September 6, 2009, Labor Sunday

Lessons: Philippians 1.1-11

Sermon Title: Defense and Confirmation

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INTRODUCTION

Allegations

My boss is without peer when it comes to the rules and regulations that customs officials must follow. But when it comes to the law, well, that's a different story.

We were attending a court case in which we were prosecuting a smuggler. The judge asked the court, "Who is making these allegations?"

My boss stood up and proclaimed, "I am the alligator, your honor."

1. There are two important words in the lesson for this morning.

          A.       The first one is defense.

          B.       The second one is confirmation.

II.       Both of these concepts are found in verse 7.

It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

          A.       You share with me both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.

          B.       This is because the Philippians held Paul in their hearts.

III.      So we have the same tasks.

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MAIN BODY:

I.        We are called to offer a defense of the gospel.

          A.       We could take a lesson from a young lawyer.

Mistakes

Sometimes we say things that don't come out quite like we intended, like the young lawyer–fresh out of law school–who was pleading his first case in a South Carolina courtroom.

A train had killed 24 pigs, and the young attorney was trying to impress the jury with the magnitude of the injury.

"Yes, Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, 24 pigs. Imagine, 24 pigs . . . Twice the number there are in the jury box."

                     1.       In his excitement he used an inappropriate illusion.

                     2.       I wonder how the jury might feel.

          B.       We could take a lesson from football.

When Mike Kollin was a linebacker for the Dolphins and a graduate of Auburn University, his former college coach, Shug Jordan, asked him if he would do some recruiting for him.

Mike said, “Sure, coach. What kind of player are you looking for?”

The coach said, “Well, Mike, you know there’s that fellow, you knock him down, he just stays down?”

Mike said, “We don’t want him, do we, coach?”

“No, that’s right. Then there’s that fellow, you knock him down and he gets up, but you knock him down again and he stays down.”

Mike answered, “We don’t want him either, do we, coach?”

Coach said, “No, but Mike, there’s a fellow, you knock him down, he gets up. Knock him down, he gets up. Knock him down, he gets up. Knock him down, he gets up.”

Mike said, “That’s the guy we want, isn’t it, coach?”

The coach answered, “No, we don’t want him either. I want you to find that guy who’s knocking everybody down. That’s the guy we want!”

                     1.       So you recruit the largest, swiftest, most talented players that you can for your team.

                     2.       But you have to keep in mind the observation from Vince Lombardi.

"The best defense is a good offense.”

                     3.       You still need a good defense.

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          C.       There are other steps that you might take to defend yourself.

                     1.       You can create a wall around yourself and your family.

                               a.       When do you open the door or the windows.

                               b.       Walls may become prisons.

                     2.       You could learn self defense.

Nursing student Priscilla Wiggin recounts this story: While on vacation on the island of St. John's, my sister, her date and a groovy clergy couple went to an outdoor dance bar on a beach. Everyone was having a lovely time.

On the gravel road next to the dance area, an unattended cab suddenly rolled into a pickup truck, denting the truck's fender. The truck's owner, a big, strong and drunk carpenter, saw what happened. He shoved the skinny cabby to the sand. The cabby apologized, promising to fix the dent.

The carpenter didn't care. He hauled up the cabby and heaved him into a chair. Snatching a beer bottle by its neck, the carpenter raised it, intending to smash it against the man's head. As the carpenter began his swing, the dancing clergyguy leapt as quick as a gecko between them - startling the carpenter, who paused his attack.

The band stopped playing. No one danced. Everyone watched.

Get outta my way, bellowed the carpenter.

No, said the clergyguy. To get to him, you'll have to come through me.

It was an odd scene. The carpenter outweighed the clergyguy by 80 pounds. The pastor stood shoulder first to the carpenter, head turned toward him, hands relaxed by his sides, eyes locked on his. He followed the carpenter, who swelled his chest with air and huffed and puffed, red-faced, as he angrily strutted back and forth.

Get outta my way!

No.

Finally ... frustrated, faced with a stand off and surely confused by the conduct of this smaller man who patiently stood his ground ... the carpenter stomped off, then drove away.

The band played. People danced.

The cabby warmly shook his savior's hand and thanked him with a cold beer.

Priscilla Wiggin says her sister asked the clergyguy why he did it. He answered, I've had trouble with bullies, so I've practiced martial arts for three years, and if it came to it, if I had to, I'd have whipped his butt. But I hoped and prayed to God I wouldn't have to.

                     3.       How about getting a large hand gun.

                               a.       Christians have used force for years.

                               b.       It has had a negative impact on the rest of the non-Christian world.

          D.       How about if you install a sophisticated alarm system.

          E.       It is better how Paul defended Christianity.

                     1.       It was not with force.

                     2.       It was not with wisdom.

                     3.       It was not with argument.

                     4.       It was by being.

          F.       This is why defense and confirmation are used in the same sentence.

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II.       We defend the power and essence of the gospel by confirming it.

