Life over the last couple of years has felt quite chaotic for many of us. Things have been turned upside down, rearranged. As we go into this year we are still facing many things that seem chaotic. Financial uncertainty, industrial action, the difficulties in the NHS, amongst other things. So where is God in all this chaos? How does our faith shape our reaction to the chaos? What is God saying to us in the chaos? <\/p>\n
These are some of the questions we\u2019re going to be asking over the next month or so as we explore the stories of people in the Bible who found themselves in difficult, painful, and chaotic situations, and seeing what we might be able to learn from those accounts for our own lives. Over the coming weeks we will be hearing about people caught up in fire, under threat, and in the wilderness. Today we\u2019re starting by meeting someone in prison.<\/p>\n
As he is writing his letter to the Christians in the city of Philippi, Paul is in prison. More than this, he is writing to a city in which he was also imprisoned. We heard the story of that a little earlier, when the youngsters were in with us. That imprisonment is clear, but how do we know that Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter? Well, if we look a little earlier in the letter, in chapter 1, we read this,<\/p>\n
\u201cI want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t know exactly where or when this imprisonment occurred for Paul. As we read through Acts, and particularly towards the end of Paul\u2019s ministry we find a couple of places that he was in prison or under house arrest for extended periods of time. One is in Caesaria in Acts 23 and 24 , and one is in Rome \u2013 Acts 28. The balance of evidence tends to suggest that Philippians was written from Rome, but we can\u2019t be sure. <\/p>\n
To be honest, it doesn\u2019t matter a huge amount. In both places his freedom was restricted, he was waiting for a court hearing that might have ended with his execution, and he could not go where he chose. <\/p>\n
So, how does Paul deal with this situation, with this imprisonment?<\/p>\n
Firstly, he worships. We heard about this in the story of his release from his captivity in Philippi. He worshipped God. This emphasis on worship continues in Paul\u2019s letter to Philippi. Earlier in chapter 4 he writes, \u201cRejoice in the Lord always.\u201d At the beginning of today\u2019s reading he writes, \u201cI rejoiced greatly in the Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n
In my Bible reading plan this morning was Psalm 42. It begins with the well known line, \u201cAs the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.\u201d Later on in the psalm this verse repeats, \u201cWhy, my soul, are you so downcast? Why do disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.\u201d
\nPaul puts this into practice. In circumstances that are hard and painful, he finds ways to rejoice, to praise God, to worship<\/p>\n
Secondly, Paul writes that he has learned to be content in any and every situation \u2013 through him who gives him strength. In this case Paul is specifically talking about material things \u2013 whether well off or poor, hungry or well fed, but the sense from his wider writing is that this applies to every aspect of life for Paul. As we read the story of his ministry in Acts, and his letters, we hear of all kinds of challenges he goes through. And in them all his reliance on God\u2019s strength doesn\u2019t waver. He believes that in the end, no matter he\u2019s going through, God will work all things for the good of those who love him. It seems to me that here we have the practical application of what we heard Jesus teaching his friends and followers in Luke\u2019s historical account of Jesus\u2019 life. <\/p>\n
Jesus instructs his disciples not to worry, not to be anxious about material things, but to seek God\u2019s kingdom, and to lay up treasure in heaven, where it cannot be destroyed. This is what Paul did, he sought God\u2019s kingdom. Things rarely went easily for him, and he was often beaten, abused, hungry, thirsty, imprisoned, but he kept trusting, kept going in God\u2019s strength, laying up treasure in heaven. <\/p>\n
From these Bible readings it seems to me that worship and contentment founded on trust are key to freedom. <\/p>\n
Worship. This can be difficult when we feel trapped and imprisoned. Paul knew that, the Psalmist knew that. But, they encourage us to do it anyway. I find this difficult, so I\u2019m talking as much to me as to anyone else here, but I do believe that as we lift our eyes in trust and worship to the one who is greater, who is worthy of our worship, so we can be released from what traps us. That might be listening to worship music at home. It might be coming along to a Rest service, just to relax into God\u2019s presence, it might be joining Wellington Worship Night. Whatever it might be for us, there is freedom in worship. <\/p>\n
Contentment. Again I\u2019m preaching to myself. I wish I could say, with Paul, that I had learned the secret of contentment. The best I can do is share the direction in which I think it lies. Learning to rely on God\u2019s strength rather than our own. Seeking God\u2019s kingdom \u2013 God\u2019s way of doing things and God\u2019s values and priorities, rather than my own. Trusting that in the end God will work all things for good. <\/p>\n
As we face the chaos of this year, and of our lives, as we might feel trapped, captive, or imprisoned, let\u2019s love each other, let\u2019s walk with each other, let\u2019s help each other to worship God and to trust in God\u2019s strength. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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