Uncommon Grace Sermon #2: Uncommon Purpose --- Philippians ...€¦ · pursuit of joy. He wrote his...

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Uncommon Grace

Sermon #2: Uncommon Purpose --- Philippians 1:12-26

Dr. Matt Cassidy --- January 24, 2016

Good morning. Here’s a big question, it is the ultimate --- what are we doing here? And there’s

one even more specific, what are we doing here here? First question, what’s the purpose and meaning of

life? And then, what are we doing here, this church on a Sunday morning, we could be so many different

places. What are doing here here?

If we could teleport to Aristotle, a great Greek philosopher, maybe the greatest one, he would tell

you that the reason we’re here is for happiness. A lot of his material is written about the pursuit of

happiness. He enshrines that pursuit of happiness and he says that every choice a person makes is toward

happiness. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense, it’s not logical, but he said every choice a person makes it

towards happiness. It’s the central purpose of every human soul.

Now before we get too far along, his definition, our English word for the Greek word for his

happiness is not what we would call happy --- a cold drink on a quiet beach or having a lot of fun with

friends --- that’s not happiness to Aristotle. It would be our word for joy, something much deeper and

more profound, something that’s independent of circumstances. So he would say the purpose of life is the

pursuit of joy. He wrote his son, the book to his son is called Nicomachean Ethics. And in that it’s the joy

of happiness or the theory of happiness or the theory of joy. And he says in there that a lot of people miss

joy because they’re in pursuit of means and thinking that will get them happy or joyful. So they pursue

things like wealth or reputation, but those things can’t be what he would call the greatest good, the

summum bonum, the greatest good, because they’re dependent and they can’t exist within themselves. I

know it’s highly philosophical, but the idea is that something that would give meaning and purpose to life

would have to be something that would be outside of life and would be sufficient within itself to give you

meaning and purpose, a reason to live. That’s joy; and every human choice is made towards that end, to

get that joy.

So what are we doing here? We’re here in the pursuit of joy. But what are we doing here here?

Why are we meeting today in this room? It’s because you are a reasonable person and have probably

come to the revelation that God can provide you with joy. He would be the means of getting joy. And you

probably think that God would write in his book, the Bible, how you can have joy, and that’s absolutely

true. That’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to look at a book called Philippians and one of the


themes of the book is the acquisition of joy. What does it mean to have joy, where do you get joy? This is

the book that is a joy-filled book. The Bible comes to us and says in the big words that we’re thinking of,

that joy is required when we are captivated by something that’s transcendent. When we lose ourselves in

something that’s infinite and forget ourselves, we achieve joy. When heaven touches earth and we grasp

that, that’s where joy comes. And that comes with Christ; that comes with our relationship with Christ.

That’s how we have heaven on earth.

So, to make sure we grasp this, when you have a relationship with Jesus Christ, the forgiveness

and righteousness you inherit there, it’s not just for salvation. It’s not just now we have boundaries and

moral codes that we can live by and live with somewhat safety and certainly clarity about moral decisions,

it’s not just the power that we receive in the power of the Holy Spirit to change, all the frustration we’ve

had before about change, now we have something that can ignite that. What you get with Christ also is

this ultimate greatest good purpose in life --- joy.

So again, we bring Aristotle on the stage and we say, “In light of having read the New Testament

and especially this book of Philippians, what would you say? Oh, what are we doing here --- it’s for joy,

and joy can be found when we love the Lord our God with our heart, soul, strength, and mind.” That’s

kind of what we were saying a few minutes ago, right? When we love the Lord our God with our heart,

soul, strength, and might and then when we do the good works that he arranged before the beginning of

time. So that’s how we get consumed by this transcendence, that’s how we get enveloped in something

that’s infinite. That’s how joy happens.

And what we’re going to look at today in Philippians is Paul, again, will be an absolute example

of what this looks like because he’s going to have joy. But what he won’t have is --- he will have lost his

pristine reputation, people are going to mock him now, he is absolutely without pleasure. That is for

certain. And he has no wealth to speak of, but he has joy because joy is something else. It’s from another

source. It’s not contingent on circumstances and these sorts of things. He has joy.

