A Life Worth Living

Video:  Another Day… “I wish there were another way.” This young man was questioning the purpose of life.  How did he see life?  He saw it as a competition to win – life was about being successful. I think most of us can relate.  But as you could see, he was beginning to question if there was another way to live.  Perhaps you’ve had the same question.  Perhaps the craziness of this pandemic has messed with your purpose for life, and made you ask the very same question: what am I living for?

I mean, think about it: What is life?  What is living?  Now for sure there a plenty of people who never consider the meaning of life.  To them life means Existence, a kind of animal condition, or a state almost like that of a plant or flower.  Here they are in this amazing thing called life and yet they go through life without ever contemplating it.  They never stop to ask what it means; they just live from day to day, eating and drinking, sleeping without any such thoughts at all. That’s a sad way to live.

Then there are those who have embraced a Hedonistic view of life, which is best summed up by the phrase: ‘Let us eat, drink and be merry.’ This view of life centers on the living of life.  It’s all about seeking pleasure: eating, drinking, dancing, sex, adventure, or just going out and having a good time.  To a hedonist, life is pursuing one round of pleasure after another.  Life is in living the good life.  And this view of life has greatly influenced our American culture.

Opposite of this is the Stoic’s view of life. The Stoic tolerates life. You rarely hear him say, “Isn’t everything wonderful?”  He has come to realize that this world can often be filled with tears; he sees the harshness of life; the suffering and injustice of life and he resigns himself to putting up with it all. He becomes apathetic to suffering and resigns himself to just carrying on, whatever may come. To him life is a constant battle with ever changing circumstances: an endless struggle to simply survive.

Then there’s the humanist’s view of life. To the humanist living means having the opportunity to good, of improving the world and uplifting the state of society.  If you ask a humanist what they mean by living, they say, “Life is all about making our world a better place for everyone.” But that mindset says, “it’s all up to me” and leaves God out of the equation.  That’s the humanist’s view of life.

Finally there’s the average person’s view of life.  For the average person life revolves around family, home, friendships, occupations and activities.  Ask the average person, what are you living for?  Most will answer “My family.”  And the reason why – is that family is what we often treasure the most in life.  But when family is taken from us, our life, our world collapses and we have nothing left.

So what is life?  What are you living for?   Obviously, we’ve been influenced to some degree by all these views of life.  And all of us have experienced how these views of life can conflict with one another, or leave us empty or even disillusioned, and lead us to question: what am I living for?

Well if you have ever asked that question, or are asking it today, God wants you to know how you can have a life worth living.  A way of life where you can experience a continual joy, a confident faith, and a courageous hope no matter what you are facing in life.  And where we see this in God’s Word is from Paul’s purpose for life recorded for us in Philippians 1:18b-21.  Allow me to read this passage for us: Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,  for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.  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.  For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

What was Paul living for?  He says it right there:  For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.   And now we get to see how living for Christ allowed him to experience a continual joy, a confident faith, and a courageous hope no matter what he was facing.

So the first question we must answer is this:  What was he facing?  Well, if you’ve been with us the past few weeks, we know that Paul was under house arrest in Rome awaiting trial before the Roman Tribunal.  He’d been arrested in Jerusalem, tried by Governor Felix, appealed to Rome, and been brought to Rome for trial.  And even though he’s lost position, power, privilege, friends and family in the process, we see here he had a way of life worth living.  In fact in these verses he shows us three ways He lived for Christ.  And the first way is this:

He lived for Christ by rejoicing in Christ He begins this passage saying, “Yes, and I will continue to rejoice”   Paul experienced a continual joy in Jesus while he was waiting for his future to be determined.  Even though he is isolated, even though his fate seemed to be in the hands of the Roman court, his adverse circumstances could not drown his joy.  Why?

