Community Church Sermons
August 13, 2006
Philippians 4:4-19
Rev. Margaret I.
Manning
“So let me tell you about my hair…” with
these famous or perhaps infamous words, I began my preaching ministry at Tellico
Village Community Church. Kind of a
strange way to begin a preaching ministry, don’t you think? I mean, I could have chosen an inspirational
beginning like John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address: “Ask not
what your church[sic] can do for you, ask what you can do for your church [sic].” Or I could have chosen a beginning with all
the seriousness and loftiness of Winston Churchill’s first broadcast to his
nation on the brink of war: "Arm yourselves, and be ye a church[sic]
of velour; for it is better for us to perish in battle than to look upon the
outrage of our church [sic] and our altar."[1] When you hear these famous first words of
Churchill and Kennedy, doesn’t your heart just rise with inspiration? “So let me tell you about my hair” just
doesn’t have the same effect, does it?
Seriously, all of us realize the importance – stylistically speaking, of the first words one uses to begin a sermon, a novel, an essay, or a speech. First words set the tone for all that will follow; first words establish a foundation for what will be built, and first words should create a lasting impression. For one reason or another, these words made an impression on you and many of you remembered these first words of my first sermon. Perhaps they made a memorable impact because they led into a sermon about how we all have felt unacceptable as a result of the various experiences in our lives. And perhaps, this connection helped you to sympathize with me and formed a bond between us because of our shared experience. Or, perhaps you just like to talk about my hair! Whatever the case, Marty was instrumental in helping me to know the importance of my first sermon, and indeed, the importance of my first words in establishing my ministry through allowing you all to get to know me. So it was Marty who suggested to me that I begin that first sermon with this now infamous introduction - “So let me tell you about my hair.” Marty, in his infinite wisdom knew that revealing my humanity would be the crucial foundation from which to build my preaching ministry and my ministry among you. First words are vitally important to ministry – and I am thankful to Marty for helping me find them!
In the same way that first words are vitally important, last words are
vitally important, as well. Perhaps
last words are even more important than first words because they are the words
you leave with people – they are the words you hope will stay in peoples’
memory long after the one saying them is gone.
You hope what you say will leave a legacy that stays with people just
like a perfume or a wonderful fragrance you continue to enjoy long after the
person wearing the fragrance has left the room. So, today, it is my hope to share some ‘famous last
words’ with you – not that I’m famous, or that even what is said will become
famous, but more because I hope what is said will remain and swirl around you,
blessing you with a beautiful fragrance that continues long after our paths
have parted ways.
Last week, Marty framed
his remarks about remembrance around Paul’s first words in his letter
to the church at Philippi: “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you…for I
am confident of this very thing, that God who began a good work in you will
perfect it until the day of Christ.” I
want to begin my ‘famous last words’ to you at this place, as well. Paul is writing this letter from prison, and
most likely, close to the end of his life.
The Philippian church had a special place in his heart because of their
participation in Paul’s ministry from its beginning and even to it’s ending
with their apostle in prison. Now,
hopefully, my ministry won’t end with me in prison, but you get the point – the
Philippian church stuck with Paul to the end!
So, he writes this letter to them not only to encourage them, but also
to thank them for their support of his ministry. Like Paul, I am thankful to God for this church and for it’s
participation with me in my growth in ministry, including calling me forward as
one of your own for ordination to ministry.
You have shaped me and formed me as a minister by sharing your lives and
your stories with me. You have let me
enter the most intimate places in your hearts and lives; you have invited me
into the hospital room, and invited me to the bedside of a loved-one near death,
and into this sanctuary where what matters most in life is shared and
proclaimed.
In addition to this, I, too am thankful to God that the good work begun in this community and in your lives back in 1987, long before I came into the picture and long after I leave will be carried on to completion until the day of Christ. I am thankful that God is the one who completes the good work begun in each one of you, and while God partners with us to accomplish good works, ultimately the church is a work of God and the ministry of the church will be accomplished by God. It will always be my prayer, as I know it is every pastor’s prayer, that for many years to come I will hear about the wonderful works that God is accomplishing through you and among you in this place. “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.”