So today we’re only talking about the power of uncommon purpose. It’s this uncommon purpose

that he has so that he can experience joy, that greatest good, the meaning of life in the context of dark

places like a prison and in desperate situations like a wrecked reputation, for example. And we’re going to

try and see how we can have this same uncommon purpose as well.

So the first thing is --- there’s several ways Paul has of showing this uncommon purpose --- the

first one is to show that his uncommon purpose is greater than his own personal comfort. And we see that

Uncommon Purpose Greater Than Comfort


in the verses that we’ll be looking at in just a minute, but I want to let you know what to look for before

we read it because what’s missing is what exaggerates and makes the point.

What Paul is doing in this letter to the Philippians is like he’s following a standardized letter

pattern. If you write a business letter it has the same kind of headings, introductions, and those sorts of things. That’s all true in these letters back in the day. And so the outline that everyone followed, that

you’re supposed to go along with, is you’re supposed to do a greeting and then a prayer and then let me

tell you about me, let me tell you about how I’m doing. And so Paul does that. We looked at that last

week. We looked at the greeting and the prayer, we thought, “Oh, that’s awesome.” But what these people

are looking for and what they’re expecting, these people in Philippi --- their mailman, their runner, is

Epaphroditus, so he has taken their letter with this outline and a bunch of money and food and they go

from Philippi and they go to Rome, this Roman prison where Paul is chained to a guard, and he gives

them these sorts of things and in that letter it said, “Greetings, blessing, here’s how it’s going in Philippi.”

Paul writes back and as they see Epaphroditus coming over the hill, they have this public reading in the

church and they say, “Okay, there’s our greeting, there’s our blessing, here’s how Paul’s doing,” verse 12.

“Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served in the

advance of the gospel. And as a result it’s become clear throughout the whole palace guard and everyone

else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of these chains, most of the brothers and sisters have

become confident in the Lord and now they dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.” Paul is

not talking about himself. He’s breaking protocol so everyone who’s thinking, “Wait a minute,

Epaphroditus, why won’t he tell us --- is he hungry or is he okay with the food? Is he in pain or is he

well? Is he in prison with a bunch of people or is he all by himself? Is he cold at night? Or is he taken care

of? Is he being tortured? Or is he well kept for?” All of those questions that you would have if you wanted

to know about a loved one that was incarcerated, you’d want to know that --- Paul says, “Huh?” Because

he cares more about the gospel than he does about his own comfort. And he’s trying to say, “I have this

Phil. 1:12-14 Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. 13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14 And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.


uncommon purpose that I want you to know more about what’s going on with what’s going on with the

gospel. I get to tell people about the love of God and the forgiveness that comes in Him and the power

that follows up.” The bottom line is, Paul is saying, “Look, I’m fine! I’m in prison so I started a prison

ministry. That’s how I’m doing. I’m okay with that because I’ve got this uncommon purpose and I’m

focusing not on me and not what I’m going through, but rather, I’m seeking first the kingdom of God and

His righteousness, and all the other stuff, oh yeah, maybe it will come along.” He doesn’t talk about his

personal rights being violated, doesn’t talk about the injustice that’s going on. He’s forgotten about

himself because he’s been consumed by something that’s infinite, that’s transcendent, is what he’s

focusing on.

So ask yourself, if God --- and He does, He’s polite, He comes and He asks you, “Hey, listen,

there’s all kinds of great things, ministry opportunities available, but here’s the thing. You might have to

go somewhere you wouldn’t want to go and maybe have a loss of comfort, but you wouldn’t believe the

great stuff that can happen. Would you say yes? Would you say, “Hey, I’m in prison, I can start a prison

ministry.” You need to say yes. He’s showing us what exemplary living looks like because you get joy.

You get joy! You’re not trading down, you’re trading up on this.

And here’s why Paul’s super excited. Let me just remind you from the passage. He’s super joyful

and he’s not thinking about himself because he’s thinking about loving God first and foremost and doing

the good works that were arranged before time. And part of those good works, it says that now the

Praetorian guard or the royal guard or the palace guard and everyone else is hearing about it. Now this

palace guard or Praetorian guard --- if Paul would have intended to go to Rome to talk to a special group

of military men, he wouldn’t have been able to. But now, because he says yes to God, “whatever you

want to do with my life,” he’s being chained for six hours at a time in six-hour shifts to these men, and

this is kind of like a special team of people that would guard important people. And this Praetorian guard,

let me tell you, is so powerful at this time in Roman history, that they had more power than the Senate

because they could put emperors in place and they could take an emperor out. And if you did something

politically, you checked with the palace guards first. And this is who Paul for six hours a day, these guys

have to be with him, where he asks how he can serve them and how he can pray for them and how’s the

family and teaches them about the love of Christ and the forgiveness that comes and the power of the

resurrection that they can have in their lives, and Paul’s saying, “Look at all that’s happening here.

