Presented to Corps 614 Regent Park, 14 August 2016 by Captain
Michael Ramsay
Has anyone seen this sign on Facebook?
You
Spin Me Right Round[1]. Everybody knows
that song? It can really get struck in your brain, can’t it? There is a
contemporary song that also can get stuck in my head. Has anyone ever heard the
song by Meghan Trainor, ‘If I was you I'd wanna be me too’?[2] It is a recent song. It is sort of what? ...a
dance or pop song? Not generally my first choice of music but between my teenage
daughters (who themselves actually are more into rock) and especially my wife
somehow I was introduced to the song (They are actually going to her concert
next week); it is one of those that just gets stuck in your brain so that
sometimes I will find it echoing in my head as I go through the day, ‘If I was you I'd wanna be me too.’
This
song is apparently talking about the singer’s confidence and I believe the
message is actually a positive one. She appears to be thanking God for the
things in her life and wishes that same thankfulness for others. However, if you
just hear that line out of context, you might get the idea that it is purely
extolling vanity.
This
reminds me of another song that I used to get stuck in my mind years ago: You’re so vain;[3] does
anyone remember that song? ‘You’re so vain you probably think this song is
about you.’ Originally released by Carly Simon in the early 70s and later
covered by the metal band Faster Pussycat in the 80s or 90s and I think even
Taylor Swift or someone else did a cover of it in the 2000s. It is a sentiment
that crosses both time and musical genres. You’re so vain but if I was you I'd wanna be me too.
Now
the Apostle Paul sometimes gets a bad rap. He has been accused of sexism,
misogamy, conceit, hubris and much more. People sometimes reading through
Paul’s letters have thought that he is singing songs of vanity himself. This verse in Philippians (3:17), when taken
in isolation doesn’t really help his case. Paul says, ‘Join together in
following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model,
keep your eyes on those who live as we do’ - Or losing translated, ‘If I was you I'd wanna be me too’ - this
has certainly added some fodder for Paul’s critics and Paul was certainly an
interesting person.
Speaking
of interesting people, earlier this summer when I was on Vancouver Island I had
a chance to spend a good time with my parents who took very good care of me - I
had a restful time; it was great. I also got to meet my dad’s coffee group.
They are interesting people. Let’s see, there is my dad (who fits in wonderfully
with his friends), there are some wonderful people and then there are a couple
of others… who are very interesting… There is a kangaroo who came out just
before I arrived apparently. His name is Humphrey. Humphrey is not only a
kangaroo; he is also an invisible kangaroo that is a ‘special’ friend of one of
the coffee crowd. And while I was there, Harvey joined the group as well: Harvey
is not an invisible kangaroo; Harvey is a one-legged rabbit who is also
invisible or, dare I say, imaginary. With everyone seemingly bringing imaginary
or invisible friends for coffee, when my father introduced me to the group, I
think they must have been surprised to find that I am visible rather than one
of the growing number of invisible visitors.
Elsewhere
in the Bible, Colossians 1:15, Paul speaks about his invisible friend or
actually that Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God. And it is Jesus,
this friend of Paul’s that we really need to be introduced to and it is this
friend who we really want to have as our friend.
The
Bible –James 2:22- says, Abraham was a friend of God. Susan has actually started
a small group centered around being a friend of God, just like Abraham, based
on Experiencing God[4], a
workbook by Blackaby. It is when we are a friend of God like this that people
will want to be just like us and also if we were them we would want to be us
to. (If anyone else here would like to start an Experiencing God group, come talk to me after the service.)
Philippians
3 is a great chapter in a great book. I love Philippians. It is, among other
things a great call to perseverance. You know what perseverance is?
Perseverance is the ability to get through difficult times. And you know why
God gives us the ability to get through difficult times? Because He has even
more difficult times for us to get through (cf. Romans 5:3,4).[5]
Philippians
is a letter Paul wrote while he was in jail awaiting execution. He had
voluntarily suffered so much. He didn’t need to be there. He was a Romans
citizen but because God is most important to him he is in jail, he is on death
row and instead of telling all his friends to pray for his release, his ease,
or to run for the hills so this doesn’t happen to them; Paul says in essence,
‘if I were you (outside, free, and not on death row) I would want to be me too.’[6]
Paul writes, ‘Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and
just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.’
Paul
then goes on to write, vv. 18-19, ‘For, as I have often told you before and now
tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their
destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their
shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.’
This
is quite important. Do you see why Paul wishes we could be like him even though
he is in jail? It is because he is there serving God.[7]
Paul's life isn't easy. Paul gave up basically all claims to an easy life when
he became a Christian.[8]
That's when he began his journey towards imprisonment and death and everyone
knows that.[9]
This is why Philippians is such an important letter. Philippi is a rich city.
Paul, on death row here, lets them know how to have life abundantly. Paul, who
used to be just as every bit as privileged as the Philippians, tells them that
he cries not because he is in prison; he cries because they, who are free,
really are missing out on something. It is Paul who is living the free life of
someone who is redeemed.
