Getting dressed

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

Be ready! Let the truth be like a belt around your waist, and let God’s justice protect you like armor. Your desire to tell the good news about peace should be like shoes on your feet. Let your faith be like a shield, and you will be able to stop all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Let God’s saving power be like a helmet, and for a sword use God’s message that comes from the Spirit.

In the face of opposition and misunderstanding, of anger and attack, I get up. I get ready to face the world. I remember who and where I am.

Romans 13 tells me that I can’t afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in sleeping around and dissipation, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight. I should get out of bed and get dressed, not loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. I need to dress myself in Christ, and be up and about!

Yes, but how?

I clothe myself.

I search in the wardrobe of my soul
for a shirt of compassion.

Its neck is high, as close to my 
wanting-to-be-angry mouth
as it can get.
When I open my lips to retort
the collar tickles my chin
reminding me to speak in tolerance
and mercy.

I put my arms
into sleeves of kindness,
the cuffs
drooping down over my hands,
encouraging me to care.

Around my neck
I hang the heavy necklace of humility
weighing down my pride and arrogance.

I throw a shawl of gentleness
around my shoulders
hoping to keep it on
even when the atmosphere is hot.

I carry a bag of patience
wishing to dole some out to others, too.

And...forgiveness. Forgiveness 
lives in a tiny purse.

But love. 
Love is more important than anything else.
Love is what ties everything completely together.
Love is a coat, covering all.
Love is a basic, all-purpose garment.

May I never be without it.

But life is more than this. More than just clothes. I wear uniform. I am like a soldier in the Lord's army. I am to "Let the truth be like a belt around (my) waist, and let God’s justice protect (me) like armour. (My) desire to tell the good news about peace should be like shoes on (my)feet. Let (my) faith be like a shield, and (I) will be able to stop all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Let God’s saving power be like a helmet, and for a sword use God’s message that comes from the Spirit."

What is the war? The war is living a God-honouring life in a day-to-day difficult world. The war is responding with grace when I want to respond with ghastliness. The war is unwinnable if I do not put the uniform and armour on.

And so:

Truth is the belt which holds my trousers up, keeps me together. 
The truth that God loves me - and my protagonist - so much that Jesus died because of what I have done.

God's justice is a thick winter coat which protects me from the elements.
I am safe and protected from attack, because God is just and will defend me.

A willingness to speak about God's good news for us is the shoes on my feet, taking me places I want to go, taking me places I don't want to go...
When I accept this gift of new shoes in a new life, I accept the responsibility which comes with wearing them. A responsibility to use words and actions to tell about what God has done.

Faith is an umbrella which protects me from the rain of evil.
Sometimes, I just have to shelter beneath this, I know that God loves me, no matter what happens.

The knowledge that God has saved me - ME! - is a warm woolly hat.
And I pray that this knowledge remains uppermost in my mind, regardless of what I - or others - do.

And spirit-filled messages in my mind and in my mouth fight evil.
So, when I know I am loved and saved and redeemed by grace, I can remain open to God speaking into my heart and mind and share what He gives me with others.

There is always more...

A day after I jotted down a few reflections on Philippians 1 and 2, I reflected on how I pen a few words, scratching at the surface of meaning, and am satisfied. For a while. Because there is ALWAYS MORE.

And so it was today, as I looked again at Philippians 2 and found this:

What I’m getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you’ve done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I’m separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure. (vv 12 - 13, The Message)

I need:

right actions

good attitude

an appreciation that it is God who works in me to make me willing and help me act the right way.

Do everything readily and cheerfully—no bickering, no second-guessing allowed! Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night so I’ll have good cause to be proud of you on the day that Christ returns. You’ll be living proof that I didn’t go to all this work for nothing. (vv14 - 16, The Message)

And so I can

have the right attitude as I do everything cheerfully,

attaining a sense of living in a God-pleasing way

announcing to the world the truth which Christ preaches.

Even if I am executed here and now, I’ll rejoice in being an element in the offering of your faith that you make on Christ’s altar, a part of your rejoicing. But turnabout’s fair play—you must join me in my rejoicing. Whatever you do, don’t feel sorry for me. (vv17 - 18, The Message)

Because

we appreciate each other for our efforts to live as Jesus wants us to.

As Paul rejoices over the Philippians faith, let us, too, keep encouraging each other along The Way...

