Resurrection Lutheran Church, St Catharines

Work Out Your Salvation in the Humble Sufferings of Christ

Today we continue in our Epistle Readings that work through St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians, which he wrote to respond to their concern for him when they found out that he was in prison. In his own time of suffering St. Paul took the opportunity to teach them about the place of suffering in the life of the Christian.

Last Sunday we heard how this suffering, which seems like an alien invasion into the life of the Christian, actually serves for the advance of the Gospel. There can be good things that come out of suffering. It can discipline us and strengthen us in both body and spirit. And when our strength and hope and faith through suffering are revealed, not only are we reminded of the salvation that is ours through the suffering and death of Jesus Christ, but others also come to know of the reason for the hope that is in us. The guards and visitors of St. Paul while he was in prison came to know more about Jesus Christ.

Our hope and endurance through suffering also serves as an example and encouragement for others not to be afraid of suffering. You would think that when Paul was arrested for preaching about the resurrection of Jesus, that other Christian preachers would have gone silent into hiding, but the surprising result was that they preached about Jesus even more boldly so that the good news of forgiveness and salvation in Jesus was preached all the more.

With confidence that God was still with him and still at work in and through him, Paul could place his life in the hands of his Saviour. “Whether he lived or died” he could leave in God’s hands. The merciful Lord Jesus would make the choice and it would be beneficial either way.

After writing in his Epistle to the Philippians about (1) how suffering serves for the advance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; he went on to say (2) that we each need to work out our salvation in light of the humble suffering of Jesus; (3) that we can press on through suffering in the righteousness that we have in Jesus; and (4) therefore also rejoice in our salvation even while we are suffering. Today, we consider St. Paul’s direction that we each need to work out our salvation in light of the humble suffering of Jesus Christ.

Because suffering seems antithetical to the life of God’s children, it can be an attack against our faith. It seems like God must be against us and not defending, sheltering, or protecting us. Last week we heard how that is not the case. Rather, our suffering identifies us as God’s children, for our suffering proclaims the suffering of Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God.

Yet because it feels alien and strange to us, we struggle to come to terms with our suffering and with the suffering of others that we observe. We become defensive and guarded against one another. They might accuse of suffering for doing something wrong, or we might be all too aware that we have done some things wrong. In response or in order to stave that off, we can become aggressive toward others and try to hit them where it hurts before they hit us where we are suffering. When we should be the most supportive of one another we find ways to antagonize one another.

St. Paul knew that fallen human nature resorts to such tactics in a defensive posture to suffering. He was a fallen, sinful human being himself and he was surrounded by the same (even among his beloved brothers and sisters in Christ). He was familiar with the ways that even Christians can be at strife with one another because of the provocation of our suffering.

So, the apostle, suffering in chains and aware that the Christians in Philippi wanted to do something to relieve his suffering, told them: “complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:2-4). Get along! Stop arguing among yourselves! Work together. Put away your enmity and jealousy. Love one another. Serve one another. Look out for each other.

Perhaps you have witnessed family members gathered around the sick bed. They have come to support and care for their loved one in their time of suffering. But they cannot stop bickering and arguing with one another. There are resentful glances between them, and insinuating comments, and sometimes even sharp tongues and raised voices in the very presence of the one they have come to comfort. Obviously they are not bringing any comfort but only increasing the suffering by adding emotional turmoil to the physical affliction. Sometimes, someone has to leave the room, and the invalid sometimes wishes it could be them.

It can happen even when not in the physical presence of one another. If someone who is having health struggles is aware that their family members are so angry with one another that they are not talking with each other, the strain on the family ties is felt most on the family member who is dealing with the greatest affliction and may not even be directly involved in the conflict themselves. St. Paul could feel that too, even when separated by distance from the people in the congregations that he served. The strife in the faraway churches had its effect on him while in prison.

So, if you want to relieve the suffering of others, then get along with one another. Put away your arguments and resentments and love one another. If you want to do something nice for the one who is suffering, then be nice to each other, even more, love each other; serve one another; count others more significant than yourselves.