They’re chained to me, I’m not chained to them.” And he says, “And everyone is hearing about it.” He

doesn’t say just the palace guard, but everyone is hearing about it in Rome, and all roads lead to Rome,

don’t they? Word’s getting out.


And he also says this, he says, “Not only that,” --- here’s a great line --- someone said, “The same

God who used a staff for Moses and a sling for David is using chains for Paul.” Is he king? He can use

anything He wants. He’s going to get His will done and you can be part of that will and experience joy if

that’s the case. It says people are encouraged. People see him being super courageous and they say, look

at verse 14, I’ll just read it: “And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become

courageous with courage right in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.” If he

can be bragging about the love of Jesus Christ to a special guard, then I can probably share with my

neighbor, yeah, I could do that.

We have to be very careful that we don’t value things that can be taken away from us, like our

freedom or pleasure or our reputation, because those things are just --- first of all, they can be lost, but

also, they’re to be used for something greater, the acquisition of joy, and joy comes from when we seek

first the kingdom of God --- when we find ourselves captivated, enthralled with, overwhelmed by the

glory and the love of God. And then the circumstances just come over here, they become --- I don’t know,

there’s a lot of self-forgetfulness that happens when you’re consumed by something that’s infinite.

You know at Dallas Seminary there’s an old prof, he’s passed, but his name is Howard Hendricks,

and you had to be careful with how his greeting went, because he would say, “How’re you doing?” And if

anyone ever said, “Fine, you know, under the circumstances,” you walked right into it, because he would

always say, “What are you doing under there? Why are you letting circumstances determine if things are

well with you or whether you’re experiencing joy?”

I’ve experienced this personally because of some of the things I’ve been able to do. I’ve gone to

people’s houses or sometimes in a hospital when I’m visiting someone who’s sick and sometimes deathly

sick and sometimes in excruciating pain, as a pastoral visit. And I’ll go in and there’s joy and I’m trying

to interview and find out, “Well, how’s it going with you? What’s happening with you?” and they’re like,

“Uh-huh,” and they do these judo moves and the next thing you know they’re talking about me and how

can they pray for me. “Well, you know what, you’re in the hospital bed, let me pray for you.” “No, no,

you can’t pray for me until I can pray for you.” “Oh my goodness, what’s in you?” “Joy.” I’ve gotten in

my car a few times because when I was younger I didn’t see it happening until I got in my car, “What

happened? I don’t even think I even did a prayer back there, they prayed for me, but you have leukemia, I

pray for you!” And it’s because of this joy.

If I’m going to be in a hospital, I’m going to start a hospital ministry. I’ve seen families that have

moved from the top of the hill with a view to a mobile home park, and it took them a while to adjust,

okay, but when they did, if you’re in a mobile home park you start a mobile home ministry. It’s not a step

in the wrong direction unless you’re facing the American dream and not what God’s dream might be.


And so they adapt and realize, “You know, I was holding on to something, I didn’t realize it was just a

means, well, it would never get me the end --- joy.” And when they stopped and sought the Lord with all

their heart and all their soul and strength and mind, then they started receiving the joy that comes. They

have an uncommon purpose.

One of the ways that we’ve been able to do that at our house is by reading very encouraging

biographies, biographies that give us courage. One that you probably know is The Hiding Place by Corrie

Ten Boom. You can see this on DVD now, which is great, because I don’t like to read, and this other one

that Melinda read this summer --- she reads these books to me --- Evidence Not Seen --- if you liked

Unbroken, this is Unbroken in a dress. This woman is a missionary to China when the Japanese raid

during World War II and do those unspeakable things, she’s a victim of that. But when you watch this

DVD or when you read this book, these are just the two that I’d recommend right now, listen for this

uncommon purpose in their lives that cause them to be self-forgetful and joy breaks out wherever they go.

