Transcript
Speaker: Greetings and welcome to another episode of This Sunday Podcast. I am Pastor Matthew Hardaway. Alongside me, as always, is my joy and pleasure, ah since we are in Philippians and talking about joy, to have Dr. Phil Brandt with me. um We are in the 25th
Speaker: the proper 21. It's going to be the 18th Sunday after Pentecost for our readings this week. We are going to continue our little four -week session on Philippians from our Epistle readings. um So this morning, as always, I will start with, or this afternoon, depending on when you're listening and watching this, I will begin with the collect of the day and then let Dr. Brandt kick off our reading and our discussion.
Speaker: We pray. Almighty God, you exalted your Son to the place of all honor and authority. Enlighten our minds by your Holy Spirit that confessing Jesus as Lord. we may be led into all truth through this same Jesus Christ our Lord.
Speaker: who lives and dreams with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for forever. Amen. Amen.
Speaker: Well. We get... Philippians chapter 2 today.
Speaker: and ah This is... Possibly one of... one of the most important passages in the uh in the in the New Testament for us.
Speaker: um If you've never read it, I really encourage. Anybody who's a serious student of of the New Testament to read Larry Hurtado's Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker: He wrote a couple of other books that are along the same kind of theme. Some of them are a little easier, maybe lighter, but Lord Jesus Christ is kind of his his magnum opus on it. um Uh, Fantastic book.
Speaker: I. I... Just wholeheartedly encourage that text to anyone. um And he makes a big deal of this passage. In that book. um particularly verses 5 through 11, which you may know as the the Christ hymn.
Speaker: Philippians chapter 2. It is, it is. uh Really? ah really just critical for anybody's Christology.
Speaker: Because... First of all, It really mimics, or maybe we should say the other way around, the second article of the Apostles' Creed mimics this passage. yeah It starts with Jesus at the very top. he is you know He is equal with God. He comes all the way down through incarnation. emptying himself to crucifixion, death on a cross, lying in a grave.
Speaker: From there. He is raised. He is exalted to the right hand of God. He goes all the way back up to where he was before. So you have this this this journey, this path of Jesus where he starts high, goes low, comes back up high.
Speaker: And that is called... ah in in theological terms, a high Christology. um A low Christology is is when people suggest that that Jesus was really just a man, a prophet, um some rabbi, and and that... And that. The reality of Jesus isn't isn't divine.
Speaker: That's called a low Christology. and Um, inside a lot of uh Uh, 19th and 20th century um Theology?
Speaker: if you can call it that, academic theology. ah ah There was... there was there there was sort of a ah basic assumption that was made. that Jesus was simply a man, a prophet, ah you know, somebody who claimed to be a prophet. He was a rabbi, an itinerant preacher, um somebody who who had strong opinions about God and the end of the world and things like that, and ah but but that he wasn't really God.
Speaker: He wasn't really divine And. uh that that thesis, which comes from a ah German theologian by the name of Bauer. It's called the Bauer thesis. ah uh was was really undergirding.
Speaker: most New Testament scholarship. um outside of kind of confessional and and conservative, you know Lutheran, Baptist, those kinds of places. Uh,
Speaker: ah scholarship, but in most of the academic settings. And if you wanted to get a book published, you know, by Yale or Harvard or one of these big publishing houses, you needed to you needed to buy into this. And so most of the theology that got published made this basic assumption.
Speaker: that that jesus that the original Jesus story was one of a of a prophet, a rabbi, a regular guy. And that as it got translated into Greek and into the larger Mediterranean world, they they jazzed him up a little bit.
Speaker: And they made him into God.
Speaker: Um, And... uh What's nice about Larry Hurtado's book is he absolutely destroys that thesis. crazy I love it. um and And this text actually plays a big role in that. um as we're going to read it in just a moment. um it's It's very clearly a song.
