Philippians - Slave and Saint
I am excited to kick off our sermon series from Philippians! Over the next 18 weeks we are going to be teaching from the letter that Paul wrote to the Philippians. Before he became a follower of Jesus, Paul was a Jewish terrorist. He was one of the leading pharisees that persecuted followers of Jesus – but then – Paul surrendered his life to Jesus, and everything changed.
Instead of being the persecutor, he became the persecuted.
He was chased out of city after city by the Jewish religious leaders.
He was threatened, beaten, stoned, and left for dead.
He often went without food, was often in prison, and was constantly on the move telling people about Jesus and leading others to a life-changing relationship with Jesus.
As Paul traveled and preached, people responded to the good news and surrendered their lives to Jesus. Churches began to pop up. Paul would help establish leaders in the churches who would help people grow in their faith and then he would move on to another city. Many of the Letters Paul wrote, were written to churches he had planted. When Paul wrote Philippians, he was under house arrest for preaching the Gospel.
Most of us got a small taste of what it would be like to be under house arrest a few years ago when we had Covid. But in Paul’s case it was a little different. He was chained up – but friends and others could come and go as they pleased. So, Paul spent two years chained up, teaching about Jesus.
Paul began his letter with his traditional greeting – let’s read it:
Philippians 1:1-5 (NLT2)
1 This letter is from Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus. I am writing to all of God’s holy people in Philippi who belong to Christ Jesus, including the elders and deacons. 2 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. 3 Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. 4 Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, 5 for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.
Any time I receive an email, text, or message, one of the very first things I do is to see WHO sent it. If it is an anonymous letter or spam, I throw it in the trash can. Now, I have softened a bit on this, but if someone does not think it is important enough to sign their name, I do not think it is important enough for me to read. And, I am guilty of writing anonymous letters in the past. Mostly to girls that I liked in Middle School…and high school…
If you have your hand up, we are also collecting handwriting samples for the future just in case. Paul never wrote an anonymous letter. From the start, he said HE wrote it, and WHO he was sending it to.
From his greeting, we see that…
A FOLLOWER OF JESUS IS A SLAVE AND A SAINT
Your identity always matters. In my younger days of driving, I was known to speed and drive recklessly. One year, I was pulled over five times for speeding, and I even was given a ticket for riding in a friend's trunk. That’s a sermon illustration for another day. Every time I was pulled over, the Officer asked for my Driver’s License first. The identification that I handed to each officer told him exactly what he needed to know.
In verse one, the word Paul used for Servant in the original language is Doulos. (doolos) It means SLAVE. Paul described himself as a SLAVE of Jesus.
He is in chains.
He is locked up for telling people about Jesus.
And he identifies as a SLAVE.
But – he also called the Jesus followers he was writing, saints. In the original language he used the word hagios (hag-ee-os) which means “morally blameless and pure.”
These two words, side by side, sum up how followers of Jesus should describe themselves. We are slaves. We are saints. Think about the weight each of those words has behind them. First,
A SLAVE IS BOUGHT, BELONGS, & BIDDABLE
In Early America – slavery was a horrible evil. Men and women in Africa were living out their lives peacefully, and then, by force, they were taken from their families and sold in the United States. They were bought by a master and often beaten, treated harshly, and thought to have less value than cattle.
If you are a follower of Jesus, you too, have been BOUGHT. A transaction has been made. A price has been paid.
1 Corinthians 6:20 (NLT2)
20 for God bought you with a high price…
It is a clear teaching throughout the New Testament that Jesus BOUGHT you with his blood. There is no higher currency than the BLOOD of Jesus. Nothing is as valuable as the blood of the Son of God. So that means, you BELONG to him! He owns you. You are his property. We belong to Jesus. We have been adopted into his family through the blood of Jesus. We belong to him, and we belong with him.
Since he bought you and you belong to Him, that means you are biddable.
When Paul called himself a slave of Christ, he implied that he did God’s bidding. That he was the hands and feet of Jesus. That Christ lived his life through Paul. And if you are a follower of Jesus, I encourage you to ask yourself what God is bidding you to do for him.
Whether you are the youngest in this room or watching online your responsibility as a follower of Jesus is to DO his bidding. A slave of Jesus never gets to retire. Do what he wants you to do.
Serve in the way He is calling you to serve.
SLAVES do their master’s bidding. You have been BOUGHT, you BELONG so continue to be BIDDABLE. That is what Paul implied when he called himself a slave.
Then look how he addressed the Philippian followers of Jesus in the second part of verse one…
“To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi.”
It is a little uncomfortable to think about ourselves from God’s point of view. In most of our prayer time with God, as we describe ourselves, we most likely lean toward our sinfulness.
I am a miserable sinner.
I am the chief of sinners.
