Yesterday, I taught a Bible study for the first time in three months (which is a long time for me). I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to getting back in the swing of teaching on a weekly basis. I'm also going to make an attempt to post weekly updates to my blog that are focused on what I'm teaching. I'm thinking that these entries will be reflections, random thoughts, and information that may or may not make it into the actual study I'm leading. In terms of the study, I decided to start with something that I would be pretty comfortable with, so naturally, I picked Paul. We are studying Paul's letter to the Philippians and we covered most of chapter 1 yesterday.
As I mentioned on my last post, Philippians is a joyful letter - it is Paul's most upbeat letter and you can easily see the affection he has for this church. It should also be noted (and this is made plain in the letter) that Paul is writing from prison. I'm inclined to think that he's writing this from a Roman prison, near the end of his career. A couple of other reasons I think the letter is a later one are the mention of bishops and deacons in 1:1, the presence of what appears to be hymn in 2:6-11 (one of my favorite passages of Scripture, btw), and a mature theology that is at once reflective in regards to the past and confident in regards to the future. I tend to think that Paul knew that chances were pretty high that he would be executed at some point and this reality plays a prominent role in chapter 1 (verses 19-24).
Yesterday, as I was teaching, I was most struck by verse 6 and how well it lines up with the importance Methodist theology gives to sanctification. Verse 6 reads: "I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ." In the context of the letter, this refers to what God is doing through the community and is not referring to God's acting in the lives of individual believers. But I think that we can extrapolate from Paul's statement about God's faithfulness to the church to His faithfulness to us. The "work" that God does in our lives is the work of sanctification - which is the on-going grace that God gives to us in our daily lives as we grow in faith. Sanctification is the work of the Spirit making us holy ("sanctus" means holy). One of my 'mantras' that I repeat to myself (and have said on a number of occasions in sermons and studies) is that Jesus didn't come that we might be happy, but that we might be holy. While holiness and happiness aren't necessarily mutually exclusive, they don't necessarily coincide in this life. Often times, what makes us happy (or what the "world" claims will make us happy) has a negative impact on our growth in holiness.
If you pay attention to "popular culture" in this country, you could reasonably make the claim that happiness is the highest good that people might strive for. From what I can gather, the basic question posed by American culture for whether or not someone should do something is: "does it make you happy?" I realize that I'm making a REALLY broad generalization here, but I think it holds up if you look at the messages we receive from popular culture. We obviously know the reality - much of what we do in this life doesn't make us happy. And I'm pretty sure that being happy shouldn't be the highest good. As a Christian, happiness is not what I seek so much (though I'll definitely take moments of happiness when they come). As Christians, we seek joy and contentment. Happiness, in our world, seems entirely contingent upon our circumstances or, even worse, those material things we possess. Joy and contentment are often present in spite of circumstance. Here's what Paul says in chapter 4 of Philippians: "...I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me." If you're a Christian, that's what you aspire to...what a great word from Paul.
Grace and Peace to you!
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