Sermon Series: Jesus: Everything We Need!

Unfolding Your Deck Chair 

Philippians 1:21-26

CBC, March 23, 2003

In a nutshell: Dilemmas cause us to rethink our priorities and dilemmas make us rethink who is leading our lives.

I. Introduction

A. Charlie Brown and the "deck chair"

I have always appreciated the late Charles Schultz's views on life as seen through the eyes of his Peanut cartoon characters. In one of my favorite strips, Lucy is playing the philosopher, and Charlie Brown is listening to her go on and on.

Finally she says, "Charlie Brown, life is a lot like a deck chair. Some people put it so they can see where they're going. Others put it so they can see where they've been. And some place it so they can see where they are at the present time." Then Charlie Brown sighs and says, "I can't even get mine unfolded."

B. Dilemmas

I can identify with Charlie Brown, can't you? Life can be rough. Some of the choices we have to make during the course of our days or weeks or months or years can be downright hard. We can all identify with the old phrase… between a rock and a hard place. In other words, we find ourselves stuck between two decisions where an argument could be made for following either one. That kind of situation, is called a dilemma.

Experts on dilemmas tell us that there are several different kinds of dilemmas.

C. Different Kinds of Dilemmas

1. Volitional

One kind of dilemma is known as a volitional dilemma. Volitional dilemmas are those times when we want to do two things at the same time.

Illustration: Young couples, like our daughter and son-in-law, who have been married for less than three years, are often trying to finish their schooling, or working to get established in a career. While at the same time, they want to start a family. What should they do? To start having children means extra financial pressure and an even greater strain on their time and energy. But to wait several years means that they may be in their thirties, and they really want to begin parenting earlier than that. What should they do?

2. Emotional

Another kind of dilemma is what is called an emotional dilemma. Emotional dilemmas are usually more intense than volitional dilemmas. Emotional dilemmas take place when we have different feelings about the same thing.

Illustration: For example, suppose you have had a pet for many years. During that time, you have really bonded with that pet. You might even say you love that animal. But then the animal develops condition that makes living very very difficult and painful for that animal. If you've ever had a long term pet, you know the dilemma I'm describing. To provide the animal relief, means putting it to sleep. Putting it to sleep means losing your pet. Those are hard emotional options.

3. Geographical

A third kind of dilemma that we might face is what's called a geographical dilemma. Geographical dilemmas occur when we want to be in two places at the same time.

Illustration: When I knew it was best for me to leave the church in Palm Springs, both Diane and I were really torn. We had developed close and deep relationships with a number of people in that City. I had just been named one of the Fire Department chaplains. Diane had a very high level job in the senior care industry. Our daughter and son-in-law live there. I had a ministry in the motorcycling community that was growing bigger all the time. But then we met you all. We fell in love with the church family here, and with this town. Plus God put a new vision for His harvest, in my heart. -Our friends in Palm Springs were looking for non-church jobs for me. -Things were getting more and more serious with the search committee here. -Staying in Palm Springs would be great! -Moving to Bishop would be great! What should we do? That's what is called a geographical dilemma.

No matter what kind of dilemma we face, one thing is always true…dilemmas pull us in two different directions. Dilemmas cause a strain because we don't know what's the best thing to do. And just because you're older and wiser doesn't mean that you're immune from the problem. As Charlie Brown put it, sometimes its hard to unfold our deck chairs.

II. Paul's Personal Dilemma

A. Paul's Joy

Well, Paul was having problems unfolding his deck chair. If you have your Bibles with you, I'd like to invite you to turn to Philippians 1. And this morning we'll see how Paul solved a major dilemma he faced.

Philippians 1:21-24 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

Without a doubt, Paul's dearest friend, and the one with whom he had the most intimate relationship on this earth was his lord, Jesus Christ. No one else meant more to him. And the thought of being with Jesus in heaven brought a tremendous amount of joy to Paul's day. When I was thinking of what Paul must have been feeling this week, an old hymn that I grew up singing came to mind…

Jesus is all the world to me, My life, my joy, my all; He is my strength from day to day, Without him I would fall.

Jesus is all the world to me, I want no better friend; I'll trust him now, I'll trust him when Life's fleeting days shall end.