          A.       We confirm by standing fast in the midst of severe trial.

                     1.       This is the story of Leonard Wilson.

On October 13, 1946, after his release from a Japanese prisoner- of-war camp, Leonard Wilson broadcast these remarks:

I remember Archbishop Temple, in one of his books, writing that if you pray for any particular virtue, whether it be patience or courage or love, one of the answers that God gives to us is an opportunity for exercising that virtue. After my first beating, I was almost afraid to pray for courage lest I should have another opportunity of exercising it; but my unspoken prayer was there, and without God's help I doubt whether I would have come through. Long hours of ignoble pain were a severe test. In the middle of torture they asked me if I still believed in God. When, by God's help, I said, 'I do,' they asked me why God did not save me. By the help of his Holy Spirit, I said, 'God does save me. He does not save me by freeing me from pain or punishment, but he saves me by giving me the Spirit to bear it.' And when they asked me why I did not curse them, I told them that it was because I was a follower of Jesus Christ, who taught us that we were all brethren.

                               a.       Wilson went on to become Bishop of Singapore, then Bishop of Birmingham.

                               b.       One Sunday he found himself confirming some candidates in a church and laying his hands on someone he recognized from his past.

                               c.       It turned out to be his principal torturer to whom he had spoken the above words.

          B.       We confirm by helping other people.

There is an episode in the Andy Griffith show in which Andy has been elected chairman of the “needy children” charity drive? They were taking up money at the schools for this charity as well as in town.

Word gets back to Andy that Opie has given only a penny at school even though he had a ton of money in his piggy bank.

Andy’s mightily perturbed. He’s not only the highly regarded sheriff of Mayberry, but he’s the chairman of the drive and his own boy only gave a penny!

So, on several occasions, he tries to explain to Opie why he should give more than a penny to this most worthy charity for needy children, but every time Opie would tell him that he couldn’t give more because he was saving that money.

Andy, of course, thought Opie was saving his money to spend it on some foolishness. His vexation increased. Even Aunt Bee thought Andy should ease up on the boy.

Long story short: One night, Andy calls Opie for supper and tells him they would just forget about the incident. If he wanted to skip out on this charity this one time so he could buy something he wanted, that was okay.

It was only then that Opie told his father why he was saving his money. It seems there was a little girl in his class who needed a coat, and he was saving his money so that he would have enough to buy it before winter.

Andy says, “Opie, you never told me that was why you were saving the money.”

Opie responds, “You never asked me.”

                     1.       Andy might have asked.

                     2.       Opie might have volunteered.

                     3.       They were both exhibiting Christian helpfulness and defending the premise of the gospel.

          C.       One other confirmation of the gospel may be understood in ways that people approach it.

                     1.       The story is told by William PannelI.

                     2.       It is 1991, Professor William Pannell, of Fuller Theological Seminary, tells of a disturbing conversation he had with another pastor

My host pointed out some of the sights of a Mississippi city. When we drew alongside the imposing structure of one of the city's premier churches, his voice took on a more somber tone, 'We had an interesting meeting in that place a while ago. They had turned some black children away from their school and we went to get an explanation of their position.'

'How'd it go?' I asked, confirming that I am a glutton for horror stories.

'Well, the pastor received us into his plush office and, after some initial pleasantries, informed us that it was none of our business; that we had no right coming in there to tell him or the church how to run their affairs. We tried to help him see that the matter was more than a private issue, since we were all Christians.'

My host continued, 'After some calmer discussion the pastor said, Well, we may all be Christians, but the difference between you people and us is that you people emphasize one part of the gospel and we emphasize another. So we asked him what that was and he told us, Well, you folks emphasize reconciliation and we emphasize evangelism.'

                     3.       This is not a confirmation but an annulment.

          D.       How much better it would be if we were like the first grade boy.

A first-grade teacher seated her students in a circle. She asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up.

One by one, each child got up and announced, “I’d like to be a nurse like my mother,” or “I want to be a banker like my father,” or “I want to be a teacher like you, Miss Smith.”

The last child to speak was the most shy and timid little boy in the class. He said, “When I get big, I’m going to be a lion tamer in the circus. I’m going to face those animals with my whip and chair and make them leap through hoops of fire and obey all of my commands.”

Seeing the disbelieving looks on the faces of his classmates that he could ever act so boldly or bravely, he was quick to reassure them, “Well, of course, I’ll have my mother with me.”

                     1.       We walk side by side.

                     2.       We walk side by side for the same purpose.

                     3.       We will uphold the good news of the gospel.

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CONCLUSION:

I.        We will do this and remember that we are always a work in progress.

          A.       From time to time Maurice Ashton visits Sydney, Australia, arguably one of the most beautiful cities in the world

...But every time I go there, there are ugly cranes and half-finished buildings, pavements torn up, huge holes being dug for new foundations and so on. Currently they are building the eastern bypass and the new underground railway to the airport. It looks like a giant wombat has been burrowing through the city. In the 35 years I have visited Sydney I have never seen the perfect city with everything just so. It is always under construction.

          B.       Our Christian experience is like that, always under construction, and there are always going to be the “ugly” bits where we develop, rebuild, succeed and, unfortunately, sometimes fail.

          C.       The Christian church is like that as well. We can never look at the church and say, “That’s it! It is finished.”

          D.       The observer will always notice the odd crane, the unfinished bits, the new constructions.

          E.       However, just as I do not dismiss Sydney’s beauty because of the construction, neither do I dismiss the beauty of individuals or the church because construction is in progress.

II.       Keep going in defense and confirmation of the gospel.

Amen!