman Empire, and in factit did get many of them killed.
But Paul says, hey, our hope isin Christ.
It's a future reality that'spresent here and now.
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It's a sure and present realityright now that we are going to
be okay.
And then Paul writes at the endof chapter 3 that God will
raise our mortal bodies to bethese glorious bodies this is a
great verse for funerals thatsomehow God will take our flawed
bodies, our broken bodies, thebroken systems of the world, the
whole thing, and he will bringthings back into proper harmony,
(05:59):
as God intended.
That's the whole verse, or thewhole idea and vision of the
Philippians.
We can have joy anyway, becauseGod is going to put things back
together.
I know it looks bleak right nowI'm in prison, I'm in stone,
but God will redeem and restoreall things.
This is the phronesis of Christ.
I can see it the resurrectionof Christ.
Because Christ raised from thedead, we are going to be okay.
(06:28):
So then Paul writes, therefore,my brothers and sisters, and in
the Greek it's my brothers andmy sisters.
He says you, whom I love, whomI long for.
Paul writes my joy and my crownstand firm.
In this way, dear friends, thiswhole letter has a deep
affection.
It's got a warm tone to it.
(06:49):
Paul's deeply engaged with thePhilippians, like oh, my
brothers, my sisters, whom Ilove, whom I long for.
I don't think Paul's just beingpoetic.
He has this deep sense ofaffection and compassion for the
Philippians, for these peoplethat are about 1,000 miles away.
It's warm, there's a sense oftrust in the whole letter and he
calls them my joy, my crown.
(07:11):
By the way, the word for crownin the Greek is the word
Stephanos.
We've been doing Greek lessonsevery week, so I figured I'd
throw one more at youS-T-E-P-H-A-N-O-S.
Everyone say Stephanos,stephanos.
Stephanos really means thiswreath or crown, and Paul says
you are my Stephanos, you are mywreath, you are my crown.
Now, it comes from this imageof athletics and in the ancient
world there were all kinds ofagain crown and wreath.
(07:33):
In the ancient Greece andancient Rome there were
athletics and sports all aroundthem and the victor would be
awarded this wreath or thiscrown, this Stephanos.
So imagine an athlete who'sdedicated themselves to their
trade, to their sport, to theirthing, and they pour out their
blood, their sweat, their tears,they discipline their body,
(07:53):
they beat their body, they trainall day and they give it
everything they have and at theend, the victor crosses the
finish line and wins thestefanos, the crown or the
wreath.
Maybe it's like a medal.
The closest thing we have intoday's culture is the olympics.
Any olympic fans out in thehouse today.
Okay, yeah, some of you okay,yeah, for sure, yeah, you know
(08:16):
I'm talking about.
Then, like there's a couple ofweeks every summer or winter,
every you know four years, andwe're like everything sort of
grinds to a halt and and youwill watch the Olympics for 10
hours straight and in many casesyou'll see these stories of
these athletes and all they'vedone and you start like a ball
of like just tears and you'recrying, like what is it?
Why am I crying?
And the best part is when yousee them go up to the podium and
(08:37):
receive this medal and theydrape it around their neck.
But before that, like rightbefore the event, what they'll
often do is to kind of drum upsome more drama.
They will cut away from theactual scene of the event that's
going to come up next andthey'll cut away to Bob Costas
in the home studio and Bob willtell you all about this athlete.
And what you didn't know aboutthis athlete so-and-so,
(08:57):
so-and-so, so-and-so is theygrew up in Bulgaria as a poor
farmer's kid and their brotherraised llama.
He only had one arm and he fedhimself with the other hand.
His aunt was blind.
And you hear this backstorylike, oh my gosh, before this
moment, you didn't care at allabout Bulgarian, greco, roman
wrestling, but now you careabout nothing else.
Right, like I'm invested, I'mready.
(09:18):
And then you watch this athletepour themselves out and you
know their backs.
You're like, oh my gosh, you'recheering on this Bulgarian,
whatever he's doing, and you'relike I didn't know.
Bulgarians had a wrestling team.
And when they get on the podium,they're given this wreath, this
crown, this Stephanos or, inour case, this medal, and you
(09:41):
can see the elation, the victoryall over their faces.
You know what they've pouredinto this.
You know what they've done tosacrifice everything.
Yeah, look at this guy, I lovethis one.
I can feel his energy andthey're awarded this medal, this
crown or this wreath.
In fact, in the Greek Olympics,they gave them wreaths.