Beautiful life with such a friend; Beautiful life that has no end; Eternal life, eternal joy, He's my friend.

-When someone who lives in heaven means that much to you here on earth, you have a dilemma. Paul wanted to be with Jesus. That was his strong desire! That explains why he didn't hesitate to write, in verse 21… "to die is gain".

-But, at the same time, Paul realized that his work on earth wasn't finished. God had more that He wanted to do through Paul, here on earth. That's what caused this great dilemma in his life. As he put it, "I am torn between the two".

Now, the Greek word that Paul uses in that phrase is a word that would be used by a traveler who was describing a narrow canyon. On one side is a steep wall of rock. And on the other side is a steep wall of rock. Maybe that's where the phrase between a rock and a hard place came from.

Look at his two choices… 1. On the one hand, he had a "…desire to depart and be with Christ" (verse 23) (which is what he preferred), or

2. On the other hand, "…to remain in the body" (vs. 24)…in other words, to remain here on earth to help the Philippian Christians (which he knew was necessary!).

Let's take a look at those two choices, and I want to show you some of the benefits and liabilities of each one.

B. Two Choices

1. To Depart and be with Christ

The first choice is to "…depart and be with Christ". The Greek word that Paul uses for depart, was an outdoorsman's term. It described a person striking camp, loosening the tent ropes, pulling up the stakes and moving on. So, one of Paul's choices was to pull up the stakes on earth, and move on to be with Jesus in heaven. Obviously, we're talking about dying.

-What were the benefits of dying for Paul? Well, one thing would be that Paul would be with Jesus, instantly. He would be free of the hassles, problems, limitations and frustrations of being a missionary. He would be in heaven where…

Revelation 21:4b …there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain,

-What were the liabilities of dying? Well, Paul would have to no more contact with the Philippian Christians, who needed him to help them grow strong in their faith; he could no longer share the gospel with the Roman guards who were chained to him 24/7; his missionary activity would instantly come to an end; and he could no longer encourage people who came to visit him. So, as good as death may have seemed, it still had some liabilities.

2 To Remain in the body

The other choice was that he would remain in the body…in other words, stay alive and continue the ministry he was currently doing.

-The benefits of staying alive were obvious… He would have spiritual input into the lives of a lot of people in Rome; he could continue writing and teaching churches like the one in Philippi; and he could still take the gospel to Spain, as he had always hoped to do.

-What would be the liabilities of remaining? Well, he would be absent from his heavenly home; he would still be in prison; and his pain and suffering would undoubtedly increase under Nero's persecution of Christians. And after all the pain and suffering he'd been through in his lifetime, who needed more?

III. Making the Choice

A. Turn to God for help

Now you might be thinking, "Hey, this is the apostle Paul! He was a mature Christian. His best friend was Jesus. He should have no problem making the right choice." But friends, just because you're a mature Christian, doesn't guarantee your decisions will be easy. Dilemmas happen to everyone. In fact, according to his own words, Paul admitted in verse 22…, "I do not know." Both choices made perfect sense. Neither one of them would be wrong. Both of them had their good points. This was a real toss-up. So, what did he do? He let the Lord decide for him.

Friends, this is an important point. Because all of us are or will face dilemmas. And when you're at a point where you are unable to figure out which is the right direction to go, it is crucial that we put things in God's hands. That's what Diane and I did in our geographical dilemma, between staying in Palm Springs, or moving here to Bishop. James writes in his letter…

James 1:5 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

If you want to make the right choices in the dilemmas you face, then friends you must turn to your heavenly Father, and allow Him to be your guide, your strength, and your wisdom. Doing this acknowledges what God says about Himself…

Isaiah 55:8-9 8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. 9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

B. Jesus' Example of Prayer

In the New Testament book of Mark, chapter 14, we read about a dilemma that Jesus faced.

He was in the Garden of Gethsemane and He knew that a mob of Jewish militia men, led by one of His disciples, who had turned traitor, was gathering to arrest and capture Him. In His divine nature, He knew exactly what the next few hours would bring. -He knew there would be 39 blows of a cat-o-nine-tails on His back, that would literally shred the skin and muscles of His back like a bear's claw. -He knew that a crown of two to three inch long thorns would be pushed onto the top of his head and into His brow. -He knew that He would be slugged in the face, over and over, by a brute squad. -He knew that huge spikes would be hammered into his wrists and feet. -He knew he would be hanging by those nails on the rough wood of a cross for hours in the hot sun. -and He knew how excruciating the pain would be as He slowly suffocated to death while hanging on that cross.