In the circumstances that they’re in they’re never under the circumstances. They’re above them because

Application


they’re consumed by the eternal, they are enveloped by the infinite. They are seeking first the kingdom of

God and His righteousness and they’re doing the ministry that God had for them before the foundations of

the world.

There’s also in this uncommon purpose that we see in this passage, you’ll see that it’s better than

his freedom, it’s greater than Paul’s freedom. We’re going to see the word in just a moment, “rejoice.”

That word is a form of the word “joy.” The greatest good, this is what Aristotle said, every choice we

make is for this, and Paul’s going to say this, in verse 18-20.

Paul says, “This is greater than my freedom. Oh, yeah, I continue to rejoice, I continue to have joy

because here’s what I know. I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus

Christ, what has happened to me will turn out to be for my deliverance. I eagerly expect …” --- we’ll look

at that in a minute --- “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but I will have

sufficient courage so that now as always, Christ will be exalted in the body, whether it be in life or in my

death, either way, I can’t lose.”

Paul has this tremendous conviction that everything will go well, and he has this conviction that it

will go well, he will be courageous, he gets that from two sources. Note this, you’ll need this. The two

sources are one, prayers from these people. He says, “I am confident in this, because of your prayers for

me… ” Have you ever felt, spiritually speaking, prayed for? People have said to me sometimes when I

guess they see something going on and they’ll say, “Hey, I’m praying for you and your family,” and I tell

them, “Oh, I know. I know. I know what I’m capable of and you’re stopping me from becoming myself,

so I appreciate it. Please keep praying.”

Uncommon Purpose Greater than Freedom

Phil. 1:18-20 Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will trun out for my deliverance. 20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.


And then he says, “For the power of God to send the Spirit of Jesus Christ”--- the power of God’s

provision to bring the Spirit of Christ Jesus. And here’s what I’d like to try. I want you to see this

confidence come over you about future things. If you have more fear, more worry than joy, do this. It’s a

two-week assignment and hopefully you get hooked on it. Do this. Find two people, a two-week

assignment, find two people to pray for you, just like he did, for two weeks and say, “I want you to pray

that God would provide me with a supernatural sense of the spirit of Jesus Christ in my life. That that

spirit would mate with my spirit and cause me to be overwhelmed by His transcendence, his infinitude,

that I would be focused on Him and not so much on me.” Do that. That’s how Paul is getting confidence,

that’s how you and I can. We ask for help from other people to pray for God to allow the spirit of Christ

Jesus to give us this.

Now he’s loaded up, right? He’s got prayers from the people and he has the power of Christ’s

spirit in him, and look what he says, in verse 20, again. He say, “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in

no way be ashamed, but I will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my

body, whether in life or in my death.” It looks like he’s --- I hope I don’t embarrass Jesus when I get to

the trials, is what it looks like. But I wanted to bring special attention to that phrase “eagerly expect.” It’s

so seldom used in the Bible and when it is used it’s certainty. It means it will absolutely come about. He’s

not saying, “I’m worried if I’ll be ashamed,” he’s saying, “I know I won’t be ashamed, I’m prayed up by

my friends and the power of Christ’s Spirit is within me and so he says, “I eagerly expect and hope that I

will in no way be ashamed.” This is a done deal, this is a certain outcome, I know how it’s going to end.

And I won’t be ashamed because I have so much courage from without.

You’ve seen this maybe --- it seems like field goal kickers have this drug in them. Post-game,

right, they interview the field goal kicker that saved the day, and they have this way, this earnest, eager

expectation. They’ll say, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is what I live for. This is what I always dream about my

whole life. Yeah, the wind was in my face and the sleet was in my eyes and the crowd was against me and

there was one second left and we were two points behind and the center fumbled the snap --- Yeah, give

me the ball! I’m putting this thing right between the poles. And I did, because that’s what I do.”

That’s what Paul’s saying here. “I eagerly expect, not to be ashamed because I have sufficient

courage that comes…” One other person I was reading about said, “This is Paul trash-talking.” Paul, the

Application

Eagerly Expect


trash-talking apostle, right? I mean, you can just hear --- some prisoner says, “So, your savior carpenter,”

you know, the Roman guard, “Your savior carpenter, what he’s doing now?” “Oh, he’s building a casket

for your Caesar.” I love that joke. Both hours, you guys! Look, let me explain it to you. Nietzsche said,

“God is dead,” and then God said, “Nietzsche’s dead.” See, it’s kind of like that? Still nothing? Okay. I

just thought it was --- okay, fine.