That was their medal.
(10:01):
They gave them these Stephanos.
Yeah, how about this one?
Yeah, I love this.
Yeah, you can almost feel theelation.
Yeah, yeah, how about this one?
Yeah, I love that.
That's great.
Yeah, that's some respect,isn't it Paul's saying I've
given everything I have.
I've poured out my life, I'vegone sun up to sun down, I've
(10:26):
been beaten, stoned, I'mlanguishing.
I've given this everything Ihave.
And when I die when I standwith God.
I want, I want you to be what'shanging around my neck.
You are my Stephanos.
Paul has this deep sense ofcompassion and when he crosses
(10:47):
the finish line, when he finallygets to the end, when he's done
everything he's done, it's allworthy, because he'll have you
hanging around his neck.
You are my Stephanos.
Paul is so intimately connectedwith this community in Philippi
that, so far away, he callsthem his Stephanos.
He's been beaten, flogged,stoned, thrown off a cliff,
(11:10):
imprisoned a couple of times,shipwrecked three times, and
it's all worth it because at theend of the day, at the end of
his life and his life is comingto an end pretty close, pretty
soon at the end of all of it, hetells the Philippian church I
want you to be what's drapedaround my neck, you are my
Stephanos.
I will keep going, paul writes.
(11:32):
I'll keep going.
I'll keep giving all that Ihave in order that you might
thrive and see the hope of gloryin Christ and forgive each
other and live in harmony andfigure your junk out and follow
Jesus and have the phronesis ofChrist.
I'll give it everything so thatyou can do that, because I love
you, you're my joy, you're mycrown, you're my Stephanos.
(11:52):
You know we talk a lot aboutwhat church is.
Like what is church?
And many of us get involved oh,it's this building and we got
to have a building and okay,fair enough.
And maybe it's programs.
And like, hey, what programsare you running this summer?
Do you have programs for mykids?
And I get all that too and like, yeah, that's a great idea.
Or maybe we argue aboutdoctrines and what do you
believe about thetransubstantiation and what is
your Trinitarian view on thegreat?
(12:14):
You know like that's fine.
And do you say the Apostles'Creed?
Which creed is it?
And do you say the?
I get it.
But maybe a more healthydefinition of church is just a
bunch of people who have eachother hanging around their necks
.
You know what I mean.
(12:34):
Maybe when we talk about church, it's like, hey, these people
who have each other hangingaround their necks.
The reason I keep showing upevery week and give it all that
I have is because I see you guys.
Years ago, when I was asked if Iwanted to be ordained, and Paul
and the council came like, hey,ryan, would you want to be
ordained in the Lutheran churchand be a part of Central in a
more permanent way and put yourroots down and be an associate
(12:57):
pastor.
And I prayed and I thoughtabout it a lot.
And I remember asking a friendof mine and I was like, hey,
talking about, I'm justwrestling with it.
And he goes hey, let me ask yousomething, ryan, do you love
those people?
And nobody had asked me thatbefore and I'd been here, I
think, at this point for like Idon't know 10 years and it was
like it hit me like a ton ofbricks and I'm not even kidding,
I'm not exaggerating, I'm nottrying to be weren't there back
(13:21):
then.
But I love you too.
It's okay, you're fine, I do.
I love this place.
I love Elk River, warts and all.
I love these people, warts andall.
I'm looking at some of you I'mkidding, I love it here and I
love you.
And the reason I show up is I'mlike, look, I want to be.
I want to see you guys thrive.
I want to see you forgive eachother and live in harmony and
(13:44):
follow after Jesus with allyou've got, and I want to see
you guys have this phronesis,the mind of Christ, and look at
the world the way that God does.
And I want us to be a peoplewho are so intertwined that our
stories are so invested in eachother that people can see it and
sense it and smell it and tasteit.
(14:05):
And it raises the question whodo you have hanging around your
neck?
Whose life are you invested in?
Their life is invested in yours.
And who's your tribe, yourcommunity?
Who has your back?
Who do you love on?
Who loves on you?
Who gives you feedback?
Who strengthens you and bringsyou coffee and tries to
encourage you?
Who do you love and who lovesyou?
I have these friends in my life.
I call them dark alley friends,and a dark alley friend is like
(14:26):
somebody who you wouldn't mindgoing into a dark alley with.
You know, in case you had totussle and believe it or not, my
wife is number one on the listbecause she's pretty tough when
it comes to dark alleys.