Speaker: It's a hymn. And Paul is going to start quoting a song in the middle of a paragraph here. And it would be a little bit like, you know, if I'm in a sermon and I'm talking and all of a sudden in the middle of my...
Speaker: In the middle of this... paragraph, I just say, Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Um, My congregants all have a tune running through their head at that point because they all know that song.
Speaker: Or if I, you know, say Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, you know, that saved a wretch like me. We there's a we we all got a tune that's running in our head. Paul is doing that here.
Speaker: And so... What that really means is that. that these words that Paul's quoting, Are in fact. Um, are in fact the words that these people are singing.
Speaker: Right? So this isn't. Paul telling them something they don't already believe. This is Paul. reminding them of the song they sing in church on Sunday morning.
Speaker: This is the song that they know already and that they've already inculcated into themselves. And it's a high Christology song. And so Larry Hurtado says, here's Paul, this is...
Speaker: one of the first books of the New Testament written. And. And here's this passage that is clearly something that is already in place. It's not an introduced thing.
Speaker: And they're singing High Christology. and Oh. You know, that just, that just. bull yeah that just destroys the idea that somehow in the as as the As the... As the New Testament message was under development, it's usually the word they're going to use for it or some sort of progression into it, that it was getting Jesus was getting to be more and more godlike.
Speaker: no Here's the earliest one of the earliest things we have. already has Jesus. being proclaimed as the Son of God. And so it's it's a really important. uh passage and kind of apologetic and systematic and historical theological terms.
Speaker: for understanding. that that Yeah, this this thing we confess as as Christians that... Jesus is God. That was there at the very beginning.
Speaker: The people who Talk to Jesus. you know You don't have generations of... of time in which for this kind of divine Jesus story. to gain traction and become hell, but no, the very people who knew him.
Speaker: We're saying. Yeah, he's got it.
Speaker: Yeah. He's he's got it. um This becomes really important for now. Paul's Joy Project. in in Philippians that we talked about last week.
Speaker: Because if you remember last week, at the end of it, Paul used this military metaphor to really talk about the... the yeah The joyfulness. of ah that we have is is really coming in this service we give to other people.
Speaker: That just as as, you know, this military guy is, you know, willing to jump on the hand grenade in modern terms. for the sake if for the sake of serving his brothers.
Speaker: You know that that this is now the secret to real joy is that we are No longer. self -serving, self -focused, but we are focused outward.
Speaker: And we are focused on on on Jesus. but But really, to be focused on Jesus, we have to be focused on the neighbor. Because those are the people I can actually.
Speaker: touch and heal. you know and so and ah ah lead and serve and and and and and have anything to do with. you know Jesus is found in my neighbor.
Speaker: And so I'm serving my neighbor and I'm serving Jesus at the same time. So he gets done with this thing about at the end of chapter. ah At the end of chapter one, where he says, you know, you guys are in the same conflict. We're all in the same unit. We're all in the same legion. You know, we're standing firm side by side. We are we are one. This is our joy.
Speaker: So, he says. Philippians chapter 2. If there is any encouragement in Christ. any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy.
Speaker: Complete my joy. By being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. So now. Remember Paul said,
Speaker: This is a good work God has begun. And he's going to bring it to completion. Now we are. Paul says, my joy can be completed. And part of my completion is that we're in this together.
Speaker: Um, Uh, I think it... I think his string of words here is really interesting. Encouragement is parakalesis. That's the... the ah Uh, the paraclete word.
Speaker: All right? You know, comfort. this participation this is koinonia This is the the fellowship. All right. Uh, Uh,
Speaker: If you have any affection, and this is this is this really deep and powerful word for... um for love and and care for somebody. He urges us to complete his joy by being of the same mind.
Speaker: To have the same love. to be in full accord. and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition. So here we're back to this. Losing the self -centeredness.
Speaker: Christ has taken over this place. of the middle of my life But in humility, Count others as more significant than yourselves. this is the This is the key to joy.
