These Things

"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praise worthy -meditate on these things. 9 the things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you."
Philippians 4:8-9

Paul is writing to the believers at Philippi. They have had false teachers come in and try to lead them astray. They had taken a collection for Paul, and were sending it to him in Rome, where he was in prison. Paul is trying to encourage them, and to remind them that it isn't the keeping of the rules, regulations, and rituals that makes us Christ's. It is being born again, and putting away the former things, the old ways, and putting on the new man, and allowing Christ to work in us and through us. So he comes to the end of this little book, and speaks of the peace of God that goes far beyond human wisdom and understanding. And now, he is reminding us of the kinds of things with which we need to fill our minds and hearts, to exemplify godly character.

We as believers, even in the year in which we live, with all its technological advances and "intellectual prowess," are to think, to meditate, to reason on what is true, noble, just, pure, lovely, and of good report. If there is anything of virtue, or if anything is worthy of praise, those are the things we are to think upon, to meditate upon. The world's tendency, and even in the church, our tendency is to think about what is lowly, the latest gossip, getting even, how to cut corners and not get caught, things not so lovely, believing and taking part in character assassination, and it is no wonder we are not making a difference out there. As believers, we need to be different than the world. So much so that there is a marked difference, not just a difference on the inside. The way we act needs to be different. The way we speak needs to be different. We need not be gossiping, because the world does that (not to mention that the Bible warns against it). We need not be conniving and sneaking behind peoples backs. We need not be letting words come out of our mouths that are not seasoned with peace. And we all have been guilty of this. But it is time for Christians to be Christians in more than in name only. It is time to realize that the church is not for us, but that we are the church, and that we exist for God.

So my encouragement this morning, beloved, is to make it a point in our lives as believers, to ignore the tendency to believe the worst about someone, and look for the positive. Look for the higher purpose, the thread or glimpse of God's truth in a situation, how we can keep our hands out of and off of a situation and allow God to work His justice. Let us make it a point to focus our gaze on the purity of God, not the impurities of men, and let us allow the goodness of God to reach into our hearts as we go through the darkness, and allow Him to touch us in the deepness and softness of our hearts. Let us concentrate on perpetuating the goodness of fellow believers, instead of looking for the bad to make ourselves feel better. Let us look for the virtue in people, not their faults, and then let us give praise to God for that.

Here is the thing. When we meditate on these things which Paul lists here: what is true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, having any virtue, anything praiseworthy, the focus moves from human beings, to the Creator of human beings. Our focus shifts from "Look what he did to me" to "Wow, God! You are so awesome!" And that is the better thing anyway. Is it hard work? Sometimes. Will it take effort on my part? You bet. Will I get burned in the process? Perhaps. But as Paul writes to these Phlippians from his jail cell, he can rejoice in the Lord, because his circumstances are not his focus; people are not his focus. He is focused on Jesus Christ. And when we do that, beloved, all the pettiness that this world and the devil wants us to get caught up in, just fades away, because when it is all about Christ, then it is for sure not about us. Amen? Amen.