So let me summarize. Paul has forgotten about himself in this. And that is not a way of getting joy,

that’s what happens when joy gets you. And he has the love of Christ that’s consumed him, he’s doing the

will of God in any context or circumstance because he doesn’t care, because he’s not in charge, he’s not

the king, Christ is king, so wherever he goes, that’s where he’ll be. Don’t you want some of that? Don’t

you want some of this uncommon purpose?

In the next sentence, it’s going to be Paul’s life verse. It shows up in almost every one of his

writings in one way or another, never so succinctly as in verse 21. This is this life’s uncommon purpose

that’s greater than life itself. Uncommon purpose that’s greater than life itself. Look what it says in 21:

“For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” To live is Christ and to die is gain. This man, filled with joy,

this is how it happens. Look at the possible scenarios. He can’t lose. This is an either/or that’s a win/win.

“For me, to live is Christ, to die --- so much the better.” Many people, I’d say most people, they don’t

have any purpose. He’s kind of caught up with two purposes: to live for Christ, or to die for gain. Most

people, they don’t have any real love in their lives --- he’s torn between two lovers. He’s torn between

doing ministry and what God has for him, and meeting his King face to face.

And you can see that in the following verses here, let me show you the dilemma, he’s going to go

back and forth. “Here’s my choice, to live for Christ, to die is gain.”

Phil. 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Phil. 1:22-26 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me.


Let me explain, verse 22. He says, “If I go on living in the body it’s going to be great, it’s fruitful labor

for me, what shall I choose, I don’t know, I’m torn between the two. I desire to depart and to be with

Christ, which is so much better by far, but it’s more necessary for me to remain in the body to help you

out.” What’s missing? “I could stay here to be here to help you or I could even be with Christ.” What’s

missing? Nothing about Paul. Where’s his bucket list? Where’s his little “me time” here? “There’s three

things I want to do in life, you know, I want to serve in ministry, I want to meet my Savior, I want to have

a good …” --- no. There’s this absence of Paul. It’s pervasive, isn’t it?

And look, some people have said the secret of joy is no secret, it’s in the spelling:

J = Jesus

O = Others

Y = You

Jesus first, Others second, You third. It’s right there, it’s always been there. Look how drawn and torn he

is, this desire to depart. A beautiful phrase. It’s used not very frequently in the Bible, but it’s used in other

places regularly to mean “breaking camp,” like the mission complete, the campaign is over and now the

troops are coming home and we all know pictures throughout the years and as many of you as have

experienced what it means to come home.


And this is what it means, that I have a desire to depart, to go and be with my Savior. And so Paul is

saying, “Look, I really want to go home. No, I really need to stay with the troops.” Paul sees himself as a

soldier, right? And he doesn’t know which one to love more or better. If you saw American Sniper, the

Navy Seal Chris Kyle? That’s the story of that man’s life. He was torn between loves. He was torn

between two purposes. He wanted to stay with his men and help them and save lives and he wanted to go

home, he wanted to desire and depart to be with his family. And it was tearing him up because he couldn’t

be two places at once. That’s where Paul is. If you know the story, Chris Kyle goes back two additional

tours of duty, he does four altogether, because he felt like there was still work to be done. And then when

that day came, he desired to depart and went home to his family. Paul’s saying that, but Paul, this is what

Paul imagines when he gets home.

This is why he desires to depart because he wants to be grabbed by his King, his Savior, the Father who

has allowed him to call him Daddy, and he wants him to grab him and hold him and he say, “Well done,

soldier, well done, good and faithful soldier. You were right, you made me the first. You sought me first

and my kingdom, and all these other things happened --- the joy came later.” That’s what it means to

desire and depart. That’s what it means to live this way.


