INTRODUCTION: A middle-aged man was visiting his parents in a retirement village in Florida. He went for a swim in the community pool while his elderly father took a walk. He struck up a conversation with the only other person in the pool, a five-year-old boy. After a while, the man’s father returned from his walk and called out, “I’m ready to leave.” The man turned to his new friend and announced that he had to leave because his father was calling. Astonished, the wide-eyed little boy cried out, “You mean to tell me you’re a KID?”
Interesting how one’s perspective alters the way different people view the same object. It was that way with the chains that bound the apostle Paul. Paul was under house arrest in Rome when he wrote his letter to the Philippian church. He was bound by a chain to a guard. I think most people would be pretty depressed by a chain, don’t you?
Remember that old song, chain gang?
Ho Ha Ho HaI hear somthin’ sayin’Ho Ha Ho HaHo Ha Ho HaWell don’t you know – that’s the sound of the men – workin’ on the chain gangThat’s the sound of the men workin’ on the chain gang.All day long they’re sayin’ Ho – Ha – Ho – Ha; Ho – Ha – Ho – HaWell don’t you know – that’s the sound of the men – workin’ on the chain gangThat’s the sound of the men workin’ on the chain gang. All day long they work so hard – ‘Till the sun is going downWorkin on the highways and byways – And wearing, wearing a frownYou hear them moanin’ their lives away – Then you hear somebody say That’s the sound of the men – workin’ on the chain gangThat’s the sound of the men workin’ on the chain gang. That song typifies the way most of us would feel if we were chained up all the time. We would be “wearing a frown”, “moaning” complaining “my work is so hard”, and rightly so. Chains aren’t fun. Chains aren’t glamorous. Chains aren’t free. Chains aren’t good, chains are bad.
I know that none of us are literally in chains today. But I’m using chains to represent the negative circumstances that come into our lives. Those circumstances, issues and sometimes people that hurt us that weigh our hearts down, that depress us that restrict us. There are health issues that can feel like chains. There are financial issues that feel like chains. There are relationship issues that feel like chains. There are job issues that feel like chains and act as chains in our lives trapping us and limiting our freedom; but not for Paul.
Paul was attached to a LITERAL chain but Paul had a PERSPECTIVE that enabled him to reflect on his chains with hope and courage and even joy. The perspective that Paul had was a GOSPEL perspective. Paul’s gospel perspective is one that we need to adopt. However, a gospel perspective is very challenging to adopt and then, once we have it, it’s hard to maintain it. We need to be REMINDED to maintain a gospel perspective frequently. When we do succeed in gaining a gospel perspective, it changes the way we look at everything – even our chains.
Before I proceed to my three main points, I want to say a word about the gospel and that is to define it. What is the gospel? The meaning of a word like “gospel” is sometimes diluted from overuse. We hear about gospel singing, gospel preaching, and the gospel truth. The word “gospel” literally means “good news” and specifically refers to the good news of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection for purpose of saving us from our sins.
I Corinthians 15:1-4 “Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”
That defines the gospel pretty clearly doesn’t it? And not only does Paul define it for us but he re-emphasizes the IMPORTANCE of the gospel by saying he passed it on as of “first importance.” That’s really the point of my whole message today. The gospel is of first importance…or at least it SHOULD be. When the gospel becomes important in our list of priorities, in fact of FIRST importance in our list of priorities, then it has the effect of stimulating our spirits in spite of what might otherwise be the devastating effects of “chains” in our lives. In the course of this message we’re going note three truths about chains that are transformed by the gospel.
(I recommend obtaining an inexpensive, colorful plastic chain from a home supply store like Home Depot or Lowe’s for about $10 and using it as a prop throughout this message).