But how is this possible, when suffering among fallen, sinful people tends to increase strife and enmity? It is possible by the same divine miracle of God by which the persecution of the great apostle Paul resulted in the advance of the Gospel, not silencing his preaching but increasing his own confidence and the boldness of other preachers of the Gospel. It is possible by the same divine miracle of God that your suffering proclaims, not a God who has abandoned you but one who gives you hope and peace and joy as you bear your afflictions. It is a divine working of the Holy Spirit through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Think about it like this, says St. Paul, and then he gives us some beautiful hymn verses about Jesus:

who, though He was in the form of God,

did not count equality with God

a thing to be grasped,

but made Himself nothing,

taking the form of a servant,

being born in the likeness of men. 

And being found in human form, He humbled Himself

by becoming obedient to the point of death,

even death on a cross. 

Therefore God has highly exalted Him

and bestowed on Him the name

that is above every name, 

so that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (2:6-11).

It is a divine miracle of the Holy Spirit that God has given you the mind of Christ, that you might see Him at work in and through you, not only as you bear your sufferings in mind of Christ’s sufferings but also that you bear with one another as Christ the Saviour bears with you and your sins. You are united to Christ, not only in your sufferings but also in His humiliation and exaltation.

Christ, the eternal, divine, holy Son of God had nothing to gain by lowering Himself in order to honour you. Yet, He took on our human nature, our weakness and frailty, our mortality, our capacity for suffering. He even took on our sins, having none of His own to bear. He did this for your salvation and the salvation of your family members and the salvation of your enemies.

It was extraordinary suffering, voluntarily taken on in obedience to the heavenly Father’s will that there be a way for your sins to be forgiven and for you to be exalted into His presence and live eternally in His love, separated from sin, suffering, and strife forever.

Because the eternal Son of God was willing to do this, the Father has exalted Him to His right hand (in both His divine and human natures) and given Him the very name by which all praise and honour is offered to God; the name that is above every name; the name at which all creation must bow and confess; the holy name that was placed upon you at your Baptism, which united you to the One who came in human flesh for that very purpose. You are united to the Christ who has passed through suffering and death and is exalted on high in heaven.

So now, says St. Paul, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (2:12). Sit down and meditate upon this until you figure it out. As a Lutheran you are taught to ask, “What does this mean?” What does it mean that the Son of God took on our nature to suffer and die for us, who sin against Him and His beloved people? What does it mean that He has saved us from our sins through humbling Himself to death and has united us to Himself through Holy Baptism?

It is through our union to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, that our sins are forgiven and we are able to put away all strife and malice; and to love and serve others and look out for their interests and regard them as more significant than ourselves. Fear and tremble at the awesome mystery, the grand calling, the inestimable grace that has been extended to you; and consider what you extend toward others when you are suffering or when you are agitated by the suffering of those around you.

“It is God who works in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (2:13). It is a divine miracle, the work of God the Holy Spirit through testimony of the Gospel of Jesus. How else would it be possible for you to think this way while there is so much turmoil of body, mind, and spirit during times of suffering? Just work it out; consider Jesus; meditate on His humiliation and exaltation; hold fast to the Word of Life; remember your Baptism. The Holy Spirit thus works it out in you, so that you shine like a light in this crooked and perverse generation. In the way that you respond to suffering, you become a beacon of hope and peace to a twisted world that only knows how to respond to suffering with spite and enmity and conflict.

It is possible because it is a work of God, not of your own. Paul could not only point to two examples, but was willing to send these two men away from caring for himself in order that they might minister to the Christians in Philippi. He was going to send Timothy who was genuinely concerned for their welfare, “for they all seek their own interests and not those of Jesus Christ” (2:21). And Paul would also send back to them Epaphroditus whom they had sent to care for Paul, “for he has been longing for you all” (2:26).

It is never easy to suffer. It is never pleasant to suffer or to watch someone else suffer. We should never glory in our suffering, but we should see Jesus and His glory there. We should be reminded of His suffering for us and for all upon the cross. We should be reminded of His glorious victory and His resurrection from the dead. We should take to heart the promises that He has given to us of our deliverance and resurrection, and contemplate the mystery that “it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him but also suffer for His sake” (Philippians 1:29).