Undeserving of grace and forgiveness
While those thoughts are true, I also think we need to remind ourselves of how God sees us. God sees us through the lens of Jesus's sacrifice. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, I am no longer only a sinner. I am a SAINT.
You are too.
A SAINT IS HOLY, HAPPY, & HELPS SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS
I grew up Catholic. I attended Catholic school until fourth grade, and later, I went to Saint Francis of Assisi Catholic Church. The walls of the school and church were covered with images and portraits of Saints. The Saints were always portrayed with glowing halos above their heads. Their hands folded in prayer…. a cross necklace… in my mind…they were HOLY…
Saints were people I could never identify with.
In the Catholic church, a person can only be called a Saint after they have been through a long process called canonization. It happens long after that person dies. They look for at least two miracles that happened through their hands. They read all of their writings to make sure they were theologically sound. Their actions, attitudes, and works are examined closely…then if they pass the process, they are made saints.
But, from God’s perspective, there is only ONE step to become a Saint.
Romans 10:9 (NLT2)
9 If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
A SAINT can be a drug addict who has surrendered her life to Jesus. You might think of them as an ex-addict, but God says she is a saint.
A SAINT can be an alcoholic who has surrendered their life to Jesus. You may call him a drunk, but God says he is a saint.
A SAINT can be a man who has surrendered his life to Jesus but still struggles with temptations to be unfaithful to his spouse. You may call him an adulterer, but God calls him a saint.
The married couple who have each surrendered their lives to Jesus are SAINTS, but they struggle with bickering back and forth. You may say their marriage is crumbling, but God says they are SAINTS.
If you have convinced yourself that you are worthless and add no value to this world, God says you have been chosen and purchased and that you are a masterpiece. If you feel like a zero on a scale of 1 to 10, God says that you are a perfect 10. The sacrifice of Jesus has made you RIGHT with God – YOU have been perfected in his sight. You have been made HOLY. As Holy as Jesus is and was. And since you have been made HOLY you should live HAPPY.
Happy because God loves you.
Happy because God KNOWS you.
Happy because God lives within you.
Happy because have been chosen and adopted by God.
Happy because you are free from condemnation.
Happy because you have direct access to God through the Holy Spirit.
Happy because you have been forgiven for all your sins.
Happy because you are a citizen of Heaven.
Happy because you are born of God, and the Evil one cannot touch you.
Happy because you are the dwelling place of the Most High God
Happy because you can approach God with freedom and confidence anytime day or night.
Happy because you will never be rejected, abandoned, deserted, overlooked, or treated poorly by the one who gave his life for you.
God’s TRUTH about your identity matters more than your negative thoughts about yourself. Because a follower of Jesus is HOLY and HAPPY, they HELP spread the GOOD NEWS of Jesus to others.
Paul said in v. 5.
Philippians 1:5 (NLT2)
5 for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.
Sharing the GOOD NEWS of JESUS is all of us working together in unity. Our mission is to lead people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus.
When you invite others to church – you help lead people to Jesus.
When you serve on the tech team, you help lead people to Jesus.
When you help in the Junior High ministry, you help lead people to Jesus.
When you serve on the First Impressions team, you help lead people to Jesus.
When you serve in the Kids ministry, you help lead people to Jesus.
And if you are interested in serving to join us in our mission, grab one of those connect cards, fill it out and drop it in the offering box on your way out. We believe that people who have experienced the overwhelming love of God want to show others the same love they themselves have experienced – and we often do that by helping and serving.
A few years ago, I served as Lead Pastor at a church that averaged about 2,500 on the weekend, and I volunteered to serve in the Junior High Ministry on Thursday night. I was not up-front preaching…I sat quietly in the back of the room, and when the students went to small groups, I grabbed a broom, a dustpan, and a trash can and went to work sweeping up candy wrappers, skittles, crushed candy bars. Then, I filled a mop bucket and went to work cleaning up all the cans of Coke that had spilled onto the floor.
I was finishing up when a 7th-grade boy came over and said, “Are you the Janitor?”
I said, “What makes you think I’m the janitor?” He said, “Because you are mopping the floor. Aren’t you the Pastor? Why are you mopping? That’s what the janitor does.”
I told him, “I am a Pastor…but I shouldn’t be if I am not willing to mop floors and serve others. I don’t ever want to be guilty of asking other people to step in and serve but be unwilling to myself.”
I am a SLAVE and a SAINT and there is nothing else I would rather be!
When you experience difficult days and seasons, know that you can overcome any difficulty that comes your way because you belong to Jesus. You do not face life alone because you have been bought by the blood of Jesus, and you belong to Him.And if you are facing life alone without Jesus, you don’t have to. Jesus can be your Lord and Savior if you surrender your life to Jesus and commit to following Him.