Ben's on my list.
I'd take Ben into a dark alley.
Laird Hamilton, jocko Willink,kyle's my name.
But this is something evendeeper.
(14:48):
Whose life is your lifeintertwined with?
Whose benefit, or whose outcomeof their life is tied up with
your outcome of your life?
Who are you entangled with inthe most healthy way?
Paul says I love you.
You're my joy.
When I'm dead, I want you to behanging around my neck.
I'm so proud of you.
I love you.
You're my joy.
When I'm dead, I want you to behanging on my neck.
I'm so proud of you.
I love you.
I long for you.
(15:09):
Please keep this going.
Have the mind of Christ, standfirm.
In this way.
Paul writes we are going to beokay.
And then he shifts gears and headdresses this two women, euodia
and Syntyche.
It's hilarious.
This is what he says hey, Iplead with you, euodia, and I
plead with Syntyche, to be ofthe same mind in the Lord, to
(15:31):
have the same phronesis inChrist.
Yes, and I ask you, my truecompanion.
No one really knows who thatwas.
I don't have time to dive intothat, but you can Google it.
It's kind of interesting.
They think it might have been,but history companion.
Help these women, since theyhave contended at my side in the
cause of the gospel, along withClement and the rest of my
coworkers whose names are in thebook of life.
(15:52):
Now here's the deal.
This was a letter read to thePhilippians.
It was read in public and Paulgoes from these big ideas the
phronesis of Christ, koinonia,all this stuff, scubala and so
so on.
Then he zooms in on these twowomen and this was a letter read
in public, like in front ofeverybody.
So like, okay, have the themind of christ and all.
By the way, you and you standup.
(16:12):
And they're like me now we'regonna do this here today I'm
gonna have no, I'm kidding, I'mnot gonna do that.
But he calls out these two womenwho seemingly had this conflict
, and it's like weighing on Paul.
And he calls them out in frontof everybody because everybody
knows probably you know howeveryone knows the stuff in the
room and everyone kind of senseit and smell it and feel it, and
(16:32):
oh, that's the elephant that noone talks about or whatever.
And Paul addresses him.
He's like, hey, these big ideasI'm gonna, we're gonna enflesh
it, we're gonna do it in thiscase, in this conflict, here's
what he's going to do.
He pleads with them.
He's like, hey, something'sgoing down between these two
women.
And he pleads with them Look,we've been talking about God
putting all things back togetherand that God will redeem and
(16:52):
restore all things the mind ofChrist, the resurrection of
Christ, it's going to be okay,they've been talking about it.
But something with you two isbroken and I want to address it
Now before I go any further.
He and I want to address it Nowbefore I go any further.
He doesn't take sides.
He's like God, you odiaSyndicate is kind of crazy.
I get it right.
Right, you know he doesn't dothat.
Paul doesn't take sides, hedoesn't really bother doing that
(17:15):
.
He also doesn't say that theywere not justified.
Perhaps they had a realgrievance.
There was real problems, realtension.
Somebody hurt somebody orsomething happened.
It was real.
He doesn't like sort of justshove it under the rug.
He doesn't say that.
Lastly, he doesn't just say hey, guys, let's just hug it out,
let's just kumbaya this thingand figure it out, we're gonna
be fine, let's just hug it out.
They will know we areChristians by our love.
He doesn't do that.
What Paul says hey, in themiddle of your conflict, in this
(17:38):
problem, have I plead with youmy joy, my crown, have the
phronesis of Christ.
See this whole thing throughthe lens of Christ the
outpouring of God in Christ onthe cross, the emptying, the
(17:59):
humiliation, the self-sacrificeof Christ on the cross.
Think about this through thelens of Christ and adopt the
Christ pattern of thinking,feeling and acting when you see
this conflict put on the lens ofChrist and adopt the Christ
pattern of thinking, feeling andacting when you see this
conflict put on the lens ofChrist.
I mean, by the way, I loveSuperman, he's my favorite
superhero, he's the best butlike, really Like, nobody can
(18:23):
tell.
Come on, have the lens ofchrist.
Whatever's happening betweenyou, you already understand.
Okay, have the lens of christ.
Not, it's no big deal, not justget over it, not hug it out,
not none of that stuff.
It's like, hey, I get it, thisis a big deal, but have the
framework of christ.
And somebody has to behave likechrist on the cross and adapt
(18:45):
and adopt this way of thinkingand everybody else.