Living well under pressure

We’ve all been there: we’ve lost the car keys, can’t find a favourite scarf, the phone rings as we’re rushing out the door and then we get to work and realise we’ve left our lunch behind! The pressure builds as easily as a kettle on the boil and there’s no escaping it.

I had a day like that which began less than twelve hours after I jotted down this title. Computer glitches, covering lessons in my ‘catch up on marking and admin time’, misunderstandings with colleagues...the pressure piled up until I nearly burst into tears. Nothing, of course, like my friend Lisa in Tanzania whose journey home included a flat battery, crazy driving from other road users, a man who pretended he had been injured by their car, riot police at the border crossing and a forest fire near their home.  And nothing like the pressure that so many people endure daily all over the world: just the pressure of finding food for the day occupies the minds of many.

Still, it feels real and overwhelming to us.

Paul knew pressure well.

(2Corinthians 11:23 – 27 I’ve worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death’s door time after time. I’ve been flogged five times with the Jews’ thirty-nine lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. I’ve been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day. In hard traveling year in and year out, I’ve had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes. I’ve been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. I’ve known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather.)

Finally, imprisoned in Rome, having suffered too many beatings and misfortunes to count, he handles the pressure so admirably that we would do well to pick up some tips from him.

So what does he do?

1.       He prays for others.

Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart. I am so pleased that you have continued on in this with us, believing and proclaiming God’s Message, from the day you heard it right up to the present. (Philippians 1:3 – 5)

2.       He looks for the benefits in his situation.

My imprisonment here has had the opposite of its intended effect. Instead of being squelched, the Message has actually prospered. All the soldiers here, and everyone else, too, found out that I’m in jail because of this Messiah. That piqued their curiosity, and now they’ve learned all about him. Not only that, but most of the followers of Jesus here have become far more sure of themselves in the faith than ever, speaking out fearlessly about God, about the Messiah. (Philippians 1:12 – 14)

3.       He doesn’t worry about what other people are doing.

So how am I to respond? I’ve decided that I really don’t care about their motives, whether mixed, bad, or indifferent. Every time one of them opens his mouth, Christ is proclaimed, so I just cheer them on! (Philippians 1:18 – 21)

4.       He gives practical advice to those in his care.

Meanwhile, live in such a way that you are a credit to the Message of Christ...Stand united, singular in vision, contending for people’s trust in the Message, the good news, not flinching or dodging in the slightest before the opposition. Your courage and unity will show them what they’re up against: defeat for them, victory for you—and both because of God. (Philippians 1:27 – 28)

5.       He keeps his focus.

As long as I’m alive in this body, there is good work for me to do. If I had to choose right now, I hardly know which I’d choose. Hard choice! The desire to break camp here and be with Christ is powerful. Some days I can think of nothing better. But most days, because of what you are going through, I am sure that it’s better for me to stick it out here....

There’s far more to this life than trusting in Christ. There’s also suffering for him. And the suffering is as much a gift as the trusting. You’re involved in the same kind of struggle you saw me go through, on which you are now getting an updated report in this letter.  (Philippians 1: 22 – 24, 29 – 30, The Message)

6.       He was humble.

If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. (Philippians 2:1 – 5, The Message)

7.       He offers help.

Paul couldn’t help himself, but sent others to help. I plan (according to Jesus’ plan) to send Timothy to you very soon so he can bring back all the news of you he can gather. Oh, how that will do my heart good! I have no one quite like Timothy. He is loyal, and genuinely concerned for you. Most people around here are looking out for themselves, with little concern for the things of Jesus. But you know yourselves that Timothy’s the real thing. He’s been a devoted son to me as together we’ve delivered the Message. As soon as I see how things are going to fall out for me here, I plan to send him off. And then I’m hoping and praying to be right on his heels. But for right now, I’m dispatching Epaphroditus, my good friend and companion in my work. You sent him to help me out; now I’m sending him to help you out. He has been wanting in the worst way to get back with you. Especially since recovering from the illness you heard about, he’s been wanting to get back and reassure you that he is just fine. He nearly died, as you know, but God had mercy on him. And not only on him—he had mercy on me, too. His death would have been one huge grief piled on top of all the others. (Philippians 2:19 – 27)

So what about us?

Let us:

Pray; 

          look on the bright side; 

                    keep focused on Jesus, not worrying about what anyone else is or isn’t doing; 

                                give help and advice.

Practical ideas? Over to you!