Sermons

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I Think, Therefore I...Do
August 22, 1999
Pastor Dan Baumgartner
Philippians 4:8-9

It’s great to be back with you after having a couple of weeks of vacation. And I bring you greetings from the 100 people gathered at the KOA campground outside of Lynden…the Bethany Camping Weekend. I went up Friday night, and spent all day yesterday with our kids and everyone…eating, bike-riding, riding paddleboats in the pond, at the swimming pool, playing on the putt-putt golf course. We slept on the queen size bed in our little log cabin with the toaster oven and the hair dryer plugged in. Yep, that’s r-e-a-l-l-y roughin’ it!

Today we get to continue with our study of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi.

Jeff’s sermon from last week took us into the beginning of chapter 4. In that passage, Paul encouraged the Christians at Philippi to stand firm…in their faith, in the midst of a culture which besieged them with difficult questions. And he listed out a number of disciplines for them to follow that would help them to stand firm:

• to work for reconciliation
• to rejoice
• to be gentle with each other
• to avoid anxiety
• to pray with thanksgiving

But Paul is not quite done with his list of imperatives. He wants so badly to encourage his friends there to stand firm…that he continues with one last heartfelt exhortation:

Philippians 4:8-9

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. (NRSV)

Paul, in my opinion…now crosses over the line. A friend of mine in Minneapolis once told me after I had preached a sermon on a subject that was near and dear to his heart…that I had gone from preaching…to meddling. Paul has crossed over…and he’s now meddling.

He has moved beyond theological issues, past some disciplines for living life…and now directly invades the ultimate arena of human freedom and control: our thought life. There are large areas of our freedoms as human beings that could be taken away or impinged upon and we’d probably adapt if necessary…but what goes on in the privacy of our own minds…is our own business, right? And then Paul comes along and starts to meddle even there.

He instructs us on what to set our minds on. On training our thought-life. Paul knows that we WILL set our minds on something! It’s a question of WHAT. Our thought will be occupied by SOMETHING. And what our mind is dwelling on…will heavily influence what we do.

Dallas Willard, in his book “The Divine Conspiracy,” says it this way: “…we need to understand that what simply occupies our mind very largely governs what we do.” So I want to ask you this morning. What do you find your mind set on? What kinds of things do you allow and encourage your mind to dwell on?

If we think critically and frequently about a particular person, and constantly revisit their faults…we will have a cold and distant relationship with them. It is virtually inevitable.

If what is held constantly before our mind is violence (books, movies), we will become more violent people. Research will back that up, no matter what Hollywood may claim.

If we subject our minds to pornography, we will crave more and more sexual stimulation. If we continually allow our minds to dwell on what it would be like to be married a person other than our spouse…it WILL affect our marriage relationship in a number of ways.

One scholar (Barclay) says, “it is a law of life that, if a man thinks of something often enough and long enough, he will come to the stage when he cannot stop thinking about it." What kinds of things do you allow your thoughts to dwell on?

The thing I love about these verses of Paul’s here…is he writes them in the positive. Instead of a long list of “don’ts” that he could write (and actually does in some other places), this is all positive. He wants the Philippians’ love for God to develop and deepen and transform them…so they can operate from the heart.

Anne and I sometimes get frustrated as parents. Sometimes we feel pushed into a corner, and we end up laying down rule after rule: “Don’t do this, you can’t do this, don’t do this.” We hate it. What we really want is to paint a positive picture our kids can grab ahold of, to listen to their own hearts and say, “This is how you treat people,” or “This would be the fair way to act,” or “I know this isn’t what Mom and Dad had in mind.” Paul is all positive. He just says, “You want to stand firm in your faith? Then you must think about, ponder over, reflect on, let your mind dwell on…these things:

Whatever is true: Think about those things which are true, that are truth-full, that do what they claim to. Many things in the Philippians’ world were not truthful. Idols and false gods were worshipped to control seasons, and prosperity, and on and on. But they couldn’t produce. In our world, some people claim that you buy happiness with money… that’s not a true claim. Money, in fact, cannot supply happiness. If you read the “after the fact” stories of people who win lotteries, it’s just not true. What can be relied upon?

Whatever is noble: Think about things that are worthy of your attention, that bring richness to life. Don’t waste time on the trivial. What things and characteristics deserve our esteem, our respect, our reverence? This is a word even in pagan Greek culture associated with gods and temples, the holy, the sacred, the majestic, things that mean something.

Whatever is right: or just. Think about the right things to do, how your actions will line up before God. Mull over your obligations as followers of Christ. Set your mind on acting from right motives, listen to your heart for guidance.

Whatever is pure: How do we live with clear consciences, how are we made clean when we’ve made a mess of things, what thoughts would we want to bring into the presence of God?

Whatever is lovely: This is the only time this word appears in the New Testament. What things are amiable, lovely, attractive, winsome? What characteristics do we see in others that elicit our affection? What causes our hearts to love? Think about those things.

Whatever is admirable: What things to we admire in others, how to we act so as to give a good report, how can our life draw others rather than offend them?

If there is anything (and there is!) excellent…think on things, people, characteristics that are full of goodness, that call forth the highest good, our best efforts.