Speaker: is you start thinking about Wow, what does that person need? you know and And honestly, I... I've just seen this in my my own life so many times. You know that. When...
Speaker: When I start thinking about... how miserable I am. I only get more miserable.
Speaker: And the way out of it is always. to go and do something for somebody else. to go help someone. Nope. Rake their lawn. Go and... uh Uh,
Speaker: Ah. You know, just do something nice for someone. i mean
Speaker: I'm right now in. you know, grieving recovery because. My wife passed away this summer. Yeah. And. And you you can get pretty morose.
Speaker: Um, I have a really big garden. I grow a lot of vegetables and flowers. And... ah uh I will tell you right now that that when I get morose,
Speaker: I often times I go out and I picked some tomatoes. Because I know my neighbor two houses down loves them.
Speaker: And so I bring her tomatoes. I bring her and her husband tomatoes. And she was a good friend of my wife. And and i I bring her. you know Just that act of giving a gift.
Speaker: Yeah, and it's not.
Speaker: Yeah. okay, it's a couple of tomatoes from my garden. It's not like it's anything you know huge. But just that is enough to break me out of. that kind of self -centered.
Speaker: Morose sadness. that that could otherwise really have just... take over my whole day. is go do something. Consider somebody other than yourself.
Speaker: Look to the interests of others. But now in this hymn. you know which You know you think about... When he starts to add the music in. It's going to really get like the whole the whole person involved. um Have in mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus.
Speaker: Who, though he was... In the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. But emptied himself by taking on the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death.
Speaker: Um, Right now this is kind of in a meter. All right, you can this this is the way a song would sound. Okay. And we don't know whether the song breaks right here, or whether Paul does.
Speaker: He might have been in be injecting something here. But that... even death on a cross. Breaks the meter. now Sometimes when you're singing and you are and you're in a poem and you break the meter, that's the way you draw attention to it.
Speaker: um It could work that way. Ah. Or it could be. That Paul is... is kind of breaking into the song right here You know? ah You know, Jesus loves me. This I know. And he really loves you.
Speaker: Also, I broke it into the song. Paul could be doing that with it, too. Oh. ah but by but becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. that he resumes the song here.
Speaker: Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Speaker: That, by the way, is a quote From... Um, from the Old Testament. and And if you remember. It was... Um, The very... Same passage that Paul quoted. at the end of rome and in Romans chapter 12.
Speaker: ah No, I'm sorry, in Romans chapter 11, he quoted that very same that very same passage and that kind of doxology at the end of the... at the end of Romans chapter 11. um So paul Paul likes this passage.
Speaker: Of every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that and and acknowledge God. this is This is one of Paul's kind of... keystone passages for his own way of thinking.
Speaker: and yeah know and And that's, I think, driving his... preaching to the Gentiles. Every knee shall bow. Every tongue confess. And and. And he believes that Christ has called him to be a part of.
Speaker: Bringing that. confession and that. In the words of Romans, that obedience of faith. That knee bending. to Everybody.
Speaker: So therefore, my beloved, he says. as you have always obeyed. So now, not only as in my presence, but much more in my absence.
Speaker: Work out your own salvation. with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you. both to will and to do Work for his pleasure.
Speaker: I have somebody knocking on door here. Just a second. Hello. Hello?
Speaker: Oh, is that? Daryl, you missed. Just a second, Matt. All right, in the middle of a phone call. yeah Could I? Bye. put you up for maybe 20 minutes?
Speaker: Yes. my Oh, yeah. You want to go play? Yes. i believe in politics long No, no, no, no. i ah let me uh I will walk you over there. We can wait for a second.
Speaker: or what it means like.
Speaker: a part definite sorry
Speaker: You can edit that out. Alright. Hmm. Good.
Speaker: um
Speaker: Let's back it up to where I was reading a chapter. In verse 12. Okay. well so Also, but you're right there. um How do you make out? i have a question so we can pick up What a question. here Work out your own salvation.
