Be Still And Know

Exodus 3:4 When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!” “Here I am!” Moses replied. Moses’ life was remarkable. He was born in Egypt when the people of Israel were in slavery there, and Pharaoh had gone to extraordinary lengths to kill off all Israelite baby boys. Moses had miraculously survived and was brought up as a member of Pharaoh’s household. Years later he saw one of his own Israelite people being abused and, in his anger, killed the perpetrator. Moses soon recognised that his own life was in danger and so he fled from the country. He got married to Zipporah and in our reading today we find him looking after his father-in-law’s sheep. The life of a shepherd was a tough one. The heat could be intense and Moses continually needed to be alert to the threat from wolves and other wild animals. Much of what happened was familiar and predictable. However, in the midst of his working day he was suddenly aware of a burning bush. That in

Philippians 4:19 And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. Generosity is a beautiful thing. I had the blessing of a very generous aunt. She never married and was a devoted follower of Jesus. She was generous with her time, especially to neighbours who were in need. Although she held a very senior executive role she was always happy to do the most menial jobs and would think nothing of it. She died in retirement while taking a neighbour to hospital and that seemed to sum up her life. She was always very generous with her money and was always looking for creative ways to help people and planted firmly in my teenage mind the blessing of being generous. Christians are not automatically generous, and the apostle Paul noted that the generosity of the Philippian church stood in marked contrast to that of many others. As he came towards the end of the letter, he thanked them once again for their gifts and described them

Philippians 4:11–13 I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. Advertising is a major influence in the modern world. Its deliberate intention is to stir up discontent. We are continually urged to buy newer, trendier, brighter, faster and more efficient products. Being consistently pounded with these messages it can be difficult to live contentedly with what we already have but that must surely be the most desirable life of all. To live with contentment is to live a life without strain and stress. Epicurus, the Greek philosopher, said, “He who doesn’t find a little enough, will find nothing enough.” There is wisdom in this quotation, but Paul wouldn’t have agreed with it. His contentment didn’t flow from a particular philosophical understanding of life but f

Philippians 4:8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Never in history have those words been more important than right now. When Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1989 no one could have foreseen that it would completely transform the way in which we access information. Our mobile phones are the gateway to a world of information. This has incalculable benefits, but the downside is undeniable. It has never been easier to view destructive and depraved information. In such a situation we desperately need to hear Paul’s words. We need to become fixated on those things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Paul lived in the real world. He wasn’t inviting the Philippian Christians to hide away from their society. Being a prisoner, Paul, of all people, knew about the dark side of Roman life. He had no illusions about the wo

Philippians 4:6–7 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. The most unhelpful thing you can say to a person who is worrying is, “Don’t worry”. Even when meant kindly, it can actually increase the problems of the person who’s worrying. Not only have they got all their worries but now they need to feel guilty about it as well. Paul doesn’t fall into the trap of giving useless advice because he shows us the way out. He tells the Philippians that there is no need to worry because they can pray about everything. If you place your concerns in God’s hands then you can look to the future with confidence and thanksgiving. Jesus also recognised that worrying was a significant issue for his followers. He pointed out that it was a waste of time. He asked the question: “Can all your worries ad

Philippians 4:2–3 Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. And I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. There’s nothing new about people falling out with one another! It has been a feature of life from the very beginning, as we learn from the account of Cain and Abel (Genesis 4). The question is: what do we do when it happens? Here, Paul offers some helpful advice. The first step is for those who disagree to seek to resolve their differences. We have no idea what the women disagreed about. It must have been fairly serious for Paul to go to the trouble of referring to it in his letter. He reminded the women that they belonged to the Lord. Belonging to the same family doesn’t mean that disagreements won’t occur, but it does mean that we are not alone in seeking to resolve the situation. We can pray together and seek God’s guidance. Normally, in my experience, if there is a w

Philippians 3:17–18 Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. Paul doesn’t pull his punches does he? He tells it like it is! Declaring that some people were enemies of Christ seems very harsh, but he knew that it was essential for the Philippian Christians to know the difference between those who were true followers of Christ and those who were fighting against him. Paul said that he himself was the person they should be following; I don’t interpret this as arrogance but as a matter of necessity. The Christians in Philippi, most of whom would have been very young in their faith, needed to have a clear example of what it meant to live for Christ in everyday life. As Paul wrote this, he was in prison so he invited them to pattern their lives on those who had followed his example. This all