You rejoice in what you value.  And for Paul his greatest treasure was Jesus.  It was Jesus who saved him from his empty religion.  It was Jesus who forgave him for hunting down Christ followers and having them killed.  It was Jesus who lifted him up and gave him a new life and a new purpose in life – telling other the good news about Jesus.  And so it didn’t matter to him that he was in prison. He had Jesus and Jesus had him.  So he could continue to have joy, no matter what he was suffering.

God’s people have passed on this legacy to us. The prophet Habakkuk demonstrated this unwavering joy in the Lord despite loosing almost everything.  Here are his words: Though the fig tree does not bud  and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
 yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.  Habakkuk 3:17-18

Job also said, “Praise the name of Yahweh,” even though he lost everything.

We have an opportunity to show people that there is another way to live, especially at a time like this, when life may never go back to the way it was, when our freedoms are being threatened and our lifestyle is being altered.  If our greatest treasure is Jesus, then we will rejoice in Him.  When we live for Him, we will praise and not protest, we will pray and not pout.  So think about your present circumstances: what’s most valuable to you right now?  If it’s Jesus, you will have continual joy. If it’s anything else – that makes you a prisoner of your circumstances.  I find it ironic, that although Paul was a prisoner, he still had joy, for his joy was in Jesus.

And isn’t that what our world needs to see right now?  That life is more than the pursuit of pleasure?  That real joy is found in Jesus?  Remember, you rejoice in what you value. Paul rejoiced in Jesus.  May that be said of us.  That’s the first way Paul lived for Christ.

Now here’s the second way: He lived for Christ by relying on Christ  Look again at verse 19 Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,  for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.   Here, Paul shows us his confident faith in the Sovereignty of God.  He believes that through the prayers of his brothers and sisters and through God’s provision of the Spirit of Christ, he will one day be delivered from his predicament. This is a great model for us at this time.  We don’t know how long our lives will be affected by this virus.  But God has given us the same two realities that Paul leaned into 2000 years ago: The prayers of His people and the presence of Christ. We need both God’s people and God’s presence to lean into when life’s situations are beyond our control.

First, God’s people, and more specifically: the prayers of God’s people.  Don’t think your prayers don’t matter.  God uses means, and one of the means God uses for sustaining His people are the prayers of His people. God doesn’t want us to face hardships alone.  He commands us to carry one another’s burdens.  And one of the best ways to carry those burdens is to bring them to God prayer.  That’s why we need more than just a prayer team who prays for special concerns in our community.  That’s why God calls all of us to pray for one another, all the time.  We have a Father who delights to hear our prayers.  We have access to the throne of grace.  Like the writer of Hebrews encourages us: Let us approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16  We have the prayers of God’s people…

We also have God’s presence to sustain us.  You can’t say, “for me to live is Christ, to die is gain” without the Spirit of Christ. Let me remind you of the Holy Spirit’s role in your life:

He comforts you: He comes alongside to minister the presence of Christ (John 14:16)

He assures you:  He bears witness with your spirit that you are God’s child (Rom 8:16)

He teaches you:  He illuminates God’s truth and helps you understand the things of God (1 Corinthians 2:12)

He empowers you:  He indwells you and enables you to be Christ witness (Acts 1:8)

He leads you:  He leads you in the new way of the Spirit not the old way of the law (Galatians 5:18) a way of freedom, mercy, grace!

He bears His fruit through you: He produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in you (Galatians 5:22-23)

He exalts Jesus through you:  His sole purpose in your life is to bring glory to Jesus (John 16:14)

So then, Paul’s confidence that He would be delivered came because Paul knew God was with Him. He was not alone.  God was alive: comforting him, encouraging him, teaching him, and empowering him to continue to live for Him and make Him known all through the Spirit of Christ.  And that impacted how Paul lived.  He had confidence he would be delivered because God’s people were praying for him, God’s Spirit was with him.  And you know, we can have this same confidence today, because God has  give us the same access to Him in prayer, and has given us the same Holy Spirit to be with us and in us.