Now, we learn more about the specific nature of the participation of the Philippians in Paul’s ministry and his gratitude for this church at the end of his letter. The Philippian church supported Paul financially out of their material resources. Paul thanks them for gifts that provided “more than once for his needs.” Indeed, he reminds them that “no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone.” Now, while I have been supported by many in my ministry life thus far, I want to share with you all that you have been abundantly generous to Sonny and me. You have shared your garden produce with us, and treated us to fabulous home-baked goods and delicious meals. You have showered us with gracious gifts and reminders not only of your love for us, but of God’s love for us. Like the Apostle Paul, I can say to you, as my ‘famous last words’ that “I have received everything in full, and have an abundance; I am amply supplied.” Words in a sermon, note cards, and a casual ‘thank you’ can never adequately describe how thankful we are for your graciousness, your hospitality and for your generosity.
We are truly thankful to God for this opportunity to serve and live among you, for your participation in ministry with me, and for your generous and gracious support for Sonny and me. I will always thank my God in all my remembrance of you – for your gentle corrections and helps, for your toleration of my choice in hymns, for your learning my strange food preferences, for your welcoming us into your homes, into your hearts and into your lives…I will thank my God in all my remembrance of you.
But, now I want to share
my most important ‘last words’ to you from Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Paul’s last words to the Philippians – the
last things he said to them, the most important message he wanted them to
remember - are what I want you to remember.
After thanking the Philippian church for their partnership in ministry
with him, he ends his letter to them by assuring them with this message: “And
my God will supply all your needs according to God’s riches in glory in Jesus
Christ.” Of chief concern to me is to
remind you of God’s chief concern for you – that God will supply all your needs
according to the riches in glory in Christ Jesus. I know many of you are sad at my leaving –
and I am sad as well. I know many of
you wonder who will replace me, and you worry about having to get to know an
entirely new person. I know Tim and
Marty are concerned about assuming aspects of what I did while I was here –
and, of course, I wonder and worry about what my next role will be in ministry
and how I’m going to get there. I know that God will supply all our needs in
Christ Jesus.
But, I’m certain as we all sit here that even more pressing needs and issues worry and trouble your hearts and minds. Will God end global terrorism? Will God protect our pensions? Will God heal me of this illness? Will I experience pain or suffering? Who will love me and take care of me now that I’ve lost my spouse? Well, Paul faced many of these same kinds of issues. He didn’t know where his next paycheck was coming from; he was sitting in a prison; he had suffered at the hands of violent aggression towards his faith; he struggled with various health issues – and yet he reminds the Philippian church that he doesn’t “speak from want; for he has learned to be content in whatever circumstances he found himself.” He knew how to get along with humble means and he knew how to enjoy prosperity; indeed, he tells them that “in any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret both of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.” And what is that secret? Paul believed that “God would supply all his needs according to the riches in glory in Jesus Christ. He proclaimed ‘I can do all things through Christ who is my strength.”
The same is true for you
and me. God will supply all our needs in
Christ Jesus. God meets our
needs as we place our trust in God. And
as we grow in the same kind of faith that Jesus demonstrated for us, living the
kind of life he showed us was possible through his dependence upon God as the
source of every good and perfect gift – we will find that God meets all our needs. Paul acknowledges that in want or in plenty,
God was amply abundant. In prison, in
sickness, in loneliness and exile, in want and in abundance, God supplied all
his needs in Jesus Christ. And God will
supply all our needs according to the riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
I want you to remember that God will provide for you even as God doesn’t stop life from happening to us – good and bad. God doesn’t always meet our needs by giving us what we want, or what we think we need. But, in the midst of it all, calling to us, bidding us to come and find our fulfillment, is God. The only place we’ll find what we need is in God. So find your home, and find your life in God – when you do, you’ll find that same contentment, and the same fulfillment that Paul found. You’ll find your needs will be met in God’s riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
My famous last words are
not new words; they’re Paul’s words.
And Paul’s words echo what the psalmist said long before him: “Lord, you have been our refuge, our dwelling
place, from generation to generation.
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the earth and the world
were made, you are God from everlasting, and world without end.”[2] Famous last words: May God be our
refuge, our dwelling place and the fulfillment of all that we need. Amen.