Philippians 3:12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. Perfection is a word that makes most of us shudder because we are so well aware that we fall very far short of it. But the danger with that kind of response is that we give up even trying. We accept, reluctantly, that we are the people that we are, and everybody else has just got to get used to it. I’ve heard people say that they have a bad temper because that’s exactly how their father used to be. Or they blame their impatience on their bad back. Paul fully acknowledged that he had a long way to go on the road to perfection, but he was determined to travel further on that journey and not to excuse his shortcomings. Wonderfully, God accepts us just the way we are, but he loves us so much that he doesn’t want us to stay as we are. He longs that we should change and take steps forward towards perfection.

Philippians 3:8–9 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. Oscar Wilde once defined a cynic as the person “who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing”. His observation well describes our cynical society today. It often takes a serious illness or an accident for people to start looking hard at what is most valuable in life. Here the apostle Paul was running through this exercise for himself. His detractors said that what mattered most was obeying the Jewish law and his answer was that if they wanted to play that game then he was the runaway winner. He was circumcised on the eighth day of his life as every little Jewish boy should be. He came from the favoured tribe of Benjamin so he was, as he described himself, “a real Hebrew if ever there was one” (v5)! He was also trained as a Pharisee and was so comm

Philippians 3:1–2 Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith. Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. There is something incredibly impressive about people who are joyful when everything is going wrong. Paul’s list of problems was a long one. He had the indignity and discomfort of being in prison, not knowing whether he would ever be let out. Many of his fellow workers had let him down and he was continually up against fierce opposition. The sharpness of the conflict is very clear in these words as he describes his opponents as dogs. Their insistence that male converts to Christianity should be circumcised was, for Paul, a denial of the message that he was proclaiming. He was convinced that salvation comes by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and that circumcision was definitely not necessary, let alone essential. Paul’s joyfulne

Philippians 2:22–23 But you know how Timothy has proved himself. Like a son with his father, he has served with me in preaching the Good News. I hope to send him to you just as soon as I find out what is going to happen to me here. Timothy was clearly very important to Paul. Born at Lystra in Galatia (now part of Turkey) Timothy had a Jewish mother and a Greek father. Paul met him on his second missionary journey and he was a regular companion from then onwards. The letter to the Philippians was one of six letters in which Timothy was named as the co-author with Paul, and the apostle also wrote two deeply personal and moving letters specifically to Timothy whom he referred to as his dear son. In Philippians, Paul stated that he had no one else like him. Everyone else looked after their own interests, but not Timothy. He could be relied upon as a man of faith and someone who genuinely cared. As Paul languished in prison it must have been wonderful for him to know that he had Timothy’s continual support. Pa

Philippians 2:14–15 Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticise you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. We probably all complain from time to time, but as a way of life it can be very destructive. It has been wisely said that complaining doesn’t solve problems, it only attracts them. Complaints were clearly a feature of the church in Philippi and Paul was eager that they should stop. His comments remind us of the people of Israel during their 40 years in the wilderness. Even though they had observed God miraculously leading them out of slavery in Egypt it wasn’t long before the complaints began. Paul challenged his readers to live in such a way that they couldn’t be criticised, because that could only damage their Christian witness. He had no illusions about how hard this would be. His description of the world being full of crooked and perverse people was clearly based on his own per

Philippians 2:12–13 Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. If you have given your life to Christ, confessed your sins and received his forgiveness then you have the gift of salvation. This is the amazing good news that Paul was so desperate to share. But he was equally concerned that his readers should understand that they now had work to do. The situation is much the same as in marriage. Getting married is just the start of the journey. Advertising always reveals a great deal about a society. These days we often hear products being promoted because they will offer us a quick and effortless route to making life easier, smoother, happier and more fulfilled. It’s very tempting to speak of the Christian life in the same way. But it would be a lie.