Help them, help them know whatthis looks like, give them
thoughts and advice and feedback.
You're part of the community,you're part of this tribe, this
village.
Help them to figure it out andto know what this looks like.
Here's why, for Paul, everythingis connected, it's all
(19:05):
connected.
I mentioned it already, butPaul's about a thousand miles
away.
This is ancient Philippi, whichis not the same as the modern
day Philippi, but it's close andthat's Rome.
Paul's in Rome.
Now, to get there, you got totake the Orient Express train.
Just kidding, you go on a boatand then land in a boat again.
It's about a thousand miles,it's a little bit less than that
(19:31):
, but it's a long ways away forPaul and he planted the church
over 10 years ago.
Why does Paul even care?
Why is he so deeply filled withcompassion?
Why is his letter so warm?
Why is he pleading and talkingabout joy, my crown.
What is the deal here?
It's so far away.
Somehow, though, even thoughit's this far away, their junk
(19:51):
is affecting him in prison inRome, because everything is
connected.
It's connected.
Colossians I love it says itthis way.
The book of Colossians says and, by the way, paul sees Christ
as the connection point.
So the book of Colossians saysthis he is before all things
talking about Jesus, the Christ,and in him all things hold
together.
So Christ is like this cosmicglue that holds all things
(20:14):
together.
So he's pleading with you,audience.
Okay, this is killing me.
What's happening to you?
This conflict, this fissure,this faction has kind of been
created.
Please have the mind of Christ,because it all is connected.
Later in Colossians, paulwrites this but Christ is in all
.
Sorry, christ is all and is inall.
Everything for Paul isconnected.
(20:36):
There's this cosmic glue, thissort of harmony that undergirds
the whole creation, the wholething, and it's Christ.
And so what happens to Euodiaand Syntyche is affecting Paul,
a thousand miles away in prisonin Rome, and he's begging them
please have the mind of Christ.
See.
In the modern world we like totake things apart.
We love taking things apart.
(20:57):
In the modern world we havegears and mechanisms and sinews
and bones and tissues and atomsand quarks and mind and body.
We separate and divideeverything, but for Paul he saw
it all as those all connected,not separated.
I read this great study by DrEllen Langer.
Anybody know Dr Ellen Langer.
So she did a study about themind-body connection.
(21:18):
We often in the modern Westernworld want to separate mind from
body.
But here's the study she did.
So she took a bunch of60-year-old men this is back in
the 80s, so back then 60 waslike you were 80.
It's like now people are livinga lot longer.
But back then a bunch of60-year-old men and put them in
this retreat center andsurrounded them with all of the
things that were in their lives20 years prior.
(21:38):
They created an environmentthat would have resembled 20
years ago, but right here now,and they put them in this
retreat center and everythingthat they knew in this space was
from 20 years ago in their lifeand it deeply affected their
biology, their physiology.
After a week of staying there,their vision improved, their
(21:59):
hearing improved, their mentalwell-being improved.
It's crazy why?
Well, because, yeah, the mindand the body and the language we
use, it's all connected.
This is why you should becareful of the language you use.
I have friends who are like intheir 20s, like, oh, I'm so old.
I'm like, shut your mouth,because the things we say impact
our well-being as well.
(22:19):
It's all connected.
I heard a doctor one time saythat she's like yeah, you'd be
surprised, but sometimes I'llhave someone come in with a
stomach problem, stomach ache,and I'll find that they have
marriage problems.
Yeah, yeah, no wonder, becauseit's all connected.
Everything is deeply connectedand relationality is the fabric
of existence.
(22:40):
Are there any biologists in thehouse?
Okay, fair enough, then youwon't be able to prove me wrong.
Then, great, this is good.
Look at biology.
In biology, everything isconnected.
I mean from this mycorrhizal,which is this incredibly ornate
system in biology, to the coralreefs.
Look at coral reefs.
They're all intertwined andconnected.
Animal biology, if you take,you know, this study where they
put wolves back into, was itMontana and it changed the way a
(23:03):
river flowed.
Did you know this?
It's crazy.
It's all connected Down to thequantum level.
You ever heard of quantumentanglement, paul?
Do you know about quantumentanglement?
Okay, fair enough.
Even at the quantum level,particles that are living a long
distance away, they're deeplyentangled and they impact each
other.
These are particles that couldbe, I think Einstein called like
(23:25):
a spooky distance, something hethought it was so weird,
einstein, because even at themicro, the quantum level,
everything is deeply connected.
