Victory Over Worry (preaching resource for Advent 3: 12/15/24)
This exegesis of Philippians 4:1-9 provides context for the RCL Epistles reading on 12/15/24 (Advent 3). Insights are drawn from commentary by Warren Wiersbe ("Bible Expository Commentary") and Francis Foulkes ("New Bible Commentary").
Introduction
We begin with Philippians 4:1-5:
1 Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends! 2 I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. 3 Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. 4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
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| Fresco of Two Roman Women (public domain via Wikimedia Commons |
In Philippians chapter 3, Paul exhorts us to live out of our true identity, which is our inclusion, by grace, in Jesus’ love and life. And now in chapter 4, he exhorts us to stand firm in that identity. He has in mind the serious disagreement between Euodia and Syntyche—two (likely Roman) women who were leaders of the church at Philippi. They had stood firm together in Christ in the past, serving actively “the cause of the gospel” (Phio 4:3b). But now they are failing to live in the gospel's “pattern” (Phil 3:17). So Paul pleads with them to “agree with each other in the Lord” (Phil 4:2), and calls upon another leader in the congregation (his “loyal yokefellow”), to help these women resolve their differences—not within their own self-will, but “in the Lord.”
Then in Phil 4:4, Paul gives a wonderful summary exhortation: “Rejoice in the Lord always.” He repeats himself for emphasis: “I will say it again: Rejoice!” And then he adds in verse 5, (perhaps targeting the arguing women): “Let your gentleness [‘good sense’, NJB; ‘courtesy’, Knox] be evident to all. The Lord is near.” Jesus is present with us at all times and our behavior should reflect that reality.
Rejoice in the Lord always! That’s a wonderful idea, but hard to live by when things are a mess; like that created by these two leading women. If anybody had reason to worry instead of rejoice, it was Paul. Here two of his trusted co-workers are bickering, and their division is hurting the church at Philippi. Paul faced similar problems in the church at Rome (Phil 1:14–17). Added to these worries was the real possibility of his martyrdom at the hands of the Roman authorities. Yes, Paul had many reasons to worry—but he did not! Instead, he took time to explain to us how we too may experience victory over worry. Notice Paul’s exhortation in Phil 4:6a: "Do not be anxious about anything…"
The Greek word translated “anxious” means “to be pulled in different directions.” Our hopes pull us one way and our fears another. We are pulled apart! The Old English root from which we get our word “worry” means “to strangle.” Worry does that to you—it has debilitating emotional and physical consequences. It can strangle the life (and certainly the joy) right out of you! So we need to stop worrying. But it’s not enough to simply tell ourselves to “quit worrying.” Why? Because more than good intentions are needed to achieve victory over worry. However, there is a viable source of victory over worry, namely, “the peace of God,” which “will guard [like a soldier] your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:7). When our minds are being “baptized” by the Spirit, in Jesus’ own life and love—when we are drinking deeply of his own assurance—then security in him is ours—God’s supernatural “peace” becomes the guardian of our minds and hearts and our worry washes away.
So the antidote to worry is to share actively, in the Spirit, the thinking and living of Jesus. But how do we do that? Paul offers three strategies—all having to do with going deeper in our communion with the Father, Son and Spirit: right praying (Phil 4:6–7), right thinking (Phil 4:8) and right living (Phil 4:9).
1. Right praying
Phil 4:6–7
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Paul does not glibly say, “just pray about it.” No, he takes us much deeper, telling us of three aspects of intimate, prayerful communion with God in prayer, petition and thanksgiving.
a. Prayer
“By prayer” means literally “by worship” with the idea of addressing God in adoration. Whenever we find ourselves worrying, our first action ought to be to get alone with God and worship him. This act of surrender turns our minds and hearts to God’s greatness and majesty. It reminds us that God is far bigger than our problems. Too often in prayer we rush into his presence to hastily list our needs, when we ought to slow down and approach his throne with awe and gratitude for who he is. As we do, we see more clearly and hold close more dearly our very great and loving Abba, Father. And our hearts are calmed.
b. Petition
This is the word for the earnest, prayerful sharing with God of our needs and problems. While we know we are not heard because of “many words” (Mat 6:7–8), still we realize that our Father wants us to be earnest in asking (Mat 7:1–11). Jesus brought his petitions with great fervor to his Father in the Garden (Heb 5:7). However, petition is not a matter of carnal energy but of spiritual intensity (Rom 15:30; Col 4:12).
c. Thanksgiving
Our Heavenly Father enjoys hearing his children say, “Thank you!” When Jesus healed ten lepers, only one returned to give thanks (Luke 17:11–19). Is the percentage any higher today? It seems that we are quick to ask but slow to appreciate.
