Pouring Out Our Lives
Philippians 2Doug FloydOne of the great modern heroes of our faith, Richard Wurmbrand, spent 14 years in prison for hisfaith. The Nazis and the Communists imprisoned him. Three of those years he spent undergroundseeing no light and hearing no except the voice of his tormentors. In the midst of suffering for Christ, Wurmbrand found rest in the joy of the Lord.One day a prison guard spit in Wurmbrand's and urinated on his head. In despair, he asked whatkind of father would allow his child to undergo such revolting humiliation. The heavens seemed brass and all seemed meaningless. So he responded by dancing before the Lord in worship.On another day, the prison guard sang while he beat Wurmbrand. Later that night when he restedin his cell, Wurmbrand gave thanks to God for the song of his persecutor since it was a rare treatto hear music. And on another occasion, he dreamed a guard gave him a flower. He prayed,"Lord when you call me home, I'll wrap my arms around that guard and refuse to enter heavenunless he can come."How does a person rejoice in the midst of suffering and persecution? How did RichardWurmbrand love and serve and pour out his life while being tortured for his faith? The wholetime he served in prison, Wurmbrand wrote essays of encouragement to the body of Christ thathave since been circulated to millions of people. With no pen or paper, he wrote the essays in hismemory, and upon release from prison captured them in print.How do you find joy in the midst of suffering and persecution? Most of us may never know the persecution that Wurmbrand endured. Yet we do face struggles that impact our joy, our peace,and our ability to love one another.The Apostle Paul knows suffering. He knows persecution and beating. He knows imprisonment.Writing a letter of friendship from prison, he seeks to encourage his friends at Philippi who arealso facing suffering and persecution. In the short letter to the Philippians, the word joy appearsagain and again and again. Paul rejoices that God will supply all his needs according to Hisriches in glory.What is the source of joy? The absolute faithfulness of God revealed in Jesus Christ by the power of His Spirit. Paul is confident that God will complete the work He's begun in His people. Paul'sassured that God is thoroughly trustworthy to meet all the needs of His people. Paul's life is inChrist, and he lives through Christ.The Risen Christ is sustaining, renewing, encouraging Paul and the saints at Philippi. After reminding them of God's faithfulness in the midst of suffering, Paul writes, "So if there is anyencouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and
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sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in fullaccord and of one mind.
The Philippians are under stress, facing threats and persecution. Yet Paul suggests that Christ isencouraging and comforting His people by His Spirit in the midst of the community. I wouldsuggest that Christ is still present among His people doing the same thing. Where is He and howis he doing this?By His Spirit, He is present in our lives and in our faith community. He is why we gather.Literally, Christ is calling us to gather. We the people of God are the "called out ones," theekklesia, the church. We gather because He gathers us. We gather in and through Him.Even as we gather, He ministers to us in song, in prayers, in Scripture, in proclamation, in thesharing of the peace and in the bread and the wine.He meets us through the elements, but He also meets in and through His people: sometimesthrough a word of encouragement, a hug, a story, or simply someone listening us. Christ is present. By His Spirit, He is speaking to us from outside ourselves through other people andthrough the worship, and at the same time, the Spirit is touching us inwardly. He is healing,convicting, restoring and converting.In the gathering of God's people, we must learn to trust that Christ is and will sustain us personally and as community. If we cannot trust that our needs are not forgotten and will be met,we will be grasping instead of freely receiving His blessings.Paul encourages the Philippians that Christ has come and is encouraging, comforting andsustaining His people. In Christ's faithfulness, Paul calls the Philippians to have the same mind,to be of one accord, to love and serve and pour out their lives for one another.He points to the cross as the image of pouring out our lives into one another. While the cross isthe image and reality of our redemption, it is also pattern for our lived relation. Paul writes,2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significantthan yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though hewas in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but madehimself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And beingfound in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, evendeath on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that isabove every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth
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The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (Php 2:1–4). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
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and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of Godthe Father.
As Paul calls the Philippians to look at Jesus as the way of thinking and acting in community, he breaks forth into worship. This hymn reveals that Jesus acts in obedience to His Father, does notgrasp the worship and honor and power that is rightfully His. Instead, He pours His life intohumanity. He becomes a man and reveals what true humanity looks like. At the same time, Hereveals what divinity looks like.Jesus pours His life completely. Holding nothing back He loves fully, completely in heart, soul,mind and strength. Ultimately pouring His life out on a cross, dying and bearing the sins of theworld. In His absolute humiliation, Jesus is not abandoned. If he was abandoned, the story would be tragic, sad, and empty of meaning. Simply a reinforcement of the dark absurdity of life.In the place of absolute helplessness, He is not abandoned. The Father joins Him by the Spirit,raising Him to new, raising to new joy, and raising Him to the highest name above all names.Paul reveals the trustworthiness of God is revealed in the humiliation of the Son. The Father never abandons the Son.Even as Jesus brings redemption, He reveals that the Father can be trusted. By referring to Jesusas the model for how we love, Paul is teaching the Philippians and us that no matter how muchwe suffer, no matter how we struggle, no matter how much we may feel abandoned, we are not.Just as the Father is absolutely faithful to the Son, He is faithful to us because we are in Christand Christ is in us by His Spirit.We're free to pour out our lives into one another and on behalf of one another. When we suffer or face suffering, we'll be tempted to restrain. We'll be tempted to withhold love and even enter intoconflict as we seek to guard and defend our hurts. But the Father is faithful. Though we may feeloverlooked and forgotten, we are not.This freedom to pour out life is exemplified in Richard Wurmbrand. He was free, and in thatfreedom, He discovered the unexplainable peace and joy and love of the Lord. He could give andserve and worship extravagantly because he could trust in the goodness of God. Thecommunities of Christ should be full of extravagantly love and service and kindness.Just as Wurmbrand poured out his life and love in a Romanian prison, there are 40,000 Christians pouring out their lives in prisons in North Korea. Unless there is some change, many of themwill die in prison. And yet, there are Chinese Christians, South Korean Christians and free NorthKorean Christian willing to return to North Korea and face the threat of imprisonment and death,so that they might encourage the saints and share the gospel. This is the power that Paul waswriting about.When I was in college, I thought I'd have the opportunity to pour out my life as a martyr on someforeign soil. In fact, several of us guys thought we would die as martyrs. We wanted to love
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The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (Php 2:5–12). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
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Pouring Out Our Lives - Philippians 2
This reflection on Philippians 2 explores the tangible way that Christ encourages His people in and through His people. We are called into His pouring out of love.
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