May 8, 2024, Day 4 of Week 6

Daily Dose of Hope

May 8, 2024

Day 4 of Week 6

Scripture – Exodus 25-27; Psalm 90; Philippians 1

Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional that complements New Hope Church’s five day a week Bible reading plan.  We have a lot to cover today so let’s get right to it. 

In Exodus 25, we find God giving instructions for how to build a place of worship.  The instructions are very specific and they require sacrificial offerings on the part of the people.  God is God.  He could have easily provided all the different kinds of woods, stones, oils, leather, and other things required, but instead he asks the people to provide these various elements for worship themselves.  This required sacrifice and hard work. 

Even today, there is something deeply meaningful when people give sacrificially to provide for the worship of God.  When we were in Cuba several years ago, our team brought a large amount of satin fabric with us.  It was for the church to use as they saw fit.  In less than twenty-four hours, some of the ladies in the church had created beautiful and elaborate vestments to cover the communion table and other gorgeous curtains to hang around the outdoor worship area.  They must have stayed up all night to create these items in such a short time.  It was their sacrifice for the worship of God.  What sacrifice do you bring to the worship of God in our setting?

I’d really like to take some take and talk a bit about chapter 26.  I'm not a detail-oriented person so the details in this chapter make my head spin a bit.  There were layers upon layers of curtains, inner curtains and outer curtains, and covering layers.  The purpose of these curtains and covering layers were mainly functional but their beauty, exquisiteness, and the precision with which Scripture details them certainly underscores the importance of this place.  This was where the holy, loving, and protective presence of God was "housed."  While God's presence was invisible, the extraordinary symbols in this place were a reminder to the people that God was there. 

Towards the end of the chapter, there are details about the curtain that would separate the holy place from the most holy place, some translations say "holiest of holies."  In this place, the ark of the covenant would be positioned, representing the presence of God himself.  The ark was definitely a beautiful object, with much silver and gold.  The interesting thing to me is that this was an object that the Israelites, even the Levites, never laid eyes on.  God put all kinds of protective elements in place (i.e. the curtains in today's Scripture and layers upon layers of protective fabric) to ensure that no one saw the ark.  Why was this?  It's possible that the ark, in its beauty, and the objects within it, could have become an idol to the people.  Just as we are, they were prone to making idols of things.  It could also be that God wanted people to believe in him because of faith and not some extravagant object. 

This got me thinking. Are there certain elements in our worship that remind us of God's presence?  As products of the New Covenant, we recognize that God's presence is always with us.  We don't have to be in a church sanctuary or a special holy place to experience God.  On the other hand, there are certain places in our lives that seem to allow us to experience God in more powerful ways than others.  I've had many people mention to me that when they arrived in the New Hope sanctuary after worshiping online only (after COVID), they felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in a really strong way.  Some were moved to weeping.  What about you? Are there places that help you experience the presence of God in life-changing ways?  I would love to hear about them. God is so good, to meet us in all kinds of different places and circumstances, to hear our cries, and to simply be present with us.

Today, we are starting Paul’s letter to the Philippians.  Philippi was a Roman colony and all of its people were Roman citizens.  There was a spirit of Roman pride there; it was different from some of the areas in which the citizens felt like were under Roman occupation.  The Philippians saw themselves as Roman and were proud to live under Caesar.  It was also the first European city in which Paul planted a church.  You may recall in the book of Acts, Paul meets a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, and she becomes the first Christian convert in the area.  Lydia extended the invitation to Paul and Silas and other coworkers to come and stay at her home. Her whole household accepts Christ and is baptized.  It’s in Lydia’s home that the Philippian church begins. 

But it’s also in Philippi where Paul and Silas are beaten and thrown in prison, something that was probably excruciating for the new little church.  Acts 16 --- they sing hymns all night and God does a miracle – the doors of the prison are opened.  When the jailer realizes this, he is ready to kill himself but Paul stops him and says, “We are all here.”   This opens the door for Paul to share the Gospel message with the jailer and he believes, as does his family, and they are all baptized. 

That powerful experience truly bonds Paul to the little congregation at Philippi.  There is something about going through something very difficult or very powerful with people that bond you in a way that is hard to describe.  Thus, Paul is forever bonded to this group of people.  And they remain in touch.  He visits them multiple times and he writes them letters.  The letter we have that Paul writes to his dear brothers and sisters in Philippi is probably one of Paul’s last letters.  It is written from prison, possibly in Rome. 

After reading chapter one, it’s obvious that Paul has a deep love and affection for these people.  He is grateful for them.  While in prison, the Philippians have sent him money and supplies (they were the only one of Paul’s churches to do so), most likely at great sacrifice to themselves.  They send these gifts through a man named Epaphroditus and he is the one who returns with this letter.  If you think about Paul’s letters in the New Testament, usually he is upset with the church for something or he is giving them warnings.  But the tone of this letter is totally different.  Paul is longing for the Philippians, he has deep affection for them.  They are partners in the Gospel and he is so very thankful for that. 

This is some of my favorite Scripture, so humor me a bit as I read through some of the passage.  These are verses 9-14, And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.  Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.  As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.

Just in case you have forgotten, Paul is writing this letter about being thankful and grateful while sitting in a dank, Roman prison cell.  He is voicing this gratitude from prison.  How many people can be truly grateful in such circumstances?  I think it’s important to point out that this is the power of the Gospel.  In the midst of extreme hardship, Paul finds a way to be grateful.  He is witnessing to the prison guards and they are coming to know Jesus.  He knows that his situation has inspired the rest of the Philippian church to not be fearful about preaching Jesus.  There are all these forces at work that would normally rob him of any sense of well-being, and yet this sense of gratitude just wells up within him.  What the enemy meant for evil, God used for his good and Paul can see that, trust that, believe that, know that from the center of his very being. 

How convicting!  I get one person complaining or saying something hurtful and I’m complaining and even wallowing.  But Paul didn’t do that.  He was grateful for each circumstance, knowing that God could and would use that to advance the Gospel.  Has there been someone in your life who is seemingly surrounded by horrible circumstances, maybe they are dealing with the evils of aggressive cancer or chronic pain?  Maybe they are healing from intense grief or some other hardship? And yet, they are grateful in the midst of it.  It doesn’t mean they are free from pain and they don’t cry (normal human things) but they truly see each new day as a gift.  I’ve known a few of those people like that but not a lot.  And their lives are a witness to the those around them of the power of the Gospel.  It is totally a counterintuitive thing --- I’m dying of cancer, I’m in pain, and yet I’m grateful for this new day.  That is the power of Jesus Christ working in us.  Trusting that God is in control and we are not.

There is so much more in this chapter but I’m going to stop here.  I think we need to just kind of meditate on this. 

Thankfulness is not a feeling.  I think we can see that from today’s Scripture.  Paul probably had all kinds of human feelings – hunger, pain, fatigue.  But he made a decision to be grateful.  He made a decision to demonstrate thanksgiving.  Let’s be clear, it was only because of the Gospel --- the power of Jesus in him --- he could be truly grateful.  Friends, we have a choice on how we do life.  One way honors God.  One way witnesses to the power of the Gospel of Jesus.  We have a choice. 

Friends, John writes that the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.  Can you claim that?  He that is in YOU is greater than he that is in the world!  Not in your own power, but through the power of Jesus within us, we can live grateful lives.  Not lives in which we are complaining all the time, not lives in which the world looks at us and says what a miserable person, not lives in which we are cynical and angry and bitter.  But lives in which, in the midst of hardship, gratitude wells up within us.  

Blessings,

Pastor Vicki