So when this church sends Paulthis gift a thousand miles away,
10 plus years later, it affectshim so deeply that he calls
(23:47):
them my joy, my crown.
He loves these guys.
Nobody else helped him, hewrote.
No one else supported hisministry, but these are partners
in the ministry, that partnersin the gospel.
This was true, cornelia, asharing, a partnership.
Their gift was to god.
He thought that god gave it tohim and he's thankful.
It's this beautiful, symbioticrelationship and they're deeply
connected even though they're athousand miles away.
(24:09):
That's the whole point of thisletter is that the Philippians
hear about Paul in prison andthen they send Epaphroditus to
give him a gift, to help him,support him, sustain him.
And he writes back a letter thePhilippians letter that you
have in your Bibles withEpaphroditus to say thank you
for your partnership in thegospel.
It's deeply moved me.
I want you hanging around myneck and here's how I'll close
(24:36):
then too.
This is what causes Paul to sayI know that my God then will
meet all of your needs accordingto his riches and glory in
Christ Jesus.
How can he say that?
I was experienced it Somehowthis gift from Epaphroditus,
from the Philippian church, athousand miles away, and their
(24:58):
love for him, their concern,their sharing in the gospel,
their partnership, their givingand receiving.
They're throwing their hat inthe ring with each other's lives
, their entwinement in thehealthiest way, and all of this
has led Paul to see somethingthat's true of God, that maybe
he didn't see before.
I don't know, I'm reading thetext here, but maybe this was a
vision of God that he gets whenEpaphroditus shows up.
(25:20):
Oh yeah, god will meet all ofmy needs, and he used you guys,
the Philippians, to do it.
Oh, my joy, my crown.
Their gift reveals somethingabout God.
You ever think that maybe whatyou do and how you live your
life reveals something about Godin the world or not.
You know, like that time whenyou were in traffic and somebody
(25:43):
cut you off and you didn't flipthem off but instead you just
waved.
I don't know, maybe you wererevealing a deep truth about god
to the universe and to thatperson, even to yourself.
We're all going to be okay bythe time.
You paid for the coffee of theperson in line behind you and
(26:04):
didn't want them to come tochurch because of it.
Like, it's okay, this is a freegift.
You don't have to get saved orcome to my church, I just want
to give you free coffee.
And you drove off withouttelling anybody.
Yeah, maybe you're revealingsomething about the generative
nature of God in the universe.
Maybe that time when you put theshopping cart back where it's
supposed to go, this is aphilosophical test for how human
(26:26):
we are and how kind we are.
It's a who puts the grocerycart back without being asked or
being thanked.
Yeah, maybe you're revealingsomething about the trinity of
the world and God and his placein it.
Maybe that time you listened toa friend as they cried and wept
about their diagnosis, or theirdivorce or their child.
That's sick.
And you just sat there andlistened and maybe you're
(26:47):
revealing something deeply trueabout God to the world and to
your friend and to yourself.
And Paul writes God will meetall of my need.
Yeah, I love this.
By the way, the word for meetis the word pleraou.
So we're gonna do one moreGreek word.
You don't have to say it,actually, no, let's say it.
Everyone say play Ra'u.
It's not bad.
(27:08):
It means to fill or to complete.
Now, Dave was the only one whoresponded to my email, so I
appreciate Dave's engagementwith my email, but in my email
it's funny, the needs we havethese days, right, Like I need
my morning coffee and all thefavored ones of God said amen,
(27:29):
you're sleeping out there.
You need your coffee too,apparently, good grief.
Like I need Siri to understandme when I talk to her on my
phone.
I mean good grief, siri, what'swrong with you?
The other night I was laying inbed with my wife.
We're reading our books and I'mlike I need to set a reminder.
Like I'm like I need to go tobed in 20 minutes.
I'll put a reminder on my phoneto go off in 20 minutes to go
to bed.
So I'm like, hey, siri, I'mholding my phone with a lamp,
I'm holding my book, my phone'swhere I go.
Hey, siri set a timer for 20minutes.
(27:50):
Siri goes what do you want meto remind you of?
Go to bed?
She goes what do you want me toremind you of?
I said to go to bed in 20minutes Sorry, I can't
understand you, siri.
And Katie goes.
Ryan, you are lying in bedtalking to your phone and your
phone is talking back to you.
What a great world we live in.
(28:11):
You're going to be fine.