There
is a legend from around this time of Nero, the ruler of the whole Roman world,
that he fiddled when Rome burned; the leader of the whole nation just played
his music while his capital was in flames. This ascribed mentality is part of
what's breaking Paul's heart. He is doing all he can from prison and
experiencing all the joys that come from serving the Lord while some are just frittering
their lives away on idle measures and missing out entirely on a life with
Christ. But there is more than that.
I
saw an article in the National Post
the other day. It was about the curse of the lottery.[10]
Maybe even more than two thirds of big lottery winners in Canada are broke
within seven years of becoming multi-millionaires and some of those have new or
more developed drug habits and some of those are now in jail for those drugs or
murder or something else. Success, happiness, wholeness, life isn’t about
having it easy by getting things or getting away with things. If in this life
you have so much but do not have the love of God that produces the contentment
of holiness than you have nothing. And then 'If I was you I'd wanna be me too'.
I
shared with you that I recently read an anthology of Martin Luther King Jr's
sermons and speeches. I have also been reading the works of Gandhi this summer.
Gandhi knew a lot about a lot: Hinduism, Islam, Capitalism, other
religions, and Christianity. He, at one point at least, had one critical error
in his understanding. Apparently Gandhi’s Christian friends erroneously taught
him the essence of Christianity was that if he simply believed in Jesus, he
would find redemption from the consequences of sin (but cf. James 2:19). To
which Gandhi replied ‘if this be the Christianity acknowledged by all
Christians I cannot accept it. I do not seek redemption from the consequences
of my sin. I seek to be redeemed from sin itself...unless I have attained that
end I shall be content to be restless.”[11] Honestly,
what Gandhi longed for is what we all at one point may long for and this is exactly
what Christ really does offer us. Christ doesn’t offer us an escape from the
consequences of sin. Christ offers us a real escape from the grasp of sin
itself. We can be free.
We
can be holy. We can be saved. Even if we are in a dungeon suffering like the
apostle Paul, we can be free from sin and we can call out to the world, ‘If I was you I'd wanna be me too.’ Even us,
in our lives, with everything that is going on: There are people here who have
recently lost friends to murder and addiction and there are people here today
who are struggling with temptation towards the same. There are people here struggling
with the consequences of injustice in society. There are people here struggling
through poverty. There are people here who are struggling with so much more
than some of us can even imagine but you know what? Even in the midst of it we
can turn to our neighbour who does not know the Lord but who sees the joy of
the Lord emanating from us and say, ‘If I was you I'd wanna be me too...
because even though life is what it is, I have Jesus.’
And I know that even when we do have Jesus, sometimes life
is what it is and sometimes we can be sad. Sometimes we can be overwhelmed.
Sometimes we can be trapped by addiction or other things and sometimes we can
be caught up in struggles. Sometimes maybe we can even be tempted to fear, to
envy, to hate...
But the Lord can take our heart and transform it. He can
create in us a clean heart and He can renew a right spirit within us. And He
can do that within each and every one of us so that, like Abraham, we can be
called a friend of God and so that, like Paul, we can encourage our friends toward the peace of God in the midst of everything in our lives; so that even we can experience
that joy of serving the Lord. And as we do, due to the Lord’s help in our times
of need and His strength in our struggles, we can honestly say in love to those
around us, even and especially with everything going on, ‘If I was you I'd wanna be me too’.
If there are any here that would like us to pray specifically
for a clean heart, to experience that peace and joy that only Jesus can provide
in the midst of everything in our life, please raise your hand and we will pray
for you now.
Let us pray.
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[4] Blackaby, Henry T., and Claude
V. King. Experiencing God: How to Live
the Full Adventure of Knowing and Doing the Will of God. Nashville, Tenn:
Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1994.
[5] Captain
Michael Ramsay, Romans 5:3,4: Hope and an
Angel on the Downtown Eastside. Presented to Swift Current Salvation Army,
09 August 2009 and Nipawin and Tisdale on 20 April 2008. On-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2008/04/romans-534-hope-and-angel-on-downtown.html
[6] Captain
Michael Ramsay, Be Bold for the
Gospel...a look at Philippians ch.1. JOURNAL OF AGGRESSIVE CHRISTIANITY 54
(April-May 2008) On-line:
http://www.armybarmy.com/JAC/article6-54.html
[7] Cf. L. Gregory Bloomquist,
‘Subverted by Joy: Suffering and Joy in Paul's Letter to the Philippians’. Interpretation 61 (2007): 274.
[10] Joseph Brean "‘Lottery
curse’ claims another victim with Ontario man broke and in jail after $5M
win" in National Post (August 9,
2016 11:22 PM ET), on-line:
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/lottery-curse-claims-another-victim-with-ontario-man-broke-and-in-jail-after-5m-win
[11] MK Gandhi, Experiments, Part II, Chapter 15, p. 104.
[11] MK Gandhi, Experiments, Part II, Chapter 15, p. 104.
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