Speaker: Okay. Let's talk about that. Let's talk about that. Yeah. Therefore, my beloved, as you've always obeyed, so now ah not only in my presence, but much or more in my absence.
Speaker: Work out your own salvation with fear. and trembling. For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his people. Good pleasure. So...
Speaker: you You asked this question, Matthew, about... what is What is that fear and trembling? What does that work out your own salvation thing about? Um, Tell me about your question.
Speaker: Well, knowing your background, your academic background specifically, is there anything in the language there? That. Right. Because I know when you're when you're looking at it, like just in verse 12 and 13.
Speaker: Mhm. and And we know Paul, and we know what he's saying. This is all... you know high church Not high church. Hi, Christology. It's all Jesus. But you can see a lot of...
Speaker: I mean, even even in a... A ah low Jesus take that we were talking about. Mm -hmm out your own salvation. See right here. He wasn't a Messiah.
Speaker: het ah He couldn't have done that. You, Paul, is even saying. You need to work out your own salvation. Right, yeah, we we we tend to... you know Again, you we we hear that word in a certain context, and so we hear it in a certain way. And and you're right, we hear it in this in this world in which in which... You know.
Speaker: As Americans, it's all pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. And ah and in this theological world in which you're right, Christ is a is a is just another guy, and so are you. And so you've got to work out your own salvation and you know choose your own path. And you know maybe Buddhism is the right way for you.
Speaker: Kind of a... Thanks, Greg. kind of All kinds of things come into that that that are there. no i think um I think what Paul is is really talking about here.
Speaker: is that is that That. Um, you know Paul is called to be an apostle.
Speaker: and And he is called to be this missionary into all the world. He knows that not everybody is. You read his his work is filled with you know this ah this imagery of the body.
Speaker: And now the body is made up of different members. We're not all the same. That's... back in Romans chapter 12 there. and 14. You know that he's talking about people are different.
Speaker: And you know this guy says this, that guy says that. One is an administrator, one is a is ah is a teacher, one is one is a servant. you know these are We're all different.
Speaker: And so I think in a sense, Paul is saying, work out your own salvation. He's not saying... You go accomplish salvation on your own.
Speaker: He's saying salvation is going to work into your life differently than it is in mine. that that that That the salvation that Jesus has has worked in you, this good thing,
Speaker: Which he began. and he's going to bring to completion on the last on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, that's going to work out. in you.
Speaker: Okay? So that is that is going to work out in you. you know Right now, I'm in prison. And I'm in prison for being a missionary. and for being an apostle. um But.
Speaker: That you're not. Okay. And I, and and Paul would say, I hope you never are. Right? this this this This thing has all of this variety in it. And so maybe you're a slave girl in ah in a... in a in a big house somewhere, in in some mansion. maybe in Maybe you're a merchant and you're... Selling.
Speaker: grain in the marketplace. Or maybe you're a... You're a soldier. You're each going to work this. This salvation is going to work out.
Speaker: In your whole life. And I think the salvation that's getting worked out. is in fact all of this, this encouragement in Christ, this comfort from love, this participation in the Spirit, this... this emptying of self.
Speaker: into into thinking of others more highly than you think of yourselves. And so for the slave girl, in the biggest state. That's going to look very different.
Speaker: than it is for the soldier.
Speaker: So in some ways Maybe if if... Paul was writing to a North American audience. Yeah. He could have said something maybe like no instead of Work out. Knowing what we were just talking about.
Speaker: like that confusion. um But he also doesn't want to say... Only to live out. Because that's more passive. that's that's Just I could just be sitting and doing nothing and I'm living out my salvation. He wants us to be actively working.
Speaker: Yep. yeahp Doing the things that God has prepared in advance for us to do. I wonder who wrote that. Yeah. yeah Yes. yes Sorry, Eeyore is.