So I picked up my phone and setthe timer by hand.
I need to go on the perfectvacation that will solve all of
my family's problems and melt myworries and troubles away and
maybe forget about all thethings in the world that cost
less than $300.
Can I get an amen for that one?
What are our needs?
What are our needs?
(28:33):
Well, paul says that God willmeet them all.
If this is what it means tomeet them, to fill or complete
the question could be askedwhere are you empty?
There's this great idea intheology that I deeply resonate
with it and I debated whethernot to say it up here, because I
don't know if you do too, butfor the three or four of you who
(28:54):
resonate with this, this is foryou.
But I believe that human beingsare created with this deep
vacuum in our lives like this,this infinite hole that, no
matter what we shove down there,cannot be filled.
It can't.
And so part of your life islike, ah, I just always feel
empty, I feel like there'ssomething missing, and you get
glimpses of it, you get pocketsof it, you kind of grab on it.
Yeah, that's part of what itmeans to be human, and that
(29:17):
emptiness, that deep vacuum, canonly, I believe, be filled by
God.
And Paul writes God will meetall of my needs according to his
riches and glory in ChristJesus, we're going to be okay.
And because it's an infinitelonging deep in my soul, I need
(29:39):
the infinite to fill it.
And all these other things arenot so much needs, as Dave
astutely pointed out.
They're more like somethingelse that I try to shove into
that hole and they just don'tfit.
I want to end with a story.
My friend Jenny told the storyat Journey Group the other night
and we were all like whoa.
She threw it out there like itwas just like a quick story and
we're like whoa, what was that?
(29:59):
I'm like I want to tell thatstory on Sunday.
Can I tell it to you?
Yeah, no problem, this is whatI mean that God will fulfill all
of our needs.
Here's the story, and I'll endwith this.
A few years ago, I traveled toFlorida to be with my family as
my dad underwent open-heartsurgery.
Janney writes.
After a successful procedureand an emotional week, I said
goodbye and headed to theairport to fly back home to my
(30:21):
husband and my kids, who areback here in Minnesota.
It ended up being a day that Icould never have prepared for
and I'll never forget.
My brother dropped me off atthe airport in the departure
area, I grabbed my bag and Isaid a quick goodbye.
As I attempted to head to theairport or into the airport, I
was encountered by a heavilyarmed officer who was quick to
tell me that I wasn't allowed toenter.
I was confused as to what wasgoing on and I asked a bystander
(30:41):
what was happening.
She told me there had been ashooting and we were not allowed
inside.
My been a shooting and we werenot allowed inside.
My brain tried to make sense ofwhat was happening.
And the next thing I knew, thepolice came flying up and
officers were ushering us andshouting active shooter, get
inside.
The next thing I knew I was.
If you remember the shooting inFlorida a couple years ago,
this is the one at the airport.
(31:01):
Next thing I know, we droppedall of our stuff.
We ran inside.
I wasn't there, but it makes meemotional.
It was an awful movie.
It was like that.
People were jumping behindticket counters, hiding behind
things.
We made our way to the bathroomas everyone was afraid.
As I hid in the stall, I couldhear the quiet sobs of my fellow
travelers and the stalls besideme.
I had no idea what was happeningor what was going to happen.
(31:22):
I texted my husband, jeremy,and I told him what was
happening and what I knew of thesituation and tell our boys I
love them.
And my mind wandered to thethoughts of our boys and how
would they grow up without amother?
How would this shape them intheir life?
How would they navigate lifewith all the things they have to
(31:43):
wrestle with their father who'sa good dad, by the way.
He's a good dad.
And I wrestled with all thesethings and I said goodbye to my
husband and my boys over thephone.
But I had this sensation thatI'd never experienced before in
my life and it strongly tookover.
A peace washed over me thatI'll never be able to explain.
That reassured me that I wasgoing to be okay.
(32:04):
I knew deep within me that, nomatter what was going to happen,
I'd be okay.
Whether I lived or I died, Iwas going to be okay In the end.
I knew I'd be okay and Isuddenly didn't feel so alone At
that moment.
I knew my sons would be okayeven if their mom didn't come
home, and that my husband wasgoing to be okay if he was left
to raise them on their own.
Thankfully, in the end, I wasfortunate enough to be able to
(32:30):
be reunited with them.
They got set free and theycaught the shooter, but she knew
that she was going to be okayand this, my friends, is how we
can have joy anyway.
Amen.
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