Philippians 2:5–7 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. These amazing words form the beginning of what many people consider to be a first-century hymn. They beautifully express the fundamental truth that God’s desire is to turn our thinking upside down. Our natural inclination is to seek power, prestige and recognition but Jesus came to this earth and did precisely the opposite. And that, said Paul, was the attitude the Philippians needed to have towards one another. He wanted to see them ditch all traces of arrogance and to consider others better than themselves. It’s all very challenging. The humility of Jesus is truly astonishing. He, above everyone else, was entitled to have power and influence and to enjoy a life of ease and comfort but he gladly accepted the opposite. He was willing to

Philippians 2:1–2 Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. One of the biggest problems with unity is that it looks so easy. If you listen to a fine orchestra playing harmoniously or watch a top Premier League Football team playing with skill and precision, it all looks so very straightforward. Surely anyone could do it! But I then recall the hours that I spent in our school orchestra and those regular Saturday afternoons when I played football, and I can assure you that unity doesn’t come easily. Paul was equally clear about this. He knew that the Philippian Christians had received the gift of unity in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. But they still needed to work incredibly hard to ensure that their lives reflected that unity. In th

Philippians 1:29–30 For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. We are in this struggle together. You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it. We don’t know the exact nature of the problems in the Philippian church. It had been planted in a hostile environment and was led by new Christians who were doubtless still trying to get their heads around Christian doctrine and practice. I often hear people say that it would be good if we could get back to being like the early Church, but I’m not so sure. It may have had the blessing of newness and enthusiasm, but battled with many critical problems that we would never have to face. We also have huge resources of Christian experience and literature to draw upon. Paul offered the Philippian church the huge encouragement that they were not alone. Paul knew exactly what they were going through, and they had the benefit of seeing him at work. They knew

Philippians 1:27 Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. The residents of Philippi were very proud of their city. They had been rewarded by the Emperor Octavian after his defeat of Antony and Cleopatra and were designated a Roman Colony. The city was in Macedonia (now part of northern Greece), but the Philippians enjoyed the same privileges as if they were living in Italy. Citizenship was a big issue for them, and they were delighted to enjoy the legal and tax advantages that came with their status. But Paul indicated that far more significant than this was the fact that they were citizens of heaven. Being a Philippian was a temporary arrangement – unlike their eternal citizenship of heaven. Paul was not saying that it was unimportant that they were Roman citizens. He had much to say about the importance of Christians living as responsible members of their community. In his letter to the church in Rome, at the heart of th

Philippians 1:21–24 For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live. During the two years that I lived in India a number of people in our community died and I deeply appreciated the way in which their deaths were handled. Soon after the person passed away their body was prepared and laid out on a bed in the middle of the main room of the house. Visitors would then come and pay their respects, light candles around the body, and say prayers. This would continue until the body was taken in an open coffin to church for the funeral service (normally the day after the death). It was all so very different from the way in which our society handles death. When I returned to this country I deeply regretted the way in which we seem to be kept well a

Philippians 1:15 and 18 It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives…Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice. From time to time we probably all think how nice it would be to live in a perfect world where everyone agreed with everyone else. We could then get on with living our Christian lives with the confidence that what other people said was a mirror image of our own thoughts. But the reality is people disagree on almost every subject and Christian faith attracts the complete spectrum of reactions. There are people who love every word we speak, and others who hate it with a passion. And, as Paul observed, people speak in a whole variety of ways. Some are loving and gracious, others are bitter and divisive. It’s all very confusing, but Paul drew a strong and interesting conclusion. Amid all the confusion he recognised that what really

Philippians 1:12–13And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ.My chief memory of prison visits is the huge bunches of keys and the slamming of doors and I am sure that would have been just the same in Paul’s day. The lack of liberty must be terrible, and we have every reason to think that Paul’s years of incarceration would have been a degrading experience. But Paul has no time for moaning! He reflects that his time in prison has actually enabled the good news ofJesus to be spread.Paul’s various times in prison must have been desperately hard to bear, but he consistently focused on the fact that God had brought blessing through these times.This reminds me of Joseph’s experience in the Old Testament. His brothers hated him so much that they intended to murder him, but they eventually decided to sell him to some passing trade