His dilemma was simply this: should He avoid the pain and leave the entire human race without any hope of salvation from their sins, or should He submit willingly to the shame and pain of the cross?

Now, you may be thinking, "That's not much of a choice. Of course the cross is the way to go. It's the greater good." But, you weren't the one who had to go through the crucifixion. The example that Jesus demonstrated is one that we all need to follow when we face dilemmas…

Mark 14:32-36 32 They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." 33 He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep watch." 35 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36 "Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."

In other words, He was saying, "Father, on the one hand I want to die for the sins of the world, but on the other hand, I'm dreading the pain and suffering that I'm going to have to go through."

So, His example was He didn't make the decision himself. He laid it at the feet of His DAD! He allowed His heavenly Father to make it for him. "Not what I will, but what you will."

C. The Importance of Prayer

Friends, I can't over-emphasize the importance of prayer to you this morning. It's amazing how much peace comes when we take the pressures of our decisions off our shoulders and place them on God's shoulders. When the ball is in His court, worry is out of ours.

Paul says later in this book of Philippians…

Philippians 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.

You can sum those verses up in six words: "Worry about nothing, Pray about everything."

I love what Paul writes about God's peace in that verse seven. He says, it "will guard your hearts and minds". When he talks about peace being a "guard", he's using a military term. It's the term that was used for a sentry marching around something of value.

What he's trying to tell us is that as we transfer our troubles, difficult decisions, dilemmas, and things that frighten us…to God, God's peace is given guard duty over those things. God's peace is given the job to march around that issue like a sentry, guarding our minds and our emotions from being anxious . It's a peace that transcends all understanding.

IV. Conclusion

A. Paul's decision

So what was Paul's decision about his dilemma? " Look at verses 25 to 26…

Philippians 1:25-26 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.

Very simply… he left the decision up to God. And God gave him the choice he needed to make-Paul needed to stay around for a while. Even though leaving this life and being in heaven would have brought him freedom, and relief and rewards, Paul accepted God's decision and unselfishly kept on doing the work God wanted him to do.

B. Lessons to Learn

As I studied these verses this week, friends, two major points of application kept jumping out at me, over and over again:

1. Dilemmas make us rethink our priorities.

First of all, dilemmas make us rethink our priorities. There is nothing quite like a difficult decision to bring us back to our core values-those things that we think are of vital importance.

-If your dilemma is whether to spend more time building your business versus more time with the family, then the decision you make and your reasons for making it will show what's more important to you?

-If your dilemma involves using certain language to impress your peers in order to fit into the group, versus trying to "let your yes be yes and your no be no" and not take God's name in vain, then the decision you make and your reasons for making it will point out what is more important to you…your peers or God.

Many times if we can just clarify what our priorities are, and understand what things in life are most important to us, then it makes the decision a little bit easier.

2. Dilemmas make us rethink who is leading our lives.

A second point of application is this…dilemmas make us rethink who is leading our lives. There are a lot of different influences around us, in our world. We have TV programming, movies, radio, music, books, our friends and family, pastors, the church family, etc…and all these influences are pulling you, and not necessarily pulling you in the same direction. It can make life very confusing.

Friends, when that happens, I want to challenge you to keep an eternal perspective. That will probably put you in the minority, but you'll be right. Everything in the Bible that I read about life in general, points to the fact that if you want real, lasting, genuine joy that lasts, then put God first. Let Him be the leader in your decisions and your actions. If you follow that advice, then even though I can't promise you an easy time of it, I can promise you that you'll never regret it.

I like what Max Lucado said in his book, And the Angels Were Silent. I put his words on the front of your worship folders this morning…

"We cannot choose the weather. We can't control the economy. We can't choose whether or not we are born with a big nose or blue eyes or lots of hair. We can't even choose how people respond to us. But we can choose who we follow in life. The big choice, God leaves to us."

Friends, if you make the right choice of who to follow in life, it will make it much easier to unfold that "deck chair". I guarantee it!

Amen.