Speaker: Yes, right. army That's right. Sorry. But yeah, so, and and and I think you said you do that with fear and trembling. Right. you know that that that that You and I are each called into these into these relationships and into this world, and and we do that. and And. where we we understand we are part of something way bigger than just us.
Speaker: um that That when I speak the words... of love and forgiveness, you know, Jesus says. Whosever sins you forgive, they're forgiven in heaven. that we are We are handling holy things, says Peter.
Speaker: um That we are we are God's people. uh, and and his ambassadors were his We are his prophets in a very real sense.
Speaker: you know Because we speak. God into the lives of other people. When we forgive them, when we when we proclaim the good news, Jesus has risen from the dead.
Speaker: You know, that's that's that's God coming into the room with us. You know, that's that's God showing up. and And so, you know, with fear and trembling, we this this works out in our lives. and And as Paul says, not only when he's there, but when he's gone. because it's True.
Speaker: no matter what happens with Paul. It's God who works in you. there's where the That's why you're doing it with fear and trembling. Because God is working this out in you.
Speaker: And it is both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Notice notice the dislocation of the self in that. Right. Not to will and to work, whatever you want to do.
Speaker: but rather to will and to work for His good pleasure. and And so this is this is really... you know, Keep in mind the thing. keep in you that living in you,
Speaker: Having you. the same mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. And then he goes into that hole. Jesus was high, he went low, and now he's back high. This humiliation and exaltation of Christ, that's what's working in you.
Speaker: And that's why you have the fear and trembling. And that working in you is going to accomplish this. Slow. What does that look like?
Speaker: To have the mind of Christ in you. Do all things without grumbling or disrupting. or disputing. Oh, man. Yeah. yeah Yeah, I mean...
Speaker: like a lamb he was silent before the like a lamb is silent before the shearers so he was you know He did not cry out. so that you may be blameless and innocent.
Speaker: Children of God without blemish in the midst of a... crooked and twisted generation. Paul? Paul is very realistic about the world he lives in. Yeah, it's messed up.
Speaker: And... I hear a lot of Christians today kind of... you know, bemoaning the fact the world is messed up. Why are you surprised?
Speaker: You know? And again, I think it goes back a little bit to that sort of anomalous period we had. in which you know, North American culture and society really kind of bought into a lot of Christian vision.
Speaker: And, you know, and our churches were all full after the, in the post -war period. and And by and large, the world for a lot of us really looked kind of like people were on board with us.
Speaker: Well now it's not so much but the reality is we've probably returned to normal more than we have left normal. And... ah And so, you know, Paul says,
Speaker: Yeah, the world out there is is crooked and twisted. you know People are going to use money. and they're going to use it. power. They're going to use, you know. they're gonna They're going to corrupt things like sexuality and family and relationships of every kind.
Speaker: They're going to do that. Don't you do that.
Speaker: Shine. you know Be blameless and innocent. in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation among whom you shine as lights in the world.
Speaker: that Uh, Yet we don't get terribly. you know, up in arms because. I don't know. they You know? Good. They're letting homosexuals get married.
Speaker: Okay. You know, do I think that's a good idea? Maybe, maybe not. You know? I mean there could be be arguments on either side. But... But the reality is. That doesn't change my witness.
Speaker: as somebody who cares for the vulnerable, looks out for the needy. And honestly, if the if the if the If the homosexual guy comes to me and... and needs needs something, I give it to him.
Speaker: I love that person. with the love of Christ. And so... ah ah You know, it isn't. it isn't this this idea that I need to control the culture. And that's kind of where I see a lot of...
Speaker: A lot of Christians say, we got to we're we're losing control of the culture. did you Did you ever think you had it? Right. that That is a huge, huge...
Speaker: Ah. there There is a huge disconnect. yeah that I have perceived, this especially not just in my ministry, but just in life in general. you know, that, you know, oh, our founding fathers were devout Christian men. Now, they were imperfect, we know that, but they also weren't necessarily devout or Christian. Yeah.
