Prison Letters: Pressing On (Pt.1)

(Part 1)

"12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.-Philippians 3:12-14

 I love how Paul never allowed his physical limitations to define his spiritual possibilities. Paul was imprisoned when he penned these words about “pressing on”.  How do we press on (how do we move forward) when we are physically locked down? Paul understood that spiritual growth and growing in our relationship with Christ were not confined or defined by the space we occupy. Often, the biggest obstacle or barrier to our own spiritual growth is our own mind. 

Let’s be honest, Paul was in a forced quarantine, where we are under self-quarantine for a greater good. Although, I would never go as far as to say that self-quarantine is more difficult, it does pose some unique challenges. Where Paul’s freedom was taken from him, we in essence are laying ours aside to accomplish an expressed purpose. 

Jesus has a perfect plan and purpose for each of our lives. Paul recognized that to embrace that perfect plan, he had to solely pursue Christ. Pursuing Jesus would ultimately lead to the place of perfection that Jesus had in store for him. However, it often took Paul places that didn’t seem suited to help him accomplish God’s will. 

Paul understood that there is a big difference between being perfect and being perfected.  One claims you’ve reached the pinnacle of God’s purpose, plan and design for your life. The other humbly recognizes that possessing perfection will be a lifelong pursuit. That pursuit requires us to stay focused. Paul said that his focus was straight forward: forgetting what is behind and pressing for what lies ahead. 

The past for many can be a catalyst, but for others it is as anchor that weighs them down, keeping them from moving forward. That is why the writer of Hebrews wrote:

 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.-“Hebrews 12:1-2

How do we break free from the weight of sin and shame that can so easily weigh us down?  Keep our eyes fixed on Jesus! Paul could have focused on a number of things that were keeping him from moving forward, but instead he chose to focus on Jesus. Regardless, of what you are facing, you can choose to be anchored to your circumstances or you can choose to press on towards the high calling Jesus has planned for you. 

Scott Burr

Prison Letters: Relapsing into religion (Pt.2)

“Though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more! I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault. I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.”-Philippians 3:4-7

To the circumcised believer it was hard for them to understand that circumcision of the flesh, was no longer the sign of being in covenant with God, but rather a life surrendered to Christ was true circumcision. 

 It wasn’t long before a contingency arose within the church (influenced by these circumcised believers) that began to elevate tradition over a relationship with Christ. They began to pervert the gospel by teaching that you can put your faith in Jesus, but you still must be circumcised. Paul’s obvious frustration and strong words with them were directed towards the fact that they were perverting the truth of God’s Word and causing people to believe that somehow our human effort helps bring us into a right relationship with God. 

If we embrace this thinking we will soon begin to believe that Christ’s sacrifice wasn’t enough on its own, that we must perform by human effort something to make our salvation complete. 

Paul, goes on to make the argument that is anyone had reason to believe that “human effort” could gain us heaven or salvation then he would have the pedigree for it.  Paul admits that he, too, used to place a lot of value on those things, but now compared to what Christ has done, he counts it all worthless. 

Paul then emphasized how important it was that he release that way of thinking so as not to relapse into that religious mindset:

“Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death,  so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!”-Philippians 3:8-11 

God’s way of making us right with Himself depends on faith! Paul saw nothing of value to hold onto aside from complete faith in Christ. 

I just want to say, that I am not anti-tradition, but we must not allow our tradition to take away the necessity of complete dependence and faith in Christ alone. The first sign of a relapse is that we begin to believe that our human effort is necessary for salvation. When we begin to weigh our own righteousness on the scales alongside Christ’s, we have devalued the sacrifice Christ made at Calvary. 

Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church 

Prison Letters: Relapsing into Religion (Pt.1)

(Philippians 3:1-11)

“Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith. 2 Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. 3 For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort.”- Philippians 3:1-3 

One of greatest threats that Paul had to confront, in regards to the church, was the tendency of believers to relapse into religion. Many Jews were coming to Christ during Paul’s ministry, however, although they were placing their faith in Christ, many remained trapped in their traditions. 

This is what happens when we are indoctrinated into a tradition before we ever actually meet Jesus. 

 If you were born to a Jewish family, in Paul’s day, you were not simply born “in Israel”. You were born into Judaism. You were raised in it, educated in it, and participated in it. You studied the Torah, participated in Sabbaths and Festivals, and identified closer to your religious faith than your country of origin. 

Many Christians today have had similar experiences having been born into a Christian home. They were raised going to church, attending Sunday School, hearing Bible stories, and participating in things like communion and baptism; all before or even without having had a personal encounter with Christ, themselves. 

