Philippians 4:4-13
Think Focused. Think Large!
Paul has urged us to think about what happened in Jesus: Hymn in 2:5-11. Think this one thing. Reason: What God said by raising and exalting Jesus was God defining the very nature of God in a new way. Yes, there have always been ways of feeling after God in sacrifices, vows, temples, myths, liturgies, care for ancestors, etc. But God chose to define God’s self by emptying, becoming human, no ordinary power, signs of care and the depth of reality, humbling, slave, death, cross. This human is God’s own self- expression! This self-giving love, service, empathy in a broken world – God, Lord!
This is your lens to bring everything into focus. (Very different from rigorous orthodoxy.) No matter who you are: Actor, mechanic, financier, social worker, educator, CEO. But through that lens you see everything. In a world of Hubble one; we need Hubble two.
Whatever is true. What a category! God is the center of reality and everything that’s true is in some way related to God, revealing the reality God built into the world. The world is open for exploration, science, history, literature, social research. Scientific method can’t have God as an object, but God includes science. Physicist, biologist, poet, creator.
Often what is true is not good, especially about humans. In literature, history, psychology, art, etc., we try to understand the potent mix of bad & good in us. True, not distorted.
Whatever is beautiful.... The bad tends to control the images & talk. We’re drawn in. In a world of slavery, conquest, no human rights, Paul says stay true to what’s deeply true.