Speaker: post -war and will for, I mean, yeah, that that blend of like nationalistic pride and Christian identity. confuses things. And if it's national, this is one place I think where it happens.
Speaker: when When those two things are meshed together inappropriately, then you think America should be Christian. Mm hmm. Yep. and Would that be a good thing? Well, yeah, probably. But is that how it's ever really been? No, there's not.
Speaker: That's right. Right. And I mean, Paul paul lives in a, you know, the the the Roman Empire at the time when Paul lives is is really... Awful in many respects.
Speaker: I mean, Roman culture, Greek culture was hypersexualized. It was, you know, it was a... it it was It was exploitative. I mean, like something like 20 % to 30 % of the people were... We're slaves?
Speaker: You know, Um, You know, there were no productive. protections really against charlatans and scam artists and ah there were people all over the place. were scamming each other and and doing anything they could to to... steal or take from another person. um You know, it was a pretty... pretty brutal place.
Speaker: And Paul says it's a twisted. broken. nasty place out there. You shine like stars. And you be the light. ah you And so then so he started with these, do all things without grumbling or disputing.
Speaker: dadada So you can be blameless and isn't. Holding fast to the word of life. Do all things holding fast to the word of life. Um, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
Speaker: Holding fast to the word of life. You know, I think i think it is it is to say that... That. um
Speaker: I think to hold fast to the word of life is is to really hold fast to the resurrection. and and to say, Jesus rose from the dead. And that changes everything I see around me.
Speaker: And all that is going on. And. and And that means that this brokenness, this sinfulness, that is not the end of the story. Jesus is the end of the story.
Speaker: And here. paul Paul just brings it back into that that that. existential reality that he's facing. Yeah, even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith.
Speaker: I'm glad. I rejoice with you all. Likewise, you should also be glad and rejoice with me. that That image of being poured out as a drink offering would be...
Speaker: Well...
Speaker: graphically True. because Paul as a Roman citizen would have not been subject to crucifixion. he would have been executed by a headsman with a sword.
Speaker: And they would have uh They would have. Chopped his head off. And and any um one will tell you that that some of the... the uh the most I'm important blood vessels of your body are found to supply this brain, which is a huge oxygen suck on your on your body. And so it's got to be pumping blood all the time. And so when you chop off somebody's head, it's just, it's...
Speaker: poured out. Like a drink offering. I mean, it's ah it's a ah it's a really graphic image. of the execution that Paul is facing.
Speaker: He's not talking about. This is... This is only kind of metaphor. you know what I mean Or a simile. It's only kind of. It's actually really describing the way that Paul in fact did die.
Speaker: um Uh, Have you ever been to the Three Fountains? No. In Rome? that's It's outside of Rome, actually. um the The execution ground was... um out in a swampy area outside of Rome.
Speaker: um And ah supposedly Paul's head bounced three times. And a fountain spraying up each time. yeah
Speaker: They call it the three fountains. Tres Fontes. And then when you go around the corner, you get to St. Paul outside the walls. And they...
Speaker: they are pretty sure that that's actually the place where Paul is buried. um that that in fact they they did an excavation. during a renovation of the of the cathed of the Basilica, it is, a number of years ago. And they they found...
Speaker: Down there, there's a box. And it just says. Paulus.
Speaker: And it's it's first century. And so they they think they have. That's the place where his mortal remains were laid. um was right there.
Speaker: So they're they're they're reasonably certain this is actually the place. Thank you. Bye. Yeah, so. Um, there's just There's a lot going on in this passage.
Speaker: Um, Uh... I think. Though that that as Paul is talking about his... his ah His joy project.
Speaker: in this letter that that What he's really saying is that... Our model for how to get joy is Jesus. and And the way Jesus... The way you get the you get the you get the divine joy, that good work that he's begun in us and will bring to completion is...
Speaker: Well. Whoever takes up his... cross and follows me. and that And that if you lose your life for me.
