Difference between revisions of "Sermon for November 30th, 2025"

Revision as of 06:00, 30 November 2025

Philippians 4:10-20

10 I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned for me, but had no opportunity to show it. 11 Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. 12 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 in need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me. 14 In any case, it was kind of you to share my distress.

15 You Philippians indeed know that in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you alone. 16 For even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me help for my needs more than once. 17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the profit that accumulates to your account. 18 I have been paid in full and have more than enough; I am fully satisfied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. 19 And my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20 To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Provision, Part 4: The Secret of Happiness

Vincent Calloway III was, by all accounts, a man blessed with financial prosperity. The kind of man who should have been very happy, considering all that God had provided him. But Vincent had a reputation for being excessively materialistic; more concerned with his many expensive possessions than with the people or circumstances around him.

One day, as Vincent arrived at the office and got out of his brand new BMW, eager to show it off to his colleagues, an eighteen wheeler came from out of nowhere, and took off the driver's side door with Vincent standing right there beside it. "NOOO!" he screamed, because he knew that no matter how good a repair shop tried to fix it, the car would never be the same again.

At that moment, a police officer came by, and Vincent ran up to him yelling, "My Beamer was just ruined by some idiot truck driver! Can't you do something?" To which the police officer responded, "Sir, it's just a car, and in any case the car should be the least of your worries--it looks like that truck tore your left arm completely off at the shoulder!

In Shock, Vincent looked down at the mangled shoulder where his left arm had once been, and with a horrified yelp, exclaimed, "Oh No! Where's my Rolex?"

Ok, that joke was a little bit… painful. But maybe that’s fitting, because the annual stewardship sermons—you know, the ones where we talk about money, and generosity, and giving, and pledge cards—those can be painful, too. And uncomfortable. And awkward.

And not just for you, either—in my informal surveys of my fellow pastors, this sermon always comes up as the least favorite one for pastors to write and preach. Thankfully this year, I was able to talk Nate Lindsley (you know, the new guy!) into preaching half of them. And Nate did an excellent job, didn’t he? I know he did, because we’ve had more pledge cards turned in already this year than at the same point in any of the past five years. That’s true!

Of course, by more pledge cards… I mean seven. Out of a total membership of 323. We’re not Catholic, so that’s about all the guilt trip I’m capable of mustering for you this year. But please do turn in your pledge card, if you haven’t already.

I suspect that the Apostle Paul (the author of today's scripture passage and indeed, the author of more than half of the New Testament) felt the same way about stewardship and giving. In all of his travels, planting countless churches, visiting and re-visiting them, writing to them when he was away, Paul always asks his congregations to give generously to the work of the church, to proclaiming good news to those who desperately needed to hear it, to providing for the poor and those under the care of the church community.

Why do I suspect that Paul (like me, and like most pastors) didn't exactly enjoy asking congregations to give? One clue is the overwhelming sense of gratitude he expresses on the rare occasion when one of his churches actually hears and responds to his plea. Paul tells the Philippians in verse 15 of today's scripture passage that in the early days of his ministry, "no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you alone." Paul only got one pledge card from all of his congregations.

But this generosity was repeated on several occasions by the Philippians, throughout Paul's ministry. Many scholars believe that this letter is among the last ones that Paul writes before his death, looking back and reflecting on his work, to this people who shared a special bond with him.

So what do we know about the Philippians? In Paul's time, Philippi was an important Roman city in the province of Macedonia (present day Greece). Paul sometimes uses the terms Philippians and Macedonians interchangeably to refer to the churches at Philippi. The city of Philippi derived most of its importance from nearby gold mines, which were an important source of income for the Roman Empire.

While this also produced great wealth for the city, as is often the case, this didn't mean that everyone in Philippi was wealthy. The "working class" of Philippi, the “blue-collar” folks, if you will, were probably those who worked in the mines. And most likely, these are the Christians to whom Paul is writing. How do we know this?

In another famous letter, to the wealthy Corinthian Church, Paul holds up the Philippians as an example. In 2 Corinthians 8, he writes:

"We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia; for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means, and even beyond their means, begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints."

I find it amazing--and encouraging--that Paul's journeys, which launched the entire Christian movement into Europe and subsequently to the rest of the world, were financed NOT by the wealthiest among his churches, but by people who lived in "extreme poverty," and who gave "according to their means." In other words, they gave what they could, what their circumstances allowed. But they gave faithfully.