If anything worthy of praise (and there is!): things that are noticeably good, and and encouraging and uplifting, that make us unabashedly proclaim to others.

If we focused, concentrated, mulled over THESE things…concerning our own actions, other people, our culture, creation…and refused to dwell on things that were hurtful, damaging or trivial…it would change us. Paul says…think of these things.

He is encouraging us to build our character, to go deeper in our relationship with God, to turn over EVEN our thought life to God so that our minds begin to dwell on these things naturally because we have been trained that way.

Now we know about training our bodies. I’ve trained for two marathons now…one when I was 29, and one last fall when I was 39 (which happily means I have nine more years before I need to do another one!). Both times I have put that much time into training my body, I’ve noticed a huge change in my appetite for food. I absolutely crave food that is good for me…salads and bread and pasta, and water…and have no desire at all for things that are sugary and empty calories (not like me normally). I don’t think about it, it just happens as my body is trained.

Paul says we can also train our minds. And as we do, they begin to be drawn to the things that are true, noble, just. And for Paul…there was ultimately one thing that fit these criteria. It was the driving force of Paul’s life. It was what God had done in Jesus Christ:

• When God promised to be with His people, and save us from our sins…true in Jesus.
• In Christ, the heavenly, noble, majestic God had made Himself known.
• In Jesus, Paul (and WE) are made right before God.
• Because of Christ’s willingness to go to the cross, we are forgiven, made pure.
• When we experience God’s love in Christ, calls forth our love, our best as well.
• In Christ’s life on earth, we see the admirable that overcomes offense.
• In Christ, God’s excellence, His highest good was displayed for all.
• And when we know Christ, it calls forth our praise…He is praiseworthy.

It’s why Paul says in Colossians, “Since you have been raised with Christ, set your minds on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”

So…Paul says…what goes into your mind is important. But Paul isn’t done yet.

The great philosopher Rene Descartes said, “I think, therefore I am.” Paul doesn’t get it quite right here, because he says “I think, therefore I do.” Our thoughts, whatever they are… WILL drive our actions.

“Whatever you have learned/received/or heard from me, or seen in me…Put It Into Practice.” Way to ruin the whole thing, Paul. Here’s this absolutely beautiful literary masterpiece in verse 8 that we think we can just go meditate on…and he instantly yanks us back into life. Time for action. He says: “If you have learned anything from me”…from the specific teaching Paul did among them…repentance before God, how to treat one another… “Put it into practice.”

“If you have received anything from me” a technical term meaning the tradition of faith, passed on through those who know Christ…and so the Philippians received the tradition, and so they are to pass it on.

“If you heard me saying anything…” in his preaching, or through his character…

“If you saw me doing anything…” as he lived among them…

Then PUT These Things Into Practice!

We get a little shaky when Paul says, “Do what I do.” As we do in reading I Corinthians 12:1… “follow me as I follow Christ.” But for Paul there was an intimate connection between what he said, taught or preached…and how he lived his life. Does that mean he was perfect? No. He wrote about his own failures and sin. And so part of what the Philippians hopefully saw…was Paul living out also a life of repentance, of confession, of the receiving of forgiveness.

We need people like Paul too. We need people who can help us LIVE the faith.

That we can watch, that we can imitate, that we can learn from. Do you have anybody like that? I had a friend I knew in college. If we were ever anywhere in a tough spot, or facing some hard decision…Greg would stop right where we were and say, “Lord, what should we do here?” He just stopped and prayed. It was so natural. My normal way of facing those situations was to stop and throw a little tantrum, yell, and try to decide how I could handle it. Greg taught me to stop and pray. He had no idea he was teaching me…but he passed on the faith by living it.

We need people we can learn from, and by same token, our lives need to help others along. Our lives attract others to Jesus. Our lives teach and encourage others to come close to Jesus as we pass on those things we also are learning.

I had a tremendous week this week. Pastors get some tough weeks, some good ones. It was an unbelievably busy week…and one day in particular I spent in significant conversation with a number of people. And I got home at 10 one night totally exhausted. And I flopped down on the bed…and it took a minute to realize I had received so much. Several of the people I had been with had passed on what they were learning. It encouraged me. I felt like, “Boy, Lord, you brought that up just for me.”

One person’s absolute eagerness to go to God in prayer overwhelmed me. It made my heart soften, made me think, “Lord, I want to be with you too…right now!” Another person was in the midst of a very difficult time, but told me how strongly they felt God’s love for them…that God was very near. And it made me remember… “Lord, you do that for me, too…you love me, I don’t even know why, but you do. And I’m so grateful.”

We teach one another. By our words. By our lives. By passing on the gospel in different ways. It causes us to draw nearer to Jesus, causes our hearts to soften…causes us to want to live out, to put into practice…those things we learn, receive, hear and see. We need each other.

And so we think, we set our minds on the right things, on Jesus. That affects how we live...and our lives call each other closer to Christ. It sounds so simple. It gets so complicated in such a hurry. And it’s so easy for us to get discouraged, to feel like we’ll never be able to train our minds, or model Christ for anyone.

And so Paul adds once again one simple sentence to remind us, to promise us… we are not alone. “And the God of peace will be with you.” Amen.