This “right praying” is not casual or formulaic—it flows from a heart and mind aligned through the Spirit with Jesus. This is why Paul gives this prescription for victory over worry at the end of Philippians. If we have the single mind of Philippians 1, we can give adoration (a double-minded person has a hard time praising God). If we have the submissive mind of Philippians 2, we can come to God with petition (a proud person finds it hard to ask God for help). And if we have the spiritual mind of Philippians 3, we can show thanksgiving (a fleshly minded person will not acknowledge that God had given them anything to appreciate). So we must practice Philippians 1, 2, and 3 if we are going to experience the secure mind of Philippians 4.
So to sum up, Paul’s advice is this: “Don’t worry about anything, but pray about everything!” But we don’t always do that, do we? Rather, we are prone to pray about “big things” and fail to pray about “all things”—especially the “little things”—until they become the “big things”! Talking to God about everything that concerns us and him is the first step toward victory over worry. Anxiety and prayer are more opposed to each other than fire and water, because as we pray our minds are baptized in God’s own peace, and worry is washed away. The peace of God is not the absence of trials on the outside, but it means quiet assurance on the inside.
So the first strategy for victory over worry is right praying. The second is right thinking.
2. Right thinking
Phil 4:8
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-- think about such things.
Peace involves the heart and the mind.“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee” (Isa 26:3, KJV). Wrong thinking leads to wrong feeling, and before long the heart and mind are pulled apart and we are strangled by worry. Thoughts are real and powerful, even though they cannot be seen, weighed, or measured. We must “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2Cor 10:5). Paul spells out in detail the things we ought to think about as Christians:
a. Whatever is true
Several years ago, a researcher named Walter Cavert reported a survey on worry that indicated that only 8 percent of the things people worried about were legitimate matters of concern. The other 92 percent were either imaginary, never happened, or involved matters over which the people had no control anyway. Satan is the ultimate liar (John 8:44), and he wants to corrupt our minds with his lies (2Cor 11:3). “Yea, hath God said?” is the way he approaches us, just as he approached Eve (Gen 3:1ff). The Holy Spirit directs our minds through truth (John 17:17; 1John 5:6), but the devil tries to control them through his lies. So we must bathe our minds in the truth. And Jesus, and the things of Jesus, are what is true.
b. Whatever is noble and right
This means “worthy of respect and right.” There are many things that are not respectable, and Christians should not think about those things. This does not mean we hide our heads in the sand and avoid what is unpleasant and displeasing, but it does mean we do not focus our attention on dishonorable things and permit them to control our thoughts.
c. Whatever is pure, lovely, and admirable
“Pure” probably refers to moral purity, since the people then, as now, were bombarded by temptations to sexual impurity (Eph 4:17–24; 5:8–12). “Lovely” means “beautiful, attractive.” “Admirable” means “worth talking about, appealing.” We need to seek to major on the high and noble thoughts, not the base thoughts of a corrupt world.
d. Whatever is excellent or praiseworthy
Excellent mean virtuous. That which is excellent takes us to a higher level; and if it praiseworthy, it is worth commending to others. We can’t afford to waste “mind power” on thoughts that tear us and others down.
When we compare this list to David’s description of the Word of God in Psalm 19:7–9, we find a parallel. The Christian whose minds and hearts are being baptized in the mind of Jesus, revealed in the Scriptures, will have a “built-in radar” for detecting wrong thoughts. Right thinking results from daily study and meditation in Scripture, the written word of God, which reveals to us the living Word of God, Jesus.
3. Right living
Phil 4:9
9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
There is a relationship between outward action and inward attitude. Unless the conscience is seared, sin results in unrest, while obedient living results in peace of mind. “The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever” (Isa. 32:17). Right living leads to the peace of God. Of course, none of us lives perfectly—none is entirely free from sin. We all need (and in Christ we have) God’s forgiveness. But as our lives are more fully aligned with the patterns of Jesus’ right living, we experience greater levels of inner peace.
Paul balances in Phil 4:9: “learned” and “received,” and “heard” and “seen.” It is one thing to learn a truth, but quite another to receive it inwardly and make it a part of our inner person (see 1Thes 2:13). Facts in the head are not enough; we must also have truths in the heart. In Paul’s ministry, he not only taught the gospel, but also lived it so that his listeners could see the truth in his life. Like Paul, we are called to learn the gospel, receive it, hear it, and do it. “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (James 1:22).
This “peace of God” is one test of whether or not we are in God’s will. “Let the peace that Christ can give keep on acting as umpire in your hearts” (Col 3:15, Williams translation). If we are walking with the Lord, the God of peace exercises his influence over our hearts. But when we walk contrary to God’s will, we lose that peace. This is the Spirit leading us to confess our sin to God, be reassured of God’s forgiveness, and follow the Spirit’s lead back to obedience. Peace results.
Conclusion
Right praying, right thinking, and right living are three vital strategies for experiencing victory over worry. All three involve abiding in Christ—participating actively in the thinking and living of Jesus. As we abide, our Triune God of peace works to grant us his supernatural peace, and as we flow in it, our worry is washed away. May the peace of the Father, Son and Spirit be yours in abundance!