But Paul, he’s almost like Chris Kyle, he figures out, “You know what? There is work to be

done.” But look --- I love this work --- there’s no Paul. “I’m convinced of this, I’m probably going to

have to stay. I know that I will remain and I will continue with you, why, for your progress and joy in

your faith, so that through my being with you again, your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account

of me. I want to teach you how to have joy. I want you to grow in your understanding of who Christ Jesus

is so that it would abound and abound.” Still nothing in it for Paul because he’s captivated by the

transcendent, he’s overwhelmed by the infinite, his life is focusing first and foremost on seeking first the

kingdom of God. He’s loving the Lord with all his heart, soul, strength, and mind and then when he looks

at what he has, the good works in Jesus Christ that were arranged before time, he says, “There’s still some

good works for me to do.” That’s why this book is about joy, that’s why he has it. He doesn’t want it to be

a mystery. How do you get that? Paul says right there, “Make this your life motto, make this the reason

you live: for me, to live is Christ, to die is to gain.” Everything else is a means to that. For me to live is

Christ, to die is gain. Everything else is a way to express it, so whether you’re in poverty or you’re rich,

whether you’re in sickness or in health, right, the vows, whether you’re happy or in sorrow, these things

can express this: to live is Christ and to die is gain. Look at that. Look at all the freedom in that. What can

be taken from you? What could possibly be lost or stolen? What could lose value? What’s the worst that

could happen? You break camp and depart. You get sent home to the arms of the Savior, your King. What

are you doing here? You’re here to pursue joy and let everything else be a means to that end.

Well, Aristotle, what does that mean? Joy comes when you love the Lord your God with all your

heart and your soul and your strength and your might. It happens when you say, “you know, I want to be

having my eyes open for the good works that he’s arranged for me to do in Christ Jesus.” It’s what

happens when you make Him your King.

Let me show you how this happens. How do you get to this “live for Christ, die is gain”? It’s two -

-- I mean, this is simplistic, but it’s a great place to start. First, how do you do this in your life? One,

here’s what you do. I’ll tell you in a minute. One, make Christ king. Just do what you’re told. Whatever

He says rules. Let Him tell you what is right and real and true. Normally, even a few years ago, I would

have said, “Let’s work into that,” but I’ve got to tell you, you can spend fifty years reading and trying to

figure this out, here’s the shortcut: just make Him your king. And let Him tell you how to live and what

Phil. 1:25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith.


to think and what values are, he’s the king, that’s what kings do. He’s a benevolent king, but that’s what

they do.

I was talking with a woman just recently and she was talking about things that Jesus said, she said,

“I don’t like those things, I don’t believe those things.” I said, “Well, then you’re king, I guess. I mean

you get to be the one who says, ‘Jesus, you’re wrong here, but you’re right here.’” She’ll never have joy.

She’s telling Jesus the way it is. Now she might have some thinking to do and some growing to do, all

that kind of stuff --- I’m just trying to tell you, just do this. And then watch. That’s part one, just make

Him king. Whatever you read, whatever He says, you say, “He’s the one.”

Second thing is, get to know and understand your King. Get to know and understand your King

Jesus. And what I mean by that is read the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These are all

biographies, written from different points of views on things. But get in the story and say, “What’s that

like, to be in His presence?”

There’s this rich young guy that has a lot of power, he’d be like a thirty-two year old governor that

is worth millions of dollars, and he goes up to Jesus and says, “Hey, what must I do to have eternal life?”

You be that guy. You be that person with all this wealth and all this power and everybody knows you, and

you’re a righteous person, don’t get me wrong. And then Jesus looks at you and says, “Oh my goodness,

it is all about you, isn’t it? Look at you in your own universe. Why don’t you sell everything, give it to the

poor and you follow me and you’ll have everything.” And he doesn’t. You be the guy who says, “I’m

going to hold onto my bags of money and I’m going to hold onto my reputation and power and watch joy

walk away from me.” Just get inside that soul and say, “Wow, what a terrible ..”

You could be the prostitute --- imagine yourself the prostitute, don’t be the prostitute. Imagine

yourself the prostitute, watch, I’ll tell you another quick story where she’s lost all of her shame because of

Jesus. And now what she has is her dignity back, she doesn’t know what to do with it, she hasn’t had

dignity in such a long time, she crashes this rich and powerful man’s party where all religious leaders are

sitting around the table eating nicely and dressed up, and she comes in without an invitation and then

starts weeping and washing the feet of Jesus with her tears and she’s going to dry them with her hair. I

have this picture in my house because I want to envision what that would be like to be her. Now here’s the

best part, I think, of the story. She chooses how she’s going to be defined. Because all the righteous

people around, the religious people, are mumbling and whispering and reminding her of how unclean and

how reprehensible she is, but she can’t hear it. Because she is captivated by the infinite. She is

overwhelmed by the transcendent. She is in love with her king and all she can hear is Jesus saying, “This

woman is an example of what salvation looks like. This is the one that shows you what gratitude does.