Of course, this should not be so surprising to us. Over and over in the scriptures, God shows an actual preference for small gifts, given earnestly by humble people, according to their means. God takes these seeds and multiplies them exponentially into a momentum, a movement, a force for good in the world.

So in this light, I choose to see those seven pledge cards given in the past three weeks not as a failure, but as seeds. To those six individuals (or families) who, like the Philippians, made the first commitment in good faith, thank you. May we all follow your example.

The title of today's sermon is "Provision - The Secret of Happiness. With a title like that, I feel like I probably need to make a confession here. I'm going to tell you what the secret of happiness is, according to the Apostle Paul...but that doesn't mean that I myself have mastered it, or even come anywhere close.

I didn't become a pastor because I have all the right answers or because I lead an exemplary life. I became a pastor because I have a lot of questions, a lot of doubts, a lot of flaws and failings. I became a pastor not to say "look at me" but to say "come with me" in the hope that together we can all pursue the healing, the wholeness, the happiness that God (and not the pastor) can provide.

So with that caveat firmly in place, hear the words of Paul, who is far more wise in the ways of God and happiness than I will likely ever be. Reflecting back on his years of service to God, he tells the Philippians the secret of his happiness, the secret to his own well-being, in verse 11-13 of today's reading. It is this:

"I have learned to be content with whatever I have. 12 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 in need." 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

Here's a story that I think makes the same point:

A rich businessman wandering by the shore of a lake one day was disturbed to find a fisherman sitting lazily on the bank, beside his overturned boat.

“Why aren’t you out there fishing?” he asked. “Because I’ve caught enough fish for today,” said the fisherman. “Why don’t you catch more fish than you need?” the rich man asked.

"What would I do with them?”

“You could earn more money,” came the impatient reply, “and buy a better boat so you could go deeper and catch more fish. You could purchase nylon nets, catch even more fish, and make more money. Soon you’d have a fleet of boats and be rich like me.”

The fisherman asked, “Then what would I do?”

“You could sit back and enjoy life,” said the industrialist.

“What do you think I’m doing now?” the fisherman replied as he looked calmly out to sea.

For the past three weeks, we've been talking about provision. What we are expected to provide to God, and what God provides to us—when we do our part and even when we don’t. I think there’s a pattern to all that provision, and it has to do with our priorities.

The culture we live in (especially this time of year) tells us that buying things and consuming things should be our top priority. This is not provision, it’s acquisition. Get more, have more, need more, want more. And the more stuff you have, the more cluttered your life (and your soul) becomes. Get more, have more, need more, want more. Acquisition promises happiness, but I think we all know that it never quite delivers on that promise, because there’s always more to acquire, more to need, more to want.

Paul says in our scripture passage that he has experienced being well-fed as well as hunger, times of plenty as well as times of need. The problem is not with “having” stuff, then… it’s with the frenzied pursuit of stuff as a governing priority. Paul’s antidote, Paul’s secret to happiness is being content with what you have (or what you don’t have). And the only way you can do that is through him who strengthens you. You have to make God’s priorities your own priorities.

What are God’s priorities? What does God ask us to provide him? Once again, Micah 6: “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Ask yourself how much stuff you need in order to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God? The answer is not much, if anything at all.

When we pursue justice, love, kindness, and humility, we are free to let go of all the clutter, all the things, all the pursuits we don’t need. When we realize how little we actually need to be happy, we become more inclined to give away what we DO have—our support, our time, our material resources. When we give (and give away) what we don't need, it makes our own lives less cluttered, less distracted, more simple, more happy.

There's a story about a young couple, who, when they first got married, made a promise to God and their church that they would always give 10% of everything they had. Well, at first, that wasn't much, really only a few dollars each week. They were happy to do it. God blessed them, and their fortune grew. Soon, that 10% was hundreds of dollars per week, and then thousands.

When it got to be tens of thousands each week, they met with their pastor and said, "You've got to help us, we just can't do it anymore!" The pastor immediately got down on his knees and prayed to God. After he was finished, they asked, "Did you pray that God would let us off the hook?" "No," said the pastor. "I prayed that God would reduce your income back down to what it was when you were still comfortable giving 10%.

Don’t worry—I won’t pray for God to reduce your income this holiday season. But I do pray that God will help all of us to put our priorities in order (HIS order); to let go of the things we don’t need, the things that distract us, the things that keep us from the real and lasting happiness God wants to provide for us. May you be blessed with that kind of infinite provision, and from it, may you generously provide for others. You can start by turning in a pledge card!