In the Old Testament, circumcision was the sign that God gave Abraham that identified them as being God’s covenant people.

10 This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised. 11 You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 From generation to generation, every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. This applies not only to members of your family but also to the servants born in your household and the foreign-born servants whom you have purchased. 13 All must be circumcised. Your bodies will bear the mark of my everlasting covenant. 14 Any male who fails to be circumcised will be cut off from the covenant family for breaking the covenant.”-Genesis 17:10-14

 Although, none of the people of Paul’s day were around when God established this with Abraham, they had been indoctrinated in it over hundreds of years. So, much so, that being circumcised became what marked you as being in covenant with God, without any real regard to faith. It marked you as being one of God’s people, even if you really didn’t live for God at all. The emphasis was placed on the tradition rather than faith in God. 

Many Christians today have had similar experiences. Baptism is a very similar type of tradition among Christians. One that is suppose to be expressed as a public profession of our faith in Jesus. However, many parents often push to have their kids baptized worried that without it they won’t make heaven. The emphasis is placed on the tradition rather than on faith in Jesus Christ. By placing this kind of emphasis on tradition, we gravitate towards putting confidence in our flesh over simple faith in Christ. 

Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church 

Prison Letters: Sincerely Care (Pt.2)

(Philippians 2:19-30)

“25 Meanwhile, I thought I should send Epaphroditus back to you. He is a true brother, co-worker, and fellow soldier. And he was your messenger to help me in my need. 26 I am sending him because he has been longing to see you, and he was very distressed that you heard he was ill. 27 And he certainly was ill; in fact, he almost died. But God had mercy on him—and also on me, so that I would not have one sorrow after another. 28 So I am all the more anxious to send him back to you, for I know you will be glad to see him, and then I will not be so worried about you. 29 Welcome him in the Lord’s love and with great joy, and give him the honor that people like him deserve. 30 For he risked his life for the work of Christ, and he was at the point of death while doing for me what you couldn’t do from far away.”-Philippians 2:25-30

Epaphroditus was the messenger that the church at Philippi sent to Paul while he was in prison. It wasn’t a random encounter, he didn’t just happen to run into him in prison, but was intentionally sent to minister to Paul’s need. 

The church knew he was in isolation. They knew he was going without some very basic provisions and so they came together to make sure his needs were met. Sound familiar?  We have so many elderly and those with compromised immune systems that cannot get out right now. They too are limited in resource and daily provisions, but if we would unite together we could find ways to meet the needs around us. We have friends and neighbors who have lost jobs or have had their hours scaled back. Perhaps we can find ways to make sure that at the very least their basic needs get met. 

Paul had a lot of fond things to say about Epaphroditus. He called him his brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier. Paul recognized that Epaphroditus too had a tremendous love for the church at Philippi and longed to return to them. 

Epaphroditus was committed in his service to Christ and to Paul. He got very sick while helping Paul and nearly died. Epaphroditus understood that it can be risky helping others in need. It is easy to let fear hold you back. What if we don’t have enough ourselves? What if we get sick? “What if” can cripple us from being a light shining in the darkness. When we fear as much as the world does, we blend in, we don’t stand out. Epaphroditus disregarded the dangers that can accompany serving others and made the effort to supply what was lacking in Paul’s life. 

I don’t know if we could have come across two better men to model ourselves after, during this defining moment in history. Paul, himself, points to them as shining of examples of Christ’s love, service, compassion and faithfulness. What a great moment in time for the church to raise up an army of Timothy’s and Epaphroditus’ to shine in the darkness. 

Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church 

Prison Letters-Sincerely Care (Pt.1)

(Philippians 2:19-30)

Sometimes I am amazed at the timeliness of God when it comes to His Word. We’ve been studying the Prison Epistles for several weeks during a time of isolation and social distancing. Last week we weighed the importance of the church being light in the midst of darkness and considered how darkness can provide an opportunity for the church to shine. 

This week we look at the remainder of Chapter 2 and study two men that were living examples of “lights shining in the darkness.”- Timothy & Epaphroditus.

One was a man Paul was sending to care for the church and the other a man the church had sent to care for Paul. 

These men embodied what it means to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Because of the recent corona virus outbreak we (the church) had to learn new ways to communicate, connect, and proclaim Christ while practicing social distancing; a means of self isolation from public gatherings. It made me think about Paul as he is writing this letter. He is imprisoned. He is isolated (although not by choice) from the body of Christ in Philippi. Yet, rather than complain about not being able to have church, he finds a new way of ministering to the church through letters. 