This is the real thing. She’s the princess, you’re the jesters.” That’s how she chooses to live life. She lives


it with joy. She will not be defined by the past or other people, she will be defined by what Jesus says.

He’s king, and he defines what’s right and real and true. Be that person. Just read those gospels, be this

person.

I’m going to try and save you a lot of time. This joy does not come when Jesus is one of many

things in your life. This doesn’t happen when Jesus is the most important thing in your life. Joy happens

when Jesus is the only thing in your life. To live is Christ, to die is gain. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it. It

only works when you are mesmerized by Him. Read those gospels, call Him the king, joy comes from the

outside, it’s not from here, it’s from heaven, sometimes it leaks into our souls.

Let me give you an experience. You might have done this. Have you ever seen the Milky Way at

Big Bend? You ever seen the Grand Canyon? You ever seen the sunset at Mount Bonnell or the

Pennybacker Bridge overlook? What’s weird about that? Have you noticed what’s weird about it, about

the people? Have you noticed that people will walk up loud and then get kind of quiet? Because they’re

staring at something where they’re touching our galaxy and Big Bend and seeing the Milky Way or what

it’s worth, right? Or seeing a big hole in the ground but it’s more than that? Or seeing the colors change?

People stop talking and stop thinking about themselves because they’re being captivated by something

that’s more. And you can walk up those hills and your knees are aching and your hips are starting to give

out, but when you get there, you can’t feel it. That’s a little bit of joy, to let you know it’s out there. What

happens in real life when you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, it’s when you love the

Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind. What happens when you stay up there too

long? You get all chatty, don’t you? Be that teenage kid that takes a selfie with the universe up behind

you, really? With the Milky Way, really? That’s what happens in people’s lives when they’re captivated

by the love of Christ and then they start turning back in on themselves. And that’s where you need friends

and the Spirit of God and the Bible to speak to you and say, “Hey, stop looking at your stupid phone,

you’re missing a sunset! Stop looking at your stupid circumstances, you’re missing what the King is

doing here! You’re missing the opportunities that God has arranged before the foundations of the world

and joy is passing you by.”

This book is about joy. It’s about people that experience joy. When I was reading, you know, I

hope you’re reading through, please read through this book four times a week, and here’s one of your first

impressions, at least for me, I’ll speak honestly here, I think Paul’s crazy. I’m listening, I’m like, “Is he,

he’s just not --- this is crazy what he thinks and believes and does.” Then I think to myself, “No,” after a

few more readings, “No, I’m crazy for not believing what he believes because I’m not experiencing what

he gets.” He is not the exception, he’s just uncommon. And what we’re going to do as a church is we’re

going to try to become this uncommon church to experience uncommon joy because we’re captivated by


uncommon purpose and that purpose comes from being enamored and fixated on the glory of God, who

He is, what He’s promised, and how it takes our ego away. Build your house on this cornerstone, Jesus

Christ. You put Him down first and build your life around it, then you watch what happens. He’s first or

only, that’s it. That’s the only choice. To live is Christ, to die is to gain. Let’s live with that in mind. Let’s

pray to that, for us, for our church.

Lord Jesus, we lift up our church to you and God, bless us. Give us these quick little tastes of joy

so that we would be nauseated by the simple pleasures of life and the means of things, you know, the

reputations and the wealths and the well-being and pleasure, those sorts of things that are fading. Lord,

would you captivate us in the depth of who You are, that You, the Maker and the Creator of all things,

would say, “You could call me Dad.” Lord, I’d ask that we would find ourselves awestruck by Your

awesome nature. Lord Jesus, would You arrange circumstances in life that we would come to this as a

lifetime motto, that to live is for You and to die would be so much better, that we eagerly await that day

of redemption? We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Uncommon Grace Sermon #2: Uncommon Purpose --- Philippians ...€¦ · pursuit of joy. He wrote his...

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