This month we are taking a joyride through the NT book of Philippians and learning from the Apostle Paul how we can experience more joy in our lives. Joy doesn’t come from the places we often think it does. For example, joy isn’t just found when everything is going well. Paul talked about the joy he had, and he was writing this letter while he was sitting in prison, bound up in chains. Last week we heard that joy doesn’t come when we promote ourselves and push to get what we want but actually comes when we are willing to give to and elevate others. Joy comes with humility and not selfish ambition. Today we are going to talk about the joy we can experience when we place our hope in God and not in the word.
Before Paul became a follower of Jesus, he was a rising leader in the Jewish community, and he placed all his hope for the future in himself. In Philippians 3, Paul said he had hope for his future because he had the right heritage, the right training, and the right temperament to get all he wanted in life. Paul’s hope for the future was based on his own position and ability, but once he met Jesus, he was willing to give all of that up and put his hope in God. Paul literally left behind everything he knew, and all that he trusted in, to embrace Jesus as his Savior and Lord and place his hope in Christ.
But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection -from the dead. Philippians 3:7-11
For Paul, joy was not going to be found in the things of this world or from the things that Paul could get on his own. Joy was not going to be found in Paul's own goodness, strength, or ability, it was going to be found in Christ. Paul said he wanted to know Christ and experience the power of Christ's resurrection. He wanted to experience the power of life over death, victory and freedom over sin, and eternal joy, but any hope of experiencing these things would come only by giving up all things to trust in one thing, Jesus.
As we focus on hope today, let’s be clear about what we mean. For the world, hope is a feeling or desire that what we want to happen in the future, will happen. This kind of hope is wishful thinking. I hope I get good grades on the test. I hope I get the job. I hope things go well for me. But biblical hope goes much deeper. Biblical hope is the confidence that God will provide a better future. It is the anticipation of God’s fullness and power in our lives and in our future. The circumstances we go through may not be easy, and we may not get what we want, but we are confident that it is God’s plan for us.
I have been inspired by the hope that I have seen in my sister and brother in law. In many ways, their story has paralleled Paul’s. They were willing to give up all things for one thing, a deeper relationship with Jesus, because they knew that this one thing was better than everything they had previously put their hope in. A few weeks ago my brother in law, Tom Nealley, was here and he shared with us some of their story.
In the eyes of the world, my sister and brother in law had everything. Tom had a great job, they had a beautiful home, and they were financially secure. They had everything, but after they began to walk more closely with Jesus, and heard God’s call for the church, and their own lives, they began to wrestle with what God wanted for them. I watched as they began to give up all things for Christ.
When Tom took the job at their church, I watched them sell the house they built and downsize to a smaller house. Then they downsized again to a townhouse. They moved several times as they heard God’s call, and they went through periods of uncertainty and frustration, but never once did I hear them say that they ever regretted the choices they made. They never looked back. It was their hope that kept them looking to God’s future and trusting in God’s plan. Watching them on this journey over the past 20 years, I can honestly say that while things have not always been easy, they have found joy. As Tom said, they have better stories for their lives, they have grown and matured in life, and they have more faith, more hope, and more joy.
While God may not be calling you to give up all things the same way they did, God is calling all of us to live with that kind of hope. Are we willing to place our hope in Christ alone and live the way God calls us to, even if it means giving up those things we lean on in this world? Can we live with this kind of hope?
If this is the kind of hope we want guiding our lives, Paul shows us three ways we can find it.
1. Hope looks to the future. Not only does Paul say that everything he trusted in this world is garbage, but he says that he will never look back but always look forward. Philippians 3:13-14. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Hope doesn’t look back to what we have done in the past, or what we trusted in before, hope always looks to the future and what God promises to do for us in the days to come. It was a vision of what God wanted for the church that kept my sister and brother in law moving forward. They continue to have hope that God will use them to bring about this vision and as they live with this hope they have more joy.
2. Hope looks beside you. If you want to be a more hopeful person, hang out with more hopeful people. Philippians 3:17
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.
After Paul chose to follow Jesus as his Savior and Lord, he went away for 3 years to study and learn. While we aren’t sure of all that took place during this time, or who Paul was with, he clearly was with people of hope who also trusted in Jesus. Part of the transformation in my brother in law’s life was that he too spent time with hopeful people. He spent hours each week in some pretty intense Bible study, and he sought the input from people who became spiritual leaders in his life. He also walked through it all with my sister and their family. It was hopeful people around them that made all the difference.
If we want to grow in hope, and increase our faith and trust in God, we need to hang out with hopeful people who place their faith and trust in God. This doesn’t mean we find perfect people who have already arrived, it means we walk with others on the journey of faith and then learn and grow together. This is why small groups and being part of a true community is so important. We need one another to help keep us going in the right direction. We need one another to give us confidence and courage when things get difficult, and to remind us that our failures are not final. We need one another to help us forget what lies behind us and keep looking to God’s future for us. We can’t do it alone.
3. Hope looks above you. Any real hope for our future will not come from looking around us to the things of this world but from looking above us. Let’s face it, our government is not going to provide for us. Our economy is not going to provide for us. Our healthcare system is not going to provide for us. If we place our hope in any of these things, or any other system in this world, it will let us down. Hope for our future comes from looking to God.
Paul ends this part of his letter with these words.
Philippians 3:20-21 Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
The truth is that we don’t need more of this world to make us more hopeful, and more of this world will not bring us more joy. What we need is more of Jesus. We need more faith in Jesus, more trust in the power of God, and more hope in the future God has for us. None of these things are found by looking around us, they are only found by looking to God. Instead of looking at the promises that more wealth makes to us, or the promises that our government makes to us, let’s focus on the promises God makes with us.
This week, I invite you to spend time reflecting on 12 promises of God found in the Bible. (You can find them in the next steps online or at the connection table.) Reading, reflecting, and trusting in these promises can help us place more of our hope in God, and the more hope we have in God, the more joy we will experience in life. It is these promises, and many more, that inspire us, and they help us forget all that lies in the past, and all that we once trusted in, and hoped for, and allows us press on toward the goal, which is to know Christ more.
The goal is more joy and that comes with more hope, and more faith. And many times faith and hope only come when we are willing to give up all things for the one thing that is better than all, Jesus Christ. So let us forget what lies behind and strain toward what is ahead. Let us press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Next Steps
Joyride - Hope
Read Philippians 3:1-11
● What things did Paul give up in order to place all his hope in Christ alone?
● What things of this world do we often place our hope and trust in?
● When has God called you to give up all things, or even one thing?
Hope looks to the future. Philippians 3:13-14
● What in your past do you need to let go of?
Hope looks beside you. Philippians 3:17
● How can you connect with more hopeful people?
Hope looks above you. Philippians 3:20-21
● Use these 12 promises of God to help you find hope in God alone
12 Promise of God
God gives strength to the weary - Isaiah 40:31
God gives us rest - Matthew 11:28-30
God’s love never fails - Isaiah 54:10
God redeems us - Colossians 1:13-14
God fights for us - Exodus 14:13-14
God gives us wisdom - James 1:5
God forgives our sin - 1 John 1:9
God lifts us up - Matthew 23:12
God never forsakes us - Deuteronomy 31:6
God gives us eternal life - John 3:16
God provides for all our needs - Philippians 4:19
God has a plan for our lives - Jeremiah 29:11