So how’s your confidence in God today?  Do you need someone to pray for your faith? You see, we often make our prayer requests about physical maladies or circumstantial difficulties.  But when was the last time you asked someone to pray for your anxiety, or depression, or fear, or your struggles with hope?  We all need someone to carry our burdens to the throne of grace.  Do you have someone who does that for you?  And can you be that someone?  Maybe the reason you don’t live with a confident faith right now is that you’re not relying on anyone but yourself.  But God has given you His people and His presence.  Maybe it’s time we started tapping into a little more of what God has given us, so we you can grow in our confidence that God’s got this.  For when you’ve got that kind of God confidence, I guarantee you, you will have a life worth living.

Alright.  Well, there’s one last way Paul lived for Christ that gave him a life worth living and that is this.  He lived for Christ by representing Christ!  Look with me at verses 20-21: 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.  For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Here now Paul shares his personal goal for what how he expects to honor Jesus in his impending trial. He eagerly expects and hopes that rather than bring disgrace to the name of Jesus, he will bring honor to the name of Jesus.

His goal in this trial and in his life is to bring honor to Jesus Christ.  That’s why he expects to have the courage “so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body.” “So that now as always” interesting phrase…  By using this phrase, Paul is telling us that no matter what circumstance he finds himself in his goal is to bring glory to Jesus.  The “now” is his present circumstance – this trial.  The “always” is every circumstance, every relationship, every decision!  Whatever aspect of life Paul finds himself in, his goal is to exalt Jesus with His life.   He intends to go through life focused not on his own reputation, but on Christ’s reputation. And the reason he has this goal is that he has come to the place in his life where he realizes that Jesus is everything to Him.  He is Creator, Savior, Brother, Friend, Healer, Sanctifier, Lord and King.  There is no one like Jesus.  He loves Jesus.  He knows that Jesus is the hope for every man, woman and child.  So he cares more about bringing glory to Jesus than seeking his own glory.

That is how you honor Jesus above all things: you care more about His glory than your own glory, and you let nothing stop you from bringing Him glory. And when you have that kind of resolve in your heart, you will have a life worth living!

So how does one gain this kind of resolve? Paul definitely had it. But how does one get to the point in his or her life where you can say without question: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain”?  What has to happen inside of you?  What has to change?

I’d simply say this:  You have to come to a place in your heart, where you’re convinced that living for Jesus is the purpose of life. You have to come to the place in your mind, where you are convinced that all other ways of living don’t deliver:

• That living for pleasure is bankrupt – it doesn’t give you a life that satisfies
• That living to just get by is foolish – you were created for more than just surviving
• That living so you can make the world better doesn’t cut either – God didn’t call you to change the world, He called you love your neighbor
• That living just for family isn’t enough – for God has a bigger calling for you than that – He’s called you to belong to His forever family through Jesus.

Here’s one way you can test your heart and know where you are with Jesus. John Piper once said something that goes like this: “If you could go to heaven and have the best of everything on earth, the best friends, the best family, your dream home, all the best toys, a perfectly sculpted body, no suffering and lots of fun and exciting experiences, but you couldn’t have Christ – would you want to go there?”

If you say yes to that question, what you treasure is created things, the stuff of this earth.  And as nice and wonderful all those things are, they pale in compassion to the Creator, who gave us the stuff of earth. And if you say yes to that question, you might have an okay life, if everything works out for you.  But really, as we have seen with this pandemic, there are no guarantees that this life will deliver a life worth living…      But if you say, “No.”  I don’t want to go heaven unless Jesus is there”  Then you’ve clarified the conflict of life.  You know that’s there’s really only one life worth living – and it’s a life that rejoices in Christ, that relies on Christ, and that honors Christ.  Then you can confidently say: For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  And the reason you can say that with confidence is this:  You treasure Jesus more than life itself!

So let me ask you again: What are you living for? Do you treasure Jesus, or do you love this world?  The choice is yours – for whatever you chose will determine what you are living for.  May God give you the resolve to live for Jesus.   Let’s pray.