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Musings on Faith #75 Expectation, Hope, Courage | |
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"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain (Philippians 1:20-21, NIV)." The last sentence of this passage (verse 21) is the oft-quoted one, but I want us to look at the verse preceding it. Paul 'says a mouthful' in this one verse, concerning his attitude ("eagerly"), his hopeful expectation, his desire not to be ashamed concerning Christ, and his service to Christ, and his hope that he will have the courage not to fail his Lord, so that whether he lived or died, his body would be a source of exaltation of Christ. May we wish as much! And how are we to be able to say these same words concerning ourselves? We must have an attitude of constant expectation concerning our devotion and service to our Lord, maintained by a continual living of our relationship with Him, through prayer, study of His Word, meditation upon that Word, and listening attentively to the leading of the Holy Spirit. And we must have hope, founded in the promise of Christ, that through that relationship we will not embarrass ourselves or our Lord, but that we will have the courage, borne of Christ, |
through that indwelling Spirit, that we might always exalt Him in our every action and word, and even in death, that our witness and our service will be found pleasing in His sight. Paul speaks of himself in this passage, but let us read it as our own words, with that same expectation, that same hope, that same desire not to bring shame to ourselves or our Lord, that same wish not to be found wanting but to have "sufficient courage" to exalt Christ, both in life and in death. Concerning that last part, "or by death", let us commit ourselves with solemnity, if faced with oppression because of our faith, if literally faced with death because of our profession of Jesus Christ as both our Savior and our Lord, that our last words will be an affirmation of that profession, that we may die as Christ died, forgiving even those who took His life. In this way, we will, with our dying breath, witness to those who slay us the love of God which lives in us and through us. Paul was facing this possibility when he wrote this letter to the Believers at Philippi. We, too, may come to a point where we face the prospect of being ashamed, or of having the courage to bear witness for Christ, to the last. Yours in Christ, Tom Woodard |
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