Detours That End in Joy

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.  (Philippians 1:12 ESV) Not many times do we see detours and obstacles as positive. We often think of them as a hinderance and as an inconvenience. But Jesus changes everything. In Him our “detours” become His advances for the good news to us and to others.

Here at International Lutheran Church over the course of the next few weeks we will be reading through Paul’s letter to the Christian congregation in Philippi (see Acts 16:1-40). Known as the Epistle of Joy, the Book of Philippians was most likely authored by the Apostle Paul (Philippians 1:1) during his Roman imprisonment as recorded in Acts 28:14-31. Luke records for us how Paul was able to minister to many guests as well as the guard that was at the other end of the chain Paul was shackled to in his own rented home. The one feature that exudes from each page is this amazing joy that Paul experiences.

Let’s be honest. Most of us don’t usually meet challenges and difficulties with a smile. At least for me, the first sign of trouble or hardship usually sends me into complaint mode. Like the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16) in Jesus’ parable of the Kingdom of Heaven, I can easily feel like I am being treated unfairly. All I seem to be able to focus on is the “heat of the day” rather than the generosity of the Master. Thanks be to God that He is a God of grace and mercy. While He certainly does not take pleasure in our “elder brother” attitude, still He comes to you and me and invites us to enter His joy and experience His generosity as our joy.

This joy of Jesus is what ultimately changes Paul, and ultimately changes you and me. The writer to the Hebrews notes that “for the joy set before Him (that is Jesus), He endured the cross, despising its shame.” (Hebrews 12:2) This is the same joy that ultimately fills Paul even as he is chained to a guard. This is the same joy that fills you and me as we experience how God works in and through the difficulties, challenges, detours, and obstacles in our lives. Paul could even see how his chains that restrained his physical movement, actually released others to share the Gospel more freely and more boldly. Yes, God does use the cross in your life and mine to display His cross to others.

As the Spirit molds and shapes us this week, even inviting us to see how He uses the challenges in our day to bring others into His joy, we too are filled with joy. And we with Paul pray, as he did for the sisters and brothers of Philippi, that our “love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that we may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.” (Philippians 1:9-10)

Pastor Carl