Speaker: and for the gospel. You'll gain it. This really counterintuitive, upside down theology of the cross ah way of thinking about this.
Speaker: Um, I haven't actually ever seen the coin. that i I don't know if this is, in fact, true or not. um but they said that there used to be a Roman coin.
Speaker: That. that had a profile of a of a bull So you're looking at it across his face like this, a side picture of a bull. and that in his gaze was both an altar and a plow.
Speaker: and and and the And the motto was ready for either.
Speaker: And you you think about... You know, Paul gave his life as a martyr. John, on the other hand...
Speaker: of the gospel. The Apostle John yeah lived to be like 95 years old. The only one to die a natural death, but but gave his life. you know, one day at a time.
Speaker: In in. in service to Christ and his kingdom. And so there's... There's a lot of different ways. it' ah So work out your own salvation. yeah yeah That works out in your life in a different way. that that that the Yes, the martyr Paul and Peter and those others were dramatic. in the giving of life but um you know that that woman who uh who teaches sunday school faithfully for years that
Speaker: That guy who comes and and fixes the... fixes the faucet, at fixes the running toilet at the bath and in the bathroom that you can't that that won't stop that guy. um They're also giving their life.
Speaker: inated The neighbor that's bringing over a couple of tomatoes. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Giving your life one day at a time. Who's taking care of. of a friend. that that is That is the...
Speaker: the And again, for... For Paul, that's the secret to that joy. that's what That's what that salvation is working out in us, is this displacement of my ego.
Speaker: but Myself. from the middle of my universe and we're all born incredibly self -centered. And this was this was the observation of Augustine in in the Confessions.
Speaker: that That, uh... yeah He said, When I was an infant, I was a selfish. terrible tyrant of a person. You know? and And if you've ever had a child in your home, you know he's right.
Speaker: But infant, there is nothing more self -centered and tyrannical. than a you know ah ah a three week old. They're going to get hungry at two o 'clock in the morning and and you're going to wake up and feed me.
Speaker: Right? you're definitely not going to sleep you are not going to sleep right now You know you you don't attribute that to you know volition and will and all those things. That doesn't change it.
Speaker: doesn't change it at all. They're still, they still are. R. uh incredibly self -centered. That has to change in every one of us. And that's the working out, I think.
Speaker: That's the working out, is Christ working that change inside of you ah so that so that he now... fills that. center. and And you.
Speaker: Become. become the instrument. Okay, the mask that he puts on. and that you become you become now really ah i like to think this is in orbit around him instead of expecting the world to be in orbit around you.
Speaker: And. and pulses. That's joy. that counter -intuitively Yep. Contra, everything that Madison Avenue and and and a lot of pop psychology, and a lot of a lot of those you know those those... Those aphorisms we share, you you need to take care of yourself.
Speaker: you know. Yep. you know You need to you need to you know heal yourself. before No.
Speaker: Listen to him. Listen to Jesus. as he gave himself up on a cross. Give yourself. And there's where you're going to find joy.
Speaker: Just as in dying you live, in giving you gain. um
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I think Paul is really preaching to those. Good people in Philippi. and us. because Paul wants us to have. some of that joy too.
Speaker: Which is? God's joy.
Speaker: Because the devil don't like joy. No, he does not. No, he's he's he's a misery dealer. Yeah. He's a misery dealer. Hmm.
Speaker: Well thank you for that. Well, thank you, Matthew. This was fun. as always Yes. yes Well. Any other thoughts before we wrap up this episode? You know. um Boy, I think I've just said too much. Yes, you do. I know you do. I've said too much. Well, let's let's let it go. This was a good one. um ah Boy.
Speaker: You know? Work out that salvation with fear and trembling.
Speaker: Yeah, this is a couple weeks out from when we're recording it. but I think I might just be preaching on Philippians this Sunday. Yeah, yeah. it's it's ah It's a fantastic text. I love this book. I just love this book.