“19 If the Lord Jesus is willing, I hope to send Timothy to you soon for a visit. Then he can cheer me up by telling me how you are getting along. 20 I have no one else like Timothy, who genuinely cares about your welfare. 21 All the others care only for themselves and not for what matters to Jesus Christ. 22 But you know how Timothy has proved himself. Like a son with his father, he has served with me in preaching the Good News. 23 I hope to send him to you just as soon as I find out what is going to happen to me here. 24 And I have confidence from the Lord that I myself will come to see you soon.”-Philippians 2:19-24

Paul, because of his isolation, was incapable of being there in person to  care for the church. Along with this letter, he sends with it, his trusted spiritual son Timothy. Why Timothy? Because, Timothy loved the people the way that Paul loved them. He “sincerely cared” for them. He wasn’t going out of obligation or religious duty, he went out of his own love and concern for them. In times like this people are looking for more than just assistance. They are looking for those who sincerely care them. 

Timothy set himself apart in Paul’s eyes not solely because of his like-minded love for the people, but he distinguished himself by seeking to meet the needs of others (before his own) and serving Paul faithfully as a son with his father. Timothy went because Paul could not.

How better for the church to shine in this moment of history than for us to love the people around us like Jesus, to put others before ourselves, and serve them faithfully.

Scott Burr

Prison Letters (Pt.6): Light Bearers (Pt.2)

Philippians 2:12-16

(Part 2) 

“12 Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. 13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.”-Philippians 2:12-13

Have you ever had a room or office space that the lights were wired to a dimmer switch? Dimmer packs are nice. You can turn them up for maximum brightness or lower them for a more quaint setting. They are really good for setting the atmosphere, however when you dim them it makes it harder to see. When a light is dimmed it means that it has the potential to shine brightly, but has had the power diminished to it or its illumination restricted so it creates less light. Paul recognized that if the church was going to shine brightly it had to avoid a couple of things that have the potential to dim us.

The first thing that can diminish our light is disobedience. In fact, disobedience can dim our witness faster than anything. Isn’t that one of the biggest complaints we hear from unbelievers is that Christians tell you to act one way, yet don’t behave that way themselves:

“Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach.”-Matthew 23:1-3

Paul further emphasizes that obedience is not subject to who we are with or where we are at. Paul encourages us to live obedient lives regardless of the company we are keeping or the venue we are occupying. We can’t just live obedient lives at church around other believers. We have to live it among unbelievers as well. 

The second thing that can diminish our light among others is complaining and disputing among ourselves:

“Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people-Philippians 2:14-15

Disputes among believers communicates a lack of unity within the body of Christ. Jesus taught that a house divided cannot stand. So it is important that we, as believers, find ways of settling our differences in ways that promote healing and growth rather than draw criticism from those we are trying to reach.

Finally, the last thing that Paul points to that can diminish our light is to hold too loosely to God’s Word:

“Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless.”-Philippians 2:16

If we don’t believe God’s Word and live by it ourselves, what would cause others to hold to it at all. If we, ourselves, only loosely follow God’s Word, others will fail to see the value in it.

Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church 

Prison Letters (Pt.6)- Light Bearers

Philippians 2:12-18

(Part 1) 

“12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.14 Do all things without complaining and disputing,15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. 17 Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me.”-Philippians 2:12-18

As I consider the context from which the prison epistles are written, I am reminded that many of the places that Paul was incarcerated were dark, damp, dingy places. In addition to this, his movement was restricted and he was isolated from regular contact with friends and family. Yet, from within that perspective Paul wrote about the necessity of being light in the midst of darkness. Sometimes, that means, we may have to be the light in the midst of our own darkness.

Paul’s surroundings were reflective of a greater spiritual darkness that was pervading the culture and an entire generation of people. The world itself was and is growing increasingly dark. However, Paul did not dismay over the darkness, but saw the darkness as an opportunity to shine. 

Darkness can be overwhelming. It can stop us in our tracks, keeping us from moving forward. It can cause us to lose sight and become disoriented. It can cause to feel alone and incite fear. However, darkness also creates an opportunity for us to shine in the midst of it. 

Paul instruction to “shine as lights in the world” is simply reinforcing Jesus’ teaching from Matthew 5:14-16: 14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

As believers it is easy for us to focus on how dark the world is getting, without being concerned with how dimly we are shining in it. Should not the church of the living God be a bright beacon in the midst of the darkness? Why then does it seem as though we are more of nightlight than we are a lighthouse?

Perhaps it is because we are, as the ancient proverb states, spending too much of our time cursing the darkness rather than shining as lights in it. Unfortunately the body of Christ has become proficient at cursing what is evil and less proficient as being light to the lost and hurting.

Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church